Florence raised her hand up with a rifle pointed at her head. A crackle reverberated throughout the staircase. The back of her hair stood up. Her arms stiffened, wrapping around Aisling and Yuze, carrying them with help from Stella.

A droplet splashed onto the steps as Aisling foamed.

Sam lurked, crouching between Stella’s legs.

The pink android aimed through the front and rear sights of the rear sight at Florence, Aisling, and Sam.

“Didn’t you hear us,” the pink androids said. “Hand over that NPC and those Ability Users.”

“Could all of you speak one at a time?” Florence sank her teeth into her lips. Her heart raced. Blood flowed into her brain. “Because I do not want to answer every single one of you, even though all of you asked us to do a certain thing simultaneously.”

Sam hissed, dilating his pupils. “Go away,” he said. His whiskers bristled.

“We didn’t ask you, NPC,” one of the pink androids said. It pointed the muzzle toward Sam.

Stella brushed her hazel to cover her puffy and reddened eyes. Her skirt rusted. She hugged Aisling around her neck.

“Well, we got something better to offer,” Florence said.

“We do not care about whatever you are trying to offer,” one of the pink androids said. “Just hand over the NPC and those Ability Users.”

“You want the NPCs and… Ability Users. I know where you can find more of them.”

An eerie silence settled over the staircase, muffling the crackle.

The pink androids lowered their rifles. “Tell us more about it.”

“I mean… how do you… I mean, you know?” Stella asked, leaning closer to Florence’s ear. “In… I mean… that place you’re thinking about?”

Florence raised her eyebrows. “Absolutely no idea. And what is even an Ability User?”

Stella’s face paled and crumpled.

“Stop this chit-chatting nonsense,” the pink androids said. “Answer us.”

“Well, you see,” Florence said. “We only know its general facility, but not exactly where it is.”

“So, where is it?”

“I will tell you that if you let all of us go.”

One of the pink androids jabbed their rifle at Florence’s swollen ankle.

Florence clutched the spot where she got hit. Her nerves shrieked. She stretched her lips thin, holding the moan in her throat.

“It’s in the port… I mean, the harbor.” Stella pulled at her blouse, closing her puffy and bloodshot eyes. “You know, the one in the District… I mean, District Nine… I think it’s somewhere there or something.”

“Wait, how? Never mind, just forget about what we just asked,” the pink androids said. “Now, why are you sure this is where they gather?”

Stella shuffled her feet on the steps.

“Well, I think it will be better if we show you,” Florence said.

The pink androids waved their rifles. “Why?”

Florence pinched Aisling’s cheeks.

Aisling blinked, rubbing her eyes. Then she clutched her fist, jumping into a fighting stance.

“I recommend that you calm down,” the pink androids said.

Aisling lowered her fists. She wheezed in a shallow breath. “Where am I?”

“You passed out for a moment back there,” Florence said. “You got a lot of catching up to do. So, do you want the good or bad news first?”

Aisling tilted her head, squinting at Florence.

“We’re still here,” the pink androids said. “Could you get back on topic?”

“Absolutely,” Florence said, stomping Aisling’s toe. “Why are we certain that they are in the harbor?”

Aisling winced, grinning. “Probably, it’s gonna be… something about… you know, they’re taking essential supplies from District Nine,” she said. “Then I’m not sure how they’ll get off District Nine, though… kinda.”

“Anything else,” the pink androids said.

Aisling leaned closer to Florence’s ears.

“What do you want to say?” Florence asked.

“You do realize that I kinda made it up,” Aisling said.

“I can tell. I think the harbor may be related to our occult detective contract.”

“Yup… kinda not really. I’m unsure if it’ll help us with our investigation.”

“Pardon me, what do you mean by not really?”

A squeak reverberated from the joints of those pink androids.

“Yup,” Aisling said. She stood upright, covering her burnt knee. “What’s it?”

“What are you discussing?” The pink androids poked Aisling on the head.

“Nothing much. We are just discussing whether we are certain that the NPCs and other Ability Users are over there,” Florence said. “We will guide you there if you do not arrest Aisling, Yuze, and Sam.”

The pink androids nodded. They parted away from each other, unblocking a path down the staircase.

The steps creaked. Florence, supported by Stella, carried Yuze and Aisling down to the ground-level lobby. Sam stayed below Stella, following them.

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The pink androids trailed close from right, left, and behind them.

The glass door slid open.

The skyscrapers towered over everyone.

Columns of smoke spewed out from the flames across the street. Florence waved away the foul and burnt fumes entering her nostrils and lungs.

The ball of fire exploded from a distance. A shockwave whipped her hair. It rang in her ears.

She leaned closer to Aisling’s ear.

Aisling coughed, trembling and cupping her mouth. “What’s it?”

“Do you have a plan?” Florence asked.

“Nope, I’ve no idea how to lose them,” Aisling said.

“We are about to get chilled off by them.”

“What?”

In the alley, wires glimmered in the shadows, moving in a snake-like pattern. Florence stopped. She wheeled around, staring into the now-empty void within that path.

One of the pink androids poked Florence’s back. “Keep moving.”

The pavement thumped as Florence limped forward.

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

She spun toward the sound.

The muzzles of rifles sparkled with electricity, aimed right at her, Aisling’s, Yuze’s, Stella’s, and Sam’s heads.

“Watch out,” Florence said. She pushed them away, her leg muscles spasming. She halted in the line of fire, clenching her thigh.

From the alley, a bundle of wires burst out. It wrapped around the pink androids, tugging their rifle.

Shots fired.

The beams of electricity strayed away from Florence, but one of them zapped across the side of her face. Her hair lit on fire, and her cheek burned.

An electrical shock sped through her facial nerves. Her muscles tensed in one side of her head, drooping her eyebrow, eyelid, and the corner of her mouth.

