Chapter 18: 18. Unease

Kenzo Tsubasa

As an investigator, Kenzo has commonly been described as "cold," "heartless," or even "callous." He always puts the act of catching and punishing criminals above everything else. Many consider him to be calm, and calculating when dealing with others.

Kenzo feels pride when being described in such a way.

He often looks down on detectives such as George, Kris, and even Damian—he believes that they are prone to emotional outbursts, and anger when tensions are high.

Not him. He's always cool, and collected.

His job is to catch criminals, and to punish them. No matter what they did. Whether it was murder, or theft. He will never let his emotions interfere with his judgement.

Although he'd cut corners, bend rules, and take risks whenever necessary, everyone accepted his methods because they got results.

They saw him as someone who understood how the world worked. Someone who was willing to do whatever it took to solve cases.

In his opinion, those that disagreed with him should either try harder themselves, or shut up. He believed himself to be the best detective in the world—so he expected others to agree with him.

That's why he's so skilled at his job.

He's a professional...

At least, that's what Kenzo, and all of his colleagues believed.

Until three days ago.

Kenzo may not be a particularly social person, but he never treated his colleagues with disrespect, or hostility. Sure, he'd talk down on them sometimes, but he never acted aggressively towards them.

But now?

His perception in the eyes of his colleagues has been warped after just three days.

And the reason is quite simple.

Fate Reylin.

Kenzo had listened to Rise talk about her genius student for years.

Every single time he heard her speak of him—he imagined that he was just another annoying child. A bratty kid that needed to be put in his place.

He first met the child a little short of nine years ago. Back then, Fate had been nothing more than a cute, quiet kid. To Kenzo, he was nothing special. Just your average, everyday child.

Due to Rise being his sole investigative partner, he continued to see the child every couple years. Each time, he grew a tiny bit more mature.

And now, almost nine years later, Rise continues to speak of her genius student, but having listened to her for so long, he knew to ignore her whenever she mentioned the name Fate.

Having randomly been invited by Rise to her childhood friend's party, he was happy at the idea of Rise possibly wanting to further their relationship—he'd been interested in her for years. But he knew that trying to ask Rise out on a date would ruin the trust they'd built together after many years.

Instead of it being the date he wanted, it wound up being the first time he'd met a teenage Fate.

From the very beginning, he sensed something off about him. His attitude seemed to suggest that he held an inflated sense of confidence in himself, which made him seem arrogant to Kenzo. He wasn't rude, per se—but he certainly came across as condescending.

Rise had told him to treat him politely, and to keep an open mind—which he did. But he couldn't shake the feeling that the teenaged boy was too full of himself.

The brat had everything.

A rich family, genius level intellect—if Rise could be believed, looks, social grace, and was deeply admired by his partner of almost ten years.

He couldn't help but dislike him.

When Rise suddenly claimed that he could help solve the Painter case, and she wanted him to join the task force—Kenzo was at a complete loss.

Does she really believe her words?

Can she really think that a brat like Fate would help anything?

But then he realized.

If Fate was brought into the investigation, and he completely floundered... Then Rise would no longer have any choice but to acknowledge him as nothing more than a spoiled brat.

Fate would finally be exposed for the fraud that he truly was.

He'd been waiting for that moment for years.

That was enough motivation for him to accept the boy. He did everything he possibly could to bring the boy into the task force.

He wanted him to fail.

He knew that if the brat became a burden during the case, then Rise would no longer trust him, and would eventually lose faith in him.

But Fate...

He excelled.

Watching him use his natural charisma to easily win over those around him put Kenzo on edge from the moment he arrived.

Kenzo was waiting for him to lose his arrogant facade as soon as he saw the photos from the crime scenes. But the young man remained unfazed, and maintained his composure throughout the entire briefing.

No matter how much pressure Kenzo applied—the brat kept his cool.

Kenzo knew that this wasn't normal.

There was something seriously wrong with the boy.

Everyone else thought he was amazing.

