The manager stared in Tepo’s cold eyes. Sweat ran down his back. Fear gripped his mind. Was this the end?

With a shaky voice he answered the SIB agent:

“Eric. I… I’m just an officer in the logistics department, sir.”

“Ok, Eric. Do you know Diana de Ridouran?”

Tepo focused on the manager’s face. No detail could escape him. Eric didn’t even need to speak as the investigator already got his answer.

“Of course. Miss de Ridouran is one of our costumers!”

Eric mentally patted himself on his back for his quick-witted response. He regained some confidence. Maybe he would get out of this situation unscathed.

“When have you seen the Miss de Ridouran for the last time?”

“The day before yesterday, sir.”

Tepo just wanted to continue his questions when a confused ‘hmm’ came from his side. He turned his head, looking at the soldier.

“Do you have anything to add?”

“I’m sorry sir. I was only confused since I was working here the day before yesterday but didn’t see Miss de Ridouran.”

“Were you working the whole day?”, asked Tepo with a doubtful gaze.

“No. Only in the afternoon, sir.”

The investigator nodded slightly as he focused back on Eric. The manager’s stomach churned under Tepo’s killer face. He had never been in such a stressful situation.

“So you met Miss de Ridouran in the morning?”, continued Tepo his question.

Since there was always a soldier in the bank, Eric was never alone. It would be easy to confirm this information. But the manager didn’t have time to weave some elaborate lie. He instinctively nodded.

“Of course. Diana came to deposit her crystals. We only met shortly.”

Tepo shook his head slightly. Knowing Diana’s daily routine over the last few days by heart, he realized that the manager was lying. Furthermore, he called her Diana in his nervousness. Could it be that the manager and Miss de Ridouran were on first name basis?

Feeling that he heard enough, Tepo stopped his questions. In an irrefutable tone he ordered:

“Show us the vault, Eric.”

An icy calmness accompanied Tepo’s voice. Eric felt as if a single wrong step would kill him. His thoughts spun out of control. He stood up mechanically as he forced a smile:

“Of course, sir. Please follow me.”

Keeping his eyes on Eric the whole time, Tepo went around the counter, following the manager down a stairway. Behind him Lond walked in excitement, hoping to finally get some answers.

With stiff movements Eric walked down a small hallway. He wondered if breathing had always been this difficult.

After a few seconds the three men arrived before a solid steel door. Finally, the bank’s vault was in front of them.

Eric approached a small panel. Everything would be over as soon as he entered the correct code here. He raised his shaking hand.

But suddenly the manager remembered something. The reason he was needed in the first place. It was because only him and his superior knew the correct code for the vault. This might be his chance.

Suddenly Eric moved smoothly. Tepo frowned slightly, his eyes following the manager’s hand. 837462…and 4.

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Blaring alarms immediately rang out. Tepo and Lond were surprised for a split second. But this was all Eric needed.

Since he began working with criminals, Eric had always carried a knife with him. Who would have thought that he had to use it now?

Driven by despair he pulled the weapon from under his shirt. With the strength a human can develop if they feared for their lives he rammed his shoulder against Lond’s chest. A moment later he wildly swung his knife in Tepo’s direction.

Distracted, the two men were slow to react. Lond staggered backwards, his head heavily slamming against the wall.

Meanwhile Tepo was better off. He jumped backwards, evading Eric’s wild attacks.

Knowing that he wouldn’t be the agents match, Eric acted decisively. He threw the knife, aiming right for Tepo’s chest.

At this short distance even a blind man would hit Tepo. With little time the investigator only managed to twist his body, as the knife drilled into his shoulder.

Without looking back Eric darted away. At speeds he never deemed possible, the manager darted along the hallways and up the stairs.

Tepo reacted immediately. He pulled the gun on his belt.

Willing to keep Eric alive, he targeted the man’s lower body. Aiming with one hand, Tepo ignored his hurting shoulder as he fired. A bullet shot out. A pained scream followed. Blood splattered.

