Point-of-View: Inoka Fonseka
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"They’re in that building, I’m sure of it," Grimaced Aurora, as we stopped in front of an apartnt building.
"Yeah, I’m getting those scents from in there too...it’s a lot clearer from inside this building," Fenris nodded in agreent.
"Alright, then, let’s head in and search for them," Remarked Leonardo with a determined look in his eyes.
"Wait, we probably shouldn’t all go at once. Fenris, maybe you should stay out here, in case they try jumping out a window or sothing," I suggested objectively.
"Good call, we should cover as many bases as possible. Keep Appraisal active, just in case they’ve changed their appearances or sothing," Added Leonardo with a nod.
"Got it, I’ll wait out here. Be careful, you guys," Replied Fenris, before the three of us headed into the building.
Hm, no security cams or anything, too bad. That could’ve made things easier. Oh, well, there’s no doubting Aurora’s senses, so it shouldn’t be an issue.
"Well? Can you tell which room their scents are coming from?" Inquired Leonardo quietly.
"Hm...I don’t think it’s any of the rooms on this floor," She responded, after glancing around as her nose twitched.
"Then let’s go up to the next floor," I replied, before she nodded and led the way.
I’m starting to get kinda nervous here...these two must have known Harmony would eventually co after them, would they really be so careless as to let themselves get caught so easily?
Though, well, without heightened senses like Aurora and Fenris have, it’d be pretty difficult for anyone else to have tracked them down so quickly.
Could it be possible that they don’t know about Aurora’s abilities and that Fenris has joined our side? Hm...one of them’s an Outlier, and from I’ve heard about how Eden treated the Outliers they captured, she probably wouldn’t know.
But the other one, the one who can use the Dark Skill technique Condition, they were pretty important to Eden, so much so that all the Eden mbers that Harmony have captured and interrogated either never t them or have had their mories of them erased.
"Over there...their scents are strongest from that door," Aurora pointed at one of the doors on the second floor with a frown.
"Got it. Let’s bust it down and-...," Began Leonardo as he took a step forward.
"Wait, hold on...I’m getting another scent from behind that door. Not sure what it is, but...my instincts are telling that it’s bad news, and to stay away from that door," Frowned Aurora uncertainly.
Damn, I really wish I had her senses...
"Is that so? Maybe there’s so sort of trap in the door. We shouldn’t take any chances carelessly. Hm...okay, so how do we open the door without getting too close?" Mused Leonardo with a grimace.
"Oh, that’s easy enough...let’s go a bit down the stairs first, just in case," Replied Aurora, as we took a few steps down and she unleashed her Shadow Cat, before extending the right shadowy arm out towards the door.
"That’s pretty handy," Remarked Leonardo, as her shadowy arm reached the door and grabbed the handle, twisting it down.
"Okay...nothing happened," I let out a sigh of relief.
"It’s too soon to relax...I’ve only turned the handle, I haven’t moved the door yet," She responded, before slowly pushing the door open and-...
Suddenly, a blinding flash burst out before darkness covered us as Aurora expanded her Shadow Cat into the shape of a protective do, right as a loud explosion rang out and the building shook violently, the sound of wood splintering, glass shattering and rubble falling echoing out along with alard and pained screams all around us.
"Damn it, they rigged the door with a bomb!" Exclaid Leonardo in alarm.
"This is bad, the ceiling’s collapsing!" Snapped Aurora, as she suddenly extended out countless whip-like streaks from her shadowy shroud and sent them extending out in several directions.
"What’re you doing!?" I inquired, stumbling as the building shook from the aftershock of the explosion.
"Getting as many people out as possible and stopping the cave in for as long as I can!" She exclaid in response, before closing her eyes with a focused look on her face, her ears perking up.
After a couple dozen seconds or so, but what felt more like several minutes, it finally settled down, Aurora letting out a weary sigh as she dissipated her Shadow Cat.
The area was in ruin, but Aurora had propped up several large chunks of rubble to keep the upper floor from completely collapsing down. It probably won’t hold for very long though.
"Looks like the entire floor is destroyed," Frowned Leonardo, as he stepped up to the top of the stairs and headed for the room that had exploded.
