Psychic Company: Case 01 - Athena Pt.1
"They're going to get smashed, aren't they?" she said. "Yup," Kain replied and they both laughed.
"She's on her way over right now?" Oliver asked. His brother sat across from him at his desk while Willoughby was over in the office library.
"She's just coming to get ready for her flight out," Willoughby replied.
"But she just got back."
Jules looked up from his screen. "Have you seen the reports out of Athens?"
Embarrassed, Oliver blurted out, "I have."
"Then you know how dire the situation is over there."
Willoughby returned to his desk with a small stack of books. "Oliver, you know just as well as your brother how dangerous it is to let a corrupt goddess just walk around. We've been postponing it for three weeks already while Emily was training. Now that she's back, we can't wait anymore."
"You're just saying that because Office 2 has been pressuring you, haven't they?" Oliver said.
"You know I don't care about what they think. What's important is that we have a duty to uphold. We must do what must be done."
Oliver deflated in his seat. "Yeah, yeah," he groaned. "I understand."
"Because you only care about what Montrose thinks," Jules mumbled mindlessly. But Willoughby had heard him and shot the young man a glare. "I didn't say anything!"
The door to the office swung open and Emily walked in looking bright and refreshed. "Good morning, colleagues!" She was glad to be able to actually call them that now. They all greeted her and she took her seat at the desk next to Oliver. "So, what's the plan for today?"
"This," Jules said and sent an article to her phone. The title read, New Cult in Athens.
"What's this?" she asked.
"Your first assignment," Willoughby said. "While you were away, I had these two dig into what's happening in Athens right now."
"A cult?" she asked. She remembered what Oliver had told her before she left and briefly glanced at him but he didn't seem any different.
Willoughby flipped through a thick book as he spoke. "One of the beings you set free was an aspect of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war."
"Aspect?"
"Aspects are essentially different expressions of mythical beings. The condition only applies to widely known beings, usually from folklore. They didn't teach you this in training?"
Emily felt the stare of her coworkers and blushed. "Uh, I didn't do so well in the history portion."
Willoughby sighed. "Well, there's nothing better than learning in the moment, I suppose. In any case, this aspect somehow made it to Athens and began a cult, likely to try and gain influence in the spiritual world. She had her followers seek out lesser creatures and—according to our moles—has been consuming them to increase her power. Unfortunately, we aren't certain which aspect she is, but they have reported that she is indeed of a malicious nature." He looked up from his book to Emily as she listened intently. "You know what moles are, right?"
"Yes! They're our ears-to-the-ground agents who watch for supernatural stuff while not actively engaging with it!"
The Jones brothers couldn't hold back their laughter. "You sound so excited. Like you're a teacher's pet," Jules said.
Emily pursed her lips. "What's wrong with that?"
Willoughby smiled and decided to go on with the debrief. "Anyway, to continue—Emily, as Field Captain, it's your job to set up the joint operation with Office 2. Oliver, you finished the report, right?"
"Got it right here," he said, holding up a fastener folder.
"Emily, please go over it while I talk with Office 2. Be ready to start working right away."
"What should I do?" Jules asked.
"What you usually do."
"I've been scrubbing for weeks. Let the head office do it—I wanna do something else," Jules whined.
"Then, start looking up flights and hotels."
"I can do that in my sleep. Gimme something else."
"Jules," Oliver said, "you're the best at scrubbing. With how big that cult has gotten, those guys over at the head office need you to keep doing it or else the public might find out about everything."
"They have two head offices doing it, though!"
"And it's still not enough. You have the talent to match them both in efficiency."
"You can't be buttering me up like this. You know I'm susceptible to it."
Oliver laughed. "That's the point."
"Enough, you two. Jules, you can manage yourself. You're smart enough to know what to do without me having to tell you," Willoughby said.
"Okay. I got it. I'll keep scrubbing—and I'll book those flights. Oh, before I start—just to be sure—we'll be working with Team Rooster, right?"
"Likely," Willoughby replied.
"Got it, got it. I guess I'll get serious, then. I'm off to my room," Jules said and, with laptop in hand, left for the server room.
Willoughby turned to Oliver and Emily. "You two can go over the report by the sofas. I need to make a call."
While the two youths went over the compiled data, Willoughby set up his tablet in the library and put in a video call to Office 2's admin. It rang for a while before the other side picked up.
"Olá, meu amigo. You've called at a bad time."
"Santiago, it's always a bad time with you," Willoughby said.
"Are you calling because your field captain is ready to fly over?"
"Could you bring in Team Rooster, along with your assistant, so I can introduce her?"
