"What's the plan?" Ringa asked, looking into the rear display of the hauler's dash. The hour they were travelling was light on air traffic, allowing the detective to take her eyes off piloting to look into the back seat as well as the cell attached to the back that held Gurk. Itzel pressed a hand against her forehead as she thought about her previous encounters with Enidri.

"Knowing her, she's probably deep in the Refinery Sector. That's where a lot of the more powerful Essencima spawn. If I turn my Tracker on, I'm sure we'll end up crossing paths if we head towards the creatures."

"She's not going to just give up the information we need," Brielle said. "Enidri isn't the type to just chat."

"Especially if we're just wearing shirts and pajama bottoms. But we might be able to get her to talk to us we switch into our uniforms," Ringa replied.

"Told you it was a good idea to bring them along," Brielle said.

"Even then, Enidri isn’t cooperative. No way she’ll give us the info we need in the limited time we have," Itzel added, leaning poking her head from behind the passenger’s seat. "Especially with that Ion Blade of hers. In a Ranked Challenge it hurts. Outside of that, it's even deadlier."

"Right," Brielle said. "We'll have to disarm her. It's probably best to act as if she's involved with the disappearances." The officer then reached down and lifted her weapon, making sure that it was in working order.

"But she might not be, Brielle," her partner said, glancing at the gun from the corner of her eye. The officer turned to her side and looked her partner in the eyes.

"We can't take any chances. If there’s any chance she’s going to make things difficult, we'll just have to play along." Brielle locked the ammunition cartridge at the bottom of the gun and then pulled a lever adjacent to the trigger. “And I’ll be ready.”

"You know Bri," Itzel said from her seat in the back. "For once, I'm glad you're such... an enforcer."

Outside of the vehicle's window, a dense smog made the city's night sky even darker. The moon and stars were swallowed by the thick, dark gas. "We're nearing in on the Refinery Sector," Ringa said. She lowered the vehicle slowly, parking right next to one of the buildings that was spewing exhaust. "You've got your Tracker on, Itzel?"

She brought up the Tracker screen. Immediately, a few blips to show up on the radar towards the top of the screen. "Yeah. Looks like we're in luck. We've got a bit activity not too far from here."

"Good," Ringa said. "You three can start chasing the signal. Brielle and I are going to switch into our uniforms, but we'll be right behind you."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Itzel said as she opened the door. She and Janus both stepped out of the vehicle and made their way towards long and white trailer-like attachment fastened to the back. Instead of windows, it had bars placed throughout its side. Gurk could be seen through the cracks as his bright yellow eyes followed the other two. They pulled the door open, allowing Gurk to hop out.

"How was the trip?" Janus asked the crocodile as he shook his arms and head to loosen up his muscles.

"Cramped."

"Sorry there was no room for you in the actual carrier, big guy," Itzel said as she patted her friend on the arm. "Are you ready to do this?"

Gurk nodded. "Yep."

"What about you Janus? You sure you want to go through with this?"

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"I'm here, aren't I?" Janus replied with confidence.

"It's not going to be like fighting a few Lurkers. There's a lot more that spawn within the Refinery Sector. It's their territory. The buildings themselves are well protected, but within the alleys and all of the abandoned buildings, it's a completely different story."

"Trying to change my mind?" Janus asked.

"No. But I'm being honest. If you think you're better off staying inside Ringa and Brielle's carrier, I wouldn't blame you."

"You two are going to need all of the help you can get. If we're going to find those missing people and Ven, we'll have to stick together."

Itzel placed a hand on Janus' back. "I appreciate it Janus. Even though we haven't known each for more than a few days, I feel like I can call you a friend."

"Yeah," Gurk interjected.

"Thanks, you two, that means a lot. If it weren't for you guys showing up and taking care of those Lurkers and leading me out of the Refinery Sector, I probably wouldn't be here to help you out right now."

"And here we are, going back in, about to face who knows what," Itzel said. She turned around to face the massive conglomerate of metal and cement. A cold wind passed by, providing them with a bit of relief from the heat that radiated from the refineries. Itzel turned on her scanner and began moving in the direction of the blips that showed up on her screen. "Looks like we'll be in for some action soon. Just follow my lead Janus and you should be fine."

Itzel entered walked through the metal fence with Gurk trailing behind her. Janus looked behind him, took one last look at the carrier that had taken him to this part of the city. He felt his heart sink. Another chilling breeze passed brushed past, pushing his hair in front of his face. The familiar structures of the seemingly endless grid of identical factories sent a familiar feeling of terror through his mind, making him freeze in place. Janus shook his head, temporarily sending his nerves away and regaining his composure. Just beyond he could see Itzel and Gurk pause to turn around and face him. With a short sprint he caught up to the other two.

"Thought you were going to bail out last second," Itzel said, eyes on the tracker as she continued forward.

"No. It was just some memories coming back. I'm fine though," Janus said as his eyes darted around the location.

Itzel stopped. She raised one hand, indicating that the other two should do the same.

"Essencima?" Gurk whispered?

"No. My Tracker. Just look at it." Itzel stepped to the side to give Janus and Gurk a chance to look at the screen. The blips were scattered across the radar without any rhyme or reason all while making a rapid series of overlapping beeping sound from the abundance of targets.

"We're surrounded?" Janus said with a tremble in his voice.

"Either that or something peculiar is going on. Maybe something's interfering with the signal. I've never seen it go off like this before." Itzel turned off the Tracker and then rolled her neck. "Looks like we're going in blind."

"I don't like the sound of that."

"It's not like we've got much of a choice. Knowing my luck, we'll bump into Enidri sooner or later. She's always where the Essencima are. And since the Essencima seem to have a taste for Exterminators as of late, we're prime targets."

"So we're playing bait, huh?" Janus asked. "And who is going to help us out if we get caught? Ringa and Brielle?"

"If they can find us." Itzel continued the trek further into the heart of the Refinery Sector. The other two marched onwards in silence. The heat began to get to Janus. He could feel the sweat forming underneath his jacket as the loud, ominous and constant hum of the machinery. His eyes continued to dart around the scenery, checking for anything that could provide any kind of potential clue that could lead to the location of the missing Exterminators.

But it proved to be futile. Every building and alley were identical to the last one. And the slim beacons of light that were scattered along the walkway did little to provide any illumination for any proper scrutiny or surveillance. Looking behind him, he could see two figures in the distance. One short and one tall. Both with large ears.

"I think I see Brielle and Ringa coming up from behind. Should we wait for them?" Janus said.

"No. If Enidri sees all five us together, she's going to know something's up,” Itzel whispered. “With just us three, she's going to have her guard down." She then brought up her personal screen and began typing a message. "I'm going to let Ringa know not to follow us too closely. Once we find Enidri, then they can come in." She finished her message and sent it to Ringa. "There. Now we just have to find Enidri."

"Hard," Gurk groaned.

"I don't think it's going to be as big of a challenge as you make it out to..." Itzel cut her sentence short. As she stood underneath one of the many beacons, she could hear a dripping sound overcome the incessant humming of the machinery. A few black drops landed on the ground beside her feet. "Great..." she said dejected as she tilted her head upwards. Janus and Gurk did the same. "Can't say I'm surprised that we stumbled across one of those."