Half a month later.
Although Middendorffi had said that he could arrange for work to be done, the collectors had not put anything for him and Eli in the past half month. Instead, they were approached by the higher-ups about the Mayfly situation, and the main idea was, as Lupin had surmised, that they would like to capture it alive if there was another chance.
Eli clarified that he couldn't do it, had no props to pretend, and didn't know how to act. "Mayflies" are non-physical beings; it's not like they can be caught and stuffed into a bottle. It's like trying to put the red dot of a laser in a bottle; how do you do that?
Eli says, "It's hard to control, so you might as well destroy it and be done with it."
This is true; in the case of being unable to control the "mayfly", it is best to eradicate it. After all, the "mayfly" was too dangerous. With that said, the superiors had nothing more to say, so they let Eli off easy.
Eli got through the conversation with a bunch of lies.
Then, during this free time, Eli and Middendorffi moved around, day and night, and bought a lot of stuff. They were only interested in electronics - Middendorffi, to be precise - so they swapped phones, tablets and laptops, but their attire remained simple. Later, Laura watched Eli wear clothes that cost tens of thousands of dollars and use mobile phones that cost tens of thousands of dollars, and she could only sigh that the finish of fashion depended on the face.
After half a month of no official or private assignments like that, Middendorffi and Eli finally got out of bed again.
"Did you guys get the video I sent you last time? It was technically processed and a lot clearer. Did you guys get it?"
It was still Henry who was driving. As the vehicle sped along U.S. Highway 13 leading to the countryside in the darkness, Henry said as he went, "We discussed it briefly in the office this afternoon. But just so we don't get in the way of your opinions, what do you want to talk about first?"
Middendorffi said, "Just got it, looking at it."
"Oh, that's the approval to send the video out office-wide before it comes down." Henry said, "Look at it, look at it; you guys can discuss it when you're done. You guys don't get motion sickness, do you? I remember that."
"Hmm," Middendorffi answered and opened the video on his tablet. Eli had it himself but didn't turn it on, so he watched it next to Middendorffi.
The image was of a small lake, the light was a little low in the early morning, and the camera was shaky, so it must have been taken by someone holding a mobile phone. People were talking in the video with a slight accent, and if you looked closely, you could hear them saying, "What is that thing?"
"It's hard to see. Is it some animal? Or is it rubbish?"
"Fuck, it won't be a human being ..."
As they discussed, the mobile phone lens gradually drew closer, and the picture was even more shaky under the high magnification lens. When Middendorffi and Eli watched the original video before, after pulling it in closer, because of the intense shaking, they could only see a cloud of near-white stuff floating on the lake's surface, and it was hard to tell what it was. And this time, when they watched it again, it was much more straightforward, so at least they could determine that it was a long gimmick, and the visual length did resemble the height of a human being.
A screenshot was sent along with the video. The screenshot was processed with even more detail; it looked like a humanoid, and it was no wonder why the people discussing it were so alarmed.
After watching these, Middendorffi asked, "The video said to call the police. Did you report it back there?"
"It was reported. But when the police arrived, there was nothing at the scene." Henry returned, "The angler who called the police said they shook their heads, and the thing was gone. It was thought to have sunk, and the police organised a salvage. But this wild lake is still a complicated situation, and anyway, it took a few days of fishing, but nothing of value was recovered."
"And then?"
"Then, the police withdrew; it can only be regarded as a misunderstanding or something. But a few days after the police left, some anglers saw this thing at dawn. The video is also posted online, and there was a bit of a discussion level, with some people thinking it might be some insect aggregation." Henry said, "Then there were some animal and insect experts who also went to the site, squatted, and even borrowed a boat. When they squatted, they immediately rowed over to it, but before they got close, the thing instantly disappeared, it was indeed a bit evil."
Middendorffi thought momentarily, "Could it be that what mirage ..."
"Meteorology, huh? This has been analysed by meteorology. Anyway, according to the environment, it is very, very difficult to have a mirage. And it's appeared more than once by accident." Henry returned, "Oh yeah, the entomologist who went to the site has looked at it with binoculars, and it's said to kind of look like a lot of little white bugs gathering. But since they disappear as soon as they get close, don't be surprised if you see someone with a long camera tomorrow morning."
Middendorffi, for the first time, would run into other passersby at the scene of an investigative case and ask, "Is there anyone else investigating as well?"
"Hey, like we were talking about, the flora and fauna experts, the meteorologists, and the internet, they're all still discussing it. Don't mind them, we don't need to introduce ourselves as which organisation, just say we're there to investigate when asked. Even a hilarious marketing number would dare say they are there to investigate." Henry said, "Apart from the mirage speculation, you guys don't have any other ideas?"
