Penumbrials Ch. 00: First Contact

*The new series I'm working on for a complete science fiction/thriller/erotic theme to complement the current work in other genres.

PENUMBRIALS is based in a parallel version of the Daily Life with Furry Girls universe, although in this case things turned out darker and has all the drama, violence, and sex it causes. Also, harem. ;-)

Episode 00:

Dormin Oarion, security guard at an electronics firm catches the fox anthro Therizo playing games on the prototype high end workstations during his night shift.

She manages to escape but leaves behind her backpack with a highly sophisticated portable computer for which people in suits are willing to kill not just the two for, but also a police detective.

*

First Contact

The cloudless night with the waning moon was no different from other nights. At least, it didn't look different. But a nagging feeling in the back of Dormin's mind told him something was not like any other night when he worked his shift as he put on the jacket of his dark blue guard uniform.

The campus of Heismann Research, an electronics laboratory with several buildings, wasn't too big for one man to keep an eye on with the amount of security installed. His usual rounds only needed him to do a general tour and double check the local alarm terminals to see if anything was amiss. It had been an uneventful five months with the exception of one heavy thunderstorm which struck just enough times to set off the alarm in one building.

The night was quiet and he enjoyed the cooler night air at the start of autumn and the sound of the few crickets that lived around the campus. He swiped his card at the second largest building which hosted the testing department. The lock at the door buzzed softly, he stepped inside and into the alcove with the alarm terminal.

Everything was red which meant all doors locked and unopened. He stepped out of the alcove and headed towards the reception desk to follow the dimly lit main hallway through the length of the building when that feeling nagged him again.

He listened for a while but nothing other than the faint sound of a coffee machine close by disturbed the silence in the building. It didn't sooth his subconscious though and he sighed. He'd have to take a look at each floor to quiet his mind.

Without making a sound he went up the stone stairs and moved along the thick carpeted corridor on the next floor. Most of the offices and labs had windows so a quick scan left and right was enough to see all was as it should be in the night. Until he spotted one of the lab rooms in the back where all windows were blackened. That's when his mind nudged him to take a closer look.

He opened the door to the main office carefully first and listened. Office equipment and ventilation hummed softly in their night mode. He stepped inside and halfway to the door of the dark lab room he noticed it. All locks should either have a green or a red indicator light. That door had neither. He took out his mobile and checked the daily security log for an entry that might tell him the lock was broken.

Nothing like that was in the list. He put away his mobile and took out his gun. It was standard procedure to have it in hand when confronted by an anomaly, even if it turned out to be nothing serious.

He moved to the side of the door and listened again. This time he heard some faint noises which he couldn't make any sense of. An occasional sharp crack and possible screaming were the only things he thought he recognised through the sound proofed wall. Whatever it was, it didn't sound like what was to be expected and he put his hand on the doorknob. He jerked open the door and aimed his gun inside.

The first thing he noticed were three large screens showing a view of an overgrown urban environment. They lit up the startled face of a fox with her long red-brown hair in two tails at the sides of her head, wearing a large black t-shirt with white line drawing of a cartoon cat's head, and baggy black pants. She had good reflexes because he had to duck t once to dodge the mouse thrown at his head.

The next thing thrown at him were books and file folders and he had to jump back to avoid them. The fox had used that moment to rush past him and ran for the office door. He reached out to her and nearly tripped her when her leg hit his fingers but she was too fast. He bolted the moment she went through the door and pursued her as she ran down the corridor. He ran down the stairs, heard the front door when he reached the ground floor and ran towards it. Outside he saw no sign of her and ran in the direction of the gate surrounding the campus. Looking left and right he still saw no sign of her.

'Shit!' he said and holstered his gun. He went back inside to the lab room and saw it was some first shooter game that ran on the prototype workstations there. He laughed at the realisation that she had broken into the lab only to see how well these new computers ran that game. Somehow he understood since he had picked up on how brutal this game was to hardware and gamers needed to have state of the art computers to run it in all its glory. He shook his head and called the local police department to report the break-in.

