Identifying

Posted on Sat Dec 17th, 2022 @ 9:54 by Phoebe Hunter & Robert Closeley

Chapter: Days of Future Past
Location: MI13 HQ
Timeline: 1988
1002 words - 2 OF Standard Post Measure

"What do you make of this?" The agent replaying the sequence looked over at Phoebe for her input. "It almost looks like he's anticipating things. Guards. Other inmates. Even codes."

The hooded figure seemed to dance around the hallways of the maximum security prison of The Tower, which was in an undisclosed location rather than the historical place dead centre of London. He caught a guard unawares, just after they checked in with the central giving him ten minutes to do what he needed. A tight window in the best of circumstances. Which is exactly what the hooded individual continued to have. The only hiccup was at the passcode, he seemed to hesitate for a moment before finally putting in the right code in one code. A code that changes every two hours and would take someone guessing about a day and a half of continued effort to crack.

All the doors seemed to open for him and all the patrols seemed to miss any sign of his activity by sheer chance.

"Perhaps one of those Gladstone Ganders?" There were a couple of high-profile mutants on the list of MI13 that had the best of luck. Winning bets on dark horses ten times in a row, or winning the lottery without buying a ticket. That sort of stuff.

Phoebe raised an eyebrow as she sat and looked at the footage. Every second of it she could feel herself growing more and more sure of who it was and how it had happened. She had spent two years of her life intertwined with the man and knew him, knew how he moved but this had thrown her for a loop in front of her colleagues.

"Maybe." She said as she played it again wanting to be certain but she knew she was, she knew the hooded figure was Robert and he was using her abilities. "Who is the prisoner that he is breaking out?" She demanded as she finally watched to the end.

"Goes by the name Mirage, can manipulate minds and show them illusions. Changing the environment in her target's perception." She pointed at the end of the recording, showing how both of them just walked out of the employee exit, passing by a couple of guards and staff without issue. "No known associations." The agent rifled through the papers, "Heather Redding, 25, from some small village in the Cotswolds. Estranged from her family. Was found manipulating some rich old folks out of their money. Drained them for almost all they were worth before we caught her. It didn't seem like the first time she'd done it. The Tower was trying to find ways to mitigate her powers, to limited success. So she was in solitary confinement."

Phoebe nodded as she watched the pair leave without question. It was all over and done within minutes. "Do we have any other angles?" She wondered looking at the grainy footage again.

The agent cycled through a couple different cameras. The Tower had top of the line security, including state of the art CCTV. But none of that really mattered if a mutant came waltzing in with no regard for any of that. "The perpetrator's face is never visible. Same as before, always seems to turn his head at just the right moment."

It stabbed like a knife in her heart to know that this was the side that Robert had chosen and the divide between them was never going to be hurt. Had it all been fake to break this woman out of prison? Had it really been the long game? "Sir... it looks like a mimic of my powers or someone with at least a similar ability as me," Phoebe admitted knowing she had to admit that she had some type of idea of how the process was being done.

"Any known threats out there with pre-cog abilities?" The supervisory agent who had been standing quietly in a corner up until now, asked.

“Only me and it’s not me there.” Phoebe said shortly. It looked nothing like her for one thing and she had an alibi in being with her partner luckily.

"Alright, so a new threat." The supervisory agent turned to a nearby analyst, "Start a dossier on them. Pre-cog abilities, known associates Heather Redding, a.k.a. Mirage. Possibly romantically involved." He turned to Phoebe to see if there was something she wanted to add to the very preliminary set-up of the document.

It took every ounce of emotional reliance and strength to not show the emotional pain she was feeling at the betrayal she was feeling for her powers to be used the way it was let alone anything else. “I do not have anything to add unless you want me to… do my thing.” She indicated her head. She knew he would not as it would put her out of action for days but it seemed appropriate to offer.

The supervisory agent's eyes narrowed, wondering if he should press this. He also knew he needed her abilities in more pressing matters. Mirage had been a low-profile mutant and while her abilities were dangerous it seemed she'd only ever used them for personal gain. This wasn't political, so it wasn't a priority for MI13. "We might need to focus elsewhere. Assign a field asset to follow up on this matter. Put out an APW, let's make sure they don't flee the country." He instructed the analyst seated at the desk before turning to Phoebe, "Oracle, you're with me. We've had a threat on Thatcher's life."

Phoebe just stared at the images on the screen for a moment before she gathered herself fully and out every twirling emotion away deep inside. “Must be a Tuesday,” Phoebe said with a roll of her eyes. It was standard behaviour for most of the universe at the moment to attempt to assassinate any of the world leaders to make their cause well known across the world. “Human or our kind?” She asked. “Or both?”