23:00, Chinatown, 10 Jan 2075
A man wearing a black jacket and a cap walked down the back alleys of Boat Quay, away from the sights and sounds of the vivacious night life that makes the location so popular among the young and adventurous. Every time he rounded a corner, he would take a pause and subtly check to see if anyone was following him before continuing, eventually stopping near the location of several dumpsters where a familiar figure was waiting for him.
“Fudo?”
“Yes. You are one of Count Eramuzg’s agents?” Fudo asked as he emerged from the shadows.
“No, he can’t risk his agents being followed, so he sent me, a servitor,” the man replied as he looked up, the lone street lamp in the alley revealing him to be unusually pale with cat-like pupils, an indication that he was a human revived by a vampire to serve under them.
“It matters not whom the Count sends to meet me as long as he holds up his end of the bargain.”
“Of course, he did owe you, after all. Anyways, he brings news: Those responsible for the death of your friends and lover have been rounded up by the police for questioning, but the leader remains at large. It seems he managed to give the cops the slip.”
Fudo growled aggressively upon hearing the news, causing the servitor to take a step back.
“Apologies, I did not mean to frighten you. It’s just that…”
“Count Eramuzg is aware of the deal you’ve made with the Ninth Princess of the Night-Sea. He thinks it impossible for you to be able to keep your word.”
“I know. I am starting to regret it myself. She helped me when I was in trouble back in the Night-Sea… I suppose being sentimental is a problem.”
“Without proper evidence, the court will be forced to release those you seek to kill, and the Princess has a responsibility as both royalty and as a Marshal of the Night-Sea Patrol to prevent you from killing them.”
“I suppose she does… But I would much like to be a man of my word.”
“Understood. But if anything goes wrong and you have to take action yourself, the last person, the ringleader of the ones you seek vengeance on, last I heard, he is hiding somewhere in Geylang. That is all I have to report… The Count wishes you luck,” the servitor said to Fudo before turning and leaving the area, disappearing into the darkness as Fudo contemplated what he had been told…
23:07, Singapore Boundary Gate 7, 99 Beach Road, 10 Jan 2075
“Can’t believe we’re working super overtime for this…” Shawn complained, realizing that he’ll have to sleep-in at the office for the night considering how complicated the case was turning out to be.
“Not our first time, remember? Anyways, Hai Yue, are you sure your brother is willing to provide assistance? I mean, the First Prince of the Night-Sea is well-known in Singapore for not wanting to be involved in human affairs,” Joel asked as he and Shawn watched Hai Yue triggering the opening of the Boundary Gate.
“Well, he does have royal duties as the heir to the throne, so he can’t get involved in what happens on the Human Side, but I explained the situation to him and he decided that it might be too much for the humans and the Night-Sea Patrol to handle, so he’s sending some reinforcements,” Hai Yue replied.
“How long more before he becomes king?”
“The thing about bunians and hybrids that are half-bunians is that they have very long life. My brother’s only three hundred and sixty years old, he’ll probably need to wait about five more centuries before Father retires.”
Shawn and Joel stared at each other, then Shawn decided to take a risk and asked, “How old are you, Hai Yue?”
“Oh, a hundred and twenty-three,” Hai Yue casually replied as the Boundary Gate opened, and out stepped two identical-looking lion-like humanoids with white fur and blue eyes, both dressed in green outfits resembling Zhongshan suits but also light metal armor bearing designs seemingly inspired by Malay and South Indian culture.
“Kuang Lang and Kuang Bing are at your service, your Highness!” the two greeted as they got to their knees with their hands in a Gongshou posture, causing a flustered Hai Yue to quickly pull them up to their feet, saying, “Don’t do that in front of my new colleagues! It’s already bad enough that they found out I’m royalty! And I told you both to call me by name!”
“Merlions?” Shawn asked, to which Hai Yue nodded.
“Shawn, Joel, these two are twin brothers Kuang Lang and Kuang Bing. They originally served under my third brother’s personal military battalion, but after they were reassigned to the Night-Sea Royal Guards under the command of the First Prince, he assigned them to be my personal bodyguards whenever I’m off-duty from the Night-Sea Patrol.”
