The forest was dense, and visibility was low. The sun was supposed to have risen already, but the trees wouldn't stop obscuring it. Perhaps it would have been easier to see during midday, but that would imply that Cassandra had the ability to wait for such a long time.

And, really, who needed the extra light? It was to her advantage, after all. Together with her augmented eyes, her eyesight was marginally better than anything mere criminals could match. If things were as she guessed they were, things were working in her favour. It would only be logical to continue.

But… she had to stop for yet another time that day. Not because of her falling or anything. Nor was it because of Jules’ inability to catch up to her. In fact, it might just have been the woman having trouble catching up to the automation. Not that this became a problem after a while, since both stopped in their tracks completely. It was done in near-perfect sync, both of them seeing what was before them.

If it had been a human, they would have retreated then and there. But… it wasn't human. At least they didn't guess it was. From the bone structure alone, it was impossible for such a thing to be possible. The ribs were elongated, the legs were in higher numbers than two, and the skull… the skull was actually a perfect match.

There was no skin to see anywhere. Muscles, tendons, even bones were easy to see, everything hiding it having already been removed. The now-exposed parts of the body had clearly been worn down by time spent out in the cold. Yet that very same cold might just have been what made the flesh last so long outside. It certainly lasted for long enough for the two officers to come by it.

‘That’s not showing up in the database for me. How about you?’ Jules asked through the official channels. The automation did not tilt its head towards her. Neither did Cassandra directly look at it. Maybe it was because they both didn't want to look away from the carcass before them. Maybe they both felt fear.

But that didn't really make sense. Only one of them could feel fear. Cassandra was the only one of them able to have emotion at all. She was the only one of them alive. She had the capabilities of sentience that the construct would never have. And… because of that, she would be the one putting out the orders. This was a situation where she was in charge, and she would use that power for what it was worth.

‘I have not, because it is likely not a normal specimen. Look at the muscles around the neck. They have been fused at the lower points to create stability. That was not done naturally,’ Cassandra sent, her body slowly adapting to what was seen before her.

Now that she thought about it, her mind was not normally like this. She didn't usually feel fear when looking upon a dead body. Neither did she normally feel a turning in her stomach, as if it was getting ready to desecrate a crime scene with her earlier foodstuffs. This… wasn't making sense. Why… Why did she refuse to not look at it? ‘Jules. Take two steps to your left.’

The automation immediately complied. With the construction in front of her and the close proximity to its body, Cassandra was unable to see the corpse mere meters away from her. It was being obscured. Taking a deep breath, her mind felt cleared up in a moment, all the fear and anxiety from seeing it seemingly gone in an instant.

What was happening? The woman asked herself that close to a thousand times before realizing the answer. Uncanny valley quintupled in effect. That’s how she saw it. Because of the head, she couldn't see it as anything else. Her mind was being manipulated through physiological tactics. Normally, it shouldn't have worked to such an effect, but… such weapons hardly worked alone.

‘Check the air for anomalies,’ Cassandra ordered, already taking more than a couple of steps back. She had been getting light headed without realising it, much akin to the effects of carbon dioxide poisoning. Only… instead of first hitting the muscles, her mind had been close to being the first thing to falter. That was not good.

‘Unknown chemical has been located. Contains components normally seen in… I advise putting on a breathing mask,’ Jules answered. The automation quickly walked over to her, handing her the mask itself. It was small, barely enough to fit over her mouth, but it worked like a charm no matter what.

Cassandra was just about to inquire why the automation wouldn't be wearing one but had to almost slap herself because of the thought. Of course Jules wouldn't be carrying more than one! The automation didn't need such a thing, since it didn't have lungs to begin with. At least… not in the same fashion as the woman has.

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No, wait, that didn't make sense. The construct had been staring at the corpse just as much as Cassandra had, if not more than her. It shouldn't have been affected by it, yet there had clearly been some compulsion to look on the carcass.

‘Run a self-scan for any anomalies,’ Cassandra ordered. Psychological attacks, chemical attacks, and now she had to check for technologically-based attacks. How fun the world was. She hadn't even mentioned the possible traps in the whole forest, ready to trap an animal for days on end.

‘No anomalies found,’ Jules informed her. ‘Do you need help getting up?’

The woman had barely noticed fell to the ground, to begin with. Her mind had likely been too rattled at that point to notice. But… the effect was wearing off. With the help of a timed picture, she was able to see a lessened effect of the psychological compulsions, and the fear factor was dropping rapidly. Her heart was beating stability, and the stress levels were likewise dropping. They were actually dropping lower than they had been through the entire trip in the forest.

… How far ranged was the chemical compound? Cassandra needed that to be tested soon.

