"Big houses are a sign of wealth. That's a plain statement. If I'm in a neighborhood full of big houses, then it's a wealthy neighborhood. If I live there, does that make me wealthy?

Let's go over this again.

Inflicting pain is a sign of evil. If I'm surrounded by people who cause a lot of pain, does that make me evil? Birds of a feather flock together, money attracts money... why wouldn't evil attract evil? Are we changing ourselves by working for this damn laboratory?

I'm trying to dig up dirt on a girl who's just been murdered. I hope this will all be over soon..." Hannah was deep in her thoughts.

This was a method she had developed to improve her focus when she was casting her web.

She would give herself a minute to let her thoughts run free. They would have her full attention, and then - like a tacit agreement - they would leave her alone.

Investigating the young girl recently murdered by the killer left Hannah with some remorse, but they were quickly erased by the necessity of success.

Nothing mattered more than their survival, Luke's and hers.

She was on the square roof of a small building, sitting against the metal of a ventilation outlet. This building was a few dozen yards from the house where the victim lived with her parents.

Hannah knew that getting high was the best way to spread her 'web' over a long distance.

The reason was simple. Her 'web' was actually more like a cloud of spores, like dandelion seeds flying in the wind. Every time a person came into contact with one of these spores, Hannah received the information directly. In addition to this, she could see, hear, feel and even capture the aura of the person detected.

But just like any psychic substance, her spores found it challenging to disperse when the psychic energy in the environment was particularly dense. Places like the ground or highly populated areas, filled with intense psychic energy, presented less favorable conditions for them to spread. However, once elevated, her spores could disperse freely, floating and eventually settling near the ground.

Once her thoughts were purged, Hannah focused and began to emit her web from her aura.

It only took her a few minutes to cover the entire area around the victim's house.

Under her closed eyelids, you could see her eyes moving from left to right, mechanically.

The smell of asphalt, the electric noise of a street lamp, a noisy car.

"Too much information, less..." suddenly there was less noise, Hannah felt only the sound of the steps of a couple laughing as they walked.

And nearby the sound of a cane, a large man.

"Ok, let's look at the house now."

Suddenly the sounds of footsteps almost disappeared and a ticking clock that was almost inaudible became more intense.

She was now focusing almost exclusively on the house.

Her web had penetrated the walls, the roof, the furniture.

It was everywhere.

She was everywhere.

Simultaneously in the basement; listening to the parents' conversation in the kitchen; and checking the aura of the objects in the victim's room.

Because yes, objects too carried an aura and therefore a story to tell - albeit subtle and very abstract. Hannah had fixed her attention on a diary that was hidden in the pocket of a jacket, at the back of the deceased's wardrobe.

A gloomy aura emanated from it.

"Wow... I've seen objects have a strong aura, but this is… impressive..." thought Hannah.

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She focused, deeper and deeper. She was trying to read the content of the diary.

Even though it was closed, she managed to decipher the words in it by sliding her web between the pages.

It took Hannah about twenty minutes to find what she was looking for. She then pulled her web back to her and absorbed it into her aura.

When she opened her eyes, she realized she was cold. It was still daylight when she had arrived, in the late afternoon. Now, she could see the stars.

She bundled up in her coat, her head raised, a nostalgic look on her face. "It's already night... Ah... I need to get up, but I don't want to..." she thought.

Extending her web tired Hannah, especially when the task required a high level of focus.

She felt heavy, as if she had been sleeping for hours.

She took out her phone and decided to send a message to Luke. That's when she saw that she had received a message from him: "I found something, we need to meet."

She replied: "Tonight?" and put her phone on the ground.

"No hello, no how are you. He could make an effort." she thought, a bit ashamed of having such frivolous thoughts in such a difficult situation.

The screen of her phone lit up.

A new message from Luke giving her a meeting point at their usual cafe, in an hour. She told him she would be there, got up, and left the building's roof.

An hour later, she was sitting in the cafe. It was already 10pm and the cafe was still bustling. Hannah ordered a herbal tea and waited at a somewhat secluded table.

Luke arrived shortly after, he also ordered a herbal tea at the bar, then went to sit at Hannah's table. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Yeah, you?" "Not bad."

The exchange stopped there.

Each waited for the other to start talking.

Finally, it was Hannah who broke the silence: "I went to get some info at the victim's house." she said, caressing the edges of her cup.

Luke didn't seem surprised. "What did you find?" he asked.

At that moment, a server brought Luke his herbal tea. Hannah waited for him to start drinking to continue.

"Her parents feel guilty about her death. I think the mother sleeps in the victim's room, she takes pretty powerful drugs to be able to sleep." said Hannah.

No significant information to find the killer, but every word she said was charged emotionally.

This was a characteristic of her 'web'.

When she focused for too long on a small area, she tended to develop an attachment, an emotional bond with the place. It was a logical consequence, she received so much information at once about the place - the equivalent of several weeks, even several months - that she ended up feeling like she had lived there.

Luke knew this, so he said nothing.

She needed to vent, and she didn't allow herself to do it often enough.

He took it as a sign of trust.

Maybe this moment was more important than the mission. They were there for each other first and foremost. That's why they were doing all this.

Hannah quickly regained her composure. "I found her diary, what struck me right away was its very dark aura."

Luke looked surprised, he knew what this meant. "It takes a lot of negative emotions to change the aura of an object to this extent." he said, thoughtful.

"Yes, which is not so shocking when it is a family heirloom passed down from generations. But this is a personal diary, written by a young girl. The object was almost new." added Hannah.

"I accidentally broke a worthless statuette, but I felt terrible because it was my mom's favorite," said Luke, surprising Hannah for a moment, until she seemed to recall something.

"'The intensity of emotions depends on our relationship to events,' right? When did you start speaking in riddles? You didn't like our master and now you're doing just like him," Hannah joked, smiling.

Luke laughed.

"You were building up suspense, so I wanted to lower my expectations. After all, she was just a young student, I doubt she was actually a drug baroness," Luke explained.

Hannah nodded and responded, "You got me, there were no unexpected crimes in that diary. But it wasn’t simple stuff either… She was bullying some of her peers, some were driven to depression, one in particular attempted suicide."

"Mmh..." said Luke, rubbing his chin, then asked, "And the negative feelings, could you tell what they were?"

"A mix of unhealthy pride mingled with guilt," she said.

Luke was surprised.

"Pride and guilt together? Aren't those supposed to be opposites?"

Hannah waved her head from side to side, looking up.

"Kinda. But opposites sometimes get along very well, you know. Have you ever been in a situation that you hated for one reason, but loved for another?" she asked, knowing the answer already.

Luke was amused.

"When you put it that way... Yes, I see."

There was a silence.

"So, the killer targets bullies? Thinks he is some sort of superhero?" asked Luke.

"I don't know, but it wouldn't surprise me if all his victims had something to be guilty about," she replied.

"That's pretty good to know, we're starting to understand his pattern," said Luke.

"And you, what did you find?" asked Hannah.

He paused a few seconds before responding, "I have a suspect."