Fantasy Beyond the Witch's Corridor [Reboot] IC

[Nano]

Chapter 002:

Triage

Date:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

Location:

Arcvine City, Downtown

Tags:

ThatWhichShouldBe Verite

The meeting between Xi-7 and Cindy Luo was set for later that evening, allowing for the young Naphtra to get a little rest after being formally discharged from the hospital. Fortunately, the doctor had given her a clean bill of health, and the nurses had confirmed with the woman that she’d face no complications so long as she avoided strenuous exercise for the next two days. Though she’d initially scheduled for a stream at night, the Naphtra sent out an apology to her fans on Tweeter that the stream was canceled and to look for a proper explanation the next day.

When the agents of Xi-7 were led to a private office within Arcarum’s HQ, the two would find Cindy already seated inside the room with a mug of coffee held between her hands. She appeared tired, but the moment she spotted her saviors, the tawny-colored ears atop her head perked up in excitement. The legs of her chair groaned in protest when she suddenly shot out of her seat and made her way towards the newcomers at the door.

“Oh! You must be Agent Raikou!” the woman said while vigorously shaking the Tenebria’s hand. Like a whirlwind, she dropped Veren’s hand as quickly as she’d taken it and reached for Ygero’s hand to give it the same treatment. “And you must be Agent Ladon!”

After greeting the two agents rather enthusiastically, Cindy took a step back to compose herself, though the twinkle of admiration in her eyes remained. “Sorry for taking up your time if you’re busy, but I really wanted to thank you two in person. I also wanted to know if it’s alright to take a picture together and upload it on my socials? Later, of course. I’m not really sure what’s allowed and what isn’t for Arcarum agents.”

As the Naphtra began to sheepishly explain her request, the agent who’d led Xi-7 to the room made a silent gesture to excuse himself from the room. However, he didn’t forget to nudge Veren once and mime writing words down in a notebook before leaving. Prior to the meeting, the two had been briefed on the information that they had. In truth, they hadn’t been very successful in getting the Asterid they detained to talk. No matter how much they poked and prodded, the deranged man only continued to growl about “that fucking scammer”. His belongings didn’t bring up anything of significance, either. Apart from carrying an alarming amount of paper money on hand, the only other article of note they’d found in his belongings was an ampoule. Unfortunately, their lead ended there. When the lab sent the results for the fluid in the ampoule back, they found that it was nothing more than a homebrewed vitamin supplement mixed with a bit of food dye.

Given the identity of his victim, perhaps it truly was a simple case of a fan angered by the parasocial nature of his relationship with his favorite streamer. However, the investigation team still wanted to interrogate the other party involved just in case she knew more about the situation.

===

Date:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

Location:

Lindrow, CA

Tags:

Dawnsx

Whether it be due to the unexpected nature of Sage’s question or deciding that the intruder didn’t appear to be a threat, the young man slowly lowered the second book gripped in his right hand. The cover of the textbook read “Computational Geometry, 5th Ed.”, and the papers and books messily stacked on the only desk towards the back of the room appeared to be in the same vein of academically-related materials. Though the resident basement dweller looked far tidier than the stereotypical sewer rat-like appearance of his kind, the same couldn’t be said for the rest of his room. Though the state of his desk hinted at the fact that perhaps he was nothing more than a studious junior in university preparing for midterms, the rest of his room was in a similar but otherwise inexcusable state of disarray. The smell of smoke masked the odor of the stale scent of old laundry piled up in one corner of the room, and the trash bin situated at the foot of his untidy bed was overflowing with various wrappers and crumpled papers. The black chair in front of the desk had been knocked onto its side, and the light of the computer’s tower continued to flicker despite the monitor being off.

It was truly a wonder as to how the man (Aaron Sylva according to the documents given to Lambda-59), managed to leap towards the intruder without tripping over the boxes, plastic bins, and a few unexpected plush toys blocking the majority of the room’s floor space.

Though Aaron had lowered his makeshift weapon, he nonetheless kept a tight grip on the textbook. “Bathroom?” he asked incredulously, the anger slowly returning to his face. “Does this look like a goddamn bathroom to you? Who looks for a bathroom in the basement? No, who even are you?”

With each question, the anger in the young man’s seafoam green eyes grew. Deciding that he wasn’t going to tolerate the stranger’s presence in his room for a second longer, he finally dropped the book and took to attempting to push at Sage.

“Out! Before I call the police. Get! Out!”

In his hurry to “convince” Sage to leave his room, Aaron’s foot hit one of the bins on the floor which in turn knocked into a stack of books and sent them sprawling across the floor. A piece of paper stuck out from the corner of one of the fallen books, revealing a quarter of a marking that looked vaguely similar to the insignia found on the bodies of a certain terrorist organization’s victims. “Ugh, great. Just great,” he grumbled, gathering the books and stacking them back into an unstable tower.

Code by Nano

 

[ThatWhichShouldBe]

Chapter 002:

Triage

Date:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

Location:

Arcvine City: Downtown
Verite

For the young Dragonborn, seeing Moon's announcement pop up as an alert on his phone gave him a moment of sadness- Only for him to realize that it was probably because she'd be meeting with him! Then he just felt silly. Meeting her there in the office was immediately quite gratifying, it was weird to be... fangirl'd over by someone who YOU were a fanboy of. But it was weird in a good way! Ygero shakes her own hand happily, grinning at Rustymoon and luxuriating in that wonderful admiration in her eyes. It was great to be liked!

"We're just glad you're okay! Sorry for not being able to help sooner, he was pretty fast. We can take pictures but, just, not inside the office, the Boss gets all up our business about that kinda thing."

Ygero doesn't notice the signs being communicated to Veren at all, his wagging tail telling the tale of a young man being too busy being able to speak with one of his own idols to think about anything like 'interrogation'. The Dragonborn taps the tips of his fingers together, a slightly sheepish smile on his face. He swallows before speaking, a little bit nervous to be asking this. It felt really weird, but he would never have a better chance than this!

"Y'know I've, uh, actually followed your streams a bunch... Would you mind giving me an autograph?"

 

[Verite]

XI-7

Ξ7

DATE:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

LOCATION:

Arcvine City: Downtown

TAGS:

Nano ThatWhichShouldBe

"Oho, you seem healthy," Veren teased lightly once she and Ygero initially entered the room, only to quickly be enthusiastically approached by Cindy. When she then asked permission to take a picture, the tall Tenebria let out a soft yet haughty laugh. "Fufu, anything to expand my brand," she said jokingly, though she silently nodded in confirmation that it would have to wait until later. She glanced toward the other agent who made sure she remembered what to do next, nodding again at him, before returning her gaze back to Cindy.

She let out a breath; even after all this time as the squad leader, Veren never did really get used to having to reign the conversation in and get back to business at hand. Heck, she wondered if she only lasted this long because her subordinates were so self-sufficient, but with only Ygero beside her now, she wondered if that meant she'd have to pull her weight even harder now.

"We can do that along with the photo for later, dear Ladon," Veren said, crossing her arms behind her back as she straightened her posture, attempting to look more serious as she steered the conversation back to the matter at hand. "I should admit, Ms. Luo, we do have some further questions to get out of the way before we can get back to the frivolities. Simply a formality, nothing more than that, but procedures can be rather strict here after all," she began, attempting to sound as casual and comforting as possible.

"Of course, we've already tried to get that Naphtra to talk, but as you can imagine, he did not give us anything of much value, so we'd like to ask you again, for the official record this time; are you sure you might not recognize him anywhere? Perhaps even as someone who was noticeably more enthusiastic than everyone else in your streams?" Veren asked, her tail casually flapping back and forth, contrasting against Ygero's own dog-like wagging. "Any little detail helps, even if it might seem insignificant to you, so please do not hesitate if you have something that comes to mind."

Code by Nano

 

[Dawnsx]

LAMBDA FIVE-NINER

Λ59

DATE:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

LOCATION:

Lindrow, CA

INTERACTION:

Nano

No doubt about it. This irate young man must be Aaron Sylva, son of Alisson Sylva. Files stated that he was a Mechanical Engineering student at Lindrow University, and the cluttered state of his room suggested a hectic academic life. Or perhaps it was just poor cleaning habits. There were also several plush toys littering the floor; unexpected, as experience told Sage that men of Aaron’s age tended to steer clear of such toys in fear of societal ostracism.

