Rise had been planning on showing Fate around the HQ, but there was some work she needed to catch up on, so she wasn't able to do as she had hoped.

She wanted to puff her chest out a bit, and show off in front of Fate.

But instead, Aria enthusiastically volunteered after speaking with Fate for a while.

"Oh, you haven't been given a tour yet? Well, come with me, I'll take you on a tour! As your senior officer, I'd be happy to show the new recruit around!" Aria happily announces.

Aria leads Fate through the building, pointing out important places such as her desk and the conference rooms. The HQ takes up an entire floor of the building, so there's a lot of space for just eleven people. Due to how often the members work late—or even work all night, there's bedrooms, fully functioning bathrooms, a kitchen, and enough beds for all task force members to sleep if necessary.

Rise huffs in annoyance, watching Aria strut around while looking like a peacock—she's fully engrossed in showing off as a senior officer—now that she's not the youngest rookie.

Rise glances at Fate—watching him smile politely as he takes everything in.

What a waste...

The part that surprises, and annoys Rise the most isn't actually Aria. It's Liliana.

They've been colleagues together for almost a year now, and yet they've barely managed to become friendly with each other. But for some reason, Fate and Liliana get along extremely well—even with how shy Liliana is, she somehow took the initiative to help give Fate a tour.

This is ridiculous. He's supposed to be Rise's disciple—not hers.

Why is everyone suddenly getting close to him? Why is he already popular among the group?

What's wrong with Rise?!

Watching how mature Fate has become, and how smoothly he talks with everyone, Rise understands that Fate doesn't share her social problems.

He understands how to communicate with others, unlike herself.

As far as she can tell, he has a natural ability to connect with people—something that she hasn't mastered yet.

And now, Fate's popularity is growing.

Rise didn't eavesdrop on them due to something like jealousy. That certainly couldn't be the case.

Ahem.

Instead, Rise followed them out of pure curiosity.

Rise wants to know why Fate is charismatic—how he gets along with everyone.

She overhears the two of them discussing popular books, and they're casually talking back and fourth about all kinds of topics: philosophy, morality, justice. They even discuss criminal cases they've both read about recently.

Liliana is clearly nervous.

She keeps glancing away from Fate, but she's not going quiet—as she usually does when Rise tries to get closer to her. Instead, she stays calm and collected, and manages to hold her own against Fate.

In fact, it's clear that she's enjoying herself. She smiles a lot, and giggles occasionally.

Just a few short hours ago—you were completely against Fate joining due to his age.

And now?

How did you go from hating the idea of him joining, to liking him so quickly?

Rise frowns, feeling frustrated.

She wanted him to succeed, she just didn't expect it to go like this.

"You're going to get wrinkles, frowning like that." Damian chides, noticing that Rise is staring daggers towards the trio.

"Sorry, I got caught up in thought."

"Well, you should try to focus on your work then. And try to figure out a way to prepare Fate for seeing the crime scene pictures." Damian advises.

"Yeah, good advice." Rise nods in agreement.

***

She waits for Fate to finish his tour, and she starts to gather a few members in preparation for showing Fate the information about the Painter.

"Okay everyone, we need to show Fate the files containing the photos of the victims. Can someone please lead him there?" Rise asks the team.

They look confused at first, but after thinking for a moment, several people agree to help Rise in escorting Fate to a large conference room that's used as the base camp for the Painter investigation.

But everyone in the task force ends up following.

They all want to be there.

They want to see how a fourteen year old reacts.

Rise feels sick to her stomach imagining what's to come.

Due to the world's climate change, and technological advancement—paper isn't used much. The one big exception to that is the police. They still use ancient methods for some reason, so the room is a stark contrast to most offices. There's futuristic looking holograms containing maps, and other information, but they're also accompanied by a larger number of older physical screens.

And there's boxes spread around the room containing thousands of files worth of information that hasn't been transferred to the servers yet. Along with stacks of papers piled high in the corners of the room.

"Damian, could you please bring Fate? And tell him to take a few minutes to ready himself for a full brief on the case." Rise requests.

"Alright." He replies firmly.

The Chief enters the room to lead the briefing. There's a solemn silence. It's obvious that they're all waiting to see what happens next. This exact scene has replayed every time that another person is added to the investigation.

Because of how bad it is.

Even the experienced investigators like Kris, and George are all on edge. All of them are veterans who have seen countless murders, and truly despicable acts. And yet, they're still terrified by what they're about to witness.

