How To Train a Detective

[Dorian]

There hadn't been much more to go over with Viktor Lih.  He told the pale man to meet in back at Domovoi in the morning.  They'd go over all the details then.  Hopefully the lad would get a good nights sleep.  He seemed very on edge.

Nox had gone to see Yun Kao.  His part of that was done for the moment - until the next favor anyway.  Dorian had made an early appointment with the captain.  It went as well as could be expected.  It had been a two fold inquiry, one on behalf of requesting Lih and Sarkozy.  But it had been mostly to press the Atharim issue.  Specifically working with his ex-Atharim informant who had been working the case almost exclusively until Dorian had transcripted him into his cause - protecting his family.

Dorian laid out everything first.  How the boy had tracked monsters, how he killed them, how he'd found evidence of foul play.  And his extensive maps of the tunnels.  His technological advances in mapping as well as specialized software that made their lives all easier.  The latter thankfully was all Sage and Aurora, so not even Atharim tech.  That was great for Dorian.

It wasn't until the cap was nodding happily that he dropped the boys name.  "Nox Durante."  had come out of his mouth and the captains face soured.  The name was news in Domovoi - confessed to murder and completely unscathed afterwards.  No word what really happened.  Dorian promised to keep the boy on a tight leash.  And to never leave him alone with sensitive information.  And a plethora of other restrictions.  Not that Nox would actually be a hindrance, he'd never step food inside the precinct if he could help it.  Dorian either, but at least permission was granted and Nox could work unfettered in the investigation.

Now Dorian only had to wait for Lih and/or Ivan to show up.  Didn't matter which one was first.  There was tasks for each of them.  And some of them combined.  Vaia Plus was involved in monsters and monsters were Domovoi business now and with a few ex-Atharim they might actually do some good in this on the books even.

[Lih]

“There,” said Lih, concentrating as he made last minute adjustments to the dial of his microbead set. “I’m picking up voices, very faint...”

He handed the microbead to Bell the CCDPD technician, who pressed it against his ear and listened.

“It’s very faint...” Lih repeated.

“Shhh!” Bell said, “I can barely... Viktor, can you put this back on?”

“Of course Bell, can you boost the signal at all?”

“Trying,” Bell replied, “better?”

“A little,” Lih listened hard. “Huh. Yeah, there’s talking. I hear the captain. Couple of other voices. Talking about waiting. Waiting to learn something. Hang on.”

Bell got to his feet and opened his battered case. He rooted around in the remains of its contents.

It seemed an age for Lih to hear enough. Finally, the pale detective looked up at Bell. “Extraordinary, thanks— I owe you.” He smiled.

Lih hated being pushed around. He found he wanted to think of things for himself, and do them. He wondered if Dorian felt the same.

He came to a halt. His low light vision was scooping nothing in this temperature controlled world. Heat on heat. But he trusted his eyes.

The lead figure approached...

First things first, Lih thought. He’d waited for this. He waited to see what Dorian had in store for him. If it was nothing so be it. But if it was something, then Lih wouldn’t be ruining their chances with hasty preparations...

Minutes swelled into hours. Time seemed to pass at the most laborious rate. Around him, the quiet domovoi department seemed to match the crawl of time.

Who knew why the older detective joined the police force in the first place. Dorian had an escort of channelers and hackers. What did he need with the cops?

He’d considered what Dorian said about this case and decided what to do about it. His job. Were the same monsters that took the scientists searching for Dorian? The heavy security around the Vega estate strongly discouraged other outsiders. And what was that about making deals? “The sort of monsters who are looking for us won’t be interested in deals,” he muttered. He retrieved his weapons and got mobile...

Lih stalked his way over the taller detective.

He raised his gloved hand in greeting.

“Morning, Sir,” he called out.

Lih held out one gloved, long fingered hand and showed Dorian the glinting “Vaia Plus” badge he’d taken from evidence. “I ran a test. Using my kit. It’s not definite. I haven’t got the equipment our lab has for it to be definite. But I trust the result. It’s not good. Nothing’s here to track the missing scientist with, unfortunately. Not by pheromones or by the wake of any DNA he left behind him.”

He shrugged, “it’s a bust.”

[Dorian]

Dorian didn't really expect the kid to find anything forensics couldn't but it kept the lad busy. "I didn't expect you to find anything. That is someone else's job right now." Nox and Ivan would be better suited to hunting down this man - this channeling monster thing. Nox in particular, Dorian wasn't sure Ivan was up to cuff yet. But on the job training was always good.

