#threadwithmentari

Mentari made his way back through Bartori towards the streets that had recently been used as the race track for the illegal street races. They were always changing, and he was certain they would be quiet for a while now, no new bets taken until the Overseers were no longer keeping an eye on the place so closely. Or who knew, maybe that was exactly the adrenaline kick that was needed. 

But he wasn’t here for that, he was following a lead on the Skeleton Crew. Anyone who was anyone within the criminal world knew the Skellies kept to the Mawar District, but his contact had suggested he might find some hint of their presence further down the food chain. And it made sense, with such large quantities of Nemesis at their disposal, they’d want to sell it as quickly as possible. Or at least he hoped that was why he’d been lured here. 

He entered one of the bars, run-down, barely a room but instead just a long hallway with seats at a bar. Instead of his contact however, he was suddenly face to face… with his sister. 

He frowned. That couldn’t be right. They were chasing the same lead. “What are you doing here?”

There was always business to be done in the name of X, and they really liked to make it as difficult as possible for Mentari to shift to make the chatter die down.

He certainly didn’t intend to bust any heads from the Skeleton Crew this early, but he hoped connections within the Tears had luck already. Though several inquiries later and he was still at a dead end. 

He settled in to talking with the Tear’s underboss at a secure location, even if he could feel X breathing down his neck for such a risky move. The tension had even settled in his bones.

Technically, Beryl could be considered Mentari's worst enemy: an agent informing on X to the OVERSEERS versus a detective on X's payroll. But the only difference was that Mentari knew of Beryl's loyalties, while she did not know of his. And he made sure she didn't have the room to figure it out either.

He made an inquiry into the building's surveillance at the lobby, before turning to the scientist there. He frowned at her as if they were mere acquaintances. "Good day, miss Choi. Quiet a shake-up around here these last days, how are you holding up?"

An attempted murder on their watch. Not necessarily Mentari's, but the whole of the OVERSEERS. The BOARD had been watching, but they hadn't seen this coming, the shot had already been fired before anyone was alarmed to the situation, and it had happened from such an angle, with such hacking behind it, that nobody was able to find any real evidence that a shot was even fired.

He didn't care about the rumours that followed. If Santi was indeed a SIGHIR or had Sighir employees, so be it. Assassinations on public figures were out of the question, they couldn't happen.

He thought this was the Skeleton Crew, again. They'd managed to do their heist without alarming anyone, nobody with inside information. Chances were that they'd done it again.

He walked into the NIGHT MARKET because he knew if he were to find the contractor of the assassin anywhere, it would be here. The Market itself felt almost deserted... perhaps the whole city was on edge.

"This place seems oddly quiet. You wouldn't have happened to hear any rumours about the assassination on X's CEO?"

The longer the situation stretched on, the more people became on edge. And there was still no sight on the Skeleton Crew. They must've known they'd have every Overseer in the city look for them. Or at least... those not busy trying to gather word on the Grey Lilies. Despite the BOARD, despite the systems, there was very little information on any member of either crew, just rumours and dirt.

The detective took a deep breath and sat down at a bar in the Bartori, ordering himself some sake and a plate of yakitori. "Walking through the Slums, you'd almost think nothing was the matter," he said to the patron to his left.

Nobody but a few other corrupt detectives and some members of the Golden Tears and X Academy knew of Mentari's true association, and he always had an excuse ready in case people did question why he was in places other Overseers might not normally be.

Having lunch with the CEO of X Academy for one.

He was simply discussing security, not at all talking about recent events and what he as an Overseer could do to further hide any hint of involvement from X.

"So far we've obscured any leads in the building that could've tied back to the Company," he said. "But I will need to delete files from the surveillance camera's, so I will need to know who visited the location when and how often." Despite the obvious power imbalance, Santi in charge of a billion dollar company, Mentari a detective, there was a commanding tone to Mentari's voice. He was exhausted.

While a good number of Overseers were on the hunt for the thieves, another chunk was overseeing the chaos at the races, and yet another was informing the public of the curfew and the work around for the metro, Mentari was running intel. They had little to show for, and plenty of possibilities exhausted. The Skeleton Crew ran a tight ship on this one. 

It made sense, their alliance wasn’t with any of the other organisations, they would deal with their own networks rather than attempt to complicate things for themselves. 

“Sora closes in five,” he told the citizens eager to enter the city. “I suggest you book a hotel in Mawar or dial a private driver.”

After a long day of dragging their body all over Mawar and the Slums, Mentari was famished and exhausted. He sat down at the nearest Ramen place to HQ and greeted fellow Overseers with a nod, before trading his company for Belial’s. 

Their beef was with Cyborgs, not so much with Androids, who in his opinion could bring a lot of good to the world. And to the Overseers as well. Sadly some of them had a much too complicated and excessive IA, and he wondered how much longer before they would render humans like him unnecessary.

“The usual?” he asked Belial.