While driving back from the Leone residence, Pharao and Anderson begin discussing their further strategy in finding Kalopsia. Pharao says:


    “So, what now?”


    “I wonder… A blank check young female with exceptional genetics. She might have been mixed up with the wrong crowd?”


    “Most likely… motive to kidnap such a specimen though?”


    “Money? There haven’t been any demands being levelled,” Anderson says.


    “The Chromos being barren, where did they get the child from?”


    “Want to visit the widow?”


    The duo set course towards Tower Chromo. Distinct from its surroundings, it looks as if it was built by Renaissance era masons. Though thinner in dimensions than most other residential towers, its spaciousness and luxury left nothing to complain about. Meticulous etchings and carvings on the walls made out of pure marble. They park their police cruiser at the topmost vehicle bay which in turn was filled with extravagant carriages itself. The garage looks better than most peoples homes. Even though every year the Chromo family donates 99% of their earnings in the name of charity, the Chromo Corporation yields profits so high still, that it barely makes a dent in their overall cashflow.


    When they park their vehicle, after exiting it, they’re greeted by a butler near their spot. He’s wearing a tuxedo probably finer in terms of quality than anything the two officers could afford even with their lifetime earnings. Pale, almost to the point of hueing blue, the man’s age is apparent from the outset. He’s bald, in his seventies and would remind anyone who met him of Alfred Pennyworth.


    “Hello, constables,” says the butler, “Welcome to Tower Chromo. I am Mr. Twalk. I serve the Chromo family. Is there anything I may assist you with.”


    He motions them to follow him.


    “Hello, Mr. Twalk, we’re investigating the disappearance of Kalopsia, the heir to the Chromo fortune. Is it possible to meet with the lady of the house, Madelaine? Sorry for such a short notice but time is of the essence in these matters,” says Anderson, “Also would it be possible to access the room of Kalopsia as well?”


    “Worry not, because it’s no issue. The lady is however occupied with a meeting to discuss matters of the foundation and will then meet with lawyers and actuaries to discuss further actions which may be warranted if the unfortunate matter of Lady Kalopsia’s disappearance yields mortal results such as her death.”


    The arrive at yet another extravagant elevator. It’s not lined with gold like in Tower Leone but at the same time leaves the latter to shame in terms of build quality and expensive materials. Everything is carbon-fibered and platinum lined.


    “She’s already discussing her death? It’s been barely twenty four hours,” Pharao says. It’s suspicious to him, because why would Madelaine assume her daughter’s death so quickly? Does she know something they don’t?


    “I realize this may come off as insensitive and suspect for her to act in such a manner, but although she’s not a rash woman, this situation is of a grave nature. But even more importantly, the Chromo foundation and corporation is the largest and most influential of the Solar world spanning all planets and municipalities in terms of economic reach. Therefore it is paramount that when there has already been a tragic and premature loss of a family member already, its succession be handled in a timely and careful manner. I’ll show you to the area where Lady Kalopsia resided before she left to pursue her own goals. While you search her rooms, I’ll see if I can perhaps squeeze you in to meet with Lady Madelaine before another appointment begins.”


    “She left here?” Anderson asks.


    “Yes, she did,” Mr. Twalk says.


    “What does she hope to find?” Anderson asks further.


    “It’s unclear at this time what exactly she wished to achieve, but it is my suspicion that she wanted to discover her origin aside from being vaguely created.”


    “Is there something more to her than that?” Paskal asks.


    “Not that I’m aware, sir.”


    They’re taken to a part of Chromo tower where Kalopsia lives after which Mr. Twalk leaves. It’s a bit of a well-organized mess. The rooms are filled with books and tablets. She’s certainly a bit of a bookworm it seems to the officers. The books are on history, biotechnology, and some fictional books. There are many rooms – a spa, a gaming area, a party area with a bar. It’s a small mansion inside a bigger mansion. Finally, Paskal and Anderson arrive at her office area. It’s bigger than most people’s apartments, filled with even more books and documents. Her desk, made from hardwood oak is covered under the things she was reading. Real wood is a commodity because most of the Solar System is a concrete and steel jungle with no real forests to speak of. While there are forests in the outer parts of the Solar republics, transporting them to build a desk is also expensive due to the massive distances it requires traversing. The topmost item lying on her desk is a notebook. Anderson opens it and there are notes taken about biotechnology, history etc. After a closer look at the other documents on her table, it becomes clear to the officers, that she was curious about her origin before leaving. According to the documents, she doesn’t have a bioengineering certificate as children like her in origin usually do. So, while she’s clearly built from scratch, there are no records of her creation in any of the documents she’s gathered.