Dorian smiled at the pale officer. "You and I are going to go speak with someone at Vaia Plus." It was going to be impromptu, no scheduled appointments, so it might be difficult to talk to anyone important, but it was the first plan. "This badge was found in rubble near the tunnel entrance, we are looking into the missing persons case and need whatever information we can get on Alistar Pavlo." It wasn't the truth, but it was close enough. This was a real case, and one not Atharim related. A first of many for Dorian - he hoped.

[Lih]

Night fell over the hospital, cool and black. Vitya Lih took off his new lenses from Sage and hooked them carefully over his belt. It was night now, something he understood. He was vaguely aware of the door opening. He looked up, into the dark, and saw a man framed against the starlight in the window. It was Costa: He saw the mark on Costa’s ear, the one the rougarou had bitten, and which Costa had refused to allow to be bandaged. It was scabbing over now, but its mark on him was unmistakable. Costa had been branded. To Viktor Lih, when his former partner smiled, that twisted the missing ear into even more obscene shapes… Costa regarded him with a strange expression. There’d been an odd look in his eyes, come to that. Lih was about to ask him about it when his alarm sounded.

Lih woke with a start. It was early, dark still. He had been dreaming that he was visiting Costa, in hospital. Confused memories flooded back. He had vivid recall now of somebody being there with him. “Costa?” he called out. “Costa?"

---

They gathered in the office where Lih first met Dorian, and Dorian bent forward, informing Lih where their target was.

Dorian gave good advice. To get some decent sleep and move in the morning. And wasn’t it about time Dorian let Lih in on his first ever domovoi mission?

“You’re right,” said Lih. “There’s a good chance of making a connection in Vaia Plus. Their facility’s the one,” Lih announced. “Definitely.” He paused. “But last I checked... it’s protected. A well-maintained lab, with a secured base and lots of guards. Not to mention sentinel dogs. Sorry, are we going there, sir?"

Dorian could do monsters. They probably didn’t scare the inspector any more, not like Lih. Lih decided not to mention the fact that the reason he’d beaten the rougarou's was long gone. Costa wasn’t with him anymore…

He decided there was no point pushing it when Dorian seemed quite sure about all this.

Nodding to Dorian's reply, he got to his feet.

“Let’s go,” he slid a pack of ammo into his railgun. “Let’s get this done.” 

They left the station as the sun rose, hazy and red, above the buildings. Decent rest and the chance to wash out clothes and kit at home had lifted Lih’s mood. He seemed a little better, with some color back in his pale face. His gun in his hand, Lih carefully followed Dorian, quiet as a shadow..

[Dorian]

Viktor was eager to go.

Dorian's care was finally detailed and cleaned of any evidence from his kidnapping. It smelled almost brand new. Dorian sat down in the leather of his driver's seat and turned the station radio down. It wasn't often he had a partner. He had always preferred to work alone. But in Domovoi that had all changed. His whole life had changed because of Domovoi. Including his family. He was grateful for that second chance.

Vaia Plus was in the heart of Moscow. Like everything else of importance. Their research lab was on the other side of town by the river. And the Red Light District entrance Dorian had used to find the tunnels the opposite end from that. Somewhere in between Alistair Pavolo had become a monster - a channeling corrupted monster of the worst kind. He had to be stopped, whatever was going on had to stop. This was worse than any other monster. He may not be Atharim anymore, but this was why he'd joined the Atharim and the CCDPD to begin with. To fight monsters... He'd forgot that in his time as a cop.

The building was made of glass as most of the buildings were. It was elegant and towering and looked like every other building in the city. Jivana was joining ranks here soon. Which meant Emilio Vega would be showing up. How fucking lovely, Dorian thought. But this made Cruz happy and it was a profitable move for Jivana. Even if Dorian wasn't a part of it, it was his family legacy.

"Once inside we are just going to ask after Alistair Pavlo. If they give us a hard time, then we'll see about moving up the food chain. Remember his girlfriend reported him missing, this is our angle"

It wasn't why they were there but they needed information. "You do the talking." Dorian smiled, he wanted to see the boy do his work. His unique appearance should get past the girls at the front desk, and if his taking to Sage and Aiden then the boys probably would be easy too.

[[ As to see Alistair, and they'll give them a hard time. But if mentioning the missing persons, they'll let him speak to his secretary. ]]

[Lih]

It had taken them about thirty minutes to drive down from the station. The sun was still a pale glimmer above the shimmering glass towers of the city.

