34 Research Time

"We're actually closin- Oh! Waze!" Alec rushed out from behind the counter to greet Waze, a light smile on his face. The expression quickly changed upon seeing Waze up close.

"Holy- what happened to you?" Alec scanned Waze up and down with concern.

"That's actually why I'm here. To sum it up, this is my friend Cassidy." Waze gestured to the similarly beat up Cassidy beside her. "We train together at the tea shop. Last night, when we were walking home together, and we got attacked behind a convenience store. Based on the tattoos I saw on the one guy's neck, my best guess is they're from that Ebony group. I need to know more about them. You're the best person I can think to come to." Alec's eyes widened as he tried to process the onslaught of information from Waze. Cassidy spoke before he could.

"So this is your oh-so-wise best friend? He's not bad on the eyes, I guess. But can he help us?"

"I'm sure he can. Alec, you said the store's closing, right? I told my mom I'm staying late to talk to you. Cassidy's here to help. I grabbed my laptop from home, and Cassidy got hers too."

"Woah woah woah, slow down a bit. Give me a second." Alec sat back on his heels as he took a deep breath. "So, you and your training friend got attacked by the notorious Ebony, made it out alive, and then came here equipped with laptops to try to research them?"

"Pretty much, yeah. You got it." Waze nodded.

"This is, this is crazy... I mean, are you ok?" Alec brushed his hand on Waze's shoulder.

"Not doing great, I'll admit, but I'll be fine. Right now," Waze lifted up her laptop bag, "research!"

"I'd call you pushy Waze but I fear that may be hypocritical coming from me." Cassidy smirked up at Waze.

"At least you admit it," Waze said, looking down at the girl.

Alec sighed and turned to walk toward the back room, gesturing for the two girls to follow him.

"Come back here. Abbus went home already, he wasn't feeling well. I'll text him that I'm staying late. Set up your stuff here. Plug's over there." Alec gestured around the room as he spoke.

Waze and Cassidy flipped open their laptops next to each other on the table, plugging them in and pulling out notebooks and pencils.

"You guys really came prepared, huh?" Alec looked down at the two girls readying themselves on the couch.

"Ready when you are, captain." Waze gave Alec a pseudo salute. Alec sighed and pushed his own laptop onto the table across from the girls, setting up his own writing station. He cracked his knuckles.

"Let's get going."

Alec designated roles for them quickly, telling Waze and Cassidy what key words to search, what sites to look on, and more of the same. It was truly incredible the way he knew his way around the internet. If there was information online, he could find it.

The three sat in silence for a couple hours, occasionally vocalizing their findings. Eventually, they had all filled a solid two pages with information. Alec sighed and looked down at the notebooks.

"Now, you're both probably pretty well informed on Ebony now, but let me review what I found and what I can see from what you guys found."

"Yeah, we mostly just found little details and stuff we already knew." Waze scowled a bit. She hadn't really felt like a big help. Cassidy nodded in agreement.

"You guys did the easy stuff and got it out of the way for me. I did everything else. Give me a few minutes to review this stuff." Alec shuffled through the pages. "I'll do some in person research too, go ask around some people I know. We might be able to find out more that way, too. For now, though, this will do." Alec nodded as he looked through the papers, Waze and Cassidy sitting awkwardly by as he jotted down notes on a blank page.

"Alright. So, let's summarize." Waze and Cassidy nodded. This was the big moment, to see the fruits of their labor. Mostly Alec's labor.

"Ebony is a human trafficking organization based primarily in Mode County, where we live. From what I've seen, they do business out of state, and probably all over the country. They prey on young girls, around high school age. Some they kidnap right off the streets, some are roped into it through shady means. High steps and powerful girls have been selling for a lot more lately, so that's what Ebony's been going for. Like you saw, Waze, they all have a black 'E' tattoo and wear primarily black gear, as the name 'Ebony' suggests." Alec picked up the notebook and looked over it again before continuing.

"Now, for the juicy parts. Ebony has a variety of branches with certain people manning each branch. Each 'branch' is essentially a group of people that work from a set location. In other words, they have headquarters all over the county. You can't pin them down to one place." Waze gritted her teeth. They really had to make this difficult, huh? "Each branch manager is pretty powerful with high level abilities. They all work in different parts of the county, since Mode County is a pretty big place. I'd say there are about five or six branches. Maybe more, maybe less. And now, one of those branches, maybe more, has got their eye on you two. You can't beat all the branches. However, there is a 'final boss' as you could say. The leader of Ebony, I don't know his name, but from reports I've seen he has some type of electric ability. Super powerful, and definitely not someone you mess with."

"Electric huh..." Cassidy trailed off deep in thought.

"If he's electric... how about Tesla? Like the electric cars?" Alec and Cassidy looked at Waze with something mirroring annoyance.

"Tesla? Really? That's the best you can come up with?"

"Shut it, Cassidy. Anyway, if this guys the leader of this ring, even if he's not someone you mess with," Waze cracked her knuckles and grinned. "We're just gonna have to mess with him."