Seeing Aaron in person, Sage now understood why Mrs. Sylva had warned him about misstepping into the basement. Aaron’s explosive temper was certainly something that Sage rarely witnessed in other humans. His anger came to a head when a step forward caused a small tower of books to collapse.

Sage’s eyes were immediately caught by a familiar symbol sticking out of an unassuming book.

He quickly crouched in front of Aaron and lowered his head in an attempt to appear unthreatening and apologetic. He gathered a few books and added them to the stack that Aaron was rebuilding.

“I’m sorry. I am a member of Lambs Pool Maintenance Service,” he gestured to the words printed across his shirt, “I was here to clean your pool, and Mrs. Sylva kindly allowed me to borrow your bathroom, but I must have gotten turned around.” He scooped up the book with the paper stuck in its pages and inspected the cover. Fundamentals of Mechanical Engineering, it read, with a simple image of some gears. Sage could only assume that this was a textbook for Aaron’s studies. “Is this a book for school? It seems very complex.”

Before Aaron could potentially protest or snatch the book away, Sage flipped through the pages and hummed every now and then in feigned interest. He allowed the paper with the insignia to fall to the floor, and his eyes flickered up to gauge Aaron’s reaction before picking it up.

“Apologies. I hope this wasn’t a bookmark,” Sage said. He glanced at the paper and blinked. The symbol… was certainly similar to the markings found on the bodies of Final Chapter’s victims, but it wasn’t an exact match. It was as if someone had gotten a quick look at the mark and clumsily tried to recreate it from memory. Sage offered both book and paper back to Aaron. “You must spend a lot of time down here for your studies. At least, that’s what Mrs. Sylva suggested.”

Code by Nano

 

[Nano]

Chapter 002:

Triage

Date:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

Location:

Arcvine City, Downtown

Tags:

ThatWhichShouldBe Verite

Cindy’s expression brightened when the two agents gave their consent to being photographed, and she nodded enthusiastically at Ygero’s request for an autograph. “Yeah, of course! Thanks for tuning into my streams even though you’re probably pretty busy!” However, her enthusiasm was promptly curbed by Veren’s reminder of the real reason behind their meeting, and she moved to sit down at the table in the room to formally begin the questioning. Though the Naphtra did her best to hide her sudden onset of nervousness, the occasional switch of her tail and the stiffness of her facial expressions as she nodded once again gave her true state of mind away.

“I have a few incidents in mind, actually,” Cindy said while resting her hands on her stomach and fiddling with the plain, silver ring on her middle finger. The former sparkle in her eyes had retreated, but she nonetheless managed to keep her tone steady, as if what she was reporting shouldn’t be treated as a big deal. “When your viewership rises, so does the harassment. It just happens: you can’t please everyone. Most comments are one-off, and my mods usually do a good job of banning anyone who takes things too far, but there was one viewer who was particularly persistent recently.”

“I don’t know when it exactly started, but the first time I noticed this person named TreeThatWalks was a few months ago in December? I think. I don’t remember the date, but I recall wanting to relax by streaming Moondrop Valley that day. Tree mentioned something about trying out and enjoying PB&Jellyfish’s signature peanut butter and jellyfish sandwich after seeing me try it the week before the stream. At first I thought nothing of it because I often post about the cafés I visit until I saw a second comment in the chat asking about who the brown-haired fae I was with was.” Cindy stopped fiddling with her ring and moved to grip her right forearm instead. “We banned Tree and I thought that would be the end of it, but I started getting tagged by a series of accounts on Tweeter that we guessed all belonged to Tree. My DMs are only open to mutuals, but there isn’t much I can do about public tweets aside from reporting them. When the stalking and doxxing got too much, I tried reporting it to the police, but there wasn’t really much they could do since Tree hadn’t actually physically done anything to threaten my safety, apparently.”

“I still have the screenshots I submitted to the police in my phone, and I can send the to Arcarum if they’ll be of help to the investigation.” While Cindy gave a summarized description of her encounters with the accounts that she assumed belonged to TreeThatWalks and their currently captured Asterid, she placed her phone flat on the table and swiped through screenshots of the deleted posts and banned accounts that she mentioned. Most contained candid shots of Cindy in public with comments on her schedule or her outfit for the day, while others were messages reminding her to do certain things such as picking up a refill of a prescription at her local pharmacy. There was even one photo of an empty Starluck cup with traces of coffee and whipped cream and a straw inside captioned “thx bby”.

“When my friend invited me to Arcvine, I thought it’d be a good opportunity to take my mind off things. Y’know, a change of scenery.” As soon as the words left her mouth, Cindy suddenly perked up and her eyes widened in surprise. “Oh! Right, I forgot to try calling her again.” She scratched her cheek sheepishly. “I’m not sure if this information is important, but I’m staying with neoNEON for a few days. I called her while at the hospital, but she didn’t pick up, probably because she was streaming at the time. I haven’t had the chance to go back to her house yet, so I'm hoping she's checked my texts.”

Shayla Millis, also known as neoNEON, was a streamer known more for playing farming and life sim games. Despite the difference in their preferred genre of games, she and RustyMoon were known to collab every so often due to being childhood friends. Though Shayla had moved to the UK during middle school, the two still kept in touch. Rather than her skill as a gamer or entertainer, the young woman was most known for being the daughter of the Deputy Chief of Arcarum’s UK branch, Elliot Millis. Even in her childhood, the young Shayla had shown immense talent in the art of magic, and her skill coupled with her decision to move to Arcvine to attend the Pallas Institute created a natural expectation that she'd follow in her father's footsteps. However, she chose to drop out of Pallas Institute in her third year and pursued the rocky path of a streamer instead.

When a quick check on her phone's notifications showed that her friend had yet to see her messages, Cindy frowned in concern. "Did she have a long stream scheduled today?" she murmured. However, a quick check on her friend's socials showed that neoNEON hadn't showed up to her scheduled stream, leading to a mix of disgruntled, confused, and concerned viewers.

Suddenly, Cindy's complexion turned ghost white. "I'm…maybe I'm being paranoid. But did the man you caught mention an accomplice? I mean maybe she overslept. And if something did happen, she's more capable than me, but I-" The rest of her words trailed off into incomprehensible muttering as panic began to set in.

===

Date:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

Location:

Lindrow, CA

Tags:

Dawnsx

“Don’t tou-” Aaron yelped before cutting himself off with a sigh. Having failed to stop Sage from picking up a book and adding it back to the stack, the young man muttered a low “whatever” and allowed the intruder to help clean up the mess.

When the undercover Arcarum Agent pointed to his shirt and informed Aaron of his identity, the young man busied himself with straightening out the newly stacked tower of books and didn’t bother to so much as look in Sage’s direction. His initial anger had died down into irritation, but Aaron’s snort in response to the pool cleaner’s introduction made it evident that he was still less-than-pleased by his presence. “Hope your company’s work is better than your boss’s naming sense. Though I doubt it since it looks like they can’t even afford to give you a uniform that fits.”

Aaron’s barbed words would come in for a quick rebound when Sage asked about the textbook he was currently holding in his hands. “Sure. Definitely too complex for someone who mistakes a basement for a bathroom.” However, it appeared that he was getting close to the limits of his tolerance and was about to ask the stranger to leave one final time, until his eyes landed on the paper that the taller man picked up off of the floor.

The prickly hedgehog seemed to deflate entirely, and he took back the offered book and paper in complete silence. “No, it’s just a random doodle drawn by a stupid seventeen-year-old,” he replied while blankly staring down at the crudely drawn insignia. The drawing quickly became a ball of crumpled scrap paper in his hands, gripped within Aaron’s palm so tightly that his hand began to tremble.

“Just garbage that I forgot to throw away,” he spat out, voice dripping with resentment. “Anyway, I don’t care what you think about my living habits, but you aren’t welcome here. Door to the bathroom’s up the stairs and right in front of the basement door. Now get going before I file a complaint to your company that one of their employees has a hobby of sneaking around their clients’ houses.”

