Roger sped all the way from his apartment to the railyard. The yard itself was quite a large so he ended up having to park in an alley and walk around the fenced area until he found an entrance. Blocked by two armed guards, he knew he wouldn’t be able to get by even on the pretext that he was with the police. Unable to find another entrance besides coming from the riverside, he shrugged off his coat with the intention of draping it over the barbed wire and climb over. He was about to throw his coat when he heard something whiz past his ear and get caught on the fence. Fearing the guards had somehow seen him, the fell to the ground to make himself less visible. After nothing else flew at him, he rose to see what was clinging to the fence.

Attached to a protruding arrow was a small bag that had the words ‘Open me’ written on the front. Cautiously he did and found something that looked like an earplug in it and another little note.

‘Put it in your ear.’ He read.

Examining the small device and dubbing it not dangerous, he did as instructed.

“Hey, you got it on the first try!” A female voice stated.

Roger jumped, looking around to see where the voice had come from.

“Aww, you scared him. Look at him now.” A male voice joined.

Roger looked around frantically, still not finding anybody that could have spoken to him so clearly, as if they were standing right next to him. He had the realization that the thing he had put in his ear somehow had two people’s voices in it. Maybe they were incredibly tiny? He shook his head, bringing himself to reality. There was no such thing as people small enough to fit in his ear, so what was allowing him to hear these voices?

“What you just put in your ear is a receiver. It lets us talk to you, but you can’t talk back. Come around the corner to meet part of the team that will help you infiltrate that base of operations.” The female voice explained.

He looked at his surroundings trying to see what corner they meant. In the distance, he could see a figure waving their arm. Roger debated just jumping the fence and dealing with the problems as they came, but it seemed like these people had high tech and a plan. Choosing the most obvious option, he ran to the corner where he met a familiar face.

“Hold still, I’m just putting this on your throat. It reads the vibrations and relays the information to our receivers. In other words, it lets us hear you talk. I don’t think I need to introduce myself again, do I?” Asked Leslie.

Roger simply shook his head.

“And the handsome gentleman on this line is Patricks, I’m your sharpshooter. We’ve also met, remember? 'A gun is meant to shoot' and something...something...something... Don’t remember your exact words, but it went like that. Leslie’s our tactical force. Don’t get on her bad side or she will literally kick you in the ass, and it hurts like hell. Seriously, she’s hella strong.”

“Red asked us to help you get in, but that’s where our task ends. Something about you having to make the choices yourself otherwise the future would change, so we can’t get involved once we get you in.

“We’ve rigged the buildings with explosives, so if it comes down to it we can just blow everything up, but the choice will be yours.” Leslie handed Roger a trigger, showing him where the button was. “Press this and there will be pretty fireworks for the whole city to see. I’ve always been a huge fan of explosives, you’ve seen my work. You can even press the button now if you want since Sun technically is explosive-proof. But then you’ll be left with a bunch of questions and I don’t think you’re the type of person to let questions lie unanswered.”

“We should tell him about the key players now since we might not get another chance.” Patricks chimed in.

“Good call. You already know that Angelo Meli is the head honcho in your family’s death. Were you curious how he kept all those animals quiet and knew what loose ends to tie up?”

Roger had already forgotten about the animals that had been silent in the warehouse. Granted it had been unnatural, but there were more pressing matters at the time, and it was still one of his least urgent questions.

“A decade ago he put another person on his payroll. This person could cut off the ability to speak in any creature if he touched them even once. This person needed a space on the riverfront to store an item, so a deal was struck between Meli and him. He would make sure all the animals stayed quiet and keep Meli posted on any pertinent information that dealt with Meli’s organization and he would receive a top facility to hold this item.” Leslie explained.

“Why don’t you just tell me who this person is? It would make this whole thing a lot easier.” Roger insisted.

“It’s not our place to tell you because it’ll affect your decision.The last thing we’ll tell you is that in the main building where Sun is being held is the item that is being stored. It’s being kept in a casing of ethanol, so it’s incredibly flammable. I’d avoid being in that area if you do decide to blow the building. Give me a heads up too since I’ll be near the building and don’t want my hair catching on fire again.”

“Hahaha! You should have seen her running around!” Patricks verbalized.

“Shut the fuck up, Henry, or I’ll set you on fire.” Leslie threatened, and Patricks’ line went silent.

“Are you ready to go?” Leslie asked Roger.

“As I’ll ever be."