My Lost Soul

Chapter 29 - Operation Ghostbusters?

Iseri paced around the port on the northern edge of Shacia. The Gila Liner was already parked, she watched closely to see the two of them come out. She expected a goofy, unserious Kitt, and an annoyed and frustrated Machida. When they came out, she understood something bad happened. She stopped pacing and waited as they approached. Kitt avoided eye contact, "Hey."

"What happened?" She put her hands on her hips. Kitt sighed and pointed to a darker corner near the port. They moved there, still in silence. Machida looked around to make sure nobody was looking and gave a thumbs up. Kitt turned to her and asked in a certain sign language, "In sign, please?"

"Sure," She said in sign, "Now tell me what's wrong, please."

"Omegas are born with..." He stuttered in his sign as he was rusty, "They're born with smaller lifespans because they're like a runtime error, right? Well, when we were on the Gila, we came across the engine room in our investigation. What we saw in there—it was—"

Machida patted Kitt's chest, "I'll take over." He said in sign. "There were six Omega children in the engine room. They were hooked up to a sort of machine that I'd never seen before. They were ragged and almost..." Machida hesitated with his hands, "...lifeless." Her eyes widened as she raised her round glasses, her hands getting more swift and drastic, "Wait, you mean they use Artificials as fuel sources?"

"Yes, it seems accurate, there is a shortage of some fuel sources now. It seems they've found a way to make soul energy tangible and usable. Impossible unless they have someone in their circle with certain powers. I saw Steele's powers myself, and he can't be the only culprit." Machida's hands dropped to his sides.

"Oh..." Her voice shook as she turned away from them, "The discoveries don't stop coming..."
"Iseri?" Kitt reached his hand out to Iseri, "Did something happen while we were gone?" Iseri snapped her neck to Machida, "You were right, General. That thing didn't leave. It was always here. I finally found it!"
Machida stepped toward her, "What do you mean you found it? It hasn't been a week even, and this is the biggest case—"
"What the hell is it?!" Kitt interrupted.
"—we've ever had. How did you solve it this quickly?"

Iseri looked away from them, at the colorful JanuEri street. She put her hands up again to sign, "I accessed files from top secret sources and gained access to cameras we didn't know existed."
"Did they notice?!" Machida softly yelled.
"Ugh, not yet, but I think even if I do get caught eventually, it'll take them too long to try. Anyway, that's not the important part!" Iseri got up and pulled her phone out. "I have a video, and it's in it! I swear that's it right there in the video!"

Machida snatched the phone from her hand and played the video. It was captured footage from two cameras. In the first, a cloaked thing could be seen casually moving through civilians like a ghost in a busy subway station. Its shiny mass dripped down to the floor without a sound. Nobody in the station seemed to bat an eye at it. They either didn't see it or didn't care.

"This thing has history too, check the date." She pointed at the top right corner of the video, "April 13th, 2062, a little less than two weeks ago." She switched the video, this one was April 1st. Another one, March 20th. They all featured the same thing in each video. The same station, the same train, the same strange figure.

Machida looked at the date on her phone, "April 18th..." He rubbed his gray-haired chin, "If my math is right, it could appear again on the 25th. You see the pattern, right?" Kitt and Iseri nodded together.
"That's what I thought too. Each appearance has a 12-day gap. We're lucky we have a week to prepare, right?" Iseri asked.