Why shouldn't they? He's perfect.

To Kenzo, however, he appeared to be a spoiled child who was simply far too confident in his own abilities.

The only good thing about the kid was his intelligence, and his ability to manipulate people.

When he shared a map containing previously unknown locations of smuggling routes, hideouts, dead drops, and other information—it was something that shouldn't be possible.

How did he manage to obtain such sensitive intel? How did he know so much about the criminal underworld without ever actually participating in it before today?

This isn't right. This isn't supposed to happen.

The kid has to be lying. There's no way he knows about these things!

Kenzo felt rage build inside of him.

He hated this kid.

He despised him.

For the first time, Kenzo allowed his emotions to control his actions, and he lashed out at Fate while he was explaining his findings. The only thing his outburst accomplished was handing Fate the perfect opportunity to explain his work, while also ridiculing Kenzo.

The brat didn't deserve to be praised, and he definitely isn't fit to be part of the task force.

Kenzo regretted acting rashly, but he didn't regret lashing out at the brat.

He wanted to prove that Fate somehow made up everything—that everything he showed was a lie.

He began by talking to George, and Avery—the two task force members that know the most about the Triumvirate. Unfortunately for Kenzo, they both confirmed that the intel shared by Fate was all real, and accurate.

Even more unfortunately for him, they both kept voicing their praise for the young teen.

George said that Fate was one of the smartest kids he's seen since joining the task force, and that he'd love to get to know the kid better.

Avery agreed, saying that the brat might turn out to be a valuable asset once he matured a bit.

Left with no hope of proving Fate to be a liar, he voiced his complaints to Chief Alexia.

Chief Alexia brushed aside his concerns, telling him to focus on the case at hand. She refused to listen to any of Kenzo's pleas. When he refused to stand down, she relented, and explained Fate's source, and how he obtained the information on the Triumvirate.

Being forced to listen to everyone praise the kid, and seeing that even the Chief supported him; he felt nauseous.

What is everyone thinking?! What is happening here!?

Kenzo tried to convince himself that the Fate was lying—that he was making it all up, but deep down, he knew that there was no chance of that.

He started to realize that everything Rise said about him may actually be true.

But the idea that someone can be born with that level of natural talent...it's terrifying.

It's not fair. Why does fate smile upon some people, while others remain stuck in mediocrity?

He's spent his whole life using his ability as an investigator to make up for his lack of talent elsewhere, and now that he's faced with the prospect that a child possesses such extraordinary talents, he's starting to question whether his entire career was worth it.

Was all of this effort wasted?

Why did he put in so much effort getting permission for the damn kid to join... Had he done nothing—Rise's proposal may have been outright rejected—avoiding all of this.

"Aye, Kenzo, you have a minute?" Kenzo turns around, seeing Kris, and George standing behind him.

George nods his head towards the door leading outside, indicating that they want to talk in private.

***

As they walk outside, they walk right past Fate and Naoto carrying multiple large boxes, and a small cart.

As they pass each other, Fate glances back at them briefly, and gives them a polite nod in greeting before continuing on his way.

Why is everyone so willing to let a damn brat dictate the actions of law enforcement?

After leaving the building, they find a nearby bench to sit down on. They're surrounded by trees, giving them plenty of privacy.  They all begin smoking together; clearly Kris and George have something they want to talk about.

Kenzo starts to feel agitated as the silence drags on, and none of them say anything.

"So Kenzo... You've been awfully... On edge, recently." Kris says, looking at Kenzo curiously.

"I've never seen you get so damn worked up. This case is getting to all of us, I guess," George adds.

Kenzo takes a drag from his cigarette, letting out a sigh. "Yeah... It's gotten pretty bad lately. We haven't found anyone yet..."

"I s'pose that's true... Dang, this isn't gonna get us anywhere. I'll just cut to the chase, you and Fate need to reconcile whatever your issue is. You two fightin each other over the tiniest details isn't going to do shit for solving this case!" Kris exclaims.

