Nemesis

Chapter IV — The Break-In

[Tommy Lefroy — The Cause]

[23 October 2023]
[Ares Tech Headquarters]
[09:12]

Miranda found herself spacing out quite a bit on her way to Ares Tech, having not slept properly for the past two days. This previous night, however, was less about a brand new weapon, but more about her current investigation. Miranda could not stop thinking about the object stuck in Ashton's neck, it just did not seem natural by any stretch of the imagination, and she intended to remove it and find out where it came from tonight. She had also spent a bit of time on the phone with Orla, finding that she was not doing as well as she had hoped. That prompted her to schedule a visit later on in the day. Until then, there was work to focus on.

However, work would not be going as smoothly as she had anticipated. Miranda's doors were pushed open quite violently and Dain stood on the threshold. He did not seem in the slightest bit happy. Miranda raised an eyebrow at the rather nasty attitude he depicted. "My office. Now!" Dain demanded, walking away swiftly. She had no clue as to what issue this was about, but it did not seem like it was good news. 'Welp, this is going to be fun.' Miranda thought as she made her way towards the elevator, allowing it to climb to the eighth floor — only one floor above her own.

When Miranda made it to the office, she stared at a furious Dain. "Okay... what happened?" She enquired, cautious not to add fuel to the fire. "Where the hell were you yesterday?" Dain asked and Miranda shrugged her shoulders. "The hospital, why?" She answered, seeming quite confused. "And where were you supposed to be?" Dain asked, and that seemed to be the reminder that she needed. "Shit! I totally forgot!" Miranda exclaimed and Dain stepped forward. "You forgot? You forgot?! Miranda, this meeting was very fucking important, and you didn't pull up because you were out tryna play detective! And now, because you didn't pull up, they decided we should stop production!"

"Dain, I'm sor—" "Don't give me that bullshit! You know how important it is that we keep working, we have to win this fucking war!" Dain yelled, slamming his hand on his desk behind him. However, it seemed that what he had said struck a nerve in Miranda. "You don't think I wanna win this war? You don't think that I think about Russia every fucking day, that I don't want to see every one of them suffer? I want it more than you could ever realize, but I also understand that if I could find out who killed Ashton, we'd get a bigger leg up on them." She spoke. Miranda also stepped forward, only inches separating the two. "I went there, saw those doctors working on him and in that time, I found out more in a few minutes than any of those doctors did in those few hours."

Dain's face began to slightly soften, but Miranda's seemed to get more intense. "Ash was your friend, and you seriously think he just up and died? Maybe this doesn't mean a lot to you, but it does to me, it does to Orla, and I will find out who killed him, because none of you won't." She uttered, visibly frustrating Dain. "If you actually took a second to listen, you'd know that Ash had a heart attack, no one killed him. So, I'd suggest you shut your little mouth and find a fucking way to get the higher-ups to reverse their decision."

Miranda was prepared to fire back when Dain's telephone rang. He pushed a button on the device, and it spoke. "Mister Brock, we have a problem regarding Mister Burke's body, and we need you and the Burkes to come to the hospital." A voice coming from the telephone said and Dain shot Miranda a suspicious look at the mention of another Burke. She simply shrugged her shoulders. "We'll be there in a few." Dain finally said before hanging up. "This isn't over." He added and Miranda only made her way out of the office. He was correct, however, there was still more to be said.

[New York-Prebysterian Hospital]
[09:31]

As soon as they possibly could, either party had made it to the hospital in their own vehicles and Miranda found herself a few minutes earlier but, as soon as she made it to reception, Dain entered the hospital. Before he could say anything, Miranda interrupted the man. "We were called by the hospital because something happened with my father's body." She said, causing Dain to raise his eyebrow in slight confusion before all the pieces began falling into place. Miranda had pretended to be Ashton's daughter because she would not be allowed in otherwise. His relationship with Ashton was a bit more intimate in comparison.

"You can go through; you both should remember the way." The receptionist said, and Miranda at this point knew it like she knew herself. Her mind refused to let go of what had transpired the night before.

Miranda and Dain made their way through the hospital's halls in silence, all until they made it to where the autopsy was taking place. Dain opened up the doors to reveal another duo. Miranda and Dain could only recognize Orla out of the two, the other was much older than her and they both came to the conclusion that the woman was her new guardian. "Orla? What are you doing here?" Miranda asked, obviously surprised by her arrival. "She's his daughter, dumbass." Dain retorted, and Miranda rolled her eyes at the response, before she realized that her panic at Orla's arrival related to how jumpy she felt since she had broken in. It felt as if she was on the other side of the room and Orla was looking right into her eyes, with nothing but anger on her face.

