Lina was sprinting over to the main computer room still wondering herself exactly what she was doing. She did have an idea in her little head, but the idea itself was farfetched.
What am I doing? Lina asked herself as she slowed down to a stop. I'm probably going to be wrong, but what if it's true? Why wouldn't they have told us? Oh what am I thinking?! It was only a dream. She turned around to go back but only to find herself still heading over to the main computer room. Crazy or not I've got to rule this out today or I'll go nuts! But perhaps fate wasn't with her because at that moment she glanced at her watch only to realize that she needed to go to the examination prep rooms. When did the time go so fast? Must have been musing over the dream longer then I thought. So she was sprinting again but this time away from the main computer room.
Leviathan, Martina, Zangulus, Zelgadis and Gourry were already at the examination prep room wondering where exactly Lina was.
"Lina shouldn't even be at work today." Leviathan said more to himself then to Zelgadis who was sitting next to him.
"Why is that? Oh wait I guess the whole Luna situation would be a good reason wouldn't it?" Zelgadis said absently glancing around the room. Gourry was having a sparing match with Zangulus whom was also having a rather loud argument with Martina. Both Leviathan and Zelgadis sweatdropped and ignored the odd three.
"Well actually that's not what I meant. Lina had a very bad nightmare last night. She woke up screaming early this morning."
"A nightmare? How would that be a good reason to miss work?"
"Well Lina never has nightmares. Let alone ones where she's screaming bloody murder. She wouldn't tell anyone of us what exactly the dream was about. She was just quiet for the most part then later she seemed fine like nothing had happened. And besides even if it wasn't a good reason Dad would have just made some excuse to the STF board about her not being able to come to work. Being the kid of a high ranked green agent does have it's advantages." Leviathan face lit up with a sly smile, which quickly changed to one of deep thought.
Lina came running in an almost Amelia like manner and to make it complete trips and falls and tumbles towards Leviathan. Lev and Zelgadis went over to the out of breath red agent while Gourry, Zangulus and Martina didn't because as much of a racket and scene Lina had made they didn't even notice her.
"Pulling a Amelia huh?" Leviathan chuckled lending a hand to his twin sister and helping her up.
"Well I wasn't sure what time it was and I didn't realize I needed to get over here until I was on the other side of STF headquarters. So what's with them?" Lina stared in astonishment at the three. At this point Gourry was still sparing with Zangulus and Martina was still arguing with him. The only difference is that Zangulus was also dodging the various items that Martina was throwing at him.
"I have no idea. Something about Martina flirting with Devon and Zangulus being jealous. I think I'm going to have to ask Devon the details because everything that I've managed to find out was from what I could hear of the argument and what Gourry told me. Naturally I don't quite trust the information I got from Gourry." Leviathan rolled his eyes while both Lina and Zelgadis chuckled.
"Hey Lev did you know that Lina has my phone number?"
Leviathan raised an eyebrow at that piece of information. "Oh really you gave her your number?"
"No that's the funny part I didn't give her my number nor can you find it the public phone directory. My number is unlisted." Zelgadis himself gave a sly smile to Lina while Lev's face showed obvious interest.
"But then how could she get your number?"
Lina just smiled and shrugged.
Zelgadis was going to say something when a shoe hit him on the head.
"Opps I'm so sorry Zelgadis!" Martina came over while the Zangulus and Gourry stopped their sparing. It seems that Martina had thrown her shoe with the intensions of hitting Zangulus but he dodged and it well you can get the rest.
"Ha ha Martina! Can even hit a person with a shoe right!" Zangulus laughed only to have the said person throw the said shoe right in his face. Did it stop there? No, she picked up that shoe again and started repeatedly beaming him over the head.
"We should do something to stop this shouldn't we?" Zelgadis, Leviathan, Lina and Gourry gaped at the two with mouths open and eyes wide.
"Stop those two? That would be suicidal." Gourry said very sagely. Well of course he knows from experience the dangers of trying to pry Martina off Zangulus while she was dishing out Zangulus' punishment.
"Does he like to feel pain?"
"I really have no idea..."
A few hours later the four level one soon to be level two agents (provided they passed) sat around at a table dead tired. No one said anything to anyone else all was quiet.
"So how do think it went? Was it fun?" Leviathan asked all cheery as he came in with Lina.
