Poison City

 

 

“Nothing in depth, except he’s been everywhere.” Mick stepped out from the inner room, holding Elvin by his elbow: “I helped Detective Sai and Pahaik gather traces of him before - he was not THAT hard to find. But his every routine seemed very - ordinary. No one would have found out about him, if - if we’re not aware of his actual identity, being Alex Pearson.”

 

“So he faked his death and wanted to live a little. Maybe make some money to keep up with - whatever he has going on? Maybe send what’s left of his bags to his younger sister?” Kevin sighed: “Or - if she’s still alive.”

 

“Yeah I think she’s still alive.” Elvin sighed: “If she’s dead, she wouldn’t react the way he did when you mentioned his family. So I guess you’re right, Mr. Loo, his younger sister is still alive. And very possibly, she’s out of the city already.”

 

“That’s - very insightful, dad.” Marcus snapped his fingers: “That’s good. That’s really good. That means - that means he won’t stab us in the back - not right now, at least. And - if he’s planning on leaving the city and meeting his sister, he would be very careful with what he does.”

 

“Yet, that would also mean he would absolutely jam it in our heart and gladly twist it, if he somehow thinks we’re in his way.” Keryn shrugged: “For example - if they caught him, and threatened, tortured him. He would no doubt sell us out for a chance to live and escape.”

 

“Okay, okay, you’re both right. Which means we need to prepare for both.” Kevin shook his head and his hands: “So - Marcus, what do you think?”

 

“I think I might have an idea on where they might be hiding.” Mick raised his hand all of a sudden: “I know we don’t really - we don’t really have power plants in the Northern District. But we have one - one thing that’s really energy intensive, and that’s data centers.”

 

“Uh data - what?” Elvin scratched his head.

 

“Data centers. Basically server farms, large clusters of computers.” Kevin drew the shape of a square-shaped building in the air with his two index fingers: “You know? There is a very old one in the Northern District, in a - in a tall building as well because they didn’t zone it very well - ”

 

“Wait - say that again.” Keryn interrupted: “A data center is energy intensive? And they have one in the Northern District?”

 

“Well, yeah.” Mick nodded: “You can imagine - they have thousands of giant high grade computers, hard disks and routers, and a 24/7 cooling systems keeping everything running. Hell yeah it’s energy intensive. That’s why they built it near the lake to have easy access to water - ”

 

“They built one over the water!?” Kevin almost screamed.

 

“Yeah. I know, from what you’ve told me it’s a really bad choice.” Mick shook his head: “Or - is it a really good choice? I - I don’t know. If you wanna leave, I mean - can I contact my parents? I want to use the landline again - ”

 

“We should do it before we leave.” Keryn sighed: “Dammit. Just when you thought we could take a moment to rest.”

 

“If you don’t have any place in mind. I - I think I have someone to ask.” Marcus sighed.

 

“You’re thinking about Gloria Lee?” Mick asked: “I mean - do you trust her?”

 

“Yes. Because - I am thinking that since none of us have a very good idea on where to hide, the next best choice would be the common criminal hideout district. And no one we know, whom we can trust, knows more about the district more than her.” Marcus shrugged.

 

“Well - I - ” Elvin raised his hand, but immediately put it down: “Yeah - it’s been a while for me as well. But I can help.”

 

“Of course, dad. We’d need your help getting there, since we - we kinda just escaped there.” Marcus nodded: “Okay - so - how soon can we go?”

 

“Not before you take a break.” Keryn nodded: “We insist. Your Qi is still weak. I bet you could use more to eat. And take a nap if you feel like doing so.”

 

“You should do it, son. ” Elvin nodded and urged Marcus as well: “It’s like we always say, sharpening the ax is also a part of the work.”

 

“Alright, alright.” Marcus turned his body and lied on the sofa: “I’ll take a moment here. Can someone fill me in on the new information. Looks like you guys have figured out a lot more than I have. So - please spare no detail, tell me a bedtime story, or ten.”

 

“We’ve got the Blue Envelope cases. 1148, 1149 and 1033.” Kevin sighed: “Let’s start with 1033 before we get into the nitty gritty and questions, as well as questionable things.”

 

“Alright, prologue. Don’t you love it.” Marcus chuckled and adjusted the positions of his shoulders.

 

“It’s about a worker from Thuller Group. He was - he was electrocuted during a field operation, due to unknown reasons. But then he came back to work. He kept on working, but seemingly stuck in some kind of loop. This lasted for a week, nobody was able to tell at first. And when people found out, he - or his spirit, was already close to dissipation or crumbling.”

 

“This is - this is not that horrible a story. ” Marcus narrowed his eyes: “What happened next? Did they find his body? What made it a Blue Envelope?”

 

“The investigation stopped after a while. Since nobody was hurt they did not spend any more time on it. But the reason for its status, we figured, is that it’s because it’s electric power related.”

 

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Also like I mentioned before, no updates next week. Hope you have a nice weekend!