The old man laughed. "You think I just have Team Rooster on hand?"
Willoughby smiled knowingly. "Don't play with me. You've had them on standby since reports first started coming out of Athens. Unless you already sent them in without my go-ahead? HQ wouldn't like that."
"You act all high and mighty because HQ gave you total command, but don't let it slip from memory that your team needs our knowledge of the area. It would be wise to treat me with respect."
"Like how you respected my choice of field captain?"
Santiago rubbed his stubbly chin, accentuating the wrinkles on his face. "A lot of people have it out for you, Michael. If I didn't say something, someone else might have said something worse, or—Deus nos livre—done something to sabotage your plan."
"Don't worry about me. Just bring who I asked for and I'll get my field captain."
Santiago sighed before getting up and disappearing from frame. Willoughby called Emily and Oliver over and asked if they were done reviewing.
"All up to date," Emily said happily.
"Good. Come, sit here." Willoughby got up and guided Emily by her shoulders to sit where he sat. Oliver stood back to observe but not be observed—that was his role, after all.
When Santiago returned, he had switched his camera to one overlooking what looked like a command centre instead of his personal. Four people were beside him, all of them looking grumpy.
"É melhor fazer isso rápido, Willoughby. We were about to head out for dinner." A tall woman with olive skin and long silver hair stood up front with a hand on her hip and a deep scowl.
Santiago laughed. "I told you it was a bad time to call, didn't I?"
"You did. And I apologize, to all of you, but I wanted to make introductions sooner than later. This is Field Captain Emily Lehr. She will be the one leading the Athena Operation. If you could introduce yourselves and give a brief overview of your gifts, she will make note of it—won't you?" Willoughby gripped Emily's shoulders and she hurriedly grabbed a pen and notepad.
"Please leave it to me!"
The woman with long silver hair clicked her tongue. "Ines Cruz; I lead Team Rooster. My ability is manipulating light. This here is my second-in-command, Sofia D'Sousa"—she pointed to a petite woman with warm brown hair and a round face—"she can manipulate earth. Over there is Guilherme Costa, our hydromancer." A tall man with warm skin, a five o clock shadow, and messy brown hair bowed in greeting. Ines went on to explain their usual tactics, how they were the best team for Mediterranean operations, and that they don't like slackers—despite Guilherme being one.
Emily wrote it all down, even taking note of Ines' bossiness and Guilherme's laziness.
"And if you want additional assistance," Santiago added, "you can speak with my assistant, Isabela." He gestured to a heavy-set woman with dark purple hair, round glasses, and a beauty mark under her eye.
"Now that you've made their acquaintance, let's let them go have dinner," Willoughby said.
Emily was still writing stuff down but paused to look up at the screen. "Thanks. I'll send the outline as soon as I get it approved."
Ines was relieved to see such diligence. "Excelente. Até a próxima vez. Boa noite, Emily Lehr." She waved her hand at someone off screen and the call ended.
Emily was startled to hear Willoughby deflate behind her. "You okay, Willoughby?"
"Just... unwinding," he said.
"Were you that stressed?"
Willoughby grinned pitifully. "I can take that to mean I hid it well, right?"
"I guess," Emily mumbled.
"Santiago is a formidable man, as are everyone under his command. Be careful with how you interact with Team Rooster. They will take the lead from you the moment you show weakness. They really are the best in the Mediterranean, so treat them with respect, but don't let them walk all over you. There will be a plan, so make sure they follow it."
"How can I discipline them if they're so important?"
"Just remind them that HQ put us in charge of recovering Athena. Be firm with them, but not aggressive. So, do you have a plan?"
"I have some ideas. I'm going to rough it out while reviewing the data. Will you look it over when I'm done?"
"Of course."
"Then I'll get started right away."
Athens in late March had pleasant weather. Way better than rainy Vancouver, Emily thought as she stood in a queue in front of the airport waiting for a taxi. She checked her phone and looked back inside at arrivals. Where were the rest of her team? She looked out at the cars passing by, the full parking lot, and the blue mountains in the distance. This was her first time outside the country—first time outside the province—and she was a little nervous.
"Hey, Field Captain," a voice called to her from behind. She turned and saw her team rolling their luggage across the concrete past her. "Get out of that line. We have a private car." It was Kain, the team lead. While this wasn't technically Emily's first time meeting them, it was her first time seeing them in person. She got a good look at them as she followed the two guys.
