V2Ch18-Unknown Subject

Mina woke to the sound of a knock at the door, and she felt instantly anxious.

Her eye jumped straight to the population counter, but it said: [3,395/3,397 Survivors]

Thank goodness, she thought. Only two dead.

No one had died while she slept. Yulia was still asleep beside her, lightly snoring, chest rising and falling slowly and peacefully. All was right with the world.

Then the knock came again.

This time, Mina only twitched slightly in response. Not my ideal way to wake up, but I’m sure there’s some reason someone wants to see me—She looked to the window, which was dark and brightened only by the reflected light from flakes of falling snow—in the middle of the night.

She rose slowly from the bed, taking care not to wake Yulia up. There was a little part of her that wanted to have Yulia next to her for reinforcement when she spoke to whoever was at the door. She told that little voice to kindly shut up.

The day that I need a teenager half my size to keep my courage up is the day that I stop going outside and hole up in a small room, Mina thought furiously.

Still, she found herself shivering as she crept toward the door across the creaky wooden floorboards. It’s because the floor is cold, she told herself.

She reached into the Small Bag of Deceptive Dimensions as she got closer to the door, and she put her hand on the kitchen knife she’d brought as a weapon. Then she looked through the peephole, and all the tension drained from the air.

It was just Detective DaSilva again.

Of course it’s just DaSilva again, who did you think it would be? Mina chided herself. Then again, there is a murderer on the loose.

She pulled the door open slightly. “Detective, what brings you back?”

“I wanted to wait until the coast was clear around here before I spoke with you again,” he said in a lowered voice. “This seemed like as good a time as any to update you on the status quo of the investigation.

She opened the door completely, stepped out, and pulled the door almost shut behind her.

“My sister is sleeping,” Mina said. “What’s going on?”

“We’re still not certain who the killer is, of course,” DaSilva said. “No forensics, only one cop, and only one medical examiner in this group makes that difficult. But we followed up on your idea about levels. I went around before the first challenge, and I found volunteers to report on the people who had already somehow obtained their first level before the challenge started. There was one person willing to volunteer for almost every team that formed. People are eager to see this matter resolved. I checked up on the groups where no one volunteered myself. So we now have a fairly comprehensive list of the people who had leveled before the challenge started. It’s not decisive. There were ninety-two names on the list that I compiled.”

He reached out and handed her a small, folded scrap of paper.

She took it and frowned. “Why are you giving this to me?”

“You’re already a part of this investigation. You had the first good idea of anyone, you’re clearly sharp, and I’m desperate. So I’m deputizing you. You and just a few other people have my copies of this longhand list. We can’t let anyone get a look at it, or we’ll have another problem besides the murderer.”

“Protecting the innocent.” Mina nodded. Back when James was a prosecutor, he used to emphasize that it was law enforcement’s duty to protect the innocent from wrongful arrest and incarceration, just as much as it was to prosecute criminals.

“Exactly. I know you’ll be judicious with this list. Please give me any other lead ideas you come up with, and keep your eyes peeled. Three of the people on this list are also on our own team, so you’ll be able to keep an eye on them in particular.”

“Yes, Detective,” she said seriously. “Is there anything else I should bear in mind?”

“Er, no, I don’t think so,” he said thoughtfully. “Um, did you and your sister know about the coats available here?”

“Coats? Where?” Mina asked. Her mind immediately jumped to the blood-stained coat she’d seen on the ground that morning.

“There are lots of coats in the linen closet at the end of the hallway.” DaSilva pointed, and Mina noticed a door that was set too close to another room in the inn to be a full room itself. “They were in the original set of buildings, too, but not everyone had noticed them. I noticed you, Yulia, and a few other members of our little band of misfits weren’t quite dressed for the weather, so I asked around. It turned out the System was looking out for us a bit!”

Hm. I wonder what the System’s motive is in providing Winter gear.

“Were there enough for everyone, or are they all taken?” Mina asked.

