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The Bureau

Prologue

The Anean Star Empire Remnora Novus, New Senzovona Central Residential District

December 8, 7996 Haroma Year

It was just another typical day on Remnora Novus. There were few clouds in the sky, and it was technically the beginning of the day, though there's little difference between dusk and dawn and midday anymore, but such was the life on a ringworld. Day and night was almost as simple as a few minutes of change with the rotation of the ring around the star and the plates orbiting the star or obscure the sunlight for artificial darkness.

Remnora Novus was one of the few ringworlds within the Anean Star Empire. All of them were held as being of high importance due to population capacity and their construction. In this case, as with all others, the ring is a superstructure that built entirely around the star in the habitable zone. Around the star are massive metal plates that obscure the light over parts of the ring to simulate a day and night cycle. On the inside, facing toward the star, solar panels cover the entire surface and that energy is beamed to the ring to power the settlements on the surface. It's a system that the engineers are only just starting to understand.

For some, these days were just another average day as the weekend finally came about. For others, such as the employees of the Novus Bureau, it was another long day at the office checking on their cases and otherwise watching over their wards. As one would expect, the Novus Bureau Headquarters handles the most cases and is generally the calmest of the offices. Remnora Novus isn't a particularly densely populated ring despite the capacity. Worlds such as Azizos or Fan-Kui generally end up with the busy offices. For Remnora Novus, it's a relatively easy job.

The typical commute to work for the average Bureau employee is relatively quick. Most Bureau employees are given a choice of housing based on their level within the organization as well as psionic tier in an attempt to retain as many of the powerful psionics as possible. These accommodations are generally close to the main office, and comfortable, while the options are still recognizing their abilities, use, and merit. The housing comes in exchange for a small bit out of the weekly salary. For some, it was a welcome change from other Anean worlds where chances were any quality housing was already taken and would cost four to five times more than the same on Remnora Novus.

"Good morning Remnora!" The radio said, right on time with Cadogan's alarm. "It's another bea-" The radio was cut off by Cadogan slamming a hand against it.

Cadogan Gavin, a six foot tall black jaguar, always hated this part of the day. Like most Haromians, and fellow Remnorans - be them Novus or not - morning was always the worst part of the day. Even with the 'snooze' on his alarm hit, he just laid there, staring at the time - 8:01 - and wishing it was night again so he could go back to sleep again. He managed to fall back asleep, just for a moment, before the alarm went off again at 8:05. Again, this time with a growl, he slammed his hand down, nearly breaking the clock as he did so. With hand still on the clock, he turned the alarm off and then rolled over onto his back.

With a low grumble he sat up and looked out the window. Without a typical sunrise like actual planets, there was no light beaming into room like it should have been. Having spent a couple years on the Gnatha branch of the Novus Bureau, he was still readjusting to life on a ringworld. It was different, but only slightly. After a moment of letting himself wake up, Cadogan turned and slid out of bed, standing up and stretching as he did so.

He let out a yawn as he headed out of his bedroom. Given that he was near the top of this condominium tower, and that there was no other residence in front of his windows, Cadogan typically chose to forgo clothes in the morning. This was no exception. It was more comfortable like this, and given that he took a shower every morning it made things easier on him. Plus, as though it never got old, he did like seeing the yellow patterns glowing through the fur. Being a Tier IX electrokinetic, they particularly shined through.

And he liked to mess with his observers. Despite being a high level agent within the Novus Bureau, his Tier IX status meant that he was a threat should he go rogue. For that reason, there were cameras installed in his condo that linked into Novus Bureau HQ where he was being watched by - he hoped - several female observers. Failing that, he wouldn't mind at least making the men look away until he got dressed. Either was a victory for him, and the possibilities amused him every morning.

One unfortunate side effect to the ring was that coffee was strictly prohibited. Though he really shouldn't have caffeine as it has been shown to interfere with his abilities, he had acquired a taste for small amounts of it while stationed on Gnatha. The couple of human psionics had offered it to him, and showed how to make it so it didn't send him out of control, and it was pretty good to him. Since moving onto the ring, it was a prohibited item and he can't even get it shipped in without running the risk of losing his job.

His solution was quite simple, and taking from his Remnoran cousins. Tea wasn't banned on the ring, and so he made sure to purchase large quantities and have it shipped to him. It cost quite a bit, when factoring in the distance, but he was paid well enough to make sure it was worth it. His position in the Bureau was a cushy job, especially when he usually sent out subordinates to handle and open cases that were under his jurisdiction.

