[2086] Clues/photographs/Crystal

23rd March, 2086. Afternoon.

“Crystal is involved with the current government, and they were the ones behind the airport attack.” Walee said, still keeping her eyes on the rows of documents being pulled onto the screen.

“To a certain degree, yes, they helped establish the current regime. Replace a tyrant with another tyrant, so to say.” Suwan shrugged. “It’s going to take a while for the AI to sort the documents out for us, but at least we have the big picture.”

“You did say that Crystal was Langka’s rival clan.” Walee tapped her earbuds and took out her tablet. “Isn’t Langka’s boss married to…”

“Crystal’s current boss, the eldest daughter of Khun Silrach, the man who emerged victorious from Crystal’s internal strife.” The light from the screen was reflected in the man’s eyes. “It’s complicated mafia rivalry stuff. At least during the airport bombing, they weren’t married. Now that they’re married, their clans hate each other more than ever.”

“Sounds like a miserable marriage.”

“Yeah. It sucks for both of them, probably.”

The agent pulled the cords out, having left their trance.

“Yikes. I hope you’re lucky and find what you’re looking for in that mess.”

“Thanks. Wait…” Suwan widened his eyes and latched onto the screen. “These photos…”

“It’s Khun Malee, Crystal’s boss. But the other one in the picture…” Walee looked over her boss’s shoulders.

“Hey, what’s up with these photographs?” Suwan grabbed the agent’s collar.

“They’re photos of Khun Malee, of course. Her whereabouts are almost always confidential, so it was a pain to steal candid shots of her in public. These shots were taken about ten years ago, I think?”

“Did you ever run face scans on who this boy might be...?” He pointed to a face on the screen. It was a young boy who looked nothing like Malee.

“Yeah, but he’s not on our database. Who knows, maybe he’s her assistant’s son or something.”

“Then, that kid should be in your face recognition database. You should also be able to find out what he looks like now, as an adult.”

“He isn’t in the database. We’re also curious, but we don’t have any reasons to pursue this kid. Maybe he got a cosmetic surgery and that’s why we can’t find him.”

“Why are you so interested, boss?” Walee took a look at the boy in the picture. He was a boy with dark curly hair, standing next to Malee.

“Do you see any resemblance, Walee?” Suwan asked.

“Between?”

“Him and me.”

The woman furrowed her brows, looking at her boss, then the boy, then back at her boss.

“Not really.”

“This kid resembles my brother. I don’t know if I’m just putting dogs and cats together, but this kid…” Suwan bit his lower lip. “I need to know who he is, how he’s related to Crystal, why he looks like my brother…”

“Do you think he’s your brother’s son?”

“Could be.” Suwan clapped his hands together. “Alright, we’ll sift through these files again, then delete everything save for these photos. Let’s get to work!”