23 Pescados Drive, Del Mar, La Perdita: "The Fish Factory", the temporary headquarters of MBL Consulting.
The telephone rang. It was getting close to dawn, but he'd had no sleep at all this night.
Kit Piper picked it up. He was still quite shaken by the events of the last two days, but he was beginning to gain new hope for his daughters' welfare. "Uh... hello? Kit Piper here. How can I help you?"
"Piper."
"Griffin?!!" Kit exclaimed, his face brightening considerably. "My God, man, have you found the locations of my daughters already?"
"Tell Mr. Montag and his young... friend... aheh... to check their pockets. I'm sure they'll find therein all necessary information on the location of your daughters and their mother. I'll expect to see half of my total fee wired to my Swiss bank account within the next 6 hours. I will contact you again once the second level of the job you've hired me for is complete."
"Uh, sure, sure..." Kit said, smiling. "Well, uh, should I shoot you an e-mail to let you know when the boys have done their job, or--?"
"No need, no need. I will know." At that, the man known only as Griffin hung up the receiver on the other line.
Kit Piper clicked a button on the intercom and spoke into it: "Griss, Phil -- check your pockets, guys. Your mission is a 'go'!" The butterflies in his stomach were still giving him problems, and his nerves could only be sated through a walk around the Factory until he heard back from the guys.
The temporary President of MBL Consulting stepped out of his makeshift office and just started walking around. He didn't know if he would see prison time for embezzling from the company or not, but he knew his days as "President" and "Financial Advisor" were numbered. What would the guys do when they found out what he'd done? Would they take into consideration his desperation to save his daughters' lives when they passed their judgment on him? Kit didn't want to think about it. Not now. Not now.
"Daniela?" he said as he walked down a hallway and saw the teenaged former member of La Perdita's PSI-Unit standing completely still in the centre, staring off into space in a daze. "Hey, girl, how are you doing? Coping all right?"
She didn't answer.
"Daniela?" Kit waved a pudgy hand across her face before her eyes. Nothing. No response whatsoever. "Hey, girl, what's going--" he began, cutting himself off as he tried to place a hand on her shoulder, only to find that it passed completely through her, as if she were a phantom. A moment later she simply seemed to completely dissolve.
"What the--?!" Kit exclaimed, not knowing what to think. He stood there for a few moments more, wondering if this kind of thing always happened around these metahuman folks.
