“This is quite the interesting theory.” Olimpia brought the last paper of Farid’s folder to the table between them.

Farid brows knitted into a frown. “It seems you still want to play the oblivious.”

“Oh, not at all,” she waved a hand in front of her before pointing the documents with a finger. “This here is news to me. I’m just thinking of how it all could be connected.”

“What do you mean?” His forehead scrunched up.

“Yes, Hiro isn’t that Charlotte. It’s a fact I’m willing to bet whatever you want. There’s just no way for it to be possible.” She smiled as her body slowly sank in the comfort of the sofa. “I don’t think someone without enough information can understand it, so allow me to tell you so.”

Farid nodded, his eyes shifted from the table to the lady relaxing in front of him. “Please.”

Olimpia crossed her right leg over her left. “Remember what I told you last week?” She waited until he accented. “She, Hiro, is in a very dangerous position, and it’s not because of the relation with this other girl. She’s, in a way, a particular individual, an experiment gone wrong or right, so to speak. First, I believe you’d agree with me that if Hiro was this Charlotte, then we, Luxuria, wouldn’t allow her to walk around carelessly and without any guard, and if she was to fall into your hands, your group would do the same.

“Now, from what I can see of these files,” she pointed at the table. “The first part should be about the documents the Alliance has on Charlotte, while the second part is your own investigation on the dots between the two, right?”

He nodded. “Yes, though it was Kiri who did most of the job. I was just discharged yesterday. I acted as a guide for her, though, preventing her from drifting away.”

“Oh, tell her that if she ever gets tired of field work, I’ll welcome her as a secretary, such handwriting is rare nowadays.” Olimpia smiled to him before turning her eyes to the papers, wetting her lips. “From the time Charlotte’s thought to have died and Hiro made her appearance in the city, there’s little room to think of anything else, there’s only a day of difference, in fact. But it’s nothing more than a coincidence.”

“A coincidence isn’t a good reason to discard the possibility.”

“Of course, let that just float over there. Answer me, since you noticed their possible connection, did you think of the two being different individuals?” Farid stared at her before slowly shaking his head. “And that’s a bad thing. Once you fixed on that point you never thought of anything else.”

“But all the data suggest…”

Olimpia sighed in exasperation, finishing her rest against the back of the seat. “Let’s start with the obvious. I ran a check-up of her body, without clothes and make-ups, and apart from her stature, Hiro didn’t have any common features with the Charlotte described in there. Their faces could be quite similar but Hiro doesn’t have any freckles, her chest is close to non-existent and her overall body looks like a boy’s.”

He frowned. “That’s like she’s too young to tell apart from a boy, as if she’s a kid.”

“Yes, that’s quite close to reality. After that, I ran a check on her DNA. What I found is the reason I say she’s in a dangerous position. According to our expert, she’s not past her first year of life. We inferred she might be a product of some laboratory, an experiment which somehow got out, an artificial life. From our understanding of the ‘illegal’ groups with enough resources or connections, only the Balancers or the Rinaldi hit home.”

“The envious or the prideful, huh.” Farid caressed his chin. “Anyway, DNA can be falsified easily, you can’t rule she gave you fakes.”

“Yeah, tell me how it’s a fake when you yourself take out the blood and test it.”

“That is…”

“Impossible, right?” She smiled. “We believed that she escaped from the facility she was in at first… But now, with the information from these documents, I can only think that she’s put out deliberately. The timing is too perfect not to notice. Maybe James prepared her as a distraction while he and Charlotte made use of her information to stir trouble global-wide. If that’s true, then the two of them are truly despicable scum. Leaving such a sweet child as a scape goat.”

“Hmm, I see your point…” He ticked on his knees with a finger. “How do you explain her knowledge about so many things, then?”

“You’re still not convinced, huh.”

“No, I believe you.” He raised his open hands to the ceiling. “I’m still curious, though.”