    “Looks like she didn’t get her answers,” Paskal says.


    “Indeed, so who created her?”


    “Good question. Fire up the terminal.”


    Anderson activates her terminal. The screen lights up and there’s a password protected screen prompting the user to use a specific phrase to enter it.


    “Maybe she wrote it down somewhere?” Paskal asks, “Look around in the papers.”


    They rummage around in the mountain of documents and scribblings to find the password. From beneath the emerges a data chip. Paskal picks it up and, on a whim, sticks it in the terminal. This unlocks the machine and grants access to its contents.


    “How’d you know to do that?” Anderson asks.


    “I thought it couldn’t hurt to try.”


    “Good instinct,” Anderson says.


    They look at the various files on the terminal, but their eye is caught by a minimized program. It’s a chat between someone named DRF and Kalopsia:


    Kalopsia: “Hello, Dr. We spoke on the comm.”


    DRF: “Hello, Kalopsia. Yes, I remember. I think I can help you.”


    Kalopsia: “Great. So you can tell me


    more about my origin?”


    DRF: “Absolutely. But I would like to refrain from sharing the information I found here.”


    Kalopsia: “Why? What have you found out?”


    DRF: “More than I could describe in a chat. When are you free?”


    Kalopsia: “Right now. Where do we meet?”


    DRF: “Can you come to The Nigh?”


    Kalopsia: “The Nigh. Got it.


    I’ll be there in less than an hour, is that okay?”


    DRF: “Perfect. I’ll be waiting.”


    There is another chat bubble blinking with an unanswered message. It reads:


    Spektr: “K, are you there?


    What happened at The Nigh?


    Should I call the police?


    It’s been more than 12 hours.”


    The officers open the chat and immediately another message pops up. There is previous discussion about Spektr having to call the police if Kalopsia hasn’t responded in 12 hours. She talks about going to meet with DRF and finding out about who she is.


    Spektr: “Kalopsia? You there?”


    Paskal looks at Anderson. He then types into the chat:


    Kalopsia: “Yeah. It’s what I suspected.


    Meet up at The Nigh?


    I’ll be there in 40 minutes.


    Wait for me inside by the entrance.”


    Spektr: “Really? I’ll be right there, yes.”


    Anderson takes out a memory chip of his own and places it into the terminal. After a few seconds, the device beeps and Anderson removes it, having downloaded the full contents of the terminal’s storage into it, including her credentials for the communications if they need to message Spektr again. Before they leave, there is a program on the terminal called “Device Finder” which is used to locate one’s comm device incase it goes missing. They activate it but her device is no longer found. Its last known location is The Nigh however.


    They then exit the room. As they walk through the building, they’re met by Mr. Twalk:


    “Officers. I hope you found something of use. Lady Madelaine can give you 10 minutes before her next appointment begins. Apologies in advance, she’s a very busy woman.”


    He leads them through the building. As they walk Anderson asks:


    “What do you know about Kalopsia’s search for her origin? Did she say anything about that?”


    “Yes, she asked about that a lot when she was little. As someone with blue skin, you can imagine her experience in the company of other children.”


    “She went to a public school?” Anderson asks.


    “No, but even if they could send their children to a top private school, the parents could not afford to teach them basic manners.”


    “She was bullied?” Paskal asks.


    “Quite spectacularly so. She was smart for her age. But even without her bustling intelligence, it doesn’t take a brainiac to figure out that someone like her is different from the other kids.”


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    “Were there any fights?” Anderson asks.


    “Well, there was one. But to everyone’s surprise, she managed to absolutely thrash her much larger assailant.”


    Mr. Twalk noticed the men’s puzzled looks. He added that due to her nature, the origin of which is unknown to him, she probably has genetic and cybernetic enhancements that make her much more formidable than she looks. In addition, these probably explain her exorbitant intelligence.


    They finally arrive at Lady Madelaine’s office. It alone is bigger than Paskal’s entire apartment. The detectives are impressed by it. At the end opposing the doorway, there is a lady sitting behind a similar wooden desk that was in Kalopsia’s room. The room is spacious, with high ceilings and bookshelves stacked with content, ancient but also cutting edge. She barely glances at the men while she’s hooked onto whatever she’s reading on her screen. When they approach her, she looks at them and says:


    “Be quick. I haven’t got all day.”


    Her voice is cold, monotonous even.


    “Lady Madelaine, we don’t want to take up more time than absolutely necessary, but we do have a few questions,” Paskal says.


