A Break in Memory: Part Two

     ******

Mr. Sonix sighed and leaned back in the wooden chair he sat in. "That's that, then. There's nothing we can do except wait for Geiger."

     Mrs. Sonix nodded sadly. "I'll go check on DeSoni," she said, heading up the staircase of the basement laboratory/workshop.

     "I'll go with you!" said Kay, getting to her feet and following.

     Khargana sighed and fingered the weird plant in front of her, a perfect match for Geiger's 'herb'.

     "How does that thing work?" asked Mr. Sonix.

     "Not entirely sure, Mr. Sonix. Kay just said something about fusing two herbal species with chemicals known for receiving communication signals. Something about Meepit DNA too, but she lost me there."

     Just then they heard Deanna Sonix cry out in injured horror and the thumping of running feet. Kay suddenly threw the door to the lab open.

     "DeSoni's gone!"

     ******

     The tiny yellow Alien Aisha stood in front of a rusted metallic door, scratching his earstalks in confusion. Something was wrong. The door had been sparkling new when he'd left yesterday. Surely he couldn't have been unconscious for more than one night. Could the faeries or the D.o.N. (Defenders of Neopia, the Neopian global police force) have been on the trail and his associates had to further disguise the entry to the E57 Espionage and Research Military Base?

     He frowned and pressed his paw to the hidden scanner. Nothing happened. The power was offline. Maybe they were on lockdown?

     He flipped the panel open and played around a bit: pressing some tiny buttons, aligning some switches, reconnecting certain wires. He felt in his pocket for something to jolt the system and, to his surprise, pulled out a micro laser-stunner.

     Where could he have gotten that?

     Derek Sonix, as he called himself, had a sudden image of a green Wocky in a suede vest pulling the little gadget out of a pocket and handing it to him. She had said something too--but the words were just beyond him. Maybe she was some sort of criminal mastermind he'd been sent to bargain with. That did explain it; those creepy guys were always trying to bribe him. But... she didn't look like a criminal.

     His head began to hurt and he shook it in annoyance. Then he carefully aimed the stunner at the center of a circuit and hit the little button on the side. A beam shot out and struck the board. The door swished open.

     DeSoni, as we know him, entered and the door shut behind him, leaving him in total dark. He began to grope for a light switch along the wall-

     -and was tackled from behind!

     The tiny Alien Aisha, taken completely off-guard, hit the ground hard with the heavy weight of a strong, full grown somebody pressing him down.

     "I give! I give!" he shouted as whoever it was grabbed his arms, roughly pulled them back, and tied rope around them.

     He felt the figure reach over and suddenly the lobby of E57 was flooded in light. And it looked horrible. Dirt, spyder-webs, rust, and what looked strangely like soot and mold clung to everything. It didn't look to have been used in years.

     "What happened?" he gasped in horror. He turned to look over his shoulder at his captor, a very cute pink Alien Aisha in an all-black jumpsuit, typical of the top-level ultra-secretive espionage agents. The ones that were so good they got the nearly impossible missions of spying on faeries.

     "We got raided!" was the angry response. "Don't you remember?" she added in a biting, accusatory tone. "You are ex-agent Derek Sonix, aren't you?"

     "Raided!" exclaimed DeSoni. "Ex-agent! What's going on?! When did this happen?!?"

     She came around in front of him and stared deep into his eyes, her own suspicious. "You don't know? Where have you been?"

     "What happened?" pleaded DeSoni. "There were five researchers and twelve field agents, not counting me. Where are they? Surely they're okay!"

     The pink Alien Aisha tilted her pretty head. "I don't know about the others, but Galba's in prison. I lost contact with him sometime last week."

     "NO!" he gasped miserably. "That Faerie Queen person got them! Who knows what she's..." he couldn't finish. Tears welled up in his eyes as he again looked around the abandoned looking base.

     She opened her mouth, then got a clever gleam in her eyes and said something entirely different from what she'd been thinking.

     "Worse," she said darkly. "We were framed and Madam Commander Jierdana herself believed the liar! Galba's in prison unjustly and the others are in hiding. All of us were stripped of rank."

     "That can't be!" shouted the tiny Alien Aisha with only two earstalks. "The Madam Commander would never believe such a thing! We're the best espionage and research unit for-"

     "All the more reason for Jierdana to be wary of us."

     The pink Alien Aisha walked around the tiny, completely confused Alien Aisha and unknotted the rope, letting it fall to the ground.

     "You want to help us clear our good names? You are one of us, aren't you?" she asked manipulatively.

     DeSoni was speechless.

     "Come with me," she said mysteriously, and set off down the corridor to their right.