“More than enough,” DaSilva said. “Some people were wearing relatively warm clothes anyway, but everyone who’s heard about the free clothing has grabbed one as far as I know. Some people still haven’t heard—but this building is one of those only for the winners anyway, actually. No one would have raided this closet unless they were a winner.”

Mina frowned slightly. “Let me just check.” She walked down and opened the closet.

Sure enough, there were a half dozen thick wool coats just hanging there.

That would’ve been expensive once. That’s awfully convenient. Everything I observe about the System just makes me more suspicious of it, but it is possible this is just an amenity they’re providing to make our lives more convenient.

She turned back to the Detective. “Speaking of coats, did you ever ask Cara about why she moved the greatcoat the first victim left behind?”

DaSilva nodded. “Yeah. Dumb reason, but believable enough. She thought someone was injured in a fight and lost their coat. She was hoping she’d find the victim alive and be able to help them.”

“That does make some sense,” Mina said. “Well, how about the matter with the group’s leader?” She couldn’t keep a scowl from her face as she asked that.

“Leader? Oh, you mean Paul.” DaSilva snorted a little at the name. “I gave him a talking to privately, and I don’t think he’s going to speak so recklessly in future. At the very least, I think he’ll keep you and your sister’s name out of his mouth.”

Mina relaxed a bit, some tension falling away from her shoulders.

“Thank you, Detective,” she said. “I really wanted to lie low during—”

Something flickered at the corner of her vision, and her eyes widened.

“The population count just dropped!” DaSilva exclaimed.

[3,394/3,397 Survivors]

Mina grabbed a coat from the closet, and another for Yulia. She stopped to dump the coat for Yulia on the bed in their room, and then she accompanied Detective DaSilva downstairs.

As they descended the stairs, there was another flickering movement in the corner of her vision.

[3,393/3,397 Survivors]

Is there a fight going on downstairs? She found herself hoping absurdly that there was some dispute outside between groups of people. Something that would make sense of the two deaths. Something less sinister than a serial killer on the prowl.

But when Mina and DaSilva reached the entrance to the inn, there were no people visible outside. It was quiet. The only thing moving was the slowly falling snow.

The center of the settlement looked and felt empty.

“It has to be the same killer again,” DaSilva said after a long silence.

“What do we do?” Mina asked.

“We can’t go after him now. This person just killed two people inside of a few minutes. Whoever it is, he might have us outgunned if the two of us confront him. We have to be careful.”

Mina nodded. They reentered the inn and ascended the stairs once more.

“I wish I understood the limits of the System and what magic can do,” DaSilva said thoughtfully as they reached the landing. “I don’t know how to catch this unsub.”

“Unsub?” Mina asked.

“Oh, unknown subject,” DaSilva said. He sounded surprised, as if he’d forgotten Mina was there and had been talking to himself. “Some people in the FBI use the phrase to talk about a perpetrator. It always pops into my mind whenever I think I’m dealing with a serial killer.” He looked a little guilty, as if he was afraid of scaring her. “Of course, usually I’ve been incorrect when I thought a serial killer might be active in the past. Superficial similarities in killings can get you into some silly Hollywood ideas. This time, though. It would be strange if we weren’t dealing with a serial killer, given what we know.”

“How would you normally catch an ‘unknown subject’ if you didn’t have forensics? Regardless of whether they were a serial killer or not?” Mina asked.

“The basics of criminal investigation are motive, means, and opportunity,” DaSilva said. “But here, the means are unclear, and in a world with magic, we don’t know what’s possible. Anyone might have an opportunity, as far as I know. Maybe the killer is magical and walks through walls. We don’t know what everyone’s abilities are. Even you have magic.”

I assume you won’t consider me a suspect, since you were with me when these people died, Mina thought.

“So you have to focus on motive, then, no?” she said.

