From his expression, Douma could tell the man recognized him first glance.
"It's really you, the founder of Paradise Shrine, Douma." Adjusting his glasses to get a better look at the two standing at the entrance of his office, the man in the black suit sat upright taken aback by this bizarre greeting. "And what's with this reign of terror you're talking about? Such accusations are not tolerated here, so is this game you both are trying to pull off here."
"Then explain those plants that have been withering upon the presence of your vehicles, someone has to be leading the invasion of those alien creatures because it can't be a coincidence." Douma said firmly.
"That's right. We've got all the evidence we need so quit acting lost you know what we're talking about." Shinobu added.
The man raised his hands in defense. "What are the both of you on about? Such utter nonsense this is no Cryptic Sanctuary or whatever you're yapping about we're not some strange pet store."
Both Douma and Shinobu watched as the man got up from his chair and stood in the middle of the room facing them proudly.
"We are Atlas, an organization that researches on various lifeforms and alarming situations in the world. Should the authorities and public need our assistance we are here to help and we've been searching for ways to put a stop to this ongoing alien massacre that is affecting our way of life. I am Mr Oshiro, CEO of Atlas making the world a better place is something I aspire."
Silence dawned over them. The duo exchanged guilty glances with each other, that name sounded very familiar and they could tell they were both on the same page.
"Oh no wonder I saw the letter A on the logo at the entrance instead of a C." Douma said unsurely.
"YOU KNEW?" Shinobu yelled as she grabbed the collar of Douma's shirt and shook him vigorously, her fingers gripping onto the black fabric. "NEXT TIME CAN YOU JUST OPEN THAT MOUTH OF YOURS THIS IS JUST EMBARRASSING YOU DORK!"
"Yes this is our Japanese Headquarters." Mr Oshiro replied happily.
"Mr Oshiro... that name sounds very familiar..." The violette met Douma's now uneasy gaze. Let's not tell him what happened to those three men. They thought.
Nodding, both Douma and Shinobu proceeded into the office. The shrine leader kept his eyes on every corner in case this was a trap. From his experience, sometimes the most decent-looking people can be cunning. Douma had enough of that.
Adjusting his glasses, Mr Oshiro walked towards Douma and shook hands with the young founder and the violette, he couldn't believe the shrine leader was standing right here in his office.
"Welcome to Atlas, it's a pleasure meeting you Douma and Shinobu. Take a seat I need to discuss with you about a few things." Mr Oshiro grabbed his file and sat on his chair studying the documents very carefully.
Douma watched as the man gestured for him to come closer, maybe he could tell Douma was apprehensive to oblige since nobody told him why they wanted him all the way here. Now Mr Oshiro wanted to have a talk with him, Douma could only guess it was about the ongoing massacre. It was still confusing, no doubt he saved many people within a span of a few hours but his attributes were still mistaken as that of the alien creatures' to the public, Douma didn't see Mr Oshiro there, unless someone was watching him from afar. But who?
"Tell me Douma, what's it like running Paradise Shrine?" Mr Oshiro asked waiting for his answer. Given the situation, Douma thinks it's best if he gives surface-level responses to avoid raising alarm.
"Well it's nice forming meaningful relationships with others and hearing their perspectives." That ticked Douma off a little he knew that statement was no longer true, Shinobu could tell, maybe a year ago but not anymore. He tried his best to maintain a smile on his face while waiting for what Mr Oshiro was about to say next.
The man adjusted his glasses and put aside his journal. Douma watched as Mr Oshiro sat back on his chair again thinking about something to do with his answer which took a while.
"That's wonderful Douma! Where did you come from? You're not from around here are you? And I mean not from Earth, at least that's what some sources about the Hasu Mountains says."
Hearing that, Douma blinked he didn't know how to provide a simple explanation to that. Not to mention it was too much for humanity to even comprehend that would be giving away viable information. Douma could just imagine what will possibly happen, Mr Oshiro ends up laughing at him thinking it's some kind of joke or worse, he actually passes out after processing too much complexity and Douma didn't want that to happen he seemed like a genuine person seeking ways to help the world through Douma's abilities.
"If you're wondering why I'm daring to sit here with an otherworldly being like yourself that's deemed as terrifying, it's because we already have one in our lab. Atlas has been doing so much research on lifeforms and space that we're not even afraid to come up close with something as such."
Shinobu crossed her arms and sat back on her chair, eyeing the man skeptically she didn't know whether to believe him this was too good to be true. But since Douma was gladly going on with the conversation maybe he wasn't dangerous at all.
