Assessing The Scene

Moments later, Marcus found himself enveloped in an infinite expanse of darkness. It was as if he was suspended in a void, detached from time and space. Yet, within the abyss, pieces of his memory began to materialize, appearing as ethereal mirrors reflecting his life. Moving his hands to his chest he realized his body remained the same, now including a bullet-sized hole over his heart, it was then that the mirror before him attracted his attention.

One mirror shimmered before him, revealing the cherished moments he had shared with Damian and Natalia. Laughter echoed through the void as the mirror played scenes of their adventures, the three of them inseparable at times before they began high school life. From childhood escapades to teenage milestones, Marcus's heart swelled with warmth and nostalgia as he relieved these precious memories.

As he was, another mirror materialized, capturing his final moments of his time earlier with Natalia earlier that day. He watched, the mirror showing his perspective as he was sitting on the rooftop, his eyes fixed on Natalia's figure contrasting the city in the distance, the sun highlighting her radiance and beauty in that moment.

"I'm sorry Nat, looks like I did exactly like you asked me not to. I even dragged Damian along too" he whispered softly, his voice tinged with regret and sadness as it resounded through the void.

Yet, a bittersweet smile graced his lips as he reminisced about their shared dreams and secret hopes for the future. Disrupting his thinking, as if responding to his thoughts, the next mirror appeared, the memory beginning from the time before when he and Damian lived in the building, no evidence of it being rundown or abandoned. There, in the memory, they were in his old home relaxing peacefully with hopes for the future on their minds.

It was at this moment that faint sounds began to seep into his surroundings. They fluctuated, fading in and out like distant echoes.

Straining his senses as best as he could, Marcus was unable to discern the source. Relaxing his attempts, he focused on the fading sounds of approaching sirens and urgent footsteps following Kren telling his men to get the information from the girl as they left the scene.

The voice blended with the replays of his memories that continued like movies through the mirrors. Faintly hearing someone unknown, announcing the discovery of the VIPs as the memory continued playing, showing all the events that led to their capture and subsequent executions.

As the faint sounds of rescue efforts resurfaced time and time again, Marcus rewatched the final memory on repeat, every fiber of his being feeling guilty for putting Damian in that situation. Noticing a subtle change in the mirrors surrounding him, hairline cracks appeared at their centers that were fracturing the once perfect reflections of his life, Marcus viewed it as a sign of his deteriorating existence within this place.

Hearing faint echoes of the trauma team's urgency, their voices fading in and out while growing more distressed as they discussed his diminishing pulse, the cracks growing on each mirror hastening and nearly doubling in speed, as if crumbling under the weight of his fading vitality. With each passing moment, the mirrors fractured further, their fragments breaking off and scattering into the abyss.

Realizing that his time within the void like realm was coming to an end. The memories on the mirrors, once vivid and lifelike, began to fade, leaving behind faint impressions as the mirrors broke one by one from the hundreds of cracks spread throughout them until the final mirror remained.

Realizing the final mirror, its reflection replaying his last moments with Damian and also signifying his last vestige of life within him, was trembling and cracking with increasing intensity, he wondered if this was the end of everything.

Unwilling to let his life end this way, he tried to piece together the mirror's fragments that had begun breaking off, his hands reflecting his desire as he hastily grabbed pieces that were floating away and beginning to disappear before placing them back in their original position.

Suddenly, Marcus felt a surge of energy, like an electrical current running across his body, pulling him away from the darkness as the mirror began to repair itself, along with the previously broken mirrors reassembling themselves from the vast nothingness.

Watching as the memories returned to their previous quality, a sign of his improving condition, he smiled and rejoiced with tearful eyes feeling happy that he wouldn't be losing those precious memories that defined him and made him who he was.

Feeling his body moving rapidly towards the source of the energy, Marcus was brought back towards consciousness. The sounds of the trauma team's stern yet relief filled voices merging with the fading echoes of his thoughts within the void as he fell into a slumber, his mind too exhausted and overtaxed to awaken.

…

..

.

Around the same time Marcus was pulled back from the brink of death, a black sedan crossed a police roadblock before stopping before the rundown high-rise. A figure stepped out of a sleek black sedan, his hand holding a cigarette to his mouth as he took a final puff before putting it out and releasing the fumes from his throat.

Looking up at the worn down building, the man took steady and methodical steps towards it, his shaggy brown hair with patches of gray mixed in combed behind his ears and brown eyes scanning the surroundings in a practiced and experienced manner.

