Chapter 253 - Question and Answer

Back in the plaza, Corbin Nao limped over to Firuzeh who remained in a slouched position with her head bowed down.

The area was draped in shadow, with only the weak light from the moon tracing out their silhouettes in the darkness. The three storey buildings that circled the plaza were waking up with lamp light due to the noise of the short but violent battle, though the street-lamps were still shut off from Kai’s ability.

The battle itself had lasted less than a minute. Corbin estimated they had less than two more before the officials arrived.

He knelt down in front of Firuzeh, placing a hand on her shoulder, “Are you alright?”

It took a moment for Firuzeh to respond.

Her thoughts were muddy and slow, her head was spinning. She felt drained and exhausted. Her senses felt dull. She didn’t suffer any physical injuries, but her symptoms were clear signs of great damage to her other planar bodies. 

She gathered what faculties of thought she could to evaluate her condition. 

The spiritual body primarily affected one’s connection to the world and others. The aetheric body managed the spiritual energy which Exalted used to perform their supernatural feats. The astral body governed one’s consciousness and alertness. 

From the difficulty with which she had functioning, it was clear that the Death-aspected attack on her had caused severe damage to her spiritual, aetheric and astral bodies.

“Get up.” A coarse, raspy voice whispered in her mind, one which only she could hear.

She grimaced as she followed the command, managing to push herself up to one knee before she faltered. Corbin quickly gripped her by the arm, steadying her.

“Easy.” Corbin said, “Take your time.”

The raspy voice chuckled in Firuzeh’s ears, “That man… With those abilities…  He could only be one person.”

Once again the disembodied voice snapped, “Get up! You don’t have time to rest!”

With another burst of willpower Firuzeh rose to her feet. Corbin rose with her, supporting her even as she swayed back and forth while clutching the side of her head. In a mumbled voice she said to Corbin, “We need to go.”

A grin flickered on Corbin’s lips as he said, “It’s too late for that.”

His spiritual intuition had already triggered, warning him of the imminent arrival of two Exalted. Firuzeh was unable to sense it due to the damage to her spiritual body, remaining unaware even as a rift opened up in the air next to them.

A stasis bubble surrounded Corbin and Firuzeh, freezing them in place. Corbin could have resisted the effect but allowed it to take him without resistance.

In the next moment he found himself in a brightly lit room with a pair of handcuffs around his hands and legs.

Due to his attunement to the time aspect of the Spacetime domain, he knew that twenty three minutes and fifty three seconds had passed. 

A male officer sat in front of him. Thin, with typical sharp Kumin features. Short black hair, slanted inquisitive eyes. Pressed grey police uniform. 

“You are being detained by the Plunes police. Do not try to resist your bindings. I am Sergeant Park. Please tell me your name and occupation.”

Corbin nodded, calmly meeting the officer’s gaze as he removed his hat and placed it on the table next to him. “I am Corbin Nao, a businessman from Noga City with North Kumin Incorporated. I have every intention to cooperate.”

“Are you licensed by the Ministry of Special Affairs?” The officer asked.

“Yes.” Corbin replied, “I am registered in Noga City.”

The Ministry kept a record of upstanding Exalted that lived and worked within Kumin. This was a voluntary process and was more of a political instrument than any sort of record or tracking mechanism. Being licensed meant that Corbin would be treated better, believed more readily and face lesser penalties, if any.

“What is your Domain and Exalted rank?”

“Spacetime, Apprentice.”

“Your Exalted powers are being repressed by your handcuffs, any attempt to use Exalted abilities will be considered an act of aggression and will result in further restrictions and penalties.” The officer said. There was an edge to his voice, indicating that despite Corbin’s bindings the officer was still wary.

“I understand.” Corbin gave his best reassuring smile.

“Who is the woman you were next to?”

“My bodyguard, Firuzeh. She is on retainer from the Red Lion Security Company.”

The scritches of a quill on parchment was the only sound to break the silence in the room. The officer nodded as he wrote down the information. 

“Tell me what happened in the plaza tonight, in your own words.”

