The Curious Case of the Two Dirk Gentlys

6: File Rainforest

The list of things that Supervisor Adams was supposed to be doing was endless. The list of things he could actually do was considerably shorter. All the data Wilson wanted was for test subjects they didn't have. They hadn't been reprimanded for their lack of progress yet but Ken knew it was only a matter of time before they would be. Their priority had to be on recollecting their projects, any projects, and quickly.

"This is getting ridiculous. Incubus is six strong and jumping state to state, Lamia and Icarus have teamed up for some reason, and Moloch...man I don't even know. How are we supposed to rebuild Blackwing with all this...nonsense going on?" Complained Ken.

"Back in my day we chased these freaks all over the world." Said Priest.

"Back in your day these 'freaks' were children." Ken retorted. Perhaps Riggins had a point when he opted not to bring anyone in over the age of fifteen. They couldn't move around that much. At least they could normally bet on projects staying in one universe.

Ken waded through the pile upon pile of files. Absolutely nothing from the original project had been digitised, leaving him with an entire rainforest's worth of paper. There were the floppy disks of course but they were slow and unreliable. Ken would happily take the paper files any day.

From under the choas Ken received a large brown envelope containing their surveillance team's latest discoveries. For some reason Wilson wouldn't allow any updates to be sent over email. Ken rationalised that it was to avoid the risk of leaks. Then again it could have just been one of those things. It was best not to ask too many questions.

"I'm pretty sure there's an entire roll of cello-tape on here. I'm going to need a pair of scissors just to get it open." Said Ken as he wrestled with the envelope.

"Will this do?" Mr Priest whipped out what appeared to be a kitchen utility knife. To Ken's relief it was cool clean. The blade glistened under the glow of the orange desk lamp.

"Jesus, where did you get that?" Ken flinched.

"It's just a little something, something from home." Priest turned to him with a toothy grin. He spun the knife between his hands, by some miracle mansion not to cut himself.

"How did you get it through security?" Asked Ken. He kept his focus on the blade. He struggled to trust Priest most of the time. As soon as weapomd came into the mix his defences went up at the speed of light.

"I have my methods." Priest shrugged.

"Give me that." Ken demanded. Priest calmly stretched out his arm and handed over the knife. Ken snatched it out of his hand, split open the envelope, and shoved it into his holster. He spilled the contents onto the desk. A sea of paper cascaded onto the floor making a mess that some poor soul would inevitably have to clean up. This didn't matter too much to Ken. All he cared about was the thick booklet that flopped onto the desk. He scooped it up and started flicking through. At the start of his 'career' he would have gone through it word by word. Now he just skim read.

"No information Bel, no information on Charon. No information on anyone. Why do they insist on making a whole booklet on people we know nothing about?" Asked Ken as he turned the detail free pages.

"It's Wilson, Sir, her logic is fit for Blackwing and nowhere else." Priest sighed.

"It's pathetic." Ken snapped as he threw the booklet a side. "Two months and what have we got? Nothing. The closest we've got is Icarus, Lamia, and at a stretch Athos. I mean she's not even in our jurisdiction."

"With a little effort we could put her in our jurisdiction." Priest informed him.

"It's not worth the effort. She's one of the lowest level projects Blackwing ever had. She's far from a priority." Said Ken.

"With all due respect, Sir, it's not her I'm interested in." Priest told him firmly. Ken squirmed and mumbles something under his breath. He turned away, refusing to make eye contact.

"No. You know the rules. We're not interfering with Athos or any aspect of her life. Not until we have some of the higher level projects back." Ken quietly replied.

"Of course, Sir, the rules." Priest grumbled bitterly.