Stark Industries, Monday

[endsthegame]

The weekend had been relaxing, but now it was Monday, and it was time to get back to work.

Ender opened up the store early, as was his wont, and set up his laptop. He hadn't had the time to go through his email that morning, so he was scanning the subject lines now, looking for replies to his mails.

It was strange - he was used to Carn being a pretty speedy correspondent, but it had been three days, and he still hadn't gotten a reply to some of his inquiries. Maybe that meant he had successfully slipped the leash and gone underground where Alai and Ender wanted him, but Ender didn't think so.

He brushed it off, and opened up Valentine's email next - only to find her talking about how she hadn't seen Dink or Carn or several of the colonists she'd made friends with, and no one else seemed to be concerned about it.

Ender sank back and eyed his screen. "Jane?" he said. "When was the last time Carn reported in?"

There was a strange silence - usually it didn't take Jane more than a picosecond to get this - before she answered. "No one by name of Carn Carby has been found in the records," she said.

Ender exhaled. "The files have been wiped?" he asked. "What's going on here?"

"They haven't been wiped. They just aren't here."

Somehow, Jane sounding worried wasn't exactly a boon to his peace of mind.

[[ Jane NFB, post open! ]]

Comments

[momslilassassin]

"Ho, kreetle," Ben said with a little smile as he came into the shop with sandwiches and milkshakes. He tilted his head. "You all right?"

[endsthegame]

"Carn Carby's disappeared," Ender said, looking up from his screen.

The files on Dink hadn't gone missing. He was hoping that was a good sign, at least.

[momslilassassin]

Ben's eyebrows drew together. "Like he dropped out of sight?"

[endsthegame]

"Like he never existed," Ender said. "He hasn't mailed me in days, his files are wiped..."

[momslilassassin]

"That's weird," Ben said, frowning and moving closer. "Have any other members of the Jeesh heard from him?"

[endsthegame]

"That's the strange thing," Ender said, shaking his head. "I tried asking Shen after him, but he didn't know what I was talking about."

[momslilassassin]

Ben dropped the food onto the counter and reached out to rest his hands on Ender's shoulders. "And this is too random a thing for them to doing as a joke on you, right?"

[endsthegame]

"They don't play jokes on me," Ender said, and if there were any isolated-boy echoes in that, he'd thank Ben not to mention them. "So something's up."

[momslilassassin]

Ben wasn't going to mention them, but his hands squeezed a little reassuringly against Ender's shoulders.

"And we can't blame this on a Portalocity screw-up."

[endsthegame]

"Some of Val's friends have gone missing, too," Ender said, reaching back to rub at his neck.

[momslilassassin]

"That's really unsettling," Ben admitted. "Do you think it's another kidnapping?"

[endsthegame]

"If so, it's by someone who managed a very particular, very thorough scrubbing of IF files," Ender said. He looked troubled.

[momslilassassin]

Ben brushed a kiss on the top of Ender's head before dropping into a nearby seat. "What's the next move?"

[endsthegame]

"Put out a few feelers, see if anyone - anyone at all - has found something," Ender said. "Maybe Graff knows."

Graff did tend to know everything. Or try to.

[momslilassassin]

"Graff certainly tries to have his fingers in as many pies as possible," Ben agreed. He watched Ender's eyes. "Anything you need?"

[endsthegame]

"I might have to head back to Eros myself if this keeps up," Ender admitted. "It won't be anywhere near a vacation, but you're invited anyway."

[momslilassassin]

Ben smiled a little wryly. "Just try to go anywhere near your universe without me sticking to you like a mynock."

[endsthegame]

Ender snorted softly. "You'll regret that when the colonisation brigade arrives with paperwork in hand and cuts off your last route of escape," he said, though he didn't sound particularly jocular.

[momslilassassin]

Ben leaned in to touch his forehead against Ender's. "Hey now," he murmured. "I'm not looking for an escape."

[endsthegame]

"I know," Ender said, with a wry little smile. "But you've never had to deal with IF bureaucracy. It's enough to send a grown man off screaming."

[momslilassassin]

He wiggled his fingers. "Can't I just make them think it's all been done?"

Yes, Ben, that's what Jedi powers are for.

[endsthegame]

"Yes, and then you get to fix the ship once it turns out we're over- or underbalanced, and cook when we find out we haven't brought enough supplies, and break up the fight when it turns out we've brought some incompatible colonists," Ender sighed.

[momslilassassin]

Ben brushed another kiss between Ender's eyes and sent a wave of reassurance toward him.

"If it's going to be that much trouble, I'll do the tear-inducing paperwork."

[endsthegame]

Ender smiled, reaching up to cup Ben's cheek. "I'll manage the paperwork," he said. "You're the detective."

[momslilassassin]

"Just be sure you spell Skywalker correctly," Ben teased.