A sulfurous odor floated in the air, tingling her nose.

She patted her hair, quenching the flames.

The wires clicked onto the spine of those pink androids. The muzzle of their rifles turned towards themselves.

Another blast of electricity melted the pink androids’ joints. They collapsed to the pavement with a thud, cracking the smooth concrete.

The wires retreated back into the alley. From the shadow, a bloke NPC with wires for hairs emerged. He gripped the bloodied metal rod stuck through his stomach. Then he dropped to the ground.

“I think there is a slight problem with your face, Florence,” Aisling said.

Florence waved her finger at the paralyzed half of her head. “I can tell.”

“I can’t hear you.”

“I said that I can tell.”

“You gotta speak properly.”

“I am speaking properly.”

“Never mind. I’m just gonna pretend that you’re pronouncing each word correctly.”

Florence limped towards the bloke NPC with wires for hairs. But Aisling grabbed onto Florence’s shoulder.

Florence stopped. “Pardon me, how may I help you now?”

“What do you mean? I don’t need help,” Aisling said. She dug her nails into the surrounding skin around her burnt knee. Her lips thinned. “Never mind, maybe I do need a bit of help.”

“So, what is it that you want?”

“Just go do what you want to do first. You can treat me later. And remember to be careful.”

Aisling released her grip on Florence’s shoulder.

Florence nodded, limping towards the bloke NPC with wires for hairs.

“Pardon me, how are you feeling?” Florence asked. “Perhaps, do you need my help?”

The bloke NPC with wires for hairs tilted his head up. He chucked, turning his finger white. “What happened to you? You look like you just got a failed plastic surgery.”

“Stop joking around here. Take this a bit more seriously. Did you seriously think you could just walk out on us like that? And if I’ve to guess, it must really hurt to walk or run. Especially when you have a literal metal rod stabbed through your stomach.”

“What?”

“How about I give you some treatment to patch up your discomfort? But not that stab wound you got. It will be better if you leave it until we get to a hospital.”

“I actually can’t hear you. All your words jumbled together.”

Florence smacked her forehead. She spun around, looking at Aisling.

Aisling shrugged.

“By the way, I’m Basilisk,” the bloke NPC with wires for hair said.

Florence turned towards him, lending her hand to him.

Basilisk shook his head. He pressed his palm against the ground, stumbling to his feet.

“I’m Florence,” Florence said.

“So, your name is Florentine,” Basilisk said.

“Florence.”

“Florenz?”

“I said, Florence.”

“Florencia?”

“It is not that either. Just… never mind.”

A whistle echoed throughout the street.

Florence wheeled around.

Aisling waved her hand. “Come on, we’ve got to go now.”

“Give me a minute,” Florence said. Glancing over her shoulder, she asked, “Where are you going, Basilisk?”

“I think you should stop talking momentarily,” Basilisk said.

Florence held her urge to scream. Half of her face swelled and ached. But, in the end, she dragged Basilisk along, inching closer to Aisling and others.

“We’re gonna have to get to the harbor before any more pink androids come here,” Aisling said.

“The harbor,” Basilisk said. “Bad… idea. Don’t go there.”

Florence raised her eyebrows. “Why?”

“Florence, you should really stop talking,” Aisling said. “That’s gotta be painful.”

“I mean… it does look like that,” Stella said.

“Absolutely not, I’m certain that it is fine,” Florence said. The nerves in the corner of her mouth stabbed itself like burning blades. “Maybe… a bit.”

“I’m just going to pretend I understand what you’re saying,” Aisling said.

Florence swallowed hard, crinkling one of her eyes. But half of her face remained paralyzed, and it was not getting better. Just… Why couldn’t anyone understand her? Was it that bad? For a moment, Stella brushed her hazel bangs to hide her eyes like Florence’s sister after losing someone close to her.

Florence cleared her throat. “Stella, are you certain that you are doing well? You know, if you ever feel like talking to someone,” she said. “Just remember I am here for you.”

“I… don’t know.” Stella shook her head, rustling her hair. “What’re you saying?”

Aisling smiled, waving her hand. “Hello, I’m still here. We really should get going.”

“You… shouldn’t go there,” Basilisk said. He breathed in and out heavily.

“Why?” Florence asked. She, Aisling, and Stella limped down the pavement, dragging Yuze.

But before they could get a step further. The wires wrapped around their body, squeezing them.

Florence moaned, the pressure on her spine increasing.

Crack.

A breeze of relief spread through her back.

“You’re… just forget it,” Basilisk said. “Whatever you do. Do not go to the harbor. You hear me?”

“Why, though? We really gotta go,” Aisling said. “You can’t stop us just like that.”

Basilisk pulled down his eyebrows, narrowing his eyes. His nose wrinkled.

The wires wrapped around Florence, Aisling, Yuze, and Stella, retracting back to Basilisk’s scalp.

“You want to… what? Just forget it,” Basilisk said.

“I didn’t say I want anything,” Aisling said. “I said, you can’t stop us from going to the harbor.”

Basilisk gagged, covering his mouth.

“Pardon me, is it my problem, or is it him?” Florence asked.

Aisling shrugged, crossing her arms and shaking her head.

“Why am I even asking? I guess that means you are absolutely certain about it,” Florence said.

Basilisk groaned, gripping his torn jacket. He pulled at its fabric. A droplet of sweat trailed down to his chin. Another tug on the collar revealed a red eye tattooed on his shoulder. He dropped to his knees with a thud, pushing his palm on the concrete.

“Basilisk?” Florence asked. She stretched her hand out, limping closer to Basilisk. “How about I help you a bit from now on?”

“Look, if all of you want to go there,” Basilisk said. “I might as well accompany you there.”