Forever Forever Forever Summer
Chapter 5: As Above, So Below
The moment Phineas was declared missing, Perry began his search. Separate from the police, separate from OWCA. As much as he’d love for it to be the simple solution of “something short-sighted Doofenshmirtz did”, OWCA had enough cameras in his building that they’d already know if it was him, and he wasn't even in Danville the day Phineas was last seen. Even when he was still officially evil he wouldn't go so far as to kidnap a minor. Knowingly, anyway.
A rare benefit of working for OWCA for so long meant he had a deep understanding of how it functioned, including in ways he probably shouldn't, like how to use its vast resources without immediately getting caught. Being a spy network, the tri-state division had cameras set up all throughout the area and a little ways beyond. Usually only higherups and agents who specialised in surveillance had access to them, but it didn't take much for Perry to finagle a way through that wouldn't alert any security on his rarely used lair computer. As a convenient bonus the screen was out of view of the cameras in his lair and their usage wasn't tracked, so he was free to do what he pleased. It was an odd way to set up lair computers, but it wouldn't be the most baffling decision OWCA had ever made.
Finding a starting point was easy, the last time Perry had seen Phineas he was leaving the house on an afternoon errand run across town after the project of the day inexplicably disappeared. Being late home was nothing new for him, especially when he was on his own, but being late and missing calls was unusual. By the time the sun was setting and there was still no sign of him, it was full panic mode, calling every one of his friends and potential places he’d be hiding in. Perry was practically stuck to Ferb’s side from the moment Phineas missed the first call, long before the worst case scenario had reached either of their minds.
Beginning on their street, Perry followed Phineas around from hidden perches, feeling uncomfortably like a helpless guardian angel.
He switches between all the archived camera feeds, watching his boy stroll around blissfully unaware. Into stores, out of stores. Time passes. Brief bench stops to reorganise his bags. Even when he passed through a camera blind spot Perry knew exactly where he’d end up.
Until he didn’t.
He passed a camera as if nothing was wrong, then never reappeared further down the street.
Perry skipped forward, checked the closest cameras, but nothing. There was a dead end alleyway, but the camera that points out of it never saw Phineas walking past. Perry double checked the city’s maps, but there was nowhere else he could have gone.
He leaped into his hover car and flew across town, the thought of it being a trap crossing his mind then immediately getting disregarded. He searched high and low for anything, any clues, any hints, any scrap of activity from anything other than rats, but still nothing, nothing, nothing.
As if he’d been erased from existence.
~~~
One ordinary night, Perry laid on Phineas’ perfectly tidy bed wide awake. He tried to only let himself think in the dark when no one could see his pet facade inevitably slip while he was lost in thought.
It didn't make sense. If a stray beam had hit Phineas another camera would have picked it up and OWCA would have logged it. If there was any kind of fight or wild animal, there would have been evidence of a struggle. Whoever, or whatever did this, knew exactly what they were doing and where they could strike without being seen, tracked or found.
Maybe a new perspective from someone more familiar with tracking would be enlightening, if only he could get one. If he called upon another agent to help him decipher what was happening it would be a breach of protocol; this wasn't OWCA’s responsibility to solve. He’d already broken a dozen rules by accessing the camera network without authorisation, bringing attention to himself would only make things more dangerous.
He let out a chittering sigh. It just didn't make sense...
Across the room, Ferb's dreary eyes open and attempt to focus on Perry in the dark. He jolts back onto mindless pet mode and chatters, flawlessly wiping any concern in from his face.
Ferb sits up slightly and avoids Perry's vacant gaze. His arm rested on an empty space beside him.
“I miss him too.” Ferb murmurs, voice raw from stress and staying silent more often than usual.
It hurt him so, so much. No one deserved to lose their brother like this. Perry blinks slowly, trying to wipe the teary cloudiness away.
Just any ordinary night, Perry hopped off of Phineas’ bed and trotted over to Ferb’s, nestling himself under his arm like he had done so many times before. Ferb returned the favor with a gentle squeeze as he laid back down. It was a small comfort, but at the moment they both took anything they could get.
~~~
One torturous week after the search began, a call from Monogram notified Perry that one of the police’s search parties found remains, clarifying far too late for his liking that he didn't mean a corpse. Just scraps of clothes, his phone and his backpack, all bloodied, scattered like ashes between dense trees in the outskirts of the city, several miles from where the camera trail ran cold.
The official legal verdict was a freak accident. A wild animal, just pure bad luck. For anyone else this was enough. For Phineas? Perry knew better.
After Phineas was officially declared dead, Perry was truly on his own. To OWCA it was simply an unfortunate reality that members of host families died sometimes, that's just life, nothing to be done. Monogram had told him with far from enough sympathy that he was lucky to have the rest of his family.