Kain was a tall man with spiky black hair, dark eyes, and thick eyebrows. He wore a suit and was quite good looking, but seemed to always wear a frown. Charles, the second-in-command, was shorter than Kain. He had medium length reddish-brown hair with a messy curl to it. He wore green sunglasses and held a cigarette loosely between his grinning lips.
Behind her, Ethel trailed last. She wore very dark sunglasses, a bright yellow cap with bulky clothes, and had sunkissed brown hair. Her cheeks were smooth and round. She had a downcast expression and stared at the ground as she walked. "You okay, Ethel?" Emily asked.
"Huh?!" The girl seemed startled. "O-oh, I'm fine." She tried to smile but it was obvious it was fake.
"She's always like that," Kain said. "Hurry up. Team Rooster is waiting for us at the hotel." They made their way to a black van where a man in a suit waited for them.
"Office 3?" the man asked.
"Sebastian Galanis?" Kain said.
The man nodded. He opened the back of the van and helped them load up their luggage, which not only included their suitcases but their equipment, too. Three magic detectors, a capture device, anti-magic spray, magic suppression supplements, communication devices... It was a lot of stuff. Emily wondered why the other team wasn't bringing anything if it was their home turf.
Once all their things were stuffed in the back, Kain ordered them to get into the van. With the way things were going, Emily felt like she was just along for the ride. While she expected to stand up to Team Rooster, she didn't know she had to wrangle leadership from her team lead, too.
The hotel was located in a district called Makrygianni and looked way out of Emily's normal budget. As she crossed the threshold into the marble floored, brightly lit lobby, the feeling of not belonging surged within her.
"There you guys are," Ines called from the sitting area. "We already put our stuff away. You guys go ahead and get settled in."
"Yeah, thanks," Kain said, his reply so quick he almost cut her off.
"Chill, man," Charles said. "Don't gotta be so curt with her on the first day. We're working together, remember?"
Kain waited until they were in the elevator to reply, "They're only here because they know the area better than us. We don't actually need them."
"Actually," Emily butted in, "we do. They know the club we'll be staking out tonight. You read the op outline, right?"
"Yeah, I did. And I don't approve of it. Why hand over so much authority to them? This is our mission."
Charles laughed. "You were so pissed when you found out we had to come all the way here. Why are you all gung-ho all of a sudden?"
Kain glared at his friend. "What're you trying to say?"
Charles raised his hands defensively. "Nothing, really! Just thought this might be your natural competitiveness kicking in." Kain was quiet for once.
Ethel looked up from the floor at her leader and said, "Charles has a point. This isn't a time to be competitive, Kain." Her voice was quiet, sweet.
Kain sighed. "Can we just drop off our stuff and go get dinner?"
The club atmosphere was electric. Energy flowed through the air. Emily, along with Ines and Guilherme, sat at a table behind a row of sofas. They ordered non-alcoholic drinks in order to help blend in, but Emily's attire struck them out anyway.
"If you didn't have anything appropriate to wear, you should have said something," Ines said scornfully. While everyone else was wearing fashionable clothing with varying degrees of reflectiveness and modesty, Emily wore a long flowing skirt with a patterned shirt and a jean jacket.
"I've never actually been to a club before," Emily admitted. "I thought this was appropriate spring wear."
"It would be, if we were at a cafe. Not a club." Ines sighed. "Anyway, let's forget about it. People may look at you weird, but it shouldn't stop us from observing."
"Okay," Emily said helplessly.
"I told you to wear something else," Kain said over comms.
"I don't want to hear that from you," Emily chided. "Have you guys secured the perimeter outside?"
"Of course," Kain replied. "We've been in position for a while already."
"Then all we have to do now is wait," Emily said.
"Not for long," Sofia said from her position at the bar. "Athena spotted. Robed woman with long hair at 10 o'clock."
"What?" Kain said, concerned. "When did she arrive? We didn't see anything."
"She's heading into the back. Request to haunt."
"Granted," Ines said but Emily freaked out.
"No, Sofia, don't pursue. It's too soon."
Sofia didn't reply. Emily watched from her seat, helpless, as the petite woman weaved through the crowd towards one of the back doors. Before she could even make it past the stage, Athena made a twirling motion with her index finger and suddenly everyone in the club turned to look at them—the outsiders.
"Uh, this doesn't look good..." Emily said. As if a switch had been flipped, people began moving towards them.
"What's going on?" Kain shouted.
"Athena did something," Emily said as she pushed someone off her. "I think she snuck out the back. Keep an eye out for her."
"Will do."
Hands. That was all Emily could see, it was all she could feel. They were all over her, holding her down, pulling at her clothes, her limbs, her hair. Their vice like grip imprisoned her in place and she felt claustrophobic. She tried to kick people off and rise above the wave of people, but it was futile. "Ines, plan B!" she screamed, unable to hide the fear in her voice.