Rise can feel their fear radiating from them, and she hates that she has to inflict this upon Fate.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Her heart breaks knowing that he'll end up experiencing the same emotions she felt before seeing the images of the victims.

She wishes that she hadn't agreed to show him the files.

It would've been easier if he'd never known about it at all. But deep in her heart, she knows that she won't be able to solve this case alone, and even with the whole task force—they still haven't made progress. Filled with regret—she still chooses to force her hope onto Fate's shoulders.

The first time she saw the photos, she fainted.

Seeing the images of the victims, lying naked and mutilated...

She lost consciousness after seeing all of the blood and parts arranged into a twisted human art piece—or some kind of message.

When it happened, she thought that she'd be ridiculed for her reaction. After all, she was already a veteran, how could she react so badly when seeing crime scene photos? She's seen thousands of them.

But there wasn't a single sound of ridicule or mockery coming from her colleagues.

Because everyone on the task force reacted in a similar way.

Every single one of them reacted harshly the first time they were introduced to the case. No one wants to believe it, but the truth is that this series of murders is absolutely horrific. The bodies of the victims were cut up in ways that are unimaginable—and the evidence shows that the killer is trying to convey some kind of message.

No one can understand what the message means—but the police have no choice but to assume that there must be meaning behind these crimes. Even if they don't know what the message is, they can't ignore it—so they're forced to look at it in detail.

The images haunted them long after they left the office.

But they're going to show it to a fourteen year old.

Rise clenches her fists tightly.

She wants to run away.

She wants to hide somewhere until it's all over.

But she can't. She pushed for Fate to be here. As his pillar of support, she must remain strong. Even if she has to fake that strength.

Usually, Kris, or someone would crack a joke to try and lighten the mood. But today, no jokes are made—everyone is silent and tense.

The Chief winds up being the one to take initiative. She grabs an armful of file folders containing photographs from the crime scenes, and sets them out across the table, not yet opening them.

"Well...There's not much to say, let's get this over with...Shit. I hope you know what you're doing Rise." She grumbles under her breath.

"I'm sure he'll manage...Chief" Rise replies calmly, trying not to make eye contact with anyone else.

She then hears a few knocks on the door.

"Fate, we're ready whenever you are, please come in." Rise says softly.

The group of Fate, Damian, Aria, and Liliana all enter the room.

As soon as the two girls enter, Rise watches as their faces drain of color the moment they realize what's going on.

Their eyes widen in horror as they look at the folders on the table.

"Hey...what's happening...? What's going on?!" Aria demands nervously.

"Calm down," Damian scolds her gently, "there's nothing to worry about, it'll be okay."

"No, you don't understand—" Aria protests, but Damian cuts her off.

"Don't worry, just trust us." Damian reassures her.

Liliana looks as if she's about to start arguing, but Fate gently taps her shoulder to get her attention, and shakes his head. So, the women reluctantly nod in acceptance, and both of them stand off to the side—but they're both staring intently at Fate, along with everyone else.

Fate still looks mostly unfazed, but he's probably putting on a strong front.

He must be trying to not make Rise look bad.

She feels even guiltier upon that realization.

"Alright everyone, thank you for your patience. We've been preparing these materials for quite a while now, so I apologize if this briefing is taking longer than expected. I assure you however, it will only take a few minutes. So, without further ado..." The Chief begins explaining.

"...let me start by saying that this is a very sensitive matter. Please keep any comments or questions to yourself during the briefing. If anything is unclear, please ask after the briefing is finished." She explains.

"I know most of you are aware of all of this already, but I felt that everyone should be on the same page. Fate, our current highest priority is the investigation of a serial murderer code named: Painter."

"We have very little concrete evidence. They have at least thirty confirmed victims, with an extra dozen unconfirmed. Painter is the most brutal killer I've seen in my entire career. They either kill their victims quickly with a single gunshot to the head, or they use a blade—and inflict dozens of stab wounds." She continues to explain, but her voice shows her displeasure at the fact that they don't even know the sex of the killer.

Rise, and multiple others continuously take quick glances at Fate, judging his reaction. His expression remains stoic.

His hands remain folded neatly. No sign of nervousness. Not even a twitch.

Is he really okay? Does he not care? But when Chief Lynden talks about the number of victims, and mentions how brutal they are—his eyebrows furrow slightly, and he starts to tense up.

