Web of Chaos - Chapter 18: Escape Part 3

Step Six: hide the evidence.

Zukan stood his ground as the chief stepped through the front doors of the Mirage. He looked like an older version of Trask with his pale Espirian complexion and sharp features. However, the chief had a more weathered face with creases around his eyes and lines of silver streaking his temples. The two of them might be related, but Zukan couldn’t say for sure. Human faces all looked soft and squishy to his eyes.

Most of the students made way for the man as walked around the outside of the dance floor. Meanwhile, others gathered around Zukan, and a sea of raised cell phones glowed like mana bugs in the darkness of the club.

For all the good that would do. The chief might not have a warrant, but he wouldn’t need one to see the truth of things. His Master level senses would piece those wards like a spear through paper, and he’d know the bathroom was empty.

Marrow and Tanaka stood a few paces away from Zukan, never taking their eyes off him or the door behind him.

Zukan shot another glance at the approaching chief, then slumped his shoulders in a show of defeat. He activated his comm device, stepped toward the bathroom, and gave the door a good hard pound.

“Time’s up!” he shouted to be heard over the music.

Zukan half expected to hear Arturo’s voice over the comm channel. Instead, Akari replied from the other side of the door. “One second! We’re getting dressed.”

Thank the Angels.

Zukan felt the chief’s presence like a physical weight on his shoulders, then he spun to face the man.

“I’m Chief Trask with the KCPD.” His voice sounded bored, as if he’d rather be out killing mana beasts than talking to Apprentices.

And . . . Chief Trask? Sounded like they were related after all.

“Zukan Kortez,” he said. “My friends will be right out.”

The chief studied him with a cold gaze. “What’s the holdup?”

Zukan hesitated. He couldn’t risk lying to a Master, so he settled for the truth. “They’re getting dressed.” The chief raised an eyebrow, and Zukan made no effort to hide his annoyance. “You’ll see in a second.”

The bathroom door swung open behind him, and Zukan had never been more relieved in his life. Kalden emerged first, his black shirt partially unbuttoned and his dark hair artfully disheveled. He blinked at the crowd and flashing lights, looking more guilty than surprised.

As usual, Artisans could rarely deceive Masters—especially detectives. But they could hide the truth in plain site, showing their enemies exactly what they expected. Elise had taught them that.

Akari stumbled out behind Kalden, adjusting the straps on her dress. You could rarely tell when two dragons were mating, but humans had all sorts of embarrassing tells. Her cheeks were flushed, and her tousled hair left little to the imagination about what they’d been doing.

“Oh, hey.” Akari waved when she saw the chief standing there. “We were just . . . um, celebrating our promotions.” She couldn’t look more guilty if she tried. But once again, that was the whole point.

Several students in the crowd snickered, and someone actually wolf-whistled through a lull in the music.

Kalden kept adjusting his hair in his pocket mirror. Akari just put her hands on her hips, looking as proud as a cat.

The chief strode right past them without comment, searching the empty bathroom. His search must have come up short, because he turned back toward Kalden and Akari “Are you two carrying any extradimensional items?”

“Nope,” Kalden said. And sure enough, his belt pouch was gone.

Akari didn’t bother replying. She just glanced down at her dress with its lack of pockets.

Another series of questions followed, but each one led to a dead-end. The chief found a few traces of Akari’s aspect in the bathroom, but it wasn’t enough to prove they’d left the building. Most people experienced some level of mana leakage throughout the day—especially people below the Master realm.

“Sir.” Marrow approached the chief with a portable tablet. “We gathered video footage from several devices. These two were on the dance floor from eleven thirty until midnight.”

The older Trask barely glanced at the tablet. “And after midnight?”

“Multiple witnesses confirm their . . . activities . . . in this vicinity.”

The chief turned his attention back to Akari and Kalden. “Where were you earlier today, between four and six?”

“In class,” Kalden replied. “Third-Year Survival with Professor Nightfang.”

“And after that?”

“Setting up for the party.” Akari twirled a strand of her dark hair, looking more bored than Zukan had ever seen her. “Still not gonna tell us why you crashed it?”

The chief’s jaw tightened and he scanned them with another knowledge technique. Whatever he found, it clearly wasn’t enough. “We’re done here for now” He handed them each a card. “The department might have additional questions. Don’t leave the city.”

~~~

They left the city two hours later. Kalden contacted Master Rosintar, and he transported the whole team to the Solidor’s safe house. The same place where he and Akari had advanced last spring.

This had always been the final step of the plan. Even if they hadn’t gotten caught tonight, they couldn’t risk keeping the copied dream tablets in the loft. Not to mention that strange machine Akari had stolen from the library.

What was that thing, anyway? Kalden wanted to ask her about it, but he hadn’t had a chance. They had to keep up appearances at the Mirage, and that meant another round of drinking and dancing.

The safe house was quiet at this hour, and his team stepped through the main living area toward the basement. The whole place had a log cabin feel, with polished wooden walls and snow-capped mountains visible outside the giant glass windows. 

They found an empty office in one corner of the basement, and Arturo began unloading the copied dream tablets on the nearest desk.

“Did it work?” Akari asked him.

“We’ll have to test them to be sure,” he replied. “But yeah, as far as I can tell.”

“Thanks for everything.” She grinned at Arturo, then turned to face Kalden and Zukan. “You guys too. Couldn’t have done it without you.”

Arturo chuckled. “Sure you could, shoka. But it would’ve been a whole lot messier without us.”

“And you would have gotten caught,” Zukan added with a rare smile.

“There’s still time for that,” Kalden said. “Speaking of which, what was that other thing you stole?”

Zukan blinked. “You took something else from the library?”

Akari’s shot a spacetime Missile at the nearest wall, forming a blank portal. She formed the second half in Arturo’s bag, revealing the strange glass cylinder with its dense cluster of golden rods and wires. The device seemed to hover in midair, and the surrounding space felt just as cold as before.

“It’s a quantum computer,” Akari said.

“Yeah.” Arturo spun in his chair to face the open portal. “So much for the perfect crime. That thing’s worth about three million espers.”

Three million espers? How had the school ever afforded something like that? Probably a donation or something. Either way, that wasn’t the most important question right now.

“Why?” Kalden stepped closer to the oval-shaped portal. “What’s the point?”

Akari spun around, and he spotted a flash of genuine excitement in her eyes. “Remember our project to simulate Cloak techniques?”

He nodded. “Glim said it was impossible.”

“Was.” Her smile widened, and she gestured back through the open portal. “We’re about to change the rules.”