76°00'08.2"S 53°43'31.2"E - Nuevo Trujillo, Spanish Antarctic Colonies

21.05.2024 14:00, UTC+03:00

I was finally getting used to the Nuevo Trujillo time zone and adjusting my sleep schedule. It was always an issue when traveling across Antarctica. The colonies across all states had agreed to maintain the European time measurement based on global meridians. It was a way to remain connected to the rhythm the rest of the world worked under, but it made no difference when most of the year we were under the sun.

I clicked on the headpiece on my ear. I had found the static to be a soothing stable companion the past few days, a reminder of why I had to be done quickly in N.T. and find Marcelo.

Luckily, I was one step closer, and as I was entering the T-HQ for the first time in the two days I was in this city, I could feel the tension of our breakthrough in everyone’s eyes.

Gitana and Miguel were next to me, as we walked into the T-HQ of Nuevo Trujillo. Admittedly, it looked as advanced and imposing as the T-HQ in Santiago. Twenty stories high, it was an ominous combination of glass, metal, and contemporary designs of balconies. Reaching its gates, our head-chips clicked, allowing the doors to open. I am sure there was some kind of additional hex or ward warning someone that we had just entered.

T-3 Ricardo was waiting for us before the security control. He nodded in respect. It must have been known how many details our special team had uncovered in the past two days. I wondered if anyone guessed what we had to do to get them; if yes, no one complained.

The security control was busier than usual. Guards with firearms were in every corner, employees, and agents passed through three levels of search. Mirror panels were installed around each level, integrated seamlessly into the high-tech design and style of the building, but remaining the most traditional piece of security against curses. Silver mirrors.

“New toys,” Miguel said, and I could sense a hint of annoyance in his voice. Gitana did not say anything, but I could also feel the same awkwardness. My stomach tightened.

“New generation deflectors. Installed them yesterday. No curse passes through,” Ricardo explained, “but do not worry, you get your special entrance.”

Ricardo led us through a side door into a different set of security control measures. He had to scan his retina before doing so and type our agent codes. My head chip clicked once more.

We proceeded through the same searches and controls, but there were no deflectors installed there. I could not explain it, but this somehow enhanced the tightness I felt. Getting in T-HQ via the back door.

I saw some guards examining our data in tech pads, our faces, and fingerprints. Curse data, it read, and I could see right under my name.

Soothsayer

I rolled my eyes and continued to follow the process, like Gitana and Miguel.

There were not many pleasantries before we presented the full report. T-2 Azura seemed eager, anxious even to listen to our findings.

We had spent the last couple of days interrogating more people in Base Oso, but not very successfully. The pencil-drawn picture Gitana had managed to draw out of Dr. Pérez’s mind was all we had until we changed tactics.

“T-3 Gitana’s insight flared up again yesterday. A truck of remains recovered near Paseo had just arrived at Base Oso. Relatives had driven over to pick up whatever they could identify,” I explained, “And Gitana could sense a link with the Survivor. Someone who would recognize his face if interrogated. Of course, there were many people, and we had no resources to handle them all. But there was…”

“A list of all the relatives, T-2 Azura. I found it and cross-referenced it with everyone who was found near the Paseo,” Miguel chimed in excited he could show off, “Hoping to find someone looking for the Survivor’s remains, but failing to do so.”

“And?” T-2 Azura asked, too eager to care for hierarchy and happy to directly dialogue with a T-4.

I did not bother. I nodded Miguel to go on.

“Unfortunately, all of them did eventually. No one was looking for our Survivor. Well, good for them, and rest in peace, and so on. But,” Miguel made a dramatic pause, and after he saw T-2 Azura’s unimpressed expression changed tune, “there was a very tragic couple of parents. They had the most difficulty identifying her daughter, and hence I looked through their search declaration. Funnily, in their many search reports they had said, and I quote ‘She was out on a date with a guy her age’. When the remains were finally identified from a piece of ID the poor girl was carrying with her, it was revealed she was found all alone in pieces.”

“T-4 Miguel, is that right?” T-2 Azura asked.

“Yes, madame.”

A vein visibly pumped into Azura’s forehead.

“Could it be she was simply stood up and died alone a horrible death?”

“Or, she was out with our Survivor?” Miguel insisted. I stepped in – as much as I hated the guy, I needed this meeting to end on a good note so that I continue with my life.

“T-2 Azura, everyone’s presence in the Northern Chinese District has either been identified, corroborated or accounted for by some means. T-4 Miguel’s discovery, as lucky as it was, is the only remaining unidentified individual. The authorities can learn more from them and make sure whoever their daughter was dating is either alive in N.T. or found dead there. The pictures from T-3 Gitana should be enough.”

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T-2 Azura looked at all three of us. Gitana, silent as always, left the originals of her drawings on the desk in front of us.

“Very well. You are all dismissed,” and as we all nodded and were ready to head out, she added, “T-3 Elena. Please stay.”

Miguel winked at me and followed Gitana on his way out.

“What do you make of all of this?” She asked me.

“May I speak freely?”

She waved me to sit as she sat as well.

“I noticed the deflectors in the T-HQ today. Before, we traveled through the city and saw the army present everywhere. There should be no Cursed strong enough to misbehave within the Queen’s domain. This is not a terrorist protocol. I can tell when I see war preparations. I am just unclear on who we are fighting up against. This young boy… I don’t know. It does not fit well with this. There is more than I know, I think.”