"Nothing unusual from the video." Middendorffi and Eli looked at each other and said, "The video says it looks like a human body floating on water, but it's just a person's association, and associating it with something else could make sense."
"I knew it, and you're pretty cool. But you're right, it's only because those people thought it looked like a person in the first place that this caught fire; otherwise, who cares what it is." Henry returned, "What about Eli? No other opinions?"
"No." Eli said, "Bear's right."
"Well, we'll just have to see it live." Henry said, "Just to be clear, we don't have to be there before dawn because this only seems to show up at the crack. That's why the locals have never seen it, and if it wasn't for these fishing guys finding wild lakes to fish in and doing camping and night fishing, who would have found this."
Middendorffi asked, "Can't you drain the lake to see?"
Henry replied, "It's not easy to get; a wild lake flowing on an underground water source can't block the source."
"Then, with so many other people investigating and no results, why are we asking the 'collectors' to go now?" Middendorffi queried, "It doesn't look like it's doing any harm."
"Because the locals want to use this wild lake as a gimmick to develop tourism resources." Henry explained, "But the mystery factor is fine for a publicity stunt; it has to be safe for tourism. So the officials wanted to confirm the situation, or at least rule out the mystery factor first."
"Oh." Middendorffi nodded.
"By the way, we'll stay at a farmhouse today, too." Henry said, "Even if we're done with the case by then, you guys can stay on and stay. It's said that the scenery nearby is still good ..."
"Five hundred metres ahead, turn right."
The female voice of the car's navigator interspersed the conversation, and Henry's speech paused involuntarily for a moment before quickly continuing. Middendorffi, however, stared at the car's navigator's panel with a thoughtful look.
Henry, who was used to the two men in the back seat talking less, chattered a few words to himself, then turned on the music and continued driving. Soon, the vehicle turned into the turnoff at the nearest intersection, as the navigation indicated. The turnoff was also dark at night in the countryside, but unlike the main road, it didn't look like any other vehicles were passing through. The road stretched out into the dark mountains and narrowed to barely two lanes in each direction. It would be tough to meet a bus or a truck here.
And turning in, the navigation said again, "Follow the current road ..."
"Not right."
Middendorffi suddenly spoke when he heard the navigation's words again, "There's something wrong with this navigation."
"What?" Henry reacted momentarily before asking, "What, do you know how to get to that farm? Is the navigation pointing the wrong way?"
"I don't know if it's pointing the wrong way." Middendorffi pointed to the car navigation, "But I'm sure it's a weird one; it's not the one you usually use."
"What?!"
The shrill sound of brakes rang through the blackness of the night.
All three cars lurched forward in inertia, Eli scooping up Middendorffi as he did so.
His seatbelt also strangled Henry, but he didn't care about that. Instead, he looked back at Middendorffi, "You mean there's something in my navigation?"
"It was there when it spoke earlier." Middendorffi, half-hugged by Eli, bashfully returned, "But it was only there for those two sentences just now; it wasn't there before."
Henry glared at his on-board instrument, "It almost panned out. I'm nowhere near as inspired as you are, and if it weren't for you, I'd have gone along with it. What the hell is it, anyway?"
"Not sure." Middendorffi said, "Couldn't see any image. I could only sense unusual energy fluctuations when it spoke."
Henry looked to Eli, "Can you get it out?"
"No." Eli was dry, "There's no attackable point of energy coalescence, and if I make a move, I might just damage the apparatus."
"What a thing to call it!" Henry pulled out his phone and re-plotted his route before realising that he had gone wrong.
"Fuck, really leading us off on a tangent." Henry frowned and cursed twice, "I'll have to get back on the main road now that I'm using my phone to navigate. Bear, remember to alert me if there's another problem."
"That's fine, but ..."
"'But'?"
"But, don't you want to follow it and check it out?" Middendorffi said slowly, "'Collector', isn't that what it's all about, solving weird problems like this?"
"... Gee, you're right." Henry was persuaded, "With you, Eli, and me as a combatant force, it already counts as a basic response team."
In a trice, he briefly described the current situation on his phone's group and turned on his phone's real-time location.
He put on his executive recorder and firearm and turned back to the two in the backseat, "So we're navigating down this now; you guys stay safe, keep looking around, keep exchanging information, and don't go alone."
Middendorffi and Eli both nodded.
"Come on, it'll be a 'trip' to say goodbye then!"
Henry snorted and restarted the vehicle.