Kenzo finally understands what's going on.

Kris is the kindest member of the task force, he does his best to befriend everyone regardless of their faults, and he does his best to solve conflicts that pop up among his colleagues. And George, well, he's a great officer—he may not be the smartest, but he's probably the most passionate person among the investigators, and he'll go out of his way to smooth over arguments within the team if it's affecting their ability to protect citizens.

They're worried that the friction caused by Kenzo's constant disagreements with Fate are causing unnecessary problems.

They want him to just be quiet, and accept Fate's help.

But Kenzo won't budge.

He can't accept Fate...but he realizes that he won't be allowed to continue bickering with him. He has no choice for now.

Seeing that Kenzo's gone quiet, George takes the opportunity to continue "Look, Kenzo, we understand that you don't like the kid—everyone can clearly see that. But he's our teammate for now, so it doesn't pay to act hostile toward him, right?"

Kenzo clenches his jaw tight, forcing himself to stop fuming. He tries to calm down, but he still feels angry.

"You're right... Give me some time. I'll find a way to work with Fate." Kenzo says with a sigh.

"Thank you. I get that it ain't easy working with the lad, especially when he's showin you up. But you gotta try, okay? You're the adult, remember?" Kris adds.

"Yeah..."

"Thanks for listening to our rant. Now, why don't you tell us what happened between you two? Something had to have happened to make you two act like this?" George ask

Kenzo opens his mouth to speak, but pauses for a moment.

"Well..."

***

Rise Lavinia

Rise returned to the HQ after another trip of picking up surveillance videos.

Compared to a few days ago, the whole HQ looks like a mess.

Following Fate's deductions, the Chief had them gather all available surveillance videos within the areas that Fate marked, and now, they've arranged dozens of monitors in order to look through all of them. They're working in teams of two in order to work as fast as possible.

She walks into the HQ, and sees that Chief Lynden is already there, waiting for her.

"Oh, hello Rise. Did you finish gathering all of the footage?" Chief asks, walking up next to Rise.

Chief Lynden notices the stack of physical drives in Rise's arms and looks surprised.

"We managed to collect almost every single security camera in the area, along with many hidden cameras as well. All of them should be uploaded onto the network shortly." Rise replies.

"Good job Rise, you really came through for us today. Thank you for taking care of that. That will help us greatly." Lynden smiles warmly at her subordinate.

"No problem ma'am."

Rise scans the room. It's only seven in the morning, but currently, every member of the task force is present, and accounted for. They're all paired up, and working diligently to watch their way through thousands of hours of surveillance footage.

Except there's one noticeable exception.

Fate's not here.

Rise feels a slight headache beginning.

He's the one that suggested this plan, yet he's been absent for most of it. Every member of the task force has been working on this plan for the last couple days, but he's effectively barricaded himself in a room, doing god knows what.

"Naoto, Liliana, do either of you know what Fate's been working on?" Rise can't help but ask.

Liliana shakes her head.

"Not exactly. He's always working alone or occasionally with Naoto—he might know better." She explains while readjusting her glasses.

Liliana, along with everybody else looks exhausted.

"Hm... Well, whatever he's been up to must be important enough to keep him away from this." Rise comments, then turns to Naoto. "Do you have any idea what he's been working on? He's barely left that room since the Chief gave him access."

Naoto shakes his head. "Nope, I'm sorry. He had me carry dozens of boxes in there, but I don't have a clue what was in them—or what he's using them for."

Rise furrows her brow slightly. "Thanks..."

She's boggled by Fate's behavior.

Is he trying to distance himself from us? Is he embarrassed by his intelligence?

Rise knows that he's been continuously working on this case, but she has no idea what goes on inside his head.

She's worried that he may be overdoing it—unlike the rest of the task force, he's only a teenager. If he pushes himself too hard, he could burn out.

That would hurt his development as an individual, which is dangerous considering his potential.

