“How did you know to come to this particular alley?” Detective Coye Han asked about the alley scene but not as a sympathetic investigator. His skin was a dark eggshell color, almost an off grey. Large light violet patches crept up to cover a large portion of the left side of his face.
His clothes were not in disrepair, just very well used. A dark green hat and matching wind coat with the proud symbol of the yellow West Drop Sunflower just under his left collar. His eyes were keen but struggled to stay open. He had rushed into this scene as a response to their call. His flashing communicator spoke that he would be rushing off to another scene soon.
“I was checking all the alleys,” Catlin replied, “We stopped when we saw this.” She pointed to all the bloodstains and slash marks in the alley.
Catlin had been separated from Neely who was around the alley’s corner talking to another detective, basic procedure. However, this was the third way these same questions were asked. While waiting for original questions, Catlin’s focus shifted to more important matters.
She had a wonderful view of guards searching through the stolen gear and the guards were acting strangely because of it. Initially, each item was so light that the guards couldn’t help but lift the items high enough for Catlin to see. Strangely, each item gained its original weight after Catlin was convinced that she didn’t make it.
“Who was it you say you were looking for again?”
“Oh, a friend I met on the shuttle.”
The detective caught the bit of hesitation. “If she is your friend, why did she run away from you?”
“She didn’t run away from me she ran into the city. Loads of people saw her run this way, with someone else.”
“Someone that wasn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“And you followed?”
“Only after I learned that she may be attacked.”
The detective tried but couldn’t find any way to refute her response. As such, there was no reason for him to hold her, yet. He had the statement stored well in his mind and on a recorder. “You’re free to go but stay around for a bit,” the detective added in a mock tour guide voice, “See the sights.”
Catlin shifted her attention to the detective just in time to catch the dismissal, “Sure.”
She didn’t hear everything he had just said but it wasn’t important. She was quite done with the alley; satisfied that none of the gear she had made was here.
Catlin’s gear products were good, really good but were not the best. Trolls that would steal armor from Champions would only keep the best items and discard the rest, in a pile. She released an audible sigh following the logic that Brisa had not met with these gankers. That was almost enough info for now.
Neely could be right again. Brisa could be doing fine but it’s better to be sure.
Catlin walked around the corner where Neely’s interview was finishing as well. At the news of her finding, she expecting to see his common “I told you so” face. What she saw instead was a face that renewed concern.
Neely was emotionless and stared through Catlin’s eyes as she spoke. His tone was unusually stone cold as well, “We should head to an inn. It’s getting late.”
From past experiences, Catlin knew not to argue with Neely when he got like this. Instead, she followed his cue, “Are there any nearby.”
In response, Neely revealed a keypad under the armor on his arm. After a little button pushing, a 3D hologram of the city projected from his armor into the space between them. Solid skyblue and crimson dots marked their current location in the city and the places they had visited in the city appeared in much greater detail.
Hotels throughout all of West Drop were shaded in green standing out among the hollow grey buildings they had not gone near. Each hotel was named and a set of rankings were represented by lines of gold, blue, and black dots just above the roofs. Catlin knew that in a city like this the safety of the hotel was the most important value.
Catlin ignored the gold dots; price was not an issue. She looked for blue dots as the hotels needed to have available rooms. However, she focused on the hotel’s black dots. Also, a high top floor was a must. She naturally chose the hotel with the least black dots and a high top floor.
Not questioning her choice at all, Neely shut down the image and started running through the city again. Catlin followed but her thoughts went elsewhere.
Catlin immediately worried about Brisa again. She needed to know if Brisa was doing well. The inability to know burned in her mind. Sure, Brisa hadn’t run into these gankers but there were other threats to be had in a city such as West Drop.
However, these worries had to wait for another day. Catlin had seen Neely in this mood many times since he had learned his Holy Talent Set. She had ignored Neely exactly once when he was like this. She was going to follow him this time.