Dormin had completed a check of the rest of the building when an unmarked grey sedan arrived at the campus. The black haired and naturally tanned woman in it identified herself as detective Adalet Saliman via the intercom at the main gate, and he let her in by opening the gate via the remote control on his mobile. A few minutes later he welcomed her downstairs at the door. She wore a grey suit with matching teal coloured dress shirt matching her alert blue-grey eyes, and black flat shoes which he thought looked good and were practical. He estimated her to be in her early thirties and that she would turn a man's head even at old age.

'Dormin Oarion.' he said as he held out his hand.

'Adalet Saliman.' she said and shook his hand. Even though she just met him she thought there was more to him than his looks of a late twenties man revealed. His eyes which were as brown as his hair looked much more mature. 'Have you found any other disturbances?'

He led her up the stairs. 'No, nothing else in that office or anywhere else seemed to have been touched.'

'And nothing out of the ordinary outside?'

He shook his head. 'Nothing so far.'

'I've relayed your description of her and the officers on patrol will keep an eye out.'

He showed her the lab room and she chuckled seeing the game on the screens. 'This is a first one for me.'

'She's not dumb. She managed to get inside somehow.'

'No tampering with the security system?'

'Not as far as I can tell.'

Adalet nodded. 'Okay then.' she said and pulled out a card from her jacket pocket. 'How about you come to the station tomorrow for the formalities? If you happen to find something later or someone else reports anything missing or damaged we can add it to the report then. I'll have someone come by here to check for fingerprints by then.'

Dormin took her card and gave her a quick smile. 'All right. I'll come by some time in the morning after I've talked with my boss and most people are back at work here.'

She smiled back and shook his hand. 'I expect I'll still be there so see you then.' she said and left to drive back to the station.

In case there was a need for it he took pictures of the mess and the lab room. When he took the picture of one corner he noticed a black black backpack under the counter. He picked it up and took out the contents.

Two game discs of which one was the running game, and a printout of hardware specifications marked with numbers and a few question marks was enough to tell him the backpack was hers.

The only other item in the pack was what looked like two large but slim pitch black tablets stuck together. He looked closely at the long sides and found a flat button. He pressed it and unfolded the thing into two bezel-less screens that lit up with a couple of thin blue bordered windows with green text inside and a blue and green outlined on-screen keyboard at one side. He knew enough about computers to tell this one was far from ordinary and decided to deliver it personally to Adalet.

He folded the portable and put it back into the backpack with the rest, picked up the books and the mouse that she had thrown and put it on one side of the counter, then wrote a note to inform the room was off-limits until police had arrived, and stuck it to the door. He took the backpack with him for the rest of his rounds and put it in his car after he returned to the guard office.

***

Dormin reported what had happened to his boss and his colleagues in the morning and checked with the people working at the office for anything else the fox might have done. When that was done he changed from his guard uniform into the black suit and the navy blue dress shirt he usually wore and drove off to the police station.

***

The station occupied one corner of a cluster of multi-storey buildings and Dormin parked at the edge of the visitor section of the car park in front. About to get out, he stopped when two men in dark grey suits standing near a large black sedan caught his attention.

The men were looking around too much and the way they held their arms against their body meant they were hiding something. He had seen that behaviour often enough during his military years. A quick breeze flipped the corner of the jacket of one man and the glimpse of a submachine gun told him enough.

The nagging feeling in the back of his head spoke up again and he got out of the car, leaving the backpack in it. Without a glance at the car or the men he crossed the street and went up the two steps to the front doors of the station. At the front desk he showed Adalet's card and the canine officer reminding him of a bulldog gave him directions to find her.

When he stepped into the large and busy office he found her standing at her desk in one corner at the front of the building, talking to a man in what he guessed was his late forties, wearing a very dark blue suit. Adalet saw him coming in and beckoned him to come over.

'Good timing.' she said. 'We were just talking about the break-in from last night. The same suspect might be involved in an earlier break-in and theft at Elecore.'

Dormin gave her a nod. 'Oh?'

