“She’s by our car!” Youri pointed out.
“Got it” I removed my Wakizashi, holding it with both hands as I tried to throw it at her. This time, a blast of flames emerged, knocking her back against the car as she slammed her head into the door. WHAT THE HELL? “Wh-what? How? Last time I did that, it was ice” Did the Pitch Black Five change the very nature of my powers? That explains the fiery sensation I felt earlier. This is why I should have done my research before! Youri was just as shocked. “She should have our keys. Lock Alain and her in the back” I ordered, handing the dealer over to him. Youri nodded, doing as instructed as I ran over to Roxy immediately after. “Roxy, Roxy, are you ok?” I asked, shaking her slightly. There was a certain grayish tinge in her eyes. Did she fall into a trance? It’s not like what happened to Jeremy though. Was the other dealer a power user? “Come on, wake up!” I slapped her gently across the face. It seemed to do the trick as her eyes returned to their natural blue color.
“Mmm you’re so loud” She groaned.
“Are you ok?”
“What hap- The dealer!”
“Don’t worry. Youri and I took care of it” I assured before she could dart off. “Are you hurt?”
“N-no. All she had to do was touch Jeremy and look into his eyes, and she knocked him out instantly. I tried to stop her but” She paused and looked down. “She got me too”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself” Couldn’t the literal telepath be able to tell though before engaging? “Let’s go” I offered her my hand.
“Mm, thank you”
“Jeremy, WAKE UP!” I hit him considerably harder than I did Roxy.
“Huh? Hwot ‘appened?” He wondered, looking around dazed.
“We’re heading back home. Our mission was a success”
“Ya took ‘er down?” He turned towards the car. “HWAT TE ‘ELL DID YA DO TO TE CAH?”
“I’ll uh, explain later” The effects of my power had left some burn and scratch marks along the car’s side, as well as a dent in the front door and bonnet, and also a cracked windshield. “I’ll go drop the dealers off at HQ then take the car for repair. You guys go on without me”
“Ya sure? One of us should go hwit ya”
“I’ll go” Roxy offered, standing beside me.
“Alright. We’ll see you two back home” I stated, opening the doors for Roxy and myself. Jeremy and Youri entered their car and left promptly.
The first couple minutes of our drive was in complete silence until she spoke up. “Sorry for”-
“It wasn’t your fault or Jeremy’s. Don’t worry about it anymore. We managed to secure these two in the end”
“No, not for that. For earlier, when I overreacted. I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you”
“Roxy, I should be the one apologizing. I’ve been putting you through a lot of unnecessary trouble and bullshit for my sake. I’m glad you’re able to tolerate it and stick by my side regardless”
“Dumbass, let other people be in the wrong for once. You don’t have to shoulder the blame and responsibility for everything. And you don’t need to thank me for that either, you never have to. I’d be a shitty person if I didn’t put up with your issues. Besides I know you’re the same way with me. We’re always there for each other” She smiled, looking me in the eyes.
“Yeah true. Still, I’m sorry too. You’ve been an amazing pillar of support my entire life and I want to treat you better. Cause that’s what you deserve” Roxy then looked straight down, her cheeks turning a slight red. “If there’s anything else you want to talk about, feel free to. I don’t want any lingering BS between us”
“In front of these two?” She pointed at the unconscious dealers in the back.
“Hmm, ok after we deal with them” I said as we reached the HQ. They were still unconscious so bringing them in wasn’t an issue.
“And who might these b- Is that Alain?” Sutner enquired. “What happened?”
“We tracked down two of the dealers. One is from the Music and Sound majors and unfortunately Alain is the other. Careful with the girl though, she’s a power user. If she touches you and looks into your eyes, you’ll fall into some sort of trance. And Alain ate some of the brownies, so he might have an ability when he wakes up. Do you have any power dampeners?” Maybe I shouldn’t have made him eat the brownie.
“General Carver should have that covered. Do you want to question them? This is your op after all”
“I’ll leave them in your care for now. Get whatever info you can. We’ll keep rounding up the dealers. Jeremy’s telepathy has come in quite handy” We took two down in one go. That went much better than expected.
“Alright. I’ll let you call the shots on this one. Nice work”
“Thank you Sutner, your approval means nothing to me” I laughed.
“If only that were true” He sighed with his signature eye roll.
