Chapter Fourteen
"Where were you during the initial crisis?" An agent from national investigations questioned Ives.
"After I arrived for the after-party, I moved around and conversed with the attendees for a bit before heading into the garden for some fresh air. There I met Selene Arman, both of us kept each other company with some light-hearted conversation. She told me about how her husband's death was affecting her and I told her a little bit about myself. Then we heard it.." Ives showed all the standard signs of trauma. While recalling the events his body shook, he constantly shifted uncomfortably and swallowed nervously. The agents saw this, their first thought was that he has not fully adjusted from the crisis.
Ives opened his eyes and continued, "There were screams and gunshots, people were dying left and right. And no one seemed to be able to stop that monster. I hid in the flower maze, waiting for it all to pass. I saw a woman get thrown out of a window, she splattered on the ground. Then after a bit, the attacker flew out of the building with Selene, he dropped her on the grass. Made her take off her clothes then violated her in front of those of us who were hiding. I think some guy caught it on video."
"How did you react then? Did you hide and let it happen?"
Ives clenched his fist, his eyes narrowed and turned dark, "I couldn't let that happen to someone in front of me. I knew the attacker had some kind of armour that gave him his powers. Even as Selene was being toyed with, the dude didn't bother to take it off. I knew he was vulnerable without it so I went into the back and found a garden shed, gathered up some wires and plugged it into a socket. I also retrieved one of those scissors ground keepers use to trim branches."
"You mean a garden shear?" The agent corrected and Ives lit up
"Yeah, one of those things. When he wasn't looking I crawled my way to him, tied the sucker round his neck and shot a few jolts into his body. Then the rest is history, a scissor through the head and he was gone. I took quite a shock myself so I passed out after that. That is all."
The agents looked at a device on the table from which a long wire ran out of it connecting to a heart monitor attached to Ives finger, a portable lie detector. The device shone green, Ives had told the truth.
The agent looked at each other and nodded before facing Ives.
"Do you know what could have happened to cause this?"
"Not much but I remember earlier, some guy who knew Selene tried to break into the party but he was kicked out, I think he had something to do with it. I heard her say his name was 'Marcus'. The dude left with a creepy smile. Is that helpful?"
The agent sat up, "Yes. The attacker was identified to be Marcus Leti, an ex-convict known for violence and abuse. He served time for beating up his ex-girlfriend who we have now confirmed is a part of his victims. Her and many others. How this dangerous man got his hands on that tech is what we are trying to find out but after his body was taken into custody, every trace of the suit vanished. Even the police aren't aware of how this could happen."
"Maybe it's for the best." Ives pointed at the cast he was wearing on his right arm.
The corners of the agent's lips twitched slightly before he decided to change the conversation.
"You too are an interesting case, Mister Rothschild. You are quite young for someone so wealthy, care to explain."
Ives sensed the ploy, he had breezed through the lie detector test simply because everything he said was technically true.
He had genuinely acted out as he had spoken and there were numerous footage showing this to be true that alone was enough to pass off as free of suspicion but what the lie detector didn't read was the intention in the action which most people can't account for since they didn't know what they should be asking about.
And if they didn't know then the next best thing was to closely investigate the suspect searching for any possible motive in their background.
And as always Ives was ready.
"I own a venture known as Akashic concepts. We sell software products and services. A few months ago, I closed a huge deal that pushed me to the front. I sold a digital asset to a sion interface for a grand sum of three billion. Here are the necessary documents to confirm this and for what this asset was, I can't reveal since it was strictly confidential. You can contact Sion to confirm. They are an international conglomerate which I really don't want to have on my bad side." At the end of his sentence, Ives scratched the back of his head nervously like your standard harmless geek. Zeke stepped out from behind Ives and handed over all the documents which were so authentic it was almost a work of art.
"I changed my identity and moved out from my relatives' place to reinvent myself here. I had some troubles living with them, they weren't good people." Ives finished his words with this revelation knowing fully well that it could put him in an uncomfortable position.
'The best lies are often the truth' Zeke had said to him earlier.
"You are aware that your aunt's family was recently murdered right?" The agent gleamed saying this. Ives was finally in the spotlight.
"I heard after I woke up two days ago. I won't lie, they deserved it and whoever did that has my thanks."
The agent leaned forward, "Do you know who might be responsible?"
Ives didn't flinch, "Wasn't the guy already caught?"
The agent backed up hearing this and revealed.
"Yes. We found evidence showing that your uncle was involved in a dangerous trafficking operation and he was attempting to back out but his employers weren't too happy about that. The killer still isn't in custody but it shouldn't be too long now."
"Hmm. Then that's that." A chime echoed from his phone and Ives saw the message it was from Zeke telling him he had an appointment to meet. With his face still facing the screen, Ives asked the agents.
"Is there anything else?"
Whether or not they wanted to admit it, Ives was no longer fit to be considered a suspect. Still Valkyren was forever changed by the massacres revolving around the Arman family.
