The day was grey, rainy when we were given objective. It was the second division that came to us about new leads on Heathen. After uncovering the mess at Cyber City, we assumed that the next clue we'd discover would unveil it all. Then, as if they themselves were listening, that very clue had made itself apparent.
"There're already three videos out posted online about supposedly hearing the word 'Heathen' whispered around this premise."
"A shut-down factory?" I asked. I was in discussion with a member from the second division.
"Yeah, right on the outskirts of downtown Melysia. One of those factories situated right by the lake perimeter."
I was thinking. "Why would 'Heathen' be heard around an abandoned area like that…?"
"The people are theorizing that it could be the Sin of Discrimination's hideout. But no one dares to check it out themselves, obviously."
I nodded. "I see. I'll let my division know about this."
After that, it was Sav who'd made the call to move forward with the information.
"We already barely get any leads! All of a sudden, we got Cyber City and now this abandoned factory? We can't pass up on this!"
"Are you sure, Sav?" Cynthia had asked.
"I'm sure more than ever before! If y'all don't feel as ignited as I do about uncovering Heathen, then think about the people we lost! Kyra, Emanuel, Klyson. Those three are a result of our incompetence. We need to avenge them!"
My heart ached hearing those names. I'd always been a bitter person, but the losses met with the events of that apartment dug deeper than I'd imagined. The tides changed after that.
We all changed after that.
"It won't hurt to check it out, even if it's just a rumor," I said.
"Since the very start, all we've ever been following have been rumors, haven't they?" Garren spoke-in.
"Yeah… You're right. And our intuition had never led us astray."
"Which is why we goin'. Alright?" Sav smirked. "Plus, I've made some improvements to my Fractal I wanna test out… Who better than to test it on the Sin of Discrimination themselves?"
I nodded, shudderingly. The thought of encountering that mythical being I'd witnessed back then when spectating the Invidan War made me nervous. We didn't even know what their Fractal was, yet here we were diving straight into the deep end.
Cynthia took a deep breath. "We have no choice, do we?"
Sav shook his head. "The Overseers don't wanna provide us any more support than we already have. They didn't even bother sending backup when we needed it at that apartment back then…"
"It's only us who're willing to go through with this then." I stood firm. "We can only count on ourselves."
"Then so be it!" Sav shook his hands loose. "At dawn, we're rollin'."
In the blink of an eye, it was already the next morning. My hands were on the wheel. We were driving to a particular vantage point that was about 9 kilometers off from the factory. When we'd arrived, we all got out and readied ourselves for the warping trip.
"Cynthia, Garren, you two are first." Sav readied his hands, pointing a palm each at their feet. His Fractal was then set in motion, and he began to twist his hands, forming wormholes where Cynthia and Garren stood. Within seconds, they vanished out of thin air.
"Bingo!" Sav laughed. "The training really paid off!"
I smiled. "Never thought the day would come when you'd finally become affiliated with your left hand."
He shook it loose. "Our turn, Celeste."
Sav pointed his palms at both his and my feet. With the same twist of reality in his hands, we were warped directly to the factory's location, spawning alongside Cynthia and Garren.
"This is it." I looked onwards.
Sav shot a reassuring smile at the rest of us, even though I know he was just as nervous as we were.
"Shall we?"