“There should be machines capable of implanting thoughts and memories out there, no?” She said in between a long breath.

“Those, aren’t they illegal in all and every way?”

“Illegal? Hah! You think a moral code produced by those in power would stop us, the ones living in this hole away from other sectors of the world, stop those who truly want something different? Where’ve you been living in?”

“You’re right…” He let his body fall to the couch and remained in silence for a while.

“If you still don’t believe me,” she said, breaking the silence. “I can show you all the data I’ve got of her.”

“That’d help us a big deal. But seeing as you’ve told me all this, I can’t help but believe in your words. I can see you care a lot about her.” He forced his body to stand. As he started to arrange the files, he left a small card on the table.

“Yeah… I don’t know when, but I’m pretty attached to the girl. It’s funny and relaxing to be with her, you see. It’s a nice change from the constant conspiracies in my area of work.” She stood from her couch, pointing to the only thing left between them. “That is?”

“An invitation card. If what you speculate about James and her being linked came to be true, there’s no small chance something bad is coming her way. You can come to this place to seek a safe place to be, if only for a while.”

“I appreciate it, thanks.” She lifted it and stored it between her breast after a quick read at its contents.

“Can you dispose of this?” Farid extended his hand full of hand written papers.

Olimpia raised a brow before tilting her head. “Why?”

“I need to bring back the ones from the closed files,” he smiled. “These speculations can only give way to those not in the known, so you better get rid of them before people start them. I’ll take my leave now.”

“Alright, I wish you a good day.” She accompanied him to the front door. Once it was closed again, she looked at the papers she held with one hand. If he could get this much wrong information with less than a week, I can’t help but think about the bad things others without my advice would do to her… I better keep an eye out for her.

I need a new way to increase my mana. Charlotte chuckled at the term usually used in games, making Dr. Murakuma look her way with a raised brow before returning to his screen. Soul Energy describes it better, but it’s too long and can cause confusion. Chakra can do it too, but I don’t like it. Magical Energy has the previous problem, adding even more fantasy like elements. Yeah, mana is just right.

Her danced atop the keyboard of a little laptop she found in a store a couple weeks ago. She continued her work on the useless program as she did the last few days after finishing the last book she took interest in the old doctor’s library.

Taking mana from others is only useful to fill what I use; it wastes more of what I get if I want my capacity to increase more. The amount taken from a thousand or so people only increases the amount a single meal does, and I need to wait for it to be recovered before taking more of the same person if I don’t want them to have health problems… Taking at least a week for that minimal amount to be filled back, which depends more on their living environments and habits than the food they consume.. She sighed as she lifted her face to the ceiling. An external storage stone can only handle a certain amount, and if I want for it to increase my internal capacity, I’ll have to take a while to digest and the gain is ever so little, not to mention I want them for other things.

Hmm~ She looked at her superior having trouble with his report on some kind. It’s a real wonder how easy it’s to ‘imitate’ what others do with Prism’s help, Eve’s always a good way of inspiration. Charlotte turned her face back to the ceiling, this time extending her right arm as her hand closed and opened a few times before turning it down.

She closed her eyes.

She still remembered that day. Some three weeks back, she went out with Eve after her school term came to an end. The girl did study, and it showed in her results, surprising her teachers and parents. She asked Charlotte to go keep up with her for a full day as a reward, and so the girl acting as a boy was obliged to do so. They entered the park where a multitude of teenagers and young adults played with their skateboards, after touring the city for the first half of the day.

“It’s been so, so long since I came here!” Eve said before running off to get a board leased from a store next to it, going into the bowl before Charlotte could catch up with her.

After jumping out of the edge and doing flips and tricks with the skateboard, Eve returned to Charlotte, drenched with sweat and a joy so palpable it could affect the surroundings.

“It’s been so long since I last rode on it, I almost fell a few times!” She laughed as she jumped off a few meters from Charlotte, letting the skate slowly slide to her sister. “You do it too!”

