Keep The Serious Story Going

((LOL, I figured you would pick Julie))

"What's going on, Julie? What are you doing here?" Kathleen demanded.
"Isn't it obvious? I intend to take back Dyad Industries," Julie replied. "Of course, that means I have to remove you from the equation."
There was a sound of guns being readied, and several red laser dots appeared on Kathleen's chest. "So long, Kathleen," Julie said, and laughed.

« Last edited by CrypticWizard on May 13th 2020 »

And oddly, Julie kept laughing. But it was a nervous laugh. Like she needed to keep laughing. If she stopped, her men would shoot Kathleen dead. She then took a book out from her pocket and began reading something to Kathleen, to buy more time. And then suddenly, the red dots disappeared. She put the book away.
"I have saved your life twice now, so it's time to help me get what I want.", Julie said.
Kathleen was confused. Part of her believed that perhaps Julie wanted something, and keeping her enemies alive would be worth it in the end. But the other part wasn't convinced that she could trust Julie. She concluded that there was only one way to figure out Julie's intentions.

But it would require using some reverse psychology on her.
"You're right, Julie," she began, "I'm the one thing standing in your way of taking over Dyad Indus--"
Her words were cut off by the sound of a gunshot. The side of Julie's head exploded in a spray of blood and bone. She fell to the floor, quite dead. There was no chance of her coming back this time,
The shooter was in a shadowed corner of the warehouse so none of them could see who it was. They tried to chase down the sniper, but whoever it was got away, leaving no clue as to their identity.
Of course, Kenneth knew very well who it was, because the shooter worked for him. His plans were coming together quite nicely.

« Last edited by CrypticWizard on Jul 1st 2020 »

Kathleen began shaking Julie, desperate for answers, even though she knew this was obviously the most fatal injury someone could get. Why would Julie need Kathleen's help? It was clear that if she had been killed, that her intentions were actually good. But then Ben reminded everyone of what Julie initially said.
'Your victim is dead. I killed him, before he got to you'
So there were several variables. Someone wanted Kathleen and the others dead. Julie killed him, but he could've been working for someone bigger. But someone else wanted Julie dead, but not Kathleen. Meanwhile Julie wanted help from Kathleen. To simplify, Scott was drawing a diagram which would hopefully explain the missing link. It would also prove an effective procrastination technique for the author of this post:

As the snipers and others were gone, Kathleen called back to her offices to inform them of the event. They would also take care of Julie's body. After all, it was the belief that Julie died 3 years ago. Scott showed the rough sketch to Ben, and he agreed. There was one likely scenario here.

Whoever sent the sniper (none of them knew who Kenneth was) likely worked for a rival corporation, probably one formed from the remnants of the now-defunct MacroTech. Gil Bates had been ruined by the efforts of Kathleen and Julie years ago, but others under him could have and likely had started a new company. But what was this company, and who was in charge? Pondering this, Scott came up with an idea.

« Last edited by CrypticWizard on May 17th 2020 »

The clients which were expecting Dyad Victim's heart, liver, and kidneys, would still need those organs. The team who were coming to collect Julie could transport her to the surgeons' workplace, and they could harvest Julie's organs instead. While that issue was being handled, Ben would return to the office, and Wendy would meet Kathleen and Scott. Once together, they would all begin investigating who Dyad Victim was. While at the office, Ben would then send them additional information about the victim.

It was then that Kathleen remembered the briefcase. She looked at it and did indeed appear to have the Dyad Industries logo stamped into it's surface. But when she looked closer, she realized it was not the right logo. Somebody had attempted to duplicate the logo but had not gotten it quite right. She began to wonder exactly what was in the briefcase.

She opened it, and saw the medical instruments. But as she went to pick up one of them, Scott yelled at her to stop. She did.
"Look closely at them. You can see, the colour isn't right. Surgeons always use silver-coloured tools. These have a gold tinge to them. It could be a form of poison. Sometimes they even kill the victim instantly", Scott explained.
Now at an agreement, Kathleen closed the briefcase and sealed it with duct tape. Just as Kathleen put the tape down, Wendy knocked on the car door. Scott put the window down.
"Kath, those idiots want to know whether you still want to do the interview", Wendy mentioned.
Kathleen sighed. She forgot that the 3-year anniversary was in 5 days on May 24th.

"Sorry, everyone," Kathleen said, "I have to do this. Dyad Industries needs to keep up appearances as a legit company."
She got out of the car and walked with Wendy to the nearby company van.
"There's something else I was instructed to tell you," Wendy said as they got in, "but only you. Listen carefully."

"We have a mole. I know you knew we had one; we always have at least a few, but it seems whoever it is knows you well. We received intelligence that it is someone within the general medicine department", Wendy said. (GM is one of the 4 legal divisions of Dyad Industries).
Kathleen sighed again. She knew who it was. If it was him after all. If not, he was being set up by someone else.
"Remember posts 11 and 12?", Kathleen asked.

