Ayana, Feela and Hassan looks at the flyer intensely.
Kaizen: "Why's everybody shocked? What does it say?"
Ayana: "The reward... it's a Shingeto painting!"
Kaizen: "Uhm..."
Bonnie: "It's like this rare painting."
Hassan: "Not just a rare painting. It's one of a pair of the rarest paintings in the world. And apparently they know where it is. This has to be fake, right?!"
Kassius stands up and walks away, which confuses the group. As he heads towards the bathroom, he sees Arnold sat on the ground, holding the flyer. Kassius walks up to him.
Kassius: "You saw it..."
Arnold: "Did he agree to join?"
Kassius: "Yeah."
Arnold: "...We have a week left. We should spend all our remaining time on preparing for the game."
As Arnold walks past Kassius, a strange coldness rushes between them. Ignoring it, Kassius walks on too and they head back to the group.
Hassan: "Everything alright?"
Kassius: "Yep, it's fine."
Arnold: "Can I ask you something?"
Hassan: "Hmm? Sure."
Arnold: "Is the game always the same?"
Hassan: "It's been the same for a while. So I think so, yes."
Arnold: "Could you explain the rules so we can plan ahead?"
Hassan: "That's a good idea. Now, bear with me. It's all from memory. So, the game basically is about item collecting. All teams are brought to a place and once the game starts, we're supposed to go around looking for the valued items in the game. At the beginning, they'll tell us what the items are so that's fine. Once a set time is reached, the items will be given a value of ranking. And for whatever amount of time we are given, we can take someone else's item, or protect our own."
Kassius: "So we just take the highest value and keep it and win. That's simple enough."
Hassan: "If only it were. But there are things in place that complicates things. One is that the number of items is half the number of chosen teams. So if half the teams have no items..."
Kaizen: "Even low rank items can become targets."
Hassan: "Exactly. The next one is even trickier. For a time, the item has one value but after the time ends, the values switch."
Ayana: "How many times does it switch?"
Hassan: "Well, every item should become the highest at one point in the game. So however items there are, is how many switches there will be. Oh, also, you are allowed to have upto four of the items. So a round can get you multiple points. And at the end, they stop the game and announce the three winners."
Kassius: "Is the game always in the same place?"
Hassan: "Nah. I've watched many and they switch it up every time."
Arnold: "Is each individual only allowed one item?"
Hassan: "Yes. Only one per person."
Arnold: "Then I think we should split into teams."
The group continue discussing their plan. As the days pass, they send in the flyer and continue practicing with Presence. Kassius finally grasps the feeling and fluctuates his Presence around his hand. Kaizen follows suite as he fluctuates his Presence around his hand, causing his bat to fluctuate. Arnold, at an accelerated rate, catches the feeling quicker than the other two and manages to fluctuate his Presence around his hand as well. On the day of the announcement, Hassan rushes into the hall and sees the group. He runs up to them.
Hassan: "Yo! Did I miss it?!"
Kaizen: "No, they haven't announced it yet."
Hassan: "Nice. What's with the papers?"
Kassius: "Well, we want to make the Manifesto thing but we're still thinking, I guess."
Hassan: "Oh, calm. Don't forget that Fundamental condition. I had to learn the hard way. My head was aching for days-"
Radio: "And now, a donation message from 'FavouriteNumber' that says 'Read these numbers and tell me your favourite one: 12, 343, 500, 55, 75, 86..."
Arnold nervously holds the pen in his hand.
Hassan: "Come on..."
Radio: "...92, 305 and 77'."
Hassan: "Yes, 305! Our flyer was chosen."
They all get cheerful, and Arnold breathes a sigh of relief. Kassius turns to him.
Kassius: "See? Now all we have to do is win."
Arnold: "Yeah, you're right..."
Radio: "The next donation is from 'Howard Howie' and they ask 'Come review my coffee shop CoffeeCrush in Horest, it's opening in four days at 6AM'. If I end up in the city, I'll try to but I may forget. But thank you for your donation."
Ayana: "Horest? That's a bit away."
Kassius: "Where is it?"
Hassan: "It's in Windsaw."
Kaizen: "Can't we ask Dor'al to take us there?"
Hassan: "I mean, we can. But it depends if he even can. He's fairly busy most of the time. I'll ask him."
Hassan pulls out his phone and lifts it to his ear.
Hassan: "... Yo, Do. You got a slot any time in the next three days?... Yeah, that works... Oh, that's calm, I guess. We'll figure something out. Thanks. Take care."
Kassius: "What did he say?"
Hassan: "He said he can take us on the day before. But we can't get help back for a while. He's pretty booked for the month. That's alright?"
Kassius: "Sure, it's not a problem."
