Tracking Tranq Darts

April 23, 2017:

Lara Croft gets word that June Moone has gone missing. She recruits Melinda May to help her track her friend down.

Characters

NPCs: None.

Mentions:

Plot:

Mood Music: [*\# None.]


Fade In…

It's been almost four weeks. June's been in absentia. Hasn't shown up at Darcy's. Hasn't been at SHIELD. Just…dropped off the face of the planet. All her things are still at Darcy's, so it wasn't a planned absence.


Lara, after being told this by Darcy, would go TO Darcy's to look over June's belongings. She had wondered if this was coming. Not enough positives had been reached toward solving the problem plaguing her college friend, so she wondered if this was going to happen some time.

With a great deal of concern, but staying calm as to stay concentrated, Lara went through June's things, hoping to find any clues she could as to where she'd gone.


There's not anything immediately obvious. But then, the Tomb Raider isn't exactly a normal person. The evidence is behind one of the bookcases…a small but potent tranquilizer dart, apparently fired at someone but missed.


Lara had noticed the dart glint in the sunlight from the window when she had bent down to pick up some of the discarded clothes that were laying next to a sofa. She placed her fingers over it and slid it out across the floor then lifted it up and slowly turned it around. "Shit." She quietly muttered.

Lara would place a call to her Office and get ahold of a tech guru she knew, then was redirected to a weapon specialist… The intrepid archaeologist would use her phone to show the dart off to them.

"I think the agency thats after her, may have located her. But it doesn't look like this dart landed… maybe she's fled and is in hiding."


The image of the dart can be sent, and it's not long before it comes back with an answer…and a "don't tell anyone I told you" answer; apparently the dart is manufactured as part of a highly-classified black ops project. The thing is classified under mentions of a Project Cadmus.


Lara repeated the word Cadmus quietly to herself and then stood up. She walked into the bathroom to look through the medicine cabinet… found an empty pill bottle and put the dark inside it. "How the hell do I uncover classified information." She muttered, closing the medicine cabinet and looking at her reflection as she thought. "I'm not James Bond…"

There-after, Lara went to the living room again where she'd use her phone to do internet searches for the word, trying to come up with anything about it there, though she had low expectations of success… but it was worth a shot.


A little internet searching comes up with a "Cadmus Labs" out of Metropolis. Supposedly a high-end think-tank, but there's rumors and reports of illegal cloning and other…well, not so friendly research.


Lara breathed a sigh of relief at finding 'something' but she wasn't sure how to proceed with this. She tried to contact May, but May was not available.

Deciding to just go and have a look, Lara had driven out to Metropolis in her Jeep, following the GPS readout on her dash to the lab's location. She parked her black Jeep outside the fence surrounding it and started to watch the place, using her phone to snap images of it as well.

"Breaking in there, could get me into serious trouble." She murmered finally. "I don't even know if they have her there or not…" She sighed and laid her head back on the back of her seat.


Plenty of people going in and out of Cadmus. Most look either office worker or researcher, but there are apparently more serious sorts. Military? Government? Hard to tell. Likely going to require either a look inside…or questioning someone outside.


Lara is in her Jeep parked outside of the lab in metropolis. She's observing the strange going-ons and is sending messages via-text to May's number, hoping that her supervisor would pick up on them.

The junior Agent has been watching the military-like security presence inside the gate for awhile now, but she's also already figured out how she'd get over the fence and inside the property… no fence could keep out a woman with as mad of parkour skills as she had…


Okay, more notice would have been nice. May doesn't have access to ley line travel or magical teleportation anymore. But, she does have a fast motorcycle and a good working knowledge of the surrounding area. After a very brief 'En route' reply to Croft, she is headed toward said lab in Metropolis. It's not the fastest drive, but she's determined to get there as quickly as she can.


There are cameras, and security. If one is going to make an intrusion, doing it in the evening, when the full staff isn't there might be wise. Of course, with SHIELD authority, sneakiness may not be needed in the first place. But it does give time for people to get there, certainly.


Lara is patiently waiting in her Jeep for May to arrive. She did, however, grab her gun out of her center console and slipped it into the holster beneath the light jacket that she was wearing.

While waiting she texted Darcy to let her know all that she'd learned so far about June and the disappearance trick. She still had the dart as well, in the pill bottle inside her jacket pocket.

When May arrived, she'd find Lara outside her Jeep, waiting with her hands inside her jacket pockets. "Glad you could make it… I wasn't entirely sure how to proceed with this one. I've done things like this before, but not in the US…"


Having pulled the motorcycle up alongside the jeep, May cuts the engine and looks toward the building while Lara explains. "We could infiltrate," she says while tucking her sunglasses into her jacket, "but I really don't feel like putting in that much effort. Come on." She's going to walk right up to the front door.

Because she can.


The security at the front door, while corporate, is still impressively trained corporate. They'll close ranks, one reaching forward to hold up a hand. "Wait just a moment. I'm afraid we're not open to the public." the guard says to the two women.


Lara showed her a soft smile and nodded her head lightly. "I already see three ways that I could get over that fence… but I'm not sure that I should take them. I want this to conclude peacefully, you know?" She told her Superior. Lara would draw the orange pill bottle out of her jacket then and offer it to May.

"That is the tranq dart I pulled out of the wall beside Darcy's bookshelf, next to the sofa that June has been staying on… Its manufacturing records tends to suggest its from, this, lab."


May accepts the container and it disappears into her jacket before the security guards can get a look, and in the same motion she pulls one of those leather wallets that alphabet soup organizations always carry their credentials in. "Agent May, SHIELD. Agent Croft and I are here to have a piece of crucial evidence verified by the head of your chemical department."