“No thanks, I’m not good with sports and I’ve never done this thing before.” An awkward smile surfaced on her face.

“Just try it! I bet you’ll enjoy it!”

Charlotte sighed, unable to refuse her smile she placed a tentative foot on the table, with just enough weight on it to keep it from drifting away. Making it go back and forth a couple times, she pushed herself forward once she felt confident enough with her right leg. Somehow, the skateboard went to the back while her body kept going forward, making Charlotte fall head first to the floor.

Eve burst out into laugher, making those around snicker and hold their breaths. She fell to the floor, unable to keep standing with her hands holding her belly. Charlotte sat up with a frown and rubbed her nose on the pink spot that surfaced on it. Eve continued her nosy charade, laughing even more each time she looked at Charlotte.

“Isn’t that enough.” Charlotte pouted after five minutes of Eve rolling on the floor.

“S-sorry, pfff, it was, heh, just so funny.” Eve went at it again, making Charlotte go to an empty corner to rest, away from the girl and out of the other folks’ sight.

Eve approached after a moment with a smirk. “Sorry.” She sat beside her.

“Are you done? Can we leave now?”

“What?” She opened her eyes wide and looked at her. “No! I want to ride longer!”

“Then go.” Charlotte shooed her away.

“It’s ok, Hiro.” She patted the un-sportive girl in the shoulder. “I understand, there’s something even you’re not good at, heh. It left me impressed, I thought you’re perfect.”

“No way, there’s no one perfect.”

“Hehe, I know I know. It’s just, I believe you’re amazing. You always have an answer to everything, always acting in the most ‘reasonable’ way, as you say.” She did a motion with her fingers as she said reasonable. She then jumped up before turning her way. “Why don’t you study how we, the professionals, do it, and try to come up with a way to ride with me?”

“Easier said than done.” Charlotte mumbled as Eve went away to the bowl after fetching the skate. A way to do the same, huh.

Looking at the people playing for some time, she closed her eyes and went to the colorless space.

“Is there a way for me to imitate those around?” She asked White Prism, who answered positive. The result, however, used too much energy, mana, so White Prism was against it. Charlotte didn’t mind as she wanted to impress her little sister.

White Prism studied those around in the External Projection as Charlotte went back to reality. After a while, she tugged Charlotte’s shirt, informing her that she was ready.

Charlotte shouted Eve’s name and asked to be allowed another try, which the little big girl acknowledged with a smile. She did the same as before, but with relaxed muscles and breath, not thinking about anything at all. White Prism, on the other hand, worked hard on her body, on her muscles and breathing. She had to control them perfectly and with care so she wouldn’t injure her mother. Her body moved awkwardly and slowly.

After a minute or so of Eve staring at how her big sister moved the board back and forth, she let her mouth hang open as Charlotte started to move on it. She slid around the asphalt two rounds, and then, next to Eve, she did a flip, a basic one, but a trick nonetheless. White Prism toyed with her mother for five more minutes.

“Huh, it wasn’t that hard.” Charlotte said, feeling light-headed and with only a little bit of tiredness on her body.

Eve praised her repeatedly and with hugs. “Wanna keep going? I know you can do better!”

“No,” she frowned. “As this is my first time, I think it’s enough. I’m too tired already.”

The two sat beside a tree, Charlotte holding her head while Eve pouted back at her. “You see! You can do something like that so easily! The world is unfair!”

Charlotte massaged her throbbing head. “Easily? You jest, I can’t do that anymore.”

“You’re lying, right? I bet you can go on like that forever,” the girl said without looking at her sister. “You just stopped because you didn’t want to make me feel bad, right? Do you know how long it took me to do that flip?”

“Huh, no.”

“A month! And even then, and now, I mess it! You did it perfectly on your first try! This world is just so unfair!”

“A month… Huh, woa. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry… Tell me, how did you do it?”