Grabbing the hand of the automation, Cassandra got back up on her feet. Brushing off all the snow that had settled on her gear, she looked back at the carcass, this time with an entirely new set of eyes. The dead entity almost seemed smaller now, as if it wasn't that intimidating anymore. No longer did the leg-bones seem monstrously elongated, to the point where they were sharp enough to cut her jugular from a distance. No, they just looked like… normally bones. Animal-bones, yes, but just of the regular kind.

‘Do you think they have the technology to fuse the head so perfectly out here?’ Jules asked her through the channel. It had followed her up to the corpse, looking at the very same skull she was. It had been emptied, likely the only organ missing in the entire body. Why had the brain been taken away but the skull left untouched? They must have been careful in the procedure. Cassandra doubted even she could have done something like it without leaving some form of scratch.

Bringing out a scanning device, she slowly put out 3-d imaging of the body. It was needed for proof, after all, the specimen was seen before them not having been seen before in the entire police database. She did not doubt it wouldn't go unnoticed.

‘The outside might look perfect, but I need a better look at the bone structure within,’ Cassandra answered, getting down on her knees once again. Doing her best to not destroy any of the tissue, she slowly pushed some of it aside to fully see the neck. It was… more than well done. It was clearly just not the surface of the bones which had been fused together but the bone in its entirety. It lined up seamlessly. How was this possibly done?

Cassandra wasn't even close to an expert on the subject, only having studied due to a mere curiosity in the topic, but… this isn't something she had ever seen covered. And according to her database, there had been no studies on it. Not anything this advanced. Criminals couldn't have done this. It didn't make sense.

"This wasn't done by them. It has to be a third party," Cassandra said out loud. Her voice was muffled by the face mask bringing her fresh air, but the sound still carried through just fine. Not like the automation needed much to understand her. "We should continue."

Making sure that the location had been noted down, the two continued down the trail once again. While obscured by the snow, they came upon more and more signs of humans having been around recently. Kicked branches, trees with their bark cut, and trails of blood were everywhere. While there might have been some animals left behind, Cassandra was beginning to think that most might just have been carried back to their outpost. And if the trails were in such high amounts, it must have meant they were close.

Her theory was not entirely unbiased. Their discoveries soon after was proof of that, the two coming into a smaller clearing of sorts. There were still trees all around them, but the density of them was in much smaller numbers, and so too were their overall size. Most of the trees couldn't have been more than a decade or two old at that point. Barely born, in relation to all the high-rising pieces of wood surrounding the so-called clearing.

But young trees were not the only thing in that clearing. In the middle, Cassandra was easily able to spot irrefutable proof of humans. A house, old and in disrepair. Half of it had already fallen down to natural erosion, but the other half still stood proudly. There were many of the sort throughout the forest, many having lived in it throughout the last century. Not all had been made officially, newcomers making them by hand. That might just have been why most of them had already fallen due to the wind. They were becoming rarer and rarer to see. And it was more than just rare to see one that hadn't been properly documented before. Looking through the database, the woman found no mention of what stood before her. The trail they had walked on had clearly not been travelled on by an officer for a very long time.

‘We are moving closer,’ Cassandra sent out, evening out her breathing. She was becoming silent. At least as silent as she could be, Jules clearly doing a better job than her. She supposed that was one bonus of not having to breathe air to survive. Much less noise to make overall.

‘Any chance of hostiles?’ Jules questioned. They both bent their backs, getting closer to the ground so as to not be seen from the windows. The trees were easy to use for this purpose as well, the wood obscuring the view.

‘Unknown. Larger chance of habitation or past habitation,’ Cassandra automatically answered, all her attention put on her own movement and scanning the house for any of its own. Weapons had a sheen to them, and the light shining into the glass-panes would make it hard to see them. If she needed to dodge any fire at all, she would need to be ready.

They got closer and closer to the house, to the point where they could touch the walls. With the building made of wood, Cassandra doubted that interaction with it would have any chance of letting them hide their position. Older wooden boards were not known for being silent, after all.

But that was of no matter. It wasn't like the woman had any intention of entering without confirmation of it being without any people. Or, at least not anybody that she could see. Going over to the windows, Jules right behind her, Cassandra glanced at the insides.

It was heavily shrouded due to the dirt, but she could see well enough. There… was no human being. There were poorly-made beds of sorts, along with what looked like empty cans, but no sign of anything alive being in there. Glancing at the cans from another angle, Cassandra saw them being entirely empty. Nature might have been around and taken what remained. That would have taken months if not years. It was a sign. One that Cassandra would take as she wanted.

‘We’re going in,’ Cassandra stated, once again moving towards the front door.