The dead man's name was Gordon. A nice old man who had recently lost his wife. His son, the man with bloodshot eyes, was called Unick. After the conversation ended, he came to ask for something to cover his father. He filled Elyas and the rest on the details as he gave them a short apology.
Dany gave him a set of their spare clothes. From his mannerism, it seemed like he still harboured resentment. But Unick didn't seem to mind. He kept an unbothered face as he told them about his father and asked for cloth. But Elyas could see through it.
As Unick dragged Gordon's body to a corner of the room, even from across the office, Elyas could see his shaking hands. He saw the man cover his father's body, but never look in his distant eyes.
Much like Unick, most hadn't gotten much rest last night. Yesterday had been a hell to live through, and now, it had only gotten worse. What they thought of as a simple breakout, had turned into a disaster unheard of in the entire history of the Protocol. And currently, they were at the center of that dreadful happening.
To think that there were multiple…
To think that one of the Anomalous Artifacts had the ability to disguise itself… These thoughts made everyone's blood run cold. But the fact that they had not even suspected these possibilities, pointed them towards a horrible fact. It was smart. Inhumanly so.
The shapeshifter was capable of mimicking the mannerism of the person so perfectly, that not even their coworkers and friends would notice something amiss.
Their priority had shifted from simply surviving till a group of third or higher grade Enforcers got dispatched, to having to detect, and then deal with a shapeshifter among themselves.
But how were they supposed to do that?
Everyone present in the office of section X was currently grappling with this conundrum. Should I suggest a voting system? Elyas considered it for a while, but discarded the idea at the end.
If I suggest something to get rid of suspicious people, they might think I'm trying to whittle out the numbers… He was left scratching his head. Elyas had never been into such a situation. The closest thing to experiencing something like this was playing social games like mafia…
Claire leaned towards him and spoke in a low voice, "I have an idea, but you have to play along. Are you in?"
Elyas, somewhat startled by her voice, took a moment to process her proposal. "I would love to say yes, but I need to know the details first." She didn't object, coming closer and whispering in his ear. Elyas' eyes widened as he instinctively shouted in shock, "Are you craz—"
She quickly put her hand on his mouth, "Stay silent. None of this should leak out if we ought to live." She hurriedly looked around. Most were too occupied with their own mind to notice much of anything.
"With how impulsive they proved to be, if they figure out we're doing this we are as good as dead." She examined the strangers again and then directed her gaze to her coworkers.
Dany and Dena were catching up on sleep, having not gotten much of that last night. Speaking of, Elyas felt somewhat sleepy too…He was getting tired really fast these days.
But nonetheless, he agreed to help Claire. Having gotten his word, she got up from his side and picked her way across the room and between tables to the opposite side of the office. Towards the twelve strangers.
Seeing her approach, they raised their heads. Some stood up, hands already reaching for their holsters.
"We should pick a guard." Her words struck them dumb. At first they were confused as to the reason behind such a suggestion. But after considering it for a while, why shouldn't they do it? It was a great idea! How did they not think of it themselves?
The brawny man stepped forward. "I will guard first, the rest can sleep. We are all tired, we shouldn't be making decisions right now. Let's do it tomorrow." The people thanked him profusely before going back to their own corner.
The woman in the revealing green dress lingered, "Raaz… I'm not sleepy, I can help you." She said, pulling the bloody pistol from the holster crudely tied around her thigh.
"No need. Go join the rest and sleep miss…" He gave the pistol in her hands a long look before redirecting his gaze back onto her face. "You're going to need it."
…
Leaning against the wall, Raaz overlooked the sleeping bunch. The newcomers were suspicious, but so far, they hadn't done anything to garner his attention.
Raaz let out a sigh. Only if we had access to proper weapons… Although he disagreed with Clair's proposal, he could also recognize that it was their fastest way out.
By destroying or detaining the Anomalous Artifacts, they would be able to access the whole floor and establish connection with the Protocol. They would all be free to go home…Too bad the regulations don't allow Artifacts with destructive capabilities inside.
There's no use in wondering about what could have been.
