"HeY!" she knelt on the floor, grabbing the bars made of wind; the figure approached. One second she was there, the next, standing outside as shadows manifested.
She leapt up to the vague body she could make out- "Fwoosh!" The wind lifted her foot up, dangling her like bait on a fishing rod before, she felt her body stiffen.
The air around her held her body in place, paralyzed. Her eyes darted, but her body was gently placed down on the floor, right side up. Her lips tried to move, only to be locked in place.
"Did you honestly think you could break into here without tripping off any of the hundreds of enchantments and alarms?" Kor stepped into view.
Only her eyes could shift in response, nose flaring.
"Please; I'm going to release you. I ask you to stay still for a moment; blink twice if you understand," his eyes half-closed.
If only she could grunt or grumble or scream… She blinked twice… The magic encasing her body loosened, letting both feet step onto the ground. "I can blink out of here any time, I'll tell everyone that you're the spy!" her voice echoed.
"This is a misunderstanding," Kor put his hands up, "I didn't know you harboured such suspicion towards me, but I assume you're here with the same intention as myself," he was still in uniform.
"Same intention? If… this is about the letter," Fumeko stared at him.
"Yes and I didn't find a single letter in the mailroom from you. You had no reason to lie about something like that. Which made me wonder what could've possibly happened to that letter."
"That means you think-"
"Coincidental if it got lost at the post office but."
"It must've been intercepted…" Fumeko stood a little sturdier, "That means you're suspecting the Ordinate as much as I am. Sorry… for, almost killing you I guess," she side-eyed.
He smiled, "Apology accepted. Now, I've gone through the effort of making sure all protocols for security are shut down; because not all employees have left the premises, of course."
"Your stupid pretences are what got me suspicious in the first place."
"Right… If you would like to come help me investigate; on my authority, I'm searching under suspicion of conspiracy. If there are spies within the Maleficos Ordinate in Kria…
Going head-on and calling them out wouldn't be the best decision. Especially when we're lacking details. Shall we?" Kor pointed the platform.
"Yeah, I'd like to help… My eyes are still on you though," she walked onto it, Kor following behind. It began moving up with a deep blue light.
"How does this thing work anyway," Fumeko stomped the lift twice with her foot.
"It's construction contains magical instructions. The 'key' being certain enchantments and items to allow anybody to utilize it, affinity or not. When you are in contact with the platform you can command it telepathically.
It's much like enchantments and special abilities inlayed in armour and magical items or artefacts. Mana is the source of all magic; affinities transform that magic.
But the base essence is always the same. So, enchanting objects or using alternative means, one can also control mana. Thus," Kor stamped the platform once with his foot, "technology like this is created."
"I didn't ask for an entire lecture… If I think up it goes up, I get it," at least her view down was obscured by the dark this time.
Kor sighed, "As for an answer, I don't know why it snowed in Kria. While the weather department was eager to pursue the story, it was re-catalogued under the Velatos Case quickly."
Fumeko glanced to him, pouting her lips to the side… "How could this all happen without you knowing?"
"Perhaps my superior would've seen this much sooner. However high my position is, I'm still one man. I can only know and do so much.
If there are multiple spies in Kria, then there's potentially an entire group working as double agents. I can say my mind is sharp, but to go against countless minds, working in unison? Who knows how many things they could hide and cover?
You may keep whatever suspicions you have of me but I assure you; if there is some conspiracy, hiding right under my nose. I'm completely unaware," his gaze followed the opposing wall.
Fumeko let out a breath through her nose, "Fine. We'll flip the entire Ordinate till we can find one clue. Where exactly are we searching first?"
The lift stopped, Kor stepping out with a tiny smirk, "Let's search what we've already searched before. Without all the prying eyes that is."
_
The doors opened up, Kor turned on the light—Velatos Research department. Peering into the eggshell white room there were tables against the walls, many desks, files, documents till the brim…
Was this not the exact same view the brunette had seen before? Weeks had passed and yet, the change in this room mimicked the department's progress in the case—stagnant.
"Telling of the greatest minds of the Ordinate," she flipped open pages she was not able to before.
"Once that letter came into question, it only made all my other mild suspicions much stronger. Why would Legisvia tell me not to intervene? I made up my own reasons for that question.
But how many of my reports could've been intercepted if I believe my suspicions are correct?" Kor walked along, searching through papers.
Turning, page by page in the lit room. Gauges and tools were placed around the area to better understand the velatos. Fumeko picked up another set of documents…
"Wait…" she uttered, fluttering the paper. Wasn't this? "I've read this before," Fumeko picked up another document, "It's the same."
Kor from the other side of the room turned, then back to the papers he flipped through. Five or seven documents later, underneath the pile of them was the same document he read the first time.
"They're copies of each other," Kor checked the next table as did Fumeko.
"It's the same findings that velatos can't be hit by any spells below the power of master level," Fumeko scanned, "But the dates are changed on each one."
