531

Wu DaQi knew two things for certain.

Three months ago, he had lost his memory.

And he had been lied to ever since.

He didn’t know who decided to lie to him, or why, but it was there. The people he thought he could trust had deceived him, and the terrorist his entire security firm was out to catch had spoken truths –partial ones at least.

DaQi’s brain ran in circles, analyzing his past conversations. There had always been discrepancies in the stories his co-workers told him. He figured there were reasons for it. Like they were waiting for him to remember and fill in the blanks for himself, or eventually, they’d realize his memory was truly gone and they’d tell him everything.

The conversation with 531 played through his head again and again. He didn’t say why they’d taken DaQi’s memories, only that they had. He told DaQi to find him, like their agency hadn’t been trying to do just that for six years. But if he knew 531 before… if he had access to those memories…

Could he really find 531?

He dropped his head onto the back of the couch and beat his hands against the cushions to a rhythm stuck in his head.

“You’re an investigator, Wu DaQi,” he said aloud. “Investigate.”

He sat up and looked around his apartment. It was bright and well-lit. The window showed a pleasant park scene instead of the murky skies of the Builds. Everything screamed of comfort and home, but it still felt as foreign as the day he showed up. The clothes didn’t feel like him and neither did the walls.

It was too empty. It was a space waiting to be filled and DaQi hated spending time there. He walked through the living area towards his bedroom at the back. The bed took up most of the room - another empty space that needed to be filled. That should be filled.

No one ever talked about his personal life. They didn’t talk about loved ones. No family. Not even friends. Apparently, the only life he’d had before the surgery had been work. When he woke in the hospital, it was his boss who’d greeted him, and his co-workers were the only ones to visit.

He went to the desk in the corner and opened the port on his left forearm to jack into the computer. Two displays opened up in the air above the desk. He closed the one, ignoring the work inquiries and news of the day. Instead, he used the second interface. He added extra security to his displays and made sure no one could see what he was doing.

Then he began his research.

Subject: Wu DaQi.

###

Three hours later and DaQi was more frustrated, but no more informed than when he’d started his research. Everything looked right on paper. But he’d been on the other end of that too many times, falsifying documentation to make things look legitimate. There was enough history on Wu DaQi to keep anyone from looking further.

He knew from the report about his parents who had died in a car accident with his sister when he was just a child. He was raised by his aunt who had died just before he graduated high school. He excelled in school but had no close relationships as he focused on his career. He’d gone into the military, then into law enforcement after. Eventually, he’d been recruited by Mann Enterprises.

There was not a single listing of a personal relationship though. No mentor who stood out in his past. No boyfriend or girlfriend who might have told him about who he was.

He got up from the desk and walked over to the bedside table. The drawer opened to a holstered weapon and a reader. The books on it were bestsellers that he never bothered to look at. He left the room and went to the bookcase in the living area. Not a single item held any interest to him. Nothing had personal meaning.

In the bathroom, he opened the medicine cabinet, but it was empty. He didn’t get sick. He never felt unwell. Not so much as a headache. Even after 531 had thrown him across the room, he’d gotten back up and been fine. And no one questioned it.

And for all the augmentation he’d had done, there wasn’t a single scar. A month ago, he’d shaved his head to look for the scar that had caused his memory loss. Nothing. He told them he just wanted a new look, but he’d worn a hat for two weeks until it grew back out. Every time he looked for the scar it just brought the question back again.

Now he needed to know. What had really happened to him?

###

He didn’t sleep, but he was too worked up over his search to care. Instead of trying to lay down, he took his motorcycle back to the office. He was one of the first people in and DaQi took advantage. He slipped into Jackson’s office and sat behind his partner’s desk. Jackson was one of the last people to come into the office every morning, so DaQi had some time. At least until someone noticed DaQi wasn’t at his desk anyway.

He had never intended to use the information he knew, but DaQi had always chided Jackson over how lax he was with his signing credentials. DaQi faked the other man’s prints with his finger augmentations and was able to get access to his workstation. It would have been harder if he’d had ports, but the man refused to get the enhancement.

DaQi began going through the records to see if Jackson had files on him. He also used his workstation to hack into Salin’s files as well.

It wasn’t everything. It wasn’t much, really. But it was a start. DaQi was transferred to Mann Enterprises seven years ago. Jackson had brought him back from a mission gone wrong - though there were no details about what sort of mission or who he’d been working for - and he’d been his partner ever since. He had been assigned to Mann Enterprises for a reason though. They were to watch him. To put him to work, but to take care of him. To make sure he was ‘functioning properly’.

He copied the files to his internal files and stepped away from Jackson’s desk. He walked out into the office, trying to understand what he’d just read.

As he sat, Salin entered the office and saw him. He jerked his head to the right and DaQi followed him into his office.

“You and Jackson are back on Fulmer today. I want to know where he kept all the Mariner Tech he stole.”

“You think there’s more he’s hiding?”

“Fulmer wanted to be a bigger player than he was. He had more than one stash. We got a few nibbles on the trackers we put on the other gear you found. I want it all accounted for though. Keep at it.”

“We’re on it.”

“And Wu?”

“Yeah, Boss?”

“You aren’t to blame for what happened yesterday. No one can go against Agent 531 on their own. If you see him again, call for backup. Don’t try to take him down because of yesterday.”

DaQi nodded and gave Salin a half-smile. “I have no intention of taking on Agent 531,” he said truthfully.

He left his superior’s office and went to his own. They had been keeping him as some sort of lapdog before. Now he was just bait. He didn’t know why they believed 531 would show himself again, but DaQi could play along with their games.

And if 531 did show, he would get the answers to the questions he’d left behind.