'This is mister Davies, head of security at Elecore.' she said as she gestured at the man and turned to Davies. 'And this is mister Oarion, who caught the suspect in the act last night.'

Dormin shook Davies's hand. 'Several portable computers were stolen which contain information on our products.' Davies said. 'They are encrypted of course, and luckily the data on it isn't extremely top secret, but we still don't want it in the wrong hands.'

Dormin nodded. 'I understand. How can I help?'

'We already received the description of the suspect you gave and heard nothing seemed to be missing. Nothing more has turned up?'

Dormin shook his head. 'Nothing out of the ordinary has been reported this morning after work started. Nothing missing or damaged.'

Davies hummed. 'And the suspect left nothing behind?'

'She didn't leave anything that indicated how she got into the building, no. She was unexpectedly quick as she dodged me and ran away.'

Davies nodded. 'Shame. It might have helped if we had another clue to go on.' He flashed a quick smile at Adalet and Dormin. 'Thank you for your information. I hope the suspect can be caught soon and will no longer bring trouble.'

'We'll be in contact.' said Adalet and Davies gave a nod as he left.

Dormin watched him as he stopped to shake the hand of a superintendent for a moment. 'I don't know about that guy.'

Adalet moved to the window and looked down at the street. 'Same here. There's something he's not telling.'

Dormin moved next to her. 'And those guys carry weaponry that's overkill for a simple electronics firm. I caught a glimpse when I arrived.'

'Government or private party?'

'I'd say private. Probably a few former professionals mixed in.'

'Like you?'

He chuckled. 'It's obvious?'

She grinned a little at him and her eyes twinkled for a moment. 'That suit looks to good on you for you to be a simple night guard.'

'I've been in the military for a few years, did a few special missions where a suit was required.'

'Right.' she said and returned to her seat at her desk. 'I'd say you're doing very well at that.'

He smiled back at her. 'I must say that you look good as well. Would have guessed you were a valued manager somewhere.'

She chuckled. 'I did think I'd become one while I was at school, but I found out soon enough working in a business environment was not for me. By chance I came across the police academy and that was it for me.'

He nodded and sat down in the chair next to her desk. 'I found a backpack after you left.'

'You still have it?'

He nodded. 'There were two games in it, one of them the one you saw which is why I knew it was hers. And there was a portable computer in it. A very sleek and advanced model. It opened up into two screens linked seamlessly together.'

'Any indication where it came from?'

'Didn't see. And I didn't take a good look at it. I just put everything back in the pack with the idea to deliver it to you personally.'

She nodded and glanced to the superintendent talking to one of her colleagues. 'Maybe it's best not to do that here and now. If they happen to see you carry it, they'd know you were lying.'

'True.'

'How about I drop by your place tonight before starting my shift? Under the guise of a few more questions about the break-in.'

He smiled. 'No problem. You can even join me for dinner if you eat as late as I do. Nothing fancy though, just some things thrown together.'

She chuckled. 'It would mean I don't have to cook dinner for myself for once, so I'd like that.'

'Okay, it's a date.'

His grin made her chuckle and she grabbed the report of the break-in to steer her mind away from thoughts she shouldn't entertain at work.

After Adalet completed her report Dormin went back to his car, glancing around before getting in. He hadn't noticed anyone suspicious but couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. Just to make sure he wasn't followed he took a few detours to buy some daily necessities at some shops before arriving at his home, a small two storey concrete warehouse with narrow full length windows, which he had bought for a low price when he got out of the military. It stood at the edge of an industrial park with several abandoned properties.

He drove his car along the gravel path next to the building to the car park at the back, took the contents out of the backpack and put them in one of the oversized grocery bags and stuffed the backpack into another. Clearly showing the bags he got out of the car and walked up the steps of the concrete raised loading platform at the back to enter the building via the former back entrance to the office section.

