A small sound slipped out. Not a man's voice, but a girl's, weak, shaky, but not completely panicked. She was tiny, her hair braided to one side, a young-looking face, wearing a turtleneck with a moss-green long coat, all very modest.
Specter stepped out from the dark, eyes tense. Orion smirked and clapped once.
"Oh, turns out it's a girl. I thought it was another dude agent. Was about to curse."
Noir pressed the girl down harder, her voice cold.
"What do you want? Planning to report us to VOID?"
The girl gasped for breath, a flicker of hope in her eyes as she struggled to speak.
"No… I know who you are. Noir. The one the whole organization is hunting. But I'm not here to expose you."*cough*
"Please… let me ex— explain first…"
Noir narrowed her eyes, that blue glow flashing inside them. She was reading her, scanning every line of thought the girl had but nothing was malicious. There was even desperation. It was all real.
The girl continued, trembling but determined.
"On the contrary… I need your help. My family was taken because I refused to work for them. I have no other way left."
"Please, please… believe me… I'm begging you…"
Silence. The whole place froze.
Then Noir finally spoke.
"Help?! What can I do? Can't you see I've got a whole squad chasing me just to kill me?"
"And besides, you don't look like anything good yourself." *press hard*
"What I said is true… if I'm lying… then you can kill me…uhh…" the girl blurts out.
Orion burst out laughing, breaking the mood.
"Aizz come on, let her go first. If we talk like this she'll die before she even finish a sentence." *Orion pulls Noir back*
Noir kept her serious look, but inside she never let her guard down with anyone. Specter just stared at the girl, suspicious but also a bit uneasy.
Finally, Noir let go, her voice dropping low.
"What proof do you have that you escaped the organization? Or are you pretending to be a victim to follow us?" *arms crossed*
The girl nodded, eyes shaking a bit, then she suddenly reached into her coat and took out a tracking device, this is the one every VOID agent carried.
"I'll show you."
She threw it to the ground and stomped on it hard, broken. And even bolder, she grabbed Noir's dagger and dragged it across her own hand. A deep cut, blood dripped onto the dirt. Noir actually flinched and took a step back.
"You can read me, right? I'm not scared to let you try…" *holding hand*
Orion whistled, giving Noir a meaningful look.
"She's my type. Tough, and cute too. Noir, come on, take her in. At least she'll warm up our cold little team."
"I'm not like you!" Noir *snaps*
"Calm down." *Specter nudges Noir with his elbow*
After a while, Noir dragged the girl to a shadowed corner behind an old house.
She forced the girl to sit on a creaky log, that blue glint in her eyes flashing again as she frowned.
"Who are you?"
"Tell me. Why are you following us?"
The girl lowered her head a bit and spoke softly.
"My… my name is Kaelith. I'm a member… of the data-control system… and… and work at Void's central station…"
"Since I was 13, Void dragged me in to work. They promised my parents a good life… but in truth they locked them in the deep basement, used them as hostages to control me. They knew I was good with machines, so they made me work in the central data station…" *Kaelith clenches her clothes tightly*
All three stared at the small figure, sitting alone inside her own shadow. The wind slid past them, raising a cold chill.
Noir didn't let her guard drop and kept looking deeper into her mind. Specter and Orion still stayed ready in case anything went wrong. Kaelith continued.
"But to escape and look for help, I had to pretend I was obedient and kept working for them. This time, they sent me out to scout and track you. I knew there was only… one person who could help me…" *Kaelith lifted her head, her hand still holding the bleeding wound*
"It's you. You, Noir…"
Kaelith bit her lip, her hand shaking, but her eyes never left Noir.
"I… I don't know what you're seeing. I'm not lying. I just want to save my family."
"I don't even know if they're still alive."
Orion whistled again, resting his chin on his hand.
"Sounds pretty sincere."
This time, yes—everything she said was true. But when Noir pushed deeper into Kaelith's mind, instead of a clear stream of emotions, she hit… a fog. Kaelith's memories were fragmented, with dark blanks blocked off like someone else had put a hand over them. She spoke in a low voice to her teammates.
"There's something… not clear."
Orion replied.
"Huh? Noir, if you see a curtain, then she's either hiding something… or someone else messed with her head."
Specter shot Orion a glance, more serious.
"It's possible they implanted fake memories or bound her mind somehow. Noir, be careful."
Noir stepped closer, her ice-blue eyes piercing straight into Kaelith. The girl trembled but didn't look away, almost like she wanted to prove her innocence by letting Noir see everything.
A long moment passed before Noir stepped back, voice cold.
"Trusting you is like killing myself."
"But for now, you're staying here. Just don't let me catch you slipping… or else…"
Orion cut in with a sly grin.
"Even the ice queen knows how to open her heart a bit."
"Relaxxx, if anything happens I'll handle it first, no need to bother Noir. Honestly it's kinda fun."
"You said she's not evil so she's not evil."
"I never said she's good though?!" *Noir snaps around*
"Alright alright." Orion groaned.
Kaelith breathed fast, unsure if she should feel safer or even more scared. As for Noir, her suspicion grew stronger—something about this girl just… didn't match. A secret still hiding somewhere.
Orion and Specter bandaged Kaelith's injury from earlier. Orion even chatted casually.
"Hey girl, how old are you?"
"Um… I'm 19…" Kaelith answered.
"19? Seriously? Damnn, that's like 7 years younger than me." Orion laughs.
Specter gently reassured her.
"Noir is always like that, try to get used to it!"
But Specter thought.
/Noir said she has unclear memories… we still need to be cautious./
To continue searching for Dr. Aurel, they rented an old house and stayed there for a few days.
***
Meanwhile, back in VOID's communication center.
In the office.
The big screen was glitching, static buzzing loudly.
A scientist slammed the table hard.
"F**K ! You little brat!"