The Tourist

"We aren't even reaching the quarter of the city yet we're already losing men to watch over the penetrated realities," A woman in her thirties with loose hair reported to Vin with a respectful tone as she continued, "We're going to lack manpower soon even though our pacing is good,"

Vin stared at the reports on his hand with ease while hearing the words coming from his men as if he had been put into countless situations where he had to multi-task and this was just yet another run he had to finish no matter what.

After hearing her words, Vin addressed carefully, "I understand Maine. I'll do something about it."

Vin sighed, "If only Baron were here, we wouldn't have any problem for men. He can handle hundreds of men's responsibilities all by himself."

Upon hearing a familiar name yet he hadn't seen while he was here, Cesar came to understand as he mused inwardly, 'Oh, so they really do know each other. I was confused about where that guy was since he was with Vin when they interviewed me but looks like he's just somewhere else,'

Suddenly, Cesar felt Vin staring at him, completely stopping himself from spacing out as he asked.

"Do you want something, sir?"

Vin nodded, "You heard my men's report. They couldn't find a single trace of the unknown figure you've mentioned but there are tracks left behind by whoever this is so we can be reassured that there is indeed an individual roaming around,"

"Sir,"

Another man moved forward who was wearing a brown beanie atop his head before adding.

"Do we confirm it to the higher-ups that we're fighting a Bounded Nightmare?"

Two days ago, Quentin managed to return after using the time to observe the nearby cities to see their irregularities and observe if the same penetrated realities were there as well.

There was nothing.

The scale of these said realities was only isolated in the City of Wheels and for some reason, it wasn't causing a problem for them yet. The only problem added that they were currently facing is the whereabouts of the said Nightmare is still unknown.

Some might even be considering it might be a Fresh Nightmare all along but those pierced realities contain Void within them continued to bug on their minds.

"Yes, please report it to them, Sean. Use a telegraph to deliver the message at the communication tower."

The man with the brown beanie, Sean, excused himself and left the room. Maine and the rest also bid farewell to their squad leader and followed up with Sean outside. By the looks of it, their discussion isn't over yet.

'I guess that's our cue,'

Both Quentin and Cesar understood that they were taking a long time in Vin's room hence it only took a single glance to form a tacit understanding with each other. They both stood up and were about to walk away when they heard Vin speaking from his chair as he arranged his paperwork.

"You two, there's something you should know about. Stay seated,"

Both of them immediately froze before they retraced their steps and sat down. Unaware of what were they supposed to know, they started whispering amongst themselves.

"Hey, did you find different when searching for those realities?"

Having to be asked by Cesar, Quentin slightly tilted his head and retorted, "No. I've been honest about what my findings are. It should be something else,"

"What do you think it is?"

Cesar asked once more but he could only see a defeated shrug from Quentin that signaled he was also oblivious of the answer. Hence, in the end, all they could was wait for whatever was supposed to come.

After a few minutes, the door opened. Thinking that they were Vin's people, both the two men arranged their seats but soon made a questionable look once they saw their group, Alms, and Chin coming together inside the room.

"What are you guys doing here?"

Cesar's question was asked by Quentin himself, seeing him relatively confused as well. Jacqueline came forward and replied.

"We got summoned by the commander. Don't worry, if you're worried about our post, someone was already watching over it since it was his order to be here after all,"

"Obviously,"

Cesar remarked, letting out a short scoff that didn't go unnoticed by Jacqueline who returned it with a look of ridicule. Though, in the end, she grabbed a chair on the side and used it to sit down beside him.

She nudged his elbow and spoke softly, "Isn't this ominous? I get that we're called as a group but Alms and Chin shouldn't be here. Do you guys encountered something a few days ago that requires these two figures?"

Cesar contemplated for a moment before shaking his head, "You are wrong if we met each other a few days ago while I assisted this guy right here."

He paused, "Additionally, you're on the wrong thinking. Don't you recognize this squad was formed when we were in Harden City? The time when we met the corrupted human?"

Jacqueline suddenly took a pause, finally coming to her senses that what Cesar told her was true.

Probably preoccupied with the series of mysteriousness of the City of Wheels, with the impending doom that was about to happen if they didn't give any related clues from the disappearances, it made everyone on edge.

Of course, a simple conclusion such as this didn't just come right away. The only exception is Cesar and their supervisors which were Alms and Chin.

Finally, their suspicions came true after the man who called them in his workplace stood up and raised the matter.

"Cesar is right. I'm here to give you something. The findings on what transpired at Harden City came back actually," Vin paused as he looked at the students and added, "Do you guys know why it is weird for a corrupted human to be located in Harden City? This is a common knowledge in the outside world, not an academy's textbook,"

He grabbed a sealed document from his drawer before continuing, "Think about it carefully. This is a lesson you need to learn. I'll give you a hint. A reason why humans are mostly confident in their cities is because of it,"

'It? It's not a person or place, but it? An item of some sort? No, that doesn't sound right. How can an item be widely spread across the world…' Cesar mused inwardly, trying to think of the reason for it.

But the most knowledgeable when it comes to the outside world has spoken. It was actually two of them as both stated calmly.

"Does it have to do with the Langston Bridge, sir?"

Quentin and Reyna then looked at each other, giving their counterparts weird faces before shifting their gaze back at Vin who nodded solemnly.

"Exactly. The Langston Bridge is there. The interconnected, indispensable creation of humanity is just one of the few foundations as to why humans continue to survive until this day. The supposed-to-be secured place somehow passes a corrupted on its watch? I don't really think so,"

He handed out the paper to Alms and Chin after tearing the seal and gave a few words coming out from his mouth as he formed strange expressions.

"What… are your takes on this matter?"

Alms and Chin read the paper at the same time and soon, their faces change as well into confusion, making Cesar's group interested.

Soon, their papers were transferred to the rest of the group. Filled with curiosity, the twins were the first to pick the document. The rest waited for their turn while only Cesar continued to be observant of the expressions of their seniors.

'There's something more in here, isn't it?'

As a few minutes went by in a flash, Cesar noticed the change on his group's faces which continued until Jacqueline handed over

Cesar received it with a brow raised before seeing the document itself.

'Hmm... there's nothing weird for a moment-'

He was intently reading in a leisure manner before his face froze. His eyes soon widened the moment he came across the sentence that made his brain to short circuit, reading 

"As you've known, the hands that Chin had sliced from that corrupted human that has been examined came from someone… It was one of the first victims of City of Wheels disappearances after all,"

Vin paused while letting out a sigh, "It was one of the two tourists that only came here just to enjoy their time, Terry Pond,"