T-2 Azura looked at me, one hand holding her chin up, the other on the desk. She tapped her fingers a few times. I could see by the way she was looking at me, she was thinking. Perhaps even weighing her options; how much would she be allowed to share with me, I wondered.

“There is always more. But you know what you have to know. You are an excellent agent. With real prospects. Try to remember. And don’t jeopardize that.”

If that was a test, I hadn’t passed it. She only gave me a warning and an encouraging word, but I was fully aware of the circumstances.

“Thank you,” I said simply.

“I need you and Miguel to look into that couple he mentioned.” She stood up, expecting me to leave.

I half-opened my mouth ready to protest. I tried measuring my thoughts carefully before spitting any words. This was work for the lowly ranked, for T-5s at best. Besides not trusting Miguel’s detective work, I had other priorities.

“T-2 Azura, with all due respect. I have a position of Royal detail. I am supposed to report back to Santiago Towers eventually. My duty awaits.”

Prince Marcelo needed me, but I could not say that. She turned her back to me, and I could see she was either trying to hide her anger or feign it. She turned towards me again.

“Is it so hard for you to fathom why I would want to have such a powerful Soothsayer in my ranks when dealing with the greatest crisis since the founding of the Colonies? Can you not imagine how irreplaceable your power is if the domain crumbles and the masses panic?” T-2 Azura said calmly, but her unwavering voice was revealing she had already made up her mind. She was not asking for my opinion; the questions were courtesy. She would not let me go. “As far as I am concerned, you are swamped, occupied, and busy beyond measure, with an urgent mission in Nuevo Trujillo. Alas, the Royals will have to wait. Go find that rascal Miguel and go through the full list if you need to. You are staying until the crisis is over. Dismissed.”

I stood up, nodded, and left. I exited her office trembling from the tension. I turned both of my headpieces on and tuned into Marcelo’s channel. The static blocked out all thoughts and emotions.

I just had to push through.

During lunch, I sat near Gitana and Ricardo, luckily as far away as the building allowed me to sit from Miguel. I am sure he was enjoying himself showing off to his peers and telling high tales of his adventures near the Breach. The televisions around the canteen played dramatic footage from the Chinese District.

After Ricardo updated us on what happened the last couple of days updating the security of the T-HQ and the surrounding area, we did not talk much. I zoned out listening to the static more than him. I bet he was expecting us to reveal to him how our Curses allowed us to find the Survivor’s face. Instead, we sat in silence to eat the usual fish dishes that Nuevo Trujillo was famous for.

“Ela, can you hear me?” Ricardo asked, or at least I thought he did.

I raised my head rolling my eyes.

“Yes, Ricardo. I am right here.”

Gitana stared at me perplexed. Ricardo was swallowing down some of those mashed potatoes that were overflowing his dishes.

“Ela, can you hear me?” I heard a voice again, but I could see it was not Ricardo’s lips moving.

“Are you alright?” Gitana asked me, clearly worried. I am sure even without her invading my dying mind, she could sense enough.

“I… I have to go for a moment” I stood up and walked as far as I could.

“Ela, can you,” I heard now clearly through the static on my headpieces.

I clicked one of them, without believing I was hearing his voice calling me.

“Marcelo? I am here, Marcelo!” I whispered, looking around me making sure no one listened. I had left to the farthest part of the canteen inside T-HQ.

“Ela, don’t trust what they say. I am captive! Ela, I need your help.”

I looked around paranoid once more.

“Marcelo, tell me where! I will come get you. Marcelo!” I yelled through the static. But then his voice was gone. Behind me, I could see Ricardo looking at me all suspiciously.

I tried not to process what just happened, as this would let my face reveal my emotions. It was impossible. A thousand questions popped into my head, as I was walking back to our table.

“Are you alright?” Gitana asked.

I nodded. “Just, you know. Sleep deprived. Stress from what we did in Base Oso.” I remained cryptic on purpose so that none of them could follow up with questions I could in no way improvise an answer.

I sat back in my chair and dared only to look at the fish in front of me. I had to go to my room to think about this, and first I had to finish lunch as inconspicuously as I could.

“Tra-sta-ma-ra! Tra-sta-ma-ra!” The crowd inside the canteen started chanting, the employees, the agents even.

I raised my head with the rest of the table, only to see the thing I least expected on national television. A live broadcast from Santiago, drone footage of the Queen making a speech from her tower. Next to her, the rest of the royal family, waved at the drones and smiled for the press.

“All we stand for is unity!” The Queen was starting her impassioned speech, but I could not care less.

Next to her, Prince Marcelo Trastamara, heir to the throne, was smiling at the drone cameras, even winking at them.

I felt my lip waver. This made no sense.

Ela, don’t trust what they say.

Marcelo’s voice echoed in my head, as the Queen continued with her speech, now broadcasted in higher volume as someone in the canteen had raised the volume of the speakers.

“We will dissolve the shadows surrounding our domain. The royal domain is stronger than ever before!”

I looked around me. Gitana even was smiling, Ricardo was chanting with everyone else. All I could hear was Marcelo’s words as I saw him standing next to her Majesty, his mother:

I am captive! Ela, I need your help.