The door's shutter collapsed to the ground with a loud crash; the bars echoed, the sound stretching throughout the area and its surroundings. That stormy night in Buenos Aires left the streets deserted. Rain fell relentlessly on Esteban's shoulders and his faithful comrade, Addel, who followed him under Maldonado's orders. The knight's anger manifested in the brutal force of a kick. Like Candado, Esteban had not closed his eyes since he learned of his companion's tragic death. Since the funeral, his sole purpose had been to seek out the killer, without rest or respite.
In the months following the events with the Traffic Lights, Esteban faced the overwhelming onslaught of criticism and praise. He would not allow himself to be dismissed without a response. He took charge of directing his teams to every corner of the world, seeking to clear U.F.E.T.C.'s name. Anger and despair began to overflow in his mind; every step and every second resonated with the repetitive idea of humiliating Candado. Though many hinted that his leadership was decaying, he turned a deaf ear and continued his tireless pursuit.
Just a few days ago, Esteban received a message from an acquaintance. He was at the place where his comrade and friend, Guillermo, had been murdered. His mental state deteriorated minute by minute; even his girlfriend couldn't reason with Esteban. He wouldn't give up until he found his friend's killer.
The address led him to an abandoned house in the Buenos Aires suburbs. He had no intention of being friendly with the witness residing in such a desolate place. The first step was the easiest for him: venturing into the house. Once he destroyed the door and the shutter with a strong kick, it was time to inspect the area where they had found him. The smell of decay permeated the place; it was dirty, with noticeable leaks, no light, furniture, or people inhabiting it. The floor was shattered, the tiles peeling off the walls, and they were eaten away by moisture. It was more than evident that the house was abandoned.
"I can't see anything," Addel said.
Esteban observed one of the walls and found a switch. He approached and punched it so hard it went through the wall, then gave it an electric shock that provided a dim light, although there were barely any bulbs.
"Now I can see," he commented.
Esteban didn't respond; he simply set out to explore the house in search of something useful for the investigation. Fortunately, the house didn't have many rooms; it looked like an apartment, but bigger and with a little more space. Addel walked through the living room, and as he stepped on the rubble, he felt something. He bent down, began to move pieces of wood and rocks one by one until he found something. It was a strange coin with Harambee's face.
"What's this doing here?" he asked.
Addel stood up, brushed the dirt off the coin to get a better look.
"ESTEBAN!" Then he blew on the coin. "I think I found a W.O.G.A.B. coin."
Esteban turned and walked over to him.
"Look," he said as he handed him the coin, "this is one of those things you never thought you'd see."
"It's a fake coin," he said as he handed it back to him. "It's no use to me."
"A fake coin?"
"It's a method used by the guilds to access W.O.G.A.B.'s secret television channels, things like news, reports," then he approached a sort of bookshelf made of bricks and ran his fingers there, "and guild-related stuff," then he looked at his fingers black as soot, "Ugh, disgusting, apparently no one cleans here anymore."
"Interesting, I could use this to analyze the enemy and..."
"You're wasting your time."
"Excuse me?"
"Those coins are only used once; after being used, their layer or chip gets destroyed, and they're no good anymore."
"Oh, what a shame."
"Although it seems quite striking. What's a coin like this doing in such a rundown place?"
"Surely this was one of their houses."
Esteban narrowed his eyes and then looked at Addel.
"Better keep it, I think it'll be useful for us, for now."
Esteban headed to a room that, by intuition, he identified as the kitchen. There was no floor in that place, just rubble, with a large hole in the ceiling where the rain penetrated.
"There's nothing useful here," he thought aloud.
Then he crossed to the other end, where he found a completely destroyed room.
"I never thought I'd see such a deteriorated place like this."
He stopped when he saw an unusual crack in a wall that wasn't rotten or invaded by fungi. It had a slight cracked dent extending from its origin. Intrigued, he placed his index finger in the crack and followed it to its origin, tapping three times with the same finger.
"ADDEL!" he shouted as he looked at the crack in the strange wall.
Addel appeared at that moment, still holding the coin.
"Is something wrong, sir?"
"Look at this, the crack in this wall doesn't match this dent; they're quite uneven, not to mention that this wall looks quite new."
"What do you suggest, sir?"
Esteban reached into the small hole and pulled out a piece of debris that crumbled in his hand. Then he brought the same hand to his nose and smelled each finger.
"How curious, it's damp."
"It must be because of the rain."
"I don't think so. This area isn't damp, especially if there's too much rubble to prevent water from reaching this particular area. It's impossible for it to reach here."
