Medea turned to the screen at once. "You have received a new message," the robotic female voice said.
She adjusted her glasses and opened the letter.
Message from Lyss:
Medea,
A man in black has appeared in the area, and I'm certain he's dangerous. This needs to be reported immediately. Have someone take action before he makes another move. We can't afford to wait.
—Lyss
"A human?" Medea repeated, clearly caught off guard by Lyss's message. "So there really are more people moving against Vanguard Institute than we thought."
Her expression hardened almost immediately. She turned on her heel, her coat sweeping behind her as she grabbed the lever and pulled it down.
At once, her voice rang through Vanguard Institute's warning system.
"Attention all Vanguard personnel—this is Medea. An unidentified human threat has been confirmed in the area. This is not a drill. All available units are to remain alert and prepare for immediate response. Theo, Masato, and all active personnel, report in and stand by for further orders. Do not engage carelessly. Treat the target as hostile until confirmed otherwise."
Masato glanced up at the radio mounted above the council room door and pushed his shades up slightly.
"A human?" he said, clearly caught off guard. "Aw, you gotta be kiddin' me. What the hell is all this now? Third alarm this week. This place is gettin' outta hand."
He looked off to the side and spotted Theo standing nearby with his arms crossed.
"More trouble, huh?" Masato muttered with a sigh. "Man, you really can't catch a break."
Theo said nothing. He simply reached for his jacket and slipped it on before heading for the exit.
"Yo, hold up, Theo," Masato called, quickly moving after him until he caught up and reached for his shoulder. "Leave this one to me. You already got enough cases on your plate."
Theo glanced at him as they kept walking.
"That doesn't matter," he said. "We don't know how far this goes, who this man is, or what he's capable of. If you want this field assignment, come with me. Otherwise, stay behind."
Masato clicked his tongue under his breath. That sounded just like Theo. He was never the kind of man to turn away from a mission once it was put in front of him.
"A'ight then, I'm comin' with you," Masato said. "Dahlia and the others can keep watch here at the Institute. Ain't no point leavin' the place wide open."
Medea addressed one of the scientists from across the research room as she approached the central workstation.
"What is the current status?" she asked. "Have you recovered anything useful?"
The man at the monitor kept his attention on the screen as he answered. "I accessed the public and municipal camera feeds covering Shinsei District. Most of the area has already been evacuated, and civilian movement away from the zone was relatively fast." He paused briefly, then added in a lower tone, "There were still casualties."
Medea stepped beside him and folded her arms, her gaze settling on the camera feed now displayed across the monitor wall.
"At least the damage was contained more quickly than it could have been," she said.
Then her focus sharpened.
A man was moving through the damaged street below, unhurried, scanning the area as though he were searching for someone. Even from the camera's distance, his presence carried an unsettling kind of purpose.
"That is the individual Lyss reported," Medea said, her voice steady.
She leaned slightly closer to the screen, studying his face more carefully. Something in her expression shifted—small, but noticeable enough that the others in the room caught it immediately.
"…No," she said under her breath.
A few of the researchers looked toward her at once, confused by the sudden change in her tone.
"Dr. Medea?" one of them asked. "Do you recognize him?"
She did not answer immediately. Her eyes remained fixed on the screen, as though she were trying to confirm something she had not expected to see standing in the middle of Shinsei.
After learning the situation, Medea used the first quiet moment she had to contact Theo again.
"This is Medea. Come in."
Already beyond the academy grounds, Theo and Masato stood beside their motorcycles. Theo adjusted his gloves as Masato was already seated on his bike.
"I'm here," Theo said. "Go ahead with your report."
Medea didn't waste a second. "I looked into the suspect in Shinsei District. His name is Damon Crowhurst. I found the name in old beta reports tied to Project Zero's research foundation, back before the facility lost control."
The moment she said it, Theo felt his throat tighten.
"You're saying—"
Medea cut in before he could finish. "Yes. He was one of their test subjects. We still don't know exactly what kind of experiments were being conducted in that lab, so don't underestimate him. He may be more dangerous than any Ghoul we're dealing with now."
A thin layer of sweat formed along Theo's brow. Just hearing Damon's connection to Project Zero was enough to put him on edge.
"Understood," he said. "Thanks for the warning, Medea. We'll report back once the job's done."
With no more time to waste, Theo swung himself onto his bike. Masato glanced at him from the side, immediately catching the change in his expression.
"Yo… what's with that look?" Masato asked. "You're starting to freak me out."
Theo started the engine, and a second later Masato did the same.
"The man in Shinsei was a test subject from the Project Zero laboratory," Theo said. "We're done wasting time. Let's move."
Medea lifted a hand to her earpiece and opened a direct line.
"This may sound unusual," she said, her tone still measured, "but I want every available camera in Shinsei redirected onto him. No gaps."
The request drew a few confused looks around the room.
One of the women holding a notepad glanced up from her notes. "For what purpose? We already have a live feed locked on his position."
Medea didn't take her eyes off the screen. "That is insufficient," she replied. Then, more firmly: "Do not question the instruction. Carry it out."
That ended it.
No one pushed further. The room shifted into motion almost immediately as the team rerouted traffic cameras, storefront feeds, and public surveillance lines across Shinsei, stacking new angles onto the monitor wall so they wouldn't lose sight of him.
Once it was done, the room fell quiet again.
Medea stood in front of the wide spread of screens with her arms folded beneath her chest, watching the man from angle after angle as he moved through the district.
For a long moment, she said nothing.
Then, just barely above a whisper, she spoke.
"He was supposed to be dead…"
One of the researchers looked over at her, catching the line and the expression that came with it. It was subtle, but enough to tell him she knew more than she was saying.
"…Damon Crowhurst," Medea said quietly, almost to herself, once the others had turned back to their stations.
The name stayed in the air for a moment.
She kept her eyes on the screen, watching him move through the ruined street, her expression unreadable now that the initial surprise had passed.
"So you survived," she murmured.
Her gaze narrowed slightly, not with fear, but with focused interest.
"Let's see," she said under her breath, "how your body responded to the treatment."
To be continued...