Dreams of the Quill

How people change.

Jason considered protesting the dachshund’s decision to turn off the internet, but he saw the anger in Dax’s eyes and remembered the violent beating Pablo had received, and he decided to let it be. He walked over to Frog, who sat as usual in front of a computer, hunched forward, eyes darting rapidly across his screen.

“Yo, Frog.”

“Yo, Jason.”

“You’re still watching Berkeley, right?”

“Yep. No real changes in our operations, though they smell a bit more like pig grease lately.”

“Alright. Well, here’s the plan.” Jason placed the bag of Angel Stones on a stool next to Frog’s. “We need to find another nineteen of these. Little red gems that glow a bit, should all be in Berkeley. Can you use the surveillance system to locate them?”

“Our cameras are everywhere, and the nightvision lenses the DHS sprung for three years back are finally coming in handy,” sighed Frog, pulling himself away from the screen to examine one of the Angel Stones. “What are these?”

“They’re called ‘Angel Stones,’ apparently. Dax says we need them to find and defeat the source of all this trouble.”

“Tell me more?”

“Sorry, Frog, but I think I’m just going to get back in the van again, get moving. Call me with locations as I drive. I’d like to give you more information, but it’s not necessary at this juncture, and the sooner we get this all over with, the sooner I get internet access back.”

“That turned out to be a surprisingly good motivation,” chuckled the dachshund, grinning up at Jason. Jason scowled but didn’t say anything in response.

“That’s fair, I guess.” Frog turned back to the computer and began scanning video logs of Berkeley for Angel Stones. “It’s pretty common for our superiors to keep information from us, calling it ‘unnecessary.’ Hopefully you can fill me in when this is all over, Jason.”

Jason nodded.

Jason looked around as he made for the exit. He stopped with the door half open, one foot still inside the dimly-light Pizza Hut.

“Where’s the inspector?” Jason was used to not seeing her at work, so he hadn’t noticed her absence initially. He couldn’t shake the eerieness of not being berated via speaker, however, and wondering about that eerieness led to him remembering that Inspector Kris was supposed to be in the room.

“She’s out gathering crowbars.”