What a strange place to find answers, Lih thought.

Both men moved out of Dorian’s car with their weapons strapped, right hands on the grips, left hands free to grip or grasp. Dorian hadn’t said anything about Lih’s outburst, nothing to get Lih thinking, at any rate. Lih had been counting on Dorian to absorb him into the domovoi department, to smooth over the transition, to welcome Lih’s return to action. But, now, he could barely fight down the furnace in the pit of his gut. For all he’d nodded along with Dorian’s orders, he was twitchy and uncomfortable. He felt as if Dorian’s eyes were boring into him wherever he went. He was smiling, but the look in his eyes just then… just what was happening?

Before the rougarou, Lih had styled himself on his partner Costa, admired him, sided with the officer, and had benefitted from being one of Costa’s partners. Lih was an ambitious man, who liked to keep the company of promising officers, or men on the rise… now he was promoted to one of the domovoi, and Dorian had come back, once Costa was not around, Lih had chosen Dorian as a replacement partner. Ironically, his situation made him focus ever more intently on the skills and philosophies Costa had drummed into him: teamwork, cunning, the desire to protect what was his with brutal and sharp efficiency… they were good together, and had a hard-nosed, trusting relationship that seemed to cater to all their survival needs. But—and by the light, it was presumed—Dorian seemed exclusive... self-reliant. Of course Dorian was confident. He was ex-atharim. What he couldn’t do was beyond the limit of measure…

Lih looked up at Dorian. Somewhere out there, across the distances of space, the proper face of this underground war was being fought, by experienced, determined men against monsters. Lih probably didn’t look much to Dorian. Small, unprepossessing, tightly wound. A loose cannon, a child, so brittle a young man he’d been issued with pills to keep his emotion in check. Inexperienced. Unqualified...

Dorian was up ahead of him, moving forward, taking point. Lih listened carefully. He had no doubt there would be trouble. It seemed to Lih he was particularly heavy footed next to Dorian. Had his technique really slackened off in Costa’s absence?

No, he realized, watching Dorian for a moment. He was as good as ever. The difference was with Dorian. Dorian reached the tower, where the entrance began to loom, and signaled for Lih to halt. Lih stopped quickly, and waited, watching Dorian...

He closed his mouth and watched Dorian lead the way. The man was evidently a decent enough protector at home. Lih hadn’t made up his mind about Dorian yet. Too much mystery for his liking. But Lih thought he moved well...

He liked Dorian’s frank and fair attitude, and the two were forming a tentative working relationship. He wasn’t sure how things would sit now that the famous Dorian Vega was back. Every tip and piece of advice Alex, or any of the domovoi task force, had ever imparted, came with a phrase like “Dorian would know” or “try and find your feet”. To their credit, rather than resenting the way Dorian showed them up, the police department had got busy learning all the detective work and battle-skills the ex-Atharim could teach them. This made sense to Lih. He tried to look thoughtful, hoping that the conversation wouldn’t come round to his own utter lack of combat experience. Fresh-founded, getting his first taste of a real monster zone.

Was Dorian past all this fear of the unknown, or was he always made of stern stuff? To Lih, that fear meant everything… by now, he’d seen combat, injury and death. He’d been so keen to impress upon the other cops how strong he was. He’d left his home, this far away from his family and all things familiar. Moscow was a lonely, alien place. And his dreams were full of horrors to come...

Already, Lih had made a mental note of the scary way his new partner moved, like a wolf on a prowl. He’d always believed city police officers to be pretty good stealth artists, and it had been a wake-up call to witness the extraordinary abilities of Costa and the re-con division when he first joined the force.

But Dorian was something else. Lih had to keep checking he was still there, and every time he did, Dorian wasn't where he’d last seen him. Lih was making precious little noise, but it still sounded loud and clumsy compared with the total silence Dorian was managing.

Lih was simply looking around, anywhere but at Dorian’s face.

He stared at the looming, glass building. He studied Dorian's file in detail, but there was nothing like seeing the place first hand. Feeling the lie of it. And there were so many lies here. For all it seemed like giant, artificial box full of metal alloys and office workers. Even by the dark of night, the tower would have been lit. This glass tower was steep, almost sheer in places. The ground was a mix of loose, flinty stones and exposed quartz. Thick, resilient lime spilled down the elegant windows, hanging like frozen waterfalls. A smell of sandalwood and rose essence welled up from the ground floor lobby. It was several degrees warmer out of the open…

Lih didn’t trust any part of it. They’d be boxed in by the walls, enclosed. The building was well covered by guards. The densest security in the area. It would be hard going, but would it pay off? Besides, they didn’t know what was down there, or behind the next door… And they didn’t know how much better their enemies knew this place.