“That, well, there’s a little trick.” She breathed out, feeling a lot better after Prism’s help.

Eve turned her eyes around. “Yeah, right, come, tell me!”

“It was…”

“Yes?”

“Magic!” She shot both hands to the side as widely as she could.

“C’mon! Stop the nonsense and tell me!”

“It’s true! I swear!” Her eye twitched, a little discomfort was still in there.

“Hmph! Don’t treat me like a kid! You just don’t want to tell me! It’s like you’re saying I’m so stupid I wouldn’t understand!” Eve frowned before looking away.

“That’s, not true.” The rest of the afternoon, Charlotte tried to pacify her little, albeit bigger, sister.

It’s true that doing something like that is cheating. Imitating the final result of those who practiced for months, even years, so easily… Charlotte thought as she eyed the ceiling atop her, smiling at the bothered face of her Eve. I wonder to what lengths I can go with this copy; after doing it that day, it felt as if I could somehow do it without Prism’s help. If there’re more complicated things, however, I wonder how…

“You’re full of faces today.” Dr. Murakuma said as he stood in front of her, turning around, he walked to the wardrobe.

“Huh, sorry.” She said, looking at the time in the screen, the morning’s only just begun.

“Be careful, I called you twice but you didn’t answer, pay more attention. Anyway, get ready, we’ve got work to do, though it’s not the usual one.”

“What do you mean?” Charlotte said, getting up from the desk she was given.

“I was informed of an incident in one of the places of the group. Something bad happened a few minutes ago, they want us there.”

“There? We’re going out?”

“Yeah, I usually go alone as most trouble happen at night. Lately, however, things are heating up. Crimes are starting to happen during the day, in broadlight, with hundreds of witnesses around. I feel like something big’s going to happen soon. There’s also those attacks on the neutral zones… Ah, here it is!” He exclaimed, producing a metallic box from the wardrobe he walked back to his desk.

“That is?” She looked at the big diadem looking device he brought out of the silver container.

“It’s a bigger version to the one you got the other day.” He placed it over her eyes, covering them completely from ear to ear, with a band fixing it through his skull. The doctor touched the device over his right ear, activating it as lights started to illuminate his face, and nodded. “I only wear this when there’s work outside. It’s a scanner, more expensive and worst on its functions than the one we’ve got in here. The good thing’s that it can do basic job of things before bringing the dead back here. Ah, sorry, there’s none for you, they’re custom made, you see. Wear those lenses you bought, they could be helpful.”

“Alright.” Charlotte nodded before going back to her desk, where the bag she brought was.

From its inside, she promptly brought out a small cylindrical plastic bottle. After opening its lid, she inserted her right index finger inside the slimy liquid and brought out a small contact lens. She opened her right eyelid with her left hand’s help and inserted the small lens. Blinking a few times and moving her eye around, she got used to the feeling of the foreign object. She then sat in front of her laptop and typed something, anything, nothing important. A text box appeared in the right part of her vision.

HELLO (*^｡^*)

Hi there, Prism. Charlotte thought as a soft smile surfaced in her face. Let’s do this.

ALRIGHT ! ᕕ (＾0＾) ᕗ

Really, who taught you those things… She chuckled.

“You’re full of faces today.” Dr. Murakuma interrupted her with a soft smile on his face, making Charlotte jump with shame in her face.

“Sorry.”

“No, keep it up. I hope you keep that expression to where we’re going. It’s a mess over there.” He stood from his seat, ready to leave.

“What happened?” Charlotte joined his actions as a frown replaced her previous joyous expression.

“An attack with robots, canine robots, those robots are dangerous if done right. Also, there’s a report that says they behaved strangely. Yeah, better be careful, bring your gun.”

“Understood.” She brought out a holster from her bag and secured it on her waist, she then put her gun inside it and covered it with her shirt. She faced Dr. Murakuma and nodded.

