They were hired to do an odd job. To make several young individuals disappear, but to make it look like these individuals were killed, when, in fact, they were very much alive. They had valuable information that needed to go get to the CRC, quickly, and be witnesses for the aftermath. -- Anon Guest
"We're theatre techs, not mercenaries," complained Techie Aed. "How are we going to live through this exercise." They looked to their team, who were also terrified.
"That's what the actual mercenaries are for," said their CRC contact, keeping his voice calm despite the topic. "They get you there, they get you all out. All you have to do is create the illusion of a massacre. Before our witnesses are actually massacred by someone on the wrong payroll."
"If all you want is a crime scene, we can make something that looks effective," ventured Techie Dell, already compiling a budget on her datareader. "If you want it to be forensically effective, we'll have to do blood and tissue replication and that requires samples from the subjects. Which means two crime scenes. A kidnapping and then the murders."
"We can do a kidnapping," rumbled a mercenary in the corner. Ze was so large that ze was initially mistaken for furniture. "We know how they look."
"As long as the children are removed from the situation without undue stress," allowed the agent. "We need their testimony."
"We've got this," said the mercenary.
Months later, the news emerged from the area. The first step, of course, was the kidnapping. Then a series of ransom notes asking for various fortunes or the kidnappers would transmit the kids' testimonies all over their polity.
The ransoms were donated to the CRC after it was done.
The media of that polity broke the sad news of the discovered crime scene. There was much performative wailing and woe. All on behalf of children that their leader was covertly planning to kill.
The look on his face when the allegedly dead stepped up to testify was priceless.
[Photo by Joël in 't Veld on Unsplash]
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