“So, are you two the human bodyguards of the Ninth Princess?” one of the twins asked.
“What, no, we’re just working with her,” Shawn replied.
“They do not look much like bodyguards, Bing.”
“True, Lang, but the pale-skinned one with the brown hair seems tough. Look at his arms. Are you a brawler, or a boxer, by any chance?”
“I do amateur boxing,” Joel admitted.
“The other’s a bit on the skinny side.”
“Yes, but look at his eyes. How fierce! Perhaps we are misjudging him.”
“I hate your bodyguards already,” Shawn said to Hai Yue, who merely gave him a sheepish grin before asking her bodyguards, “Lang, Bing, is my brother sending any more other than the two of you?”
“Your father is concerned that the sudden presence of several Night-Sea military personnel in Singapore would raise alarms among the humans, thus he ordered your brother to only send us.”
“However, he has also ordered the First Prince to have a full squad on stand-by to enter Singapore should things go south, so you do not have to worry too much about manpower, your Highness.”
“In the meantime, is there any way we can assist the humans?
“Well, you can start by helping to guard the human suspects we’ve recently rounded up who might be involved in the murder of Fudo’s human lover and her brother. They think themselves a bunch of bad-asses, flaunting their tattoos and gang slogan even inside the lock-up.”
The merlion twins sneered as they rubbed their hands with glee.
“We’ll get them sorted out, your Highness. Don’t you worry.”
“How long has it been since we’ve dealt with rowdy prisoners, eh, Lang?”
“Are you sure they won’t eat the prisoners?” Shawn asked as the merlion twins made their way towards VOID’s headquarters.
“Oh, they won’t. Merlions only eat seafood. But I pity those gangsters, though. Kuang Lang and Kuang Bing started their military careers as provosts guarding the main detention barracks of the Night-Sea Royal Army where they developed such a terrible reputation that the Night-Sea Patrol sometimes ask them to help deal with rowdy prisoners in our lock-ups…”
23:19, VOID Headquarters, Beach Road, 10 Jan 2075
“What’s with all this junk Shawn and Joel found in Vance’s house?” Ellen asked as she held up a mask originating from one of several boxes her colleagues had brought back the previous morning.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“Evidence for the Kaneki Siblings Murder Case. Masks, weapons, a home-made flamethrower that’s no longer working, everything pretty much matches the manner in which the Kaneki Siblings Murder Case occurred.”
“For real? All this time, the evidence was sitting in Vance’s flat and we only found them all one year later?”
“Yeah, but it’s not Keat Hong’s fault. Vance’s flat is one of those really old, cramped models with very solid concrete walls so they never thought he would be able to squeeze a secret room in it, not to mention that he had it well-hidden.”
“That’s not an excuse. Keat Hong’s team was sloppy.”
“Well, Joel said he tapped every part of the wall and did not detect any hollow space behind them. He only found out when he accidentally hit this particular wall with a table. They actually pulled the fake wall out and brought it back with them,” Zai said as he reached under his desk and pulled out the fake wall from Vance’s flat, holding it up while facing Ellen, “You want to know how it avoided detection? Turns out Vance had that secret room placed in the most unexpected area of his flat: Facing the front door directly.”
“Huh, the last place anyone would expect the entrance of a secret room to be at… Okay, that’s kind of smart for a violent thug.”
“Most of the DNA samples we’ve managed to obtain from the weapons and the masks correspond with existing records belonging to Yithish, Liquid, Stevie and Vance, as well as the six victims,” Zai replied as he skimmed through a video recording from a street CCTV.
“What footage is that?”
“Got it from Keat Hong. It’s a recording of the attack on the Kaneki Siblings from last year. Due to poor positioning, the video did not clearly show the attackers apart from a few seconds where they appear from behind the pillars and trees. But those few seconds are more than enough… Bingo!”
Zai pointed at the screen where two masked men could be seen pulling someone’s hair with one of them wielding a parang, then pointed at the mask Ellen was holding.
“This mask has DNA samples belonging to Lee Kui De, aka Liquid, which means he’s this guy over here.”
“And the other?”
Zai rummaged through a box next to him and pulled out a green mask with a yellow snake-like design.