Unfortunately, Tepo only hit Eric’s thigh. The manager stumbled, but hurriedly disappeared up the staircase.

Alarms still deafened Tepo’s ears. He shot a concerned glance at Lond. Noticing this the chief yelled angrily:

“Move, move! Catch that b*stard!”

Tepo nodded seriously. Gritting his teeth he pulled out the knife from his shoulder. He tore his shirt apart, creating a rudimentary bandage.

With practiced movements all of this took only a few seconds. When Lond saw Tepo finally sprinting away, he glided down the wall. Holding his bleeding head, he wished Tepo good luck.

The investigator was sprinting up the stairways. Back in the room, the faces of two confused soldiers met him.

“Sir?”

Feeling his anger boiling, Tepo shouted loudly:

“You idiots, where is Eric?”

“He ran outside. He…”

Baffled by these soldiers’ stupidity, Tepo quickly dashed past them. He followed the trail of blood on the floor as he arrived outside.

At a quick glance he knew where to go. Sprinting along the street, avoiding confused pedestrians the agent did his best no to lose Eric.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t easy. On the dirty road the blood was too scattered. Suddenly the trail broke completely.

Tepo looked around in confusion. He had arrived in the old harbor area. Not far from here was the endlessly deep pit which used to be an ocean. All around him were old warehouses.

This part of the city was probably run down the most. The roads were dirty, the air smelled disgusting. Every one of the old warehouses might cave in at any time, but they were still used to house refugees.

Suddenly a familiar smell reached Tepo’s nose. The smell of blood.

Following its lead the investigator carefully climbed over left over debris and through dilapidated walls. After a few seconds voices reached his ears.

“And you came here directly? Are you crazy?”

“You got me into this mess! It is your responsibility to clean it up!”

“And how am I supposed to do that?”

“Just kill him!”

“B*stard! Would this even solve anything at this point?”

A loud slap rang out. Tepo held his breath as he hid near a broken wall. Not far from him was a smaller building, which was still in decent condition. The voices came from there.

Tepo naturally recognized Eric, but he didn’t know who the other male voice belonged to. He wasn’t sure if it was worth the risk to take a peek.

The investigator didn’t take the talk about killing him too serious. If he turned around now, they would never get their chance. At the same time this might be his only chance to catch the culprits as well. If he was in their place, Tepo would surely leave the city after today.

Suddenly strange murmurs reached Tepo’s ears. Frowning slightly, the investigator felt as if they sounded familiar. Immediately his eyes shot wide open. Didn’t those sound like the outsiders’ sacrificial rituals. What’s going on? Were these people really outsiders? Were they able to keep their sanity?

Tepo’s breath grew erratic as a stabbing pain assaulted his chest. A mysterious symbol lit up in his body, undetected.

Feeling the world spinning, Tepo knew he had to act. He had to stop the ritual.

The investigator drew his gun. He left his hiding spot, dashing towards the criminal’s hideout.

With a loud bang he kicked the door open.

Inside, no one reacted. As if in trance about a dozen people stared at the circle drawn from blood on the ground. Their heads and arms raised high, they mumbled incomprehensible words. The white of their eyes could be seen. Blood dripped from their hands.

But Tepo automatically ignored the uncanny scene. His attention was immediately drawn to the weird golden shining symbol in the middle of the room. It looked like two thirds of a circle, with blurry symbols swimming about.

For some reason the investigator suddenly felt a deep connection. He felt as if he had always been missing something. As if acquiring this golden symbol was something he had to do at all costs.

Tepo couldn’t shake of this feeling. Nothing else was important in his eyes. The voices around him grew louder and louder, but Tepo couldn’t hear them anymore. He could only step forward. His entire being was focused on the golden object.

No one stopped him. No one could stop him. It was almost as if Tepmodus was the only being in existence. Finally, he arrived in front of the golden circle. With a euphoric look in his eyes, he reached out his hand and touched the core.