10/02/3122 YDB – October 2nd, 3122
Archer woke up from the sound of his alarm and stretched a bit as he checked his phone. There was a new news report, Mable’s Secondary School was just robbed. The legendary shield of the knight of wonder. The teenage hero who rose up during the time of near calamity fifty years ago.
Mable High School was nearby to Trinity Academy, it was the closest high school to the superhero school, and unlike Trinity Academy, it was for normal people pursuing normal education. Honestly it was always a risk of having a legendary piece of equipment put on open display there. Though lots of security measures were in place, not only was it near Trinity Academy, but it was also in the vicinity of several registered heroes and hunters.
Whoever stole the shield was either incredibly brave or clever. Probably a bit of both. As Archer put his phone back on his desk and sauntered into the bathroom, he did think about the thievery. It had nothing directly to do with Trinity Academy, so there was no reason for him to check out the situation. Though that didn’t stop him from running around at night fighting crime.
That shield was a symbol of good for many and very powerful. If the wrong person got their hands on it, it could be a disaster. Though then again, it was Thursday and Archer did have school today. He had mathematics and armoury class in the morning today. Maybe he could take a half day off.
***
Altzer was strolling his way towards Mable High, humming a happy tune to himself before he saw the police cars. Ah, it’s begun. He thought to himself as he counted the cars, there were only four. Less than I expected. He continued to walk down the street right past the radar speed sign that tracked everything that went past it and towards the main gate.
Altzer then realized why there were so few cars when he saw students still walking into school. Many paused to look at the crime scene before being shooed away by some of the teachers. The school was to remain open, that’s rather interesting. Altzer expected the place to be closed. Though this was probably better, more likely for some idiot to accidentally mess with the crime scene.
From what Altzer could see, they sectioned off part of the main entrance to the school and the statue of Mable. The students were still allowed to walk around and gawk at the scene. Many of the teachers were trying to herd the students to their classes before the bell, and everyone seemed confused.
He didn’t need the help, but when the enemy was making a mistake, never interrupt them. He had to cover his mouth momentarily to stop the wry smile that was encroaching on his face. This was going to be easier than he thought. His smile vanished when he saw that one student wasn’t shooed away from the taped-off area however.
Yeling Xiao, the daughter of the local police inspector, was standing and talking with one of the officers investigating the area. That idiotic girl really wanted to follow the footsteps of her father. Too bad she was too thick-skulled to be capable of anything. Though it would be funny to watch her running aimlessly in circles trying to catch whatever little crumbs that Altzer decided to drop for her.
Actually, that’s not a bad idea. He mused. I could use the extra credit for assisting and getting the favour of the inspector’s daughter would be very useful.
“Hey!” He called out to Yeling, “What’s happened?”
“Oh Altzer.” Yeling said, recognizing him and ran over to him as he approached the sectioned-off area, “You haven’t heard? They just announced it on the news. Mable’s shield was stolen!”
Of course I know about it. He thought internally rolling his eyes. You really think I don’t look at the news? Though you actually knew my name. That’s more credit than I gave you. Though he kept all of that bottled to himself, “The shield of Mable?” He asked, trying to peer over at the statue area. There were two officers standing there and examining the missing shield, though Altzer was sure that they had made no real headway yet.
“Yeah, they snuck in last night and stole the shield, the cameras were shut off and no one knows who did it.” Yeling said.
You’re not supposed to tell me that idiot. Altzer chided internally, “That’s terrible. Is anyone hurt?”
“Mathew, he’s dead.” Yeling said somberly.
“Who? Who’s Mathew?" Altzer said taken by surprise, he didn’t recognize the name.
“The security guard.” Yeling explained.
Ah right. Him. Altzer recalled, “That’s terrible. Who could’ve done that?”
“We don’t know.”
“Is there anything I can do to help? Maybe I can help figure out how they snuck in or how they deactivated the cameras.” Altzer offered.
“Right you won last year’s hackathon, didn’t you? You worked with sensors?” Yeling said.
“I did.” He said. Of course she was aware, who wasn’t? His programming project received praise from even professors from the best universities.
“You might be able to spot something.” Yeling said nodding her head before she called over to the officer, “Hey Luka! Can he help me?”
“Sure, he’s limited to the same amount of information and permission as you get understand?” The officer replied.
“Understood.”
“Oh, hello there. Excuse me. How much information can I have access to?” Another boy’s voice called out from behind Altzer.