As he had programmed, his former coffee brewer had heated a pot of water that he had dropped a few tea bags into prior to going to sleep last night. Now it was brewed, hot, and the tea was ready for him. Still slightly asleep, he grabbed a small mug off a hook above the island where he had his brewer and poured a cup of tea to get him started for the day. Not thinking, he took a sip of it, burning his mouth in the process. He set the mug down, set his hands on the marble countertop of the island, and sighed. Every morning was like this.

Set into the same position as usual was a controller that Cadogan used only in the morning anymore. He hit the power button and a few projectors set up in the corner first found him, and then turned on, projecting a hologram screen in front of him with the news from Galactic News Network. First thing he checked, out of habit, was the state of the stock market. Right now, the Haroma market, the most important one, was open and so far the state of GKM was looking quite good.

He had invested about $100,000 of his savings into Greymane-Knighthold Manufacturing a few months back and so far he had only made about $1,000 due to fluctuations that made them go up and down. He knew he should have sold the stock last month when he was looking at a $25,000 profit, but held off expecting it to go up again. On the upside of that, he was looking at a potential two for one stock split. If that happened, he might definitely make a major profit.

The stock check complete, he backed out to the front page. Nothing of note was happening. Emperor Xaimoungkhoun was still trying to remove noble power, the Senate was still arguing over whether or not sprinkled donuts were better than plain donuts or something equally silly, local news had nothing of note save for a couple robberies and a murder. Populations were still increasing, threats from the Avanta-Agebbo-Gemino Pact were still ongoing, and the military was still on patrol.

Cadogan looked up, having noticed a slightly louder than normal rumble. As if to confirm the part about the military, a Citadel Class Destroyer passed overhead and headed toward the spaceport on the surface, probably for some resupply or stress testing in an atmosphere. Despite the luxurious condo he enjoyed, that was one thing the ships coming in and out he didn't enjoy very much.

Given his status as both a Senior Agent and a Tier IX, he had a wide variety of housing available to him. Naturally, he took the most opulent one he had been offered. It was too big for just him, but he could afford it on his salary. Four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a large living room with a full height glass window with a balcony overlooking the city below, and all the extra amenities that came with residency at this particular building. It was worth it.

Cadogan picked up his tea and walked around the island and headed toward the sliding doors in front of the living room. He took a sip, dealing with the still slightly hot liquid, as he walked. He usually stepped out onto the balcony, nude or not, in the morning. People knew he was with the Bureau, and given that all of his neighbors were psionics and none were Bureau, he knew they wouldn't complain lest they see their registration pulled, and they'd be arrested for not being registered.

Though, in one case, he rather liked the tigress next door. She was a Tier VII hydrokinetic, Cadogan learned when she told him, and she was rather pretty to him. Part of him knew it was her just trying to kiss ass to a Bureau agent, but that aside he figured there was something going on there. He slid the glass door out of the way, and felt a cold burst of air as he did so. The ring was always cold, but that was fine. Granted, he always did feel his fur stand on end as a result, and this was another time that happened. He was going to savor the hot tea though, he knew that.

"Good morning Cadogan." He heard to his right as he stepped out. When he looked over, it was the tigress he had just been thinking about. She was smiling at him once she noticed him on the way out. For Cadogan, it was slightly uncomfortable to have to deal with her already, particularly given his state of clothing, but he dealt with it.

"Good morning." Cadogan said while taking a seat on his chair he had set outside for this very reason. "Nice morning isn't it?" He asked while taking a large sip of the tea.

She practically purred as she responded. "Indeed Cadogan. Getting ready for work I suppose?"

"Trying to." He said. Considering that she was calling him by name, it occurred to Cadogan that he had never asked her her name before, and she had never said it before. "Always hate waking up on weekends for this."

Out of the corner of his vision, Cadogan saw the tigress approaching her side of the balcony, which would put her right on the edge of the two condos, and within arm's reach Cadogan. Despite seeing her approaching, when she put a hand on his shoulder, he still jumped out of surprise just a bit, eliciting a laugh from her, until he let loose just a bit of electricity as an instinctual act of self-defense. That was followed from a thud onto the ground of her balcony.