     Derek Sonix rubbed his head. It was hurting again. There was something about Galba... and Kregor... it was gone. Something wasn't right here--but what choice did he have? Even though he'd never met her before in his life, even though she really hadn't explained anything... he followed her.

     ******

     "No, no, no, no, NO! Madam Commander, please!" exclaimed Kregor Geiger, one of DeSoni's closest old friends and the current Head Doctor on the Alien Aisha homeworld as well as a councilman to the Madam Commander Jierdana herself.

     The slim blue Alien Aisha was incidentally speaking to the regal purple Alien Aisha at this very moment.

     "What did you just say to me, Dr. Geiger?" she said coldly, tilting her head upwards and folding her arms over her shimmering, golden robe. She was in stark contrast to the somewhat dirty and disheveled doctor in his simple silver uniform with its gold collar.

     "Madam, please. I beg you for away leave to Neopia! I'll only be gone a couple days--three at the most! Please, DeSo- err... "

     A blush came to her cheeks. "I should've known, Geiger. Why can't you just be honest with me? Ex-agent Derek Sonix is in some sort of trouble, is that it?"

     "Yes, ma'am. Ex-commander Galba-"

     She waved a paw in dismissal. "I don't care, Doctor. That case is shut, if I must remind you. Now, I have no hard feelings against Sonix--you know I don't. He did help expose that Galba was going around behind my back and interfering in my affairs. But he made his choice. And so have I."

     "Madam!" exclaimed Kregor Geiger in horror, his earstalks drooping as he realized what she meant.

     "Derek Sonix chose to live as a Neopian. His issues are no concern of mine, nor of my people's. Permission denied, Dr. Geiger."

     The doctor was clearly devastated. He couldn't even move his eyes from the spot on the ground he was staring at. The Madam Commander stood and set a paw on his shoulder, in a rare show of fondness. He was a favorite of her people, and truly invaluable to her as a councilman, no matter his sensitivity or affection for Neopians.

     "I need you here. You are right in the middle of several important projects for me, and we do have council tomorrow, if you recall. You are not allowed to dump your responsibilities to help someone who has clearly and repeatedly refused to be one of us."

     Dr. Geiger gulped and nodded. "Yes, ma'am," he said softly, bowing from the waist.

     "Dismissed."

     Earstalks drooping, he turned and walked quickly from her luxurious office--more of a sanctum, really, since only councilmen and -women could see her there. She sadly shook her head and pressed a small hidden button on the underside of her desk.

     "Maddie? Yes, I need a full 24-hour surveillance of Dr. Kregor Geiger. I have reason to believe he may try to leave the planet. Certainly he is not to have any Neopian visitors or even to go anywhere without a guard. In effect until further notice."

     ******

     Khargana burst through the front door of the Neopian Central Authorities, completely ignoring all the officers in blue rushing around. She knew exactly where to go.

     She brushed past several officers known to her, paying no heed to greetings. The green Wocky headed straight to the door marked "Chief Kerowski" and charged in, vest flapping.

     Chief Kerowski himself, a handsome, brawny Starry Lupe, jumped a little at the sudden intrusion, but quickly got over it. "Detective? Is something wrong?"

     "My brother's missing. He may have amnesia."

     He groaned and rubbed his wide brow. "You always have the weird cases, don't you?"

     "Please, Kerowski. I'd consider it a personal favor. All I'm asking for is for you to keep this under wraps and keep your quick peepers open."

     "Except for the please, detective, that sounded much more like you."

     The green Wocky smiled, though tensely, and took the seat across from him. He slid a notebook and a pen to her. She quickly jotted down details in the format she knew the Chief preferred.

     "He may be in cahoots with underground Alien Aishas. Very small yellow Aisha. He could be going by Derek Sonix, but officially his name is DeSoni. Doesn't wear an "A" collar and could be in either blue jeans and a shirt or one of those wacky suits the Alien Aishas wear. Probably won't remember a thing if you mention my name, but try anyway if you spot him. Don't bother with the Neohospital; I've already got a source there if he shows up. I just don't want him in jail if you catch him with the wrong crowd. I personally vouch that it's a type of amnesia--he's no criminal."

     The large Starry Lupe took back the notebook that she held out to him and nodded somberly. "I understand, Khargana--but you'd better be sure about this. He may have just run away or something. Maybe he wants to be a criminal."

     "It's more complicated than that, Chief. I personally vouch for him."

     He thought about it, then agreed. "Only because it's you, Detective. Anyone else and I'd have to get this verified by someone."

     "Thanks, Chief. Under your hat, 'kay?"

     "Sure, Detective. I'll get in contact if we come up with anything."

     The Wocky Detective nodded gratefully in relief and rushed out as quickly as she'd come, on her way to her next source.