A little distance away, Ines managed to stick her hand in the air and immediately filled the club with a blindingly bright light. It was as if the sun had appeared. A wave of groans and complaints echoed through the air. Emily pushed people off her and ran over to where she last saw Sofia, helping to free her, too. Once all free, the team took this chance to escape out the front.
"Anyone got eyes?" Emily said through comms.
A few blocks away, Charles stood on a roof overlooking a busy intersection. "I think I got something," he said. "A group of five heading down Vourvachi towards Kallirrois. They're heading for a black van."
"Stall until we get there, but stay out of range," Emily said and then to the agents with her, "Split up and surround them."
From his roof position, Charles had a great view of both the van and the suspects. He grinned before he stuck his index and thumb into his mouth like he was about to whistle. His throat stung as, carefully, his fingers pulled out a long strip of what looked like clear plastic with glowing lettering on it. As the strip grew longer, his voice began resonating from it. Over and over again, the glowing strip chanted, "Να σκουριάζει." To rust. To rust. To rust. He struggled through the entire process until at last he ripped it from his throat. While staring at the fan, he let go, and it floated against the wind to land on the back of the van. The effect was immediate as the van was coated in a reddish brown corrosion. He watched as the five individuals panicked, yelled at each other, and then ran off in different directions. "One going back up Vourvachi. The other four ran opposite ways down Kallirrois in pairs."
Charles watched as Ines blinded the one who went alone and quickly handcuffed her. "Caught the loner," she said and then waved up at him.
"We got the other two going north," Sofia said as she and Guilherme cuffed the two they'd caught.
"Three out of five? Not bad," Emily said. "Ines, call our police contact. Tell them we're headed their way."
The three cultists sat contentedly in their cells, responding with nothing but praise for Athena whenever spoken to.
Ines crossed her arms. "I say we keep interrogating them." She glared at the prisoners and then glanced over at Emily and Kain at the end of the hall. "What do you two think?"
"They're still enthralled," Kain said.
"We can't give them anymore suppressors," Emily said and sighed. "We're not going to get through to them anytime soon. Let's call it a night and get some rest. Maybe they'll have recovered by morning."
Ines put her hands on her hips. "I disagree, but if that's what the field captain wants, so be it. Your call."
Emily stepped out of the station and told everyone waiting outside they were done for the night.
"All right! Anyone want to go grab a drink?" Sofia said. Charles and Guilherme said they'd tag along, and Sofia somehow weaseled Ines and Ethel to go along with them.
"Have fun, guys—but not too much fun! We still have to work tomorrow," Emily said as she said goodbye to everyone.
Kain stepped outside beside Emily and watched his teammates walk off into the night.
"They're going to get smashed, aren't they?" she said.
"Yup," Kain replied and they both laughed. "You headed back to the hotel?"
"That's the plan."
"I'll get us a taxi."
Emily watched him head back inside and ask an officer to call a car for them. When he returned she said, "Not going to get a special car like before?"
"Before?" he repeated and then said, "Oh, you mean at the airport?" He chuckled. "No. That was Isabela's doing."
"She's amazing. I sent her the op outline at like midnight for her and only an hour later she replied with all these bookings and maps. Even better than whatever Jules was fumbling around with. It was everything I needed to set the outline in stone."
"Santiago runs a tight ship, but that isn't to say he's the reason why she's so capable. I heard it all from Ines earlier. Isabela apparently comes from a prestigious family that's been doing this stuff for generations."
"Like royalty?"
Kain laughed. "Sure."
"It's amazing to think something like that exists."
"They do things differently in this part of the world compared to the Americas. There's definitely an emphasis on lineages. It's pretty rare to have a gift pass down so it's a shame about Isabela. All that talent but still no recognition. If it weren't for bad luck, she'd be the one out there doing missions."
Emily furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"
"She's a normal person. Like you, but before what happened."
At some point in the middle of the night, Ethel managed to stumble into the suite she shared with Emily. She normally held her liquor well but maybe this time it was too much. She felt her gut suddenly lurch and she sprinted to the washroom. As she bent over the toilet she heard a phone ring.
"Hello? Yes, speaking. Mhm. Oh, fuck. What? Keep her on suicide watch. I'll come by first thing in the morning and we can go from there. Thank you for calling."
Ethel hung onto the washroom door frame and said, "What happened?"
