Red lights circled around the room insidiously, allowing momentary glimpses of the horrified expressions frozen on the figures below. A sickening crunch sounded as a steel-toed boot stepped over the obliterated glass scattered over the vinyl floor. There was an acrid burning stench permeating through the air, not necessarily as thick as smoke or soot residue, but more subtle like the resulting smell from an industrial laser cutter. A gloved hand reached out to one of the broken containers and delicately traced the smooth, circular edge with its bony finger. The finger pulled back carefully. Blood, Lockheed thought as he took in the coppery smell. His old bones creaked as he struggled to stand back up and soon a womanly figure took to his side to aid him upwards.
"Thank you Jessica," Lockheed groaned as he righted himself with his golden cane. The woman must've been used to this solecism as she quickly corrected him, "It is just Jes, Monsieur," albeit in a chirp of shaken French. The doctor took no notice of the young woman's anxiety as he mentally tallied the damage done. Eight of thirteen containment modules had been decimated by whatever- no, whomever had broken inside. Judging by the condensation forming on Module Four at least one of the intruders had leaned up close to admire what was inside before they'd clumsily sliced it open. ‘Ugh,’ Reginald sighed in disgust- they'd taken their time to admire the projects before bypassing the security measures Lockheed had meticulously planned and cutting the glass. It was professional work, that was certain. Probably perpetrated by seasoned cat burglars, possibly even ninjas-for-hire (you could never rule out any possibilities in this line of work). Judging by the intruders’ apparent skill he was astounded that they'd even been able to respond to their entry so quickly.
"Fetch me the Head of Security." Jes bowed her head and scurried out of the wrecked lab, coming back a few minutes later with a burly man that seemed reluctant to speak. Lockheed pirouetted and sized him up, his pale silver eyes hiding a burgeoning bonfire of rage. "Mr Carter," he said as he edged closer to the brute, "I seem to remember assigning you to tonight's shift in order to protect this very room, a room that I recall telling you had items of precious value, items that if utilised by the wrong calibre of humanity could reap disastrous consequences' !" Lockheed's nose was firmly planted into Carter's line of sight and unfortunately his passive-aggressive rant had made crumbs of spittle squirt out into the trembling security officer's face.
"I-I swear on my Grandmomma's holy deathbed, rest in peace, that i had n-no part in this here heist Mr Lockheed, Sir."
"So where were you and your uselessly large physique during the break-in, Mr Carter?"
"Uh, w-well I'm not all sure if I'm, erm...supposed to disclose this information..." Lockheed scowled. "Humour me," he spat. Carter rubbed his hand uncertainly and whispered, "Um, well, since it was a quiet night I thought I could sneak away for a second to check in with my kids..." Lockheed's face bizarrely went completely blank as he processed his own indignation. He pointed out of the doorway. Carter's shoulders slumped as he trudged his way back out to perimeter patrol, a job he'd surely be demoted to for the foreseeable future. Lockheed gripped the golden lion's head atop his cane tightly. "Imbeciles," he muttered. "I'm surrounded by utter imbeciles."
"Do you really believe that?" Lockheed slapped his palm against his forehead. A black stiletto heel clacked on the vinyl flooring, breaking the eerie silence that now enveloped the crime scene. Dainty feet housed inside were connected to ghostly pale slender stumps of legs. A suave combination of a black turtleneck and pencil dress created a contrasting motif of innocence and surreptitiousness that complimented the woman's narrow face perfectly, an almost robotic smile painted on it with her puffy, indigo lips. She deftly swept a lock of short, thick, blonde hair out of her eyes- it was clear she'd spent a considerable amount of time coiffing her pixie hairstyle. Standing 5' 7" tall, this fair skinned woman had an untrustworthy feel about her. "I thought you'd have grown out of that childish insecurity that caused you to belittle others decades ago but you always seem to surprise me, little brother," the woman remarked softly.