He turned his lens-scope toward the far north end, and was just able to pick out the suggestion of the reception desk, the great oak door beyond the massive gateway. That would be the real objective to come: burning a path to that monumental entrance and breaking through. What lay beyond that door none could say. The only thing Lih knew for certain was that the next room was another step to the center of this puzzle, and that it was capable of launching forth armed security and companies of workers to face them.

Lih paused for a moment, listening, breathing in the air, working out what was there and what wasn’t.

Hooting giggles echoed up the entrance from that reception desk. Lih swung his lens-scope to look down that way. The noise of the outdoors had receded for a while, and the few louder sounds he heard were actually from the distant lobby, two women chatting beyond the front desk, which were hard to screen out.

“You do the talking,” said Dorian. Smiling.

Lih looked across at him. “With respect, sir, is that so? I mean, there’s no way they’d let us in...” he began. Then he nodded, and patted the butt of his railgun. He’d like to see the ladies try to take one of these babies, worse comes... “All right, your call sir. Stick around.”

As he got up and carried onto the two women at the front desk, Dorian looked as if amused by Lih’s manner.

Lih had marched straight up to entrance. He was studying the women ahead of him. He looked again, anxiously trying to identify whatever it was Dorian’s practiced eye had seen.

She was a short, well-built woman with a broad, swimmer’s back and heavy shoulders. Her hair was cropped and brown, and she had a little mole on the outside corner of her left eye. The other, red-headed and voluptuous…Lih started to move toward the redhead, but there was something in her manner that seemed to persuade him not to.

He pushed his way past the huddle of people, paused to let a mail carrier sweep past, then swung in behind the carrier into the middle of the lobby, skirting around a salaryman walking rapidly the other way, and stepped toward the thick-set brunette before either of the women had seen him approach.

Lih stopped short in front of the desk manned by the women

“Hard at work, ladies?” Lih said, casual-like, as if he’d just wandered in from a routine, half hour lunch. He grinned, as if he’d belong there. They stopped what they were doing and stared at him. Both were wearing glare-shades against the bright glow of their screens, but Lih could read their body language well enough.

Somehow, despite all the odds against him, he had to find a way of getting the office staff to take him seriously.

And there was one way he could think of…

“Yes,” said one of them, the tall redhead with the stripes of a senior receptionist. She snapped, “what do you want?”

“Oh, look, I’ve interrupted,” Lih said apologetically. “I know, I know, I don’t have a badge yet. Relax, I’m expected by Alistair Pavlo, just settling in.” He looked at the brunette, "I came over because of your good looks. Does it need both of you to take messages? I’d love a moment of your time.”

The brunette shrugged, delighted by the sort-of-compliment. She tilted her head slightly, good-humored. “I understand your point, but you can’t see him. Certainly not without an appointment.” Eyeing him "And you seem to forget, I am working.”

“Tell me about it,” Lih said, removing his cap and making a show of wiping his brow. “Name’s Lih. How are you finding working here? I don’t particularly enjoy seeing Alistair, you know. Not when your charm awaits me here,” he said. “And in here.” He tapped his own chest.

Uneasily, the women looked at one another. “I don’t think—“

“All right, miss,” Lih said to the redhead. “Give me time to chat up your coworker. Go scare me up an appointment with Alistair’s secretary. And get some tea brought here.”

The redhead frowned. “I… I never!” she spat, “I don’t serve tea, got that?” she pushed a button on her intercom and spoke softly into the mouthpiece, relaying the situation to a third party.

The brunette waited. “You said you know Alistair, Lih?”

“Damn,” said Lih suddenly, ignoring the quiet exchange. “I completely forgot to ask Alistair’s girlfriend the key question. I never thought to wonder, you see: who’s missing?” He stepped into the bright area past the desk. His lens auto-tinted. “I’ll find out,” he said.

She jumped up. “Wait, you can’t just barge—"

"I should be getting back,” Lih noted, checking his wallet. “Alistair's girlfriend will be checking back, and I doubt you’ll want her left alone in here, asking where I’ve gone. I wonder if you can answer her question for her, ladies?"

