Felix's Private Investigation: Mystery Salusian

Ugh, those few days had been rough...

While the man calling himself 'The Doctor' had assured her that she wouldn't have any immediate encounters with the electricity-based assassins again after what had happened (something about secret protection groups on Earth), what had once only been a nagging feeling of paranoia had increased tenfold.

Luckily (or unfortunately) the only thing that had stopped it had been the sheer exhaustion that had built up. Once back home, she'd called in sick to her human employers, had a meal meant for four people and then had fallen asleep for at least thirty-six hours. Safe to say that all that running on sodium chloride pills had done a number on her biology, but unfortunately she hadn't had much of a choice at the time.

Prelle was still resting in the little lower-level apartment on the third day, a rather large bowl of stew in front of her as she sat at the little dining room table in silence, reading a book called The Wonderful Wizard of Oz that she'd heard was an Earth classic.

....It was extremely confusing to say the least.

The Salusian had a dictionary and encyclopedia opened nearby to help explain what some of the words she didn't understand were. Mostly Earth animals and fictional creatures that made things even more confusing since they hadn't been part of her language training. Humans had very strange imaginations...

She'd been in the middle of looking up 'magic' from the definition of 'witch' when the knock came from the door across the room, causing the alien woman to promptly jolt a little in her seat and rattle the bowl in front of her. Her focus quickly went to the door, expression turning a bit more worried as she slowly pushed herself to her feet. The mantra that it was probably just the landlady carefully brought her to the other side of the wooden frame, though as she peered through the looking hole and saw an unfamiliar man she felt that now-familiar sinking feeling in her stomachs and bit her lip momentarily.

No, no...this wasn't going to work. She wasn't going to be able to hole herself up for much longer, especially since she needed to go get groceries again soon. A quiet sigh escaped at that realization, and with another careful breath she slowly unlocked the door and cracked it open just a little, peering up at the man with the least-nervous smile she could muster. "H-hello... May I help you..?"

Felix patiently waited for her to reply, gazing around the street once more in curiosity. It was strange how no one ever seemed to notice him, and he had no perception filter of any kind on him .. He'd disabled that on the rings.

He heard her footsteps towards the door and looked back, folding his arms tightly, as he was beginning to feel the cold wind. Flicking back his hair, he saw the door open, and gazed down at the woman he saw, recognising her instinctively as the Salusian he was looking for.

"Ah, hello. Good morning. Sorry to bother you. May I come in, Filua .. Prelle?" he asked her in a cheerful-ish mood, flipping open his wallet and showing her a professional card, stamped at the top IIA. His name was stayed above the age '21', and below that was species 'Time Lord'.

"Ah, hello. Good morning. Sorry to bother you. May I come in, Filua .. Prelle?"

The woman had momentarily stiffened upon hearing her real name, almost ready to slam the door shut though she'd restrained long enough to see the card he'd flashed.

IIA. Time Lord.

Time Lord..? Blinking slightly, Prelle steadily turned her nervous focus back upward. There'd been a mention of IIA... One of the secret organizations, though because of the secret aspect the Salusian had been a bit unconvinced by the card.

Still...

After an uncomfortable bit of hesitation the woman slowly opened the door with a small nod of acceptance, gesturing him inside before swiftly closing the door behind. Best not to cause anymore commotion in the open, right?

Once out of said open, however, she wasn't quite sure what to say or do. For a moment green hues shifted downward nervously, scratching at her temple before glancing back up.

"...You are here because I am not supposed to be here, correct..?" she muttered softly, though with a hint of confusion as to how she was supposed to phrase it. She'd spent a couple galactic months or so with the so-called knowledge that Earth was a Level 5 planet and there weren't supposed to be any other Non-Terrans there, especially not being monitored by other Non-Terrans. It was all very weird and she was steadily feeling like she'd been tossed into something with no knowledge whatsoever.

Felix lightly chuckled, watching her reaction. He could tell she was on the verge of slamming the door on him, but was glad when she didn't. At her nod, he walked in, gazing around the hallway in curiosity at how she lived. He had been refused by the government at his idea to put cameras inside the house. Not for privacy matters. But because he could only do that with suspicious aliens, or threatening ones. This Salusian wasn't.