Turning around he saw a person roughly his age, he was a little bit taller than Altzer and was dressed in a peculiar-looking police uniform. It was a uniform brown that was more akin to a military jacket, but the most interesting aspect of his outfit was a wide-brimmed brown hat with a high crown. His pants were black with a single yellow stripe running down each yellow leg.
“Archer?” Yeling said recognizing him.
“Oh hello there. I didn’t realize you went to this school.” Archer said in surprise, “Good to see you again.”
“Oh yeah. You too. Wait, why are you here?”
“Oh, I’m on the job.”
“Aren’t you a student?”
“Yeah, it’s a part-time gig.” Archer said as he waved a badge over at the police officer.
After he took a look at Archer’s badge, he nodded before warning him, “Aright but make sure-”
“Contact the superior in charge if I discover anything, do not impede the investigation as my job is consulting only as a part-time AGDF agent.” Archer said, “Correct?”
“Yes.” The police officer said nodding his head, and Archer ducked his way into the taped-off area. He paused as he looked back at Altzer, who was still standing by and staring back at Archer curiously.
“Oh, sorry. Where are my manners? Archer, Archer Griffen. Part-time student of Trinity Academy and current AGDF trainee.” He said offering a hand to Altzer and a friendly smile.
“Good to meet you, I’m Altzer.” Altzer said accepting his handshake. This newcomer was strange, and did he mention Trinity Academy? As in the place with the superpowered weirdos? Why was he here? And what was with the outfit? Did he say AGDF?
“Oh it’s nice to meet you too. It’s terrible what happened here.” Archer said looking over at the statue.
“Yes, it is a tragedy that a piece of history has been stolen.” Altzer said nodding his head.
Archer looked over at Yeling and couldn’t help but laugh, “You have a load of questions don’t you?”
“Of course! But first if you’re going to help out, then we should first find some clues.” Yeling said shaking her head emphatically, “Altzer already volunteered to help out.”
“Oh really? That’s very kind of you. I don’t imagine you had any need to help.” Archer said smiling Altzer.
“Oh, I’m just trying to do the right thing. We can’t have the symbol of the school be lost.” Altzer said as he tried to figure out Archer. Him being here was a problem. From what Alzter knew, the AGDF was a specialized police force from another country, though this boy in front of him seemed to be some sort of international student. Though the coincidence of his arrival was alarming, especially if he was actually a Trinity Academy student.
“You really do care about this place huh?” Archer observed.
“Hey, you’re talking to the smartest student of our year.” Yeling chimed in.
“Actually of the entire school.” Altzer corrected.
“Well some extra brain power will be useful for this. Come on in.” Archer said lifting up the tape to let Altzer enter easier.
“Thanks, I look forward to working with a member of the AGDF.”
“Actually I’m just a trainee.”
“Is that so? Yeling said something about you being a Trinity Academy student?”
“Oh yeah, only an F-rank though, barely got in. But still, I got into one of the best schools in the world. Bit of a lucky break that being a trainee allowed me to go international.” Archer said as he and the other two began to head over the statue.
“Fascinating, so how did you hear about this? I think people just discovered this in the morning.” Altzer asked.
“Oh, just saw the news and I had some free time this morning so I asked my bosses if I could come down here and observe. They said 'Why not?' Though I do have to behave of course. Though I didn’t realize that Yeling went to school here.” Archer said.
“I never did tell you did I?”
“No, though to be fair we only met once.” Archer said before explaining to Altzer, “She works at a café me and some friends went to. It was a nice place, big menu. I need to go there again.”
“You were a great help in that. Though I wasn’t able to finish the investigation.” Yeling said.
“Really? I was told that the whole animal thing was solved back at school.”
“Oh yeah somebody solved it. It just wasn’t me.”
“Oh really? What happened?”
“Somebody caught the actual mastermind behind it. But the details are apparently calssified.” Yeling said pouting, “I heard rumours that it was a superhero that did it. Or no, it was some type of vigilante actually. Oh have you heard of that?”
“About a vigilante? Not really, the school tends not to approve of talking about those. But maybe in the news?” Archer pondered, “Though actually there was that incident in one of the stadiums.”
“Oh yeah. I heard of that! Was it the same guy?”
“I don’t know I wasn’t there. They said they had a mask and wore black.” Archer said shrugging.
“Can we get back onto the main topic?” Altzer interrupted.
“Hmm?” Archer looking at him before looking up and realizing that they’d reached the statue, “Oh we’re here. Huh.” He said while examining the statue, “Wow this thing is big.” Archer observed the statue, which stood at a full twelve feet with the pedestal included.