For some reason hearing that made Douma feel a little better. I hope he's not planning anything else. They already have three people asleep during their working hours.
"These alien creatures started off as humanoid fish," Mr Oshiro flipped through the pages of his reports about the current events. "And then they split themselves up into these vile silverfish that grew bigger over time." The man continued.
"One of them has intellectual capabilities equivalent to humans." Douma said which caught both Shinobu and Mr Oshiro's attention.
"That's right we have some information about it." Placing a document on the table, Mr Oshiro hurriedly got up from his seat as the three of them looked at the image of the very same individual creature that both Douma and Shinobu encountered in the forest.
Douma squinted his eyes at the image. "Everything about this particular one from the pack is amidst, the strange aura that I sensed was strong."
"It's a skilled fighter compared to its comrades." Shinobu added.
"Which makes the situation even more bizarre than it already is." Sitting back down on his chair, Mr Oshiro stared into space thinking about Atlas' strategies to combat these monsters.
"We seem to be having a ton of problems, there's a Winter Storm on the loose and it's not going away anytime soon."
The violette's sentence pinched Douma as he looked at Shinobu guiltily. He knew exactly how everyone felt.
"You mean no harm Douma I'm sure of it which is why I have a proposition for you but first, I want to ask you something," Writing in his journal, Mr Oshiro muttered a few words himself, the air in his office was getting tense Douma could feel it squeezing his lungs. What else did Mr Oshiro want to know?
Closing the book, Mr Oshiro faced him and crossed his fingers.
"Were you responsible for the Winter Storm?"
Douma was taken aback by that question, how is Mr Oshiro going to respond if he finds out the truth? Did he already know? There was no way anyone could come to the conclusion that Douma was behind it without seeing his abilities, let alone remain conscious after watching him unleash incomprehensible frost and snow for a while, they'll blackout.
Suddenly the phone rang which startled Mr Oshiro, it was very loud.
"Hello Rinu-Chan! I'm coming home now! Is my parcel there yet?"
Shinobu wiped the sweat off her forehead in relief. That gave Douma some time to think of an answer.
The young founder looked around the room for any more details about the alien creatures. At a place like this there's bound to be numerous reports associated with them. Not that Douma was going to lay his hands on any of the reports, at least try to get some information out of the smallest detail he could possibly find on the table or hidden in the shelves. Since Mr Oshiro knew something, he had to be careful maybe there were others who knew about his presence in Japan.
Beside Mr Oshiro's computer was a newspaper with a picture of an astronaut outside the space station. Douma noticed something oddly familiar, snow and a blizzard. Had the Winter Storm affected space too? Douma wasn't surprised but he never expected it to engulf the entire galaxy in just a few days. It was fascinating to see snow in outer space but at the same time terrifying with the effects it may bring. Space was already cold, he hoped the astronauts were alright it must be freezing up there.
Voices coming from the television caught his attention. The United Nations were discussing about possible methods to eradicate the alien creatures before they adapt and multiply. Apparently numerous corpses of the alien creatures are scattered around the world now which was Douma's doing. However, in Japan it seems the remaining alien creatures tried eating themselves but shriveled up from the cold, which left their bodies crippled. Hearing the estimated number of the remaining alien creatures in the country dwindle to zero which was a far stretch considering the fact that it hasn't been a week made the shrine leader feel indifferent, though it did leave a smile on Douma's face.
Despite the Winter Storm being somewhat devastating since people couldn't leave their homes and they had to wear layers of clothing on a daily basis, it helped mitigate the threat.
The only concerning factor Douma had was the possibility of the undetected alien lifeforms reaching the next stage, for some organisms in the various planets including Earth, morphing was a common part of their life cycle, if they had one, in most cases it was the process of growing and obtaining more distinctive features to help them thrive.
"Alright I'm just going to pack my stuff now, you two are coming with me there's a few things to discuss." Mr Oshiro grabbed his reports and belongings almost dropping a few items on the floor.
"There's a ton of research for me to do at home, some of the tools are in my garage, at work it's mostly documentations and analysis, not to worry if anything happens I hurry back here for further tests and hypothesis." Douma and Shinobu just nodded even though Mr Oshiro was trying his best to get the two friends to understand, they still didn't trust him completely, Douma didn't trust humans for the most part.
"Off we go now!" Shoving the keys in his pocket, Mr Oshiro adjusted his glasses getting ready to leave.