Inc Inc 3 -CH5- (Patreon)

Sam quietly sat in the back seat of the black Fed sedan. They were driving him back to the local Fed building after making sure he was stable.

The man behind the wheel wasn’t saying much, nor was the other one in the passenger’s seat. From what they did say, it was technical things involving what they were doing.

Like getting permission to bring Sam into an internal unloading bay specifically for situations like these.

Frowning, Sam glanced out the window and spotted the building they were heading to. It was a rather large building when compared to everything else around it. Though it looked like nothing out of the ordinary.

All around it was a massive shimmering and shifting shield of magical protections. One that was hard-wired into the location and could halt just about anything he could think of.

My goodness. They’ve certainly stepped up their security as of late. I had no idea they’d taken it so far.

Before he’d realized it they were pulling into a garage area. There were a number of Fed agents in suits as well. There were even several with SMGs in their hands.

“Well. I didn’t realize I was such a concerning person,” Sam muttered, looking at the agents with weapons in hand. It was odd to him that they would have people on hand like that considering that they hadn’t even cuffed him. “As a victim of an attack, and that I’ve offered no resistance, that’s surprising.”

“You’re right and wrong,” said the passenger. “It isn’t for you. And thank you for offering no resistance as well. It’s appreciated.”

Oh? Not for me?

Hmm.

Maybe they were able to subdue that Fire-Elemental after all.

Or it’s unrelated to me completely. Suppose we’ll never find out. There’s no way they’d let me be here in the bay as they pulled up.

Sure enough, almost as soon as the sedan was stopped someone opened the door for Sam. He was asked to step out, hustled inside, and taken to a small room with a table, two chairs, a window, a mirrored wall, and a camera.

“Just have a seat if you don’t mind,” said the man who’d been driving. He indicated the seat closer to the door and beside the window. “We’ll have someone in momentarily to continue this. You okay?”

Sam was mildly surprised. They seemed to be going out of their way to make him comfortable.

“I am, thank you,” Sam said and moved to take the seat. “Though my clothes have seen better days. I suppose I won’t be able to change any time soon, though, will I?”

Sam adjusted his jacket and then sighed, looking to the agent.

The man grinned at him and shook his head slightly.

“Don’t know. Not my call. But if everything is like I think it is, you’ll be out of here in as short as a few hours. Worst case, seventy-two hours. Thats all,” replied the agent, then shut the door.

With a nod of his head, that was actually what Sam had been expecting. That was more or less what one could assume would happen if the Fed took you in to interview.

Especially someone of my caliber and the amount of firepower that was thrown at me. There’s no way I can say it was a simple mis-understanding.

One doesn’t lay out such an elaborate assassination scheme for a nobody.

A slow breath escaped him as he slowly looked around the room. It was obvious that it was used for interrogations.

Or interviews depending on your view point.

Sam imagined there were already several people behind the mirrored glass, watching him. When he tried to reach out with his Essence to determine if there was, he found he couldn’t actually push out beyond the walls of the room.

The entirety of the walls were shielded. Both inside and outside. No one would be able to see or hear what happened in here through magical means.

That leaves the camera, which is likely set up to the other side of that mirrored glass. If I don’t miss my guess, that room is likely shielded, as well.

Hm. Well. The Fed know their business at least.

A sharp and loud click preceded the door opening as the latch came out of it’s recess. Standing in the doorway was a young woman.

One that looked young enough to have barely graduated high-school, let alone college.

She had short, curly brown hair and steel-gray eyes. She was dressed in the standard Fed suit. She was an incredibly beautiful woman that was also clearly not human.

From the way she presented herself and her build, he imagined she could easily hold her own against most of the Paras of the world.

Ah! She’s a Siren. Or something akin to that.

At least I think so.

That means she’s likely twenty-six or something. With looks like that, the world is certainly better off with her slower than normal aging.

“Hello, I’m agent Dresch,” said the woman with a smile. “Can I get you any sort of refreshment? Water? A snack?”

Sam chuckled at that. He contemplated making a comment about her getting up on the table, but that seemed rude. She was only being courteous to him and clearly didn’t know what he was.

That didn’t mean he couldn’t ask for something, he just had to steer the conversation away from the Siren.

“There was a priestess who healed me after I was wounded,” said Sam with a wide smile. “If you could ask her to join me for five minutes, that’d be wonderful.

“Not to mention she seemed amenable to it, so it isn’t as if she wouldn’t be willing. I didn’t even flirt with her that much, which was rather nice.”

The Siren blinked several times as her cheeks took on a red-tinge. Then she suddenly nodded her head.

“Ah, you’re an Incubus. My apologies, I didn’t realize,” said Agent Dresch. Then she smiled at him and shook her head. “And that was Ezzie. She’s still on duty but I’ll relay your message to her.

“Unfortunately, even if she was willing, we couldn’t let you feed on her at this time. Simply put it wouldn’t be acceptable. Though I’ll see what I can do about in the meantime.

“Was that all you needed?”

“Indeed. Thank you,” Sam said while still smiling. Her response had been amusing and yet still courteous.

