The ARC - London

[itsananomaly]

It had been a very long and busy several days once Cutter and Connor had returned to London. Even though they were no longer involved with the field work, there was still a lot of research to be done both with the ARC and Prospero.

Cutter and Connor had been given an office to work out of while they were back for the summer, since Cutter’s old office now belonged to Danny ,and there were papers and books all over the office. Cutter was still trying to figure out what some of the numbers from the anomaly prediction model before they had left Fandom and the numbers and data was starting to blur together and he rubbed his eyes tiredly.

“I’m starting to think we might need a break,” he remarked with a sheepish smile from where he had taken a spot on the floor, surrounded by a pile of papers and notebooks.

[for Connor and SP! NFB due to distance]

Comments

[itsananomaly]

"He never talked about his family, it sounded like he wasn't from a happy home," Emily said softly, "he did say he was from London and an anomaly appeared while he was out with friends and that's how he got stuck, I don't know much else beyond that," she said softly, "his surname was Dobrowski but that was also he ever said about who he was," she said apologetically.

"I wonder where the anomaly appeared in London?" Cutter wondered curiously, "or when that could give us some more insight to how frequently these anomalies had appeared,"

Emily shook her head, "we kept asking him for details but other than his name and that he was out with friends, that was all we could get out from him,"

[thearcfamily]

Danny listened closely to what Emily said and he glanced towards Becker and Connor and it looked like they were about to head out to go try and look for any sign of where Ethan had gone.

"Thank you, that information does help us some" he said looking back at Emily and Cutter. "I cant help but feel... I feel like I should know that last name...But I don't really recognize it off hand," he admitted, somewhat frustrated and confused. "I guess in the meantime, until we get a good lead on where Ethan ran off, we should head back to the ARC?"

[itsananomaly]

Cutter nodded, "I guess we need to go and debrief James about everything that has happened, he's not going to be happy, is he?" he sighed, not looking forward to that meeting.

Emily was looking curiously at them, "the ARC?" she blinked, "what is that?"

[thearcfamily]

"The ARC is our headquarters, it's where we work from- The Anomaly Research Center," Becker said as he and Connor walked over. "And I agree, you all go back and let Lester know what is going on. Connor and I will see if we can track down any sign of Ethan. We'll meet up this evening."

Danny nodded and handed over a fresh set of coms to Becker and Connor. "Alright, you two be careful. See you in about.." Danny glanced at his watch, " Four or five hours. Let us know if you find Ethan or run into any trouble."

[itsananomaly]

Becker nodded, "no more than five hours," he agreed, "and we'll keep in regular contact us well," he assured them, "and we'll call for back up if we happen to find Ethan,"

Cutter nodded, "please be careful, both of you," he said softly to Becker and Connor, not liking the idea of Connor going off but he knew that it needed to be done.

[thearcfamily]

"I'll be ok Nick, promise" Connor said with a reassuring smile as he grabbed his backpack and then followed after Becker. "See you guys this evening!"

"Thank you Becker, Connor. Cutter and I will get Emily settled and let Lester know what is going on" Danny added, trying not to imagine the groan he knew would come from their boss when they told him about Ethan.

"Guess Sara and Abby will be glad to have some more company at the ARC," he said with a small smirk.

[itsananomaly]

Cutter stared worriedly after Connor followed Becker, he knew that Connor was going to be okay and he had Becker with him but he was still going to worry.

"They definitely will and Jenny too if she's around, even though last I heard she was trying to finalise some of her wedding planning," Cutter said, since it had been a while since he last seen Jenny.

Cutter then hesitated, wondering if he should tell Emily about Nate or not, since that was going to be pretty obvious when Emily did see him but maybe he should wait to ask James how much information they should share with Emily just then.

[thearcfamily]

Danny watched as Becker and Connor left, checked his com settings before adjusting the earpiece and slipping the pack into his pocket. He looked at Cutter and gave a small nod, almost sensing what he was wondering.

"We'll do all the introduction after we talk to Lester and get that out of the way." He looked at Emily and then lifted his arm and signaled towards the door he and Becker had come through. "Shall we?"

[itsananomaly]

Cutter nodded back, relieved he didn't have to try and explain about Nate at that point.

Emily gave a smile at that, as she linked her arm with Danny and nodded, "I am very curious to see this ARC of yours," she told him, "we do not have anything like that with the other travellers, we mostly try and stay out of the way of history,"

[thearcfamily]

"If only everyone was as careful as you" Danny said as they went. A couple minutes later they were outside in the parking area an Danny was helping Emily into the SUV and he climbed into the driver seat. "Thankfully its not much of a drive at all to the ARC. Five minutes... so long as the London traffic cooperates" he added with a small chuckle, trying to lighten the mood a little.

[itsananomaly]

Emily had never seen a car at all in her life as she was helped into the car, "what is this?" she asked, eyes wide, "I have never seen anything like this," she looked around, "are there no carriages here?"

Cutter had climbed into the back seat, "some, but they are mostly in Hyde Park," he explained, "this is an SUV, it's one of the ARC's," he added.

[thearcfamily]

"Welcome to the future" Danny said with a grin and that usual wink of his. "Horseless vehicles are the normal mode of transportation here" he said as he got the key out and started the engine. As he backed out and started on their way, he made sure to go a little slower than he normally would- both so Emily wouldn't get too startled,a nd also so she had more time to look around at everything as they went. "Buildings are a lot bigger now than they were back in your time, too, I bet," he said as he watched Emily's awed expression as they drove.