Guard 1 looks to Guard 2 with a bit of "Oh, shit" to his expression. He inspects the flashed badge. "We'll have to call and verify your credentials, Agent." he says. "In the meantime, you're welcome to wait in the lobby."


Lara played along with May and also flashed the SHIELD badge that she had, part of her hated to admit that doing that was actually fun… but it was. She then looked back to May when they told them that they could wait in the lobby.

Lara would just follow along for now and quietly see how this played out. "I have so many questions… its hard to keep my mouth closed." She said to May when she thought no one could over hear her.


May nods to the guards and steps into the lobby alonside Lara. "Hopefully we'll get some answers here," she replies. Standing in what to a casual observer would look like boredom, May studies the security set up in the lobby, to see how difficult it'll be to get back out again if they have to do so in a hurry.
Long distance to June Moone: Lara Croft figures you'll want to jump in now.


The wait takes about ten minutes, and then someone comes out. "Micah Collins. I'm the security director of this facility." Suit, tie, trained. He nods to both. "Agent May, Agent Croft. You have some evidence you needed information on?" he'll ask, while at the same time indicating for them to come with him.


Lara had trouble sitting still when she was anxious. She paced… and she paced for those 10 minutes it took to get the Representitive out here. She looked around the entire lobby area, memorizing it and trying to deconstruct it, or reverse engineer it inside her head to better understand it…

When the man arrived, she turned to look at him, then looked to May… her hands were inside the pockets of her dark blue light jacket that actually had SHIELD logos on the shoulders of it…. Lara wasn't one for uniforms, but she did like this jacket.


"We do, yes." May doesn't move to show it to this man because he's not a chemist, though. "There was an attack that targeted one of my agents, and a projectile used in the attack appears to have been manufactured here. I want to know who this particular projectile was sold to." She knows high tech places like this do a good job of tracking their inventories.


The security director frowns. "Of course. All our products have tracking numbers on them." He gets into his office, and sits at his desk, offering seats to the other two. "May I see it?" he asks, reaching into his desk drawer and taking out a magnifying glass.


Lara had remained quietly standing-by while May laid out the situation for the science-guy. She walked when he lead them to his office and stayed in the doorway, electing not to sit. Because she wanted to be able to glance around in the hallway and observe whatever was going on inside the lab. She was all about the details, and was searching for anything that stood out to her mind's eye. But she did, listen and glance back at the man as she went to find the tracking number. "Why do you have military-style security guarding this facility?" She finally burst her silence bubble and spoke.


May accepts a chair, partly to keep the man from getting unnecessarily wary of them, partly because there are no less than four objects on his desk she can use as weapons if it comes down to it. She pulls the container from her pocket and showd the projectile to Mr. Collins without letting go of it.


He'll lean in, inspecting it with the magnifying glass, and then typing in a number on his computer. "We handle a number of very potentially dangerous research projects, Agent Croft. Including various projects for the DoD. We have to maintain proper security." He makes an unhappy noise when the computer comes up with the information. "I'm afraid this particular dart is part of a set that was missing last time we did an inventory. We recently terminated one of our former security personnel because he violated his confidentiality agreement. After the fact, we discovered certain missing items. We have no /proof/ that he's responsible for the missing items…but I wouldn't be surprised to find it out."


Lara watched May hold the item up and not release it while the man inspected it. "I see." She replied to his response to her question. She then fell silent as he said these other things and she looked toward May, then toward the man again. "We need his contact information then. Last known place of residence." She told the scientist, now leaning gently against the doorframe of the office.


"Where in the buildings did the items disappear from?" May returns the projectile to the container Lara brought it in and tucks it back into her jacket. The man has been reasonably cooperative so far, but she's trying to prod him into slipping up if he or his company has less than honest about any of this.


"One of our storage rooms. And of course." He types at his computer. "Here you are. His home address, cell phone, and the like. Honestly, I hope you manage to find some evidence and nail his ass to the wall, Agents. I don't take people who betray my trust very well."


Lara drew in a deep breath and slowly released it, she didn't like being in places like this, they made her feel her own mortality for some reason. When he presented the addresse she pulled out her cell phone and went to copy it down. "Could some of your military mercenary guardsmen be stealing from you, for… side jobs?" Lara asked then, her eyes looking up to the man to judge his reaction to this.


May stands and moves toward the door as Lara steps into the room to copy the info down. "If you're aware of any of your security team working side jobs of any kind, that might be useful information as well."


"Anything's possible, Agents. If I found out about it, I'd deal with it quickly. But unfortunately some bad apples slip through sometimes." He says. "Good luck with your investigation."


Lara finished transcribing the address down and she turned to follow May back out of the office. She stared at her phone a few moments longer and then sighed a little as she went to follow after May, giving her a 'I don't like this' look while having her back to the scientist. Lara was ready to leave, she knew they weren't going to be allowed to just snoop around, open every single door in the building, like Croft wanted to do.


Melinda May starts out of the office, then pauses and turns back to ask Collins something, then changes her mind and continues following Lara. Having walked in the front door, though, maybe they can sneak back in and not have anyone expect it.


The two can get outside without a problem…and they do have a name and address to investigate. That said, with the door guards knowing they're allowed in, they could also probably get back inside if they wanted to. Really, up to them.


Lara paused then when Collins parted from them. She turned to May and looked to her. "Something feels off about this entire place. I mean, maybe its on the level… but… June is missing and I don't understand why a low level employee would be the one who used a high-grade tranq to capture her." She told the higher ranked one. "I think going to speak with him is a waste of time, May." She said, her voice very soft, though laced with a wealth of concern.


May only nods her agreement with Lara and then waits until they're out of earshot of the building before saying, "All right, plot our way in." She knows that that's what Lara was doing while waiting for her to arrive.


TBC

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