With a push of his back, Raaz moved away from the wall and towards the people. Elyas' words echoed in his mind as he strolled by the people sleeping on the ground.
These were his colleagues, some of them he could even call friends. But as he examined them, only a single thought passed through his head. One of them is a monster. The Enforcers resting, the few awake, the ones from section Z. Any of them could be the imposter.
Then, he heard an argument. Across the office, near a corner, one of his coworkers was berating a short blond woman from section Z, Dena.
"I said what are you doing with the desks?!" Razz's coworker shouted at Dena.
"Im just making a changing room. Do you expect me to strip naked In front of you and the rest?"
"You expect me to believe that?"
"Excuse me?" Dena said, surprised by the man's response. The Enforcer grabbed her by the shoulder, shaking her as he spoke. "I know you did it. YOUR THE MONSTER, BITCH I KNOW—" His manic shouting was stopped by a strong hand squeezing his shoulder. Raaz turned the man around with one arm and said, "Stop it Brandon. This isn't you."
"But—" just as he opened his mouth, Raaz silenced him.
"I understand Brandon, George was your friend. But to me and the rest, you're also a candidate for his murder. Now, I'm not shouting at or shaking you am I?" At this, the man seemed to calm down. Just a bit.
Without saying anything, Brandon walked away. "Are all your coworkers this rude?"
Raaz gave her a strong glare. "Dont cause trouble, lady." And with that, he left Dena and her changing room project alone.
As Raaz stepped away, the strobe began to slow down, signaling that in a few hours, the floor's emergency power would shut down.
Raaz hadn't slept in a day and the lights seemed to notice this as well. The flashes of red slowly turned more and more infrequent, giving way to long stretches of darkness. His eyelids felt heavy, but he should stay up right? He was supposed to stand guard… but what harm could a short nap do?
…
Dena opened her eyes to a quiet office and her brother's head on her lap. Gently putting away his head and standing up, she fought with her sore leg.
Why can't he just find a pillow? I'm his sister, not his bed! Everyone was asleep. Everyone except her. She moved through the now dark office, the red strobe having vanished completely, replaced by perfect, unceasing tranquil darkness.
It seemed like the power had gone out. But she didn't mind it. The darkness made it easy to rest, and hard to see.
It is the perfect time to strike!
She walked to a secluded corner of the office, where she had already placed a few desks vertically. Crawling in between them without making much noise, she heaved a sigh of relief. "Let's get it over with quickly." She opened her buttons one by one, threw her uniform on the vertical desk and did the same with the rest of her clothes.
Dena then put her hand in her uniform's inner pocket and took out… a faucet? She sighed softly, "Nothing gets close to a good shower."
Placing it on top of the other desk, she spinned the valve and despite it not being attached to anything, water started to trickle down.
It was cold, but she couldn't do anything about it. If she had her Bender powers she could have turned it hotter…but wondering about what ifs wasn't going to help now.
Have to do with what you have.
She first washed her hair and face before moving down. Water droplets travelled on her blond hair, dropping down on her shoulders to catch a fleeting moment of rest before continuing on their journey.
Dena scrubbed her back as much as she could, her delicate skin reddening in the process. She moved further down before reaching her waist. As she did, an expression of want and envy crossed her face. 'If I had Clair's waist…' She scrutinized herself as she tidied up.
Although they were underground, it was still the first week of spring, so her teeth began to drum a tune because of the cold. She didn't close the valve, letting the water caress her skin.
Despite the chilly water, it felt warmer than the bone-chilling breeze that seemed to permeate the very air. Just as she reached for her uniform to cover herself, she paused. Wait, I can't wear dirty clothes after I just showered. What am I, a feral animal? But I didn't bring anything clean…
Suddenly, she remembered Unick's request. "Oh I forgot, we have spare clothes." She turned the faucet off, grabbed it along with her uniform and ran quietly across the office.
As much as she tried to be stealthy, the wet tapping of her bare feet on the ceramic tiles was a beacon in the quiet night.
Finally reaching Dany, she rummaged through the bundle made of their office curtains and fished out a set of rugged linen clothes. She hurriedly pulled on the pants, a knot of anxiety tightening in her stomach, fearing someone might have woken due to her bathing.
