synthboy

The following morning the news is full of another murder/rape in Cambridge and this means that little interest has been generated in the agents’ actions of last night. Being a Sunday they are slightly limited in what they can do but they decide to take several hours out to research Lucien Medwin. They learn that he is the head of the family business, Medwin Animal Feeds, one that remains steadfastly family owned and controlled. They have a manufacturing plant in South Boston and own an office block in the city centre, built on the site of their original premises from over two centuries ago.

Medwin himself is a regular attender of charity events alongside his beautiful but cold Romanian wife Steliana. He has no criminal record, not even parking fines, and there is no salubrious gossip connected to him. Digging deeper the agents manage to find that Lucien’s younger sister was called Tabitha and was married to one Congressman Joseph Bolt. Additionally it appears that Lucien Medwin was part of a lobbying group that entertained Congressman Bolt in New York. However, searching for other connections to different families or organisations draws a blank.

The agents return to their surveillance pictures from last night and discover that Agent Pascal’s nerves got the better of him. Although some detail can be made out nothing is good enough that could be used to anonymously incriminate Congressman Bolt as they had hoped. However, they do realise that two cars have been left behind at the meth factory, one belonging to Larry Liton, the other to Danny Causey. They investigate the latter (include some breaking and entering at his apartment) but find nothing other than evidence to indicate he is just a Frontline Ultra goon.

Agents Paul and Patrick decide to try and see if there is anything going on at The Cross of St George. They find the place full of tourists but very empty of Frontline Ultra members. Nick Winters is sat at the bar, nursing a pint and in a foul mood. After a while an agitated Billy Spina comes in and tries to talk with Nick Winters. Winters picks him up by the scruff of his neck and drags him out back to the kitchens. After a while Winters comes out by himself. The agents sit tight for a while before deciding that Spina is either dead, imprisoned or has left by another route.

They decide to track down his home and find an expensive waterside condominium. All blinds are shut and there are no lights on but his car is outside. Sending Agent Peter round back they decide that Agents Paul and Pascal will storm the place. The door finally gives but not after it takes its revenge on Agent Paul’s weak leg. Leaving him to recover in the hallway, Agent Pascal begins to search the house. Whilst he is upstairs, he hears a sound from behind him and sees Spina fleeing down the stairs. He follows but meanwhile Agent Paul is confronted by a panicked Spina waving a gun and running towards him. He shoots on reflex and drills Spina through the shin.

Scooping the bleeding Spina up, the agents throw him in the back of their car and take turns to interrogate him. Spina is obviously terrified, fearful that Winters plans to kill him in order to keep him silent. He admits that he has been behind producing methamphetamine for Frontline Ultra but the events of last night were totally unexpected. He had just been told by Winters to prepare the factory for a visit by some important people and had never met either Medwin or Congressman Bolt before. The agents tell him to turn states evidence and then drop him off at a hospital.

Although the agents have effectively dealt with Frontline Ultra and now have a new lead to investigate in Medwin they don’t really know where this is going. They decide that maybe talking to Paul Winters, the one key person they haven’t spoken to as yet, might yield some more information. They head over to his house in time to see him driving down the road. They trail him to Cambridge where he parks close to where he was seen two nights ago and continue on foot.

The agents park up and Agents Pascal and Peter trail him on foot to a large, detached house. Unwilling to follow him up the drive they decide to return to their car. Meanwhile, Agent Paul stabs both rear tyres of Paul Winters’ SUV. Eventually, after half an hour or so, they spy Paul Winters coming down the footpath. They see his disgust at the state of his car and drive alongside him, intending to offer to help. At this point they realise he is covered in blood. Agent Paul pulls a gun on him at which point Paul Winters jumps eight foot into the air, lands on the roof of their car and then bounds off through the houses. Agent Paul lets off one round but misses. Agent Peter tries to drive round the block to spot him but Paul Winters is just too fast.

The agents debate what to do next and, having got some information from a neighbour (the house Paul Winters entered belongs to a Harvard professor), decide to head back to base and then hack the police database in the morning in the hope the reports from last night should have the information they require.

The following morning there is only the report of an abandoned car being towed from the street and no mention of the burglary. They realise that they are going to have to investigate the property themselves and, expecting the worse, decide to send the steadfast Agent Peter. Making his way up the driveway he notices a blood trail leading around the back of the house. He tries the front door (locked and unanswered) so follows it round to the back door where the handle has been ripped off.

Agent Peter carefully makes his way inside and follows the blood trail through a kitchen. In the hallway he sees through an open door that bookcases in the front room have been emptied, their contents thrown across the room. However, the blood trail heads up the stairs: Agent Peter follows it. Upstairs he pushes open a door at the front of the house into an office. In front of him is the body of a man, his head pushed through a computer monitor. Agent Peter quickly searches the office (which has not been turned over) and finds numerous textbooks on medical history with an emphasis on the development of psychiatry. He then removes the hard drive of the computer, wipes off his prints and leaves.

Back at base Agent Pascal has a look through the contents of the hard drive and uncovers a series of emails from one Stephen Alzis organising the reluctant purchase of an un-named text. The initial request appears to have been unsolicited and the professor didn’t want to sell it. Agent Pascal tries to trace the email and, rather disturbingly, discovers that there is no trace: it is as if the email came out of nowhere. He phones this development into Caleb and quickly afterwards is contacted by Alphonse who mysteriously just wants to confirm the name on email.

The agents realise that they must now speak to Paul Winters. They also realise that he is likely to be very dangerous so go heavily armed. They knock on the door but Agent Paul hears the patio door open out back. Running round the side he sees Paul Winters sprinting unnaturally fast towards the back hedge. He fires a short burst with his Mac 10 and Winters goes down. Running over he finds that he is still alive but only just. Thankfully Agent Peter is on hand with his medical knowledge and is able to stabilise him although it’s his opinion that Winters should have been torn in two.

Having taken his unconscious body back to the storage unit, stopping only to pick up basic medical supplies, it’s now up to Agent Paul to attempt some basic surgery to save Winters’ life. He is successful but notes that already Winters was beginning to heal around the bullets and that his muscles appear to be much more densely packed than a normal human, almost to the point where they act as armour.

Paul Winters remains unconscious for a couple of hours before coming round. Finding himself face down in a storage unit with his hands handcuffed doesn’t make him particularly happy. However, once he is tasered by Agent Pascal a couple of times he realises the trouble he is in. Eventually he admits that he has been searching for a book, that he has been working for Medwin, that Medwin and his father have worked together and that Medwin fed him some sort of white liquid at a party and since then he’s been different. However, he won’t admit who Medwin is working for and seems scared for himself.

Agent Peter heads outside to Caleb who asks him to follow the leads Paul Winters has provided and also to dispose of him. After some debate Agent Paul agrees to do the task. As he approaches Paul Winters struggles, almost snapping the handcuffs. He begins screaming that the man he’s been working for is called Galt. He says that he met him at one of Medwin’s parties and that Medwin asked Winters to be nice for him. He says that Galt was German, tall, well-built and looked like he was from a Nazi recruitment video.

Unfortunately this is all he knows so Agent Paul has to finish the task. As Paul Winters screams, cries and thrashes around, Agent Paul straddles him, lifts his head and draws his knife across his throat. Paul Winters makes a gurgling wet noise and then falls silent as the agents are left stood amongst his slowly congealing blood.