A low wooden platform covered about one quarter of the floor of the otherwise untouched hall. On it were his island kitchen, living space with couch and low table, a big screen he hardly used, and large bed surrounded by bookcases for privacy. At the side was the original bathroom which had been emptied and now featured one opaque glass wall for extra light to enjoy a long soak in the large tub or long shower. Above it all hung a canvas roof to catch dirt and dust falling down from the ceiling.

He dropped the groceries on the cooking island and took the rest over to his couch. He didn't turn on more lights than the one low lamp next to the couch. The narrow windows at the front and the sides reaching up to the ceiling were opaque enough to block the view, but he didn't want to make it any easier for anyone trying to peek.

He unfolded the portable and examined the open windows. The text that scrolled within two of them meant nothing to him, although he recognised something was being monitored. One appeared to be an open file with code in it. He tried scrolling the text by swiping the window but nothing happened. He tried the arrow keys on the keyboard but the cursor in the window didn't move. Trying the key combinations that he knew from his own laptop didn't seem to do anything either and he figured the interface had been locked. He folded the portable, went back to the cooking island, pulled out a panel on the side and placed the portable in the compartment. After that he undressed, took a shower, and went to bed.

***

Dormin woke up early with the usual nightmare. He groaned from the headache while he clutched his head. It took a few minutes for the ache to lessen to a tolerable level and he got out of bed. A long shower helped to clear his head more and by the time he had finished his callisthenics he was back to reasonably normal.

He freshened up quickly, put on a pair of light baggy pants, put away the groceries he had bought earlier, and prepared dinner by cutting beef, chicken, and vegetables in small pieces before putting them in marinade while he cooked pasta. When that was done he sat back on the couch, checked his messages on his laptop and continued where he had left off in the fantasy book that laid in a corner of the couch.

Some time later his mobile played a bird song and picked it up. 'Dormin.'

'Adalet here. I'm sorry to disturb you but I still have a few questions regarding the case. Could I come by?'

He smiled at the deliberate conversation. 'Sure, I'm not due for work for a while yet.'

'Then I'll be over in a short while.'

'See you soon then. Parking is at the back.' he said and disconnected.

He waited at the door donned in his usual black suit pants and navy blue shirt when he heard her car drive along the side of the building to the back.

'Interesting place.' she said when she stepped out of the car and looked up at the back of the building.

'I'm an interesting guy.'

She chuckled and went up to the door, then halted for a moment to look over the interior. 'This is certainly different from most people's homes.'

She didn't wore her jacket and he couldn't resist taking a quick look at the shape her shirt made while he led her to the couch. 'I don't have to feel restrained like this. The little bit of freedom in my life.'

She nodded and sat down, looking around more. 'Any plans on doing something with the rest of the place?'

'Not really. But if I do have plans by the time I retire I will have the space for it, probably.'

'I guess you can fit a lot of model boats and cars in here.'

He chuckled. 'Maybe I will.' he said and moved to his kitchen. 'Care for some red wine?'

She smiled at him. 'Please.'

He opened a bottle of a smooth wine and returned to the couch with two glasses.

'Anything new?' he asked while he poured the wine.

'I asked my informants.' she said, clinked her glass with his and smelled the wine before sipping and humming her approval. 'Nothing. Even at the usual places frequented by gamers and computer specialists.'

'She's probably hiding, or maybe even left the city.'

'If she's seen what you said you saw I wouldn't be surprised.' She leaned back against the couch. 'Did you have a closer look at that thing?'

'I did, but I can't do anything with it. It seems locked.' he said, got up from the couch and retrieved the portable. 'Give it a try.'

He unfolded it for her and she examined it, stroking the material lighter and stronger to the touch than her own designer laptop at home. 'Definitely nothing I've ever seen before.'

'Neither have I. And I think it's something that should be kept out of the wrong hands. Especially those with weapons in them.' He went back to the kitchen. 'I'll start dinner while you fiddle with it.'

She tried to make the interface work but the smell and sounds, and seeing him work the wok on the stove distracted her. Trying different key combination was a simple thing that kept her busy until he arrived with two plates of the mix he had made. She put the portable aside and watched the food with a increasing hunger.