"The reports speak of a family of five who have been 'infected'."
'Infected' was the name used in the document for those who had been modified. Kairo wondered what exactly these people were. What was the point of doing that to others?
"The family lived in this family heritage for fifteen years. Around here, they are known to be amiable and very kind. Their little daughter had just awakened and was about to go for the police training," Nyx continued to explain with the document in hand. She spoke with such detachment that it felt like the story had no effect on her.
Kairo's face turned dark, his hands tightening into cold fists. She was exactly like him and Rellion a year earlier. However, her dream had not been destroyed by the machine at the awakening ceremony, but instead by some bastard Kairo was going to find. You just wait until I land my hands on you. Remembering what Rellion used to say, Kairo began slowly agreeing more and more. He wasn't just going to catch those bastards—he would beat them so hard they'd regret their deeds.
"Their bodies are all on the second floor. The others from the Geek Department are also there waiting for us," Nyx concluded as they finally arrived.
Within the parlor of the room were five individuals. Unlike Nyx and Kairo, they wore white gloves. The intel department also had to do these? Kairo noted. All of them had two stars on their uniforms. A woman was currently in charge, waving and giving orders. No older than them, she beamed with youthful vigor and charming authority—the type that made one want to follow her orders without questioning why. Like she was a naturally born leader. Given her two stars, she must be one of the newbies who succeeded at the newcomer test, Kairo analyzed.
"You, don't touch that. Get these things out of sight. You, I want a complete report on their past activities… and you… ah, you must be Kairo," she smiled as she stopped at them.
"Nice to meet you. Kairo, here is Nyx, my partner," Kairo presented.
"Good for you to be here. We are seriously lacking help. But I guess you are not here for that. So let's get to the point. First, I will show you what happened here and then it will be your job to help us understand what exactly happened. Okay, hope you understand? If you have a question, let me know and I will answer… since you don't have any, let's begin. Oh, by the way, I'm Leli," she winked.
Kairo almost fell to the ground. What was wrong with people working in the police these days? Nyx, on her part, looked completely unaffected—like she was already used to these new ways.
At first, Kairo didn't understand what she meant by 'show' them. But when Leli went into action, everything became clearer. First, she handed over her documents to her subordinates, and they all retreated backward. Within the parlor, Leli stood alone, lifting her left hand slowly, on which was hooked the familiar gadget. Kairo glanced at his own wrist, curious about what she was doing.
From the little wrist, a card was ejected, which she carefully caught between her fingers. Then, flipping it around, she locked it onto the void. Kairo blinked, shielding his face from the blinding light. The circuitry of the void came to life, drawing hexagonal patterns of violet lines into the space.
"Echo Memories," she murmured the card name.
"Looks like…" Kairo was startled. It reminded him of the Eye of Truth, but it was fundamentally different. What they were seeing was a series of shadows that moved around the home as if Kairo and his people weren't there.
"Looks like the little girl of the family. Searching for something—but what?" Kairo immediately sprang into action, following after the shadow in the room.
"Wait! No one else should be moving. I can't hold the Echo of Memories for everyone if you get out of my sight. Kairo, don't run away—ah! Nyx, follow me. The rest of you, stay here," she commanded like a true leader and then started running after Kairo.
The more Kairo followed the shadow, the more it seemed to move faster. It rapidly turned into a race, with Kairo rushing through the building, jumping and sliding over broken obstacles.
"She's not searching for something—but running away from someone? But who? There's no other shadow, and why is she not rushing toward the exit and instead away from the walls? I don't get it," Kairo's mind was spinning at lightning speed. Time was of the essence, as the shadow was slowly getting dimmer.
Behind them, Nyx and Leli kept chasing. Kairo followed the shadow toward the third floor. At this point, there was a huge hole in the wall. Right then, Kairo managed to get a glimpse of a second shadow—but it was really brief.
Then nothing. The shadows completely disappeared here. Nyx and Leli arrived exactly at the same moment. Nyx appeared completely fine, but Leli was catching her breath.
"I asked you to wait, Kairo. Have you been a thief in your past life? I can't breathe anymore," Leli held her chest. Stuck to her body, it rose and fell, portraying her generous proportions.
But Kairo frowned, moving around the room, searching for clues.
"This doesn't make sense. How could she just disappear here? What did that second shadow do to her?" The more he tried to reason it with logic, the more he felt confused.
"If only the Eye of Truth could be activated at will… Things would have been a little easier."
"She didn't disappear. She was taken into a different realm!!"
Nyx's words caused both Kairo and Leli to slow down their reasoning.
"A different realm?" Kairo asked.
"Probably using card magic. That's the only explanation I can think of. Remember the doors that brought us here? If we assume they function the exact same way—moving in one direction—then the assailant who took her away had to use normal means to arrive here. If we're careful enough, we might find where he entered and where he was before she disappeared. From there, we might get an idea of where his card transported her. Might be… she's still alive," Nyx explained.
Kairo was startled. Nyx didn't have her usual smiling and somewhat goofy face. Her reasoning was becoming as sharp as Kairo's and the others'. Furthermore, what she said made some sense. But it was a gamble, since there was no guarantee that all cards involving spatial movement functioned the same way. But if she was right, there was a chance to solve this—and maybe find the girl.
"Wow, that's a lot to assume, guys. But I'm okay with the plan. I'll ask my teammates to start searching for possible clues. I want to do everything I can to save that girl while we still can," Leli said.
"Could you reactivate Echo of Memories? If I get a single better look, I think it might help us find her sooner," Kairo said. He knew that if they found the culprit, the case given by Danzan would be easier to solve—if the two were connected.
"Unfortunately, I can't do that, Kairo. Cards require aura to be activated. They not only continuously drain aura when in contact with the body, but they also require aura to recharge after use. If your aura is too low, you wouldn't be able to activate your cards," Leli explained, showing them the slightly dimmer card.
Kairo's face illuminated. This explained why Leli appeared more tired than them. It wasn't that she didn't take her one-year training seriously like Kairo and Nyx, but simply that card magic consumed tanks of energy.
"This will be problematic, 'cause I have an idea which will require me to use Tactical Brilliance. Still, I can't be certain it will work," Kairo proposed.
"Wow, sounds like a cool name. What is it used for?" Leli asked in curiosity.
"To be brilliant, of course," Kairo said. He would be playing on the description of the card to put his plan into action.
"I can't wait to see that, Kairo. What's your plan to find the little girl?" Nyx joined in.