The Siren stepped away from the doorway and a single man entered. He had brown hair, brown eyes, rather fashionable eyeglasses, a beard, and had an average build. To Sam’s eye he seemed somewhat of a mismatch for a Fed agent.

That didn’t mean much Sam had to admit, however. It was precisely people like this that tended to get the best results because they ran against your expectations.

“Hello, my name is Caleb Jamison. You can call me Caleb,” said the man with a warm smile. Clearly the man was an agent with the Fed but he was definitely putting on a positive image and spin for Sam.

Sitting down in the seat across from Sam he set down his pad of paper and pen to the side. Then he leaned back in his chair and sighed with a tired smile.

“Sam, huh? Is that a shortened version or is it just Sam?” asked Caleb.

“Well, I’m sure you’ve already looked me up in the system,” Sam said with a chuckle. He knew for a fact that they’d already checked him. They had after all taken his driver’s license. “You have no idea how many times I had to spell it for that poor lady at the DMV.”

“I mean… just looking at it, it’s kinda hard to pronounce,” said Caleb with a chuckle. “Even if it you say it, I can’t imagine spelling it from it would be easy.”

“Alas, but it’s true. Sameerixis Fidenis for the mortal world,” confirmed Sam, stating his legal name.

“I won’t bother asking for your real name because that’d just be rude,” Caleb said and waved a hand in a negligent way. “Not sure about age though. Is that rude for an Incubus?”

“It can be depending on the person,” admitted Sam with a shrug of his shoulders. He didn’t volunteer any information beyond that. There was no reason for him to do anything other than answer directly.

The more information he provided, the more likely it was they’d discover something. Figure something out.

Or trap him with his own words.

On the drive over here he’d been contemplating how to answer questions he knew they’d ask. Like how did he get here and why.

“Mm, mm, makes sense. The few individuals of your race I’ve met were quick to boast, or decline, about their age,” Caleb said with a sniff.

Sam smiled at that and nodded his head.

“Well, could you tell me what you’re doing here?” asked Caleb. Apparently he’d realized Sam was going to be uncooperative when it came to information.

“Looking to make a few deals. Set up some contracts,” confessed Sam. It was actually the truth, just not quite in the way that Caleb would take it. “Same as ever.”

Caleb watched him for a second before smiling at that then chuckled.

“I mean, that’s certainly what I’d be doing if I was an Incubus,” Caleb said with a full sigh. “Traveling, meeting young women, making contracts and deals. I think I’d never let that end.

“So, who’d you come here with? Or did you come alone?”

“I brought my wife, Irma, and one of her people,” Sam once again said honestly. There was the distinct possibility that someone had seen them running from the scene. Getting caught in any sort of lie here and now would only lead him to troubles later. “Last I saw them, they were running away from the scene after I was opened up on. I assume you didn’t round them up or find them in the immediate area?”

“No, we didn’t. I see. Well. If possible we’ll try to notify them that you’re safe, I’m sure they’re very worried,” offered Caleb.

“I imagine not. They know I’m pretty hearty, you know,” laughed Sam and then leaned back in his chair. He was feeling confident and comfortable. Likely where Caleb wanted him to be.

There was no reason to give him an impression of anything else.

“Right, right. Could you tell me about the contracts you were working on?” asked Caleb.

“Nope. Because I haven’t made any yet. I literally just arrived today,” Sam said. “Didn’t even have time to book a hotel.

“Speaking of, you wouldn’t happen to be able to recommend any, could you? Looking for one that has a number of bars nearby.”

“Ah, afraid not. I haven’t visited a bar in years,” apologized Caleb. “You know, you’re taking this rather easy for someone who just had an attempt made on their life.”

“It’s not the first time, and probably not the last,” explained Sam with a short and violent sigh. “Mortals take sex quite seriously you know. Ex-husbands or ex-boyfriends always seem to cause problems despite no longer being in the picture.”

“Considering that, is there anyone you could think who would want to try and harm you?” asked Caleb.

“Oh, of course. Quite a few, in fact. But I couldn’t give you their names. I’m afraid they’re not really part of mortal society,” Sam said sincerely. “Just mentioning them would cause me even more problems, even if they weren’t involved.

“And please… don’t try the ‘we can protect you’ or ‘investigate it without them knowing’ lines. Because that isn’t the truth at all. I’m fairly certain the Fed can’t go to Hell nor would it want to.”

Caleb blinked at that. There was a clear pause in his thoughts as he rolled around what’d just been said.

“What, are you telling me you can protect me from a Pit-Demon? Or an Abyssal-Overlord? Because I’d love to see how you’d manage that,” said Sam with a dark chuckle. “Or a Titanic-Observer. Pick up this little Fed building and use it like a butt-plug for the sheer pleasure of crushing mortals with its asshole.

“But hey, maybe I’m wrong. I’d love to hear I’m wrong. Where’s the Fed building in Hell, by the way?”

Chewing at the inside of his cheek, Caleb just stared at him. Saying nothing at all. The man was clearly rather experienced at this sort of thing.

