Chapter 366: A Stunner
"That is correct, we call them the Orius Criminal Union but they have no unified name. They dip their hands into just about every crime available. They have no morals and lack emotions. Which is why Orius are delegated for intelligence work or being civilians. Having them integrate with the military or anything else is dangerous." Shel’la explained with a sigh.
"Interesting. But you have one that is part of your unit." Jace pointed out while looking Shel’la in his eyes. The staring was offsetting while the claim made Shel’la flinch.
"How did you know that?" Shel’la asked.
"The sound." Jace shrugged, "all of their speech is accompanied by a vibrational pattern that is rather unique. Just like how mar’talic make a clicking noise when they get agitated." Jace explained nonchalantly while Shel’la looked at him with a slacked jaw. An expression he had never seen a mar’talic make before.
"You can pick up on that? We had to build a listening device to pick up on that." Shel’la explained.
"It is just a variation on sound. I am sure you can pick up on it as well if you listen close enough." Jace explained. "Now why do you have an Orius that is part of your unit?"
Shel’la grunted. "Because there are mutations in their species. If they pass a few specific tests they are allowed to join other branches of the military."
"Mutations... I assume it is rare?" Jace asked.
"That is correct, it is very rare. Now first you mentioned a possible person who has been replaced? Which you are correct. That is how the Orius Criminal Union operates. They will infiltrate a community from top to bottom and collect as much information as possible before they commit more operatives to the effort." Shel’la declared after asking.
Jace went to respond when his communication device beeped. He checked it and nodded, "that is correct. But it looks like the replaced person and their wife are on the way here." Jace explained as he quickly responded on his communication device before focusing on Shel’la.
"You called them here?" Shel’la asked in confusion. "Why would you do that? It is difficult to take down a rogue Orius. Let alone take it alive." He pointed out.
Jace waved at the two items he had been tinkering with earlier. "Because I want to test out the items I was tinkering with. One is a detection gadget that will read the biological makeup and break it down. I think I got the basics of an Orius down. But I want to test it just in case." Jace pointed at a rectangle device with a screen and a button.
On the back side of the device is a scanning device. It would detect and scan a target. Then the make up of a person would be displayed by the core building blocks. He had already identified the core of one of those Orius and how to identify them from a list of materials. It was different from most other species as far as he could tell.
"What about the other thing that looks suspiciously like what I hope is a stunner?" Shel’la asked as he eyed the gun shaped weapon as well.
"That is because it is a stunner. One that should only work on the Orius." Jace nodded his head as he picked it up and looked it over. "It causes the electrical currents in the creature it hits to stop for a moment. For other species it will only cause them to get a headache since the electrical signals in our mind are too strong. But in an Orius..."
"It knocks them out and then some." Shel’la nodded in understanding. "It is not lethal to the Orius because they do not need those electrical signals to live, just to move. Okay, I am starting to understand what you did with the detector as well. Do you specialize in electricity?"
"And then some." Jace nodded as he stood up and walked to the garage door. Opening it just as a white sports car pulled up.
He watched as Mistress White looked at him with a smile and then looked past him at Shel’la and frowned. Especially when he noticed the uniform the Military Police officer had on. "Oh? I hope I am not interrupting anything. By the way, Jace meet my lovely wife Samantha Silas." Mistress White introduced her white who was dressed in just jeans and a black blouse that went well with her black hair and green eyes.
Jace discreetly used the new device to scan her as he stepped forward and smiled while shaking her hand. "Nice to meet you Miss Silas. I have heard quite a bit about you." Jace chuckled as he shook hands with the woman. Then he stepped back into the garage and waved them in. Once they entered he closed the garage door.
Jace walked to his workspace as he looked at the make up that he scanned from Miss Silas. Or rather from the fake Miss Silas. If these readings were right, she is definitely an Orius. That means she likely got replaced. Maybe the real one was dead or just taken elsewhere, possibly even kidnapped. There was a good chance this shipment was not the first one and she was taken on an earlier one.
"Now was there a particular reason you called me here?" Mistress White while slightly tilting her head toward Shel’la. She was clearly asking what was going on without asking it.
Miss Silas on the other hand was looking around the garage.
Jace moved to his workbench and picked up the stunner while he handed the detector to Shel’la. "Actually. I wanted to ask-" He spun around and fired the stunner at Mistress White. She flinched her hand moving to a concealed weapon but she seemed to realize the shot was meant to injure not kill so she stayed still and let it hit.
But when it hit her there was a pulse of pink energy that washed over her. She flinched and brought a hand to her head. "That... gave me a headache. What was that Jace?" Mistress White asked, now glaring at him.
"It worked, or partially." Jace shrugged as he waved the stunner like he was just moving his hands nonchalantly. As he did he fired it at Miss Silas. This time instead of a pink pulse, the woman seemingly melted into a gray blob that was still. "Told you it would work." Jace looked at Shel’la while Mistress White was trying to process what happened.
"What?" Mistress White looked at Jace. "What did you do- wait no. That did not do anything to me. That was why you hit me with it first. What happened to my wife?"
Shel’la sighed and stepped away to make a call.
Jace shrugged, "She was swapped out with a shapeshifting alien from the Victorium. The race in question are split up between intelligence operatives and criminals with no morals. There is a good chance that your wife is either dead or has been taken to wherever they planned to take the other kidnapped individuals." Jace explained as he set the newly tested tools on his workbench. "For more information I suggest you direct it to the Military Police officer in charge of the investigation." Jace nodded at Shel’la who was finishing with his call.