    “Ask away,” she says.


    “Do you have a reason to suspect that anybody might have wanted to harm your daughter?” Anderson asks.


    “Well, of course. Or, perhaps not harm but I imagine there are a great number of people who would be interested in her even if she wasn’t a masterpiece in bioengineering. Gaining leverage with people like us is something many would like. She never did take heed of our warnings, though.”


    “Anyone in particular? Or recently?” Paskal asks.


    “As far as I know, no. But she was snooping around hoping to find out about her origin, as I’m sure you’re aware. Perhaps she ended up asking the wrong places? She has enough genetic enhancements to make a Cell blush.”


    Anderson asks whether this was a conscious decision by the Chromo family.


    “Well, we didn’t design her if that’s what you mean. We bought her at an auction that was selling Dr. Gobb Vakkar’s items.”


    “Dr. Vakkar? The creator of the Erebus Caste?” Anderson asks almost shocked.


    “Correct,” Lady Madelaine says.


    “Forgive me, but could she be a Cell?”


    “Not that I know of, no. She was still a baby when we bought her gestation device along with herself, do you know of many infant Cells? They don’t age, as I hope you know, but she was all grown up. We slightly altered her looks before deactivating it and bearing her to this world to make her similar to us, but other than that we left her as is. Do you think her disappearance had anything to do with that?”


    “Well, while risky, this sort of speculation may well be worth the reward for some people so it’s a secondary and even stronger motive to do something to her I bet. Do you have any documents or other details about her?” Paskal asks.


    “No, all the documentation about her had been destroyed before we ever saw her as far as I know.”


    “Have you received any ransom requests?”


    “None so far which is why I fear the worst.”


    “Thank you for your time, Lady Chromo, we’ll be going,” says Anderson.


    They almost run out of the office due to the nature of the news they received. Even the chance of uncovering a lost Cell makes the men fill with fear but also excitement. What if she holds the key to making more of them? That sort of power in the wrong hands could bode badly for the future of humanity. They don’t even wait for Mr. Twalk to send them to their car but instead rush off ahead. They quickly get into their car and drive off. With only 20 minutes remaining to get hundreds of levels down and to a further part of the town, they turn on the sirens on their police vehicle and floor it. On the way the men speculate about whether or not Kalopsia could actually be a prototype Cell. Anderson is skeptical but Paskal is much more excited. He wonders if maybe Dr. Vakkar created one to be a blueprint for the future generations in the form of a live human being. To him it’s not a coincidence that she is known to be physically stronger than her peers and also brandishes a high intelligence.


    They also wonder why Lady Madelaine assumes that Kalopsia is missing while she clearly had a friend waiting for her response. It didn’t seem out of the ordinary for her to disappear for days on end but she’s already been declared missing? Is this because of Lady Madelaine’s apparently new-found paranoia after the loss of her husband? Another thing they take of note is Lady Madelaine’s and the butlers insistence on referring to her in the past tense as if she’s already dead. Did they really adjust so quick or is there an underlying reason for them to act this way? Perhaps Kalopsia is a Cell and she’s trying to profit off her daughter or perhaps simply the fact that she’s a creation of the legendary Dr. Vakkar is enough for the strange behavior?


    The Nigh is a posh hotel and casino for the celebrities and wealthy on the half height of the city. It’s well-regarded for its discretion and privacy it offers its residents. In there they can romp and play with the other drug and mod-addicted degenerates as they’re regarded by some. Though it’s not on the highest level, this a trade off for the low-key nature of its business. Before the officers arrive, they turn off their sirens ahead of time to not attract any unwanted attention and park their car in another parking space away from the entrance in order to get an early visual on their contact. They hide all obvious markers from their bodies which could relay the fact that they’re law enforcement in order to put any anxious visitors at ease.


    While they know of The Nigh, usually police officers don’t have business in there. The establishment’s threshold is a turnstile door guarded by two suited bouncers. The officers can see that under their garments, the bouncers are armed with sidearms. By the way they carry themselves, its clear that the bouncers are from a military background. The officers enter the establishment, catching looks from the bouncers. Do they already know that Paskal and Anderson are police?


    There’s couches and a bar right by the entrance. The place is luckily not packed and there’s only a few people sitting on the chairs and couches and one by the bar. One of the people sitting on one of the couches is a B-list celebrity actor, Bob Voyage, known for his work on an action series on the Papüvision streaming service. Though only 160 cm tall, he played a Cell who fought during the Machine Revolution, but he fell in love with a bot who in his eyes had a soul. It was a real crap-show but was well regarded by nerds who liked that he did all his own stunts. He fell out of the future Hollywood’s favor due to his somewhat incoherent takes on talk shows regarding the traditional family model and the fact that he belonged to a cult.


