“Oh, my days,” Nina sighed, her tired breath finally escaping after holding back the stress. Her eyes smirched with a faint red of wakefulness, deserving after constant hours of glueing her eyes on the screen. Yet, all thanks to her glasses reflecting against the blue light, she never gave up digging up bits after bits of information. But an ache on her fingers still persisted, no longer wanting to tap on the keyboard ever again.

Soon after, her ears caught a swish of opening doors. Her head then turned behind, and lo and behold, the stern woman from Taijin named Ayako Kinbara came before her eyes.

“Aya,” said Nina. “What brings you here?”

“Why, of course,” replied Ayako, walking past the threshold while the door automatically shut. “To ask for a progress of your findings.”

“No luck,” Nina turned her eyes back to the computer. “It seems almost every kind of decrypting technique I had was no use at all. The Raiser’s clever one, doing quite a good job on how they manage to fabricate the network security system.”

“But that only leaves him using a public network upon sending an email to Doctor, isn’t it?”

“Yup, no mistake. All pings and traces have a consistent pattern to packet tracing, not even an increase or decrease, “ Nina typed a command on the interface, the large screen above the desk appeared, showing Ayako how it was done. “But if you take a look at the packet traces, it’s quite short, you see.”

“What makes it short?”

“Suppose the Raiser stays in their home country, Wei, and if we ping from here to their website,” Nina resumed typing, “For instance, libilibi.com, and…”

The terminal scrolled with each ping response, the delay noticeable even to the casual observer. By the time it reached thirty pings, the pattern was clear: a telltale sign of the server's significant distance.

“And if we compare that to the source of email sender,” Nina typed another.

The ping responses continued to trickle across the screen, each address stranger than the last. They were short and fast, unlike the sluggish, distant pings she expected. A knot of unease tightened in her stomach. Something was wrong. This didn't add up.

“As you said,” said Ayako. “Shorter. It passed through a few routers.”

“Precisely, and it means the email sender to Doctor Oliver didn’t send from their homeland Wei, but from the city here itself.”

“So that means they must be around here, watching from a plain shadow like an undercover mafia.”

“From a plain shadow? You don’t mean—”

“They might already know our movement. Then foresee what may come after… unbeknownst to us.”

“Sounds like they’re toying with us.”

“Yeah, and I badly want to know who.”

Soon after, silence loomed. Only questions were speaking inside their mind. How would the Raiser play out the thrill? Why were they looking after the crystal to begin with? Among forty-million people living in the grand city of Himel, who could be the Raiser creeping behind its shadow?

Phone rang inside Ayako’s pocket, drawing it out. She read: Evige, as a caller, so she gave a flick of answer, ceasing the tune, then placed it on her ear.

“Hello,” said Ayako. “What’s up?”

“Come to the interrogation room,” Evige replied through her phone. “Old man Raul wants to speak with you.”

“For what?”

“You’d rather come here first. Don’t wanna spoil you a thrill,” then he hung up. She heaved a light sigh and kept her phone back.

Ayako's dismissive wave sent Nina spiralling off, leaving her alone at the churning heart of the LEA headquarters. The lobby hummed with activity, an orchestra of rustling papers and hushed case updates conducted by the ever-vigilant LEA agents. Its sheer size rivalled two football fields, a vast stage on which countless agents navigated with focused gazes, untouched by the weariness that clung to Nina. Unlike the symphony of investigation unfolding around her, Ayako marched with laser focus, her steps echoing towards the stark stage of the interrogation room.

Passing through, however, her ears caught some bits of conversation.

Some said, “Murdering homeless people? Who on bloody earth do they think it’ll be much better without them?”

Others said, “Haven’t you seen Grand Marshall lately? You know… Likard?

“Yesterday? Or the Overseer incident? If so, yesterday was the last time I’ve seen him… but he got some new look, if I dare say”

Others said, “Why do you want to be on the nightclub enforcement? Don’t tell me you’re gonna just leering at some naked bitches out there”

The echoing clang of their boots grew closer, each step announcing their imminent arrival at the dungeon's maw. Before it swallowed them whole, she intercepted their path, offering a curt nod to the guard sprawled listlessly at his post. Flashing her ID, she watched it bathe the scanner in a reassuring green glow. With a grunt, the guard jabbed a button, and the heavy steel doors groaned open, granting passage into the oppressive depths.

Descending into the bowels of the headquarters, the cacophony of leering whistles rose in pitch, their echoes bouncing off the cold, damp walls. She was in the hall of oglers, their cries morphing into guttural growls as she passed. Ignored, their desperate pleas became a symphony of frustration, their skeletal hands rattling against the bars like hungry beasts denied their prey. Freedom, they thirsted, yet the threat simmered in her crimson-black eyes, a reminder of the authority she possessed.

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Yet, some didn’t matter to it.

