JOURNAL
ENTRY 2
About
ten days passed since my last journal entry. I left the hospital as
soon as I could. My injury was grave, but not life threatening and I
am sure that there is someone out there who needs medical attention
more than me. I would probably get a scar from this.
After
I went to my hotel, I decided to give a public inspirational speech
to the citizens of Manhattan. Such events always had a positive
outcome back home. I donned my battle armor, to look more confident
and impressive and went outside. I found a modest elevated object and
started my heartfelt speech. It turned out good in my opinion – but
the reaction from the crowd was half-hearted, at the best. Only a few
people stopped by to listen and I think they amused themselves at my
expense. There was even some poor misguided soul, who gave me a flyer
about something called “The Church of Collin”. Very downtrodden…
and disgusting. Well, I tried my best. Next time I’ll think of
something more productive. But I haven’t given up on the whole
idea.
The next day I went to
the hospital, bearing flowers and some presents for Michaela. After
all, it was my fault that I did not protect her. She beamed at the
sight of my material expression of apology.
“Oh, thank you, these
are really nice, especially the oranges. I like oranges!”, she
chirped.
“No
problem”, I said. “I wanted to apologize for my failure in
standing by your side in that Collin encounter. May your soul be
whole soon and your inner harmony be restored in its entirety.”
Michaela looked puzzled.
It seemed that my verbal apology should have been withheld. Again, I
did not understand. What was wrong with my day-to-day speech that it
made people balk with blank stares at me?
After going to Michaela,
I went back to the hotel. To my surprise, someone was already in my
room, though the lock was intact. The stranger was standing by the
window, faintly illuminated by the weak light that was coming from
the dirty glass. He was tall and wore an expensive black suit.
“I was waiting for
you”, he said in neutral tone.
“You were? I did not
know I had an appointment. Excuse me, then, for making You wait”, I
replied politely. “Please, have a seat.”
He thanked stiffly and
sat at the edge of a rickety chair. I asked him what brings him here.
“Our agreement”, he
said in the same smooth monotone. “You have agreed, sometime ago in
the near past, to find a particular person. I am here to remind you
about this.”
My mind raced. Near past?
Could it be something with connected to my recent memory loss? I had
to know more.
“When did I we made
this agreement?”
“About three weeks
ago.”
I
was right. It
was
connected to my mysterious blank spot. But, at the same time, I had
made a promise. And a promise cannot be broken. I had first to
fulfill my duty.
“Ok, I will uphold my
end of the agreement. Who is this person that You need found?”
“A woman. Goes by the
name Natasha. She may have other aliases and has been elusive for
quite some time.”
“And why do You need
her found?”
The suit smiled wryly.
“This
is out of the discussion”, he replied in dry tone. “Our reasons
are our own. What matters is that you fulfill your end of the deal.”
“Alright.
Until when I have to find this Antoinette?”
“Oh, no rush. She will
be hard to catch. When is not of prime concern. The important part is
to be done.” The suit rose and started to leave.
“Wait. How will I
contact You to report my progress?”, I asked.
“No need. I’ll keep
in touch instead.” And with that, he left.
I
remained alone with my thoughts. Hm, the plot thickens. But still,
one must be in peace with himself in order to be in harmony with the
Universe. This Antoinette issue can wait. I said my evening prayers,
had some quick meal and then went to my shift.
When
I finally went back to work, commander Leila already was responding
to a maximum priority distress signal. There has been a shootout in
the city. All Night Shifts were on high alert. The situation had to
be contained quickly, or the National Guard would have to interfere.
No wonder everyone was jumpy. I personally was resolved as always and
said a few prayers before leaving HQ.
We
went to the site of the accident. We found one dead person on the
rooftop of some building. Asian, by the looks of him, probably
Chinese. Beside him lay a heavy antimaterial Barret sniper rifle. The
body was brutally beaten and maimed. What was odd is that the dead
Asian looked like a hired killer, not a victim. After a brief
inquiry, we found out that his intended target was been in a diner
across the street, but there were no windows. So, not only a heavy
sniper to penetrate the wall, but probably some X-ray imaging also. A
high-profile assassination then. Only, the assassin was the one to
lay dead afterwards.
One
of the clients of the diner was also dead. A woman, quite attractive
and comparatively young. She and her sister had been sitting at the
table, were the assassin had aimed. After careful questioning the
sister explained that there were a man sitting with them, also
Chinese. He had been laying his head on the lap of the victim, when
the first shot had penetrated the wall. According to the witness
report, he then had jumped with lightning speed and stormed out of
the restaurant. Presumably, he was our only suspect for the killing
of the shooter. Which seemed quite the feat if it had been actually
achieved.
We photographed the
scene, took data for the forensics team and called HQ that the
situation was under control. After that, having still enough time on
shift, our unit conducted regular patrolling for the rest of the
night.
When
we returned to HQ, I used the police database to run a search about
Antoinette. Big surprise here – she indeed had multiple aliases,
one of which was Natasha. So, Natasha and Antoinette were the one and
same person. She was wanted from the FBI, NYPD and private
corporations, for several serious crimes and illegal activities,
including drug trafficking and black market dealing of biotech.
Pretty long record. So, three weeks ago I had agreed on finding one
dangerous criminal and had no memory of it. How Natasha was connected
to me? And better yet, what have I gotten myself into? Does it have
something with my mysterious arrival in Manhattan?
Better to find out.