Code by Nano

 

[ThatWhichShouldBe]

Chapter 002:

Triage

Date:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

Location:

Arcvine City: Downtown
Verite

Ygero listens attentively, though his lips tug themselves into a neutral expression that's only barely not a full frown, but for him pressing his lips together. Yeah, it was one thing to know intellectually streamers got a lot of harassment, but it was another to hear about it, y'know? And it was more than that, it was the way how she, just, didn't want people to worry about it. It was something to worry about! It was a big fuckin' deal! Agh. His tail fully stops wagging, instead drooping a bit, like a wilted plant.

Of course, Ygero takes brief cliff notes on a little app. The more he hears about the activities of TreeThatWalks, the more his frown deepens. This seemed like a pretty open-and-shut stalking case that escalated to an actual confrontation, but there was something.... off? Like a missing link. Something which would have provoked Tree to 'up their game'. Try for a physical confrontation. He does raise an eyebrow when Moon mentions how Neon hasn't been to her streams or answering any calls- That was weird.

"The man that we apprehended didn't mention any kind of accomplice, just a supplier for what he apparently thought were some kind of combat drugs or steroids. Just vitamin pills with exaggerated marketing." Ygero shakes his head, "And as for Neon... we could go check on her for you, if that'd give you some peace of mind? I'm sure she's fine."

He looks to his Captain for a moment, nodding.

 

[Verite]

XI-7

Ξ7

DATE:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

LOCATION:

Arcvine City: Downtown

TAGS:

Nano ThatWhichShouldBe

"..."

In all brutal honesty, Veren wasn't entirely sure if she was wholly following the testimony being presented before her, if only because all this streaming business went over her head a bi. Moments like this, she really did feel like her age a bit, but she digested all of the information that came her way, recording it for posterity's sake as well as needed, and at the very least, she understood the gravity of the situation, especially as the Millis girl was namedropped. The Millis name, she had at least heard before.

After Ygero spoke his piece, Veren gave a nod of acquiescence in the interest of leaving no stone unturned, if nothing else. "Yes, it is as my colleague says. Nothing about an accomplice, but if you'd truly like, we can certainly check in on your acquaintance to make sure she is alright," she confirmed.

So much for that day off, but of course, a hero's job was never done. Speaking in the classical sense, of course. Veren could only hope this wouldn't elevate into a bigger matter and that, indeed, this Luo girl was only being paranoid as she remarked, but on the other hand, when had the Tenebria and her squad ever been so lucky?

Code by Nano

 

[Worthlessplebian]

LAMBDA FIVE-NINER

Λ59

DATE:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

LOCATION:

Abandoned Building, Warehouse District > Ground level

INTERACTION:

Nano
//

The pistol spun on metallic fingers, slicing through the dust-filled air as Agent Cobra kept his recon-scanners firmly on the working warehouse. They swept the warehouse, horizontally, vertically. It was his enhanced processing unit, specifically subunit 2115, that took on the brunt of this visual data stream. An organic mind could do the same, however, an organic brain with its necessities of oxygen, nutrients, and hormones would tire of the monotony and energy-expenditure. But a sentient scout of cold, unfeeling steel? That will never waver, never falter, never get distracted with its own thoughts. And he still has them. Cobra's subunits calculated that he could remain on this stake-out for approximately eleven days, twenty-eight hours, fifty-minutes, and twenty seconds before his central memory banks run out of storage space for the footage captured.

He catches his pistol, muzzle leveled upward as his vigilance paid off at last. He spots two lazybodies, or they appeared as such, the Agent made note of them earlier, their routine of exchanged gestures was what gotten them into his attention. Back in his days as a SWAT bot, Cobra remarked two officers swap similar signals. At first, the Strider dismissed their idiosyncrasies as organic nonsense, but soon discovered that they've been pilfering seized assets from the evidence locker. A lesson lived is a lesson learned, however, and perhaps, fortunately, Cobra was well-rewarded.

The optics zoom onto their interaction with the man who was brought out, the dark-haired woman pointed out a specific box and what Cobra viewed was a gratifying scene. "Target Acquired" The cybernetic voicebox whirred in satisfaction. If Cobra had been human, had the wide-range of emotional expressions, his mouth would be shaped into a wide, devilish grin.

//Sequence Footage: Last three-point-oh-two hours, palletize five minutes.

The lines of his coding commanded the finer aspects of his robotic nature.

//Deliver packet, titled Warehouse Evidence: Arcanium Crystal, Bright Blue, Smuggling, to HQ and Lambda-PDA Network. Secure Channels: 515 dash Alpha through 677 dash Tango, encryption: 256-bit. Transmit

He then applied a digital marker to the site of the crate and bolted deeper then out of the room. Mechanical legs were pistons of strength as he flung the door of the desolated room, its aged hinges whining and almost shattering from the force. Sprinting across the hallway, Cobra then dived off the guardrail of the stairwell. The dust-filled air wrinkled his clothing before Cobra's servos pulled up his shoulders to propel him through the air. The android's hands shot out and gripped the spider-webbed, flimsy wooden bars. They broke, but held long enough for Cobra to stomp his feet on the stairs then jump down again. Right, Left, Right, Left, Right.

Then crash as his steel feet crack the concrete floor of the building. The auxiliary accents light up in a crimson glow as Cobra inserts his pistol mechanically into his holster, then retrieved his SBR—short-barreled rifle—from his shoulder strap.

His head turns to the direction of the digital marker, visible through several layers of wood, chainlink fence, containers, and walls. A widget scrolls out for its coordinates. He needs to be direct, no time to stealth his way through. But he needs not be forceful yet.

The Strider moves in strides, backup will come eventually, either from HQ or his inorganic comrades.

He watches the distance on the marker shrink as he moves closer, he'll be in line of sight soon. And so will they.

 

[Dawnsx]

LAMBDA FIVE-NINER

Λ59

DATE:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

LOCATION:

Lindrow, CA

INTERACTION:

Nano

Sage easily let Aaron’s sharp insults slide like water off a duck’s back. He was more concerned about how the fight briefly drained from the young man the moment the insignia was presented. If anything, the piece of paper seemed to be a point of contempt for him. It was still too hasty for Sage to draw any conclusions, but he had evidently overstayed his welcome.

Offering a small nod, Sage said, “Apologies again for the intrusion. I hope you have a good rest of your day.”

With that, he rushed up the stairs before Aaron could find another reason to throw a fit. Making his way back to the kitchen, he found Alisson still at the table. He’d lost track of how long he’d been gone while speaking to Aaron, but hopefully his absence didn’t draw the woman’s suspicions. The last thing he needed was both Sylvas to doubt his intentions.

“Mrs. Sylva,” Sage said, “I hope our free pool cleaning met your expectations. I unfortunately need to return to work, but thank you for the drink. It was nice speaking with you. Before I go though,” he lowered his head and made a show of looking apologetic, “I admit that I accidentally ran into your son earlier. He was fairly upset, but we did get the chance to chat a little. He mentioned something about when he was in his high school years… Out of curiosity, was he also this… Ah, reclusive back then?”

Code by Nano

 

[Nano]

Chapter 002:

Triage

Date:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

Location:

Arcvine City, Downtown

Tags:

ThatWhichShouldBe Verite

Though welfare checks were typically under the jurisdiction of the local police department, the two Xi-7 members were approved to check on Shayla Millis’s flat given the unique circumstances of the situation. A look of relief settled on Cindy’s face when the agents confirmed they’d carry out her request, though she was inevitably disappointed when her request to accompany the duo was soundly rejected. However, the young woman wouldn’t push too hard, acknowledging the fact that as concerned as she was about her friend’s wellbeing, she’d only get in the way if anything truly was amiss.

A ten minute drive and a short elevator ride to the seventh floor brought the Xi-7 duo to the doorstep of the one and only neoNEON. As Arcarum had contacted the landlord prior to their arrival, the two had been easily let in through into the lobby of the apartment. The door to Shayla’s apartment itself, however, would be a far different story. No matter how long the two waited for any form of response to their knocking, not a peep would be heard from within the apartment. The landlord eventually made a move to unlock the door, but a deep frown appeared on her face the moment she turned the knob.

“It isn’t locked?” she said, though her tone seemed to almost ask if the Arcarum agents knew anything about the matter. Nevertheless, she dismissed herself to keep out of the way while the agents were let in to inspect the room.