    On another seat there’s a participant in the future equivalent of Big Brother and Victorian reality freak show series called “Who Are They Really?” She’s an Earth girl born and raised in Missouri who due to her big boobs and degree in Persuasion Studies found moderate success as a socialite in the entertainment circles.


    The bar is manned by a droid and it’s offering consolation to another man in a trenchcoat sitting on one of stools, hunched over his drink. From behind, it’s hard to tell who he might exactly be. Of these three the man at the bar seemed the most likely to be their source to the police officers which is why they go to him first.


    Anderson says: “Hello, Spektr, I assume?”


    The man barely slurs out: “Fuck off.”


    As he says that, Bob Voyage raises his head and looks towards the bar. Paskal notices that and remembers that on his action series “Cellular Love”, Bob Voyage played a Cell named Spektr. He pulls Anderson’s coat and looks at Spektr, who stands up, clearly trying to choose between his fight or flight instinct. He takes a step towards the exit, but Paskal calls him out:


    “Mr. Voyage?”


    He stops in his tracks and looks back at the officers and then at the door.


    “Mr. Voyage?” Paskal says again, “We’re with the police, we mean you no harm, we’re merely looking into the disappearance of Kalopsia,” as he approaches Mr. Voyage slowly.


    “Oh, okay, I thought you could be with Ultra.”


    The officers walk up to him.


    “Ultra? We are police detectives, I’m PD Pharao Paskal and this is my partner  Ron Anderson. Is there anywhere we could talk private?” Paskal asks.


    “Yes, I have a room here,” Mr. Voyage says, “Let’s go there.”


    They walk to his room, which is a luxury suite. Three bedrooms, a small sauna complex and a living room with a dinner table. The room is immaculate, which tells the officers that Mr. Voyage hasn’t been staying there for long. They take their seats around the dining table. Anderson asks him:


    “How do you know Kalopsia?” Paskal asks.


    “We met at a press screening of one of my movies “Ultra Life”, have you seen it?”


    “Yes,” Paskal and Anderson answer.


    “Did you like it?”


    “It was alright, but a bit indulgent, no?” Paskal says.


    “Well yes, it was the last movie of Glandeen Donkatin with a huge cast – it was going to be indulgent if not anything else.”


    “True that,” Anderson says, “What was your relationship with Kalopsia like?”


    “Well full disclosure, we were friends, nothing more. I made my move and she rejected it, but she’s just… cool as a person that I didn’t want to discard her friendship because of that, you know?” Voyage says.


    “That’s understandable. Do you have any idea where Kalopsia went?” Anderson asks, “It seems she found a contact called DRF who she was also set to meet here at The Nigh.”


    “Yes, DRF is an Ultra scientist she was supposed to meet up with. He’s I think a lead scientist working in the biotech department. His real name is Sigmund Mendel.”


    “This likely isn’t public knowledge, how do you know that?” Anderson asks.


    “He used to work with us on the “Cellular Love” show. He helped us to make our version of the Cells accurate as much as possible. He also gave us tips on how to make the opening sequence reflect a likely creation process of a Cell and the research that went into it. I don’t know if you know this but Kalopsia knew she was created by Dr. Vakkar, and she knew me, she had me help her get in touch with Dr. Mendel.”


    “We’re aware of Dr. Vakkar. Did he help with the bot love storyline as well?” Paskal asks with a sly grin on his face.


    “No,” Mr. Voyage sighs and rolls his eyes, “By that time, Dr. Mendel had left the show.”


    “No surprise there,” Paskal says.


    “Pharao, come on,” Anderson says, “Did they meet?”


    “Yes, I set the meeting up myself. I warned her that meeting with Ultra is dangerous without potentially having the genetics of a WMD, let alone being potentially the final creation of Dr. Vakkar. She never came back.”


    “The final creation?” Anderson asks.


    “Yes, as far as I know she was the last project of Dr. Vakkar.”


    “Thank you, Mr. Voyage,” Anderson says, “I loved you in “Grain Wars” by the way.”


    “Oh, thank you and my pleasure. Anything to help Kalopsia.”


    The men leave Mr. Voyage to his hotel room. As they walk back to their car, in the lobby, they notice a two Ultra agents enter through the turnstile door. They sharply turn towards the bar in order to avoid detection by them. One of them is Oliander Schultz, who despite their efforts still recognizers the officers.