He nodded back and gave a bag for her to carry before walking to the door to the autopsy room.

“We’re going through here?” She asked innocently as she followed the old guy.

“Right,” he continued to walk without turning back. “You’ve never been in here, I know. We use this exit for business only. And now we’re to go out in a job.”

They walked to a white corridor with three wooden white doors, including the one they just came out from, and a wide, already open elevator waiting for them at the end. Its doors closed after they got in.

“F’nally ‘ere! ‘T’s go!” They heard as the hatch opened once it stopped.

The man who just spoke walked around a big vehicle spouting incoherencies and swearing constantly. Another man stood with his back on the black vehicle, a small smile fixed in his face. He turned to open the sliding door and motioned for them to get in.

“Apologies, my old body can’t go as fast as you younglings.” Dr. Murakuma said as he boarded it.

Charlotte followed him inside. There was no lack of medical equipment, along with some screens with numbers and pictures, as well as few weapons. Before she sat in place, the constant mumbling man sped up the vehicle. She caught herself and the bag in a hurry and sat down, placing it on top of her legs.

“We ‘ready lat’! Got’ be fast, s’hold ya’sef!”

As soon as his words came, the ambulance looking vehicle sped more. Charlotte followed Dr. Murakuma’s example and grabbed a handle next to the chair, keeping herself stable with one hand and the bag secure with the other. A clinic bed in the middle of the ambulance moved slightly in tempo to the loud siren emitted, the accessories inside resounded along with a weird rhythm.

The car came to an abrupt stop, making all the things not held by something fly to the front, one flying to Charlotte’s head.

“Ouch! Learn to drive!” She shouted, letting go of the handle to rub on her new bump. “Really, I didn’t think my first time riding a car would be like this.”

“Ha ha ha.” The slow laugher made her turn to Dr. Murakuma. “He’s really uncaring when he drives, but he’s an expert on the streets around here. Let’s go, we’re here.”

The door shot open as he his last word came out. He walked out, followed by a frowning Charlotte as she put the bag on her back. The silent and smiling man waited for them to leave at the side, boarding the car as soon as they left.

Charlotte followed Dr. Murakuma to a breather out of the grey, tall and dull looking buildings of the Alliance around it. Its color was blue and its structure, unlike those around, was oval shaped, with vertical slits in a black and white stripe on its first floor and two small windows at the corners of the third floor.

It looks like a, smiling whale? Charlotte tilted her head in wonder as her feet followed Dr. Murakuma inside.

More than a dozen people were already inside, two distinct groups. The first group wore black suits, clearly of Luxuria and doubled in number the other group, who had white coats with the Alliance crest on their right chest. Most of them surrounded groups of fallen individuals, while a lone man kept going in between the groups.

“I’m sorry, civilians are not allowed right now.” A white coated man with a helmet approached them as soon as they crossed the entrance.

“We’re not civilians.” Dr. Murakuma said with a smile and extended his right hand. “We’re from Luxuria, we came to help sort out this mess.”

“Is that so?” The helmet man looked to his side, where a man in black who nodded back to him. “Alright.” He turned around and walked a few steps away from the door.

“So rude.” Dr. Murakuma whispered in between chuckles and went to a group of crouching men from Luxuria.

HE FROWNED ! ( ≧Д≦)

White Prism wrote as a small arrow following the retreating man appeared in Charlotte’s right eye.

I don’t want to know that kind of thing.

ROGER ! ┐(￣ヮ￣)┌

“You did it on purpose, no?” Charlotte said loud enough for only her superior to hear her.

“Why do you think so?”

“It’s obvious they don’t want us here.”

“We’re the ones who don’t want them here. They’re only here because we’re inside their area and some of their people got involved.”

“Oh. What’s this place, anyway?”

“A private house. A little place for our business. Let’s talk later.” His mouth came to a halt as they arrived to the crowd. “What do we have here?”