Oddly enough, the computer in the bedroom had been left running, as evident by the gentle whirr of the fan despite the monitor being turned off. However, nothing else in the apartment appeared particularly amiss. The flat was nicely decorated with warm tones and a potted plant tastefully placed here or there, and the interior of the rooms as a whole seemed neatly organized and fairly undisturbed. There were no signs of a struggle, almost as if Shayla had up and disappeared of her own volition. Perhaps she had merely gone out somewhere and forgotten to contact her friend.

Suddenly, a faint scratching and a series of muffled meows came from within the closet next to Shayla’s neatly made bed. Should the agents take a peek, they’d find an orange tabby cat with eyes that shined a bright gold that leapt out the moment it was freed. And if they concentrated their senses enough, they’d find attached to the bell on its collar a faint line of mana. The other end trailed out of the apartment, perhaps leading to some clue regarding the whereabouts to the owner of the cat. Though the line grew fainter as it reached outside of the apartment, those more sensitive to mana would be able to continue to track the magical trail.

===

Date:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

Location:

Lindrow, CA

Tags:

Dawnsx Worthlessplebian

Alisson greeted Sage’s return with a smile tinged with a hint of relief, “Goodness, I almost thought you’d collapsed in the bathroom!” However, the Arcarum Agent’s recount of his run-in with her son elicited a sigh and a concerned frown.

“Oh dear,” Alisson said while cupping a hand to her cheek, “I do hope that boy wasn’t too rude. I know it’s hard to believe, but he used to get along with just about anyone. As a mother, I should be proud of the fact that he dedicates himself to studying, but I miss the child who’d get scolded by his father for running off to the arcade with his friends without finishing his homework. He’s been like this ever since my late husband passed away in a car accident.”

Suddenly, Alisson’s expression turned pained, as if remembering something she regretted deeply. “It was a rough time back then, but I should have tried to understand him better. I’m not sure why, but he convinced himself that the car crash hadn’t been an accident, so we argued a lot until he eventually stopped talking about it. He started distancing himself from his friends soon after, and the rest is as you can see.”

“Sorry for oversharing,” Alisson apologized after composing herself, “it’s been a while since I’ve talked about this matter.”

Before Alisson could send Sage on his way, angry stomps could be heard from the hallway until they stopped at the doorway to the dining room. There stood no one other than Aaron, absolutely fuming, with a cotton hand towel tightly gripped in his right hand. If he heard their conversation, the young man made no indication of the fact, though he was quick to announce the reason for his irritation.

“Don’t leave your sweaty crap in my room!” he yelled, chucking the towel right at Sage’s face. The towel was white and slightly damp, though it smelled more of fresh detergent rather than someone’s body odor. Most importantly, it was a towel that certainly didn’t belong to Sage. A simple touch would reveal the faint crackle of some material akin to paper attached to the towel, but before any questions could be asked, the young man stormed off without elaborating on the matter. Soon enough, a loud slam shook the house, shaking Alisson out of her stunned state.

“Aaron!” she yelled, “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, and I’ll make sure to talk to him later. I swear he isn’t usually like this.”

After a flood of apologies and a handful of miscellaneous snacks to compensate Sage for his troubles, the homunculus was finally let go to be on his way. The agent would be instructed to join up with Agent Cobra while Agents Caiman and Evander proceeded to do a more thorough search elsewhere. Should Agent Evergreen inspect Aaron’s towel enroute to his next destination, he’d find a piece of paper half the size of an index card crudely stapled to one corner of the towel. When peeled back, he’d find a message stating “proving i’m not under the oath. no clue who you are, but here’s a tip:” with an unfamiliar address written on the line underneath. The note ended with a final warning stating, “don’t involve her again”. The address pointed to the opposite end of Lindrow, so it would be best to check it out (if at all) after responding to Agent Cobra’s request for backup.

By the time Agent Cobra made official contact with the suspicious individuals at the warehouse, Agent Evergreen would be the first of the backup from Arcarum to arrive. The agent would be greeted by shrieks and overall pandemonium within the warehouse, the workers no doubt startled by the loud noises produced by Agent Cobra’s less than peaceful entry. One of the bolder members within the group—perhaps a manager who felt responsible for the situation—stepped forward to confront the two intruders.

“What on Earth-” he said, only to let out a garbled noise of confusion when he was suddenly grabbed from behind. The man stilled, his face blanching, when he felt sharp, cold claws dig into his throat. A blonde haired Naphtra, one member of the suspicious pair that Cobra had observed prior, had leapt at the man to restrain him and wrap his hand around the man’s throat, keeping the tips of his claws pointed towards his fleshy neck.

“Don’t move!” He yelled. “We have a bomb, and we’re not afraid to blow ourselves up with it!”

Despite his bold claims and the seriousness of his tone, the woman standing by him didn’t seem to share the Naphtra’s resolve. Though her thumb was hovering over her phone, presumably rigged to be able to send a signal to the alleged bomb in the warehouse, her hand betrayed her nerves as it faintly shook. Her eyes wandered nervously between the agents and her partner-in-crime, and there was a noticeable undulation in her throat, most likely from nervously swallowing saliva.

The crate that the black-haired woman had slipped something into earlier sat not too far away from their location. Though it was unknown whether or not the “bomb” would truly react and the blast radius couldn’t be determined, it was clear that any of the workers within the vicinity including the suspicious duo were likely to be caught up in any potential explosions.

Code by Nano

 

[Worthlessplebian]

LAMBDA FIVE-NINER

Λ59

DATE:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

LOCATION:

Hostage Scene

INTERACTION:

Nano Dawnsx

The STRIDER moved unabated by the shrill shrieks of terror from the dock workers; he kept digital eyes on them though, even as they screamed, it could all be a feint for a gun-toting smuggler to try and brandish a weapon at him. Their hammering feet were like the sonata of a music piece, one that he has heard before, finding it tiring then as it is now. They pounded away from him, his badge on full display, magnetically pinned to his left cyber-pectoral. Through all the bluster of feet, voices, and crates, Cobra had been as silent as space as he jogged his way to the centre of the geographic marker.

His cybernetic optics scanned the features of the warehouse, from the plain cracked concrete beneath his metal feet to the towering containers then lastly, to the panicked, taut features of the workers. His footfalls hurried, but he noticed that he was not alone. Speeding onto the scene, then joining him on foot was Agent Evergreen. Good, that meant that his message, both the archived footage and warning, had reached the rest, soon they would be here to supplement Cobra's spontaneous break-up of this smuggling ring. If it even was a smuggling ring.

Then as the agent approached the perpetrators, one bold manager of the warehouse confronted him. Just as Cobra was about to voice an order for the manager to stand aside, his throat was snatched by long-claws that poised to ventilated his carotid to the surface. Before the fist half-closed around the throat, Agent Cobra was already ready to send a round through the Naphtra's blond hair, to stain it a crimson hue.

His targeting reticle danced between the Naphtra and his female conspirator, calculating the distance between them and the milliseconds it would take to snap the rifle's muzzle from the Naphtra's head to the woman's, steel digits half-depressing the rifle's trigger. However, he hesitate to pull the trigger, not out of concern for the civilian—his estimates put his survival at 97 percent—but because they needed sources. Snitches. Rats. Someone to squeeze and press for information.

These two have made themselves candidates.

Cobra supposes, in a way, that they would be smuggling not just cargo, but information as well. Cobra still trained his rifle on the Naphtra, acutely aware of Agent Evergreen behind him, likely equipped with his own weaponry. As an android, the synth-weave muscles in Cobra's limbs stilled, transforming him into a statue than a human. His optics registered the faint tremble of the woman's hand, her thumb is indeed hovering over a phone, perhaps a digital trigger, but the agent doubts that what they've smuggled is indeed a bomb. However, there is one certainty in all organics; they bluff poorly.

If they could detonate an Arcanium crystal, Cobra would have bigger troubles than these two gob-smacked yahoos. He is reminded of a proverb, one installed into his mem-banks at the moment of his programming, the phrase was: forewarned is forearmed. He assumes they're bluffing with an 80 percent certainty, ergo, he has gained the tactical advantage. Additional factor: he has dealt with hostage situations before. Severely.

