2:40 PM (PST)
June 16, 2005
The B-Files HQ
Seattle, Washington


Agent Muku paces back and forth in her small basement office. Her head lowered, looking at the ground. Her brain races thinking of many things, but yet yearns to hear that phone ring. She glances in between steps to check the time and notices it's only 20 minutes until three o'clock. She sits down and picks up a pencil, and begins rapidly tapping it against the desk. Just then the phone rings, and she picks up the phone in midst of ring number one.

"Hello?"

"Howdy Muku."

"Mike!"

"Just calling you to let you know I should be there within the half hour. I just got back from Fargo, North Dakota from the special assignment. Hopefully they won't give me another for a while, but a project we can both work on."

"Did you find anything unusual?"

"No, just the same old type of crop circles. There was a cow mutilation nearby. But other than that, pretty much same unusual stuff we've been getting."

"Oh, then why did it seem to be extremely important? I mean, two days ago they sent you out that day."

"Not sure. Hey, did you get anymore news from that guy... what's his name..."

"You mean our informer... FatalTalon?"

"Yea, that's him. Well, anyways, has he called in any new information?"

"Noo... but look, hey, take care of yourself. I better go. I'm waiting for a phone call from a new informer that contacted me yesterday while you were still on that special assignment. See you in a half an hour or so."

"Okay, talk to you later Muku."

"Bye Mike."

Muku hangs up the phone and looks up at the clock to see that only a short time has passed. She begins to worry, because the informer was suppose to call her an hour ago. She glances at the door, and notices that it's slightly cracked. Although very protective of information, she is too lazy at this particular moment to get up to close the door. Just as she begins to get up to leave the office for a file, the phone rings. She picks up the phone.

"Hello?"

A guy with a muffled voice says, "Hello, is this Agent Muku?"

"Yes, yes this is. Who might you be?"

"A being with information you might like to know."

"Oh, really? May I at least know your name, so I can call you by something?"

Muku hears the caller clear his throat and begin to speak clearly by saying, "You can call me... Shrubey."

"Ah, might I ask a question off the bat, before we get down to business?"

"Sure..."

"Might you be the famous Canadian Shrubey, owner of InLag, Inc.?"

"That I might. Although I know it's risky to use my real name to you, I find that it will help you get into contact with me, if you need further assistance."

"Yes.. I can't believe you run a business with things that are supposibly not real. Can you actually see these 'lag monsters'? We've had sightings of these things at server farms before... but we haven't found any. I believe it's just a creative imagination. There's no proof these things are actual beings that cause the lag on the internet."

"Well, that's what we're working on. We believe their beings from perhaps a past or future parallel universe with time traveling capabilites. While traveling through time, they sort of ... well, there's no technical term to put it. It's like they half appear into our universe for a short time, causing destructive chaos. It's pretty interesting."

"Pretty interesting. I'm not sure wether to believe or disbelieve time travel or the monsters, but I keep an open mind. May I ask what information you have to contribute?"

"Well, I know a lot. Time travelling is just a piece of what I know. I know how the crop circles have really formed. I know all about aliens, I know about UFO conspiracies in Area 51, I know about the beings behind Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster, and other paranomalities of this world."

"That's a lot for one person to claim, how can I believe what you say?"

"It's true. I've had contact. They told me everything."

"Are you at InLag, Inc. HQ right now?"

"Yes, I am. I only called to say that we must meet somewhere. The phone is way too unsafe. I'm not able to leave due to projects failing lately, might you be able to fly up here soon?"

"Yes, actually I will be there tomorrow. I will bring Mike with me, if that is okay with you."

Before Muku can say goodbye to her informer, she hears silence, then the phone is quickly hung up. She begins to think to herself that that was rather odd.

Muku gets up grabs her coat off the rack, puts her phone in her coat pocket, and opens the door. Turning the lights off, she walks out the door and walks down the long corridor. Turning left to go down a different corridor, she bumps into Mike.

"Mike!"

"Muku!"

"You got back just in time... I got a call from a quack in Canada. You know the owner of InLag, Inc... Shrubey?"

"Yep."

"He called me claiming me to know everything in that anyones ever wanted to know. I dunno, I think it's probably a hot Canadian summer and it fried his brain, but we have to go up there to check it out anyways."

