Tann kicked what used to be her arm across the room. As it rolled across the floor, blood spelt through the uneven cut made by the shotgun blast. Using her other arm, Tann tossed the shotgun up and grabbed the pump, then she brought down the weapon to her knee which allowed her to load another shot with only one arm.

BAM!

Multiple holes opened across the disconnected arm. As Tann prepared to load the next round, the dark substances fully consumed the arm, and with a faint fizzing noise, the arm decomposed into a pile of dust.

“Damn you,” Tann sat down and put down her weapon to hold onto her wound, “you still have consciousness even being separated with the main body structure!?”

Her breathing calmed slowly as new bone and tissue structure started to develop from her wound, forming a new arm.

“That’s 30% damage,” Tann muttered and moved her newly grown arm, “just 40% more and I’d be dead.”

With caution, she moved to the remains of the substance and poked it with a long plastic rod, “Well, guess it is finally dormant by now.” However, Tann’s examination didn’t end there: by tying a lighter to the rod with strings, she attempted to light the dust on fire. Suddenly a huge flame appeared.

“Hang on…” Within a millisecond, Tann noticed something was wrong: the flame was white-coloured.

A second late, nothing was left on the ground.

Tann’s emotions remained shocked and she moved back to her desk and wrote down her new findings: Originally, the dark substances are inflammable at temperatures below 40 degrees but after consuming my arm, the end product proved to be extremely flammable.

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“Today, hundreds of protesters gather outside Qchong University’s Observatory,” the newsman reported, showing the scene of the protest. The protesters dressed in pure black or pure white uniforms and carried all sorts of religious symbols.

“The protesters demanded the Observatory staff to explain the recent astronomical phenomenon that caused strange star position around Earth.” Despite all the protester’s efforts, the front door towards the observatory remained firmly shut.

“The Observatory members had made no live appearances and from their online statement, released an hour ago, claiming that they are still going through complex calculations to determine certain theories.”

About a meter away from the Observatory’s door, a row of armoured police officers fenced the protesters from breaking to the door.

“The police department announced that all protesters should leave the scene by exactly 4:30 pm or arrests will take place. That’s it for all the latest updates on the Qchong protest situation.”

Despite his large size, Candy entered the exhibit room without a sound. To his surprise, he realized that the lights were on, “I’m am sure getting old, leaving the lights…”

“It’s me Candy,” Dey appeared from behind of a stack of exhibits, “Just checking on some of the materials collected from the crash site.”

Candy held a hand to his heart, “Gosh, you almost gave the old man a heart attack.”

“45 is not that old,” smiled Dey, “and what’s better is that the age of retirement had been extended to 65 instead of 60, so you have 5 more years to enjoy your job.”

“Fine, fine, you are just like your big brother,” Candy grabbed over a chair and sat down heavily, “well, got what you wanted?”

Dey took out a few pages of the printed report, and showed it to Candy, “Since last time we spoke, did you manage to discover the real problem with the engine? After visiting the maintenance squad, they claimed that the helicopter, SA103, was brand new, bought last month from North Köloñ Qchong and they just fully examined the engine compartment and did a few test flights a week ago…”

“That’s very correct,” Candy pointed at the report, “ the SA103 was claimed to be the best civilian helicopter with a breakdown possibility of 0.000001% and there had never been a crash that is due to the helicopter itself. However, you must be aware that accidents do happen.”

Dey nodded, “I agree that there may be unexpected things, but where exactly was the engine broken? You said in the report that it was to do with the tail control mechanics but you didn’t specify the exact part.”

Candy leaned back and looked at the girl with curiosity, “Huh, so you refuse to believe that this is an accident?”

“No,” replied Dey, “I need all evidence to be 100% clear before making my final judgment.”

“Let me tell you this,” Candy interrupted and stood up, “ I didn’t have a chance to open the engine myself, but North Köloñ requested to examine their product since they are better experts in their products.”

“When will they give me the data?” Dey asked cautiously and took out a pen to record the date.

Candy took a long breath, “within two to three weeks.”

“Thank you, Candy.”