"Rational then." Cobra began, the digital voicebox in his chassis whirring to life from its imposed silence. "Agent Evergreen, disengage." Cobra ordered, simultaneously sending a silent message to his device, instructing him to occupy a greater vantage. Sending his squadmate away from the potential blast radius and securing an advantage as well.

Once Evergreen distanced himself from the scene, Agent Cobra continued. "Release the hostage, unharmed, and you'll be guaranteed a five year sentence with the possibility of parole." The synthesized voice spoke in an even, measured manner. "Comply." Cobra ordered as if his pronouncements were indisputable while searching for that faint spark of hesitation in the Naphtra's eyes, he needed less than a second, harboring a third and final advantage over the fleshbags. Cobra's reaction speeds are off-the chart, clocking in at Five-Oh Point Seven (50.7) milliseconds, a boon granted to him by his Duel Rhesus-7th generation microprocessors.


If they so much as twitched, it would be self-termination by Arcarum Agent. Hopefully, they realized that.

 

[Dawnsx]

LAMBDA FIVE-NINER

Λ59

DATE:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

LOCATION:

Lindrow, CA

INTERACTION:

Nano
Sage nodded along politely as Alisson rambled on about her family and made a mental note to look into Mr. Sylva and the car crash. Given Aaron’s potential connection to Final Chapter, his insistence on his father’s death not being an accident may hold some truth.

Shrugging off Aaron’s rather rude and unexpected gesture and Alisson’s apologies, Sage bid the woman farewell and went on his way. It was only after inspecting the message concealed in the towel that Sage realized that his little act as a pool cleaner was not as convincing as Alisson made it seem. Disappointing, but somewhat expected. Sage shook off this minor failure and inspected the index card, on which was an address and a subtle warning against involving Aaron’s mother again. Had Sage been a more empathetic soul, he may have felt touched by a son’s clumsy affection and protectiveness for his mother. Alas, Sage glossed over the threat and honed in on the credibility of the tip and how they would tackle it.

The tip would be a concern for another time though. Mere moments after departing from the Sylva household, Sage received Agent Cobra’s request for backup. Never had Sage been more grateful for the brilliance of the micron device as his uniform and gauntlets materialized over his body. Without the tight T-shirt and shorts hindering his movements, he made haste to Cobra’s location.

The scene that he arrived at gave him pause. A distance away were the two hostiles from Cobra’s sent footage. Unlike Cobra, his marksmanship left much to be desired, though not for a want of trying. And with the Naphtra holding a hostage, and another with a finger just centimeters away a button that could potentially obliterate those within range, Sage hesitated to cast any magic.

Much like his android brother, Cobra exhibited unwavering calm and rationality. Perhaps this trait that he shared with their squad leader was the reason that Sage complied with orders to disengage without a shred of doubt.

Sage backed away from the warehouse until he was out of sight of the pair of smugglers. Then, as per Cobra’s orders, he searched for another location that could provide an ideal vantage point. As fate would have it, his eyes were drawn to the exact same building that Cobra had staked out in. Once inside, he took half a second to take in the desolate state of the building – utterly unaware that his fellow agent had caused some additional damage just moments earlier – before dashing up the stairs until finding a room with a window that provided him with a clear view of the warehouse.

”I’m in position,” Sage informed Cobra.

Code by Nano

 

[ThatWhichShouldBe]

Chapter 002:

Triage

Date:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

Location:

Arcvine City: Downtown
Verite

The waiting was agony. Even if Ygero wasn't already predisposed to not wanting to wait, the simple fact that they were here on a wellness check made him antsy when someone didn't answer the door. Finding Shayla missing was just the tip of the iceberg at that point. No signs of a struggle, but that didn't mean much. There were plenty of ways to force cooperation. When Ygero finds the cat, his worst suspicions were confirmed. No decent cat owner leaves their cat like that, not if they can help it.

Luckly, Ygero's mana affinity was pretty damn fucking keen. When he picks up the trail of mana, he looks up to his captain, nodding.

"I've got a mana trail connected to the cat."

With a click, he manifests his helmet onto his head, leaving the rest of his armor elsewhere. Not for protection, really- But for the life signs detection feature. As much as it helped him to make sure he didn't pull any more destructive moves near people, it also helped when he was looking for someone hidden- Or being kept hidden. So, off Ygero goes, following that trail of mana out of the apartment, looking for a lead.

He doubted it was a coincidence that there were two incidents with related streamers in one day...

 

[Verite]

XI-7

Ξ7

DATE:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

LOCATION:

Arcvine City: Downtown

TAGS:

Nano ThatWhichShouldBe

When Veren and Ygero initially ventured into the humble abode of one neoNEON, the woman could only click her tongue lightly as the landlady offered to open the door for them, only to find that it wasn't locked to begin with. "What a pain. And here I was just about to kick the door down myself," she breathed. Then she paused, looked at the landlady, and gave an awkward smile. "That would be covered by the warrant, of course."

They had a warrant for this, right?

As they pierced deeper inside and investigated the derelict abode, Veren breathed sharply as the orange cat they'd freed from its prison suddenly leapt out forward and made its way out of the apartment, a distinct mana trail emanating from its collar. She sniffed the air once, and gave Ygero a wry smile, practically trademark at this point. "Yes, be a good dog and chase the cat, won't you? Fufu," she teased, though for her part, she too had a strong affinity to mana that allowed her to follow the trail with ease, even without needing a helmet like what Ygero had on.

Despite her everlasting easy-going personality, Veren was a bit on edge now, her years of experience and training conditioning her to recognize when something was out of the ordinary, especially if someone else's life was on the line here. With that in mind, she kept her magic charged as she followed the trail, wherever it led her and Ygero.

Hopefully, curiosity wouldn't kill this cat.

Code by Nano

 

[Nano]

Chapter 002:

Triage

Date:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

Location:

Arcvine City, Downtown

Tags:

ThatWhichShouldBe Verite

Regardless of whether or not the duo set off with the cat in tow, the trail of mana remained faint but easy enough to track so long as one knew where to look. On occasion, it would flicker and fade out completely, as if having exhausted whatever the source of its power was. However, the trail would pulse with mana no more than a half minute after it disappeared, though the energy emanating from it was never great enough to catch the eye of any who weren’t aware of the spell in the first place. The trail stemming from the tabby’s collar remained relatively straightforward, seldom turning or bending away from a building or obstacle that got in its path. Upon some twenty minutes of tracing the trail of mana, it eventually slipped under the glass door of a small establishment tucked between two other shops.

Nothing appeared amiss at a glance whether it be the words “The Daily Grind” and its accompanying logo neatly printed upon the door in white or the customers slipping in and out of what was clearly a coffee shop. As people entered or exited, an ornamental bell swung against the door and let out a charming ring which alerted the barista inside of any incoming customers. The same ringing would greet the Arcarum agents should they choose to make their way into the coffee shop, and the bright and cheerful voice of the brunette at the counter welcomed them in.

Though the outside of the coffee shop had made it appear cramped, the interior held a cozy feel due to the browns of the furniture as well as the warm lighting indoors. An assortment of three potted plants decorated some of the shelves behind the counter while vines trailed off the sides of small lightweight pots hanging on the ceiling. A total of six people were present in the establishment. Two humans who appeared to be university students were seated together in one corner, each nursing a cup of coffee while fervently holding a hushed conversation while scrolling through an article on a silver laptop. The other four were at the counter, two being the workers on shift—including the woman in charge of greeting the customers—while the other two were placing their orders.

The string of mana seemed to disappear midst the tables, chairs, and extra legs within the store, but traces of mana vaguely marked the area towards the back of the building where the staircases to the upper floor as well as the basement were situated.

===

Date:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

Location:

Lindrow, CA

Tags:

Dawnsx Worthlessplebian

Undaunted by the cold voice of the machine, the dog-like Naphtra narrowed his eyes and laughed derisively. Perhaps he was overconfident in his abilities, or perhaps whatever mission he hoped to fulfill was worth more than his life. Regardless of his thoughts on the matter, he refused to unwrap his claws which dangerously pinched into the major arteries of his hostage’s throat.

“Yeah, yeah. I know how you cops work, and you can go shove it,” he hissed before barking out an order to his accomplice. “Do it!”