At her words, he looked up from the carpet, smiling softly at her. "Who said you aren't supposed to be here? I protect Earth, but I only kick out the ones I don't want around. Besides my brother. I'm not allowed to kick him out," he laughed gently, his voice without accent. He ran a hand through his hair, "I'm here strictly out of boredom and curiosity. For some time, I have been monitoring you. But today I decided to give you a visit. Why are you here?"

Calling the apartment 'modest' would have been a gross understatement. It was mostly bare save for some rather tacky furniture and paintings that no doubt came with the place. It was obvious she wasn't intending on living here for very long. Either that, or she was incredibly stingy. The only old, small television in the living area was unplugged, and in fact the overhead lighting seemed to be the only visible source of electricity being used.

Slowly the woman moved to a set of chairs around the coffee table, reaching to pick up a pretzel rod hanging out of a ceramic container in the middle and munching on it nervously as she sat down.

"Who said you aren't supposed to be here? I protect Earth, but I only kick out the ones I don't want around. Besides my brother. I'm not allowed to kick him out."

Prelle arched a brow, a little surprised by those statements, both because of the content and the fact that this man was so easygoing about the situation. She obviously had now idea how Earth dealt with aliens.

"I'm here strictly out of boredom and curiosity."

...No, wait, now she was surprised (or mostly confused), and it was very much evident on her features.

"For some time, I have been monitoring you. But today I decided to give you a visit."

"Monitoring..?" The confusion seemed to increase exponentially as the conversation progressed. Did that mean the officers were working with this group?! Why didn't they tell-

"Why are you here?"

....Eh? "Y-you mean the Shadow Proclamation didn't tell you..?" It was obvious the situation made no sense to her at this point, and she took another bite from her piece of comfort food as she tried to re-piece some kind of scenario in her mind.

He glanced at her, waiting for a response. Innthe meantime, hs fiddled with the rings on his index fingers, delicately adjusting them. At the world, he looked back up. "Yes, monitoring. CCTV and satellites, watching you. I had to know if you were a threat," he shrugged lightly.

At her question, just above his nose creased as he frowned. "Shadow Proclamation? No. They don't like me. Never tell me a thing. So .. Answer? Why are you here?" he questioned with a continued groan. The Shadow Proclamation had never told him anything about anything. Why was the Salusian associated with them?

The mention of satellites and whatnot had caused a frown, very much wishing she'd known about this group ahead of time. She couldn't really fault them, though, if they were just keeping an eye out for threats, and gave a small nod of understanding.

"Shadow Proclamation? No. They don't like me. Never tell me a thing."

Eyes had widened a little at that response. The SP didn't talk with a group on Earth because they didn't like them..? It was quite flabbergasting for the Salusian, who was used to a culture of procedure and diplomacy when necessary whether the parties 'liked' each other or not. "...I see." She didn't really, but it seemed like a bad idea to get into the reasoning right now.

"So .. Answer? Why are you here?"

Another quick bite of her snack was taken as Prelle shifted her gaze downward to the table again, trying to figure out how to answer. Her briefing about what and what not to say while on Earth still echoed through her head like a video tape, a slight chill running up her spine from the thought of what the Judoon might do were they to find out she was breaking the rules. ...But after what had happened a few days ago, it seemed like she was damned either way at this point. And if he was supposed to be protecting Earth, he probably deserved to understand the situation.

It had taken a few long moments, but finally another soft sigh escaped and she managed to speak up, clasping her hands (and the pretzel stick) on her lap. "...It was the Shadow Proclamation's order."

Another frown formed. "I was the Accessory to Visor Filio Glynik Haph. Two galactic months back, a criminal organization known as The Wired stormed into a meeting and assassinated my Visor and one-third of the Executive Council. They had been blackmailing the Council members for some time and the Visors had finally decided to break free of it... I saw what happened and somehow managed to survive the attack, so the Shadow Proclamation arrested some of the higher-ups and asked-" more like insisted by her tone "-that I testify at their upcoming trial... They brought me to this planet for my 'safety' until the trial begins..."

...Well, the last part had seemed a bit sarcastic. Couldn't really blame her after what happened. She was essentially in the SP version of 'Witness Protection', if they'd ever had such a thing by name.

"I was told it was Level 5 and therefore off-limits and off The Wired's network, but apparently that was wrong..."