Once he heard the thud, Cadogan stood up and looked over to her side, seeing her laying on the ground. As part of his training, he jumped over the divider between the balconies and kneeled beside her. He placed fingers on her neck, and let out a sigh of relief when he felt a normal pulse. He then opened her mouth and put an ear near her mouth, and heard her breathing. At worst, he probably caused things to stop for a moment, and thus cause her to collapse, but she seemed fine now. Feeling slightly guilty for doing that to her, Cadogan picked her up gently and carried her into her condo, setting her down on a couch. Being this close, he did finally notice the faint blue glow under her fur.

Having a sense of humor, he found a sticky note pad on her desk in a corner. He took a pen from the desk and wrote 'Sorry for being so shocking' before pulling the note off the pad, walking back to her, and sticking it on her nose. On a shelf in another corner, Cadogan saw several blankets. He pulled one off the shelf, unfolded it, and then put it over her. Satisfied that she might appreciate the gesture given what just happen, Cadogan left her condo and climbed back over to his balcony.

Cooled down enough, Cadogan finished off his tea as he went back into his condo, closing the door behind him but not locking it, and heading to the kitchen to set his mug into the sink. For a breakfast, it would have to do. He was running just a bit later than usual thanks to shocking his neighbor and trying to take care of her a bit.

Checking the time, and seeing it was now 8:25, he made a quick turn for the shower, picking up the pace just a bit. He was supposed to be at work by 10, and he knew how horrible the traffic was at all times in New Senzovona. He always tried to get out of the condo and on the road by 9, even if he lived only a couple miles from headquarters. He could walk, and he used to, until he had needed his car to get across town, and didn't have it on hand. He learned from that.

Cadogan climbed into the shower and turned the water on, not even bothering to make sure it was warm. Of course he cursed himself as ice cold water poured down on him for the moment before it heated up. He envied the humans for the showers. They didn't have to deal with the amount of fur that the Remnorans had, and thus were able to get in and out of the showers faster. Combined with Cadogan's particular fascination with keeping clean and well groomed, he typically took long showers where he made sure to clean everything.

The upside of technology in this situation was making drying oneself off easier. As he stepped out onto the stone floors 15 minutes later, he flipped a switch on the wall that, rather than sucking the air out to freshen a bathroom, blew hot air into the room. He also flipped the switch for the latter to suck the moist air out and make drying a bit easier. While he let the blower dry him - without puffing the fur up too much - he fixed what little hair he had and made sure to pluck any particularly pesky grey hairs that were starting to show up. He was rather proud of his black pelt.

It took only a few minutes longer before he felt he was dry enough, and turned the blower off, stepping out of the bathroom. He walked around the corner into his bedroom, making another turn and opening his closet. There were a variety of business suits he had, and he only wore some when he was in certain moods or needed to use it to better blend in when hunting a rogue. In this case, he pulled out his all black suit. This one had a black tie, black dress shirt, black jacket and pants. It would have to do, and it meant that less fur would show up. That was another problem he had with anything other than black clothing.

He got dressed quickly, taking a glance at the clock and seeing it was only going on 8:45 now. Once looking at the clock and realizing he had some time, he slowed down just a bit. He pulled his pants on and left them unbuttoned for the moment as he put on and buttoned up the dress shirt. With that tucked in, he buttoned up the pants and put his belt on, tightening it in two holes. He sat down on the bed to put socks on and then get the dress shoes on. In all, it took about eight minutes to get dressed.

With a sigh as he stood back up, Cadogan picked up his jacket and put it on. He left it unbuttoned for the moment, as it restricted his movement too much, particularly when driving. Now that everything was in order, Cadogan headed out of the bedroom, but stopped himself. He took his jacket off, opened the top drawer of his dresser, and pulled out the shoulder holster for his pistol, as well as the Bureau badge. He put the former on and clipped the latter onto his belt. This was the first time that he had almost forgotten these in quite a while.

Cadogan put his jacket back on and headed out of his condo, grabbing his keys by the door as he stepped out. He locked the door behind him and tucked the keys into his pocket and headed for the elevator. There were only a few people in the halls, one of them being a security officer. Cadogan was known by everyone in the building, and security knew not to mess with him for various reasons. The guard gave a respectful nod toward Cadogan and continued on his way.

Once at the elevator, he pressed the button and waited longer than he should have. The building wasn't so large that there were many people that needed to move around. It took nearly ten minutes before the elevator reached his floor, and a large group of people stepped off. He checked his watch, only to find he had forgotten that as well. He could manage without that at the very least. Once on the elevator, he held the close doors button until the doors closed, and kept holding it while holding B2 until the elevator moved. That was a little trick he had learned. Now he'd go right to the bottom without stopping.