However, it was clear that the woman didn’t share in even half his bravado. Having kept his eyes trained on the android attempting to compromise their mission, the man hadn’t been keeping track of the movements of the human behind him. Instead of the expected blast, the clatter of a phone dropping to the floor echoed throughout the warehouse. Rather than follow her partner’s order, the black-haired woman had chosen to drop the device and shakily raise her hands up into the air.

“I…” she attempted to speak, but her voice trembled and seemed to fail her. Her nostrils were flared, and her face had turned sheet white during the brief exchange between Agent Cobra and the Naphtra. Unlike her partner, it was clear that she was more receptive towards the android’s warnings or was at least hesitant to throw her life away. Though she was far from composed, she seemed to stop her quivering enough to speak up after a few moments of holding her breath.

“I was told we wouldn’t be inside,” she finally said meekly. “They told me it was a simple mission…”

The moment the woman’s words trailed off, the Naphtra's eyes shook in anger, and the muscles of his arms and legs tensed as he attempted to tear his claws into the hostage’s throat while moving back towards his traitorous accomplice.

Code by Nano

 

[ThatWhichShouldBe]

Chapter 002:

Triage

Date:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

Location:

Arcvine City: Downtown
Verite

Ygero relays his findings from outside the establishment with a concerned look on his face, typing out the message to HQ and Veren to avoid being overheard. Three people up top, seven on the ground floor... But eight on the bottom, below the basement? The hell was going on in this place? He dematerializes his helmet and decides to take a more... subtle route, nodding to his captain as they eventually head inside. It had looked like someone was actively keeping the mana trail intact; perhaps Shayla had hoped someone would be able to find her this way?

The Arcarum agent walks in through the door, with a mask of cheerfulness on his face. He gives a little wave to the greeter, looking around for a moment, before turning to the greeter and asking a question with an innocent expression on his face.

"Have you seen anyone come through here? I was hoping to meet someone here, but I don't see her around. Short dark blue hair, kind of a midget, haha."

He'd just act casual for now, trying to see if the staff would offer that they'd seen anything, or if they would have to try a more direct approach. He watched the employees for any sign of a reaction, recognition. Trying to hide something. The more they hid, the more they had a strong case to do a search.

 

[Worthlessplebian]

LAMBDA FIVE-NINER

Λ59

DATE:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

LOCATION:

Hostage Scene: RESOLVED

INTERACTION:

Nano Dawnsx

The Android's red accents flared as he analyzed the Naphtra goon's narrowing eyes, stubbornly zealous in his goal, and then came that dismissive laughter. Cobra's metal digit began depressing the rifle's trigger, barrel squarely focused on the Naphtra's laughing head. However, one element gave Cobra pause. Unlike the dog-like grunt, whose attention is centered entirely on the Android, Cobra's duel-microprocessor cortex freely delegated tasks, such as behavioral analysis detected the trembling hesitancy of the organic behind the hostage-taker's shoulder. A new calculation was crunched into the STRIDER's plan.

A voiceless command awakened the Agent's reciprocating Arcanium core, the false arterial vessels that lined his framework were flooded with mystical energies, though on the surface, his chassis remained motionless. He concedes that if it weren't for this conspirator's gutlessness, he wouldn't be executing such a risky maneuver. The digits on his left hand flexed against his rifle's handguard, clinking briefly as the Naphtra gave the command to his colleague. If Agent Cobra had been organic, or indeed truly experienced emotions, then his heart-rate would've jumped or his body would've reflexively tensed. He registers a mote of satisfaction in his emotional matrix for one-point-three seconds, before dismissing and clamping down on the valve — there was no time for retrospection or joy.

His accomplice failed. Her face blanched from the heart-throbbing realization that she'd be wasting her life, Cobra remains affixed to her quivering form, watching the micro-twitches in her musculature, nervous ticks from the cortisol in her bloodstream. A silent ping alerted the agent, his HUD displaying that his core achieved the adequate charge-level from his Arcanium core.

“I was told we wouldn’t be inside. They told me it was a simple mission…”

As soon as the soft words left her taut lips, Cobra sprang into action. Dropping his rifle to the side, left arm outstretched, the palm facing the Naphtra's head. At once, a violent whip-crack is heard, and the sound of a body slumping to the ground with a meaty thud. An ultrasonic wave had slammed the criminal's head, rattling his brain to induce unconsciousness. The Naphtra first froze in his motion before his arms meekly fell by his sides then doubled-over, leaving the hostage frightened, but alive. Cobra rushed over, while keeping his rifle trained on the black-haired woman, in case, she had grievances about her lack of faith. "Evergreen, provide overwatch," Cobra said over Lambda squad's internal channel. "I don't want surprises now."

He examined the hostage, his ruby-tinged optics detecting no physical harm, besides the depressions of the claws in his neck, minor psychological disturbances were also possible from this ordeal. He gestured for the hostage to vacate the warehouse, servos whirring as he did so. Agent Cobra paced behind the woman, unclamping a pair of cuffs from his utility pocket. "HQ, this is Agent Cobra. Target has been neutralized. Alive, but unconscious. Prep medical for evaluation." Cobra vocalized offhandedly, cuffing the woman's wrists before interposing himself between her and the detonation-phone. Its dimmed screen cracked with a long-diagonal line, his knee scraped the floor, metal meeting concrete. Picking it up, Cobra's internal systems tagged the device as evidence, and possible resource for leads in his system's internal log.

Gently securing it in a zip bag, Cobra then went to the woman who kneeled with her hands cuffed behind her back. "You've accepted. Your crime will be reported and notarized as smuggling of illegal substances, which will carry the minimum sentence of five years," His head shifted, actuators softly purring, towards the unconscious accomplice. "Your partner, however, will be tried as a felon for attempted bombing and endangering the life of a civilian by resorting to hostage-taking, his maximum penalty will be life incarceration." His voice was synthetically-smooth, low but firm. Turning to the woman again, Cobra spoke a final time. "Provincial and Arcarum authorities will be arriving shortly."

As he approached the box which contained the supposed Arcanium Crystal, he forwarded a data-burst to update the authorities as they arrived, including but not limited to the existence of the Arcanium detonation device. His sloped plates rotated as the agent stared at the crate, not wishing to immediately prise the lid off before inspecting it.

 

[Verite]

XI-7

Ξ7

DATE:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

LOCATION:

Arcvine City: Downtown

TAGS:

Nano ThatWhichShouldBe

"Humph..."

Veren pursed her lips mildly as she followed the little tabby cat's trail as it led her and Ygero outside. Not because she found the tailing part difficult, but more because she envied the freedom in its movement. Though the humans of this world tended to liken her to an overgrown lizard more than anything else, Veren liked to see herself as more of a giant cat, the way she was just as comfortable moving on all fours and crawling through tight spaces, and especially with how cute her tail was when she'd flap it happily. Stupid humans just find it difficult to find anyone bigger than them cute, but whatever, it was their loss.

As she and Ygero were led into the coffee shop, the Tenebria let out a breath as she let the soothing scent of coffee relax her quite a bit. Too bad she was on assignment right now or she'd totally order a little pick-me-up on the way. Something with a lot of sugar and milk, because who in their right mind liked their coffee black?

Like Ygero, she only gives a polite smile and wave toward the greeter and whoever else paid them any mind, not wanting to attract any undue attention. Truthfully, she was tempted to follow the trail straight into the backroom, but hesitated when her partner instead elected to ask the employee nearby for any clues instead. Veren could see the pros in such a tactic, but she'd only hope it would lead somewhere lest they'd end up losing precious time.

...

Well, while she was here.

To Ygero's side, Veren raised an index finger as she looked toward the employee. "Also, is it possible to make an order and queue it to pick up later?"

Code by Nano

 

[Nano]

Chapter 002:

Triage

Date:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

Location:

Arcvine City, Downtown

Tags:

ThatWhichShouldBe Verite

Upon spotting the dragonborn approach the counter, the woman who welcomed them inside stopped fiddling with her chestnut locks. She politely gestured towards the line with an open palm and opened her mouth as if to ask the two newcomers to wait their turn. Ygero’s question, however, prompted her to remain quiet and instead quietly ruminate over whether or not she’d seen the person in his description.

