While the rest of the crowd disperses, returning to their vehicles, you step up to Katariki's grave and look down at his casket. This is a man you never met, who decided nonetheless that you were suitable to run an immense company like MetaHuman Incorporated. At this moment, as you stand above the wooden box that contains his mortal remains, you'd give a great deal to know what he was thinking.
At last, it's time to leave. The cemetery workers are waiting to fill the grave, and Leach and Winston must already have returned to your car.
Next
Days pass, and then one morning Electra comes to your office and knocks on your door. Entering, she says, "The Surgeons. You asked us to look into who or what they might be."
"And you've learned something?" you ask.
"Yes. I have."
Electra is carrying a small metal box, the size of a cigarette packet. She places it on the desk, and indicates that you should open it.
You do. Inside is something flat and black, about an inch long, vaguely triangular but quite irregular in shape.
"What is it?" you ask.
"As far as I can tell, a fingernail," says Electra. "The man who sent it to me said he has a whole alien corpse to sell us—an alien he heard was called a 'Surgeon.' He says he wants an awful lot of money for it, and that he'll only deal with you personally, face-to-face."
"Is he for real?" you ask.
"I checked the DNA of that fingernail sitting in front of you. It's extraterrestrial in origin. No doubt about it."
You stare down at the black triangle once more, then back up at Electra. "When do we leave?"
Next