“The one with the parang is Tan Kwok-Yong, aka Billy Boy, the last known victim of the Gang Ripper. DNA samples on this mask matches his.”
“What about Vance? You found his DNA in one of the masks, right?”
“Yeah, the one with the skull design. He also showed up on the footage twice, though given his posture, well, I don’t want to talk about it…”
23:55, Lock-up, VOID Headquarters Basement, Beach Road, 10 Jan 2075
“Any of them talked yet?” Shankar asked as he entered the lock-up, where Shawn, Joel, Hai Yue and the twin merlions were observing the GSB officers interrogating each member of the arrested Scorpions, one officer per arrestee in each of the interview rooms.
“They were very uncooperative at first, but Hai Yue’s royal bodyguards, well, let’s just say they have ways,” Shawn replied.
“Hai Yue’s bodyguards? These two?”
“Yeah, they silenced the entire gang within two minutes.”
“How so?”
“They ate one of them.”
Shankar paled at the words, but then he realized he had been pranked as Shawn and Joel started snickering.
“All right, very funny, now, how about the truth?”
“You know how Hai Yue mentioned she’s a hybrid of a bunian and a merlion? Well, turns out it lets her ‘borrow energy from the natural world’ to mold as a weapon and a shield and to fool the eyes, that’s what she said,” Joel explained.
“What, magic?”
“No, not magic, more like the bendy-thingy from, er, what’s that really old cartoon series called with the little monk on some flying animal. I can’t remember. But, yeah, something like from that cartoon.”
“Okay, I more or less got the gist of it. So, what did she do?”
“Created an illusion of her bodyguards munching on a human arm each like chicken wings. Shawn provided the dying screams. Pretty convincing too. The Scorpions all sat down and became a lot more cooperative.”
Shankar had an uncomfortable look on his face as he imagined how the scene had played out in his head, but to his relief, a distraction occurred in the form of one of the GSB officers leaving the interview room.
“How did it go, Keat Hong?”
“The lieutenants confessed to the rape and murder of the Kaneki Siblings once we presented the evidence your colleagues found,” Keat Hong replied, although there was a look of frustration on his face, “The problem is, they won’t reveal where Vance could have gone to hide. We tried asking the lower-ranking members the same thing to no avail.”
“They’re holding out,” Shawn commented as he observed some of the Scorpions still in the interview rooms, “They don’t seem to realize that their boss has most likely abandoned them to their fates.”
“I agree. Perhaps I can try a different approach.”
“Sorry to intrude, but may I have a go at interrogation?”
Everyone turned to look at Hai Yue, who had been silent the whole time until just a moment ago.
“I’m not sure about this. The manual did not mention if we can allow Marshals from the Night-Sea Patrol to conduct interrogations upon human criminals.”
“They’re tight-lipped because they fear the consequences of betrayal, no? I think I can verbally knock some sense into them.”
“Well, okay, go ahead. Pick one, I’ll handle whatever backlash that comes from this,” Shankar replied.
Without hesitation, Hai Yue picked the room where Kim Heng and Ajay, the two youths the squad arrested on the night they visited the apartment of Maxwell Singh, were currently in. Keat Hong went over, had his colleague leave the room and allowed Hai Yue to enter.
“You think she’ll be able to handle this? Humans can be quite difficult,” Joel asked, to which one of the merlion twins replied, “She can. The Princess has a unique way of interrogation.”
“Like how?”
“Brutal honesty.”
00:13, Interrogation Room 6, VOID Headquarters Basement, Beach Road, 11 Jan 2075
“Who’re you? When did cops get allowed to dye their hair like that?” Ajay asked as he and Kim Heng watched Hai Yue enter the interrogation room.
“I’m Marshal Hai Yue from the Night-Sea Patrol, currently attached to the Singapore Police Department's Violent Othersider Incidents Division.”
“Shit, it’s one of those freaks,” Kim Heng whispered to Ajay, but a piercing glare from their new interrogator quickly silenced him.
“Now, I don’t know much about how gangs operate on the Human Side, but you two look a bit too young to be part of a gang. How old are you two?” Hai Yue asked as she sat down before the two.