"How's the case with FatalTalon?"

"It's at a standstill, I haven't heard from him yet."

"Hrm...hungry?"

"Very much."

"Let's go get some grub at Burger King then."

Both walk down to the end of the hallway and push the button to go up. The elevator meets them at the basement floor and both enter. The elevator doors close and you can see the elevator go up to the 1st floor.



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4:00 PM (PST)
June 16, 2005
Burger King
Seattle, Washington


Mike opens the door of Burger King open for Muku. They both procced through the doorway into Burger King. Both glance up at the menu and hum to themselves while deciding what to order.

"So, what are we going to do with this Canadian guy?"

"Well," Muku says as they walk up the counter, "Uh, I'll take a Whooper with a large fries and a large drink."

"Ditto for me."

"Well.. I told him we'd meet him tomorrow. Both of us.. I hope your not doing anything."

The clerk responds with the price, and Muku digs in her pocket for the change and pays the clerk.

"Uh, well no.. not now. Maybe we should have eaten at Café Mario, it's a lot cheaper."

"That's true... Sorry about that though, he would have come, but he's busy doing some projects at InLag, Inc. I couldn't just say no, he wasn't willing to talk over the phone either..."

They take their trays and head to a table to talk and eat.

Just as they sit down, they hear a ring. There are a few other customers in the resteraunt and they all get out their phones to see if it's theirs. Muku checks hers and says, "Not me."

Mike takes out his phone and opens it up.

"Hello?"

"Mike..."

"Oh, heya Sergent Mario."

"I've got some bad news..."

"Uh oh. What is it?"

Muku tilts her head and asks, "What's wrong Mike?"

Sergent Mario continues, "...Your new informer, Shrubey..."

"What happened to him!" exlaims Mike.

"He.... well, disappeared today. He never even made it home tonight."

"Any suspects?"

"There is one..." says Mario. "He goes by TSG."

"What's that stand for?"

"TheStupidGuy."

"He's not obviously that stupid if he got away with kidnapping one of the worlds leading researchers of lag monsters. How do you figure it's him?"

"We got a letter recently signed by him from some third world country saying that another InLag, Inc. employee would get what they deserved soon, but we didn't think it would come to this."

"Yea, but why?"

"Well, there has been a long dispute between them, both fighting for the same girl. Shrubey won her over, and that left TSG out in the dark and jealous beyond ones belief. We believe that he made Shrubey disappear in order to be there for Shrubeys girlfriend, to be the 'good guy' in sorts and win her back over."

"......"

"Why don't you and Muku take a break from this case. I don't want you guys over working yourselves. Lately you guys have worked hard on the cow mutilations and crop circles."

"No, really, we're fine."

"Alright, be careful though."

"We will. Talk to you later Sergent."

Mike closed his phone and looked up at Muku. She tilts her head in question.

"Well... Shrubey, has been kidnapped. Where to now?"

"Oh no, not another one of our informants gone. I swear, it's the government doing this to us! They send us out to find things and then cover it up before we can reach it. It's a dang blasted conspiracy and we're in the middle of it."

Mike nods and looks down at the food, seeing all of Muku's food is gone. He touches his own food, feeling that it is now cold.

"Well," he says as he picks up and eats a fry, "my foods cold."

Muku chuckles and replies by saying, "Well my friend, you did talk for a bit on the phone. You should have eaten some in midst of the call. I'm sure the Sergent wouldn't have minded."

Mike shrugs and begins to eat his cold fries, then decides he's not hungry anymore. They pick up their trays and empty them. On the way to the car Muku begins to ponder questions in her head.

"So, who's the suspect?"

"TheStupidGuy... his motives are a bit odd, but I will fill you in when we get back to our office for a night full of work."

They both get into the car and head back to headquarters.



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8:45 PM (PST)
June 17, 2005
The B-Files HQ
Seattle, Washington


They both get out of the car and walk into the B-Files HQ, which happens to be convinently located on the grounds of NOA HQ. They both head to Mike's office. Once there, they sit down and begin to think.

Muku says aloud, "We've a long night ahead of us..."

Mike nods in acknowledgement and then begins to fill Muku in about the kidnapping story.