Chapter 36: Unexpected Encounters
Agent MX5 was spending the early morning hours in the Rising Phoenix Hotel lounge, sipping her coffee as she reviewed her notes and planned her next steps. While contemplating her next move, she noticed a familiar figure walk past her through the hotel lobby. She took a second glance, her heart skipping a beat as she recognized the young man from CX3’s photos.
It’s him!
Quickly, she paid her bill and discreetly followed him out of the hotel. To her surprise, he walked into a nearby grocery store, not as a customer but as an employee. He was wearing the store uniform and was greeted warmly by the other workers. On the uniform was the name ‘David!’
MX5 suppressed her excitement and remained calm. So, it was true. The man from CX3’s photos really was this David character who that woman, Shiela, had been wailing about at the pub.
She walked in and picked up a basket, pretending to be a customer. As she strolled through the store, she used a compact mirror and peered through gaps in the shelves to observe how he interacted with the customers. He was chatty and friendly, typical behavior of a teen without worries. She noticed how he laughed and joked with the customers and went out of his way to help the elderly with their groceries. She even saw him stop to pick up trash from the floor!
This wasn’t the behavior of a man on the run or with something to hide. This was the behavior of a completely normal, albeit extraordinarily kind, teenage boy. It was a far cry from the man she was expecting to find.
However, everything else about the situation was far from ordinary. For starters, he seemed to be residing at the Rising Phoenix Hotel, one of the city’s most luxurious and grand establishments. Additionally, MX5 noticed at least three other onlookers, suspiciously stationed within view of the store, seemingly observing him from afar. She found an empty aisle and took out a small monocular to get a better view through the store’s window. From what she could tell, most of them appeared discreetly armed.
Bewildered, Agent MX5 quickly texted the Gund Intelligence Network staff to update them on her findings and requested a cross check on this David with the grocery store employment history, hoping to gather more information about him. Not wanting to attract attention from the onlookers, she added a few random items to her basket and made her way to the checkout line.
As she exited the store, she took out her compact mirror and pretended to check her makeup. Just as she suspected, there were two more onlookers she could spot in the reflection, both certainly armed. She looped around the block and walked back to the Rising Phoenix Hotel.
As she pulled up the results on her laptop, she was perplexed by what she found. David: last name unknown, residence unknown, academics unknown, medical records unknown, occupation unknown...every category of information was completely blank, except for his first name.
Agent MX5’s eyes widened in disbelief. How could it be possible that there was no trace of this young man’s existence anywhere? She had clearly seen him working at the grocery store. Was he not an official employee? The mystery of David deepened, adding another layer to this complex assignment. She had never seen such a clean slate. It was as if he had just appeared out of thin air!
Intrigued, she decided to dig deeper, focusing on the Rising Phoenix Hotel. Through the network’s mainframe, she was able to access the hotel’s guest records. She scanned the long list of guests only to find that David’s name wasn’t there.
She frowned, her mind racing. Could it be possible that he was staying under a false name, or perhaps someone else had checked in for him?
At the very least, she had found where he was employed. Perhaps, to find more information about this mysterious man, she needed a bolder approach.
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