“I’ll keep you updated on my end. Let me know what you find out from them”
“I feel bad for Alain. He’s a good kid. Never expected him to be caught up in something like this”
“That’s exactly why he was made a dealer. We caught a power user and someone no one would suspect in one go. I feel it’ll only get easier from here” We also need to narrow down how many there are exactly. Unless... “Also Sutner, there’s a slight”- Wait…
“Hm?”
“There’s a salad leaf or something stuck in your teeth. I’d suggest taking that out as soon as possible. Makes you look more, professional, you know?” The DC glared vehemently at me as the two of us left.
“What did you find out and why hide it from Sutner?” Roxy asked once we got in the car and drove off.
“The location wasn’t secure enough to say. Besides, it’s just a theory. I just, have a feeling that there are more parties at play here. Christian probably has his own entourage, but there’s someone else in the mix as well. I’m not entirely sure yet, telling Sutner now would just overcomplicate things. We’ll need more info before committing further”
“Who would the Bane’s rivals be?”
“Your mo- Umm, not entirely sure yet. I’ll ask Velec if he can give me anything on that. For now we just have to continue as we are” I explained as my phone rang, as soon as we arrived home. “Yeah hello?”
“Eden, I need you to come in” What the fuck?
“I literally JUST got back home. You could have just told me to stay at HQ”
“It’s urgent”
“OK AND? Your point is?” Goddamit. “I’ll be right there” I sighed, parking the car. “You don’t have to come with”
“I’ll keep watch over the monitor” She informed. I should have just stayed at HQ…
“Alright. Let me know when you’re set up” And with that, I drove back to meet Sutner.
The DC awaited me outside. “The dealers are awake. I figured you’d like to question them now” ….
“Sutner, I told you VERY CLEARLY that YOU should question them first. There’s a reason I delegated it to you” I seethed through grit teeth.
“We don’t want to risk anything. They’re both power users” SO ARE YOU AND CARVER! “Also they’d be more likely to listen to you” I literally drugged one of them and burnt the other. In what realm would they listen? And not like this brick wall in front of me would listen either.
“Eden, are you there?” Roxy asked through the earpiece.
“Mhm. Sutner needs me to interrogate the dealers cause I’m expendable or something like that. Have you gotten access to the cameras?”
“Not yet. I could only get one earlier. It’s by the central pillar right behind the front desk. Go to it” She ordered. “Look at whatever cameras you can visibly see”
“Hm?”
“Just, look at each camera in the building”
“What the hell are you doing?” Sutner demanded as he saw me walking towards each camera.
“Inspecting your security. Making sure everything’s working. Can’t afford to let those two escape” Technically not a lie.
“Tech ain’t your field. I’ll have Dimanche manage that” WHY DO YOU STILL TRUST HIM WITH STUFF LIKE THAT? “Go question the suspects” So much for me calling the shots.
“Alright perfect. Leave the rest to me” She assured. The two prisoners were kept in separate cells.
“Y-You!” Alain gasped, cowering in the corner.
“Relax, I’m just here to talk” I assured, taking a seat in front of his holding cell.
‘Wh-why the he-ell would I talk to you?’ It seems he lost all his confidence after being knocked out.
‘Well, you consumed one of the brownies and since both of us know what it does’ Wait… ‘You have three options. Your boss finds out and kills you for breaking his policy and getting caught. That’s the worst case. Second, you manifesting your powers mean you get institutionalized by the military and turn into one of their lapdogs. I don’t know about you but that sounds far worse than death. OR, you cooperate and we get you back into uni like nothing happened. No one knows you’re with me right now. So I just need a couple minutes of your time and we’ll forget this ever happened’ Interesting…
‘D-don’t bla-blackmail me’ He cried.
‘I don’t think you know what blackmailing is. I just said I’d help you, dumbass. Your reputation won’t be ruined and no one will suspect a thing. You’re a good student who seems to be doing well in uni. I don’t know why you’re caught up in something like this though’
“What are you just sitting there for? Question him!” Sutner demanded. Oh right, he doesn’t know.
“Our little friend here is also a telepath, it seems” People don’t have similar abilities unless they’re related by blood. And Jeremy wasn’t born with his powers…
“Like Jeremy?”
“Sutner I’d appreciate it if you stopped butting in. Go question the other inmate if you’re so impatient for results” Sutner said nothing, simply walking off to the other holding cell. ‘Did you just discover your power?’
‘Yes. When I woke up, I heard, voices in my head. Not my own. I could tell what the people passing by were thinking about, but it was too much for me to handle. I tried shutting them out, and even now I’m having some difficulty with it’ He ate one brownie while Jeremy ate two and a half. But, was there a difference in how potent they were? Shouldn’t his power be at level 50 if Jeremy capped at 100? Or is that not how it works?
