The Engine What Runs the World: Chapter 1 Page 7 (Unedited)

From the desk of Private Detective Smoke Callahan
Month: 07 Day: 07 Year: 4324/1594 New Era
Name: Marla Lang Job Number: 0006543
Job: Missing girl, Blue Lang
Job Details: Blue Lang, missing for a week. Sister seems to believe Blue to be kidnapped, though upon reviewing the evidence presented it is clear that she had left home of her own free will.
Described to be age 16, 19 hands high and slightly under 9 stone. The image provided shows long black hair, narrow eyes and straight teeth. She doesn’t seem to have any real distinguishing marks on her face.
Extra Notes: This case seems to be filled with red flags.

Starting with the sake Marla was unable (unwilling?) to talk price and seemed to be close lipped on a few matters and angered by having to answer others gives me cause for concern. The lack of clues they’d given is also alarming. If the price is right I’ll take the job, but if I continue to meet resistance I may have to turn it down out of principle. I’ll have to wait and see.

Something that concerns me is the contents of the evidence presented. I would have a hard time believing the family didn’t go over what they’d brought me. They would know Blue ran away. Why would Marla try to sell me Blue as kidnapped? There are a lot of questions that need answers.

Smoke cracked his knuckles and pulled the paper out of the typewriter. He placed it in the folder along with the evidence Marla had given him.

He grabbed a bottle of mulch liquor and took a large drink. The alcohol burned as it flowed down his throat and left his breath tasting like the mossy booze. He pulled the image of Blue from the folder and took one final look before slipping it into the inside pocket of his longcoat. It was possible this would be a difficult case that could take an awfully long time to complete, especially if she made her way to the lower levels in the underground.

He yawned as he left his desk and walked to his bookshelf. The books that lined his shelves contained secrets of the human body, practical information about lock picking, subterfuge and secrecy. He had a few books that explained the psychology of the human mind and how people think. There were books that outlined the history of the world reaching all the way back to the twenty first century, aptly named the ‘Age of Interest’.

He picked up The Age of Interest then continued to browse the titles. He soon found the book detailing a list of the major families of the tower. He grabbed the book and walked to his bedroom. He placed the books on the bedside table. He would need to research the Lang family, provided they were even mentioned in the book. It could wait until the morning however.

Smoke locked his front door and placed the heavy shutters over his windows. He blew out the candles that lit his front room and made his way back to the bedroom. He undressed and crawled onto his foam mattress.

He opened The Age of Interest and flipped through the pages. He enjoyed looking at the pictures of the people of interest: the superhumans, the vampires and werewolves, all those creatures the world no longer had. They fascinated him to the point where he wished he could have seen one at least once in his lifetime. Yet he was thankful he hadn’t. Those days were dangerous, and many people had lost their lives while the heroes fought the villains and the hunters stalked the creatures.

The only upside would have been the magic. While not accessible to the majority, it had been used quite prominently to shape the world and the cities within. While a small trickle of the original magic still existed, the users were very few. Smoke retained some of that magic, though his abilities were limited and weak.
He soon slept, the book still open on his chest.