The Curious Case of the Two Dirk Gentlys

49: Burning Blackwing

"We should split up. We'll cover more ground that way." Said Richard.

"We should stay together. We're less likely to die that way." Replied Robert.

"We should stay completely still. Maybe the universe will sort the rest." Said Mona. Nobody was entirely sure whether or not she was joking.

"Richard is right. The rooms are far too small for all of us at once anyway. Go in pairs. Me and Mona, Dirk amd Todd, Robert and Richard." Decided Farah.

"And what about me?" Bart huffed.

"You can go with Todd and Dirk. That seems like a...universe friendly decision."

"All right." She shrugged. She moved over to the group and watched with disappointment as Dirk not so subtly moved away from her.

"Sorry, sorry just not entirely convinced you're not trying to kill me yet." He awkwardly justified.

"Yeah whatever, Dirk." She scowled. "Let's just go. Pick a direction and move."

The group obediently splintered into pieces. Robert and Richard decided to take the easiest route away from the terrifying group of seemingly powerful creatures and headed down the nearest left corridor. Farah and Mona took a similar approach, shifting to the right. That left Dirk, Todd, and Bart moving straight forward down the seemingly abandoned main corridor.

"They must know I'm back." Bart commented.

"What do we do now?" Asked Todd.

"Kill anyone in charge."

"What about the guards?"

"Unless they hurt us screw em. They just work here." She muttered. She wondered what hot mess they would be filtered into when Blackwing crumbled.

"Oh guys, we should go in here." Said Dirk excitedly. He pointed at a black door leading to a dark room. On it hung a metal sign that read 'record room'.

"You want to go mess with some old pieces of paper?" Asked Bart.

"Dirk, we don't really have time for this." Said Todd.

"Todd, please. I think we're supposed to do this." Dirk pleaded. Todd sighed. He'd been on plenty of cases all over America by Dirk's side. They went fast, defied logic, and were often solved by contracting what they originally set out to do. He knew by now exactly how things worked. If Dirk said they were supposed to do something then it was getting done, no matter who or what was in the way.

"We should go in." Todd grumbled.

"Fine. Be quick about it." Mumbled Bart. They headed into the dark room and closed the door behind them, muffling the sound of the alarm. Apparently nobody had ever properly wired the room into the alarm system.

"There's got to be a light in here." Said Todd. He patted his hand blindly against the unlit wall. Eventually he found the switch. Sickly yellow light filled the room, eliminating three walls of silver filing cabinet.

"What do you reckons in there?" Asked Todd.

"All of us." Said Bart.

"I don't think so, Bart. We're out here not in there. Besides those draws are far too small to fit an adult person." Snorted Dirk.

"I mean our files." She scowled. "Some are still loose in the main office but the rest are stored away. Our histories, our medicals, our experiment results. It's all in there." She explained, pointing at the cabinet.

"Interesting." Said Dirk. He walked over to the cabinet and selected a random file. Project Centaur, what a riot she had been. "Todd, do you still have the lighter Amanda gave you?"

"Of course." Said Todd. He rooted around his pocket and brought out a silver skull lighter. Amanda, who was slowly but surely letting him back into her life, had sent it to him from Ohio. It was one of the few possessions he would never leave in the hotel.

"Can I borrow it for a second?" He smiled with an outstretched hand.

"Sure. Just be careful with it." He nodded and handed it over. Dirk flicked it open and watched for a few peaceful seconds as the orange flame danced. Then he carefully placed it under new the file. The flame carefully climbed the paper as it turned from light brown and white to coal black.

"What do you think you're doing?" Bart snapped.

"Destroying Blackwing. What are they without their records?" Dirk replied excitedly. He threw the burning file onto the ground, allowing it to crumble into ash, and started ragging more paper out of the cabinet with little care for what they said.

"That's not how we're supposed to do it." She argued.

"Do you know that for sure?" Asked Todd. Dirk, who Todd knew wouldn't stop regardless of the answer, continued to burn file after file. He recognised some of the experiment names as his own but didn't stop to revisit old memories. There were no smoke detectors in the tiny room so the small blooms went unacknowledged, not that the extra alarm would have been noticed above the choas anyway.

"I...I mean I don't." Bart tried desperately to think. Normally noise didn't effect her, in fact she normally found it easier that way, but now it felt like she had a head full of static. She didn't know anything for sure, no anymore. "No. I don't."

"Then make a pile. We'll have a beautiful campfire right here on the floor." Dirk told her without turning around. Loose papers floated to the ground like confetti as the fire creeped ever so carefully across the records, turning Blackwing's history into nothing but smoke and dust.