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]

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.

[thearcfamily]

"It was my fault, Gov'" Danny said, dropping the title even as he saw the little twitch at the corner of Lester's mouth start. "I hadn't debriefed Cutter and Connor properly on our new protocol processes since their return. That is on me, Sir, and I accept responsibility for what has happened."

Danny stood straight and tall in front of Lester's desk, hands clasped behind his back. "I am waiting for an update from Becker and Connor any minute and I am sure we will locate Ethan and get to the bottom of all of this."

danny didn't turn to look at his but he was watching Cutter out of the corner of his eyes as he kept his gaze on Lester.

[thearcfamily]

Lester stared at Danny and then at Cutter, who was still not meeting his gaze, "be that as it may Mr. Quinn, we're now dealing with an unprecedented situation involving travellers from the past roaming around current day London and Captain Becker and Mr. Temple are dealing with a lot of unknowns," he frowned, "I trust in future you'll make sure that Professor Cutter and Mr. Temple are well versed in our new protocols?"

[thearcfamily]

"Of course, Sir. It won't happen again. We are going to be meeting right after we are done here to discuss what happened and what we are going to do to rectify the situation..."

Danny looked at Cutter and gave him a quick apologetic look for having to sound so harsh.

"I will debrief Becker and Connor when they return, which should be shortly, and we will figure out our plan of action moving forward."

[thearcfamily]

Cutter tried not to flinch at the harshness of Danny’s tone but he knew it was warranted. He nodded to show that he understood.

Lester looked from Cutter to Danny, “very well Mr. Quinn, make sure this doesn’t happen again, I also expect regular updates on your action plan and when you hear from Captain Becker and Mr. Temple,”

[thearcfamily]

"Of course, Sir," Danny said with a small nod and then fell quiet.

Matt took that opportunity to try and shift the focus without drawing Lester's ire any more than they already were.

"Well, I will go take Emily here to the guest quarters and help her get situated..." eh started as he took a step from the corner he had been standing in at the far side of Lester's office and took a step towards Emily. His hope had been to get them out the door before Lester paid much attention to the OTHER mystery person the ARC was now dealing with....

It almost worked...

[thearcfamily]

"Don't think I haven't noticed that we had one more person present in this meeting Mr. Anderson," Lester said but his tone had softened a bit as he looked over at Emily, "James Lester," he introduced himself to her.

"Lady Emily Merchant," Emily said, looking at Lester and then back at Matt, Danny and Cutter. She still wasn't entirely sure what she was supposed to here.

"Normally this would be where I would say that Lady Merchant has to sign the Official Secrets Act before we assign her a room but I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that she's about a hundred years out of time?" he looked back at Danny.

[thearcfamily]

"That would be about right Sir" Danny said still keeping his head down a little, now being he one not meeting Lester's eyes directly. "She and Ethan are from the past... though it seems Ethan might originally be from closer to our time."

[thearcfamily]

Lester frowned at that, "you don't happen to have a name for Ethan?" he asked, "if he's closer to our time, there may be a record of him, and that could give us a clearer understanding of where he might go, if he had family still,"

"The name he gave us was Ethan Dobrowski," Emily told him, "he didn't say much about his family at all, I got the impression that he didn't have a happy home life, he never seemed to be in a hurry to get back to his time,"