“Umm..” She crossed her arms and tapped the index finger of her right hand upon her elbow. A few seconds would pass before she spoke again, though it was clear she hadn’t made any breakthroughs during the brief moment she’d taken to think. “The only person I saw with that hair in the past hour was pretty tall. Maybe she’s running late?”

The woman turned to her coworker and poked his forearm. “Did you see anyone like that come in while I was grabbing refills from the back?” However, her question would merely be met with a shrug and the man returning to his work. Upon receiving the barista’s answer, the brunette provided the agents with a shrug of her own.

“The owner said she had something to do today, so it’s just been the two of us on shift for the past few hours. If neither of us have seen her, she’s probably not here?” She said with an uncertain tone, albeit one clearly derived due to a lack of faith in her own memory. As if feeling awkward about not providing the two with the information they needed, the woman looked towards Veren apologetically. “A-anyway. You can certainly order ahead of time. What would you like?”

By the time the brunette finished deliberating over Ygero’s question and asked for their order, a group of three descended from the stairs and left the establishment while casually chatting with each other on the way out. If Ygero’s headcount using his helmet had been correct, the trio’s departure meant the 2nd floor was now empty while the ground and sub-basement levels still had seven and eight occupants respectively.

===

Date:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

Location:

Lindrow, CA

Tags:

Dawnsx Worthlessplebian

From the viewpoint of Agent Evergreen’s current lookout post, he could see a ring of scared yet curious onlookers consisting of the warehouse workers who had run in fear a few minutes prior. As if held back by an invisible barrier, they tittered about and craned their necks in an attempt to check on the situation inside but didn’t dare allow their feet to slip past the makeshift line created by the frontmost people within the group. This lack of movement would persist until a young girl who appeared to be in her late teens squeezed past the crowd and jumped up and down while waving madly to catch the others’ attention. Though her short stature had made her inconspicuous within the crowd in spite of her outfit clearly standing out from that of the others, all eyes were trained on her as she yelled for them to depart from the scene for their safety.

After finishing off with a flurry of shooing motions, the brunette reached back into the crowd and pulled a much taller man wearing a patterned blouse towards her. Contrary to her own warnings, she pranced towards the warehouse while dragging the black-haired man who seemed far less enthusiastic about whatever endeavor she was taking him along for. Growing ever impatient from his dragging his feet, the girl quickly moved to grip the man’s other hand. Someone from the crowd yelled while many others gasped as they witnessed the young lady spin around twice and toss her poor victim towards the warehouse as if she were performing a hammer throw. The bright smile on her face made her appear completely unconcerned about what would happen when the man landed after she tossed him like unnecessary baggage, or perhaps she was merely confident in her or the man’s abilities.

Meanwhile within the warehouse, the handcuffed woman hung her head low while being apprehended by Agent Cobra. Her head shot up and her eyes shook the moment the android mentioned the sentence she’d likely be receiving. “If-If I cooperate, will they show leniency?” she asked, voice trembling as she realized the consequences of the attempted crime. However, they’d be interrupted by the sound of something crashing through the door, and the noise drew a loud shriek from the skittish woman.

A person within a protective barrier crashed into the wall opposite of Cobra and the recently captured perpetrators, and the young lady responsible for the ruckus came skipping through the doors not too long after.

“What do you not understand about not throwing people?” The black-haired man grumbled while adjusting his glasses which had fallen off the bridge of his nose after the impact. Soon after his crash landing, he’d taken his barrier down, but unlike his partner who seemed to disregard the others in the room, the man kept a careful eye on Agent Cobra.

“Hm,” She hummed, “you were taking too long, and I didn’t want the little apprentice to die by saying something she shouldn’t.” As if to emphasize her point, her gaze turned towards the human held captive by Agent Cobra and waggled her fingers at her in some semblance of a greeting.

Code by Nano

 

[ThatWhichShouldBe]

Chapter 002:

Triage

Date:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

Location:

Arcvine City: Downtown
Verite

Ygero listens to the employee's words for a moment, mulling them over. Okay. Sounded like the Staff had no idea whatsoever. No deflections, no nothing. Stealth magic to get in the back? That'd do it- And they definitely weren't aware of the seemingly eight other people in the... What, sub-basement? No, whatever was going on here was weird as shit. So might as well play things simple. He takes a breath, before tapping onto his device and projecting his Arcarum badge as a holographic display.

"... I'm sorry for misleading you ma'am, but I'm an Arcarum agent following up on a wellness check. We were checking up on the woman under that description when we discovered that she'd... disappeared from her apartment, and we had reason to believe it was not willingly. There was a trail from the residence that led to this establishment. Now... my partner and I were able to determine that there's currently eight people underneath this establishment in some kind of... basement or something? We'd like to ask for permission to search the premises, given that it sounds like there shouldn't be any other staff on-site, so those people should not be there."

The Arcarum agent is polite but firm with his words. He really didn't want to have to force the issue, things could get messy quick, but in a circumstance like this? Yeah, no. He was absolutely going in.

 

[Verite]

XI-7

Ξ7

DATE:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

LOCATION:

Arcvine City: Downtown

TAGS:

Nano ThatWhichShouldBe

"..."

Veren tilted her head slightly as she carefully watched the employee at the counter ruminate over her answer, studying her and her mannerisms to make sure she was telling the whole truth. Despite her carefree exterior, Veren was a professional after all, and she knew a thing or two at this point on how to read between the lines on a person. Fortunately, indeed it seemed she and her co-worker were telling the truth to the extent of their knowledge.

The dragonborn perked an eyebrow in mild surprise at Ygero deciding to give away the game so quickly to people who didn't absolutely need to know, but ultimately gave a shrug. It wasn't as though they had anything to hide if neither of these employees were truly connected to the matter after all, though Veren imagined Ygero should have counted his lucky stars he got paired up with the most lax commander in the organization, for better and for worse.

Though he didn't necessarily say anything wrong, Veren didn't want to alarm the employees too much and cause any undue distress. Hence, strategically acting as a bouncing off point, like a straight man and funny man comedy duo. "Oh, hopefully we'll have this matter settled before too long, so how about... a simple iced coffee, extra cream? Truthfully, today is supposed to be our day off, but duty always calls, fufu," she chuckled.

"... But yes, we will need to investigate the premises. No cause for concern, hopefully. You don't even have to tell the manager about it. We'll be in and out just like that. Our little secret, hmm?" Veren finished off with a mischievous wink, giving no indication that this was in fact a bit serious, in the interest of keeping the air as casual as possible.

Code by Nano

 

[Worthlessplebian]

LAMBDA FIVE-NINER

Λ59

DATE:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

LOCATION:

Ambush-Arrival!

INTERACTION:

Nano Dawnsx

The warehouse workers outside teetered on an invisible boundary, cringing in their luminous safety vests and white helmets, the last rays of sunlight began retreating from the rooftops while shadows festered and streaked forward, chasing off the light. Agent Cobra's head craned up for a moment, seeing the sun fade from the view of the clerestory windows. Cobra wondered, a byproduct of his curiousity subroutines, how quickly-yet-sluggishly they abandoned their stations for safety. Towering blocks of crates, palletised by delivery sector, stretched down the massive interior. Ranks of LED bulbs hang down illuminating it all. One machine's engine idled impotently far away, desperately awaiting commands to work. The agent counted his blessing that the bots deactivated, one of the workers at the terminals had the clear-head to do so.

The woman spoke again, timidly, Cobra shifted his head slowly, his body purring — soft and smooth, several generations old yet still technologically advanced. "Yes, only if you cooperate." Cobra confirmed, his synth-voice fading into an echo of this quiet place. The android turned, tilting his head down to look at the woman. The crimson lenses of his optics —glowing more brightly than before — fell upon the woman. The metal feet thumped against the concrete floor once, twice as Cobra approached closer. Inspecting the woman without laying a cold digit on her form.

Then the doors were kicked open. They came apart with a crash of bending metal and shattered glass. Cobra registered the protective orb as it barreled through the air, disturbing and carrying the residual dust in a receding plume. Cobra irritably deleted a surprise-blurt from the index of his emotional matrix. He aimed his gun with one arm, lifting up the skittish woman instantly like a child, one arm wrapped around her armpit. He began to shuffle with the woman, metal feet ringing from the hard floor, her legs' clumsily pattering behind him, the agent grasped softly as possible with a metal hand could, anyway. The crates stacked high shattered from below in a storm of wooden flinders, the upper boxes caved in on themselves.