     ******

     Kregor Geiger lifted the communicator headset and put it on, carefully checking both ways to make sure he was alone in his research laboratory. He couldn't help but notice that he'd had a guard follow him back to his station, and two were now posted outside. He was under surveillance. No way he could diagnose DeSoni and perfect the antidote. Well, he did have that one experimental remedy for the potion, but it had never been tested...

     He fretted, his blue paw hovering over the signal key that would activate the headset. As a doctor, he was fairly sure the remedy would work. There was no reason it shouldn't. He wouldn't be there to tweak it, but the end result would be the same. It would destroy the potion that was wiping out DeSoni's memories before they were completely deleted--if he could get it to Neopia in time. Maybe it wasn't ideal; yes, it would probably cause his poor friend a great deal of discomfort; but... it was better than the alternative.

     The blue Alien Aisha steeled himself and slapped the button before he chickened out.

     A muffled voice answered. Of course it was muffled. Whoever heard of a link from the Alien Aisha homeworld to Neopia that wasn't muffled?

     "Agent C2? I've got a problem. It involves DeSoni..."

     ******

     A blue Aisha nervously sat in a chair across a large cloud-like desk in a purple room, fidgeting nervously. He clicked the heels of his rear paws together repeatedly and tapped his forepaws against the armrest of the chair so fast they were a blur.

     His eyes were focused on a bookcase just to the side of the desk. Glued, more like. All he saw was the sloppy assortment, how half stood upright and half lay down, how some even had pieces of paper and bookmarks sticking up in the clumsiest of places. It was driving him crazy.

     He couldn't stand it any longer and leapt to his paws and over to the bookcase--where he immediately began straightening the books, organizing them by subject and author, and taking out all those annoying bookmarks.

     The door opened and Queen Fyora stepped into her personal office. Her eyes fell on the fidgety Aisha and she sighed.

     "Expea, what are you doing?"

     "Almost done, your highness," was the quick response as the Aisha, Expea--or XP, as it's shorter and pronounced the same anyhow--continued on his project.

     "I told you not to touch anything."

     "But look how neat it is now!" exclaimed the Aisha, stepping back from the bookcase and admiring the straight, upright, perfectly organized rows.

     Fyora noticed the bookmarks and slips of paper in a neat pile on her desk and groaned. "Expea, it took my personal assistant two hours to bookmark those."

     The blue Aisha looked a little ashamed, but not enough to stop meddling. "Perhaps you should consider a computer catalog, your majesty," he answered, in a slightly depressed, self-conscious voice. "That's what I use for my records back at the FPP." His eyes latched on a stack of files behind her desk and he started forward.

     Queen Fyora quickly stepped in his path and motioned him back to the chair. His earstalks drooped in embarrassment and he obeyed. Of course, naturally, as soon as he was seated he began swinging his rear paws back and forth.

     The Faerie Queen sighed and took her seat behind her desk.

     "So, your highness?" prompted the Aisha, brimming with energy, nerves, or impatience, and who could tell the difference? (I'm going with nerves.)

     "Yes, Expea, I did ask the Faerie Protection Program to send you over for something fairly more important than straightening my office."

     His eyes fell on a spot on her desk and locked in place. Fyora sighed, pulled a handkerchief from a drawer, and tossed it over the table to him. He took it thankfully and attacked the nearly invisible spot.

     A buzzer sounded and Fyora flicked a switch. "You can come in, Agent C2."

     XP paused in his buffing to glance at Fyora's face in a surprisingly intelligent manner at odds with his irrational behavior. But her face, as usual, gave away nothing and he got back to his efforts to remove the spot.

     Another blue Aisha entered, looking much more mentally stable but several years younger than XP. Agent C2 had to still be a teenager--read 'immature.' He glared at the other Aisha, who had by now finished removing the spot and was wiping the whole desk down.

     "Have a seat, Agent C2. You too, Expea."

     XP reluctantly handed her back the cloth and took a seat as far away as possible from the stranger. He instantly began tapping the side of his chair and squirming uncomfortably.

     C2 was glaring at the other blue Aisha still. "That cannot be the special operative you selected to help me. Not that I need help."

     Fyora ignored him. "Expea, this is Agent C2, a level 9 under the Space Faerie and in charge of following Alien Aisha affairs. I need you to-"

     XP's eyes flicked from Fyora to C2 and back. "I'm not working with him, and I'm certainly not working under him, no matter what his rank."

     C2's mouth dropped open in surprise and insult, then snapped shut as he got a retort. "Well, I'm not working with him either! He's a complete nervous wreck!"

     Fyora silenced C2 with a look. "Expea is THE top undercover agent working for a faerie-governed agency in all of Neopia. She has never been traced and has never failed a mission." Obviously, from C2's cowed expression, he did not have quite such a remarkable record.