Wendy nodded. "Good, then I'll leave that part up to you and...oh, wait, Scott has to go with them. But you can handle you-know-who on your own." Wendy was a black belt in three different martial arts styles. "It probably won't get physical, especially if--as I suspect--he's being set up. But best not to take any chances."
"Got it," Wendy said. "Oh, and you'll need this," she added, handing something to Kathleen.

"The production company want you to wear this tone of makeup. Apparently it's supposed to make you look innocent, or something like that. Don't worry, I'm as confused as you!", Wendy said, ending with laughter.
Kathleen left and headed back to the car. Ben joined Wendy in the van, as he was needed at the office as well. Now that all of that was sorted, Kathleen and Scott could begin investigating who Dyad Victim was.
"Well, we need to figure out where his body is", Scott suggested.

"Julie wouldn't have left his body someplace obvious," Kathleen said. "That's not her style. But she definitely left it someplace she knew we could find."
"So where do you think it is?" Scott asked. "It has to be somewhere nearby," he added.
"I have a few ideas," Kathleen replied. "But there's something I need to do first. And I'm going to need your particular set of skills for this."

"The medical research department (the other illegal division of Dyad) are having some issues. Rachel (Rachel Duncan is in charge) is having trouble with her sisters again. Only problem is that Ben talked to some of them, and it's actually Rachel who's causing the trouble. I need you to dig up dirt on her. I need to replace her with someone", Kathleen concluded.
"So who will be replacing her?", Scott asked.

« Last edited by Matt77 on May 22nd 2020 »

"That's something I can't disclose at this time. Until I find proof of what Rachel is doing, I can't replace her," Kathleen said in a tone that made it clear she was not willing to discuss the matter further.
Scott opened his laptop and began using his master hacking skills while Kathleen searched around. She looked in the three most likely places but found nothing. Before she could look further, Scott called over to her.
"Kathleen, you'd better come take a look at this," he said in a grave voice, gesturing toward his laptop screen.

It was a delayed feed from the security camera at Kathleen's home. It would've been no longer than 10 minutes ago. It clearly showed Christina being kidnapped by several white men in black suits. But bizarrely, Kathleen didn't look too worried.
"Zoom in on her hair. You see that? There aren't any blonde streaks. Christina got them only two days ago. This footage was faked, and was made a while ago", Kathleen explained.
"Oh well that's a relief. But someone's clearly trying to scare you", Scott queried.
"They want me to rush home in a panic. Probably so that we forget about finding the victim's body", Kathleen explained.

"You think they're setting up s trap?" Scott asked.
"Definitely. I don't know who that girl was, but it wasn't Chrissy (Christina's nickname for the past couple years)," she explained. "Not only does that girl not have blond streaks, Chrissy isn't even there. She's spending the night at a friend's house."
"You can't go back there now. They'll be waiting for you."
Kathleen grinned wickedly. "Oh, I know. I'm counting on that."

"Ooohhhh, you're going to use her aren't you?", Scott asked.
"Yes", Kathleen replied.
Dyad often get in contact with people who have terminal illnesses with no cure. They look for people that look very similar to agents that actually work for Dyad, and they get some of their plastic surgeons to make them look identical to their agent counterparts. Their families get paid in excess of $2 million, so many people agree to this proposal. And as it happened, Dyad had two of these people who had been made to look exactly like Kathleen.
"She'll be killed won't she?", Scott asked.
"Most probably. But she's going to die in about a month anyway", Kathleen explained. "Then whoever is responsible for what is going on, will think I am dead."

But remember:


« Last edited by Matt77 on May 26th 2020 »

"That sniper that got Julie...he could have got you as well. Bur he didn't, so whoever hired him didn't want you dead," Scott reasoned. "There must some purpose to keeping you alive.
"Exactly," said Kathleen. "If that person thinks I'm dead, then they might reveal themselves somehow."
Scott looked at his watch. "We might as well give up on that body. It's been too long. By the time we find it, the organs won't be viable anymore."
Kenneth smiled as he listened in, due to the bug his double agent had planted on Kathleen without her knowledge. There was no body to find. His Julie look-alike had played her part well. Too bad she had to die, but the real Julie had been killed almost three years ago. There wasn't any other way for his plans to be carried out.

« Last edited by CrypticWizard on Jul 1st 2020 »

Kathleen and Scott decided to head back to the offices. It was late, but Kathleen still had work to do. A client in the Delivery Department kept hassling her, and would always come into the offices and refuse to leave until she spoke to Kathleen. This client often complained that the products she and her friends ordered for their clothing business, would either never arrive or would be the wrong products. Which was odd, because Dyad were known for their excellence in this department. In fact, they won an award for it.