Then he stood up and, without looking at Addel, said:
"I want you to tell me what's behind it."
"Piece of cake," he said as he tucked the coin into his pocket.
He stood in the middle of the wall, took five steps back, and ran with all his strength toward the wall, but he didn't break through or pass it. Instead, he collided with it and fell to the ground in great pain.
"I thought I told you to go through it, not to stamp yourself on it."
"I tried," he said as he tried to stand up. "It's just that something strange is happening here; the wall nullified my powers."
Esteban walked up to the wall and placed his left hand on it, then closed his eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"Shhhh, I'm concentrating my powers in one area. We'll find out one way or another what's hidden behind this wall."
But the moment he put his hand on it, the wall fragmented again and began making strange noises.
"Was that supposed to happen?"
"That wasn't me," said Esteban as he cautiously withdrew his hand. "Something like this shouldn't happen," then he looked at the crack; it kept growing and growing, its roots fragmenting as it spread.
"What's happening?"
Esteban didn't answer; he simply backed away from that wall.
"Whatever it is, seems like I 'opened' it."
When the wall had cracked completely, it began to slowly fall, revealing a door.
"Wow, that's odd," then he shook his shoulder and walked over to it.
"Sir, wait."
Esteban turned around and looked at him.
"Is something wrong?" he asked skeptically.
"Let me go in first. I think it'd be better if I check the place."
Esteban didn't respond; he just grimaced and proceeded to kick the door open.
"Thanks for the compliment, but no," he said as he shook his hands. "Come on, I don't want heroes," he added as he took out his personal flashlight, which was basically a sphere of electricity emanating from his right palm.
The room was dark, there was nothing, just a step leading into the depths, disappearing from view. Each step was difficult to see as they descended.
"Geez, this is what I call a 'Secret Room', a horrible and eerie secret room," said Addel.
Esteban took four steps, stopped, turned, and said:
"Keep your eyes open," then he paused for a moment to reflect and continued, "This place is too dangerous; you'll have to be very careful. If your powers failed to pass through a harmless wall, I can't imagine what we might encounter down there."
"Yes, sir, I'll be cautious."
Once Esteban gave his warning, they began to descend the stairs. Although it didn't seem like it, Addel was very nervous, so much so that his white face began to turn orange.
"Calm down a bit, nothing's going to happen," said Esteban without looking at him.
"Sorry, sir, I'm claustrophobic, I hate small and narrow places."
"You, a person who appears and disappears in moments of danger, how is it possible that you're afraid?"
"When I get nervous, my powers fail, and I can't dematerialize."
"Relax, because dead you're no good to me."
"Thanks, now I'll be calm."
"Come on, mate, relax..."
A sour, harsh noise, resembling a howl, came from the depths of the place. Although Addel was terrified, Esteban wasn't. In fact, he lit his other hand and ran until he reached the end of the stairs, where there was another door, but tougher and more resistant. He arrived like a madman making his triumphant entrance, breaking down the door and getting ready in an attack position. Although it was exaggerated and reckless, because he could have died if there was someone really dangerous. But deep in Addel's trembling heart, he felt comfortable knowing that Esteban had such a big and, most of the time, dangerous mind, like his. It gave quite the character and enough reason to feel protected with someone like that by his side.
"Is there no one?" asked a paralyzed-with-fear Addel.
"Negative."
"What does that mean?"
"It means there's no one, idiot. So come down."
Addel hurried and descended the stairs quickly, until he reached his companion.
"Check this out, it's strange," said Esteban as he pulled a lever on his side.
"Oh, my God."
The place was an experiment room, it looked like a morgue. Everything was bloody, and the moment Esteban pulled the lever, the light came on, but there were some flickering bulbs. The floor had dry, black blood; there were two stretchers, a flipped desk, and several shelves on the floor.
"What is this place?" asked Addel as he brought his right hand to his head. "We shouldn't be here," he concluded.
Esteban was far from surprised; he didn't even react to such disorder. But after a few minutes, he scratched his cheek and walked over to one of the shelves on the floor. Then he crouched down and inspected everything at his feet.
"I'd like you to look around, please," said Esteban as he analyzed a piece of broken glass.
Addel lowered his head and followed Esteban's order. He walked to a sort of hallway, relieved to find it was just a bathroom, but then he kept walking in circles, observing without touching anything, until he saw a door in the direction where Esteban was, who was still crouched down analyzing the remnants at his feet.
"There was a dispute here."
"Sir?"