Three crouched men worked on a destroyed machinery while two others supervised their job a few paces back.

“Dr. Murakuma.” One of the two standing men saluted with a slight bow before he motioned for the others to continue. Taking a step away from the working trio, he turned to the new visits. “And you are?”

“My assistant.”

“Right.” He nodded, turning his head to the working group. “We’re looking through the mechanism it used to move.”

“Is something wrong with it?”

“We’re not sure. That’s why we’re working on it. This is the third we’re reassembling, trying to find clues to its estrange behavior.”

“You’re reconstructing it? I thought you’re dismantling it.”

“No. Apparently, the guards had to destroy them completely to stop them.”

“What?” Dr. Murakuma’s lips turned down with incredulity written on his exposed face. “Wouldn’t it suffice to destroy its battery?”

“Normally, yes. But these continued to work even after that, so they had to be completely destroyed.”

“Where are the guards?”

“That’s the main reason you’re here.”

“You mean…”

“Follow me, I’ll show you their bodies.”

Meanwhile, Charlotte had a deep frown. She followed them as her ears registered their conversation, though her mind was busy on different things.

Are you sure there’re remnants of that yellow mana?

POSITIVE , THOUGH THERE IS TOO LITTLE .

Then, this could be linked to the bomber at that time. No, it’s too soon to relate them. But, they should be both connected with James, after all, I gave him the blueprints to one of my machines. But that’s not the point. Right now, I need to know what it does, but with only this amount, I cannot do anything… The color is somehow linked to energy level, I believe. It’s the same as how we perceive colors, it’s only a conversion our brain does to make sense of what the eyes see. Basically, colors are an interpretation of the energy levels of photons. Anyway, I don’t think I’m wrong in believing that yellow mana is just an interpretation I make of its energy level. Prism can only produce red, the free storage crystal is orange and we humans, no, all living beings are white. Possibly because we have the possibility to do anything. Maybe because I fused with one storage crystal it lost its color and became white, or maybe it’s because I transform it before its energy goes out…

They arrived to three bodies lying in the floor. Dr. Murakuma crouched and started to look at the first body with the help of his glasses.

That particular color, be it orange or yellow, cannot be replicated by Prism. That time in the pub she used the remnants of yellow energy, err mana, the man had. However, she couldn’t imitate it when we studied the scene once again. She can imitate the functions of the storage crystal, somehow. But she can’t do it as well as the crystal does. We need to study other crystals more. I’ll be finishing another one soon, but some precaution is required. If going by color says something, then be it orange or red, they’re on the lower spectrum of energy. That’s why for the next one, I won’t know how much energy it’ll emit… That’s the main reason I wanted to avoid creating new ones inside the city, but now there’s nothing much I can do. Before going in search of this yellow mana dude, I want more cards to play with. I don’t know if it’ll improve my chances, but it’s much better than only having five storage crystals.

Dr. Murakuma moved to the third body with a frown in his lips, shaking his head.

Oh, Charlotte, focus! We’re here right now. I need to see if the two events are connected. These men still have that energy around their chest, so maybe… Right, Prism, you can identify the energies, even if they’re somehow of the same kind, right?

YES - WAIT A MOMENT

Dr. Murakuma stood without looking much at the last body, a grave expression on his face.

“How was it?” The black vested man asked, sharing Dr. Murakuma’s expression.

“No good. They don’t have any injuries, and from what I can tell, they weren’t injected with any poison, be it instantaneous or with a delayed effect. I’d wish they were electrocuted to dead at least. There’s only one thing wrong with them.”

“Yes. Tell me.” The man’s eyes shone with hope something good would come for a moment, before frowning again at Dr. Murakuma’s face.

“Cardiac arrest.” He said with a low tone.

“What? What does that mean?”

“A heart attack, basically.” Charlotte said after her lips twitched upwards for a moment.

“But that doesn’t tell us anything!” The man said with a heightened voice, making some of the nearer men look at him for a moment.