“You know, now that I’m looking at it I’m a bit surprised that such a rare item is set up on display at a school.” Archer said observing the sculpture of the armoured warrior holding up a now missing shield.
“The school has a bunch of security alarms for the shield. Even touching it would call all nearby heroes.” Yeling explained, “I wonder how they managed to take it without it triggering?” She said looking at it.
“It could be some type of telekinesis.” Altzer offered.
“Really?” Archer said looking mildly surprised, “My first assumption would be someone hacking into the security system itself. Though I guess that might be really difficult, but is the most straightforward method. Could also be superspeed, I guess. Though if someone were that fast then they probably wouldn’t be doing petty theft.”
“This is a bit more than petty.” Altzer said frowning slightly.
“Hmm. True.” Archer said staring up at where the shield once was, “Why telekinesis?” Archer said aloud.
“Why not?” Yeling asked.
“Well if you had telekinesis powers or know someone who does you would know that using it sort of feels like holding something.”
“What do you mean?”
“Ah, that’s a bad explanation.” Archer realized tapping his chin, “If someone were to grab you with telekinesis, you would feel something grabbing you. Unless you have a specialization, you’re essentially using invisible hands to grab things."
“You know quite a bit about telekinesis powers.” Altzer observed.
“Oh it’s just the basics.” Archer said giving Altzer an approving nod, “Telekinesis is a good idea. Though that doesn’t really explain the cameras being off.”
“Well I’m sure that whoever stole the shield had made plenty of preparations to take it.” Altzer said with a small shrug. Inwardly he scowled. Was he trying to dismiss Altzer’s advice?
“You’re right about that. Hey Yeling, I only see uniformed officers here. Shouldn’t there be a detective on duty?” Archer asked.
“Yeah there is. Luka- er, Officer Luka said that they’re heading this way. They should be here soon.”
“You have any idea who it is?”
“No, I never got a name.”
“Hmm, I hope they get here soon. We can’t really get anything done until they arrive.” Archer said as he began to count the cameras, “There was a victim right?”
“Yeah, Mathew, he’s a security guard in the school. He was found dead.” Yeling reported.
“I’m guessing in the morning by the custodian.” Archer said as he seemed to think for a moment.
“Yes.” Yeling said with a nod.
“Did you see the body?”
“They wouldn’t let me, said we had to wait for the detective to arrive first.”
“They aren’t wrong to say that, but first bell is going to ring soon.” Archer said looking at a clock on a wall, “I hope the detective arrives quickly.” He said as he scanned the crowd for any sign of the detective assigned to this case, “Huh, is that a teacher?”
“Who?” Yeling asked.
“The baling one, slightly pudgy. With no beard.” Archer said.
Altzer recognized who Archer was referring to. His heart drummed a bit faster as he realized that it was his fellow conspirator Tao Lan. He was starring directly at Altzer and looked like he was about to call to him.
“He’s looking at you quite intently.” Archer noticed.
“Yeah, uh. He probably wants to talk to me about something. I’ll be right back.”
“Oh, take care, we’ll wait for you.” Archer said and as Altzer left he then asked Yeling, “What class does he teach?”
“Him? Usually history.”
“How is he?”
“I don’t know, never had him as a teacher.”
“Huh.” Archer said as they heard more commotion out in the front.
“What’s that?” Yeling asked.
“Uh…” Archer said as he went up on his tiptoes and still wasn’t able to see past the crowd, “Hmm.” He pondered as he looked up at the pedestal, he then turned to Officer Luka and loudly asked, “Hey, can I climb this thing?”
“Huh?”
“Can I stand on the pedestal? I won’t touch the area where the shield was.”
“Uh, I guess?”
“Thank you.” Archer said as he scrambled up the pedestal that was taller than him.
“You like climbing things huh?” Yeling joked, recalling the time she helped Archer climb the roof of the gas station.
“It makes up for my height.” Archer said as he was now six feet taller than before, “Ah, I think the detective is here. Hmm, seems a bit young.”
“That’s rich coming from you.”
“True.” Archer said nodding his head.
“Wait, how young?”
“I’d say a little older than us. Nineteen? Maybe a year or two younger or older? Surprised he’s allowed in the force.”
“Brown hair? Combed over that’s a bit long and somehow neat and messy at the same time?” Yeling asked with a sour face.
“Yeah, how do you know?”
