"My god... what the hell is that?!"
Michael leaned in, his eyes widening as he examined the severed head.
"Don't touch it!" Mora shouted, halting Michael just as his hand reached out.
She grabbed a pair of gloves from the small drawer of her desk. With practiced precision, she lifted the candle resting atop the severed head. She then placed the grisly object into a tube sealed with a valve at the top. Once the head was secured inside, Mora plugged the cable trailing from the back of the cylinder into her workstation.
She sat back down, her fingers flying across the keyboard. On her large monitor, a loading bar appeared, indicating the system was analyzing the biological material inside the tube.
Michael sat beside her, staring at the screen with intense focus.
As the loading bar hit 100%, the monitor displayed a scatter of fingerprints retrieved from the severed head. Mora began analyzing them one by one, isolating the clearest prints and cross-referencing them with the Spectre City citizen database.
"Enola, Louvrine, Kim Min Ja, Anula, and Cindy. Aren't these the sex workers and strip dancers from the Pink House?"
Michael folded his arms, one hand drifting up to stroke his chin.
"I don't know, maybe? You're the one always messing around with the city database."
"No, I'm definitely right. They work at the Pink House. But... why would they send us this head? And..." Mora typed furiously again. "Who exactly is this victim? I can't find a match."
On the massive screen in front of them, the words "Data not found" flashed in bold red letters.
Michael patted Mora on the shoulder.
"You keep working on that. I need to move Toki to his room before he wakes up."
Mora glanced at him.
"Alright. I need to focus on this anyway. I'll fix that broken window later."
---
Raden woke up in the middle of nowhere. He looked around, but his vision was swallowed by absolute darkness.
What is this? Where am I?
Raden's thoughts echoed through the void.
He tried to walk through the emptiness. As he moved forward, memories began to float around him, drifting like debris. They were accompanied by a cacophony of voices that made his ears ring in pain.
Raden stopped in front of one specific memory. It showed an old man with a katana strapped to his right hip. He was kissing his wife's forehead.
"I am grateful to have a wife like you," the man said softly.
A young boy and girl ran up to him.
"Dad, do you have to go to the castle again?" the boy asked, his face full of innocence.
"Yes, son. Dad has to go back to the castle. You take good care of your mother, okay? Behave yourselves," the man replied, gently patting the children's heads.
The man turned and walked away, leaving his wife and children behind.
The moment he vanished from sight, a ninja appeared from nowhere. With a blur of speed, a katana flashed, and the heads of the mother and children were severed in an instant.
The memory dissolved into dust, scattering into the void.
Raden wept as the scene faded.
Suddenly...
The world around him turned a blinding, stark white. Raden squinted, dazzled by the intensity. He blinked his eyes open slowly, his vision blurry. The old man from the memory appeared before him, slowly unsheathing his katana.
He embraced Raden with his left arm and whispered, "Raden, your place is not here. Wake up. Return to your world."
With his right hand, the man drew his blade and swung. He slashed through Raden's neck with terrifying speed. Raden's eyes went wide. He felt the phantom pain of the blade slicing through his flesh.
*SLASH!
"NOOO!!!"
Raden screamed, jolting upright in bed, clutching his neck.
It took a few moments for his breathing to slow. He looked around and realized he was back in his room.
He turned to his right and jumped slightly. Mora's face was right there.
"Oh, you're awake? Huh... finally," Mora said casually. She was leaning her cheek against her palm, staring at him. Two drones hovered silently above her head, mimicking her slight movements.
Raden tried to get up, but a sharp sting shot through both his legs.
"Hey, don't get up yet. Your legs aren't fully healed," Mora said, putting a hand on his shoulder to guide him back down. Raden sank back into the soft pillows, grimacing as he fought back the pain.
He looked toward the large window beside him. Soft orange sunlight pierced the glass, casting a warm reflection on his face.
"How long have I been asleep?"
Mora thought for a moment. "About... a week, I think?" she answered, sounding unsure.
Raden stared out the window, his expression deepening into something profound. He looked calm. After a while, his gaze shifted to his right hand, where his index finger was heavily bandaged. For several minutes, he said nothing, just inhaling the cool, climate-controlled air of the room.
"I've been wondering," Mora broke the silence. "Why were you so tempted when I offered you food back then?"
Raden offered a thin smile. He was still looking away from her, watching the city outside.
"I'm not exactly poor. But I'm not rich, either. Day to day, my father, mother, and I would eat sour vegetable soup, bread crumbs, or most often, just fill our stomachs with tap water. It wasn't rare for the whole family to go one or two days without eating because my father hadn't earned enough. The best food I ever ate was always on Sundays, when my father and I fished in the river and caught something. That was his day off, though sometimes he worked overtime."