Felix chuckled, watching the Salusian closely, searching her face and eyes for her emotions, working out her thoughts without searching into her mind. "I have a bad reputation to them. You manipulate one of their members to try and get a planet name changed, and you get labelled a criminal, or fraud. In my case, both."

He kept watching her, and she explained, he listened intently. When she finished, he gave a slow nod. The Wired? Do I know of them? he wondered.

At last, he spoke again.

"Level 5 .. Ooh, they just refuse to upgrade. They need to update it. I mean, I'm here. My brother is here. Quite a few Time Lords come here .."

The mention of manipulation to get a planet's name changed had been an interesting one to say the least, the confusion back on Prelle's features as she tried to figure out what to make of that. She wasn't exactly thrilled by the prospect of sitting across from a SP-proclaimed 'criminal'...but at the same time there was definitely a difference between 'urging' a name change and assassination.

"Level 5 .. Ooh, they just refuse to upgrade. They need to update it. I mean, I'm here. My brother is here. Quite a few Time Lords come here .."

"Time Lords..," the woman mumbled to herself under her breath in thought. "The Doctor mentioned... However I am sorry, I had not heard of such a race before. Salus has not had to deal with many planets outside the Sculptor Dwarf galaxy..."

She was a bit embarrassed not to know, though on some level it was something of a relief (if only minor) to be able to talk about galaxies and species with someone without having to worry about being considered insane or dangerous. It was a difficult task pretending to be human with minimal knowledge of the world.

Felix hesitated, debating about whether or not he should add the other reason he was hated by the Shadow Proclamation. There was no real harm in it, was there? "Ok, plus I shot a Judoon dead. But that was because the idiot rhino was going to shoot a device that would have caused half the planet to explode into tiny fragments. I was doing it for the good of the world," he shrugged, truthfully. The 'idiot rhino' had nearly caused the deaths of all of them. So he killed the Judoon, so that he could disable the device. Resulting in his criminal rank and being grounded - temporarily - on Earth. But that had been years ago. Now he had grown too used to Earth, and wanted to stay.

"Ooh, yes. You met the Doctor, didn't you? And the Master. Saw some of that on CCTV. That went really well, didn't it? he laughed sarcastically. "Shame they think I'm dead. I would've loved to have arrived then .. Annoying the Doctor is too great. But I was trying to dissuade some of the Judoon from coming to my headquarters. They want to confiscate some of my equipment, because they're idiots. How am I meant to save people without my equipment?

"You haven't heard the Time Lord legends? Wow, Salusian are behind times. We're like the Gods of the Universe. Being able to travel through time and space .. Defeating the Great Vampires .. Etcetera. Two key things. There are plenty of others," he chuckled. He, in utter honesty, didn't know many of the legends and tales anyway. He had been born, then about ten Gallifreyan years later there was the Last Great Time War, and he was forced to flee so that he was ready when they 'won' the war.

The explanation about shooting a Judoon had done little to erase the nervousness clearly written on her visage and, in fact, increased it. Of course if what he said was true about the mercenary trying to destroy half the planet she couldn't blame him, but he would also have to not blame her for feeling anxious and jumpy about dealing with so many dangerous aliens. Obviously she hadn't been doing too well in her encounters lately...

"Ooh, yes. You met the Doctor, didn't you? And the Master. Saw some of that on CCTV. That went really well, didn't it? Shame they think I'm dead. I would've loved to have arrived then .. Annoying the Doctor is too great. But I was trying to dissuade some of the Judoon from coming to my headquarters. They want to confiscate some of my equipment, because they're idiots. How am I meant to save people without my equipment?"

"T-there were Judoon around at that time..?" It had taken a few moments for those words to sink in, her jaw dropping just slightly as she thought it over...before it shifted to more of an upset glare and a scrunch of her pale, semi-freckled nose. They had been around and had either been too busy to notice anything or just hadn't done anything to deal with that Wired member?! What in the name of Hyne, Kalithex and every minor diety in ancient Salusian culture was she to the Shadow Proclamation, a way to pretend they were doing their jobs more than just strong-arming people for less destructive offenses?! "If you have means of contact to the Shadow Proclamation in this area, I would very much like to speak with them..." It was rare for Prelle to feel angry, but if what this man said was true then right about now she did.

