Act 11
Public transport heading to Eden.
Our hero was returning from his weekend journey in search of the legendary tailor who had received him in his hideout and gifted him a uniform. For a more durable and resistant fabric, the tailor said he needed time to acquire items of excellent quality, so he gave Masayoshi a spare uniform with the same characteristics but less resistant, inside the transport, he carried a box without even opening it, saving it for when he arrived at his apartment so he could have a surprised reaction upon seeing his body wearing what would become the symbol of justice in that world.
Upon arriving in Eden, he hurried straight to his apartment, eagerly opening the package. He was then met with the beauty of his uniform and put it on... however, when he looked at himself in the mirror, he realized his face would be a danger to his livelihood, he was afraid of what could happen, so he took his last technological mask that he had bought, similar to the one he had left with the elderly couple in the distant village of Eden. Even though he was wearing a mask, his reaction of pride and satisfaction was noticeable, because it was more than just a uniform... it was the physical representation of the hero he dreamed of building, since his mental awakening that opened his eyes to the world, he had yearned for a world where everyone knew what justice was.
The day wasn't over yet, the world was still the same... but specifically... this day, something was about to happen that would change the course of Masayoshi's life forever... He heard a loud boom and immediately rushed up to the top floor of the building. He looked in astonishment at the horizon... the distant village was under attack...
Hours earlier...
Eden Forensics Lab
The control room was immersed in a heavy silence, broken only by the low hum of the computers. Holograms projected cascades of vocal data, all marked with the same red text:
[NO MATCH FOUND].
Malik watched, motionless, his fingers tightly interlaced behind his back, his eyes scanned each screen with an intensity that made the air feel colder, two forensics experts, visibly exhausted, stared at their terminals.
Expert 1:
In a tired voice, almost a whisper. "Sir Malik... the search algorithm has exhausted all parameters. We've scanned over 40 billion records, the voice... it doesn't exist."
Malik didn't move, his voice came out calm, but each word was like a thorn piercing flesh.
Malik:
"There are no ghosts in this system, ghosts don't disintegrate combat drones. Are you telling me an anomaly, a thing, appeared out of nowhere, dismantled our technology, and vanished? Without a trace?"
Expert 2:
Stammering slightly. "The vocal patterns... are unique, they don't match any registered citizen, from any colony. It's as if he was never born, sir."
It was then that Malik turned slowly, his face, once a picture of composure, began to crack. An almost imperceptible tremor ran through his hand.
Malik:
"'No match,' 'Doesn't exist,' Words of the INCOMPETENT, you spent days... and bring me NOTHING?"
"I didn't ask for possibilities, I asked for a name! A single face! Something so I can send a squad and ERASE this trash!"
He slammed his fist violently onto a console, the thud echoing in the silent room.
Malik:
"HOW CAN SOMEONE BE INVISIBLE? HOW CAN A MAN HAVE SUPERNATURAL POWERS AND NOT BE IN ANY OF OUR RECORDS?"
The experts were paralyzed, shrinking under the chief scientist's fury, the image of the masked man, a blur of uncontrollable power, flickered on the holograms like an unattainable target.
Malik took a deep breath, trying to regain control, he approached the main screen, staring at the pixelated, identity-less face.
Malik:
"Whoever you are... you are a mistake, a stain on the perfect project of humanity. And I will not rest... I WILL NOT REST UNTIL I REDUCE YOU TO AN ATOM IN THE HISTORY THAT I WRITE!"
He violently grabbed a datapad from the table and hurled it against the wall, where it shattered into a sudden, terrifying silence. Malik was panting, his shoulders rising and falling, blind rage had taken hold, the most powerful man on the planet was being challenged by a ghost. And he had no idea that the ghost was just a young cook, protected by the very flaws of the system Malik had sworn to dominate.
Suddenly, Malik's eyes fixed on a detail in the report he had ignored, what if he didn't focus solely on the audio? Security recordings also had footage, the drones did too, at the same moment his mind cleared, someone burst into the room, extremely out of breath. His eyes were tired from hours of irrelevant footage, It was a technician who had been reviewing the automatic surveillance drone recordings from the day of the incident, he had almost skipped past another frame of a dark alley when something made him go back.
Technician:
"Sir, you need to see this."
He then mirrored the scene from the recording, and there it was: a figure, a blur of fast movement, but clear enough to be identified as human. He wasn't just running, he disappeared through the wall of an abandoned building as if it weren't there, then he ran the video more slowly, alternating between angles, until for a brief moment he managed to locate the general area where the hero had rested, It wasn't an exact location yet, but it was already an answer.
Technician:
"Sir, I can't give you a precise location, but theoretically he was in this house here." He pointed, showing the exact house where Masayoshi had previously hidden and rested with the elderly couple.
Malik was pale, he had finally found his nemesis, the flaw in his perfect, error-free system. He immediately grabbed a datapad and activated numerous robots and armed police officers, he then approached the microphone...
"Maximum priority, we have a lead on where the rat might have hidden. I want everyone at their posts, we depart for the southern village immediately."
A smile of satisfaction and bitterness spread across the chief scientist's face, this day, something was about to happen that would change the course of Malik's life forever.