Chapter 162: Vol. III Chapter 34 “Act like you’re in charge.” (Part 2 of 2)
Back in the Vault, John walked down to the nearly finished residences at the far end of the stockroom. Rosie followed, hitching a ride in Janey's head. She felt all eyes were on him, peering out of glassless windows and door frames. Although the mysterious stranger in a long coat and low hat likely drew some focus.
"They're getting restless." Rick turned to John, still not able to look at Janey. Rosie thought he'd aged years since she made him Overseer. She hadn't given it a thought beyond that, yet seeing the changes he'd made her smile. "I had men I trust separate the three of them. They're waiting."
"Rosie, loop Rick into my comm." John looked at Janey as he spoke. "You'll be able to hear everything.
"Got it. I'll be ready." Rick started to walk away. "Oh and Grant's been asking to speak to you, four times in the last hour."
"This first." John would break the bad news himself. "How do we handle this?"
"A good interrogation is like leading someone through a forest." Mike spoke into the walkie Rose set up for him, making things a little less odd. "You coax them along, and when it's dark and scary, you leave them. Then they need you." Mike flipped the page on his pad and gave Rosie a nod
"We're ready John." Rosie sat in her kitchen, her vision filled with Janey's point of view.
John read the personnel file on the first suspect. "I want to take the lead on this, I'll call if I need you.
"Alright, I'll monitor biometrics from out here." Rosie stopped Janey walking and tweaked medical scanning protocol.
The odd floor or wall panel inside the residences were opened up. Allowing access for plumbing and electrics to be put in. Still, John thought them nearly liveable. A spacious living room, bedrooms, a washroom. All of it a long way from the cell he'd lived in.
"You must be Dolores." John greeted the older woman waiting inside and sat at the work table with her.
"Yes, Hello John." She knew his name. "I was asked to wait in here for the Overseer." Dolores had a respect for the word in her voice.
"Well Rick's up against it today, he asked me to talk to you." John smiled and took his notepad from his pocket, watching how she reacted. She looked at the strange practice of writing with a slight bemusement. "I understand you had a pretty good view of what happened."
"Yes, it was..." Dolores shut her eyes as if trying not to see it again.
"What would you say if I told you it wasn't an accident?" John let the idea register, seeing her eyes widen. "We think the safety line was cut with a scalpel. You were a senior medical technician before. Now you're pulling in wires, spot welding, stripping pipe. Quite the come down." John tried to appeal the arrogance and contempt the killer held.
"How dare you." Dolores scowled at him. "I helped people for years on the med deck. And I volunteered to come up here and work. I…" She looked him right in the eye, shame and tears on her face. "I won't look away any more." She sat back, dignified despite the insult.
"I have to ask these things, Dolores." John softened his tone. "We think the killer targeted Kyle because he requested to leave. Can you think of anyone up here who has a problem with people leaving?"
"How long have you got?" Dolores snapped at him, then softened. "Plenty of people think it's a stupid thing to do. No one I can think of would ever hurt someone though."
"What do you think about leaving?" John asked, trying to get a sense of something he hadn't understood.
"I think if I was ten years younger I'd probably be first in line." She smiled, the two of them connecting for the first time.
"Alright, thank you Dolores. I am going to need you to sit tight, but it shouldn't be too much longer now." John started to leave. "For what it's worth, someone with your experience could help a lot of people out there. That's what I'm trying to do." He left, convinced of her innocence.
John climbed the temporary stairs, little more than a sharply angled ladder, to the second floor. Even a small change in height gave a new sense of the space. Walkways held by pillars created a view down below.
The second suspect had kept busy while he waited. Pulling in wires, threading pipe, any little jobs that could be done. And they had been done well, everything neat. Tied off wires at the same length. Cut pipes organised in front of the correct panels.
"That's tidy work." John complimented him. "Impressive for an office administrator."
"Yeah, I much prefer this kind of work. Connor." He introduced himself, as if this were a casual conversation.
"John, this guy's changed jobs a lot." Rosie checked his file.
"Is that unusual?" Mike asked, searching for information beyond the obvious.
"Before we left it never happened. Now, I guess people have more choice." Rosie forced herself to think about her former life. To relive the endless, pointless loop. "If he's moving around this much, he isn't going to be close with others."
"Must be nice to have a choice in your work." John pulled a chair out from a worktable at an angle, gesturing for Connor to sit.