She couldn't see in the dark, but that wasn't to say someone else didn't have that ability. They had just lost their powers, yes. But from what she witnessed from Claire and Elyas yesterday, they still had access to some innate aspects of their Wish like one's Grace and Will.
When people wake up I have to tell them this, that might actually help get rid of the imposter. Who knows, maybe we have someone like lady Ryu here. The little detective's name had reached even the ears of the newcomers.
After dressing up completely, she walked towards the makeshift shower she had made to gather the rest of her clothes. It was then that she hit something. Dena fell on her bottom, so it took a second for her to regain her footing. That single second might have saved her life, because the thing she hit had hair. A lot of it.
From the short encounter she felt the distinguished soft clumps hitting her arms and face. It resembled thick, dirty fur. The one second it took for her to get up allowed her to understand what she had just hit.
The monster! Terror seized her, and a quiet yelp escaped her lips before she clamped a hand over her mouth, silently praying to the suns that the creature hadn't heard her. As soon as that prayer appeared in her head however, she felt a touch on her still wet hair.
A hand was feeling her head!
Just as she opened her mouth to scream, a male voice sounded In front of her, "Are you alright? Why is your hair wet?"
She was stunned for a moment, but it all clearly clicked into place. It made sense in hindsight. Dena had to give it applause, it had acted incredibly smart. It even managed to fool Claire and Dany who were much more experienced than her.
I shouldn't have doubted myself. It was that damned stranger after all!
The voice spoke again. "Are you not going to get off the floor?" There it was again, the monster who took the voice and body of a young man named Elyas.
Maybe in another life we could have been friends...
She braced herself for the pain, for death to claim her soul and the monster her body…But she just got a few light slaps instead. "Hey, are you awake? It's not good to sleep here, it's cold you know."
"... Wait, are you a human? I'm a human too!" she exclaimed with sudden, unbridled joy, her voice cracking.
She immediately realized how nonsensical that sentence sounded. And just as she did, Dena felt the man retract his hand before taking a few steps back.
Damn you Dena, who speaks like that?!
…
"Wait, Dena?" Elyas' voice shifted, finding hers familiar. He heard a sigh of relief from the lady sprawled on the floor.
"You don't know how happy I am to see… hear that it's you. I almost thought I lost my life!" Her tone, although jubilant, still carried a tremor of fear in it.
Elyas nodded, but then noticed how pointless such an action was in total darkness. "I guess I felt the same before I recognized your voice… Anyway, what are you doing in the middle of the night?"
"What am I doing? What the hell are YOU up to when everyone else is sleeping?" She redirected the question. Elyas found her behavior strange, but decided not to press.
It might be something embarrassing or personal…like her time of the month. Yeah, that'll explain her shying away from the subject…Or she just had to take a shit. Who knows.
He coughed, clearing his throat. "Well, to tell you the truth, it's because of Claire. She asked me to spy on the guards every night. That way, we have both the people under surveillance, and the guards themselves. The anomaly doesn't know this of course, so even if it tries to use the guard position as an opportunity, it'll get caught."
Dena lightly clapped. "That's a great plan."
"Yeah it is. That coworker of yours is a smart lady, try to learn from her. But I have to admit, I didn't expect to get results this quickly."
Dena spoke with a tone full of surprise and intrigue. "You caught the anomaly?"
"No. But I heard the sound of running water. I was going to check it when I stumbled onto you."
Dena suddenly went silent. Elyas, feeling that something was off, voiced his concerns. "Is everything alright?"
She replied, stammering, "Yeah, yeah… It's just that… How should I say this umm—It was me."
"What?!" He exclaimed loudly before remembering to suppress his voice.
"Yeah sorry, I just didn't have the time to shower before I came in for my first day, and then the breakout happened and you know the rest. I just had to wash myself."
Elyas was enlightened. So it wasn't any of the things I imagined. But… He paused for a great deal, considering something before directing Dena a simple question, "But if you were the one showering, then why do I still hear the sound of running water?"