Four pairs of tired and not amused eyes glared in Leviathan's general direction.
"Why exactly was those examinations so much harder then the ones we did before?" Martina complained.
"Well level two examinations are naturally going to be harder then level one. It would just be ridiculous otherwise if it wasn't harder. But you see level two has to be way harder then level one to determine who has what it takes to be an agent and who doesn't. Level two is the equivalent to your rank as police officers." Lina said sitting down at the table addressing them. Leviathan continued where Lina left of.
"And most of the jobs that are done here are usually at least a level two. Level one agents even though they are agents are more or less still thought of and treated like trainees. And another reason why it may seem so much harder is because you guys only had a few days in between your exams. You were probably still mentally and physically not prepared for it."
Lina was going to add some more to that until she remembered that she still hadn't been over to the main computer room yet. "Um guys I've got to go check up on something. I'll see you all later?"
"Where are you going Lina?"
"I'm heading over to the main computer room." Lina got up and grabbed her stuff. She made a mental note to head over to her office to pick up the case files.
"And since it's on the other side of the complex I'm assuming that was where you were before. But what do you going to do over there?"
"Just following up on a hunch. Anyway, bye guys!"
"Bye Lina." The five said mostly in unison.
De Tanga stared off into space as he sat in the indoor gardens. Now some of you might be thinking along the lines of 'wasn't he there before when he was talking to Lina?' Well yes and that was a few hours ago. The question is did he leave? No he didn't. After Lina left he went and sat down and basically kept the same statue like position that he was in now. On a normal basis he couldn't do that, but currently due to the whole Vernas and Ozer case De Tanga didn't have any students or other duties he'd normally have. But what was going through his monster mind? Well the thought of eating wasn't there but maybe it should. De Tanga hadn't had a thing to eat since yesterday. People had tried to get him eat things like apples and stuff but he refused saying that he wasn't hungry. But then another question arises, why would a monster be offered food like that?
(The scene freezes and a white haired British historian appears with a screen slide show protector, slides and a pointer. The room gets dark with only a faint spotlight on the historian.)
"Well it's actually quite simple. There was once a time where monsters were enemies with other people like humans. But then a common enemy appeared and monsters, humans, dragons and many others found themselves all fighting on the same side. So a pact was created and for once there was peace among the races even after the war was over. But of course except for the select few monsters, most of them fed of negative emotions. And usually the monster race would do terrible things to evoke these emotions. With the new pact that wouldn't work. So they found alternative means for the monster race to feed themselves. Basically they made it possible for them eat mortal food. Of course they could still feed off emotion. And now let's get back to De Tanga shall we?"
(Scene goes back to De Tanga while the historian leaves with all his things)
People have walked by and noticed De Tanga and gave him concerned glances. But De Tanga was unresponsive, he was deep in thought and it was almost as if his body may be there but his mind was elsewhere.
"De Tanga old friend what is wrong with you?" Xellos asked in an uncharacteristic tone of concern as he hops down from one of the trees near De Tanga. He had phased in and appeared there a few minutes ago and had been watching De Tanga since.
"..."
"De Tanga? Are you in there?" Xellos asked waving his hand in front of his friend's face. "You know if you don't answer me soon I might be forced to do something drastic." Xellos said in a cheery voice and when he got no answer he took that as a challenge and dumped a whole tub full of ice cold water that somehow magically appeared out of now where like what happens so many times in cartoons and you don't know how that could happen.
"Huh, WHAT?! Oh it's only you." De Tanga looked at Xellos in only an expression of slight annoyance.
"What is wrong with you today? Filia-dear sent me hear to find out what was wrong with you because so many people had been concerned about you. What are you practicing to become a statue?"
"..." De Tanga went back to staring at nothing again.
"Come on what's wrong? You can tell me."
"What would you do if someone hurt Filia?" De Tanga gave Xellos a tired and dry look. If Xellos had had his eyes open he would have been blinking.
"What does that got to do with anything?!"
"You'd be very upset wouldn't you?"
"Over that temperamental and overbearing dragon? You've got to be kidding me. I might be a little annoyed but nothing too extreme."
Xellos avoided looking in De Tanga's direction. Yes his eyes were open at this point and he could feel De Tanga's eyes glaring at him.
"Xellos you lie to me, but you shouldn't lie to yourself." De Tanga got up and started to walk away.