Lockheed scowled. A red vein pulsed monstrously on his temple. Instead of acknowledging the snide comment Reginald turned back to his newest employee and said, "Miss Roberts, would you mind escorting Ms McCarthy elsewhere, please? I think she would enjoy a thorough tour of our facilities here. Make sure you give her the extended tour."
Ms McCarthy feigned hurt. "After all this time and you can't give your own flesh and blood a hug? Tsk, if this is the way you treat me, I cannot imagine how you treat the rest of your family. No wonder why Marion threw caution to the wind and disappeared from the lives of you and your son." Lockheed winced. "Anyhoo," she continued, "I am just absolutely overwhelmed with exuberance at the prospect of an all-inclusive tour, especially considering that in a few months these will be my laboratories!"
"Excuse you? What do you mean 'your laboratories'?!"
The plastic grin on her face extended into a menacing smirk. "You're not the only one that inherited Mummy and Daddy's superfluous wealth. I'm sure you've made little effort to follow my endeavours but, if you had, you'd know that over the past couple decades since you bothered to speak to me, I've made several profitable business ventures that have helped me to multiply that initial inheritance. Whilst on my Venice vacation with Sharon- no, Ms McGee, sorry, I always seem to forget she's your superior- and we got to talking about how you're science experiments were haemorrhaging money. I told her I could help ease her problems and, taking into account my close connection with you and persisting companionship with her, I was able to negotiate a preliminary agreement. But," she waved her arm across the wreckage, "I'm now not sure if it was the greatest idea."
"It wasn't, Diane," Lockheed replied. He'd gone back to observing the boxes for evidence. His eyes flitted to the seventh module and grew wide in their sockets.He muttered an imperceptible curse as he ripped the label from its stand. Trait Exchange Dart Project, Initial Prototypes, he read. CAUTION: Early tests show errors with specific target trades. NOT SUITABLE FOR HUMAN TESTING. "Struggling to accept that I'm your new Boss, Reggie?" McCarthy jeered.
"Ripling! Initiate Protocol Blue-H-12D!"
The young brunette manning the front desk was startled from her dating-app-swiping by the desperate hollering, nearly falling out of her velvet swivel chair. She quickly righted herself, sliding open a hidden compartment in her desk before pressing a small blue button hidden inside. The red lights instantaneously flashed sapphire as massive, imposing shutters clamped down over all the exits, cutting off any chance of escaping into the outside world. A myriad of groans, murmurs and cries erupted from the various workers in the building. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Diane cried out.
Reginald grinned. "What I need to." He cleared his throat and whistled to get the congregation's attention. "I apologise for your collective confusion. As most of you have learnt, there has been a break-in in one of our storage labs. Now there's nothing to worry about, no one was hurt. However, I have reason to believe that at least one of our experimental prototypes has been stolen from its place and, if inappropriately used, can lead to a legion of legal complications for all of us here." A lady with bright ginger hair and piercing green eyes whispered into his ear. "...And of course harm to all of you, the diligent workers of this great company. This lock-down is only temporary so it's not vital to worry your families with unsubstantiated rumours. Just carry on your important work and this will all blow over soon!"
He waved his hands dramatically and watched as the murmuring crowd dispersed. The green-eyed girl took to his side and said, "Moving speech, sir. Reassuring them at the end was a good touch, a lot of whispers around were speculating on the dangerous precision of the attack, some even saying they might report this to the police."
"I'd hope that you'd know to make sure that doesn't happen Rachel. Calling in law enforcement would cause even more problems with some of our unethical tech. While you quell any frustrations the people may have, I'm going to locate our thieves. Matter of fact, get Minnie on the line and tell her to meet me in the surveillance unit." Rachel nodded her head and ambled away swiftly in her white Nike's. Lockheed sighed. Miss Cartwright had always been a dependable right-hand-woman; she didn't deserve what would happen next if his assumptions were correct.
What COULD happen next, he corrected himself. I just pray that we catch these vermin before they realise how to operate what they stole.
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