"I haven't been checking in on him lately, I'll go see if he's made any progress." The Chief appears to have overheard Rise's questions, and she begins walking towards the room that Fate's been using.

The Chief opens the door without knocking, she takes a single step into the room, and immediately pauses.

"You've got to be kidding me... What the hell..." She mutters under her breath, stunned by the scene in front of her.

Hearing her voice filled with disbelief, RIse, and her fellow task force members hurry to see what's going on—all curious to see if Fate's made progress again.

The room looks like a horror show.

Fate is sitting in the middle of the room, and surrounding him is thousands of photos from the case. There's hundreds of pictures laying on the floor around him, and even more of them are hanging from the walls, and ceiling.

The pictures are all focused on the mutilated corpses of Painter's victims.

Fate has managed to completely horrify the task force yet again.

"He's lost it..." Chief Alexia murmurs, staring at the gruesome images in shock.

"I-I told him this was a bad idea... I didn't think he'd actually do it..." Liliana mutters.

Everyone stares at him, shocked by what they're witnessing.

Even though he's technically supposed to be helping them solve the case, they're horrified by how far he's taken things.

Somehow, the focus of their concern seems unperturbed by their comments.

His blue eyes seem distant, as he continues to stare at the wall of photographs.

He hasn't moved a muscle, nor spoken a word in several minutes.

Fate, are you okay?

Seeing him so withdrawn, yet so focused on such horrific evidence makes Rise even more worried. What is he trying to figure out, what is he attempting to solve?

She hesitates, unsure whether she should interrupt him or not.

Before RIse can do anything, Chief Lynden decides that she needs to take action before he loses the sanity he has left.

"Fate... Do you need to talk about something?" She speaks loudly, making sure he hears her.

Her tone sounds authoritative, commanding.

She's hoping that if she talks to him directly, she'll be able to bring him back to reality.

Fate remains silent for a long time, seemingly ignoring her question.

"Come on lad, let's go outside for a couple minutes, get some fresh air." Kris tries to grab his shoulder, and lead him outside.

"I figured it out." His voice comes out cold, detached. He doesn't appear to notice anybody standing in front of him.

"What did you figure out?" Rise asks, confused.

"The message." He answers flatly.

Nobody responds to his statement.

They remain frozen in place, unable to react.

"What message?" Taking a few seconds to compose herself, the Chief steps towards Fate.

"There's a message hidden within the victims."

"Explain."

"I analyzed all of the photos—starting from the beginning. I started to notice numbers appearing throughout the photos. It's clear that it was deliberate, that they were placed there on purpose."

Everyone is listening closely, but his words don't register with any of them.

"It's all been a code. A simple cipher. Painter's been sending a message from the very beginning."

"What does that mean?" Damian barely manages to ask what everyone's thinking.

"It means that he's been sending us a message ever since his very first victim."

"How?" Kenzo sounds dejected.

"Every one of his victims had a number hidden somewhere nearby. It'd either be shown using their body, blood, or surroundings—but there'd be something to denote a number. I've been searching through every crime scene photo to find all of them." Fate continues, no one says a word to interrupt him.

"When I managed to locate all of the numbers, solving his cipher was nothing—he wanted his message to be discovered. And the message he sent is this—" Fate lifts a hand, and points towards the hologram at his side.

Quickly, all ten investigators cram themselves around it. At first, Rise just stares at it in disbelief. She sees what he's pointing at, and she can't make out what it is at first. It's twelve random numbers.

"It's coordinates." Liliana's voice echoes her thoughts.

"Yea... Looks like it." Rise agrees.

Chief Alexia looks at the hologram, and shakes her head.

"This is impossible..."

"That's amazing."

"We can trace it to a location, right?" Damian asks.

"Correct." Rise nods, her mind racing.

She gets the sense that they've found a new lead, one that they could follow up on. She's been doing pointless work with this case forever—but now she actually has a goal.