Without having to make any stops, the elevator rapidly descended, and Cadogan was increasingly impatient with this morning. Granted, he also recognized that he was partially at fault for hitting the snooze and wasting five minutes that he could have used otherwise. It was a couple minutes nonetheless before the elevator came to a stop at level B2 and Cadogan stepped off. Thanks to his connections, his car was just a few steps from the elevator in what was a reserved parking space for the particularly wealthy of the building.

Cadogan approached the car and opened it, the keys in his pocket registering with the car and recognizing him. The silver Greymane-Knighthold Andromeda V was, simply put, the perfect luxury car. Despite being an older model, it's the most popular among the GK enthusiasts. Still relatively expensive - and Cadogan is only halfway through paying it off - the Andromeda V is a sleek car built to go fast in perfect luxury. What sets it apart is the options that are available to any customer, which Cadogan got for various reasons.

Given that Greymane-Knighthold is a primarily military manufacturer, they have applied their military grade equipment to the Andromeda and offers them as alternatives. In a time where ground based cars are being replaced by airborne vehicles on the high density worlds, and thus are increasingly losing use, GK was trying to stay competitive. Cadogan had ordered his Andromeda with every available feature; run flat tires, military grade armor plating, a reinforced chassis that can theoretically withstand an explosion, bulletproof glass, a GK-I grade engine, upgraded fusion core to power it, and real leather seats when so many were still using imitation leather just to name the most notable. Had he been in the military, and proved it, he could have had an emergency rifle rack installed in the trunk.

With the press of a button, Cadogan started the car and backed out of his space in the underground garage. Another very nice thing about the Andromeda was that it started up quickly. The not so nice thing was that the newer models always had a virtual assistant, and that was the first thing that popped up on the menu at the center of the dashboard. Before it could say a word in its annoying voice, Cadogan pressed the button to turn it off.

He turned to go up the ramp to the B1 level, and made a right at the top to approach the exit gate. The guard at the gate, which Cadogan knew was a Tier VIII pyrokinetic, simply waved him through and made sure not to make eye contact. Not all of the extremely powerful psionics were forced into the Bureau, and this was one example. He refused to join the Bureau, but has otherwise had a spotless record, so the Bureau let him live his life as he chose.

At the top of the next ramp, now bringing him up to street level, Cadogan found a spot between the cars and pulled in, getting several horns blared at him even though there was more than enough room. Not worth getting angry over, he gave a roll of the eyes as he came to a stop in the traffic. It was now 9:08, and he had doubts about getting to work on time. He didn't care much though since he hadn't been late for a while, and he couldn't get fired for being a few minutes late given his record with the Bureau.

It took just a little over an hour of gridlocked traffic before Cadogan finally arrived at headquarters and took his reserved spot at the front of the building. Since he didn't care enough to bring his briefcase in every morning, he usually left it in his car. As he got out, he grabbed the briefcase off the passenger seat and then finally got out of the car. It felt like it had been a full day of work with the amount of time that he had wasted. It was now 10:12 and he was late, not that he expected any better.

The Bureau Headquarters was a fairly intimidating building at a glance. Making use of heavily tinted glass on the outside, it looked simply like a tall, black monolith that dwarfed the buildings around it. It was almost unique in the external appearance, with more buildings wanting to have a cleaner, less intimidating look to it. For most of the employees of the Novus Bureau, they rather liked the look as it fit the objectives and daily operations of the Bureau quite well.

The atrium of the Bureau was well decorated, which only fit an organization of its stature, though it took on a brutalist appearance with concrete walls at the atrium, but traditional construction elsewhere. Laid into the floor was the Anean eagle from the flag - a replacement of the old Remnora Novus crest that had been there before assimilation into the Empire - with 'Novus Bureau' and its motto around the edge. The seal was placed below a plate of glass to protect the gold seal from damage.

All of this was largely ignored by Cadogan, as he had seen it since the day he started working at the Bureau nearly 27 years ago. Instead he just kept walking into the building. The receptionists stopped most agents for their ID, but Cadogan just gave a wave and was allowed past the metal detectors and security. That treatment was due to two things. One, his status within the Bureau, and, two, his markings on the face. The glowing patterns of every Novus were, for the most part, unique. For Cadogan, the glowing yellow marking around his right eye was his chief identifier to the receptionists.

