Corpus Vox (Charles, John)

[Charles Mauer]

It was six o clock, and Charles Mauer turned off his office computer for the night, listening to the Windows chime as it shut down. Friday night at work was at a close, and now he needed to find something else to do. He stood, grabbed his denim jacket off the back of his chair and threw it on over his Nintendo t-shirt then checked his jeans' pockets for his keys. Those found, he twirled them once around his finger, then shut off the lights and shut his office door.

Heading down the hallway, he stopped at an office a little way down the hall, poking his head around the corner. Inside was one of the few people who worked at the Sharp Agency who was, in all honesty, anything like Charles. Sure John Kirkman had a super power, but he was also a nerd and a pretty cool dude in general. Most of the people Charles worked with were a bit too professional, and, well, grown up to be all that much fun. It seemed that once normal people hit college, they lost all interest in the simple pleasures of life such as video games and comics.

”Hey, man, wanna go grab a beer or something?” he asked, standing in the doorway to John's office, nonchalantly leaning on the frame. The phone on John's desk started ringing just as he opened his mouth, however, and Charles pointed at it. ”That is, unless you're working late.”

[John Kirkman]

John was bored. So far, his new job wasn't all it seemed it was going to be. When he first applied for the job, his employer made it sound dangerous. In fact, John hadn't even felt a slightest sense of danger when arriving at various crime scenes. This might have been because he was still relatively new the the agency. Assuming he wasn't getting the tough jobs. All the homicides went to the big players and the ones with amazing powers. Not to say that John didn't enjoy all the monotony he was feeling right now. It was a steady paycheck for mostly paper work on amazing crimes.

He sat in his office, playing a flash game. It was one of the build-defensive type of games. He controlled a castle and had to upgrade various weapons and walls while the enemy got harder as the game progressed. He enjoyed these types of games because it would usually kill an hour or two. When he heard footsteps coming down the hall, he got nervous. He didn't want to show his brand new boss that he was goofing off. Quickly he turned off the game and went back to the report he was working on.

”Hey, man, wanna go grab a beer or something?”

"Jesus," John said as he spun his chair around, "I thought you were Isabella, had to close this flash game I was playing." The guy standing in his door way was Charles Mauer, someone who had become his good friend in the past few months. John and Charlie could geek out on video games and they hit it off pretty well. Turning back to his computer for the time, he realized it was Six. "Sure, why not?" he said to Charlie as he turned the computer off. Sure, he wasn't 21 yet, but it was nothing his fake id couldn't handle. Just as he was about to ask Charlie what bar they were going to, his phone rang.

”That is, unless you're working late.”

"No, why would I? Not like I'm working on an important case, or any case for that matter." He then went, grabbed his phone and pressed the talk button. "Hello?" The voice spoke on the other end. "Yes, this is John Kirkman, who's calling?" John called back, this all seemed odd. "Kirkman, it's James. Remember, you gave me your number, told me to call you if anything came up." Suddenly John thought back to last week, when he met James a would-be informant for the Sharp Agency. He was working under cover for them about a gang, or something like that.

"Yes, I remember," John said, sounding a bit sarcastic. This guy James didn't really seem like the reliable type, possibly crazy, but wanted to make a good impression on Ms. Sharp. It's the reason why her wear a suit to work, even though it was hotter than hell. "Well,something's come up, I need to speak to you, in person." John sighed, away from the phone obviously, he knew this would be a colossal waste of time. "Alright, when and where James?" "I'm near a diner, Diamond Cafe in Downtown Phoenix, get here as fast as you can." Suddenly, the caller hung up.

"Listen, I've got to meet someone at this diner, wanna come? Should be quick," he said, turning back to Charlie. He got up and started collecting his things, grabbing his jacket, keys and phone. He pushed his chair in and turned off the lights in his office. Closing the door and stepping into the main office he realized not many people were still working. "So, you coming?"

[Charles Mauer]

Chares stood in the doorway while John answered his phone, getting the feeling that they weren’t going to go get a beer after all. That was one downside of this job. While in all technicality he only had to work the posted office hours, there were always the extracurriculars—stakeouts, meeting contacts, talking to clients who didn’t feel like being seen at a detective agency… As John got off the phone, Charles raised his eyebrow quizzically at John, asking ‘what was all that about?’ without even needing to open his mouth.

”Yeah, sure,” Charles responded to John’s query of whether he wanted to come along. ”What kind of someone is it?”

He followed John out through the lobby and into the parking lot, wincing slightly at the still bright sun and heat. It always took a couple minutes to adjust from the cool, air-conditioned inside of a building to the Arizona heat. As they walked out, a more pertinent question formed in his mind.

”So, my car or yours?”

[John Kirkman]

”Yeah, sure, what kind of someone is it?”

Charles asked John. John put his hands into his faces and rubbed his eyes for a moment. He really didn't want to do this now. All he wanted to do was get a beer or two at the bar, debate Charles over the console wars then go home and play some Xbox before passing out. Having to deal with the informant meant at least 2 hours of paper work tomorrow, depending on how much he said and having to listen to his ramblings. "I've gotta meet this guy, an informant at the," he paused for a moment, trying to remember the name of the diner, "Diamond Cafe."

Charles agreed and they made their way down to parking lot. John tried to be optimistic but his gut told him that this would end up being a boring and long endeavor. At least with Charles, he hoped, that the informant wouldn't act as crazy as he did but he wasn't holding his breath. The one thing he couldn't stand about Phoenix was the heat. Stepping out of the office and into the parking lot was like traveling from an igloo to the desert. He was a winter person and Arizona in general didn't change seasons. The only good that came out of it was a tan.

”So, my car or yours?”

"Yours," John said, "You know Phoenix better than I do and sometimes my A/C craps out on me." He brought his car a month after getting to Phoenix. Unlike New York without a car you were forced to walk. Public transportation wasn't the best. Buses would take hours to get places. His civic coupe wasn't the fastest around but it got the job done and that's all he needed for now.

[Charles Mauer]

”Hmmm, Diamond diner, classy joint,” Charles replied wryly. When John said they were taking his car, he looked around the parking garage then pressed the unlock button on his key fob, causing the lights on the black, hatchback Nissan Versa at the far end of the lot to light up.

He walked around to the driver's side and got in, turning the key in the ignition and bringing the car and its CD player to life. Pulling out of the parking lot, he turned, following the streets of Phoenix until he pulled into the parking lot of the Diamond Diner.

It was a small, aging affair, obviously well taken care of, but with several years of age and wear under its belt with a yellow and red motif on the outside. The inside had a black and white tile floor and red booths. Several were occupied as were several seats at the bar. The scent of fried food drifted through the air.

”So, which one is your snitch?” Charles asked as they walked in, taking a look around the diner.