“Ugh, it’s Knox.” She said looking like she just smelled a foul odor.
“You know him?”
“Yeah, he’s a detective prodigy, works for my dad’s precinct as a freelance detective.”
“Oh that’s a thing?”
“Yeah, he’s apparently too young and too talented to be forced to go to officer school. I think he’s let it all go to his head.” Yeling said crossing her arms unimpressed.
“You sound very familiar with him.”
“I’ve known him for years, he worked with the police as a consultant for a while.”
“Well he’s at least good at his job I hope.”
“Yeah, it’s just he’s very stubborn to deal with. But he’s at least a decent detective so he should help us.” Yeling said.
“Huh, a reporter is talking to him.” Archer said, “Oh, she’s very aggressive. Huh, I think I’ve seen her on TV before.”
“Cassy Teresa. She was here earlier, I was hoping that she left, the camera crew did.” Yeling said with a sigh.
“Yeah, that’s the name.” Archer said, there was no cameraman, just Cassy with her iconic fabulous blond hair and green suit jacket stood out from the group. Did Yeling say that she was here earlier? At seven, maybe even earlier? How long did it take for her to be camera-ready? Maybe she just woke up like that.
“Great, this day is just getting better and better.” Yeling muttered.
“She caused problems for your dad?” Archer asked as he crawled down from the pedestal.
“That’s an understatement, she’s hindered many investigations for Dad.”
“It does seem like she’s diligent. You think that Knox can escape her?” Archer asked.
“Knox is good at a few things, but dealing with Cassy? I don’t know if there’s anyone who can do that. She can twist as easily as it takes for you to tie your shoes.” Yeling said scoffing.
“You want me to try and intervene?” Archer offered.
“We do need him if we want to investigate. But be careful, she’ll have a lot of dirt on you.” Yeling warned.
“How so?”
“You’re an international student who’s an AGDF trainee student who has the lowest rank at Trinity Academy involving yourself in a massive heist case. There’s a lot to pick from you.”
“Huh. You know I haven’t thought about that.” Archer said, “That’s a good point. Well, let’s see how it goes, we need our head investigator.” Archer said as he made his way through the crowd.
Quickly sliding his way through the crowd he made his way to the front where Knox and Cassy were currently discussing with each other. It was very clear that Knox was losing this back and forth.
“So you’re saying that the police force thinks a matter of this level can be dealt with by just yourself?” Cassy asked as she held the recorder to Knox.
“No, that’s not what I said.” Knox said looking a bit overwhelmed.
“Did you not say that this would be child’s play?”
“I didn’t say that, I just said the problem would prove to be elementary.”
“A crime where they managed to steal a legendary symbol from under the noses of the city is an elementary problem. So you’re saying that the security systems had an obvious flaw?”
“Oh hello there.” Archer said intervening before Knox could say anything, “Knox right? Detective Knox? My name is Archer Griffen, AGDF trainee and acting as a consultant for this case. The officers are waiting for you, Yeling will tell you everything.”
“Yeling? Why is she here in the case?” Knox said immediately frowning.
“It is her school.” Archer said as he glanced over to Cassy and then back to Knox, “Ah, she’ll explain the situation.”
Knox said nothing and quickly moved past Archer, leaving him alone with a not very impressed reporter who now bared her investigative fangs on him.
“You’re Cassy Teresa right? I saw you on TV.” Archer said with a kind smile.
“Most have. Did you say AGDF?” Cassy said analyzing Archer as she raised her recorder towards him.
“Yep, I’m an international student currently attending Trinity Academy. If you want I can give you an interview explaining the case.” Archer offered.
“You would do that?” Cassy asked, looking unconvinced.
“Why not? Though it would have to be in the afternoon at the earliest. You seem to be a very reputable reporter and if more people are aware of the theft, then perhaps someone might have seen or discover something and report it.” Archer said with a smile.
“What’s your name again?” Cassy said looking at Archer curiously.
“Archer Griffen, at your service. I would love to talk more, but right now finding whatever clues were left over from this theft is most important. People were hurt in this crime, and people need solace.” Archer said turning around before he paused and he turned back to her, “Oh, how do I contact you?”
Cassy only stared back in silence at Archer for a moment as she stashed her recorder away, “Hmph. Here.” She said handing him her business card.
“Thank you kindly.” Archer said taking it and stashing it into a pocket before leaving again.
“Asking for an interview. That’s rare.” Cassy murmured to herself, “Not bad kid.”
