Jiang sat at his desk, his hands hovering over the keyboard as the faint glow of his work computer lit up the room. Aylin watched from across the room, her eyes darting between Jiang and the timer on her wrist, which still ticked away, a constant reminder of the 72-hour deadline. He knew they should be focusing on the mission, but when he saw the 12 missed messages on his work computer, his instincts kicked in.
"The system message," Jiang began, breaking the silence, "told me we have 72 hours to kill this Yokai or… well, you die." He glanced over at Aylin, who was standing with her arms crossed, her brow furrowed. "That timer on your wrist? It's connected to the mission. We have until it runs out."
She looked down at the faint glow of the timer etched into her skin, frowning. "And you're… checking emails?"
"Yeah, I'm checking emails," Jiang replied, his fingers typing quickly across the keyboard. "Look, they need my help, and it's just easier to knock these out real quick before we head out. I'm in tech—design products, troubleshoot units. That kind of thing. I got a ton of missed emails, and I'd rather not be the guy that ghosts the whole company."
Aylin sighed, clearly annoyed but not surprised. "You know we've got bigger problems, right?"
Jiang didn't look up, focused on sorting through the flood of messages. "Yeah, yeah. I know. But I've got work stuff too. I can't just disappear without an explanation. They'll think I've been kidnapped or something." He scrolled through a few requests for troubleshooting assistance, pausing on one message from his boss. "And here we go—messages from my boss wondering why I haven't been at work."
Without missing a beat, Jiang pulled up a version of a ChatGPT-like program, quickly generating a sick note. He muttered as he typed, "Out for the rest of the week due to hospitalization… still planning to handle email traffic… can't do day-to-day stuff because of my condition…"
He hit send, then leaned back in his chair, watching the message go through. "Alright, that should keep them off my back for now."
Aylin shook her head. "You're seriously too calm about this."
Jiang finally turned to her, offering a small, tired smile. "Trust me, I'm not calm. Just handling the little stuff first. Now…" He shifted gears, pulling up a search tab. "Let's start looking for places that might have this shrine rod. I'm thinking local precincts, churches, or old temples."
As he typed in a few search terms, Aylin's voice cut through the silence. "What's this symbol on my chest?" She tugged at her shirt, revealing the faint diamond shape just above her heart. "I've never had this before."
Jiang glanced down at his own chest, frowning. "Honestly, I don't know. I'm not one for tattoos, aside from the family crest I got when I was younger." He turned slightly, pulling up his shirt to show the number "1" etched into his back. "I'm the oldest in my family, so I got this. My younger brothers have two and three."
Aylin raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued. "The oldest, huh?"
Jiang shrugged. "Yeah. They never moved to New York though. They're elsewhere." He shifted the conversation back to the task at hand, scribbling a few addresses on a scrap piece of paper. "Alright, here's a list of three places we can start with. They're old enough that they might still have something useful, like the rod we need."
"You sure this is going to work?" Aylin asked, glancing at the list. "I mean, I'm not the religious type."
"Neither am I," Jiang admitted with a shrug. "But it's a start. We don't have a lot of options right now."
As they stood to leave, Jiang grabbed his jacket, and Aylin followed close behind. But just as Jiang reached for the door, a sudden chill filled the room. The Yokai appeared without warning, its shadowy form lunging at them with terrifying speed. Aylin instinctively raised her arms to defend herself, but before the creature could make contact, a passerby strolled by their apartment door.
The Yokai suddenly vanished, sinking through the floor as if it had never been there. Jiang and Aylin exchanged bewildered glances, both preparing for another attack, but the door swung open, revealing a familiar face.
"Hey, Bro! How you doing, man?" The voice was casual, almost too casual given the circumstances. "Haven't seen you in a while. Is this your girlfriend?"