Janus could feel his eyes getting heavier. The warmth of the blanket that wrapped around him. The soft pillow behind his head. No lights to bother his eyes. He had just spent the last twenty minutes tossing and turning as he tried to find a proper position that comfortable enough for him to fall asleep in. He had gotten himself in the proper position and was on the cusp of unconsciousness.

Then an abrupt knock made his eyes peel open. In a half-awake haze, he looked around the main room. Without his glasses, everything looked blurry, but he could make out what he assumed should be there. The large projector propped up on the wall. The front door. Gurk, lying down on his own blanket. With nothing out of place, Janus closed his eyes once more and drifted back to sleep.

The abrupt knocking returned. This time louder. And the sound repeated. Janus rubbed his eyes before leaning upright on the sofa. He blinked a few more times as he stared at the door.

“Hey Gurk,” Janus said in a low voice. The crocodile remained asleep. He watched his body slowly rise and lower from his breathing, unfazed by his words. “Fine. I’ll get it.”

He got up from the sofa, slogging along the room as he made his way to the door. All the while, the knocking continued. Janus desperately looked around the door for a peephole, worried that he might be letting an Essencima slip into the apartment. “There’s probably some kind of crazy UIC activated camera that lets me see who’s outside,” he whispered to himself. Even while he was on the other side of the door, the knocking wouldn’t cease. Having grown frustrated with constant noise, Janus grabbed on the handle, letting the door open a crack.

“Who is it?” Janus asked. He squinted his eyes into the hallway through the thin sliver of the open door.

“It’s Bri and Ringa,” the officer said. He could hear worry in the woman’s voice.

“Oh. Is someone in trouble?” Janus asked, confused.

“If you’re talking about one of you being in trouble with the law, no,” Ringa said. She looked back through the narrow opening of the door towards Janus. She had a long frown, contrasting drastically with the more confident demeanor that he had known her to have. The detective wasn’t in her usual uniform either. Instead, she had on a plain dark green t-shirt. “I know it’s a late hour. We hate to ask, but is it alright if we come in to discuss a serious matter with you and the others?”

"I don't see why not," Janus said groggily. He opened the door wide and let the other two inside. Gurk opened his eyes upon having the light from the hallway outside beam onto his face. Once he saw the two guests walking in from the corner of his eye, he hurried to place his metal mask back on his face. Ringa and Brielle looked around the room while Janus struggled to turn on the lights for the inside of the room.

"Sorry," he said as he began waving his hands around. "I'm still new to all of this. I'm not sure how to turn the lights on."

"There should be a panel somewhere," Ringa replied.

Gurk stood up and made his way to the wall, waving his hand in front of said panel. The entire room lit up, giving everyone a clear view. Janus reached down for his glasses and put them on his face. Gurk shook his head to wake himself up before facing the two guests. Both were out of their issued uniforms, wearing what appeared to be sleepwear. T-shirts. Loose fitting pants. The only thing that was part of their standard uniform were the boots they were wearing. Ringa was visibly stressed by the way she still had bags underneath her eyes as if she had just woken up. Brielle, however, looked far worse. It seemed that she had been crying all night with the way eyes were red and her usually pale face was flushed red. With his glasses now on, Janus could see the trails left by tears. 

"What's wrong?" he asked. 

Brielle looked up to Janus. She began to take in a deep breath as she tried gain enough composure to explain why they were there. "Ven..." she started in a low voice. "He's gone missing."

"Oh no," Janus eyes opened wide. He placed a hand to his chest. Brielle leaned her hand on Ringa's arm, burying her eyes. 

"We can't track his location," Ringa said. "He's gone missing. Presumably like the other Exterminators."

Gurk looked on at the at the pair of law enforcers, his head hung down low upon hearing the news. 

"We don't think you are to blame. At all," the detective continued. "We just need your help. Is Itzel around?"

"Yeah," Gurk said. 

"I hate to ask this," Ringa replied, "but would you be willing to come get her for us? We'll make it worth everyone's while if you'll take the time to listen to what we have to say." After a short nod, Gurk vanished down the hallway. There was a knocking on the door that could be heard by everyone in the apartment.

"What is it Gurk!?" Itzel shouted after opening the door. Gurk then mumbled something in a low tone. "What? Ringa and Bri are here?" At this hour? What did you do this time?" After a bit more mumbling from Gurk, there was a slam from Itzel's door as she left her room. Both her and the crocodile stood in the mild of the room, looking at the detective and her partner.

"I'm guessing this is something important," Itzel said with her eyes half closed.

"You're right," Ringa replied softly. Brielle remained resting on her shoulder. "Believe us. We did not want to come by and disturb you at an hour like this. But we have an emergency, and you and Gurk are our best bet."

Itzel let out a yawn, stretching out one of her arms high above her head. "I'm listening."

Brielle got off her partner's arm. Keeping her head down, she began to speak. "Ven. He's gone missing."

"What?" Itzel said, startled. "Like... 'missing' missing?"

Ringa nodded. "He's vanished. We can't even track him. He's gone, just like all of those Exterminators."

Itzel put her hand over her forehead, dazed by the news. Her gaze travelled across the room as she tried to gather her thoughts on the matter. "Why? How?"

"I wish we knew," Ringa said. "And since Ven is Brielle's nephew, the Labrisson Justice Department doesn't want us on the case anymore. They think her relationship with one of the victims will compromise the integrity of the case."

"It's ridiculous!" Brielle shouted. "Of all the rules put in place, I don't understand why I can't go out and try to find my own nephew!"

"They say that emotions could get in the way of our decision making," Ringa told the other three. "But if we don't start putting work in for these missing Exterminators, it might be too late. That's why we've come to you two," the detective then looked towards Janus. "And possibly even you. There's nobody else in Labrisson that knows Essencima and Extermination better than you. Or at least, any that's still accounted for."

"So you want us to find Ven and the others?" Itzel asked, pointing to herself.

Brielle nodded. She brought up her screen and showed it to the pair. He banking information was present. "I know it's not the most lucrative reward. But if you're able to find Ven, it's all yours." Itzel stepped forward and gave the screen closer look, squinting so she could overcome the blurriness of her vision caused by her being drowsy. 

"Bri..." Itzel began, "That's a lot of money! Over a million Tokens!"

"She's a miser," Ringa said. "Brielle's been putting that money aside for a while."

"I-I know I'm asking a lot from you," Brielle said. The tremble in her voice became less apparent as she made eye contact with each of the three Exterminators. "I wish I could offer more. But Ven means everything to me. If you can bring him back... I'll keep paying you. I'll garnish my wages to you. I-I'll take out a loan. Anything if it means having him back!" Brielle cried. Tears rolled down her eyes. She couldn't stop herself from grasping for air. The officer collapsed onto her knees, burying her eyes into her hands as she continued her weeping. Ringa knelt next to her, hugging her from behind and rubbing the side of the enforcer's arm.

"Bri. We'll do it," Itzel said with some hesitation. "But we have no idea where to even begin looking! I'm worried about all of the missing people too, but we'll just be wasting our time if we just go to the Refinery Sector and start looking through every abandoned building!"

"We've made a bit of progress on that front," Ringa said. Her hand continued to stroke the arm of her sobbing partner. The detective lifted her head up to address Itzel.  "I think we know where to start. Or rather... who."