If Fate's wrong, then they'll have wasted their time. On the other hand, if he's right, there could be some evidence. Or maybe they could catch someone red handed! However, there's still a possibility that this is some kind of trap.

With everyone realizing what Fate found, they begin discussing how best to use it.

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Fate's expression remains unchanged throughout. He sits motionless, unmoving, staring straight ahead. A few team members go towards him to thank him for his hard work, and congratulate him. And the instant they do, he's suddenly back to his normal self.

Watching him change back to his normal, charismatic self, Rise finds it strange.

Why does he act so different depending on who he's talking to? Does he only feel comfortable when he's alone? Ultimately though, those thoughts only briefly enter her mind.

She can only think of one thing.

He's done it again.

Just when she thought he couldn't surprise everyone, he manages to pull off another stunt. She's glad that he found something, but the idea that there were coordinates hidden inside of their evidence is troubling.

How could they have not discovered something like that?

***

As the group starts talking amongst themselves, Rise walks towards Fate.

"Are you okay?" Rise asks him quietly.

Fate glances at her briefly.

"Yes, I'm good. I'm just going over everything again—I don't want to miss anything important." He replies

Rise frowns slightly. Something's bothering her about his response. He's smiling, but his smile doesn't feel real. As she watches, his expression changes into his usual stoic mask.

Something isn't right.

***

Soon after, they all begin discussing what they should do with the coordinates. Most agree to search the location, but to everyone's surprise, Fate disagrees.

"No. We shouldn't risk it." He insists, sounding firm.

"But why?!" George yells in frustration.

"Because we don't know if there's any danger involved. And it's not prudent to go somewhere based on the word of a serial murderer."

"A serial killer?! You call yourself a detective and you won't investigate the clues!?"

"I'm not an investigator. I'm an intern." Fate's cold response throws cold water on George's heated outburst.

George stops speaking, and sighs deeply.

"He's correct, it's not safe to bring a minor to something like this. This should be left to real investigators." Kenzo adds with a smug tone.

After several minutes of discussion, the team reaches a consensus.

"That's enough arguing for now. Here's the plan. Liliana, Aria, Kristopher, and Fate will all remain here. The team at HQ will continue the investigation into Painter with Kris supervising. The rest of us will travel alongside the police to the coordinates Fate found. Once there, we'll check the area out, and decide if it's worth investigating further." Chief Lynden states.

All of the other team members nod.

"Alright then, let's split up!" The Chief calls out.

The HQ team seems dejected, but they accept their orders and get to work. Meanwhile, the rest prepare themselves for whatever the Painter is leading them to.

Rise wants more time to speak with Fate, but she's forced to ready herself. She barely gets the chanced to say goodbye before leaving.

***

Law enforcement doesn't use automated cabins in order to more easily chase criminals. So, RIse is currently riding in a police vehicle accompanied by Kenzo, Damian, and Chief.

Kenzo is driving, and Damian is in the passenger seat next him, with Rise and Lynden in the back. They all remain quiet, with the exception of them checking their gear, and the Chief occasionally speaking through her communication equipment.

Their destination is near the outskirts of central New Eden, it's still heavily populated, but it's not as crowded as downtown.

"So where exactly are we going?" Damian asks curiously.

"It's close to an industrial park. It's also surrounded by a small forested area."

"Is there a chance that the coordinates lead us to a dead end?" Rise questions, wondering whether or not they're wasting their time.

"It would be better than continuing our current strategy of blindly chasing after leads. If we're lucky, this could be a major break."

"And if we aren't?" Rise asks, concerned.

"Then at least we tried."

"Sounds like you're confident that it'll pan out." Kenzo quips.

"Of course. I wouldn't be risking my life otherwise."

"Well, let's hope you're right." Rise smiles wryly.

Considering the fact that Rise was the one that wanted Fate to join the task force; she should be the one most confident in him, and the answers he finds.

However, she feels uneasy about this whole situation.

She knows that there's no point worrying about it now, but she can't help but wonder. Is he right? Will it turn out to be nothing? Could he have led them down the wrong path?