"This one is on failed theories and I've found ten of these same papers. Twelve of the same ones mentioning transmutation and fifteen on the analysis of their 'shadow-skin' formation; the dates are all changed as well," Kor moved on to another desk.
While the dates on each varied, the subject matter was only changed slightly, easily finding twenty to thirty of the same files and 'findings'.
"What? They can't share notes or something? Why would they print so many, but change the dates? To keep up the act that they knew something, but actually nothing?" Fumeko threw them aside.
"I would say that's the case, but why hide it from me? And more importantly, hide it in their own place of work which is highly secure?
This department only has thirty-two researchers, all divided on specializing different tasks so why would they need over thirty copies of the same files on the same tasks?" Kor neatly arranged them back.
Fumeko furrowed her brows, marching over to the scanner, "They changed the dates on them too. The recent dates on top and older ones below.
In case anyone decides to come take a 'tour' like that clown of a mayor, it would look like they're really busy and have progress. What magic does this thing even scan?"
Kor walked over, "I wish I could say or examine, but my affinity lies with defensive magic not tracking or tracing, that would be enchantment."
"If it can trace a velatos, then surely they can reverse-engineer that trace and figure out a source. Jotou and I pretty much confirmed that velatos are some sort of undead."
"That is plausible, then again I'm not well-versed with velatos as much as this department. But it seems, I'm not the only one using pretences," Kor peered over to the capsules of yellow.
Fumeko looked to where Kor observed. She blinked to the location, picking up one of the containers. "This is all just a coverup?" Fumeko held onto the lid.
"Hold on," Kor put a hand in the air before the container she held hummed with blue winds, surrounding it, "That should nullify any trap."
With a breath in and out, she twisted the lid open. "Poof!" The wind expelled, blowing her bangs back. "No trap on it," Kor sensed.
She dipped her fingers in. "Fumeko… I would not handle it so, recklessly…" She pulled it out by the tail, holding a dead lizard in her fingers.
Her brows furrowed as it dangled while she placed the container aside. She examined the yellow liquid, like jelly… She dipped a finger in and brought it to her tongue.
"Fumeko… What are you…" Kor closed an eye.
She tasted it… "It's honey. Why the hell do they have it in honey!?"
Kor approached, "Honey and sugar make good preservatives?"
"What's the point? Surely you'd do something more useful with a velatos corpse… Wait," Fumeko ran over to the scanner and splatted the honey coated lizard onto it.
Kor turned it on for her. "NGEHHH!" The machine went off with a red beep. "That's not a sound I've heard this thing make," Fumeko looked it over.
"You've probably heard the positive reaction. That is the negative; it's not a velatos…"
"Well, that leaves us two conclusions. Either some bullshit reasoning that honey reverses a velatos or," Fumeko blinked back to the other containers, "This all for show. These aren't even velatos corpses; they're future velatos."
"It's a leap, but it's logical," Kor lifted the jars, examining the creatures within. "But velatos can sprout from most locations; these must be test subjects?"
"Maybe…" Fumeko stared to the white wall. She leaned her ear in, beginning to knock on it, going downwards, "My dad's told me about something like this."
Kor listened along, "There. That sounded hollow."
"Huh? I'm looking for a hollow sound? That makes more sense- I mean, ahem… I, definitely knew that," she flipped her hair back.
"It would be hard to tell the size of this room from the outside, being so high in the tower. A secret compartment or room would be difficult to notice…" Kor examined the ceilings.
"If only I could blink in, but I need to see."
"Blink spells can't go through opaque objects, you would need a warp or a teleport; some spell in that nature. There should be a mechanism somewhere to open it," Kor suspected.
"Like the platform?" Fumeko's eyes alit.
Kor turned, facing the wall, "Possibly," he put his hand on it. Taking a moment… winds began picking up around where he stood.
"Kor…?"
He remained silent, eyes fixated on the wall as the desk the containers sat on flipped up like a trap door with no sound and a seam in the wall revealed with a bluish glow. "Kor…? Hey!?"
Kor lifted his hand off as a gust of wind released… He shook his head, "Remember how I said about spells castable by anyone…?"
"Yeah?"
"This door was behind a master level lock," he remarked. Both of them approached the now revealed door. Each of their hands on one side, they pushed it open…
A room of the same colour, around the same size as the previous one if not smaller. Their eyes could not help but widen as they walked in.
"These are…" Kor examined the desks, ruby red gems, some cracked and fragmented and most completely intact. Gadgetry and notes all scribbled and scrawled. The hair on his skin spiked.
Kor lifted up his hands, winds surging around himself and Fumeko, "Careful of what you touch… I can protect us, but this all sensitive for now.
Looks like we got our suspicions confirmed… We're standing in the middle of a hornet's nest," Kor picked up one of the gems, twisting it in his hand.
Noticing a board, a table underneath with documents and notes, Fumeko walked over, mouth agape to the room around her and winds protecting her body.
She noticed a shine and picked it up from in between papers… Her eyes widened even further, "Kor…"
Kor turned to see her holding up an insignia. In bronze metal, a ship helm, surrounded by three five-pointed stars…