The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 61: Common Goal

Original Post Date: Apr 30, 2024

Note: Story starts in Wyvern, Aerial ABC backwards filter and has a Prologue. Last chapter in Plesiosaur, next chapter in Sarco.

~

“Are you out of your damn mind, Deputy? You can’t just storm into a bar and incapacitate everyone in there, regardless if there’s a fight going on or not!” a man with a thick mustache was scolding Warren from his desk. Warren crossed his arms as he rocked himself back and forth on the stiff wooden chair.

“And what did you want me to do boss? Officer Sam was in danger.”

“You could have very well just tased them all. You were reckless out there and you were not even assigned to stop that madness. That was Officer Sam’s task, not yours,” Warren’s boss sternly said with a pointed finger, “We’re suspending you until further notice. You’re lucky you aren’t outright taken off the force.”

“Gee thanks a lot,” Warren replied while rolling his eyes. The mustached man shot him a glance, and Warren got up from his seat.

“Get out of my office now before I add another offense to your record.”

“Okay okay! Mr. Justice is leaving,” Warren said, raising his hands in surrender and exiting the office.

As Warren walked past police officers and sheriffs alike, and out to the reception area of the station, he saw a woman with long black-blonde hair that fell to her chest standing there with her arms crossed. She was wearing a black tee-shirt and black jeans. It was Sam.

“What happened to your hair?” Warren asked with scrunched eyes.

“Dying my hair was becoming a bit of a hassle…” Sam admitted. She put her hands in her pockets shyly, “Detective Darren finally forwarded the video footage. Let’s view it.”

“I’d love to do that, but I’m kind of starving,” Warren told her, “Can we grab some grub?”

“You really think grub-” Sam paused, and scoffed, “Fine. We can get something to eat. But you’re paying.”

Warren and Sam made their way to a local burger joint called “Nunya Buns”. As the two entered a bell rang, and they were greeted with the waft of fresh fried potatoes and sizzling meat. Sam’s eyes lit up as they entered, and her stomach grumbled.

“Haven’t been to a place like this in a while,” Sam muttered, her eyes getting droopy. Warren walked up to the stand and ordered something, and the two made their way to a two-seater, where they took a seat.

“Alright. Let’s get to business,” Warren said. Sam pulled out her phone and played the video. She sped the video up, until eventually they reached the part where the graduates mysteriously disappeared.

“I managed to find a specific camera that had Samuel on it, and there was something… interesting,” Sam explained. She tapped her phone a few times, and the camera was pointed at a man with black graduation robes. He had sparkling eyes and a soft smile. Samuel.

“Look. You know how the others kind of scream, and then they disappear? Look at Samuel. He doesn’t.”

Sam played the video, and it went just how it did the last time they watched it back at Terran High. The scream of the principal rang out, and everyone else followed. A tanned woman near Samuel fell into his arms, but Samuel made no groan. The enveloping light poured into the camera again, and they were gone.

“But what could it mean?” Warren asked, “And so what? We still don’t know why they disappeared or who could have been responsible for this.”

Just then, a waiter with a paper sailor’s hat passed by and dropped off a tray stocked with two big juicy burgers and a large bucket filled with thin stringshoe fries. Sam eyed the burger warrily, before grabbing it and taking a large bite out of it.

“Maybe the principal was keeping his eye on him, and chose to exclude him?”

“I guess, but… why would he scream out in pain too? If he was responsible for the disappearances, why put that on himself?”

“I don’t know Warren, he was CRAZY!” Sam yelled, slamming her fist on the table. Warren slunk his head hopelessly on the table.

“We’re getting nowhere with this…”

“What are you talking about? We’ve gotten so much info!”

“We have practically no leads Samantha! Our kid could be out fighting for his life on whatever space island whichever sickos decided to abduct scholars for and we’re out here studying why he isn’t screaming!”

“Let’s not get hasty. We can still ask Calem for help, he might know something we don’t.”

“I guess you’re right…”

Warren reached into his phone to call him when the door to the restaurant opened and two men walked in. As Sam spotted them, her face dropped.

“Oh great, not this guy again.”

“Hey, I heard you two were on an investigation… Care if I join?”

Warren turned around, and standing there was Big Jack with a tanned, tall collected man by his side. Warren squinted his eyes at him.

“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be serving jail time for… you know, starting a massive bar fight?”

“They only slapped me with a fine. It was in… self defense after all, hee hee,” Big Jack giggled. His face suddenly transformed into that of seriousness, “Joking aside though, my little brother’s gone too. Lil Jack and I were supposed to rob a few chumps blind after he graduated, but now he’s gone and I don’t know where he went.”

The tanned man eyed him with concern, before turning to the two and introducing himself.

“I’m Son. My nephew was also involved in the Terran High Incident. I saw your message on the Dex, and I couldn’t help but feel obligated to find you. I went to the station, met Big Jack here on the way, and now here we are. We should work together if we want our loved ones back,” Son calmly said. He was very well-spoken and had a strange accent, as if he came from another region.

“We all have one thing in common, I suppose,” Warren replied, “So what, does that mean we’re all teaming up or…”

Big Jack pumped his fist in the air in excitement.

“Nyah hah hah! Yes! I get to work with the Judge…”

Son pointed his thumb at the door.

“I think we should go to the library, I discovered something that might really help us. You two can finish eating up. Me and Big Jack will be waiting outside.”

Son walked out the door, and before Big Jack left, he grabbed a handful of fries from the bucket. Warren let out a snort at the sight, and got up from his seat, cracking his neck and grabbing the food.

“Alright. Let’s go, I’ll call Calem on the way out and tell him we’ve got more help,” Warren told Sam. He reached into his pocket and pulled out two dozen bucks, putting it on the table for the waiters to collect.

“Okay… Warren,” Sam replied with a smug smile. The two stepped out of the restaurant, and as they did Warren brought out his phone to call Calem. But before he called him, he noticed a notification on his phone. It was from the Dex. He opened the app up, and there, he saw a message delivered to him on the forum.

“Deputy Warren. Pleasure to meet you. Tales of Evolution and Survival can be found in the Archives. Once you go there, go to the year 2015 and scroll all the way to the bottom. You’ll find his story there. I do warn you though not to dig any deeper. Your kid is doing just fine. This is for your own safety. - Moon.”

A smirk tugged at the corner of Warren’s lip.

“Perfect.”