Rise is too scared to consider these possibilities, and instead focuses on keeping herself distracted.

For once, she's happy to have Kenzo sitting near her. Not because he's a friend, but rather due to his calm demeanor. He's been lashing out lately because of this case—but he seems to be his normal self again.

While the ride goes on, Rise begins to reflect upon what happened earlier today. After hearing Fate's discovery, Rise felt excited about the prospect of finally getting some solid information on this case.

Yet now, she's feeling less certain. The further they drive, the more it amplifies her fear of finding nothing helpful.

After all, why would Painter leave something useful for them?

"Hey Chief?" Rise hesitates, unsure of whether or not she should address her superior officer directly.

"Go ahead."

"I just want to say... Thank you." Rise tells her, without expecting a response.

Alexia nods slowly, and turns away from the window, facing Rise.

"Thank me?"

"You didn't treat Fate poorly, and you treat him as you would any other investigator."

"What makes you say that?"

"I saw how much you cared about him. That's rare."

"Caring about others is part of being a leader. But I wasn't trying to show favoritism. I was merely following procedure." Chief Lynden replies casually, but Rise notices her wry smile.

"Don't worry, I understand."

"Good."

***

Reaching their destination, RIse first notices multiple large warehouses, and a very tiny forested area surrounding them. In addition, there are several factories scattered around the place.

There's little cover between buildings, making it easy to spot anyone approaching from behind. The rest of the task force shows up, accompanied by multiple vehicles of regular law enforcement officers.

Chief Alexia steps out, followed closely by Rise. Everyone else follows suit.

"Everyone, spread out!" She commands loudly, her voice echoing across the area. "Let's move quickly, keep your eyes open for any suspicious activity."

"Gotcha boss." Damian responds, walking past Rise and heading towards the warehouse closest to them.

The chief takes a deep breath, and prepares herself. She's never seen the area before, and she hopes that she hasn't made the wrong decision.

"Okay, let's go!" With a quick salute, Chief Lynden begins moving towards the nearest building.

Rise hurries along beside her, and soon they arrive at the door. All Rise sees is a plain metal plate with a number carved onto it. She looks around nervously, hoping that it won't be locked.

Her worries prove unfounded however, since the doors swing wide open. Inside is a large room filled with rows of shelves, each containing various tools used in manufacturing.

The ceiling is high above, and there's no sign of anything unusual.

"Looks like nobody's home." Damian comments aloud.

Rise nods silently in agreement.

"Keep alert, let's be careful," Lynden warns everyone. She then proceeds to walk deeper into the factory.

BOOM! Suddenly, an explosion erupts from outside.

Damian immediately jumps back, startled.

"Did you hear that!? What the hell!?" He exclaims loudly.

Rise stares blankly at the doorway, unable to process what just happened.

"That came from team three's sector! George's sector! It's to the East, let's go!" Alexia shouts, turning around and running towards the exit.

Once outside, Rise spots George standing alongside multiple officers. They all look disorientated while standing in front of a small shed.

They all rush over to them.

"What happened!?" Alexia demands angrily.

"We went to clear this thing, but an explosion went off! No one was injured, well—no officer was injured."

"Explosion? Who did it? How'd it happen?" Damian inquires, stepping closer to inspect the scene himself.

Rise goes to look inside, and immediately sees the remnants of an explosive device. But that isn't even the part that shocks her the most—they all see that Painter left them an explosive, and also another mutilated body.

Rise's head whirls as she tries to comprehend what's happening. The bomb was meant for the officers, yet no one was hurt, and the person responsible had left them a message. Why would he do that?

"This is insane..." Rise whispers under her breath, completely bewildered.

Kenzo makes his way to look as well. "You guys got really fucking lucky. With how much power that bomb had, you guys should have been obliterated. Look at what it did to the corpse."

"Fuck!" Damian curses, covering his mouth with both hands.

"How many times has he done this already!?" George yells.