    “Paskal! Anderson!” he calls them out, “What brings you here? Looking for drugs? Ha-ha, just kidding.”


    “Schultz…,” Anderson says, “Just taking a load off you know. You?”


    “Same. This is my partner, Geon Karsk. We were just about to meet Mr. Voyage. Have you seen him?”


    “Yeah, we just talked to him,” Paskal says.


    “So I heard,” Schultz says.


    “You did?” Anderson asks.


    “Indeed. With the issue regarding Kalopsia and Dr. Mendel… I suggest you gentlemen put it out of your minds. You’re stumbling around something you don’t have the faintest authority to change and even less of an ability to comprehend.”


    “Wait… Schultz. A word?” Karsk says.


    “Excuse me, gentlemen,” Schultz tells them.


    Karsk pulls Schultz aside and they walk out of the officers’ earshot. He says:


    “Why are you trying to persuade them to abandon their investigation? Without them we wouldn’t know about Mendel and Kalopsia.”


    “What do you suggest exactly, Karsk?” Schultz asks.


    “Let’s work together with them. You must realize that the implications of this scheme are enormous. Plus they have the ear of a Cell. We can have them do the footwork while keeping an ear to the ground at Ultra HQ. It’s easier if they mess up instead of us,” Karsk says.


    “Hmm… Interesting. And this is not because of your newly found sense of compassion, I hope?” Schultz asks, “A virtuous operative is worthless to the organization.”


    “Of course not, this is merely practical,” Karsk says.


    They return to the officers and Karsk says:


    “Officers, sorry for being harsh and defensive earlier. After consulting with my colleague we’ve agreed that we should probably work together on this. We will look into anything we can about Dr. Mendel in the Ultra archives and connect with you. Do you know where to look for him?”


    “Alright. We were considering going to see him at Ultra HQ.” Paskal says.


    “No.. no… no,” says Schultz, “I think you won’t get far this way. Considering the depth and gravity of this possible conspiracy, you need an Imperial warrant to probably see him or force him to accept. And even then, depending on the criminality of the parties, it might not be enough.”


    “What do you suggest?” asks Anderson.


    Suddenly, Paskal’s communication device started blinking with a connection prompt from Eurus. Paskal tells the others that he needs to take this. Schultz sees that the caller is Eurus, so he doesn’t continue the conversation. Paskal moves away from them and accepts the call. To his surprise, one of the participants is Mirra Leone and another is a man who he does not know.


    “Yes, yes, hello,” Eurus says, “there’s been a severe development.”


    “What’s this about, if I may ask?” asks Paskal.


    “No, I can’t disclose the details at this time.”


    “Alright, so what’s up?” Mirra says.


    “I need you all to handle a sensitive package for me. You must operate at extreme discretion and take care of it personally. Nobody but you must see it, not your security detail, not your soldiers, not your servants, trusted comrades, family members, not anyone, is that clear?”


    There is a palpable pause in the conversation, but they all agree.


    “I am at MK-85872, I’ll be at the exit of its vehicle bay on level 45 and if you pick the package up, you’ll be guarding it with your life. I cannot overstate the significance of it and the danger I’ll be putting you in, but as of now there is no better option as there is no telling what security has been compromised.”


    Mirra says: “I’m the closest to it. I’ll be there fastest.”


    The communication then ends. Paskal walks back to the others and Schultz asks:


    “A Cell calling the police? Am I in the right universe?”


    “They’re citizens, too” says Paskal, “So you were saying?”


    “Let’s look at this in order of exclusion. You can’t go to your department, because you don’t know who to trust there – how do you think we found you? You can’t go to Ultra and you’re not fast enough to get an imperial warrant…”


    Before he could finish his thought however, Mr. Voyage had come out of his room and enters the lobby. He looks at the gentlemen, startled at seeing Ultra operatives. Schultz then raises his eyebrows as if a lightbulb had gone off in his head and motions Mr. Voyage to come closer. He approaches the investigators and joins their circle.


    “Mr. Voyage. I understand you have the contact information of one Dr. Mendel?”


    “I do, but I’m not supposed to give that to just about anyone.”


    “There’s no need for that. I understand he is a fan of yours? Is he also a part of your religious club?”


    “I think so, why?”


    “Does he frequent the conclave as well?”


    “He does.”


    “Could you tell him to meet you there tonight?”


    “I guess.”


    “Do it. Don’t show up yourself.”