Soon, the projectile would reveal himself along with a mincing, younger woman, possessed of delirious joy. Cobra shot a hail to Agent Evergreen, biding him to arrive and assist, the android suspected these arrivals were more dangerous than they appeared. He interposed himself between the woman and the newcomers, rifle raised, a stark defiance in the path towards their goals. His ruby optics danced between the two, inspecting their attires. No apparent weapons, no identification, and no micron devices. The younger woman appeared ghoulish, almost wide-eyed with her bottomless joy.

The agent's metal digit clicked against the trigger, but did not fire just yet. He wanted to wait a moment, see if Evergreen could arrive in time. "So... Which posse do you degenerates belong to?" Said Cobra, his icy words filling the warehouse. Although Cobra could've divined the answer to his own inquiry, judging solely on the verbiage and physical language used to the apprentice, as they titled her.

 

[Dawnsx]

LAMBDA FIVE-NINER

Λ59

DATE:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

LOCATION:

Lindrow, CA

INTERACTION:

Nano Worthlessplebian

Although Sage had foreseen the outcome, he nevertheless exhaled a breath of relief and relaxed his shoulders when Cobra managed to subdue the hostiles. He briefly considered returning to the warehouse, but abnormal movements down below caught his attention.

A gaggle of onlookers had already been gathering in front of the warehouse when Sage arrived at the scene, and the numbers only increased since then. Yet another highly illogical trait that humans display – a compulsion to flock toward danger to sate their curiosity in spite of the associated risks. Fortunately, the civilians below retained a modicum of self-preservation and maintained some distance between themselves and the warehouse.

But now, a pair of young man and woman were rapidly approaching the crime scene whilst shooing the onlookers away. Sage didn’t have time to relay the anomaly to Cobra before the woman picked up her partner and tossed him into the warehouse like a sack of potatoes.

Not civilians, then, Sage assessed.

He was already rushing back downstairs when Cobra summoned him. The crowd backed away another few steps when they saw him rushing forth, perhaps wary of another stunt like what they’d just witnessed, but he simply leapt through the demolished door in a horribly drab fashion.

He took half a second to take stock of the situation – the human projectile looked none the worse for wear, while the young lady was awfully nonchalant in the face of an armed android. The woman who’d surrendered was safely behind Cobra, who had a finger on the trigger of his gun.

Sage had thought that there may be a miniscule chance that the young lady was a professional wrestler with eccentric tendencies, but the tension in the room dashed that hope. He wordlessly poised himself for battle, flexing his fingers against his gauntlets with a dozen incantations already at his lips.

Code by Nano

 

[Nano]

Chapter 002:

Triage

Date:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

Location:

Arcvine City, Downtown

Tags:

ThatWhichShouldBe Verite

“Arcarum? People in the basement?”

Unable to make sense of the sudden barrage of information, the young woman stared at Agent Ladon’s badge while wearing a dumbfounded expression. In spite of being shown clear proof of the duo’s identities as Arcarum agents as well as Agent Raikou’s reassurances that all would be fine after a quick inspection, the brunette hesitated to speak. Her mouth opened and closed several times, yet not a word ever left her mouth and her confusion only seemed to grow with each passing second.

The barista let out a surprised squeak complete with a small jolt of her shoulders when her coworker broke the silence with a heavy sigh. After retrieving a clear plastic cup from behind the counter, he pasted a label onto the cup and slid it into the brunette’s hands.

“Iced coffee with extra cream,”

he said while tossing his thumb over his shoulder to gesture towards the coffee machines. Though she nearly dropped the cup in the process, the young woman excused herself with a few incomprehensible stutters and a face that had turned bright red once she finally processed that she’d been dumbly standing around flapping her mouth like a fish.

The black-haired man shook his head before addressing the two agents.

“The owner isn’t here, but I guess it should be fine? I don’t think she’d be happy to know there are unknown people in the basement, though are you sure they’re not in some sewer running below the café or something? As far as I know, the basement is our break room and where we store most of our supplies. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything strange.”

After giving the agents the go-ahead, the young man stepped back towards the register and tapped at the screen once.

“By the way, the coffee will be-”

Before he could finish relaying their tab, a harsh beeping interrupted the man, eliciting an annoyed albeit confused scowl. Though the barista was unfamiliar with the noise and assumed the agents had forgotten to turn off some alarm, it was a sound that only ever spelled trouble for Arcarum agents. Their micron devices had detected a sudden spatial distortion nearby.

Heavy footfalls that seemed to shake the building itself were followed by a scream. The barista who’d been preparing Agent Raikou’s coffee dropped the cup in her hands, splashing the light brown liquid all over the floor and on the hem of her trousers. A shaky hand pointing towards the backroom called everyone’s attention to the stocky four-legged creature currently sticking its head out into the narrow doorway. When it spotted the people in the room, it let out a sound akin to a mix between a chuff and a bray and suddenly rammed its shoulders forward. Against the heavy weight of the creature’s body, the drywall quickly gave way.

Both employees scrambled over the counter to get away from the beast, just in time for it to crash into the registers. It shook itself off, spraying a dark viscous liquid onto its surroundings. Delicately pale pink flowers sprouted from wherever the black sludge dripped off from its mane, filling the small café with a cloying scent that hung heavily in the lungs of whoever breathed it in.

Unfortunately for the employees, though they’d escaped being crushed under the creature’s body, some of the sludge had landed on them due to their proximity to the beast. The flowers’ roots painfully dug into their skin, drawing out screams of pain from both humans who’d likely never experienced anything more painful than stubbing their toe thus far.

===

Date:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

Location:

Lindrow, CA

Tags:

Dawnsx Worthlessplebian

“Ehhh, I don’t know about grumpy over there, but I’m no degenerate,”

the mysterious woman said with a laugh, as if the android had told a funny joke instead of aiming a weapon at her. She began to pace back-and-forth while waving a finger in front of her.

“We’re from Final Chapter, but you probably guessed that already. What’s more important is clearing up my name! Behold! I am Mera—just Mera by the way—the strongest homunculus in all of Sinoa and Earth. The Voidlands was my playground, and I’ve defeated the Inquisitor of Telderante in a duel. I’m even acquainted with a god who tasked me with saving the world. So go on, no need to be shy with the praise!”

Whether she was confident in her abilities or foolishly believed Agent Cobra wouldn’t pull the trigger, the young woman ended her boasting with a flourish and a bow. However, when the expected applause never came, she quickly righted herself back straight and placed her hand on her hip.

“Tsk tsk. Arcarum needs to reconsider their hiring process.”

“Shut up. You said too much,”

the man behind her snapped while Mera stuck her tongue out at him in turn. He then shot a nasty glare at the handcuffed woman who’d started shaking violently the moment she saw the two from Final Chapter arrive.

“We can call a truce here. Hand those two over, and we’ll be on our way without causing any trouble. They won’t be able to tell you anything useful, anyhow.”

“I wouldn’t mind a fight, but we’re in a bit of a hurry y’see,”

Mera added while absently kicking the dirt. It was clear that compared to her partner, she wasn’t taking the situation all too seriously.

Code by Nano

 

[ThatWhichShouldBe]

Chapter 002:

Triage

Date:

Thursday, 18 April 2047

Location:

Arcvine City: Downtown
Verite Nano

Ygero frowns as the employees explain that there hadn't ever been anything strange found. If so, then what was this...? Then Ygero hears it. The beep. Spacial distortion...! There's a flash of light, as the heavy footfalls shake the building. Before the thing comes through the wall, Ygero is already messaging HQ. Two agents could get a handle on whatever it is, but with this many civilians around, they needed a lot more manpower.

"This is Agent Ygero, requesting backup- Fuck!"

The thing bursts through the wall, sludge getting on the civilians, and evidently infecting them with some kind of plant growth. Ygero's response is immediate. Light flashes as his micron device deploys his full armor, the agent charging forward. The beast is met with a form-perfect punch to its snout, Ygero putting the full force of his body's weight into striking the beast and sending it flying deeper into the store, away from the civilians.

"Get us first responders for the injured! Veren, can you handle getting the civies out? I'm going to head for the basement and deal with this beast!"