Babina looked at the screen with rapt attention. The tracker had been sending out distorted signals for a long time.

Like a long time.

It had been three days since their target's disappearance. And it didn't look like he had survived.

Babina of course was still not convinced. Nor was Jack for that matter, this was just too convenient.

Their target dying due to an extremist that wanted to finish the job? It seemed a bit too predictable, and Babina doubted such a thing would happen. Only for the case that the Cult of Vulcan would be thrown under the bus.

Already, the events of the past week or so had been coming out. Though Vulcan's Cult tried to cover it up, it wouldn't stay buried,

Plenty of evidence was on hand to support Nate's attack and hospitalization. And a man named Dr.Pemberson had admitted to taking Nate into his hospital. Which just fueled the rage of the Vat-Born civil rights movement that had been burning like a wildfire in Europe.

And now Vulcan's Cult was under attack, pro right movements were publishing papers everywhere. Calling the cult out for their behavior.

In the slums and other areas of the city, the anti-Vulcanite sentiment was growing rapidly.

Just a day ago, some cultists and rights group activists had gotten into a brawl, leaving many injured.

And the violence had only gotten worse. The police had stopped trying to investigate his death and were instead trying to contain the damage it had caused.

Forge Master Bep had grown furious at what had happened and the resulting shit storm his cult was about the weather through. But since the target had died, he couldn't complain.

Nate would've been just as much trouble if he was alive. Plus, they had found some of his blood near the Red-Cross. An extremist group for the Vat-Born population. If that wasn't enough, a further investigation had found a large cache of gun parts and homemade firearms. Likely being built for the group.

Babina sighed as she turned the device off. It wasn't gonna help them. The device had already been slightly faulty, showing some of its defects when it went on the fritz during Nate's last visit to his place of work.

Jack had gone in and asked Nate's boss what had exactly happened to them before his death. Bos had said nothing much other than that they had gotten into a brief but violent argument and she had thrown a punch at him.

Police questioned her the same yesterday. And she replied the same, this would help them build up a case against Nate, with a significant amount of proof going towards his connections between the Red Cross.

Jack turned towards Babina, "We giving up yet?" He asked.

"Yeah, I guess we are. We can't track him through his mask. And they still haven't gotten that carriage out of the water yet with all that's been happening so far."

"I hear ya," Jack replied. "God damn Vulcanites and Vat-Born. Can't they just stop trying to murder each other for five seconds?"

"It's gonna be hard for them not to, the Vulcanites see the Vat-Born as basically cattle. While the Vat-Born see the Vulcanites as some sort of evil overlord trying to keep them docile," Babina said. Even if they stopped fighting, Babina seriously doubted she would be able to find what truly happened to Nate.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

She had too little experience. In the classes, she and Jack took, the environment was controlled and predetermined to give the students a chance. While this had helped them hone their skills, it had also left them unprepared for the unpredictability of the real world.

Suddenly, the phone rang. Babina turned her toward it and then looked at Jack. He sighed before walking over slowly (though unintentionally) and picked it up.

"Hello, who is this?" Jack asked.

A minute passed and Babina was about to tell Jack to hand up when a voice rang through it. A voice that Babina dreaded.

"Hey my sweet little pumpkin, it's me! Your Grandpa Mallory!" Babina nearly doubled over at the sill words that came from the gruff but serious voice. Jack also failed to hold in a giggle. Mallory himself laughed when he heard the other two giggling to trying not to.

His laugh was a full belly one, a sound the bounced off and spread like a massive echo. It was filled to the brim with the type of joy that few people could muster.

Babina stopped laughing after several minutes before walking over and snatching the phone from Jack. Once it was out of earshot of him Jack started laughing. Only Mallory could make a voice that serious yet full of energy.

Jack and Babina had gotten to know Mallory during the beginning of their training. Jack's grandfather was a man who could make anybody smile, even the men he killed. Babina had met him when he was staying over at a nearby town that they were training in.

The man had quickly taken a liking to her, even calling her his grandaughter multiple times. The man was a joyous time all around, well, if one forgot his numerous connections to some of the most vulgar groups around the world. From the Latin drug cartels in South America to the numerous terrorist groups in Western Asia and North Africa which constantly fought along the empire's border.

Mallory was a man of many persona's, he could be deadly serious one minute. And be cracking silly jokes the next.

As Babina took the phone, she smiled as she heard his jovial laughing. "What makes you call me, grandpa Mallory?" Babina asked.

"Oh, I just wanted to see how your first mission was! Nothing much. So, have you eliminated your target yet?" He asked.

Babina sighed, "No, someone else got to him first. We would've gotten him the day we got here but he had back up, along with something that attacked us." Babina's voice quivered at the last bit, that thing in the alley was horrifying. While she hadn't shown it before. The thing had terrified her.

It was simply impossible for that thing to have been human, and what scared her most of all was when it had finally died. It sounded like it was being forced to do things.

The creature was horrifically messed up. No two ways about it.

Mallory sensed Babina's fear. He wished he could've helped her get through this, his first job had left him nearly broken after it.

"Don't worry, you'll get through it, I called you because you're being transferred to some very high profile missions."

Babina perked up at that, "Really?!" Even Jack's head had snapped to the phone.

"Yeah, you're being sent there due to your distance from them, but yeah. You're going to accompany our countries best in this next mission. Though you'll only serve as helpers for them, you'll get to see the lives that the professionals in our industry live," Mallory was talking excitedly. And Babina and Jack were caught in it.

Mallory then went on to explain what they were going to be doing for the mission, mostly helping the quality of life for the professionals on board and taking notes on the way they acted and did their jobs. The pair knew that Mallory had heard of their entire mission and it's failures and had probably pulled some strings to let them observe some of the gold stars amongst the industry.

Only time would tell if Jack and Babina would inherit that shine.

"We are humans, same as anyone else! We live our lives and breath the same air as everyone else, so what if we have wings or extra eyes or limbs? These are superficial compared to the things that we think and the things that we do! Yet even if our souls are the same as everyone else and our minds are the same as everyone else we still are treated differently. Our people across the Atlantic are fighting for their right to live as any other man or woman. Fighting for their right to not be called on for their looks and their features, but for their mind and grit and soul. This is an important revolution that is taking place, and one that needs to happen for the good of all of us!"

- Speech delivered by Jenifer Davis, in support of the peaceful Civil Rights Movements happening across the world.