Mora went quiet. A small, sad smile touched her lips as her own memories surfaced.
"That's why when you mentioned food... I guess it was one of those rare moments I felt I couldn't miss. I didn't know what you were actually going to give me. But just hearing the word made me happy. I hope you understand that."
Mora's eyes glistened, but she quickly wiped them before a tear could fall.
"I understand what you went through. That feeling... it's a hunger you can't really put into words, but it drives you, doesn't it?"
"Yeah. Something like that."
Mora turned to look out the window as well. She breathed in the air slowly. A gentle breeze from the ventilation system ruffled their hair, making the moment feel strangely peaceful.
For a while, they just watched the world outside. Flying cars zipped past in blur of light. The distant hum of Spectre City grew louder, the sound of millions of lives grinding against each other. Smog from vehicles and industrial zones drifted by, obscuring a third of the city in a gray haze.
"Mora, am I... weak?" Raden asked suddenly. "I heard you yelling at that bookstore clerk because you couldn't find what you wanted. Then, that group of people offered me the book. Next thing I know, I'm waking up here."
Mora looked at the nightstand beside Raden's bed, tracing her finger along the edge.
"Yeah, I know how you ended up beaten black and blue. I saw the footage. And no, I don't think you're weak."
Mora's phone, tucked inside the chassis of one of her drones, buzzed. The drone immediately descended, hovering right in front of her face, and opened a compartment to reveal the device.
Mora grabbed it. It was a call from Razor. She answered.
"Yes, sir. What is it?"
"Mora, Michael says your HQ is being terrorized. How did that happen?" Razor's voice was sharp on the other end.
"Um... we don't know the cause yet, sir. We're investigating the motive. So far, the only clue is that the terrorist, someone named Rossie, is demanding we hand Michael over."
"Hand over Michael?"
"Yes. In the letter they left, they demanded Michael come to them. I don't know what they want. But these people... they seem to be sex workers or strippers from the Pink House—that famous brothel."
"Right, Michael explained that to me. I want to see photos of the severed head. Can you video call me?"
Holding the phone to her cheek, Mora stole a quick glance at Raden, then looked away.
"I'm currently in Toki's room, sir. Once I'm back at my desk, I'll send the video and photos."
"Is that so? Alright, I'll wait. In the meantime, put Toki on the phone."
Mora poked Raden's shoulder until he turned to face her.
"What?"
"It's a call from Razor. He's my boss and Michael's. Answer it," she whispered.
Raden took the phone and held it to his ear.
"Hello, Mr. Boss. It's me, Toki. Um, is something wrong?"
Razor laughed briefly at the clumsy greeting.
"You can call me Sir, or just Razor. I don't like being called Boss."
"Right, Sir. Sorry. What's up?"
"Have you recovered from your injuries?"
"Y-yeah, I'm a bit better. My legs just need a little more time."
"Oh? Hahaha, good. I hope they heal fast. Because I have a routine mission lined up for you, alongside Mora and Michael."
Raden sighed.
"Yes, Sir. Mora mentioned something like that when I first got here. But... can I ask what the details of the mission are?"
"Oh, you want the details now?"
"Yes, Sir. I'd like to know what I'm getting into."
"Hahaha, fair enough. I'll tell you. Mora is going to receive a list of people with significant overdue debts. You and Michael are going to go out into the field and collect."
"Oh, so I'm going to be a debt collector?"
"Yes, more or less..."
"If I may ask, why do we need two people? Can't Michael handle it alone?"
"Good question. But... do you know what the people in this city are like? They might bring knives, bombs, guns, or maybe... supernatural powers like yours. They will fight back until the collectors are desperate enough to give up."
Raden swallowed hard.
"H-how do you know about my powers, Sir?"
Mora, who had been idly playing a game on a holographic UI projected from her drone, instantly closed the window and focused entirely on Raden's conversation.
"Hahaha, did you not know that the footage of you slaughtering those police officers has spread everywhere?" Razor replied.
Raden's face went pale. Panic flooded his eyes.
"But relax. Your identity is completely safe within Indi(e)go, as long as you obey me and run your missions normally. You know... the Indi(e)go corporation I built has become a monster. We are feared, yet essential to the citizens of Spectre City. We have products, loans, services, we are everywhere. People here cannot escape what Indi(e)go owns. So, don't hesitate to hunt them back as long as you are with us," Razor added.
"Um, what do you mean by 'hunt them back'? I don't understand."
"For those who refuse to pay their debts," Razor said, his voice dropping to a flat, cold tone. "You must kill them without mercy."
Raden's eyes bulged. His hand began to tremble violently around the phone.
"K-K-Kill... them?" Raden stammered, his lips trembling.
"Yes... Kill them."