"Officer Varyna, can you take these holos to the record storage?" her superior, Faren Cleus, asked, dropping a stack of cartridges in front of her. "Our office golem is out of commission. Again."
"Leave it to me!" Varyna jumped up and reached for the stack. "But, uh, I'm not sure where the record storage is."
"Have Quoppi show you," Faren called over his shoulder, already headed back to his office.
"... Right. I'll do that." Varyna turned to search for the Nemarian among all her coworkers bustling around. After a while, she finally caught sight of his maroon fins poking out behind a group of chatting Kremels as he sat hunched at his desk.
Quoppi was intent on the holo in front of him when Varyna approached him. It was about types of architecture left behind by the Ancient Ones.
"Hey, Quoppi," she tapped him on the shoulder, but he didn't budge. The constant ruckus from his Kremel squadmates had made him immune to interruptions. Varyna cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "Quoppi!!!!"
The Nemarian jumped in his seat, sending pens, message chips, and cartridges scattering across the desk surface.
"Officer Rhine." He readjusted his glasses as he turned to face her. The glasses were thick framed with large convex lenses positioned over his beady black eyes. They had a lingering fog in the outer corners thanks to the mistter blasting mist from around his neck. "What can I do for you?"
"Looks like I'm the golem's replacement today." Varyna held up the stack of cartridges. "Faren said you could show me the way to record storage."
"Ah, of course." The Nemarian adjusted his spectacles again and stood up. He stretched and yawned then motioned to her. "Follow me."
"Lead the way!" Varyna smiled. On her way past Quoppi's cluttered desk, she reached out and deactivated the architecture book. She knew he would be unhappy if he came back to find his place lost by a careless (or, more likely, mischievous) Kremel.
The whirring sound of doors opening and then closing again behind them was the only noise during their journey through the COPS headquarters, but Varyna didn't mind. Quoppi was quiet and awkward but kind in his own way. He'd been working in the Crime Division for five years already. He wasn't particularly strong or agile in the field, but he was thorough and meticulous. Not to mention his [intelligence] score of 50. The Nemarian was a refreshing addition to the team which was composed of mainly hot headed Kremels who tended to overlook important details. Varyna and Faren were the only Humans on their squad, with Faren at the very top of the ladder and Varyna at the bottom.
"Here you go, Officer Rhine," Quoppi offered, raising his orange scaly wrist to a scanner. The scanner lit up green and a double set of steel doors slid open revealing a brightly lit room lined with shelves. Quoppi squinted his eyes and adjusted his glasses. "The doors will open for you automatically when you're done."
He stepped away from the blinding light and nodded to Varyna. Then he turned and marched back toward the squad office and his ancient architecture book.
The door shut behind Varyna as she stepped into the room. She blinked several times as her eyes adjusted to the light. Why is it so bright in here? When her eyelids no longer felt heavy, she set out to deposit the holos. First she had to find the section dedicated to the 11th squad, and then sort the cartridges by date. When she finished, she brushed her hands together satisfactorily.
But then something caught her eye. On the shelves across from her, were records labeled for their outer jurisdiction sector, Helios. The sector where Ulterai-1-B7 was located. She hesitated for a moment, but slowly made her way over to get a closer look. Sure enough, one of the records, dating back a century ago was titled 'Ulterai lab series investigation'. Varyna gulped and gingerly plucked the dusty holo off the shelf.
Her 'quick trip' to the record storage soon turned into a long trip. And then a very long trip. And after an hour had passed, the double doors slid open to reveal an orange Nemarian with maroon fins, foggy glasses, and a worried look on his face.
"Oh... hi, Quoppi." Varyna jerked up from the holo she was scrolling through.
The Nemarian squinted at the mess of cartridges around her (or perhaps he was squinting because of the unnecessarily bright light) and tilted his head. "Are you alright, Officer Rhine? I suspected you may have gotten trapped here."
"I'm fine!" Varyna insisted, deactivating the holo. "I was just doing a bit of research." She smiled at the Nemarian and waved her hands. "Give me a minute to put all this away and I'll be up at the squad office soon."
"... I will assist you." Quoppi took a step into the storage room, hissing as he faced the full brunt of the lights. Varyna tried to reassure him that she didn't need help, but he ignored her and crouched down to pick up some of the cartridges. "Captain Cleus specifically requested I fetch you for the meeting."
"Oh, the squad meeting! I'll hurry!" Varyna gathered an armful of holos and ran back to the Helios section. Most of them belonged there, but she had to travel to a few other sections to finish replacing them all.
"Have you become interested in old artifacts?" Quoppi asked her as they hurried back to the office. It was rare for him to start a conversation like that, so Varyna figured his curiosity had been piqued by the peculiar collection of records he helped her put away.
"I happened to read about some interesting experiments that went on at one of the old Ulterai labs, so I just got carried away researching what happened to the artifacts there." Varyna smiled. Not because her shy squadmate had started a conversation with her. Or because she was excited for the meeting.
But because she had found it. The place where several items from the old lab had ended up, and, most likely, the location of the USB.
Best of all? It was a planet within her section's outer jurisdiction. Just across the Helios sector from the USB's original lab home, on the desert planet Satch.
Varyna was giddy as she scampered into the office behind Quoppi. Had she been paying attention, she would have noticed her Nemarian companion's fins twitching in anticipation as well. Quoppi-Shaden was uncharacteristically excited.
Faren opened the meeting after a pointed glance at the two late comers. Their other squadmates hadn't even noticed just how long they'd had to wait for the meeting—they were too busy chattering and laughing amongst themselves.
"Last of all, we need a couple volunteers for this term's offworld patrol to our outer jurisdiction," Faren recited at the end of the meeting, flicking through the last few screens of meeting notes. "It's not particularly dangerous, but you can expect to be off-planet for around twenty-five days. If you're interested-"
"I'm interested, Sir!!"
Every head in the room turned to the back, where a Human girl and orange Nemarian were raising their hands. Varyna and Quoppi looked at each other in surprise, not realizing the other had called out at the same time.
"Quoppi, you… ??" Varyna hissed.
"I am equally surprised at you, Officer Rhine," Quoppi whispered back.
"Huh. Well alright then," Faren scratched his head lazily. "Varyna and Quoppi will represent the 11th squad this month. Be ready to leave next week."
The two voices shouted again in unison.
"Yes, Sir!"