moveobjectsron | Scooter 3.4 - OPERATION: Eclipse

The end is near.
Make preparations.
(Welcome back to the Scooters.)

Everything culminated in the day that Collin came home to all the lights out.

Collin: Randy? Why are you eating in the dark?

Randy: Keep your voice down! Come here!

Collin: Randy....

Collin: Is there a reason you're chewing so loudly and ruining our plates?

Randy, just above a whisper: Yes! This whole room is bugged!

Collin: ...Randy.

Randy: I'm being serious, Collin. Ripp was right. He was right about all of it.

Collin, whispering: About what?

Randy: Althalan. Tana. They killed him. He's gone.

Collin: They didn't fucking kill him. What! Nobody killed anyone!

Randy: Yeah? Explain to me why his room is empty, and every public record of him on the project's website AND our blackboard has been completely wiped.

Collin: ...you're crazy.

Randy: I'm crazy? Check his room. Check his room right now, Collin.

Collin/Randy: ...

Collin: Holy shit. He's gone.

Randy: Without a trace. As far as I know, only the kitchen is bugged, but I don't trust those shits. Least of all Jorim Tana.

Collin: Tana...I knew she was fucked but I didn't...realise.... Randy. We have to call the cops.

Randy: No, Collin. We can't trust fucking anyone. Not the cops, not the school, not anyone.

.・゜-: ✧ :-　[◩_◪]　-: ✧ :-゜・．

Collin carried the weight of the realisation with her to work the next day. She was brief in all of her engagements, and stepped around the admin-level staff.

But eventually, her curiosity got the best of her.

Collin: Lucas, have you seen Ripp Grunt lately?

Lucas Munch: Who?

Collin: Ripp Grunt. 3rd year. Development branch. Maybe you saw him around. He was my roommate.

Lucas: Oh, uh.... Don't know. Sorry, Collin.

Collin: You don't know if you've seen someone?

Lucas: Nope. I haven't--haven't seen him. I have t--to go. Later, Collin.

.・゜-: ✧ :-　[◩_◪]　-: ✧ :-゜・．

One day at her own station, Dr. Tana approached her.

Jorim: Miranda. Thank you.

Randy, jumping: F--for what?

Jorim: For turning in Shayna's report for her. I had a feeling she was incompetent. I've been eyeing her for a while.

Randy: Oh...I'm...it's no problem. I'm sure she just has a lot on her mind.

Jorim: There's no need to shield anyone, Miranda. In fact, I'd rather everyone be truthful to me about the work they do. So I know who to commend. And who to weed out.

Randy: Right. Of course, Dr. Tana.

.・゜-: ✧ :-　[◩_◪]　-: ✧ :-゜・．

Mitchell Kalani: ...Collin, I'm not sure I'm the guy to be asking this kinda stuff.

Collin: Mitch, you're the only senior LFT supervisor I trust. If there's anything to know about...anything I've asked you about.

Mitchell: Well, I'm sure being expelled from the program means this Ripp Grunt no longer has access to campus housing.

Collin: But he got all his shit out in one night? With nothing to alert his roommates?

Mitchell: It's doable. How much stuff could he have had? He's a college student.

Collin: That still doesn't explain Tana.

Mitchell: How can one even begin to explain Tana? She is what she is: a suit with a degree and a very strict way of thinking. There's not much to it.

Collin: I know that there is. You're really saying you don't know anything?

Mitchell: I don't. And even if I did--to what end would it be? Collin, this is work. This is life. This isn't a mystery movie where everyone is out to get everyone else. Okay?

Collin: (scoff) Okay.

.・゜-: ✧ :-　[◩_◪]　-: ✧ :-゜・．

Randy: ...

Jorim, from the other room: (indistinguishable talking)

Randy, shakily whispering: What...the fuck...?!

Jorim, harsh stage whisper: Kendo! What the hell did I tell you about contacting me on my work phone, you absolute...! ... (unintelligible alien grumble) ...What? ...Cops. Cops. We know what to do about cops, Kendo. So long as you program the portal in the LZ right before I get there, we're set.

...

No. I don't care about that. Nothing's going to stop me. There are a couple more humans we can use as stock. ... Yes, hahaha. More Althalan failures. The burnout is amazing, and inescapable. ... But you already knew that...

Randy, breathing shallowly: Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit.

...Holy shit! She's a fucking alien...!

.・゜-: ✧ :-　[◩_◪]　-: ✧ :-゜・．

Collin: (muttering) If my coworkers aren't gonna tell me shit, maybe the director will.

Director, from inside their office: (unintelligible muttering)

Collin: Huh? Is he on the phone?

Director, from inside their office: ...Well, sorry to want to save your fucking life, Tana. But they're on to us. Comp-Invest got a tip that we're running a cell on Earth. The special force are onto us.

...Well, yes, but you forget I can't program that clunky old model from here. Just keep me updated when you plan to go back. I think you got too greedy this time, Tana. The activity spike wasn't a coincidence.

...Don't tell me. One of them was Ripp Grunt. One of the techs keep asking about him!....

