Starting The Day Off With A Bang

Jan the 16th, 2015.

As the sun rose in the sky for the rest of the world, the residents of Sunlight city were still wondering what the weather would be like today.

At three am, the sky suddenly cleared allowing the morning sun to filter through unimpeded. It would be clear skies today, the fog barrier became almost invisible from this side of the barrier but it was still there, waiting for its next victim.

After last nights incident Richard, Andy and Frank were all pretty confused how they should act around each other and being responsible adults, they would deal with it the right way.

Andy took the day off work claiming to be ill before going out for a day-long shopping trip, Frank had the nightshift so he just went to his favourite internet cafe and got a coffee there while Richard decided he would be the adult of the situation.

But sadly Richard was really busy with... stuff and couldn't go talk to the two, so he drove off into the city, looking for his potential place of work.

After driving around the city for five hours he finally found where he wanted to go, he had been asking for directions on the way when a kid told him to go west, what happened to be the complete opposite direction costing him around two hours of time.

"Teens these days, have they got nothing better to do?" Grumbling a little to himself, Richard finally found where he wanted to go but know begs the question. Did he want to work there again? He went here to enjoy his retirement and to escape from his old troubles so why would he work again?

But the job description was teaching recruits and helping around, both of which would keep him out of harm's way. He could make some relatively easy money and he wouldn't need to worry about being identified.

He had thought about this last night and on the way here, the choices both were inviting so he couldn't just choose one on the spot. Luckily he had enough time to decide what he was going to do.

Getting out of his car, Richard made sure his gun was in his pocket holster before walking into the building. A pocket holster is a holster what you put in your pocket and could hold and conceal a gun, making it a concealed carry by law.

Normally if someone was to walk into a police station with a concealed gun they weren't there to report something same goes for a retired undercover cop, luckily the chief inspector knew Richard might be coming so he wouldn't be tasered when they found out.

As he entered an officer approached him and said: "Evening Sir, could you please step this way for a security check?" With a sigh, Richard took out his holster while saying "I have a concealed weapon in my pocket, my name is Richard Hyde and I'm here to see the Chief Inspector."

As soon as Richard reached for his pocket the guard put his hand on his stun gun, showing off his professionalism which Richard found impressive. After hearing what Richard had to say he kept his hand on his stun gun while bringing out his radio confirming Richard's appearance with the Chief.

After receiving confirmation, he allowed Richard to walk past the reception area and into the station's corridors. With Richard being a cop for a long time, and with signs littering the building, he easily found his way to the Chief's office.

It was a simple office, the desk had a photo frame, some knickknacks and a stand what read the name Gordon Treeman.

Gordon was a black man with grey hair and a salt and pepper beard, his age could be seen on his face compared to Richard but he was still handsome and had this power air around him.

"Ah Richard, it's good to finally meet you." Rising with an outstretched, Gordon showed a friendly smile towards Richard who in turn flashed one back while shaking his hand. Richard had spent a long time in the field and had learnt many things over the years, while he couldn't compete with a professional he could have a decent guess to someone's intentions.

And Gordon's intentions were all pure so Richard relaxed and sat down when prompted.

"So," Gordon said while putting his hands together, "I'm guessing you decided to teach and help on some cases since you came, am I correct?" Seeing Richard nod, Gordon continued.

"Good good, if it's alright could you start today?" The atmosphere grew tense and Richard felt that he had to now so he nodded. "We've had an unusual case and I'm hoping your experience might provide an insight."

With that he slid a file towards Richard, to make him start helping straight away, it must be something dangerous.

They then talked business what took a couple of hours, in the end, Richard would get his badge, uniform and desk tomorrow but he wouldn't be required to wear his uniform since he would be in the station all the time.

Walking out of the office, Richard started to wander around while reading the file.

Fifty-five disappearances in two weeks, none of them leaving a trace or evidence behind, originally they weren't going to be linked but a recurring thing happened at each scene.

The police didn't have a motive, any witnesses or potential criminals. They were stumped and there was one thing puzzling the police.

It was the thing what showed where each person disappeared but that was it, it didn't prove anything to the police presides a link.

It was the damage at each location, the least damaged location had a few upturned bins while the worst had a collapsed building with two lines running through the ruins like someone had dragged two sledgehammers behind themself.

With this new link, the police looked for a pattern, which they found quite quickly since it was a common pattern for kidnappers or serial killers and normally one of the first things an investigator would try.

Putting the forty locations on a map would result in a curve, all equally spaced and given enough time a giant circle would be made.

Richard couldn't think of anything right now so he just walked around looking for a staff room, using the signs once again he made his way in before having another look other the file.

Nothing.

He couldn't come up with anything.