Chương 61: Triple Decker Stomach Wrecker

Jasper held the door open for Celestia and Seraphina.

"I am just so happy to be outside!" Celestia said, twirling around just outside Fairy Central's main door.

"Never thought I could miss the outdoors so much! If I had to be in there for another minute, I think I would have screamed." Seraphina took in a deep, cleansing breath, enjoying the feel of the sun on her face and the breeze in her hair.

"It's just perfect out today," she muttered.

"You say something?" Jasper asked, trailing the pair.

"Nothing of any real importance," Seraphina answered, looking back at him.

"Until they finish the sweep of Fairy Central, I didn't think it was safe for us to talk," Jasper said, skirting in front of the ladies and leading them to a picnic table in the courtyard. Jasper put down a large bag on the table. He glanced around the empty picnic area, then pulled out what looked like a wand from his sleeve and swept it over the table thoroughly.

"It's clean," he said, sighing deeply before sitting down. Celestia and Seraphina each took a seat across from Jasper. They watched as he began pulling containers out, examining each one.

"Who had the Triple Decker, Stomach Wrecker? As if I really had to ask."

"That would be me," Celestia replied, her mouth salivating as she took it. Seraphina eyed Celestia with a combination of reverence and disgust.

"How can you look at that, let alone eat it?"

"Here, try it!" Celestia said, waving it under Seraphina's nose.

"Ever have it before?" Seraphina pulled back, revolted simply by the smell.

"No, and I am going to keep it in the 'oh, absolutely not' category," she said, placing a hand in front of her nose.

"Please get that pile of garbage away from me. My Janus, that stinks." She waved her hand in front of her face. Celestia shrugged, pulling the sandwich away from Seraphina and licking her lips.

"Suit yourself. How about you, Jasper?"

"Nope, I'm good, thank you," he said, holding up a hand. Celestia took a bite out of the large sandwich, which somehow defied logic. It had no definitive shape, dripped four different colors, and smelled like burnt rubber and bad decisions. Jasper looked over at Seraphina.

"If that thing starts glowing or biting her back, I'm gone, you know that, right?" Seraphina couldn't stifle the laugh.

"I'd be right behind you, buddy. Hell, I'd probably pass you along the way."

"Enuf 'bout my sammich," Celestia said with a mouthful.

"We gunna talk 'bout the bugs or what?"

"Yes. It seems they have found those devices scattered throughout the building, primarily in executive offices. They are clever little constructs and were difficult to find. Turns out they are bio hybrids, eighty percent living creature and twenty percent machine. We found some that resemble actual bugs, but one looked like an odd species of bird. I guess it malfunctioned and plummeted to the ground," Jasper said, picking up a celery stick from his plate and giving it a crunch.

"So who planted them?" Seraphina asked, pushing the food around her plate with her fork.

"Inside man? Secret agent?"

"The tech is not ours, Seph. It is unlike anything our guys have ever seen. The only thing we do know is the trace DNA is consistent with the unknown DNA we found on Farthingsworth." Stolen story; please report.

"So, there's confirmation. The bugs are connected to Farthingsworth's murder."

"Simon?" Celestia asked.

"Do you think Simon is connected somehow?" Both Jasper and Seraphina shot her a look of dismay.

"Come on, Celestia. Do you honestly think a man like Simon, who is so lazy he leaves things on the floor when he drops them, would have the ambition to bug the building? The guy couldn't find his way out of a wet paper bag… if his life depended on it. He just doesn't have the mental fortitude to be that diabolical." Seraphina said, her eyes wide with dismay over the mere thought.

"Maybe that is what he wants you to think," Celestia said, lifting her sandwich to take another bite.

"If it were me, I sure wouldn't be advertising the fact I had the skill set or the drive." Jasper cringed, watching Celestia take a large bite. He turned to Seraphina.

"You know, she may have a point. How better to go undetected than to make the world think you are a bumbling idiot?"

"Oh, you mean kinda like the way Celestia pretends to be this little, sweet, dumb fairy, when in fact she is probably one of the smartest fairies I know?" Seraphina asked. She turned to Celestia.

"To be honest, Celestia, I could see you pulling this off. But Simon? I've known him way too long to not have noticed if he was an evil genius in disguise." Celestia turned to Seraphina, her eyes narrowed.

"Thank you, I think."

"I see your point, Seraphina, but Jasper had high-end security clearance. Celestia here doesn't." Seraphina clenched her jaw.

"I wasn't actually suggesting that Celestia was the mole. What I was saying is that she was far more likely to be one. Simon may have had the clearance, but he didn't know how to use it or what he was looking at. He gave me all his credentials because he didn't know how to access anything."

"So, YOU could be the mole," Celestia accused. Both Seraphina and Jasper raised an eyebrow at Celestia.

"Just putting it out there," Celestia said, shrugging her shoulders.

"You're smart enough, and with Simon's clearance, well, you do the math." Seraphina cocked her head.

"Really, Celestia? After everything? Do you think I… you know what, never mind." She turned to her plate and skewered food like she had a personal grudge against it. Jasper sat quietly, watching the volley between the two. Seraphina slammed her fork down, turning to Celestia.

"You are not honestly suggesting that after everything, I am the mole?" she asked, her voice an indignant hiss.

"So, it was okay for you to suggest that it could potentially be me, but you get your feathers all in a twist when I suggest it may be you?" Celestia hissed, shaking her head. Seraphina took in a deep breath and realized this was getting out of hand.

"Just so we are clear, I am not saying that I believe it could be you. I was just saying that you had the clearance and the knowledge. So, you or someone like you, could have easily gone unnoticed," Celestia clarified.

"Ladies, you are forgetting one crucial part of all of this," Jasper interrupted. Both women turned to him.

"What's that?" Celestia asked sharply.

"That we have DNA. It is not fairy DNA, so we know for certain that it is not either of you… or Simon for that matter. We tested him. He is one hundred percent fairy." Jasper looked at Celestia, then at Seraphina.

"Seph, she does have a point. Think about it. This Farthingsworth guy looked exactly like Farthingsworth. I checked his credentials myself. Who is to say he is not in there now wearing someone else's face?"

"Even if he is in there wearing someone else's face, it does not eliminate the possibility that someone in the organization is working in conjunction with the unknown DNA source," Seraphina said, crossing her arms.

"No, you are right. But the only DNA found on it was of an unknown species. There was no fairy DNA on any of the samples. Well, no DNA that could not be accounted for anyway. Like on Farthingsworth, the real Farthingsworth, the samples are his DNA and whoever killed him. That is it."

"So how do we know you are not the imposter?" Celestia asked, looking from Jasper to Seraphina, then back to Jasper.

"Celestia, if it will make you feel better, we can go to the lab right now and have me tested."

"I do not think we need to go that far, Jasper," Seraphina said, turning to Celestia.

"Do we?" Celestia sat silent for a moment, then looked at Jasper and back to Seraphina, opening her mouth and then suddenly closing it again.

"Do we, Celestia?" Seraphina asked again.

"No, I suppose not," she replied, before sighing.

"You know, they have already won. Whatever it is they were trying to accomplish, they succeeded in making us look at our friends and coworkers with skepticism. They have shattered the trust we have with one another."

"Only if we let it stand in the way, Celestia," Seraphina sighed, placing a hand on hers.

"We have to stick together if we are going to get to the bottom of this."

"She is right, Celestia. We cannot turn on one another, especially now," Jasper said, putting the remnants of his lunch in the bag.