The thought made Lih chuckle. He checked his own watch, and then started to reach down the sleeve of his jacket.

“We should check first—” replied the brunette. The redhead returned to the conversation at hand, frowning “ok, Lih I’ve arranged for you to speak to Alistair’s secretary. She’s in that office there. I’ll show you to it."

“Stupid thing,” Lih grumbled, wrestling with his sleeve. He finally fished out his wrist watch. The leather band had come loose and it had fallen back inside his cuff. He retied the instrument to his wrist.

“No problem. I can get there myself. Just wait here, ladies. Don’t worry about tea. I’m not that thirsty,” he remarked, "Oh, and nobody goes to that door or disturb us. I’m counting on you both.”

Then he’d move on past the redhead, heading towards the door, leaving her alone, a puzzled expression on her face, the muscle in the corner of her jawline working rightly.

He saw the brunette hide her grin. “I’ll show you to the office."

“Thank you miss… I won’t keep you from your work,” he said. “My friend works at the teahouse around the corner, if you’d like to join me. I’ll make sure there’s a seat if you can make it after work."

He headed to the office at the far end of the lobby. Lih disappeared into the office. He nodded a greeting to a blonde women that was only just acknowledged. This must be the secretary the redhead mentioned...

He was glad to have his hand back on his weapon. Touching it, every chance he got… made him sharp, clear-headed, and reliable. He begin panning round the room, then jumped in surprise to find Dorian right beside him.

“Shit!"

[Dorian]

Dorian watched as the boy did the work. He hadn't been listening as long as he got the job done, and soon he was off in the direction of Alistair Pavlo's office. Dorian wished for a pair of Sage's lenses at the moment. To catch all the details himself. But the man was missing - they wouldn't be in his office - surely.

They followed the receptionist into another office, a pettite woman with blonde hair and wire rim glasses looked up. "Mr. Pavlo is not here."

Dorian pulled out his badge and flashed it to the secretary. "I know. I, We are looking into his disappearance."

There was a relieved smile on her face as she started rambling on and on about he'd been gone too long. Lissa was so worried about him, but he hadn't been to the office in weeks. She said how this wasn't like him, and how much nicer it was that he wasn't here, but she was running out of things to do. Dorian looked at the name plate sitting on her desk. "Ms, Petrovsky, did Mr. Pavlo have any enemies?"

She scoffed. "I don't know that he had any friends short of Lissa, sir. He wasn't a very nice man. Oh there I go again - was. He isn't a very nice man, sir. Really."

"I know you can't tell me what he was working on but maybe his boss, or his bosses boss might be able to speak with me?"

Ms. Petrovsky frowned, "Alistair was his own boss sir, ever since Victor Shcherbakov was fired. He reports directly to Dr. Flynn now."

"And I'll need an appointment to see him I'm sure?'

She nodded, "Yes sir. I would happily make one for you if you'd like."

"No thank you ma'am. I will call if I need to speak with the Doctor at a later date." Dorian took out a card from his pocket. "My card. If you think of any strange behavior or anything odd going on before his disappearance give me a call. Any time."

"Mr. Pavlo was always acting strange sir. Weird things happened all the time. He was sick for a good long time t here and then poof - all better. He was much more distant after that."

Dorian turned to Viktor. "Do you have anything to add before we leave, Officer Lih?"

[Lih]

Cursing, Lih jumped back with a start. He had shut up the moment he realized what he’d said, but it was too late.

He fell silent, listening. Then he walked to the door of the secretary’s office. He just wanted to look. He didn’t want to talk. He just wanted his eyes to see; to observe. He reached up and threw on the recording setting on Sage’s lenses.

Ms. Petrovsky talked for a long time. In the first couple of minutes there’d been a fair amount of chat back and forth between her and Dorian and a lot of “I don’t know’s” from Ms. Petrovsky, who was sitting forlornly in her chair with a look on her face that announced that her world had ended. But since Dorian brought out his badge, in the last five minutes the secretary’s guard had begun to drop, noticeably. She looked dispirited and scared.

Then Dorian had shown up from the station in the opening hours with his stupidly handsome face. He’d reviewed the situation, told her she could call him with additional information, and added he’d call back at a later date if he needed to talk to Alistair’s boss.