“Honestly… I’m happy to answer what questions you have, but I’m starting to wonder if there’s anything else I can actually answer,” said Sam. “I don’t know who was behind the attack on myself, I have no idea why they blew up a building on top of that, I didn’t recognize the Fire Elemental or the Imps, and I can’t even begin to think who would know I was coming here.

“It was a spur of the moment decision. I decided to come here in the span of less than twenty-four hours.”

Still not saying anything, Caleb continued to watch Sam.

“Right. I’m just going to be going now unless you’re charging me with something,” said Sam with a gesture at the door. “Because let’s be honest here, I didn’t actually do anything other than get attacked. I didn’t even defend myself, I ran away.”

“Uh huh. Right,” Caleb said, contemplating the situation. “Right. Well. Let me go talk to a few people to make sure we have all the details down. Then we’ll let you go.

“In the meantime, you can just remain here. I’ll have your possessions brought to you.”

“Great, thanks. Hey, any possibility of you telling Ezzie I’m in here and would love to talk to her about going out to dinner?” asked Sam, leaning into what people would expect of an Incubus.

“Maybe she could be my contact for how the case goes? Because I’m definitely pressing charges against whoever tried to kill me. Definitely need to see them locked up.”

Smiling, Caleb nodded his head to that and left the room. Taking his things with him and leaving Sam there alone.

Well. I think that went about as well as it could. There really wasn’t much that I told him in the end.

It probably wasn’t anything at all what he wanted, either.

They’ll clearly know I have things to hide, that while I do want them to find out who attacked me, I won’t be cooperating either.

That’s fine, they’ll probably dig into my organization from what they can see on the outside. But we don’t have anything to actually hide there. Everything really is on the up and up.

Only my own actions that interfered with the minds of mortals would be questionable. It’s been long enough though that they probably wouldn’t be able to even tell I did something. All my glamors are made to fade as quickly as possible, after all.

Drumming his fingers along the table, Sam leaned his head back and looked to the ceiling above him.

“Ezzie, huh?” he asked no-one with a grin. He couldn’t deny he was somewhat interested in the priestess. She’d been rather fun and flirty.

Decima could use a priestess on her team, couldn’t she? I bet she could.

They wouldn’t fall me for recruiting her at all. They’d thank me. Thank me and tell me what a great job I did.

Letting his thoughts carry him away, Sam sat there and waited.

***

Unfortunately Caleb hadn’t been quite right. They didn’t release Sam immediately. They kept him in that room for the better part of three hours.

Sitting there by himself, he entertained himself as best as he could. Though at one point he did start to doze in the chair with his head leaning against the top of the headrest.

“Again, I’m really sorry about the wait,” said agent Dresch. She was currently walking him toward the exit of the Fed building.

“Right. It isn’t that big a problem in the end. Though I’m curious, why the delay? Can you tell me?” Sam asked.

“Honestly, it wasn’t even related to you in the end,” the Siren said under her breath. “Other things were going on that were urgent. Everyone was more involved in that than trying to get everything ready for you.”

“That’s just silly,” Sam said with a chortle. “It wasn’t as if there was anything to get ready for me. Shouldn’t it have been as simple as doing what you are now? Walking me to the door?”

Agent Dresch said nothing to that, but it looked like she wanted to. For whatever reason, Sam got the impression the Siren didn’t find him amusing.

Nor attractive.

Which was rather odd if he was being honest with himself. There were very few women who didn’t have an interest in him.

“Anyways. Someone will be in touch with you about the case,” said the Siren. “Until then, be safe. Its obvious someone meant you quite a great deal of harm.”

“Thank you, I’ll do that. Oh, and uh… Ezzie?” asked Sam, turning to look the Siren full in the eye.

He wanted an honest answer out of the woman. He wanted to make sure someone had at least told the Priestess he was interested.

If the Priestess didn’t want to pursued, that was an entirely different issue, however. Sam would let it drop at that point.

“I… talked to her briefly,” said agent Dresch. “She has your number that you listed in the report.”

“Great. Thanks for that. Have a nice day, agent,” Sam said then turned and opened the front door.

Marching out of the Fed building he felt rather good. They’d managed to dodge the situation entirely with the agency.

The last thing Sam needed was them getting overly involved with him.

Because right now, he had a big enough problem by the name of Jenaphila. The fact that she knew he was alive and around, was something he really didn’t like.

Looking around, Sam found exactly what he expected. Carissa and Irma not far off enjoying a cup of coffee together, while each had a hot-dog as well.

Unable to fight the smirk on his face Sam started to walk over to them.

Hm. Rather hungry myself.

That little fake-Essence brick they game me wasn’t really that filling. Though it did take the edge off.

I wonder if I could get a large order of those and start handing them out to all the Imps suffering from a lack of Essence.

Might help.

Then again… who made them to begin with? And why?

Probably a company owned by Jenaphila or financed by it.

Irma and Carissa were watching him now. Both were smiling and clearly curious about what was going on.

Coming to a stop next to them Sam felt it too late.

There was a speck of Essence attacked to Irma’s back. It was just enough that the person who put it there would know where she was at all times.

Which meant they were being watched right now.

Opening his mouth he had a split second of realization as a plane slammed down over them. Casting them out into the void of nothingness that was between the planes.