[itsananomaly]

Emily's eyes never left the window as she tried to catch everything, "London has gotten so big," she said in awe, as she tried to see if there was anything familiar at all that she recognised. "I would very much like to have a look around one time," she said, "when Ethan has been found,"

"I think that could be arranged," Cutter said with a smile as he watched Emily's reaction to seeing London, "we'll definitely give you the rundown on how things operate here, you'll need money and clothes and supplies but James will make sure you're looked after,"

[thearcfamily]

"Aye, Lester can be a bit of a stiff shirt at times but he will make sure you are taken care of while you are here.. you and Ethan once we find him" Danny said with a nod. A moment later, he made the turn and came to the top of the hill with the ARC looming ahead of them. "And there we are. The ARC." He gave a small chuckle as they got closer. "And it looks like Matt is here waiting for us too."

[itsananomaly]

Emily's eyes were still wide as she took in the ARC, "you really work here?" she said in awe, "this must cost a lot of money to operate,"

"The ARC was a fully government operation, now we're in private partnership, it's a 50 50 split," Cutter told her.

Emily looked curiously at Matt, "how many people do you have working for you?" she asked as she tried to take in the scale of the ARC.

[thearcfamily]

Danny gave Matt a quick wave as he pulled into the parking garage and then turned off the engine. "There's about a dozen of us at the core, then several dozen support staff members and guards. Matt is one of our main leads on the team. He, Becker, and I are the main security detail for the ARC," Danny explained as he got out and then went over to open the door for Emily, but Matt was already walking over and opening it for her with a smile.

[itsananomaly]

Emily looked curiously at Matt as he came over and opened the door, he offered her his hand and after a moment she took it and climbed out of the car.

"Lester wants a debrief now," he said, looking over at Danny and Cutter, "and he wants to know why a trip to the library caused a man hunt,"

Cutter winced, "oh James is not going to like this at all,"

[thearcfamily]

"Sheesh, he's not giving us any time to prepare for this at all is he?" Danny said as he rubbed the back of his head and sighed. "Alright, let's get this over with then... There's been no update from Becker and Connor so., I guess we go tell Lester what we know and then see how many shades of red he turned before we are shooed out of his office."

Danny gave a small, tired smirk... it would be a lot funnier if it wasn't so accurate and hadn't happened far too many times already over the past year.

[itsananomaly]

Cutter nodded, trying to give a tired smile back but he was worried about Connor and Becker, "he's definitely going to be angry with us isn't he?" he said softly, not looking forward to this debrief, "I'm sorry that we got you in trouble,"

[thearcfamily]

" Cant be helped" Matt said with a small shrug and a smirk. "At least there's no dragon or future predator running around in Lester's office this time... We'll find this Ethan fellow and make sure he is ok."

Matt looked at Danny with a questioning tilt of the head. "You ok there boss man?"

"Oh yeah sorry" Danny said still a bit distractedly. "I just cant shake the feeling that Ehtan's last name sounds vaguely familiar... though I have no clue why..."

[itsananomaly]

"Do you think it could be related to the ARC?" Cutter suggested, "In one of the previous reports maybe? Or maybe there's a connection to Helen? Even though I've gone through the notebook hundreds of times and I haven't come across an Ethan," he considered.

[thearcfamily]

"It might be ARC, but I don't recall anything recently. I may have to dig through some files and see what I can figure out... It's gonna drive me crazy."

"You mean crazier right?" Matt said with that typical chuckle but it quickly faded when he got the look from Danny that said he was being dead serious about this. "I can pull a few files too and see what we can find out" he offered, even as he started leading them down the hall towards Lester's office, stopping when they got to the all-too-familiar-looking door.

[thearcfamily]

Cutter nodded, "thank you, I'm sure with the ARC's resources we'll be able to find out who Ethan is," he reassured Danny and took a deep breath as he went to knock on the door, "well, here goes nothing," he sighed and knocked.

"Come in," Lester said sharply.

"This does not sound good," Cutter winced at Lester's tone as he opened the door.

[thearcfamily]

Matt grabbed the door and held it open as everyone filtered into the office, a heavy silence falling over the office. Matt took a spot just inside the door as he stood there and gave a reassuring nod to Danny and Cutter.

"Lester, Sir" Danny said with a small nod as he stepped forward, knowing that there were no words to try and diffuse the situation and he just had to wait and see how this all panned out.... ready to take the brunt of the anger so Cutter and the others could be spared the worst of it.

[thearcfamily]

Lester leaned forward in his chair, steepling his hands together as he looked at the group, he was silent for a few more years moments, "can someone please enlighten me as to how a trip to the library, has resulted in not only said library being shut down and why I've been fielding angry phone calls from the head librarian this afternoon but also there is currently a city wide manhunt underway?" he glowered at them.

"Connor and I were doing research and ... there was an anomaly," Cutter started to explain and then hesitated, realising how bad this was going to sound.

"An anomaly," Lester looked at Cutter pointedly, "and did you and Mr. Temple happen to follow correct procedures and call Mr. Quinn and Captain Becker straight away and therefore prevent any manhunt from happening?"

"No...No we didn't," Cutter said softy, "we ...er...we..." and then he found himself looking anywhere but Lester.