<strong><em>~Quantum Urbs, Bellerophaune District~</em></strong><br/><br/>Marcos slammed the phone back down in its receiver, tears of rage threatening to spill down his ruddy cheeks. Another lead gone cold, another hour wasted. The old man had called in markers all over the city, looking for any more information that could help Luke complete his mission. He realized he should have provided the young man with what he already had at his disposal, but he simply couldn't bring himself to risk that knowledge falling into the wrong hands. He should have known better; Luke Saipher was not a man to be underestimated. Marcos was barely even surprised when that pet ghost of his called, demanding information regarding ArmsTech; it would not have been a stretch to say he even expected it. The relevant files, what few were available, were already packaged and waiting.<br/><br/><em><strong><span class="bbc_u">ArmsTech</span></strong>!</em><br/><br/>Oh, how he hated that name, hated it and all it stood for with the fiery passion of a blazing nova! Scum. Depravity. Scheming body snatchers, sewer rats scavenging all the good in the world and perverting it into sick, twisted caricatures of hatred and destruction. His hatred of those miserable monsters was surpassed by only one thing.<br/><br/>His hatred for himself.<br/><br/>Marcos had searched for months, overturning every stone, digging into every field of research, seeking a miracle. At last he had given up hope, resigned himself to fate's mercy, turned away from science and prayed, truly prayed for divine intervention. And that was when the devils of ArmsTech had appeared at his door, offering his salvation from lips dripping with poison.<br/><br/>"We can save her," they said, and he accepted their offer. Indeed, he leaped at it like a starving dog upon a marrow bone. And save her they did.<br/><br/>And then they stole her.<br/><br/>Marcos blinked away his tears and slowed his breathing as best he could; emotion could not help matters now. In truth, he didn't know if anything he could do could help matters any further. Everything was in God's hands, now. Or Saipher's. He honestly didn't know if it made a difference.<br/><br/><strong><em>~Alice's Home~</em></strong><br/><br/>Luke's sandals squeaked softly on the polished wood as he made his way back toward the kitchen. A quick peek around the corner showed the others were nowhere around, and he shuffled into the kitchen.<br/><br/>'So, about that information from Marcos. You said he had some data on ArmsTech?' Luke thought as he raided the cabinets, digging out a box of chocolate crisp cereal. He studied the box for a moment and wondered why such a serious chick as Alice would have such a kiddy cereal on hand, but he wasn't about to complain. Another rummage through the room yielded a clean bowl and spoon.<br/><br/>'Right. According to Marcos, ArmsTech started out as just another military hardware company; however, about 15 years ago they started making some considerably one-sided deals with the government. At first it just seemed like they were adding a lot of regional prefectures to their pockets, but then some evidence turned up concerning biological weapons research.' 'Human experimentation?' Luke asked as he rifled through the fridge. 'Not at first. Apparently there was a lot of research conducted, but most of it remained strictly theoretical, though there were some rumors of live tests involving rodents, canines, primates, that sort of thing. But 7 years ago, their records seem to go dark. Marcos suspects that's when the human testing began.'<br/><br/>Luke withdrew a can of soda from the fridge and moved to the table. As he popped the top and poured the soda over his cereal, he considered the new information. 'I'm guessing this is the part where you tell me that our new friends were heavily involved, yeah?' He asked, munching on the fizzy cereal. 'Seems that way. Marcos couldn't provide any information on any of the subjects except you know who, but he did hear whispers of the names of some of the other candidates. The Ureha brothers were mentioned, as was, apparently, one Captain Joren Tolkki. There were at least three others, but their profiles are redacted.'<br/><br/>Luke finished his cereal and pushed the bowl away. The spoon twirled and danced over his knuckles as he thought. Tolkki's involvement failed to surprise him; a dude that hard-core almost had to be military. He wondered where the brothers Ureha had gotten involved, but decided it probably didn't matter at the moment. Alice was almost certainly one of the subjects whose records were completely deleted; he had a hunch he knew what that meant, but he didn't much like the road it led him to.<br/><br/>'Damn Marcos; he should have known better than to send us in blind like this. I'm almost tempted to redouble my fee.' 'Now would probably be the time to do it; I think he'd pay almost any amount to get her back safely.' Luke leaned back in his chair, tipping the front legs into the air. He tossed the spoon behind him into the sink and crossed his feet on the table. 'Ah, hell. Let it go. Poor bastard's going through enough right now; we can always put the screws to him later. Now, how about our Saints? Who else do we have?' 'Good news on that front: Roberts is in the area. I've already sent word; he's putting together a level-3 care package and prepping a safe house as we speak.' 'Excellent! Wasn't Roberts the one who-' 'The one who stole the Caumpfeldt Diaries, eliminated the Tang Sun Triad and managed to prevent the Magrasserum Syndicate from consolidating their power and assuming total control over the city's organized crime. Yes.' Luke smiled as she completed her report. 'And people say good help is hard to find.' 'It is, for other people. That's because you've already beaten them to it.'<br/><br/>'Yeah. Ain't I just a stinker?' Luke grinned as he rose from his seat and laid his bowl in the sink. As he was leaving the kitchen, a haunting melody drifted through the manor and gripped his attention. He followed the sound quietly, almost stalking through the hallways as the music grew louder. At last he found its source, and he leaned against the wall outside as Gwin and Ureha demonstrated their mastery over their instruments. The pain in their music, he thought, fittingly reflected the pain in their spirits. His head bowed, eyes shut softly, Luke listened from the shadows as the two poured their hearts out to each other through melody.