“Right. But who has a motive to go around killing people at night? It’s not been just one now, or even two. There are three victims. I don’t know how the motive could be any of the classic murder motives. Revenge, lust, greed, and jealousy don’t make sense with what little we know so far. Serial killer motives tend to be weird, too. Psychodrama stuff. ‘I’m recreating my childhood to get back at Mommy,’ or some such nonsense. I’m not the kind of expert in these killings that we need. I don’t know how these people think!”

He sounded agitated, so Mina decided to let the discussion rest for now.

“I’m going back to my room to try and get some sleep,” she said. “I suggest you do the same.”

“Yeah,” he said, not moving. His mind seemed stubbornly fixed on the problem he needed to solve, but Mina decided it wasn’t her job to make him feel better. Maybe if he obsessed over this, he would solve the crimes more quickly anyway.

She reentered the room, locked the door behind herself, made sure that Yulia was still unhurt, and went back to sleep.

She tossed and turned, failing to achieve the same peace she’d felt before that knock, but she at least stole another hour or two of sleep before the sun came up. At that point, Yulia stretched and yawned loudly beside her, and Mina gave up on sleep.

Mina rose and quietly told Yulia that there was a serial killer out there somewhere. Yulia seemed to take the news better than Mina would have expected. She was a bit alarmed, but no more than she had been by the first body.

“Maybe I’m too used to serial killer stories from TV,” Yulia suggested sheepishly when Mina commented on this.

The two of them prepared for the day and then went downstairs, where the inn’s kitchen was full of activity. People were cooking their provisions in the kitchen, and Mina was able to exchange a small share of their provisions for an already cooked breakfast. The woman who made that offer seemed quite pleased to be cooking, and when Mina thanked her, she mentioned that she had unlocked the Job of Cook within the System.

Convenient, Mina thought. I wonder what the conditions are to get it. I probably need to start cataloging these kinds of details. It could be important to figuring out both these murders and just how to live in this world now. But the Cook job in particular didn’t seem to be a clue toward the killer, or even a very desirable job if there were other options, so she didn’t ask follow-up questions about that one.

Instead, Mina watched as people came and went in the dining area of the inn. She occasionally popped her head outside to see what people were doing and saying. But it was an uneventful morning, generally.

With no challenge set for the day, people relaxed. The inn and surrounding area came to life.

People came downstairs, sat, ate, and chatted. Maybe it was the roaring fire in the hearth or the atmosphere of general relaxation. Maybe it was the fact that the people staying in this inn all had plenty of food.

But people outside seemed more guarded than the people inside the inn whenever Mina peeked out at them. They kept to themselves or in small groups, whispering. Hurrying along on whatever errands animated them before returning whence they came.

As the morning turned to afternoon, activity diminished in both the open area outside and the inn. Mina lost interest in people watching, and she and Yulia returned to their room.

“Let’s go over our Status sheets,” Mina suggested. Although she and Yulia were both wary of going outside without others accompanying them while a killer was on the loose, Mina was very conscious that her sister could get bored if she didn’t have some form of stimulation.

Now I have a more constructive activity to do with her than puzzles, at least.

“You have to promise not to laugh,” Yulia insisted.

“Yes, yes, I promise,” Mina replied.

It turned out that Yulia’s unique Talents were Confidant, Observation, and Peacemaker. She was embarrassed that Observation apparently resulted from a tendency to watch other people interact without participating herself. But Mina couldn’t help but think of the applications of the Talent to their present situation.

It comes with the Skills “Trace” and—

Bap! Bap! Bap! There was a harsh sound of knocking at the door.

Mina and Yulia both looked up, stunned.

Then Mina rose, peered through the peephole, and saw it was DaSilva.

“Detective, you scared me for a moment!” she called through the door.

“Mina, you and your sister probably need to stay in your room for the rest of the day!” DaSilva said urgently.

“What’s wrong?!” Mina asked, trying to keep the panic out of her voice.

“One of the two people killed was Paul. There are people who remember how he behaved toward you yesterday and think you might have had something to do with it.”