The Syndicate - 26. Chapter 26 - Taran

"And then, after breaking off his attack, the intruder disappeared in a column of fire. I reviewed the evidence at the scene. It's safe to say this was the same person who eluded us at the Natural History Museum." Taran concluded his statement and assumed a formal stance at the end of the conference table. The wall in front of him was divided into monitors, each capable of displaying a Syndicate member. His parents' faces looked down from the wall.

"We both know that arcane matters aren't your specialty. Who dispatched you to the scene?" Crimson Cosmonaut's voice crackled over the loudspeaker. Taran didn't know where his father was today, but it must have been somewhere remote. The lousy reception wasn't enough to mask his tone of judgment in the question.

"I did, sir," Maya spoke up from her place at the table. Taran noted a slight tremor in her voice, which wasn't surprising. It was her first mission debrief with the charter members. "Silver Cyclone was on patrol closest to the scene and had the background on Track and Trace missions. At the time, however, we thought it was simply a break-in."

Warren made a noise of approval and continued. "Well, that is the protocol, and you couldn't have known otherwise. No one is faulting you, Miss Huang." Taran bristled at the implication of who the fault belonged to. His father continued, "Do we have this person identified?"

Maya ruffled through the papers in front of her. "Ah, unfortunately not, sir. Control studied surveillance from the area, but we weren't able to get a clear image. It's likely the man was masking his identity somehow."

"Do we know what the intruder was looking for?" Zephyr's asked, a look of concern over the monitor. She was calling from the San Francisco headquarters, where Control workers wandered in and out of the frame behind her as they went about their duties.

"The Magic Division has a few ideas," another hero spoke up at the table. Arcanus was a senior member who helped coordinate missions with mystical origins. He was also an expert in magical items and Maya's primary mentor. "It seems that our associate recently parted with a few artifacts. We are attempting to track down their new owners. Unfortunately, as we don't know the properties of the Jewel of Katar, it's all a shot in the dark. If this stranger is collecting magical artifacts, it's likely all for the same goal." Arcanus leaned back in his chair, the black cat that always accompanied him jumped in his lap and settled in for a snooze.

"We need to make finding this thief a priority," Taran's father replied. "But we can't get caught off guard again. Starting now, we send teams of two for any dispatch dealing with mystical artifacts. Taran got lucky, there's no telling what could have happened."

Heat flared in Taran's cheeks. He was still feeling sore from this recent failure, and to have his father bring it up so frankly was humiliating. The worst part was that Crimson Cosmonaut was correct. Things could have been much worse if the tall stranger hadn't been so preoccupied with teasing him.

"Understood, and we will continue to search for these mystery artifacts." Arcanus absentmindedly stroked his cat, lost in thought. "Though I suppose now that we have a target, it might be possible to set up a trap?"

"We're of the same mind, my friend. I'll let you get to the planning. Report back to us when you have any leads. Cosmonaut out." The line crackled with static once more before going dead.

"We'll be in touch. Stay safe, all of you." Zephyr disconnected as well, the monitor blinking out.

Taran finally exhaled, glad the debrief was over. It was awkward enough to report directly to his parents when things were going well but to admit defeat felt too much like getting grounded.

Arcanus placed his cat gently on the ground and rose from his chair. He wore a dark blue satin suit with a billowy shirt and was the perfect image of an old fashioned stage magician. His half-moon spectacles caught the light of the room with a twinkle. "I'll be sure to let you know when we're ready to move on this," he told Taran kindly.

"Me? But I'm not Magic Division... Do you really want me involved after what happened last time? I totally messed up!"

"It's true, things could have gone better," the older man chuckled, fiddling with the amulet around his neck. "But if I know you, you'll be looking to settle the score. Maya and I will see to it that you get your chance," He gave a wink and called to his cat. "Come, Presto. We have work to do, don't we?" He scooped up the cat and disappeared with a flash of light.

"I'm not sure I'll ever get used to that," Taran sighed.

Maya laughed. "You think that's bad, try having him poof in when you're supposed to be studying!" She began to gather things. "You did good, SC. We're going to find this guy."

"Thanks..."

"Hey, chin up. Like Arcanus said, you'll get another chance."

"It's not just that; there's other stuff too…" Taran trailed off, unsure if he wanted to get into this conversation.

"Would it happen to involve a cute force field throwing recruit?"

"How did you know?" Taran groaned. "I thought I was doing a good job of keeping you out of my head."

"Oh, you've been closed off more than usual, which was enough to make me suspicious. But Ronnie doesn't know how to keep himself guarded, and he's been broadcasting emotions like crazy!"

"It's that bad, huh?"

"You're giving him emotional whiplash, Taran! I ran into him earlier today, and he was running moments over and over in his head. It's not fair, and you know it!"

Taran buried his head in his hands. Maya was right, as she was an annoyingly large amount of the time. This wasn't fair to either of them. "What do you think I should do?" He asked.

"You already know what you need to do, so there's no need for us to rehash that argument. But listen, I know what's up now. Maybe start with that?"

"You might be right… I'll talk to Ronnie, ok? Do you want to want to maybe stop by later? The three of us could spend some time together outside of work."

Maya game Taran a smug smile. "Sure, you owe me a giant curry anyway for sitting through this debrief. I'll see you at seven.”