His right hand moving from the arm holster keeping his private weapon under his left arm before making sure his tie is in order. His left hand kept within the pocket of his dark jeans that match his neat and unwrinkled button up shirt. "Detective, I'm glad to have you." A uniform officer said as he greeted the man who had just shown up.

"Likewise, Where is the crime scene?" He asked, wanting to see the situation immediately. "Right this way sir" the officer responded as he led the detective through the halls of the building.

"Actually, I'll show him where it is," A cheerful voice said, the two turning towards the source as she walked towards them from a well lit hallway lined with standing lights illuminating it. The young woman, her face and short black hair, evidence of her eastern heritage, was sporting a bright smile despite the situation they're in, waved off the officer as he returned to his post.

"Really Yuna? You got one of those new tech boots?" The man questioned, his eyes scanning the girl in front of him. Her long black trench coat unzipped and adorned her detective badge as well as other logos, straps, and designs of the manufacturer. Underneath her maroon leggings covered with a black pleated skirt concealed her lower body as her short gray color dress shirt was neatly tucked under the skirt.

Scanning her arms quickly, as they were revealed from the short sleeves of her shirt and trench coat, he took note once of her left forearm that was noticeably mechanical despite matching her skin color. Shaking away the guilt he felt as he looked at it, he continued forward, causing Yuna to turn and follow beside him.

"It isn't my place to tell you how to spend your money but as your partner, I feel I should tell you that I don't think you need all this high-tech stuff." The man said as they rounded a corner, his eyes wandering across the dilapidated walls, confirming his sense of neglect surrounding this place.

"It's fine Rhys, I've reached out to the company behind these boots and they're reputable for their high-quality products and low malfunction percentage. Did you know that these boots are the latest release in terms of market quality? They feature features like resistances to a lot of stuff and even have magnetic soles allowing me to connect to any surface." Yuna responded as she kept her arms behind her head while they walked.

"Cool stuff, hope it works better than the other stuff," Rhys spoke again as he smirked at her while remembering an incident not long ago.

"Shush up! These are actually gonna work, I saw the video for it and everything!" Yuna retorted with a pout. Continuing after a moment, she then revealed what information she received from other first responders.

"The girl was shot four times? That's a clear sign of rage if I've ever seen it." Rhys commented as they stepped through a locker room into the pool area. Surveying the scene, he spotted the girl that was deceased surrounded by forensics experts doing their best to collect evidence from the scene. Walking over, the duo took note of the position of the body, Yuna suggesting that she was killed and fell into the pool, 4 shell casings on the ground to strengthen that idea.

"Blood splatter and pooling support that, see? The splatter is outward from this point," he said as he walked before the puddle of blood and looked outward into the pool.

"It was an execution ground for the girl and the two boys happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." Yuki said, her expression softening as she thought about them experiencing such horrors due to a stroke of misfortune. "Fingerprints on the corner near the entrance as well as a slight deformity in the wall, probably from when they were caught, also support this."

"Do we have any evidence that can lead us to our killer?" Rhys asked, his mind working to go over all the information he received and observed.

"Nothing sadly, the prints on the girl's face are cybernetic and unregistered, while the shell casings are probably from an underground source." Yuna responded with a casual sigh as she crossed her arms over her chest, mirroring her partner's stance.

"Witnesses?"

"A few dozen homeless people that were kicked out before anything occurred. I questioned them and they said the same thing," Her face forming into a frown as she continued, "Guys in suits kicked them out and threatened them with guns if they tried to refuse."

"Shit…" Rhys said as he covered his face with his and turned in a circle thinking of what to do. It was at this moment that his phone rang. Checking the number, he answered and exchanged some words with the person on the other end before thinking about something and hanging up.

"It was Ramirez, she said that Trauma picked up the 2 boys but only one made it. She also said they did not run into any guys in suits but they witnessed 2 black SUV's pulling away from the back parking lot as they flew in." Rhys said, turning to his partner before he continued," I'll go check on the boy while you head to the office and look through traffic footage for this area."

Tapping on his phone screen a few times, Rhys swiftly pocket it as he followed up, "I sent a message and he Cruise will pick up here and document anything else forensics finds." he said as he turned to leave, his mind focusing on a couple dozen suspects who commit murders like this.

"Righty O Cap'in," Yuna remarked with a giggle that caused Ryhs to roll his eyes. He was happy she brought a youthful perspective to these situations but he knew it was simply her way of dealing with things.