‘Perfect. Now no one will know what you told me either, since you technically never SAID anything’ How’d two guys end up getting the same power like- Oh… I see. ‘Do you have any more of the brownies on you?’
‘The cops took them. They should be in a crate over there. I’m NOT eating any more though!’ Aww he’s traumatized.
‘You don’t need to. I’ll figure out the rest by myself. I just need to know one more thing’ I sighed, standing up. ‘Christian Bane, he’s your boss’ Not gonna bother asking cause I KNOW that’s the case. ‘How many other dealers does he have throughout the university? And is that girl over there one of his too?’
‘There’s one in each major course in every department, for all four years. I was the dealer for all Geology students, similarly that girl was the one for all Music and Sound students. The guy from Criminology is in your batch, while Christian is the dealer for AI’ Wait what? ‘And there are twenty-two majors in total’ We already took care of two of them. So that means…
‘You’re saying, including Christian, there are TWENTY other dealers throughout the university?’ And here I was, feeling so satisfied that we managed to catch two… At least there’s not one for every year, then we’d have to be dealing with 4 times that…
‘How do you eat an elephant?’ Alain asked, catching me totally off guard.
‘Huh?’
‘One bite at a time. You caught two of us, and Christian is identified as the third. And you just started this investigation too. I can’t tell you the names of all the others, cause I don’t know exactly. There’s just a few vague details I’m aware of. It’s not like we’re close business partners who regularly hold meetings or anything like that. Christian gives us a monthly supply and we make do with that’
‘I appreciate the change of heart in wanting to help me’ 3/22, that’s not too bad. And there’s also someone in my class apparently. But who?
‘No one really WANTS to work for Christian. We’ve mostly been forced or blackmailed into cooperating with the Banes. Sure he may have three or four loyal dogs, but the rest? They’re willing to abandon him without hesitation. Even if you take out just five more dealers, there’ll be cracks in the system and it’ll start to collapse’
‘How did Christian manage to force you?’
‘I, I don’t want to say’ Interesting… Also the fact that Alain and Jeremy got the same powers has given rise to another theory I have. I’ll get Youri to confirm that soon enough.
‘Alright. Before I leave, how many brownies have you sold? Do you have a list or track record? Including their names?’ If I had concluded business with him normally, would I have also been on that list?
‘Yes, it’s in my journal. My bag’s over there’ He pointed to where the confiscated belongings were kept. I nodded, heading over to investigate.
‘Iain Dimanche, why does that sound famili- oh. You sold the PBF to that dumbass burglar’ Christian didn’t even give it to him directly? And those were the ones Jeremy had. This supports my theory even more. Yet I had the same brownie too, but didn’t end up developing any telepathic powers. The other dealer could put people into trances, did the brownies she sell give the same power to others?
‘We aren’t told much else besides the basic, most vague instructions. Your best bet is to figure it out from Christian directly. I’m not sure if you know this, but he goes by another name in our university’
‘Don’t worry, I’m well aware. Can you read the mind of that girl over there and tell me what’s going on in her head?’
‘Sure thing’ He looked over to her. ‘Uhhh, nothing. There’s not a single thought going through her head’ Is she dead? Jeremy could reset her mind but Alain’s not that advanced yet. Did my ability do that to her?
‘Dammit. I’ll talk to Sutner and tell him to release you tomorrow. You’ve been a great help’
‘Oh actually, I think it’ll be better if I stay in here for now, under police protection. At least until you topple Christian’s operation’ Fair enough.
“Roxy, you still there?”
“Yepp. I couldn’t hear anything though. What happened?”
“Telepathic convo. I’ll explain later” I grabbed some more of the brownies from both dealers, as well as Alain’s journal, before walking towards the car. There’s a lot of stuff to think about. Firstly, did Jeremy and Alain inherently have telepathic abilities and did the brownie awaken those, OR were the brownies specifically designed to give people telepathic powers? Even NAV said Jeremy hadn’t activated his powers, so did the PBF help him activate it? Is the drug an unnatural way to do so? Youri’s conversations with Christian should give me the answers for that. The fact that nothing happened to me makes me lean more towards the former. But the latter makes sense as well. Depends on if the other girl’s sample gave people the same power too. It’s safe to assume that these are just prototype so there’s bound to be loopholes and faults. Either way, things have now gotten a lot more complicated.