“Glad to have you back.” Dr. Murakuma said with a smile to Charlotte before turning to the man. “And that’s why I’m confused. There’s no external indicator for it to happen, to three men at the same time at that. Even if I do a deeper autopsy, I don’t think I’ll be able to uncover more than that.”

“Damn. What do we do now…” He chewed one of his finger nails.

“That, I’m not sure.” Dr. Murakuma said before turning to Charlotte. “But I believe this lad here can give us some pointers, no?”

“Huh? Me?” She blinked twice before pointing to herself.

“Yes. You were so out of yourself since we came in, I thought you’re nervous. But the frown in your face told me you’re thinking deeply. Right now, it’s gone. I believe you arrived at somewhere, right?” He smiled.

“That, no, well… Yes, but I don’t think it’s true. I can be wrong.”

LIAR ! (￣▽￣)ノ

Shut it!

“It matters not. That’s best than the nothing we got.”

“Who’s he?” Asked the nail-biting man.

“My assistant, I told you already. Oh, he’s Hiro.”

“Hiro? That name… Ah,” he stopped the manicure job before he clapped, “Olimpia’s favorite!”

“Favorite?” Charlotte asked without thinking.

“Yeah, well…”

“Let’s leave that for now.” Dr. Murakuma sighed, interrupting the man. “Hiro?”

“Right! Well, I believe it’s as you suggested before.”

“I suggested?”

“Yeah, maybe. To those attacks in the neutral zones.”

“Oh.”

“Hmm, explain it in more detail.” The man said.

“Well, those attacks were from suicide bombers, from what I know, right?” The man nodded in response. “But, did you know the president, no, the leader of the Alliance received a letter weeks before those started?”

“Yeah, so?”

“Ehm, do you know how he got that letter?”

“How would I know?” He frowned.

“That’s the important part. The letter appeared in his office, one of the tallest in this sector. I don’t know if the window was open or not, but it was folded into a crane!”

“I don’t see how they’re connected, do you?” He asked Dr. Murakuma, who shook his head in silence before prompting his assistant to continue.

“What if it came flying through the window? Moving as if it could fly? Moving strangely?”

The man’s frown deepened as Dr. Murakuma nodded. “Like the strange movement described from these machines?”

“Exactly! Those mech-dogs moved strangely after their battery was removed or something, and that letter entered while flying like it was alive! It’s very strange, but they could be connected!”

“Damn it! That’s the imagination of a young man! Nothing to do with this! I’ll leave to do more important things before I start having delusions!”

“Wait.” Dr. Murakuma stopped the man from leaving. “Hiro, where did you hear about that letter?”

“That…”

“Tell me, it’s important to verify that, no?” He asked back to both Charlotte and the annoyed man.

“Uhm, I got acquainted to two agents during the explosion incident two months ago, they told me about it.”

“Their names?”

“Uhm, Kiri and Farid?”

Dr. Murakuma turned to the man in black, causing him to sigh. He turned away after a moment. “Really, a crazy old man and a kid with delusions, I swear, if they don’t have anything right…” He said as he walked to the man wearing a white coat next to the entry door.

“Is it Ok?” Charlotte asked his superior.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s the only lead we got. Maybe it can point us in the right direction, maybe not, but we can never be sure until we try, right?” He smiled at her before turning to the three corpses. “I need to study them in more detail at the office, let’s go to the car first.”

Charlotte followed his head to the dead men. Right, I need to study this mana, too. Prism, can you isolate it? Be careful not to move anything.

ROGER ! (・∧‐)ゞ

Dr. Murakuma sighed and turned around to the exit with Charlotte following behind. As they took the third step away, a small muffled sound, like a plastic bag full of air exploded inside other room, just that this time, it came from behind them. The two turned back to witness the beginning of a new river, red and gooey, coming out of the supine bodies’ back and mouth.