Corbin smiled apologetically, “I’m sorry, I’m not quite sure myself. It happened so fast… I was deep in slumber when I was awoken by activity in outside my window.

“I looked out to see my bodyguard in the midst of combat with an unknown assailant. I saw an opportunity to assist her and jumped out of the window to engage.”

“How many people were in the plaza?” The officer asked. “Who was this ‘assailant’?”

“I only recall seeing Firuzeh and a tall man with blond hair.” Corbin said, “I don’t know his identity.”

“Why were they fighting? Was the man after you?”

“I don’t know.” Corbin answered honestly.

The officer scratched some words down on the paper in thin black ink. His expression was blank; Corbin couldn’t tell whether the officer believed him or not.

“What else can you tell me about the encounter?”

 “It was a short fight from my perspective, no sooner that I engaged did he strike me with some attack. The next thing I knew, I was picking myself up from the ground and the battle was over.”

“Only those two?” The officer frowned, “Are you sure about that number?”

“No.” Corbin smiled, shrugging sincerely, “It was dark, and I was acting out of instinct with my wits barely about me.”

“Do you have any guesses as to the identity of the man or his Exalted path?”

“He seemed to have some forcefield that protected him. The attack he hit me with was invisible and physical.” Corbin frowned, giving his honest recollection. “I honestly don’t even know how he escaped. It’s a miracle I’m still alive.”

The scritches continued for a moment, then the officer set down the quill, “Thank you for your cooperation.”

“Will that be all?” Corbin asked.

“For now.” The officer said, “I am only gathering some preliminary information. Please wait here for a bit.”

The interviewer gathered his notes and left, replaced by a single junior officer to watch over him.

~

Sergeant Park walked down the hallway of the small police station, entering an office where his colleague was waiting for him.

“Well?”

“His name is Corbin Nao, licensed with the Ministry. We can run his records to confirm. His background checks out with the innkeeper’s own comments. There appears to be three combatants. The bodyguard sensed the presence of the assailant in the middle of the night and tried to pre-emptively protect her charge.

“The assailant’s identity is unknown. However his powers are really hard to pin down. The bodyguard was sure that she saw him display abilities from at least four domains.”

“That’s impossible…” The second officer frowned. He thought for a moment. “I sent the telegram to the capital. They replied that someone from Noga City Special Ops will be coming over.”

Hearing this, the sergeant relaxed a bit. Plunes was not a large town, and the two of them were the only Exalted officers in the local police force. From the aftermath of the battle, they could tell that the battle had been fierce. Dealing with powerful Exalted criminals was far out of the normal scope of their responsibilities.

“Do you think it has to do with the Life Cult business that they’ve been taking care of? Remember the rumour that the Special Ops Chief died, and now the new lead has been cracking down hard on the cult. Maybe this has something to do with that…” The second officer said.

“Didn’t he single-handedly take out a Disciple fugitive that had disabled a whole Exalted team?” The sergeant replied. He was the more experienced of the two, although he was only an Apprentice himself. “I think he was also the one that exposed two of the Noga City Police Chiefs for treason against Lord Noga.”

“Scary…”

“The Noga Police are reporting that they already caught most of the monks that fled from the monastery, too. It’s only been three weeks, but they only have to catch the leader of the Monastery and one or two other high ranked monks and they’ll wrap this whole thing up… I have a feeling it’s the same guy…”

The two officers shared the rumours which they had heard. The campaign to catch the fleeing Cloud Peak monks had involved the police across the province and had seen extreme success with nearly no casualties on either side.

“No one knows his name, right? The Special Ops are really secretive about their members.” The second officer mused, “I heard they don’t even have special ranks or titles in their public roles.”

“About that… My cousin is in the Noga City Missings Person Department, and he has a really good theory.” The sergeant puffed up his chest, “We shouldn’t spread this, but I’m pretty sure his name is Mack… Hmm.. What was it now? Mackintyre? Mackoshka?”

The sergeant wracked his memory as he tried to recall the name when a junior officer showed up in the doorway.

“Sir, someone from the capital has arrived, looking for you.” The junior said. “An inspector named Finn Mackenzie.”