Prysus Zier

Part Four: Mysterious Foe

Prysus sits at a computer screen. As he types, a red light from the screen flashes and there is a buzzing. He types some more and the same thing happens again. A human male walks up behind him and looks over his shoulder. The man goes unnoticed by Prysus as he is too involved in what he is trying to do. There is a smirk on the man's face as he says, "You know, your hacking skills need work. Move over."

Prysus looks at him. The man is Nego Ballari. Truthfully, Nego wasn't exactly human. Instead, he was a member of a humanoid race who had the ability to transform into monstrous creatures. The type of creature varied from person to person, but their abilities in this transformed state made them powerful foes in combat. They are a race of warriors, but Nego did not embrace his war-like heritage. He much preferred the mysteries of technology. In his mind, it is a greater challenge to work on something that doesn't just come naturally.

Nego asked as he took the seat, "So what are we looking for anyways?"

"I'm trying to get some information on the prisoner that escaped," Prysus replied. "His file is marked as classified. There is no information on him, even as to the reason for the transfer."

Nego cracked his fingers and started to see what he could learn. After a few minutes, he gained access. "Let's see. According to the official record, the Tartarus Penal Colony was simply getting too crowded so they were transferring some of the less dangerous prisoners to new facilities."

Prysus responds, "This guy took over the prison transport and then easily dealt with two G.D.F. officers. One of which isn't waking up." There is bitterness in his tone.

"It's been clearly falsified. Let me see what else I can find out." Prysus continues to watch over his shoulder as the fingers of Nego move at an astonishing speed. "Don't be too hard on yourself. Remember, you're not actually a G.D.F. officer. You weren't trained for this kind of stuff."

"That's only a technicality. I'm classified as an employed bounty hunter of the G.D.F. because I would never be able to pass the physical due to a side effect of the mutation."

Nego responds in a joking manner, "And here I always thought you just wanted to be different." Prysus doesn't seem amused by the comment though. He remains with the same serious expression. "By the way," Nego adds. "I'm sorry about Yara. I know it must be hard on you. So have they been able to learn anything new about her condition?"

"No. She's just not waking up. They can't find anything wrong with her physically or mentally. He must've done something to her, I just don't know what."

"All right, I've managed to hack into the prisoner records of the Tartarus Penal Colony. Let's see what they have to say about him." Nego types in the prisoner I.D. code and a new screen comes up on the monitor. He grimaces. "The file is empty." He does some more typing. "There aren't even any traces of a file being deleted. It's as if he just never existed."

*****

Prysus returns to his quarters. He is frustrated by the lack of information he is able to gather on the prisoner. There is blinking yellow light on a display indicating he received a communication while he was gone. He touches a button to play the message. A visual of someone in the same environmental suit as the prisoner appears on the display. "Hello Prysus Zier. I have something here that you might be interested in." The display image is jumpy, most likely the result of interference in the communication.

Due to the poor quality of the communication, Prysus is unable to make out what the prisoner grabs. However, once he touches it, the same strange glow that Prysus saw between Yara and the prisoner before passing out shines again. "Your friend has a beautiful soul. It has such a lovely glow, don't you think? I decided to take it as a memento of our first true meeting." The image changes from the prisoner and displays coordinates and a time. After that, it goes blank as the message ends. Prysus quickly runs out the door.