Miranda still tried to convince herself that she was also helping Orla in her private crusade, but the guilt was still eating her up. "Miranda!" Orla exclaimed, running over to hug the woman. There were markings on her face, showing the channels her tears had traveled through not so long ago. The sight broke Miranda's heart, no matter how many times she saw it. "What's going on with Ash's body?" Dain asked and right then, one of the doctors working on the deceased man walked through the second door within, ready to explain the situation. "Greetings, everyone, thanks for making it here on such short notice." He started. "What happened to my father?!" Orla snapped. Miranda rubbed her back calmly. "Calm down, Orla."

The doctor continued to speak. "We believe that there was a break-in, and that Mister Burke's body has something to do with it." In that instance, Miranda's body froze in what could only be described as shock and fear. How had they come to that conclusion? She had made sure the cameras were off, she wore gloves, how did they know? "What? What do you mean someone broke in here for Ash?" Dain asked, an eyebrow raised. He too had his suspicions and from the corner of his eye he shot Miranda a look, which she noticed. "Mister Burke had a heart attack from what we've gathered, which isn't unusual, even for a man his age. We were gonna give you guys the go ahead for funeral arrangements and whatnot, but we found something that definitely wasn't there a day ago." Miranda was getting increasingly nervous, but she hid it quite well. "What was it? What did they do to him?" Orla asked.

"There's some bruising on his neck, which we definitely didn't make because we were very careful with keeping his body intact, and we were working on a more internal level with blood tests and the like. There's also a peculiar mark on his neck, which we're looking into now. It may be related to Mister Burke's death, but we doubt that, it may just be another clue that someone did break in." Miranda inhaled a deep breath, knowing that with the revelation that she did indeed break in, it was only going to be far more difficult to actually enter the room this time around. She had to find a new way to enter. Orla handled this news quite badly, but instead of shedding tears, she was more calm than hysterical. However, it was an eerie type of calm.

"Why... why can't they at least show Dad an ounce of respect when he's dead?" She asked herself. "You better find the person that broke in here, they'll answer to me." Orla added, more malice leaking into her tone this time around. "Orla, dear, you shouldn't be dealing with any of this, this is a matter involving the police." The caretaker said, in an almost condescending manner, which Miranda took note of. "So, I'm supposed to fucking sit around and twiddle my thumbs while people start doing graffiti on Dad's body?!" Orla challenged, but Miranda placed a hand on her shoulder. "She's right, Orla. You're too young to be dealing with any of this. Leave it to the authorities and I'll keep you updated." She said, calming the teen down for the moment.

Dain stepped forward, his own emotions boiling at seeing his friend get disrespected, even as a corpse. "Do you guys even have people on the way to look into this? I won't watch Ash get treated like a piece of meat at a butchery because you niggas' security is bad." He uttered. There was no malice or anger in his words, but the message was still conveyed clearly.

He seemed ready to add to his words when his phone rang. Dain pulled the device out of his pocket and checked the caller ID, which was surprisingly revealed to be Kane. He seemed conflicted for a moment, unsure whether it was an appropriate time to speak to Kane, but he soon gave in. "I have to take this, it's important." Dain said, making his way out of the room into the halls.

Dain answered the call then to catch the voice of Kane on the other line. It was filled with joy. "So, you finally answered. It's great to hear from you, Dain." He spoke. "I don't have time for this, Kane, why are you calling?" Dain enquired, frustration leaking from his tone. "You've been trying to get me back to that job, y'know? You've always made the first move, and while you fail every time, I know you aren't gonna give up. I know you're not done until you get what you want." Kane started, taking his time because he knew how much it frustrated Dain. "Get to the fucking point!" Dain slightly exclaimed, earning a chuckle from Kane's side. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm making the first move this time around. I'm sure you can remember when you kidnapped me literally yesterday and how I have our entire conversation recorded." He said. Dain's eyes widened in response.

"Recorded? There's no fucking way, you're lying!" Dain said. "Fuck around and find out." Kane replied. "I can just do a few minor tweaks here and there and it'll be ready to be sent to the cops. So, you can keep trying me, or just leave me the fuck alone. Your choice." 

With that, Kane hung up, leaving Dain with a brand-new problem at his doorstep. All he could think about was the irony of it all.