Viktor had no idea how Dorian was going to sort “missing scientist” out at this time. It was important. Lih knew that immediately. People don’t disappear. Nor bodies, come to that. You could run away. You could kidnap a person and raise a ransom, and even fire a gun and kill said person, but no one would ever go to the bother of hiding the body without reason. Besides, a shake down this big couldn’t be staged without funds. Nobody Lih could think of was gun-totingly mad enough to have set something up when they'd go head-to-head with the police and Vaia Plus… What the hell was going on?

Lih looked at the secretary as she answered Dorian’s questions. Even the best actress couldn’t manufacture the tight look of real fear and bewilderment that Lih could see on the face before them.

The young detective, dragged into the interview by peer pressure and the notion that maybe if he grew some, his mind might stop ragging on him.

“Yes.” Lih nodded. He turned to look at the secretary. The woman recoiled from the flash of electric violet in the new detective’s lens-augmented eyes. "Did Alistair share what he was working on with you?” he demanded. “Did he resume Victor’s work?"

She tilted her head in his direction, surprised by Lih's voice suddenly coming through from the doorway.

Lih stared mirroring her horror as she replied in a voice squeaky with anxiety. “I have no idea, sorry!"

[Dorian]

Dorian new she'd have nothing, and even if she knew she wouldn't say. Just like Cruz or his father do not under any circumstances talk about work outside of work. That's the nature of research.

But he had two names to work on. If Alistair Pavlo was part of some research project on monsters these two would know. But first he had to have a reason to approach them. And right now a missing scientist wasn't going to cut it.

Back at the station Dorian sat down at his desk. "See what you can dig up on Victor Shcherbakov or Docotor Issac Flynn. But don't dig too far into them, we have nothing concrete just my theory."

[[ ooc: you don't have to rp this, we can reconvene the rp at a later date after I know what's next, cause I don't know lol. And we can both do none police stuff in the mean time ]]

[Lih]

Back at the station, junior officer Lih leaned forward in his padded seat and said, “display.”

There was a low hum from his console as—with a press of his hand on the authorization reader—Lih connected with the police system through his new lenses. He turned smartly in his seat and followed the link to the data Dorian wanted him to check. There was a slight time-lag delay before two people’s hologram images pulled up, projected up from the transmitters in his computer console.

More than simple scientists, Lih thought.

Lih would have been surprised if he found anything. He certainly wasn’t expecting something in the order of actual, useful intelligence to brief Dorian.

Dorian seemed… unflustered; he seemed astonishingly unmoved by all this. Very well. Lih suspected Dorian knew the outcome all along. From the moment when this case first became known to Lih, he was completely aware that Dorian had resources—other than what a junior officer like Lih could access. Dorian didn’t divulge his own plans to Lih, his student…

For the good of the CCDPD, Dorian was a tremendous asset. Lih saw the currency in this, and admired Dorian’s skills. But Dorian also advanced his own interests, yes? Leaving the Atharim and joining the domovoi task force; what was Dorian hoping for? Captain? Chief Inspector? Higher than that?

According to Dorian, the best way to train Lih was to let him have his way for a while. Let Lih make decisions, grow into the detective role with confidence. He’d pour through the reports, judge what is something and what is nothing. It was hard. Lih realized how unreliable these old memories were… All part of the job. This trusting style of teaching was… Well appreciated. It made him nostalgic for Costa’s training early on. Costa would indulge Lih for a few months, working on Lih’s training all the way, and then make the whole thing seem like Lih’s own idea.

His wallet beeped. He glanced sidelong at its screen for a moment. It was the captain. He wasn’t asking Lih’s help. He was ordering that Lih gave it.

The hologram of the scientists faded and broke around him, spreading wide and zipping like tiny silver reef fish along the lengths of his peripherals. His lenses were suddenly busy with new signals.

“Show me,” said Lih softly.

A flutter of Lih’s fingers made the cursor points appear in front of him. He looked at the growing image in the depths of the lamp light; the specks raced ahead and darted around his eyes as they fanned out into the shape of a figure. It was getting larger and larger. Until...

He fixed his watery, pale eyes on the hologram picture of Boda—flashed and seared into his view. Sent and noted by command.

Lih immediately hurried his response across, marking it as “read", as per form.

His hands were trembling. He tried to sign off the console, but his mind was everywhere and he couldn’t remember how the lenses-link worked. He had to put the wallet down quickly so the other officers wouldn’t notice his distraction.  

He had to go. Dorian’s assignment would keep.

(ooc: just wrapping up this post before Boda. Thanks, @"Dorian"! You're the best  )