Unlike at his condo, the elevator was already on the ground floor and he just barely managed to slip in as the door closed. It was mostly empty as well. All of those inside, he sensed, were low tier psionics, most of them not even with a specialization. That was fine of course. There was some talking behind him among the other staffers. He figured they weren't agents as those were typically given to Tier VI and higher. A flick of the ear backward, and he heard some of what was being said, some about recognizing him.

Cadogan hadn't thought of it, but took a glance at the elevator button panel and saw that his floor had been pressed anyway. He had a space overlooking a floor of other lower ranked agents. It was a comfortable office, and the upside was that he was usually in the office while sending his subordinates out on any operations sent down to him. That was, of course, a rare occurrence anyway. His job mostly consisted of checking in with all his high tier wards and making sure they were where they said they'd be, and then checking up in person. It was a weekly visit and he had a few today that he actually liked to deal with regularly.

At the 50th floor, Cadogan stepped off, only to be face to face with the Deputy Director. He sighed as he approached, knowing what would be coming now that he was a whole 15 minutes late. "Late again Gavin." The Deputy Director said.

"First time in a couple months. My apologies." Cadogan said, making a turn for his part of the floor, ignoring the Deputy Director for the most part.

The Deputy Director followed Cadogan. "We expect better from our agents. This performance is unacceptable."

"Remind me to fill out a request for so I can be late by 15 minutes one day thanks to the traffic." He said, setting his briefcase down on the desk. "Some things I just can't avoid." Having hoped that would be enough to send the Deputy Director away as he took his seat, Cadogan looked up see the Deputy Director standing over him. "Will you go away now? I have work to catch up on and I don't need your glaring to get in the way. If you have a problem, take it up with the Director and get me fired." That worked well enough get the Deputy Director gone.

Cadogan let out a sigh and turned on his computer. It started up fairly quickly, and Cadogan went through the cabinet behind him in his cubicle. He sorted all the folders by day he needed to talk to the people. He pulled out the section of the cabinet for today. He had 10 cases to check in on through the cameras, then set up his daily drive around the city to meet with all of them. He knew about where all of them should be. Some were in New Senzovona, but most were off world. Those off world he'd just make a call to. Those in the city he'd visit directly and talk to them.

He flipped through the folders, settling on the first of the off worlders. Just a quick look at the name, and he tucked the folder back away. In this particular case - a Tier IX Pyrokinetic - he didn't want to make the call for several reasons. First and foremost, it was the Emperor's daughter. Why he got that case file, he'll never know, but he assumed it was a random assignment. He pulled the next file; a Tier V Empath. It would have to do for the first case of the day.

It took several hours as Cadogan made the phone calls and made sure to make some conversation with the various off world cases. He didn't mind really, as some were at least interesting and wanted to make conversation. They knew it was time for their check in and they accepted it for the most part. At the end of the third hour, he had finished his conversations with 6 of the 10 cases, and the marked that up to 7 knowing that the Emperor's daughter was obviously being watched closely anyway.

This was the part that he hated, however. There was one person that Cadogan found impossible to deal with. A Tier VIII Psychomanipulator wolf that feels she is superior to everyone. It was a typical response when dealing with lower tier individuals. Megalomania and a sense of superiority typically came with Novus capabilities. Cadogan had put in an advisory on her to have her brought into custody and dealt with, but it fell on deaf ears.

Naturally, that would be the first stop of the day just so he could get it out of the way. At best, she'd finally do something foolish and force Cadogan to arrest her. At worst, it'd be another regular visit and result in him not having another reason to bring her in for interrogation and whatever it is that the Bureau does with psionics like her.

Cadogan stood up, tucked the last three case files into his briefcase, locked it, and picked it up, heading for the elevator again. Now that he was on duty, he knew the Deputy Director wouldn't say a word to him as he left the headquarters to carry out daily duties. As he stepped into the elevator, it occurred to Cadogan that he could easily do this job from home. He kept the thought to himself though as he waited for the elevator to reach the ground floor again.

The receptionists gave him another wave as he headed for the exit, getting into his car and settling in. He placed his head against the headrest and let out a sigh. He knew this was going to be a long day. Just as a check before getting on the road, he removed the pistol from his holster and checked it. As usual, the .45 caliber pistol had a round in the chamber, another 8 rounds in the magazine, and he had two magazines in the holster as well. Satisfied he was at least armed, he turned the car on.