His new primary suspect was LOVEMUFFIN. He didn't want to believe they’d do something this genuinely evil, not after Rodney almost ended the world with his ego a few summers ago, but in his fever of rage he was leaving no stone unturned. They’d been fairly harmless recently, giving Perry a horrible rolling feeling in his chest that they were spending the time creating something disastrous. Whenever he had time between home and whatever insignificant mission they’d assigned him he spent hours tailing its members and hunting for clues. He tracked every member’s location and activity, throwing his time away staring at his computer screen. When the camera feeds weren’t enough he slinked around guard animals, barbed wire and the open city streets with flawless precision, his eyes always on his current target.
Yet... nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Their routines continued. They built machines of varying effectiveness, they fought an agent, they lost, over and over and over, perfectly normally as if one of the most beloved people in Danville hadn't disappeared off the face of the earth. Perry would not accept the possibility he was simply missing something. They were still his only lead, so he kept hunting.
In what little time awake he spent at home, he found Ferb had begun his own search. Without a literal spy agency’s resources behind him he had far less information than Perry, his wall of notes mostly composed of newspaper clippings and hastily scribbled thoughts.
Perry had never wished so greatly that he could tell someone his secret, that he could be free from all these regulations and rules. His assigned nemesis wasn't even trying to be evil anymore, yet he was still trapped lying to his family, and no amount of memory wiping could save him this time. He wished and wished and wished he could tell Ferb what he knew. He’s smart, scarily so, and unlike Phineas he can keep a secret. Perry hated it, but he had to. OWCA had cameras everywhere, they’d find out one way or another, and he was not about to risk getting relocated when he was a vital comforting presence at home.
He defeatedly chatters at Ferb’s feet by the drafting table, his usual place to sit these days. A hand reaches down and ruffles his dense platypus fur.
“We’ll find him.” Ferb says plainly. No ifs, no buts, no maybes. Nothing but confidence and brotherly fury.
~~~
Evil scientists making shady deals in alleyways was to be expected. It came with the job. Sometimes it was with each other, sometimes it was with outsiders, but either way it was logged by OWCA whenever they caught on. It kept track of habits and any potential brewing plan, all in the name of stopping evil.
Perry had tapped into the database with ease, checking back every now and then to see if any new entries caught his eye but all he found was usual, just like the rest of his search so far. At the very least it was interesting to see how it was all recorded internally, since usually he’d only ever hear this kind of info through Monogram.
[2 days ago] - Agent V - GREEN
Dr. Bloodpudding [LM] - Dr. Plaishoalde [LM] - 2 medium sized cars - redeemed IOU
[see more]
[2 days ago] - Agent V - RED
Ma’am Duazelle [LM] - TTools Rep - variety of high grade construction tools - retail prices
[see more]
[14 hours ago] - Agent E - GREEN
Dr. Bringdown [LM] - Esm. Poofenplotz - 16 pallets of extra super shiny super glossy hairspray - gift?
[see more]
One of many quiet evenings spent down in his lair with Ferb conducting his own search above, a new log entry appeared in the feed.
[16 minutes ago] - Agent V - AMBER
Dr. B. Badd [LM] - unknown - unknown - unknown
[see more]
...strange. Agent V was one of their top recon and surveillance agents, he didn't need to break into internal logs to know that. A vulture with a keen eye like her was practically hatched for the job, it was unheard of for her to leave a report incomplete.
Curiosity piqued, he clicks through.
Time of Exchange: 11:32pm Danville
Recipient: Dr. B. Badd
Provider: Unknown
Contents:
- Tube carrier, contents unknown
Price/Exchange:
- Unknown
Agent’s Notes:
- Nearby cameras had a tampered or missing footage at the time of the exchange. Only untouched camera was installed recently. See attached.
- Tracked provider for origin; lost trail quickly.
- Bizarre.
- Surv please keep tabs on B Badd until the contents of the deal are discovered, may help track down provider
Logged by: Valerie the Vulture (Agent V)
[CAM-DA-5208ElkStrLAlleyB-113050-0712.mp4]
Hm.
He found himself wishing he could just ask Valerie to see if she has any more answers, but he didn’t know her well enough to dare trusting her with admitting to breaking protocol. He was walking on eggshells enough already.
The video was a little grainy, but after watching security footage for days on end he was used to that by now. As expected, it was a dingy little alleyway only illuminated by the diffused glow of nearby streetlights. It wasn’t one he personally recognised but it wasn’t exactly visually striking. Dr. B. Badd, an exceptionally ordinary looking evil scientist as far as evil scientists go, leaned casually against a filthy and graffitied concrete wall.
A few seconds later, a figure wearing black from head to toe walks just barely into frame carrying the tube carrier from deeper down the alley.
Perry may not recognise who it was or where they came from, but years of spy experience taught him what it was. This was someone who doesn't want to be seen, and, more importantly, someone who knew how to stay hidden.
Perry's brain starts to whirl. His thoughts momentarily return to the last moments he had sights on Phineas, taken by someone who knew what they were doing, someone who knew how not to be seen...
A small, sassy chitter-laugh escapes him. If this was the same person that took Phineas, Perry was damn well going to extract every scrap of information from this single, tiny clip and find every answer.
Whoever they are, they're smart, but they're still only human, and no living thing can escape user error.
Preparing for another sleepless night, he readies his notepad and gets to work.