"Yes, the glass on this shelf was shattered by someone's body," he said as he ran his thumb over the brittle glass.
"What do you suggest?"
"I have no idea, I just know that someone fought here. I don't know who or why, but that's what the scene tells me."
"Could we analyze that blood?"
"It's no use, that blood is already dead. From what I see, we're too late," then he looked at Addel, "and by quite a bit."
"What do we do?" asked Addel as he looked around.
"Let's look a bit more. It's a lab, right? There should be a journal, file, notes, or recordings, I don't know, something, anything to enlighten us a bit more about this mess," then he reached into his coat and pulled out some gum. He took one and offered the other to Addel.
"Thanks, I need these."
When Esteban was unwrapping the gum, he saw something at his feet that he hadn't noticed before. He squinted, put the gum in his mouth, and leaned down to pick up what was on the floor. Then he stood up and examined it closely.
"What is this?" Esteban murmured.
Then he realized it had dirt on it. He took a handkerchief from one of his pockets and wiped the grimy object. When it was completely clean.
"My goodness."
"What's happening, sir?" asked Addel.
"This is a brooch from his handkerchief."
"But what is that doing here? It's impossible for that to be here if the door was closed."
"There must be another way out here. Surely, when he went up the stairs and encountered the bricks, he went back the way he came," then his eyes lit up, "Quick! Search!"
Addel hurried and headed to the door he had seen in front of Esteban. While he did that, Esteban was stunned to see his friend's favorite brooch. It was at that moment that he remembered the first day they gave it to him.
At that moment, Esteban was sitting at his desk reading a book titled "Tale of a Lie," written by Lorenzo Pierre, a famous writer for the Circuits. Esteban was underlining the main ideas, just to pass the time. When suddenly Guillermo burst in.
"Hey, boss," he greeted as he lowered a box beside a shelf.
"Oh, hi," then he flipped a page, "Do you need anything?"
"As euphoric as ever," he then reclined in a chair in front, "Truthfully, nah, just came to rearrange my stuff."
"Good luck," then he looked up and saw something peculiar on his handkerchief's collar, "Hey, wait," Esteban interrupted.
"What's up?"
"I noticed you're wearing something quite expensive."
"Envious?"
"No, just find it strange you'd wear something like that, nothing more."
"This is a gift from Lisa," he said, pointing to the brooch and continued, "It was a very nice gesture."
"Where did she get the money?"
"Is everything somehow related to that or is it just your investigation?"
"I find it strange that such a carefree girl like her had that amount of money."
"You're... You're being prejudiced?"
"Me? No, of course not."
"Thank goodness," he said as he put his hand to his chest, "I'd have broken your mouth."
"What?"
"Oh, nothing, just my thoughts," then he caressed the brooch and continued, "it's an angel and also very beautiful. She said my handkerchief would look much better with a brooch like this."
"...?"
"What? Aren't you going to say anything?"
Esteban closed the book and looked him in the eyes.
"I fear saying something that would harm your teeth."
"My teeth? Your teeth."
"No, your teeth. Do you think I'd let you hit me without doing something about it?"
"Fair point... Wait, NO!"
"Good, I'm glad you're clear on that."
"Ugh, Esteban, you're always like this."
"But on the other hand, I do like the brooch."
"Thank you, brother. I plan to keep it with me until death."
"Avoid saying that when others are present; I wouldn't want the G.C.G. on my back."
"Nothing will happen. As I said before, I plan to keep it until death."
"Don't exaggerate, it's a long way from dying."
Guillermo laughed heartily at what Esteban had said.
Who would have thought that six months after that conversation, his greatest friend would die.
At one point, Esteban was interrupted. It wasn't the place or the time, as they were in an unknown area and in an unknown house. He quickly felt Addel's hand on his shoulder; the simple touch of his companion made him focus on the matter again.
"Sir, I think I found a way out."
"Good, show me."
Addel stepped forward, and Esteban followed him, pocketing the brooch.
In the end, the door Addel had found was closed, they couldn't open it, until Esteban used brute force again. With a strong blow, the door fell to the ground, revealing a vast, narrow, and dark corridor.
"I don't like that path."
"Well, endure it," said Esteban, direct and annoyed.
Then both followed that eerie path for Addel and approached another door, only this one was destroyed and totally splintered. Apparently, Guillermo had caused that, as he was somewhat similar to Esteban.
Upon entering the place where the broken door was, they saw it was an old machinery depot, the same place where they had found Guillermo's lifeless body.
"Oh great, nothing, the trip was a waste of time."