“Seventeen.”
“Shouldn’t you be studying?”
“Why should we?”
“Because if you two were still in school, you two won’t be here being investigated for, let’s see, being part of an unlawful assembly, affray, VCGH with a dangerous weapon and last but now least, attempted murder.”
“We did not kill anyone!” Kim Heng shouted.
“Of course you did not, it says attempted murder here, I can read human languages in case you’re wondering,” Hai Yue replied nonchalantly before standing up and maintaining a steely glare at Kim Heng and Ajay, “Now, before I even begin asking you two questions, let me be clear about one thing: See, I’ve never interrogated a human before, but I’ve dealt with young punks like you back on the Other Side. Very interesting tactic you all like to use, similar down to the pattern: Shouting down the interviewer, gaslighting them, but when you can’t win, you run to mommy and daddy with your tail stuck between your legs and get some politician to help you write a letter of complaint after lying to them about how you were treated.
“You, the one named Kim Heng. It only took less than a minute before you started raising your voice at me. It tells me three possible things about your personality. One, you are an arrogant kid who has always got everything handed to you on a silver platter. Two, you’ve never been given a whooping so bad that you learnt how to be a gentleman. Three, you’re scared shitless but have too much of an ego to admit it. So, which is it? One, two, three, or all of the above?”
“Who says I’m scared of you? You’re lucky you’re a woman, or I would have-”
“For fuck’s sake, Kim Heng, she’s an Othersider! Look at her fangs! She’ll fucking eat us if you keep behaving like this!” Ajay urged his friend as he elbowed him to keep him from doing something suicidal.
“Your name is Ajay?” Hai Yue asked, to which Ajay nodded nervously.
“Sounds too much of a good kid to be part of the Scorpions. How did you end up with them?”
“I… I was being bullied. Disrespected. The Scorpions helped me out… And then they invited me to join.”
“Okay. And your friend?”
Ajay looked at Kim Heng, who grumbled before replying, “I’m good at fighting… Also good talking back to the police, spinning their words against them, because I fuck care the police. They’ve never been able to pin me down for any offenses until now.”
“So, you think that makes you invincible? A tough guy?”
“What’s wrong with that? Police work for government, right? People respect those who can make the police their bitches, you know?”
“What a joke. A police officer's actions and behavior are heavily scrutinized by the law. Actions, behavior, attitude… There are a lot of things they cannot do, namely retaliate against someone offending them with words and gestures. They can only warn, not threaten, and they must have justification before placing someone under arrest.”
“So?”
“So it’s obvious they can’t do anything while you are gaslighting and insulting them publicly. Would you do the same against someone who is more dangerous and has nothing to lose if they retaliate? I’m pretty sure it will take less than five seconds for them to jam a knife into your throat.”
The two youths silently stared down at the table’s surface.
“Now, from what I heard, you two are going to be charged as adults due to the severity of your crimes. Cooperation with the authorities is the only way to reduce your charges. I’m sure your previous interrogator has already asked you for the location of your boss, right?”
The two nodded.
“Are you two aware of what he did last year?”
“We thought it was a rumor,” Ajay admitted.
“Well, an Othersider would not be slaughtering your lieutenants if Vance didn’t do anything, you know? We’re not mindless creatures of the night. Those guys with VOID, they already have enough evidence to land the whole lot of you in Changi Penitentiary for at least five to twenty years.”
“We don’t sell out our brothers,” Kim Heng argued.
“Brothers? Your boss is the only one not arrested. He caught wind of the police rounding you all up and ran off without warning any of you. How do you think it was so easy to catch all your senior gang-mates and surviving lieutenants. Do brothers do that to each other? I won’t lie, you two are already screwed, so do something right for once in your life. Where is your boss hiding?”
Kim Heng and Ajay looked at each other, then contemplated their current situation for a while before Ajay finally replied, “There are a few places.”
“Such as?”
“He has a hideout in Jurong, but we don’t know where. There’s also an abandoned factory in Tuas he uses to store pixie dust,” Ajay revealed.
“That’s all?”
“There’s one more,” Kim Heng admitted, “A nightclub in Geylang called Club Drømme. I heard he has favors with the owner...”