"This corpse has been here for quite a while, at least a month—we'll need forensic down here." Alexia manages to retain her calm voice, but her eyes reveal her anger.

Rise feels the same rage within her heart.

Who would do such a thing? And why?

As if answering her question, Chief Alexia approaches Rise. Her face remains composed, but her eyes betray her feelings.

"Come on, let's get back to headquarters. We're not going to recover anything from that explosion. Let forensics piece together what they can. We've wasted enough time here."

"Understood." The task force members present agree reluctantly.

They follow the chief back towards their vehicles. Rise walks next to Chief Lynden, who keeps her gaze fixed straight ahead.

Rise wants to say something, but decides against it.

Instead, she walks quietly in silence, thinking about everything that happened today. She can feel the frustration rising within her chest, threatening to burst out of control.

The moment they're about to get in their vehicle, Chief Alexia's communicator starts blaring out noise while flashing red.

"Shit, what now?" Chief Lynden exclaims.

Rise watches as she listens to her communicator. Her face flashes between rage, confusion, and relief, all at the same time.

Finally, she hangs up, looking furious.

"Damn it! Get in, I'm driving! Hurry up!" She starts yelling out commands with an urgency that Rise's never heard from her.

She continues to yell at everyone to hurry up, right before threatening to leave them behind if they're not quick enough.

***

Rise was forced to hold on for dear life while the Chief drove. It took them just shy of two hours to reach their current location, but it only took her thirty minutes to get them back to HQ... But she didn't stop there. She continued driving right by it.

As she continues to drive like a maniac, she suddenly starts talking. "Rise, and both of you—I need you to listen to everything I say very carefully, and I need you to wait until I finish before you say, or do anything."

Rise nods obediently. This is obviously serious. She starts to feel anxious. Something must be wrong.

"Okay. Kris, Liliana, and Aria have all sustained minor injuries, so don't worry about them. But Fate... He sustained heavier injuries—nothing life threatening, but he will require medical attention. As far as we know, he's fine."

"None of them are dead—at least, they won't be, not until I'm through with those idiots." She mutters as a silent afterthought.

Everyone feels shocked hearing that their colleagues were injured—even if the injuries were minor. However, when Lynden began mentioning Fate, Rise became extremely worried.

She felt her surroundings start to spin, and gripped the edge of the seat tightly. She doesn't dare to believe what she's hearing.

How could he get injured? He's at the HQ!

If he's injured, it's all her fault. She pressured him into helping her. He'd never be in this situation if not for her.

Despite her doubts, she knows that she needs to remain calm. Chief Alexia said that his injuries aren't life threatening, which means that he's still alive.

She forces herself to relax, taking deep breaths.

"I don't have the full story yet, but the four of them left HQ, and—well... They managed to capture Painter. Alive. We're going to the scene now."

***

Rise spent the rest of the ride in a daze. Her colleagues were the same after hearing that Painter was supposedly captured alive. They seemed relieved, but none of them dared to speak out loud.

No one could believe that the chase that had gone on for so long finally had a conclusion.

When they arrived at the crime scene, Rise continued to stay silent.

She saw dozens of police vehicles, hundreds of officials, and multiple medical cabins. There were people everywhere, including a crowd of reporters waiting eagerly for any news.

A group of detectives surrounded the scene, discussing things amongst themselves. A few approached Chief Lynden, asking questions about what happened.

Chief Lyndenspoke calmly with them, and explained what she knew. Afterward, she turned to Rise and asked her to stay calm.

After a few minutes spent searching, the task force was reunited—except for their intern.

"Where's Fate!?" Rise demanded urgently, unable to contain her emotions anymore.

"He's stable, and he'll make a full recovery," Alexia told her, calming her down.

"But where is he!?" Rise insists, becoming increasingly agitated.

"Calm down, I promise you he's safe. Now, let's talk to them first."