“Hey, Taijinese beauty, when’s gonna be my… interrogation time?” some asked.

“Bet ya arse a bloody scrumptious plump!”

“Would ya walk bare naked next time?”

“Ha ha ha! My bollocks gone… oishii!”

“Her arse slappable, innit?”

“Wonder why you’re still single? Bet their balls a bloody gallon of a steroid jizz… but nothing changes their cock being a weedy wanker…, innit?”

Their invective was a symphony of filth, an assault on her very being. But their misery made them pathetic, their guffaws fueled by addiction and depravity. They were beyond saving, the "angels" had declared, their words meant to scar and brand. Yet, she walked on, the insults fading into the echo of her footsteps. She reached the hallway's midpoint, a fragile shield of silence momentarily separating her from the onslaught awaiting her return.

Memories flickered: shoving Emilia into a shadowed cell, away from the leering eyes. Relief washed over her when the same interrogation room came across her mind. Recognizing the familiar patterns carved into the cold stone, she strode towards it with purpose. Inside, Evige and Raul's hushed conversation hung heavy in the air, their secrets beyond her reach.

Doors opened, then there came a glimpse of surprise, silencing their talk. Then Evige stepped off with a fag flicking out of his pocket and lit up. Before walking off, he patted on her shoulder and whispered, “Old man's wiser here. Might you wanna pay respect to him before giving him a collar.”

She took the seat across from Raul, initiating the conversation. He met her gaze with a silent smile, seemingly proud. His right hand, however, remained clenched, a fist tightly holding either his wrath or something else within. No nervous twitch betrayed him, but the air crackled with a tension that spoke volumes without words.

“What’s up, young latra?” said Raul. “Seems you were quite pissed off the last time we met… kinda remind me of someone I know.”

“Yeah. what about it?” she replied. “You finally got your tongue unsealed?”

“No, not that,” he chuckled. “Your name’s Ayako Kinbara, si?”

“Yes, and your name’s Raul La Grace, so let’s get straight to what you’re asking me for.”

“No need to hurry, girl. I only just want to ask you a favour.”

“What is it?”

Raul opened his right hand and revealed a golden treasure key, then slid it in front of Ayako,”A key to your answer.”

“Answer to what?”

“An answer beyond my understanding,” Raul shrugged. “But a dear owner told me to give it to someone… whose last name was either Kinbara or Lu.”

“Lu? You mean I have a Weian counterpart?”

“Who knows? I have no knowledge, but a promise.”

“Promise from whom?”

“Only after you use that key, my lips will then be unsealed.”

“You’re treating me like an errand girl here,” Ayako grabbed the key and gazed closer at every inch of it, its shimmering skin dazzled her eyes. “But weren’t you allowed to carry such things like this after you were confined?”

“No, it wasn’t in my pocket all the time. That purple boy fetched it for me instead… at my office desk. I’ve always kept it there just in case I stumbled upon someone like you. And true, the heaven spoke.”

“So you’ve been expecting my arrival?”

“Who knows? Maybe I do… or maybe I don’t?”

Curious to see, Ayako’s eyes morphed into a crimson-black. Then behold, a faint yellow chain-like miasma wafted across his lips, hinting at his word of lie—a lie found after such a pause.

“You really did know your prediction,” said Ayako. “Perhaps the Raiser already told you of my whereabouts.”

Raul shook his head and sighed, his gift of riddles already smirched in disappointment, “Seems I can’t escape your creepy eyes. Oh well, you’ve known me enough. However, I still say no more.”

“Why? Toying me twice?”

“And twice, must I repeat?” he briefly pointed his agape eyes at the key on her hand.

“How literal of you.”

“Pardon me in advance for turning you into an errand girl, but trust me, it’ll be worth a hunt. Treasure chest is in my apartment room, precisely underneath the floor of the bed. Dig in there, and you’ll find your… hidden gem”

Looking at the key, again, no thought still came across her mind, but only its dazzling golden skins. A nagging familiarity clung to it like dust. It resembled countless others, guarding unknown treasures or hidden chambers. The thing, however, held a whisper of promise to the likes of ‘Kinbara’ or ‘Lu’. Was it a key to her family's legacy, a map to their past triumphs and struggles? Or perhaps a vessel for an ancestor's insatiable thirst for knowledge? Whatever its secrets held, curiosity gnawed at her, an impatient itch demanding to be scratched.

“Is this from my—”

“Shh,” Raul interrupted, his finger suddenly blocking her lips for the nonce. “No guesses, but truth. And truth, there lies within.”

“I see… now you’ve known me enough.”

Silence loomed, a hint to an end of his momentary purpose. Ayako stood up and ambled towards the door. One guard opened the door, yet once her foot reached the threshold, she glanced behind, checking Raul. There, he gave no objections, but a wave of farewell.

“Come back soon when you get it,” cried Raul.