Investigation on NPC Soldiers

Outside, there were no new UH-60s arriving at the base yet. There were no new players remaining in the base either. It looked like my walk with Lobaev, and Millie really took most of my time.

However, it had its own reward, apparently. I walked to the motor pool to see a new vehicle parked there. It was a tank armed with 120mm smoothbore cannon and M2 machine gun turrets. The M1A1 Abrams stood with its full might.

It was a sight to behold on the battlefield. When there was no hope left, the tank carried the troops to its victory. At least, that was something that I held dearly when I saw anything more armored than a Humvee. I wanted to touch it, but I shouldn't. Another player owned the tank. To be precise, fourof players came out of that tank.

I shouldn't have been distracted. I walked towards the tent. The barrack was not that different from the previous barrack, albeit more alive since actual NPCs live here instead of players. Still, why am I not stopped from entering this barrack in the first place?

I asked one of the soldiers, "Excuse me, do you know where Private Moore is?"

"You're talking to the person itself."

Private Moore. At first glance, he was very skinny, to the point of being called skin and bones. Different from contractor, it seemed that regular unit got access to much better equipment such as the M4 and a set of body armor complete with the helmet. He looked delirious, one of the withdrawal symptoms.

"May I ask you a question?" I asked.

"Oh god, not again. Dude, listen, I'll do anything, but just let me sleep, please," Moore said.

"How long have you not been asleep?" I wondered.

"Did Sergeant Robert forget to tell you? I've been in this two days patrol without any sleep and only relying on the coffee to keep me alive," Moore said.

"Did you go to the clinic last night or some nights before?" I asked again.

"Clinic? Dude, I am not even here for the last two days. Why don't you ask Elizabeth about that? Now, excuse me." He pushed me away from his way and he immediately crashed into the nearby bed, with his full gear. He couldn't be lying. And he proved it even more with the snore echoing through the tent.

Moore should be ticked off from the suspect list, at least, for now. His sleep deprived state would made it hard to differentiate between whether he was under a withdrawal effect or under a sleep deprivation. For now, it was probably the latter.

I should have asked where Elizabeth was, damn. Now, I had to work with a very limited lead. Well, Elizabeth was a woman, right? It wouldn't be hard to spot a woman in the middle of military base filled with men.

In the barrack itself, there were two women. I approached one of the women sitting in the bed. She was a woman with light brown hair. She had this thick eye bags on her eyes and her eyes were as red as hell.

"Excuse me, am I speaking with Private Elizabeth?"

She squinted as she looked at me, "Wait, is that you Mickey?"

"Mickey?"

"You're not Mickey? Please, I want to sleep." Her head fell to the bed in one swift motion and she immediately fell asleep.

Alright, the story of both of them seemed to be connecting. Both were sleep deprived and both were delirious to some extend. It meant that only James and Del could be the suspect. Still, it would be dead end if none of them was the suspect.

I asked one of the soldiers, "Excuse me, do you know where James is?"

"Wait. OY JAMES! Get over here."

Private James. This soldier really didn't look like the type that would even steal a pencil from the comissary. This soldier looked more like the type that would spend most of his days in the archive. He looked like a nerd, and might act like a nerd.

"Nice to see you, you're new. I assume you're a new player, what can I do for you?" James asked, kindly.

"Actually, I want to ask few questions."

"Certainly, but what's this all about, if I have the permission to ask?"

"A missing medical supply."

"That's quite unfortunate. However, I will try my best. What do you want to know?"

"Do you see anyone going in and out of the clinic? Anyone suspicious?"

"As far as I'm concerned. No, not at all. However, Private Del knows what is going on around this base. You might find better information from him."

"Alright, thanks. By the way, Sergeant Robert told me that you have a bad score in the range, may I know why?"

"Oh, that. I see where you're coming from. You see," James took off his glasses. "This glasses of mine missed the prescription by a margin. I should be -7.00 not -3.00."

Oof, that glasses of his was practically useless then. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, I hope the logistical issue to this base is solved. If not, then I'm going to be stuck with this thing." James wore his glasses again. "I hope your investigation is successful. And by the way, OY, DEL, COME HERE!"

"Thanks."

This time, it was Private Del. Not really the junkie type, but it was expected. He looked nothing out of the ordinary. I wasn't really surprised at this point that Sergeant Robert's soldiers were all clear.

"Ah, James, sup my man, is this the guy?" Del asked. Why did he give me the vibe that he was the playful vibe. James just replied with a nod. Del then shook my hand, "Sup man, name's Del, what's yours?"

"Beuer."

"Ah, Private Beuer, right? You're a contractor, right?"

I just nodded. "That's right."

"Nice, what can I do for you?"

For Del, if he was as true as what James had told me, it might be a good idea to bring him to a more private place. His left eye was bandaged, it might be the reason why the range score was so bad. Figuring that this Del would talk more freely if he was left alone. It was not like I'd like to mess with someone holding an M4 carbine.

"Can we go somewhere private?" I asked him.

"Let's go to the motor pool. The loud noise should make sure that no one hears us, shall we?"

Del walked right out of the tent and he walked right into the parking lot of the motor pool. He wasn't lying, the loud noise coming out from the idling M1 "Abrams" masked the conversation that they would be having. Then, he sat down on the edge of the motor pool.

"You're Beuer, right? That new player that beat Sergeant Millie? That's pretty impressive."

Sergeant? That woman was a sergeant? How does rank even work for a contractor? I doubted it would follow the traditional route of promotion. I would ask them about that later. For now, back to the business.

"More or less. Del, tell me something, does one of the soldiers get high lately?" I asked him.

"I don't think any of us got high lately. The highest one can get is Elizabeth. That idiot, she pulled a 72-hour non-stop patrol and started imagining things."

That was sleep deprivation.

"Still, I think I'll stick to the patrol if I were you. There might be a logistical leak in here, considering how scarce some items can be," Del suggested.

"Where should I start?" I asked.

"Ask Staff Sergeant Robert about it. To be precise, ask him who was patrolling the clinic. That place is guarded like a fortress, logically speaking, there shouldn't even be any medical supply missing. However, I suspected Jacob has something to do with it," Del suggested.

"Who's Jacob?" I asked.

"Private Jacob is one of our guys. The thing is, when he patrolled, he always brought a piece of box out of the building, I didn't know what it was, but it has this pam pam writing on it, I guess?" Del was unsure.

"Diazepam?" I asked.

"Yeah, yeah, Diazepam."

"Alright, thanks for the information, Del."

"You're welcome, Beuer. Is that all?"

"That's all."

Del walked back into the tent. This investigation had met a jackpot. Now, it was time to report back to Staff Sergeant Robert about it. He might be able to point out Jacob's whereabout.