Emily rubbed her face as she spoke. "Two of our prisoners killed themselves. The third tried but an officer managed to stop her. Hold on, I have to call Isabela." Emily swiped on her phone and waited for the other line to pick up. "Boa noite, Isabela. Sorry to call this late... I know. Oh, you heard? Yeah, I was wondering if you could prepare dossiers for all three prisoners? You don't have to it right—okay, then. Thank you so much, Isabela. You're the best. Okay. Boa noite."
"You've picked up some Portuguese," Ethel commented.
Emily laughed shyly. "You've heard all of it. It's everyone else doing me a favor by speaking in English." She sighed. "Anyway, Isabela said she'll have the dossiers ready in a few hours but it's still—1AM. Let's rest and I'll fill the others in in the morning."
Ethel nodded and quickly rinsed her mouth before crawling into her bed. "Good night, Emily."
"Night, Ethel."
Not everyone reacted poorly to the news that they were down two prisoners. Guilherme seemed rather cheered up by it, if only because he believed the enthrallment was permanent and there was simply no hope for them to recover—evidenced by the fact that, even by morning, the prisoner that was left still raved about the glory of Athena.
"So we're left with no leads," Charles said.
"Not exactly." Emily sent an email to the group. "Isabela compiled dossiers about the three prisoners. We're going to split up into pairs and investigate their homes. Let's go."
The first place, an apartment in Koukaki, was assigned to Ines and Kain. It was a cute neighborhood with many balconies, lots of greenery, and brick walkways. The apartment was above a cafe so it smelled like coffee beans. The washroom stank. Its walls were covered in newspaper clippings of Athena's feats over the past few weeks, with partially melted candles arranged around the sink like an altar. Inside the sink was a rotting pile of dead rats—all drained of blood and with clear finger indentations as if they were squeezed alive. Besides this gruesome display, not much was found at this location. According to the newspaper dates and the deceased's severe lack of funds, Ines and Kain assumed this guy was likely one of Athena's first followers. Kain stepped outside to call in a cleanup crew, leaving Ines inside to finish up looking around. As she closed the front door and locked it, she made a silent prayer for help in exorcising any malicious presence that may have been leftover.
The second place was a yacht. How someone could give away all their possessions to Athena and be reduced to living exclusively out of a yacht was a process beyond the team's scope of knowledge. While Sofia interviewed people in the area, Charles searched the ship. Upon ducking below deck and seeing the mess there, one word came to mind: pigsty. The tell tale signs of wild partying were everywhere, from the discarded liquor bottles to the clogged toilets. Enough clothes were strewn about that he wondered if a bunch of people had simply left them there and elected to go home naked. The yacht was, in regards to their investigation, unremarkable. That is, until Charles reached the master cabin, its walls plastered with ripped pages from reference books referring to Athena—and Artemis—and a pile of bloodstained bedding in the corner. The pile was still wet, and dark bloody smears radiating out across the room. He frowned at the clear sign of the blood sacrifices the cult had made, and realised the members of the yacht party might not have gone home after all. As he looked around the room, he noticed a binder on the bedside table with a clearly visible bloody handprint on the cover. He carefully picked it up and flipped through it. It outlined a trip to Selçuk to visit Ephesus, which Charles found odd. Something inside him chilled as he flipped through the pages, an inkling of an idea coming to him. Finally, he shut the binder and shoved the whole thing into a plastic bag, then his messenger bag. He needed to tell the others what he found.
The third place was a one bedroom apartment in Ano Petralona, a cozy, friendly neighborhood near downtown Athens. The apartment itself was sparse of furniture, like it was recently moved into—or recently sold off—but the floor was covered in garbage. Food wrappers, tissue, empty bottles. Like the other two locations, there was a room with its walls plastered in some kind of Athena memorabilia, and signs of blood sacrifice. Ethel stared at the refuse and thought it a pity how this sleek, modern apartment was the site of such awful rituals. "How can a normal person become so enthralled by a being like Athena that they would shed blood like this?" she wondered aloud.
Guilherme inspected the empty garbage can in the kitchen, flies attacking his face, and said, "These days, it doesn't take much. People are desperate to believe in something—anything. It doesn't matter where we grew up or what kind of lives we've been living. When such hollow people witness an event that appears to be a true miracle, that's all that's needed. In other words, when a god comes knocking, people can't seem to say no—even when it's fake."
After the three teams returned to the hotel, they had a meeting with Emily to share what was found and they all agreed the Selçuk lead seemed the most promising.
"Good job today, guys," Emily said. "I'll call Isabela, get our transportation arranged. In the meantime, get some rest. Just be ready to check out tomorrow."