Five Little Ducklings

"I'm impressed, Lizzie. How did you manage to figure out such a complex decipher? I never thought an audio file could be easily turned into a map. Who knows what other secrets lie in the files we've got?" commented Z, looking at me with pride.

"I've been binge-watching on people decoding stuff online. They've got some talent in it, and I happen to be interested in watching codes being deciphered in creative ways. One of the most common ways was using audio to convey a visual. Which reminds me..."

"Did you guys notice a certain tune playing in the background?" I asked, glancing at Bryan and Z.

Z shook his head while Bryan nodded.

"I thought it was some more white noise happening, but I was wrong? How about those pauses? Were they emitting some sound as well?" questioned Z as he brought out the original audio again.

"The pauses are the two voices halting their conversation, but if I were to enhance the audio's volume to the maximum, I should have a clear sound of the white noise is played. So let's segregate the first pause and play it back at a higher volume."

"I think I would need to reverse that clip as well," I explained, doing some more work on the file.

I listened intently to the white noise being played backward, but it sounded static. Finally, an idea came to my head, and I slowed the white noise down by a quarter of the original speed. I then played it. It sounded more precise than before, but I still couldn't remember the name of the song.

"Mother Goose. Five little ducklings. The tune you hear is the nursery rhyme that tells the tale of a family of ducks going over a hill and losing a duckling each time. Why would that be present in the audio?" quizzed Z, looking at the holographic screens.

"I can't say for sure, but it could be a signal of some sort to lead the children to safety. I'm not very sure. It's still a big guess to make," I answered, playing the tune back.

I snapped my fingers as I asked Bryan to hand me the letters once more.

"I thought we've gone through all of them? Why would you need it again?" asked Bryan, baffled at why I was rummaging the letters.

"It's the number of victims that were mentioned by name in these letters. I always found it confusing why many children vanished; only these five children were detailed and spoken by name. Now, with that nursery rhyme tune in my head, I think I know why."

I quickly grabbed the five spoken names and punched them into the computer system to find the children within the archives. Five different profiles popped up in five individual holographic screens. All of the kids looked vastly different from each other.

I couldn't find why they would be linked or chosen by Fabian. Their blood types were different, and their physical appearances were also everywhere. One was plump while the other was scrawny. Their heights were contrasting as well.

I was confused by this... Was Fabian a Mage to pick out random kids on the streets and cook them for his liking? Or am I missing the bigger picture again? So I dug a little deeper while Bryan continued to gaze at what I was doing.

Sadly, Bryan's piercing gaze was interrupting my train of thought. As I've said, I don't particularly like people who stare at me for too long. I understand you are trying to see what I am doing, but don't be a statue. Be a living person, move around, or something.

"Do you want to see if you can recall any of these five kids? It'll be a much better help for me than having you staring at me uncomfortably," I asked, irked.

Bryan nodded as he went closer to peer at the screens.

"Everything about these kids is different, even down to their eye and hair color combination! It's like the letters are trying to make fun of me about linking every single thing together... Either that or this Fabian guy is an 'anything goes' person," I said, sighing.

"An 'anything goes' person?" asked the Slayer.

"Someone fine with anything. For example, using Fabian as a case, I said that he preferred any children so long as they were considered kids. Young flesh is his style of meat," I answered, looking away and anywhere else but the screens.

Vania may have nullified the human sense of feeling pain, but she didn't change my personality of diving in too deep. When my mind is fixated on something for too long, it would be difficult for me to take a step back. I have to look away for a while and jump back into the situation.