Jigo Kadas' Hunt

Jigo Kadas noticed the change in activity within and around the GPO Headquarters during the year of Logan's abduction and recovery. The GPO's contributions to the public libraries, usually dozens of documents, videos, and audio clips per day, trickled to a handful per day. In observing GPO Headquarters, he noticed not only a sharp decrease in activity but also Hako and the other researchers he thought were on Earth coming and going from the building. GPO members had looked miserable about their jobs for years, but these ones were pale-faced. Kwil, when Jigo finally caught a glimpse of him, looked the worst. Hako couldn't even coax him to leave the building. Little did Jigo know Kwil feared encountering him as much as he feared what was inside the building.

Jigo often pestered GPO Headquarters employees and was consequently ignored and treated as a nuisance. These researchers were no exception.

"How is Kwil?"

That was all Jigo really wanted to know. Not that Hako had ever particularly liked him, but Kwil was the one commonality and connection between them. Now she wouldn't even talk to him about that.

Kwil's complete absence and silence over his past twenty years on Earth had never sat well with Jigo, considering how much support Kwil needed even up until the night before he left. It took Jigo years to convince Kwil to entertain the that there was a difference between bisexuality and sex addiction. Bisexuality was part of Kwil's identity. Sex addiction was inflicted on him by decades of mind manipulation and abuse. The closest person Kwil had to a mind doctor, Jigo was still trying to untangle that mess when Kwil went to Earth and stopped speaking to him.

Jigo's pestering and stalking of Hako, Draska, and other members of the research team earned him a temporary ban from Ji shortly before the GPO's closed court hearing. The fanvas agreed with Draska's assessment that Jigo even knowing the Pajasul Court hosted a closed session with the GPO, an organization that was supposed to operate in public view, would make him suspicious and cause a scene. In a public trial requested by Draska, the pajas, advised by the fanvas, banned Jigo from Ji on multiple stalking charges, although Jigo's behavior has not been extreme enough to warrant such a punishment.

Jigo bided his time from his home on Kadas by monitoring the the GPO's uploads. By the time he was allowed to return to Ji a quarter year later, Kwil had already returned to Earth. The sparse activities around GPO Headquarters hadn't changed, and Jigo saw no sign of the researchers from Earth. When Draska threatened his renewed pestering with another ban from Ji, he tried a different approach to get more information.

Jigo volunteered at the Pajasul Court. The pajas was sour and unapproachable, but Jigo had earned the fanvas' notice and sympathy with such tactics in the past. He hoped the fanvas might have more information. After several months, his plan worked.

"Your philanthropy is appreciated, but I sense you need something," the fanvas said, approaching Jigo after the last court session of the day had ended.

"What's happened to the GPO?" Jigo asked.

"Nothing as far as I know. I don't work there."

"They don't upload as much content."

"If you're complaining about lack of content when the GPO has collected and published hundreds of thousands of hours worth of human literature, films, and audio clips over the past twenty years, perhaps you need a new hobby."

"Then, just tell me what happened to Kwil and Hako. That's all I want."

Jigo continued that he saw them at GPO Headquarters, but they refused to speak with him. The fanvas knew Jigo's worry for Kwil well. It was the reason behind some of Jigo's previous groveling. Much of Jigo's fear was unfounded from his perspective, but knowing the trouble the GPO was in now, he decided to give Jigo a chance to help.

"Kwil returned to Earth two months ago," the fanvas admitted. "Hako didn't go with him."

"That can't be." Given the state Kwil was in last he saw him, Jigo couldn't believe Hako would ever let Kwil return to Earth alone. That confirmed something was terribly wrong.

The fanvas didn't know Hako's whereabouts, but knowing she wasn't on Earth was enough. Jigo set out to find her. The home she and Kwil had on Ji had long been reclaimed by other baltariks. In digging up old news articles about the first GPO researchers destined for long-term residence on Earth, Hako and Kwil among them, Jigo found that Hako was originally from Marti. With no better leads and nothing he'd rather do with the time the gods had given him, Jigo spent the next two years traveling from village to village on Marti in search of Hako and periodically monitoring the GPO Headquarters on Ji. He made himself a nuisance in hopes of pressuring Hako's family, friends, or Hako herself to step forward.

Jigo's presence on Marti indeed became well known. The pajas received regular complaints from residents that Jigo Kadas was "loitering" in their village. Requests to have him temporarily or permanently banned from the planet went unanswered. Jigo Kadas, the war monger, had been pestering the GPO and its members for decades. The only difference now was that the pajas and fanvas knew his concern was well founded.