"Where are you going?"
"I don't know. But shouldn't you be getting back to the labs to help Filia and Rezo?" Xellos didn't get a chance to answer because De Tanga teleported away right after he finished speaking.
Lina was now over at the fifth section of security on the way over to the main computer rooms. She had the case file in hand and was almost at the room. At last she reached the final bit of security to get in. Once she had done that she was at the entrance to the room.
"Oh hello Lina, are you doing okay?" Green agent Smu Bishop said to Lina as she entered the room. Smu was the lowest ranking green agent that worked in the main computer room. He was the one that did most of the on demand research work in the computer database that was required some cases.
"I guess I'm a little shaken up about what happened yesterday. But it's silly to think that this place was completely impenetrable and we have the greatest medical minds working on a way to help Luna so things aren't really that bad." Lina went over to Smu and took the chair next to him.
"So Lina what brings you here? A visit?" He looked at her hopefully. Most people thought he was strange so he didn't really get along socially with many people. He worked fine with them, but outside of work they all tried to stay away from him. But of course Lina knew otherwise, when growing up around STF you get to know many people well and Smu like many other people in STF was a person that Lina almost thought of as an uncle or older brother.
"Sorry this isn't a social call. I kinda need a favor."
"A favor huh? Big favor? Small favor? Challenge worth my while?"
"A little of both one and three. I've got this little thought that is gnawing away in my head and I can't get rid of it unless I prove it wrong."
"Okay then, so this is to put your mind at ease. So shoot what challenge have you to put before me?" Smu dawned a pair of rather silly looking over sized glasses that he always wears when he does his work. He claims it's his thinking glasses and that they help him think and concentrate.
"First off in the personal records has there ever been a Elbor Vernas registered as an STF agent at one point?" Lina got out her files and stuff while Smu looked at her with an odd look.
"You think that Vernas might have been a STF agent? Wow that would very wacky. Let's check." Smu typed up some factors and the computer came up with a match. "Well I'll be damned. Vernas was a STF agent at one point in his life. Or should I say trainee. According to this Elbor Vernas was registered as an orange agent 26 years ago. Only due to his attitude and other various problems he was discharged from STF permanently without a chance of ever being able to re-register again."
Lina frowned. He was an orange agent? But in the dream I could swear that he was a yellow agent. "Anything about him after that?"
"Nope, he dropped out of STF records completely until some of his more recently illegal science experiment blunders."
Lina frowned again. This isn't what I was expecting. I would have expected him to be a yellow agent because of that lab with the lack of color and –- wait a minute! There was not color! "Smu can you show me pictures of every agent that registered after Vernas was discharged and compare it with Vernas' orange agent file picture?"
"Sure. Any special reason?"
"Got a hunch. Oh and you make the pictures all black and white including the one of Vernas?"
"Yep done and done." Smu typed in some commands and soon enough the computer was doing picture comparison with Lina controlling the scrolling speed. Lina kept going until she saw something a few pictures back and what she saw was a perfect picture of the same Elbor Vernas that she had seen in her dream.
"Well I'll be damned again." There was no doubt about it they were both the same person. Smu took off the black and white command. The first picture of Vernas was him how everyone knows him to be with his orange eyes and brown hair. The second was one was him only with reddish blond hair and blue eyes. "According to this Elbor Vernas 22 years ago, four years after his discharge went to assume a new identity under the name Darrik Clay. He then registered in STF as a yellow agent and went and assumed a very high position but was still far from Rezo's status. And do to some incident where he almost killed another yellow agent with a knife he was sentenced to prison only to have escaped. Apparently the other yellow agent whom Vernas had attacked had seen exactly what experiments that Vernas was running and was going to stop him when Vernas knifed the agent. Of course do to Rezo's intervention the agent was saved but just barely." Smu trailed off and looking at the screen with astonishment. Then he looked at Lina. "Lina what made you think of an idea like this?" Smu's head was still rolling. The mere thought of that criminal mad scientist actually being an agent at STF was giving him chills. Of course it didn't bother him, he actually thought it was very intriguing. He would have never had thought of it and was very surprised that Lina had. But this wasn't the first time that Lina had surprised him.
"As odd as it might sound, I got the idea in a dream. Thanks Smu, bye." Was all Lina said as she picked up her stuff and left.