     "She?" queried C2 at last.

     Fyora glanced at XP.

     "'He' at the time," answered the FPP agent with a casual shrug.

     "Don't tell me he's a lab-pet!" exclaimed C2. "They're all insane!"

     "You will hush!" ordered Fyora, her eyes cold and her voice harsh. C2 took the hint.

     XP was still annoying tapping the side of the chair. "Your majesty, in all respect, I do have a special contract. I work absolutely alone. It's the main reason for my success."

     "It's personal preference, Expea. You were just as successful when you had a partner."

     The blue Aisha narrowed his eyes. Fyora had obviously touched a sensitive topic. "DeSoni was exceptional, my queen. Not like-" he gestured towards C2.

     C2 skipped easily over the insult to latch onto something of much higher interest to himself. "DeSoni?! You know DeSoni?! I'm his biggest fan!"

     XP groaned and looked like he wanted to run away. Only his incredible respect for Queen Fyora kept him from walking out then and there.

     Fyora waved them both silent. "Expea was DeSoni's partner back in those couple years he helped out the FPP. The only partner Expea ever trusted-"

     "None of them were reliable, my queen."

     "According to you, no-one's reliable," said Fyora with a touch of exasperation.

     "Extremely few are deserving of trust," insisted XP, eyeing C2 skeptically. His nervous jittering took away from the serious pessimism of his words.

     Queen Fyora sighed and rubbed her temples. Why were all the top agents in Neopia so weird? Not that she could ever say that aloud. "Expea, I assure you, C2 is worthy of your trust."

     C2 beamed with pride.

     "He may be immature, he certainly is foolish and stubborn, but he's clever enough and has a good heart underneath it all. He's loyal and has a natural nosey knack for digging up information."

     C2 didn't look quite so sure whether to be proud or embarrassed.

     "Now, to the point, Expea. The simple reason for C2 needing your help is because he can't be in two places at once-"

     XP interrupted, having already mentally jumped to what Fyora wanted quite a while ago. Since that other blue Aisha had entered the room, actually. "You want me to take on his character?" he asked bluntly, fidgeting more than some hyper Petpets C2 knew.

     "Yes."

     XP frowned. "As you order, so I will do, Queen Fyora. But, my liege, I have always taken on a role, an idea--I've never actually pretended to be an actual person. In this regard I have no experience."

     C2 nearly made a comment--probably something to the point of "Can't we just give someone else a blue Aisha morphing potion?" or "There's no way that nervous loony can portray me!" but Fyora glanced his way and he kept silent.

     Fyora sighed. "Look, XP, I know you don't want to, so I'll tell you the whole story as I know it. DeSoni came in contact with an experimental potion that's wiped the last six years or so of his memory. C2-"

     In one of the leaps of comprehension that made XP famous within the FPP, he continued for Fyora. "-Was contacted by Dr. Kregor Geiger who must've been contacted by DeSoni's new family, Detective Khargana and appaloosa500, or Kay. But Kregor Geiger couldn't get permission to come to Neopia and for some reason can't send the antidote--probably can't trust anyone with it, which I completely understand. So Agent C2 has to get the antidote and bring it back, only he's known to the Madam Commander and certainly won't be allowed anywhere near Dr. Geiger."

     C2 stared in shock, mouth dropped open, but Fyora seemed used to it. But XP wasn't done.

     "So you want me to distract the Madam Commander or whatever other security into thinking C2's somewhere else while he goes to get the antidote."

     "Can you do it?" asked C2, impressed with the restless lab-pet despite himself.

     XP's face got hard. "For DeSoni? Any day." His paw tapping the armrest tapped faster. "I need specifics, my queen. Agent."

     "We don't have much time, Expea, so you have to follow C2's instructions to the letter. He's the only one that knows his way around the Alien Aisha homeplanet and he's fairly well known--which I admit is my greatest worry."

     XP gave C2 a searching look, frowned, and finally nodded.

     "Yes, Queen Fyora."

     "Agent C2?"

     "Yes, ma'am."

     "Very well, dismissed. You two have a lot of work ahead of you."

     XP stood and bowed. C2 saluted and left. XP frowned at the silly young Aisha, but followed him out of the office.

     Fyora let out a huge sigh of relief and leaned back in her chair to try to relax. Reasoning with secret agents was completely maddening.

To be continued...

Hope you're liking it so far! Sorry if this seems slower than you may be used to from me; it's a much longer series. Agent C2 is the property of legoman8000, who gave me permission to use "DeSoni's #1 fan" in this series. All the others are mine, naturally. Please neomail me with comments! Thanks.