Hassan: "Ok, so we need twenty thousand Geld, each."
Kassius: "Twenty?!"
Hassan: "Would you rather travel on foot? Besides, if we land in the top three, the additional money prizes can cover the losses."
Bonnie: "Guys, check it. I found a good job."
Bonnie walks over to the group and shows them the listing.
Kaizen: "Additional support for heist."
Bonnie: "May involve encounters with ACO officials. See, it's perfect. I'm basically guaranteed to fight people."
Kaizen: "I think you skipped the word 'May'..."
Bonnie: "There's a number on there too. But I need a phone."
Hassan: "Uhm... There. You can get one from over there. Oh, did you guys tell them?"
Kassius: "Tell us what?"
Ayana: "There's a difference between the phones from here and a regular phone."
Kaizen: "What's the difference?"
Ayana: "In a general sense, they are made specifically so that no third party can intercept stuff between you and another person. It's the best way to privately contact someone these days."
Hassan: "So don't go and use some random other phone for anything Tempora related. You guys should get one now, since Dor'al is the only person who can bring you back here anyway."
Kassius: "Do we need anything for it?"
Hassan: "Well, I think ten thousand per phone... oh, and a cheek swab."
Kaizen: "A what? Why would they need that?"
Hassan: "No clue. Let's place an order so you can get them when we come back."
The group head to the teller. As the teller faces them, Hassan leans onto the counter.
Hassan: "Yo, can I get four Mantle application sets?"
Teller: "Cash or account withdrawal?"
Hassan: "Withdrawal."
The group give their details and money is extracted from their accounts. As they move out of the way, they fill in the forms and do the swabbing. After waiting for a short while, they reach the front of the line again and hand in their applications. The teller takes the forms and the group walks away from the screen.
Hassan: "Ok, so in a week or so, just come back here and they'll hand it to you with your Link Number. It's like your phone number."
For the remaining time, the group stay within Tempora, waiting for the day before the event, as they practice with Presence. However, across the world a few days ago, the news of the Black Sand Bandits collapse had been spread. In Karkabat, a man runs through the village in a hurry. He yells at the top of his lungs,
"Kaizen!"
As he's stopped by others, he catches his breath. A crowd of people begin forming around him. A few moments pass, and as the crowd looks behind, the Mistress walks through, along with Ulqora.
Mistress: "What's going on?"
Man: "Mistress, it's your son."
Mistress: "Kaizen?"
He hands her the newspaper in his hand, pointing to the section. As she reads, she slowly smiles but catches herself.
Mistress: "He's on green notice. What does that mean?"
Man: "If I'm not mistaken, it means he's a criminal."
The crowd murmurs on, surprised by the news. Ulqora walks up closer.
Mistress: "What of the three that were with him?"
Man: "Hmm... yes, right here. Kassius Moore and Arnold Jenovise are on yellow notice. Bonnie Josephine on green notice."
Ulqora's face lights up as she hears their names. Mistress herself smiles upon seeing this.
Ulqora: "Can I have the paper, please?"
Man: "Sure, here you go."
Ulqora takes the paper and runs off, away from the crowd.
Mistress: "Alright, everybody back to work. We need to finish construction soon."
As everyone slowly disperses, Ulqora finally reaches a small home. She enters hastily, and runs into a room, seeing Valeria lying down in bed.
Ulqora: "Valeria! Look!"
She excitedly hands her the paper. Valeria sits up and reads it. The more words she sees, the more bewildered she gets.
Valeria (in head): "Heh... they actually did it..."
As all things develop smoothly in Karkabat, the opposite can be said for Vagis. Over across the ocean, near the Northern coast, groups of people stare into the horizon as ships start to close in. These ships were not recognisable to the people. As they got really close, three letters painted on their sides became visible to the eye.
"A.C.O"
The ships dock and groups of officers walk from harbour to land. There, they are met by a group of officers.
Vagis officer: "Pleasure to see you all."
ACO Captain: "Likewise. So, this is the famous Vagis."
Vagis officer: "Yes, we are currently in the Northern section of our city. We'll escort you to the temporary ACO facilities as requested."
As the officers escort the ACO away, the news spreads fast around the city. Outside of Furantur, Mikey stares at the rubble of what remains of the Furantur building.
Mikey: "Furantur is gone... does that mean... we're stuck here?"
Demetri: "I... I don't know. We'll figure something out, hopefully."
Mikey, with a sorrowful look, walks on, along with Demetri. As the ACO walk around, the people of Vagis nervously onlook. Unexpected visitors roam their streets with intentions they are not fully aware of. As for Furantur, as an institution, it has been permanently dismantled. Vagis begins its transformation, and it's future is unclear.