The first massacre at the hotel though just as terrible drew a considerable amount of criticism over the authencity of the way the attack itself was executed but the second gave everyone irrefutable evidence that the attacks weren't a hoax.
They now had to live in a reality where a weapon exists that could afford an individual the strength to exterminate legions of trained armed operatives without so much as a scratch, lay waste to buildings full of people, maneuver in three dimensional space without any visible form of propulsion and turn into a minature armament (Missile).
The game was set and global eyes were suddenly on Valkyren, whatever gave this individual this capabilities could change the entire field of warfare forever and everyone wanted to know who they were to blame for this.
Selene, Ives and the other survivors were subject to questioning from both the local authorities and national powers, their backgrounds investigated and every form of relationship they had with the assailant was scrutinized. It didn't take long for them to find out that Marcus Leti was the culprit but sadly they could only recover him as a naked corpse without any form of discernible extra normal traits on him that could have given him those capabilities he displayed.
This was a cover-up everyone knew but the official story they could get from witnesses to that awful night was that Ives had caught Marcus off guard and dealt a lethal blow.
His remains were carried off by the authorities but somehow his garment got missing as he was being processed.
Ives couldn't be held suspect since he was the hero who saved Selene and countless others from violation and possible death.
This alone made him completely free of suspicion.
"That will be all, Mister Rothschild." The envoy from national investigations had finished their interview and Ives was officially cleared of all suspicion.
"Happy to be of service." Ives shook them with his only good hand while Zeke saw them off.
"Finally." Ives sighed in relief and stumped back on the couch, he was in the clear and he planned to keep it that way.
Zeke returned and nodded to him. They both knew better than to openly celebrate or converse about such things, nobody knew who could be listening.
With all that out of the way, Zeke and Ives headed to their next stop.
- - - - -
"Welcome, Mister Rothschild." Sabine sat up , the second they walked in. She gave Zeke a warm smile and shifted her body into a more stable position.
"There is no need for that." With a single glance, anyone could tell Isolde's mother was already on her last legs. Her health had probably deteriorated after every thing that transpired surrounding her father and himself. Beneath that warm smile was deep guilt, pain and fear. Things that someone facing their imminent mortality shouldn't be tackling with.
"Ives. Please forgive us." She began with these words first. Sabine was intervening on behalf of her father. "He was just trying to protect us, it is all our fault for how things turned out and we promise to make it better if you give us the chance."
The sight was moving but Ives knew better than to allow himself to be soft so he looked around and sat cross legged facing Sabine.
With a stern look, he asked.
"Tell me everything in a way I can understand."
Sabine began her story, "I met Isolde's father during a convention outside the country, we hit it off and soon we got married. I moved here where we had Isolde, he was a brilliant man. He found a new kind of ocean micro-organism that had a unique gene that could reverse aging and help battle senescence. He worked with others to study it and extract it for human use, he met with a few investors that offered him a small fortune for his research and whatever venture would emerge from the project. He made it work, I know it. He called me one night happy telling me how everything would change for us but he didn't come home. No one could find him anywhere, they only thing they discovered was an email left behind claiming that he had failed, misused his research funds and ran away to start a new life. He said he was sorry, the case was closed but the investor wanted their money. They were dangerous people, all our assets were frozen. We weren't allowed to leave the country, we received an ultimatum to pay back or die. It was then that I fell ill, Isolde struggled for both of us. She went to them and offered herself for both our sakes." Sabine went silent and her eyes became hollow.
"I knew what they did to her but I couldn't do anything, I could only support her as best as I could and that wasn't worth anything, was it?"
Sabine faced Ives, "You're her new owner now right?" Her eyes were calm and tranquil as she said this, Ives felt a thug at his heart strings.
Sabine suddenly left the bed and came before Ives, she knelt before his feet and rested her head on his laps. She was imploring him in the most emotional way possible.
"Everything we have is yours so please be merciful to my girl."
Even Zeke was moved by this but he knew that the final decision layed with his master. Kidnapping, torture and the fact that Ives literally died wasn't something that could be overlooked so lightly.
That was a kind of suffering that Ives could never erase from his soul.
"Very well. No more harm will come to your family both to Isolde. Your father or you. I don't see the point in harming a man who was just trying to protect his family." Ives helped her up and put her back on the bed.
A sparkling drop of tears fell from her eyes and she held her mouth and cried gently for over half an hour. This was a soul that had struggled for so long finally finding peace. Finally finding Mercy. This sight would forever be stamped onto their souls forever.
The nurse came in to take care of Sabine, Ives and Zeke took it as their cue to leave.
"How long do you have?" Ives asked Sabine at the door.
Sabine answered with a smile, "About a month now if I'm lucky."
"Hmm." Ives gave a light grunt as a response, he was brewing something and Sabine knew it.
"Wait!" The two men stopped, Sabine beckoned with her hands and Ives came closer. She placed a cream coloured necklace in the shape of a dove into his palms and whispered in his ears.
"This contains everything my husband was working on. Ives please be careful, your mother was his assistant. She died days after he went missing."
Ives froze when he heard these words.