"I managed to save everyone who was still alive on this floor and the one above, but I had to toss them out the windows, I managed to form a cushion outside with my Shadow Cat, but it was a bit too shallow since I had to rush, so they’re all likely to be at least a little bit injured...but I couldn’t save all of them, so were already crushed dead by the ti I reached them," Grimaced Aurora with a look of frustration on her face.
"Hey, don’t beat yourself up, you did everything you could, no one else could’ve done any better," I replied with a smile, as I patted her head.
"Maybe...but still, I’m the one who set off the bomb. We should’ve evacuated everyone out or sothing," She frowned in response.
"No, we couldn’t have done that. For one thing, most of them would probably have ignored us. And if any of them began arguing, it would’ve alerted the two we’re after, if they were in their room...but the fact that they rigged a bomb to the door ans they’re most likely long gone," I pointed out, before adding, "Co on, let’s go check out the room. If nothing else, there might be so clues left behind."
"Yeah...okay. No matter what, we’ll track them down and kill them," She responded icily, as we made our way towards the room.
Leonardo was already rooting through the rubble, searching for sothing that might be useful.
"It doesn’t look like they’ve left anything of any significance behind. Just so clothes and other things," He remarked, as he pulled up the scorched mattress to see if anything was hidden under the bed.
"It’s better than nothing, I can use these clothes to get a clearer picture of their scents," Replied Aurora, as she looked around the room.
Guess I should help search too. Doubt I’ll find anything particularly useful though. They probably-...hm? What’s this?
"Hey, check it out. It’s that old school Nokia phone that was known for how indestructible it was. The plastic casing is kinda lted but...yup, it still works!" I called out, as I picked it up and wiped off the dust on it, before pressing the power button.
"Woah, it still works even after an explosion like that? Guess it’s durability wasn’t totally exaggerated," Responded Leonardo in bemusent.
"I’m guessing they must have used this as a burner phone, and left it behind when they escaped. Which begs the question, how did they know we were coming?" I frowned, as I opened up the call log, "The most recent call was earlier tonight, and it was an incoming call, not an outgoing one."
"Let’s call that number and see who answers," Aurora prompted , before I nodded and hit the dial button.
I put the phone on speaker, right as soone answered the call...
"Hello? Who is this?" Ca the voice, sounding a bit distorted.
Guess the explosion must have damaged the speaker a bit. That voice sounds a tiny bit familiar, but it’s hard to say for sure thanks to the distorted audio.
"Who are you? And why did you call this number?" Inquired Leonardo in response.
"Hm? Is this a prank call? I am the chief of police, I do not have ti for this!" He snapped in response.
My eyes widened in recognition...the guy who greeted us at the police station and took us to question the victims!
"Hey, do you rember what ti we left the police station at?" I asked them, as I hung up the call and went back to the logs.
"I don’t know the precise ti, but it had to be a bit after 7:30 PM, right?" Replied Leonardo uncertainly.
"Yeah, that sounds about right," Nodded Aurora in response, before asking with a frown, "I don’t get it, why would a policeman call them? Was he working with them? I didn’t sense any malice from him..."
"He called this phone at 7:37 PM...it’s now 8:42 PM. More than enough ti for them to have gotten away. We can’t rule out the possibility that that policeman was working with them, but the more likely scenario is that the Condition user brainwashed him.
Sothing like ’contact us if anyone cos after us’, or any similar command that activates only under certain conditions. A Condition like ’if Harmony mbers co after us’, or sothing. Is sothing like that possible with the Dark Skill?" I inquired with a grimace.
"Yeah, that’s possible. It’s certainly not easy, but for soone’s who’s mastered the Condition technique, it’d be a simple matter," Frowned Leonardo, clenching his fists.
"Shit...I should’ve used Dispel on everyone in the police station. If I had, those two might have still been here," I realized in frustration.
"Damn it, they outsmarted us!" Exclaid Aurora, slamming her fist against the wall, and causing it to collapse and break down, before a dark look appeared in her eyes, "No, this isn’t over...I’m more attuned to their scents now, we can still find and catch up to them if we hurry. Let’s go!"
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