"No, Addel, it wasn't."
"Why do you say that?"
Then they heard a noise behind them. They quickly turned and noticed that the door they had exited from was no longer there; instead, there was a strange wall that suddenly closed.
"Whatever Guillermo saw caused him to flee from there. Something or someone scared him."
"What? How?"
"The laboratory was destroyed, yes, but it was due to a fight. Apparently, Guillermo found something and wanted to warn us, but they found out and attacked him, and as we know, he died."
"How do you know that?"
Esteban paced in circles as he took a die out of his vest pocket and began to play with it in his hand.
"Time for a hypothesis," he threw the die into the air and caught it in his hand with the number one, and continued, "We know we discovered something, but what? The scene Guillermo saw is not the same as what we saw, but at least we've gotten closer to something. I know Guillermo took this path," then he crouched down and began to crawl, following a possible path where Guillermo could have walked, "He found something, but what? He knew that if I went to that meeting, they wouldn't kill me but do something much worse; however, he went anyway. That leads me to believe he left clues, clues that you and I would follow."
"I don't understand what you're telling me."
Esteban stood up, tossed the die into the air again, and caught it in his hand once more, but this time with the number five.
"'The order of things.' Guillermo encountered someone, and I believe it was more than one person, as the wound he had was in his back. Someone treacherously killed him while he was focusing his attention on something or someone."
"By whom?"
"That's the question, by whom? My hypotheses and the evidence tell me it wasn't a guild member, and whoever said that was deceived or rather, was bought," then he took out his friend's brooch and examined it closely. "Comrades never leave without leaving traces; he knew something could go wrong, so he prepared a path for us to follow."
He tossed the die into the air again, and as it was about to fall, Esteban caught it mid-air, showing the number one.
"'Conclusion.' Guillermo set up a game, in which he didn't leave players, but elements, only blind clues, the same ones that are here."
"What does that mean?"
"Guillermo saved us a place to start playing," then he pocketed both objects (die and brooch).
He crouched again and saw some almost blurry marks on the floor "De + Po." Esteban ran his fingers over that mark.
"And what will we do?"
Esteban stood up, turned around, and with a smile answered.
"We're going to play this game."
But in the same area, someone was secretly watching him, hooded, with metal hands, and a smile.
Unfortunately, Esteban didn't notice his presence and disappeared without him knowing.
And as he ran in the rain, he bumped into someone, a very dangerous person for any living being.
"Desza, I followed him."
"Good, he'll surely want to get close to the truth enough to expose his status."
"What do you suggest?"
"Tomorrow, a president will come to visit, while he looks for who killed his friend, you'll follow him, while we wreak havoc in this city. I think it's time for the world to see our mark."
"Great strategy, sir."
"Don't disappoint me, Póker. If you want to be a leader, you'll have to kill him in a way that makes it seem like the guilds were involved."
"I will do as you say, sir."
Then, both disappeared that night. The plan was in motion, something very big was approaching and threatening the world as we know it.
The next morning, a black limousine cruised the streets of Buenos Aires. President Julekha Chandra greeted her constituents, and there were laughs and praise from the crowd, both adults and children. She was a very friendly and understanding person. By her side was her vice president, Rem Koirala, who was also cheerful to greet their constituents.
But among the laughter were the troublemakers, who wore the emblems of a Borrador. Among them was Jørgen, who wore a hat to cover his face.
"I'm in position, sir."
"Excellent," said Desza, who was observing everything from the third floor of a hotel. "Now, do it. Let the world know of our mark."
"At your command, sir."
Jørgen picked up a stone from the ground and tossed it into the air. Then, it fell onto a boy, who cried out and made a scene.
"Oh, help me, brothers, I'm being attacked."
A Borrador, who was applauding, saw his "comrade" being beaten by a guild member. Anger erupted from within him, and he delivered a strong blow to the face.
"HOW DARE YOU MESS WITH MY BROTHERS!?"
The boy got up with the help of two others.
"You're scum, if you mess with a guild member, you mess with us."
Then the madness began; as they fought, Jørgen took advantage and escaped from there. As he ran through the crowd, he removed all the clothing that identified him as a Borrador.
As chaos rapidly spread, a young man who was watching everything ran to a nearby hotel and informed Rozkiewicz, who was having breakfast.
"Sir, there's trouble in the square."
"HOW?!"
"Yes, sir."
"Don't just stand there, call for reinforcements. We need to protect the president."
Then he stood up and ran to the top floor of the hotel, from where he could see with horror what was happening.
"This... Can't be happening."