Collin, whispering: Ho...ly...fuck.

At the end of the day, all Collin wanted to take was a shower, and a deep, long drink.

Randy: Collin! Psssst! Over here!

Collin: Holy crap, Randy! You scared me. What are you doing over there?!

Randy, above a whisper: I've been waiting for you to get home! I looked today: this whole house is bugged, every single room.

Collin, whispering: Okay, so let's get out of here where it's safe. I have shit to tell you.

Randy: Yes, okay.

Randy: So here's what we know: Tana and "Kendo" are working together. They're aliens. They're smuggling burnouts from the program as "stock".

Collin: "Kendo" is Dr. Kendo Field. He's the director of C-labs. (inhales) Fuck.

Randy: And the two of them are wanted by the cops? Human cops? Space cops? I don't fucking know...

Collin: We know there's a portal somewhere, from our world to theirs. Tana uses it to get from there and back. Maybe if we go there, we'll find Ripp?

Randy: ...Ripp. That model movie set at B-labs! That's what he found out--the portal there is functional!

Collin: So if we go there, we'll...

Randy: We'll get some answers.

In the dead of night, Randy used her clearance to get into the B-labs. Her story was sound enough: she had left her laptop containing an irreplaceable module somewhere downstairs, and it was a time-sensitive issue. Security let her in. Then she let Collin in from the back.

Randy: There it is.

Collin: Fuck. That would've fooled anybody, it's so dumb and cheesy looking.

Randy: That's exactly what they wanted. To make it look just like cheap movie prop. But it's real.

Collin: Let's see if I can't figure this bastard out.

Randy: Okay. I'll keep watch and beat anyone up if they try it.

Collin: Let's hope it doesn't get to that, okay? Now...hmm...just looks like a couple unplugged wires...

Randy: Uh...Collin? I feel like we're being w--

(Machine powering up sounds)

Randy/Collin: ...Whoa.

Collin: Something's...happening.

Randy: Is that...is that...space?

Collin: It's...not Earth. I don't...think, anyway.

(BANG!)

Randy/Collin: Shit!

Jorim: You! You little brats! You little garbage goblins, you think you're both so clever, don't you?! Poking your noses into places they don't belong!

Randy: S--stay back, Tana, I will fuck you up.

Jorim: Keep your empty threats, Scooter. You are nothing compared to me. Nothing! Just like Ripp! And everyone else before him!

Randy: Where the hell are they, Tana?

Jorim: The Project failures, you mean? Oh, they're on the dark side of Sixam, being used as living incubation chambers for more future hunters like me.

Randy: What?!

Jorim: The fate they deserve, if they don't want to use their brains. And now the same thing is going to happen to the both of you.

(SimRay powering up)

Collin: Sh--shit.

Jorim: Collin Pix. You were always such a stellar mind. I was hoping to at least get another year out of you before you succumbed to the difficulty spike.

Collin: R...Randy!

Jorim: "Randy"! Oh, how hilarious. that's what Ripp said too.

Randy: Collin!

Jorim: Oh, "Randy". How nice it must feel to know you have friends that trust you to come to their aid so readily.

Randy: Fuck off.

Jorim: It's just too bad. You are so brilliant. But now I have to scramble your literal insides. If I could feel sorry, I would.

(Ice cracking noise)

Jorim: (inhaling, exhaling...)

...Pesky, annoying humans. Always wanting to mess with the greater picture. What a shame.

Jorim: God, Kendo had better have a good explanation for this when I see that idiot.

.・゜-: ✧ :-　[◩_◪]　-: ✧ :-゜・．

Sixam - Landing Zone, somewhere in space...

Jorim: Kendo? Kendo, where are you? Kendo?

...This...is not the right coordinates!

Sixamian Officer A: No, Jorim Tana, it's not.

Jorim: What the hell--?!

Sixamian Officer A: Rida Kimo, Complete Investigation Unit. Jorim Tana, you are under arrest for violating the 2011 Non-Disclosure Treaty of Sixam v. Earth. We've been waiting for you.

Jorim: Get the hell away from me, pig! I was doing this to ensure the survival of my race!

Sixamian Officer B: Sixamians hardly need to resort to such barbarism to ensure the future of our people. For obscene crimes against both our race and Earth's race, your sentence is going to be long, and painful.

Jorim: I will not have this!

Sixamian Officer A: Shut this maniac up, Radi.

Sixamian Officer B: Will do.

Jorim: N...no... (snores)

Sixamian Officer C: Tana was really on the Most Wanted List, huh? Seems so...docile.

Sixamian Officer A: It's what she deserves. Now haul her in. I'm gonna radio the chief, tell him his investigation is finally over. This monster's going to rot on the far side of the moon till she dies.

.・゜-: ✧ :-　[◩_◪]　-: ✧ :-゜・．

Thus ends the tyranny of Dr. Jorim Tana, human body smuggler posing as a science program rector. I hope you enjoyed this, and we will see Randy and Collin next time. Thanks for reading.