Rise finally took the opportunity to look towards the team that was with Fate. Kris looks unharmed, he has a few small scratches, and bruises—he doesn't look very injured physically, but he's clearly depressed about whatever transpired.

Liliana's glasses are broken, and she has tears in her eyes—but she's otherwise unharmed.

Aria looks worse than either of them, but she's not severely injured. One of her arms is wrapped up in bandages, and she appears to be in pain. Rise can tell that she's exhausted; she's leaning heavily on someone for support.

When Rise came here, she was ready to tear into them for letting Fate be anywhere near an active criminal—and allowing him to be hurt.

Now though, seeing them in this state, she feels nothing but sadness.

"Are they okay?" Rise asks, trying to hide her own anxiety.

"Yes, yes they're fine, please calm down." Lyden replies firmly.

"Alright, alright. Then, where's Fate!?" Rise snaps out of it, feeling guilty for being angry earlier.

"Fate's currently over there in the medical cabin, he's getting patched up. Let's go see him together."

Alexia leads the way towards the medical cabin, followed by the other members of the task force.

"We're coming too." The trio is clearly forcing themselves—but even Chief Alexia doesn't have the heart to tell them to rest.

As Rise takes one last look behind her, she notices Kenzo.

His expression is terrifying. His eyes burn with an indescribable emotion. It scares Rise more than anything else. She turns away quickly, not wanting to risk meeting his gaze.

Why does he look like that? Is he angry that Fate was attacked by someone like Painter?

***

Inside the medical cabin, Rise finds Fate lying on a bed. He currently has multiple nurses, and doctors around him applying stitches, and various medicines.

Rise approaches cautiously, unsure of how to react.

"F-Fate? You awake?" She starts with a quiet, wavering voice.

Hearing Rise's voice, and the noise created from the task force, his eyes flutter open.

His eyes slowly focus on Rise.

"Oh... Hey Rise." Fate weakly smiles.

Rise freezes upon hearing those words.

Is he really smiling?

He gets injured by the most wanted killer in New Eden—manages to somehow capture him, and the best he can say is "Hey," and smile?

What kind of nonchalant response is that supposed to be?

"Um... Are you alright?" Rise stutters awkwardly.

Fate looks at her, nodding slightly.

"Yeah, I think so. My arm hurts, but aside from that—"

"That's good." Rise says, accidentally cutting him off.

It sounds like he's telling her he's alright. But then again, maybe he really isn't. Fate always lies about his condition.

Seeing the uncertainty written across Rise's face, Fate clarifies himself.

"Well, my arm definitely hurts, but it shouldn't take much longer before they finish stitching me up. I'll probably be stuck here for a bit, but I'll be fine soon enough."

Rise hesitates for a moment before responding. What should she ask him? Should she apologize? Or should she try to comfort him somehow?

Fate's always been so strong—like he can hold the world up on his shoulders without flinching.

But seeing him laying in a medical bed, getting stitches, makes Rise realize just how fragile he truly is.

Shouldn't she show some concern?

She wants to be able to help, but she feels completely powerless.

"I... I'm glad you're doing w-well." Rise tries to find the right words.

Her voice comes out soft and shaky, like she's afraid that speaking loudly might shatter him. She ends up gently holding his hand.

"Thank you." Fate responds simply.

Then, Rise notices that Fate seems to be staring at something behind her. When she turns to look, she sees Chief Lyden, and the rest of the task force waiting to speak.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to interrupt."

"Don't worry about it." Fate assures her, waving his hand dismissively.

Rise returns her attention back to Fate, and whispers: "So um..."

"You want to talk?" Fate prompts her.

"Umm... Yeah." Rise nods.

"Well, we can all have a chat together. Now that everyone's gathered, I can be given the full story of what exactly all of you were doing here." Chief Alexia is clearly happy that Fate's okay, and that they've successfully caught Painter. But she wants answers.

However, Rise wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to hear the details.

Before answering any questions, Fate asks one of his own to Lynden.

"With that man being captured, will he be interrogated?"

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