He looks disgusted by the information, but he doesn't move, nor does he speak.

"The victims are primarily young women between the ages of sixteen to thirty years old, but about ten percent of the victims are males older than sixteen. Each of them had their organs removed, and their skin sliced open using various sharp tools such as knives and razors. The psycho then arranges the victims into some kind of...art piece—that's how the code name came about. The exact arrangement is different every time, but starting about three weeks ago, their MO slightly changed—the new victim's hearts are missing."

Chief Lynden pauses to allow the information sink in.

Rise hasn't taken her eyes off of Fate. He continued to force himself to remain stoic—but his discomfort is noticeable.

She notices that her disciple reacted more at a specific point.

After hearing about the victims being turned into a brutal art piece—his eyes narrowed, and his jaw tightened.

Rise sees how upset he is. Even though it's not super noticeable—Fate rarely gets worked up—he's always so strong, so resolute. So seeing him react like this is new to her.

But she also isn't sure what part he reacted so strongly to—it almost looked like he reacted to the fact that the victim's hearts started to disappear recently.

Weird.

In this case, the missing heart isn't even the most gruesome detail.

"Fate, on the table in front of you is pictures from the crime scenes. I'm sorry you have to see this, but they're a large part of this case. Please, consider yourself warned—no one will think any less of you if you choose not to look." Chief Lynden states, before pushing him a folder.

Everyone becomes dead silent.

Liliana and Aria both have eyes filled with worry—they're both trying to discourage Fate with their gaze.

Naoto Shun's hands are fidgeting as he firmly watches Fate, his anxiety evident.

Kenzo acts as if he's completely uninterested—as if it has nothing to do with him.

Rise notices Damian, Kris, and George working together to flank Fate. They're standing behind him, and to his sides.

They're worried that if he looks at the pictures—he may faint.

Naoto, Aria, and Rise all fainted looking at the photos after all, they want to prevent him from getting hurt.

Rise's filled with gratitude once she knows what they're doing.

Fate slowly lifts his hand and picks up the first folder.

She feels herself break out in a cold sweat yet again.

He's her most precious student, her most important friend. She knows what kind of genius he his—but that won't help prepare him for the brutality of the world.

Even Rise, who's experienced many horrors, finds the contents of the folders impossible to look at.

He holds it in his grasp for a few seconds; the moment of truth—he opens it.

For several moments, Fate stares blankly at the photographs. The instant he opens it, all the color drains from his face. He turns white as a ghost, and freezes solid.

Rise stands next to him and places a reassuring hand on him—trying to provide what little comfort she can.

His hands are visibly trembling, but he somehow forces himself to begin thumbing through the photos. Every once in awhile, he stops and takes a deep breath.

Then he moves onto the next folder.

This goes on for minutes, and finally ends with him closing the final folder.

He puts the file back down on the table.

All of the detectives present stare in awe at the boy in front of them, a few make audible gasps as they watch him go through the photos.

Rise is shocked too—she didn't expect him to handle it so well.

Her heart aches knowing how difficult it must be for him to endure the pain of these murders.

Fate rubs his temples, as if he's having trouble keeping calm, but manages to regain composure after a minute or two.

Everyone stares intently at him, waiting to hear something from him.

"I-I'm fine...Thank you for your concern. I didn't know people were capable of something like...that." He replies quietly, and everyone breathes sighs of relief.

It seems like Fate was able to deal with it better than anyone anticipated.

The Chief nods her head in approval. "Good job, Fate. You did great."

Everyone gives Fate a pat on the back as a show of support. Rise tries hard not to cry.

She's happy for him, and relieved that he handled it alright—but she's also terrified for him.

"Okay! Let's continue!" Chief Lynden announces loudly, making everyone jump.

"Fate if you have any insight, or any questions, don't hesitate to ask, you'll have plenty of time—so don't rush yourself—just take some time to calm down, and work at your own pace. I speak for all of us when I say—we look forward to working with you." She tells him kindly.

Fate smiles weakly at the chief, "Thank you ma'am...I appreciate everything you've done for me..."

Chief Lynden's smile grows wider.

She claps her hands twice in excitement, "Now, let's get down to business shall we?"

Everyone exchanges glances, and they all sit down around the table.

The Chief sits down directly opposite Fate, and Damian, Naoto, Kenzo, Liliana, George, Avery, Kris, Aria, and Rise follow suit.

Rise can't help how proud she feels. She's happy to be able to work alongside him.