"You haven't heard the Time Lord legends? Wow, Salusian are behind times. We're like the Gods of the Universe. Being able to travel through time and space .. Defeating the Great Vampires .. Etcetera. Two key things. There are plenty of others."

There was a slight sigh at that, reaching to ruffle a few red strands as she eased out of her frustration for the moment and glanced down again. "I apologize... Legends and gods are things that my world stopped believing in and passing along millennia ago. There are few storytellers."

Felix watched her reaction to his explanation of his criminal label with some amusement. Does she believe me? he thought to himself curiously, not directly speaking to her about it. There was no point to. He knew the truth, even if she didn't.

He blinked at her reaction to saying about the Judoon being there, surprised at the emotions he saw flicker on her face and in her eyes, along with his initial sensing of it almost radiating from her body. "Judoon are stupid, Filua Prelle. They couldn't notice an obvious alien without it being spotted out, even if it's right in front of their eyes. They weren't even supposed to be on Earth, they had no real order to. It was probably just a bunch of Judoon who had decided that my organisation was getting a tad bit ambitious and arrogant," he shrugged lightly after replying. He paused, musing, and nodded to her question about contacting the Shadow Proclamation. He searched through his pockets for something.

Rolling his eyes at her words, he smiled. "You don't need a storyteller to hear about us. I'm guessing you never heard about the Last Great Time War? You must've heard about that. Many planets unconnected to us were destroyed, and it went across the universe. Barely any civilisations have not heard about it in some form."

"Judoon are stupid, Filua Prelle. They couldn't notice an obvious alien without it being spotted out, even if it's right in front of their eyes. They weren't even supposed to be on Earth, they had no real order to. It was probably just a bunch of Judoon who had decided that my organization was getting a tad bit ambitious and arrogant."

The alien woman glanced downward again, scratching lightly at her temple at the mention of the Judoon being stupid. Right about now she had to agree, but she didn't feel like she could say as much, almost as if one would appear right behind her as soon as she did. They may have been stupid, but they were scary...

"You don't need a storyteller to hear about us. I'm guessing you never heard about the Last Great Time War? You must've heard about that. Many planets unconnected to us were destroyed, and it went across the universe. Barely any civilisations have not heard about it in some form."

Time War, Prelle repeated mentally as she eventually lifted her head again, nose scrunched a bit as she dug back through her memory for mention of such a thing. It definitely sounded like something one wouldn't forget. "Temporal warfare? I recall a story similar to that once, but it was more of a hypothetical that if worlds were erased from time, how would they be remembered..?"

Hearing something like that again both gave her a bit of a headache and made her a bit more anxious about the whole situation. The concept of time wars and worlds being destroyed before they existed was unnerving to say the least.

"...You said that you have been 'monitoring', correct? You help protect this world? Will...they...be able to just keep showing up?" She'd muttered nervously, obviously referring to The Wired like the one that had appeared a few days ago.

Felix watched her reaction to his short speech about The idiotic Judoon, and couldn't help but quietly chuckle. He wondered if she was torn in two minds about them, or if she was too scared to voice her opinion. Personally, he didn't care about whether people liked what he said about certain races. He could quite happily tell it to their faces. In fact, he had already told the Judoon exactly what he thought of them, calling them primitive idiots with no intelligence. Which had, of course, helped them to hate him.

As she spoke, he nodded, "Indeed, similar. Although we destroyed - the Time Lords and Daleks - many planets that were quite .. They had intelligent, progressing lifeforms on there. We wreaked havoc with the Gelth, destroying their planet and bodies. Ooh, we went so far that even the Eternals were affected. They left this universe because of it, really. Shame .. I quite liked a few of them. I can't go into much detail. I was one of the very few sent away. My family thought that if I grew up on a different planet, many light years away, I would be safer and ready to help when they eventually won. But some things went wrong .. But apparently I'm still useful to them. I've met plenty of people who hate us for the destruction of planets - another reason that the Shadow Proclamation don't like me much - and the killing of their families, yadda yadda. They overlook the fact that I was a small child who was born during the war, and that I never actually fought in it," he was rather babbling by this point, so finished on that note.

Helpings at her as she questioned him, nodding three times, but added a reply to the last question. "If I'm entirely truthful, yes. But I can monitor when they are on Earth, and transport myself to where they are. If necessary, I will either take them into my own custody or .. Not really regrettably .. Kill them."