"Yes, it is." Connor turned the chair parallel to the table and sat.
"Can't be easy being the new guy all the time." John tried to direct the conversation
"It's not so bad." He looked uncomfortable. John knew how lonely this place could be, except he'd always had Rosie.
"I'm trying to get statements from people who were close to the accident. See if they saw anything out of place." John watched for any kind of tell, he saw none.
"I didn't really see anything, just heard the sound." Connor didn't bat an eye.
"You were pretty close, are you sure you didn't see anything out of place?" John pressed his question.
"Not that I can think of." He answered calmly.
"What about afterwards, was anyone acting strangely?" John saw he'd overplayed his hand.
"Why would someone be acting strangely?" Connor asked, turning the questioning around.
"Because someone cut the line." John watched intently, reading Connor's reaction. He seemed surprised, as expected.
"Why would someone do that?" Connor asked, before his eyes widened. "You think I did it."
"We think Kyle was targeted because he registered to leave." John seized on the gap to take control back. "How do you feel about people leaving?"
"Fine by me." He answered quickly. "But my girl's got a baby on the way, so I'm staying put."
"Well that's a good reason." John couldn't fault him for his choice. "I'm going to need you to sit tight a while longer."
"Sure, I'll be here." Connor went back to his work, taking a screwdriver from a perfectly arranged toolkit and opening a wall panel to access the piping.
John headed for the third suspect.
"What is the meaning of this?" The short man demanded as John entered. His tone entitled and sneering.
"I like this guy." Rosie spoke in his ear. "Act like you're in charge." John pushed past his dinged ego.
"Sit down Alex." John channelled every bad boss he ever had.
"Alexander." The man answered reflexively. "Mr. Harding to you."
"Oh I really like this guy." Rosie read the note Mike slipped her. "John we're going to go good cop, bad cop. Guess which one you are."
"Mr Harding, I've been tasked by the Overseer," John ignored the tut of derision. "To collect your statement regarding the accident."
"Under what authority do you question me?" He straightened his shiny Vault-suit, looking down on John's duster and jeans. "You don't even live here."
"I'm just here to get your statement on the accident." John took out his notepad, drawing more contempt.
"That was no accident." Alexander scoffed. "That was negligence. There's no proper procedures in place!" He prodded the table as if demanding action.
"John stand up and block the door on my mark." Rosie scrolled through the Vault power grid, isolating the nearest circuit breaker.
"In a few seconds I want you to remember, I tried to be polite." John stayed seated as lights shut off, plunging them into pitch dark.
"Now." Rosie gave him the word and he stood.
Light crept back into the room, red and menacing. John stepped aside, revealing the Assaultron and terror on the man's face.
"My friend here, she isn't burdened with what you or I might call morals." John positioned himself by Alexander's side, bearing over him. "She gets it into that big brain of hers that the best way to find the truth is to laser off your fingers one by one, there's not much I can do to stop her." Rosie wondered which of them he was talking about. She fired a quick blast from Janey's cranial laser, cutting the back legs clean off the chair. Alexander tumbled back, finding John's boot on his chest.
"Why'd you kill him?!" John yelled down.
"I didn't kill anyone!" He screamed back.
"I'm bored of this. Janey, burn the eyes out of his fucking head." John pressed his weight onto his leg. Rosie triggered a pencil thin beam of red light. Sparks fizzed and metal split as the beam crept along the floor. "Tell me why you cut the rope Alex!"
"I...didn't…" Alexander struggled, then just started screaming.
"Shut it down." John pulled Alexander up as Rosie powered up the lights. He dumped the sobbing man into the other chair and started walking away.
"This is going in my report!" Alexander yelled after him, using the empty threat of the old Vault. John ignored him.
"You ok?" Rosie asked through Janey as John leant against the wall.
"That was too much." John looked scared, not for the man he'd just terrified, but of himself. Rosie had assumed he'd put the hatred they'd both felt behind him. She'd got that wrong. He was helping in spite of the hate, not because he didn't feel it. Rosie admired him more in that moment.
"Why don't you head topside, get some air. Mike says we should let them stew a while anyway." Rosie knew she might have to push harder to get to the truth. And John might have to get his hands dirty to do it.
"No, I've still got to talk to Grant." John sounded like he would enjoy that even less. Rosie felt awkward listening in so gave them privacy.
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