The Ghost

"Exactly!" Noah kept nodding his fluffy head encouragingly, "You said that none of the people you questioned had anything to do with terrorists, right? However, you only questioned those that were on the list of people allowed entry into our lab, correct?"

The weariness on Fynn's face was replaced with agitation, "The Ghost is among the people that we didn't question! He is one of the personnel from the other 4 labs!" Then he slumped back into his chair, "Ah! We worked through the entire night and barely managed to finish questioning all these people, yet now we have to track down and question more than 4 times the amount of others who had access to the other labs!"

Noah felt that being a law enforcement officer was very pitiful, thus he mercifully extended a helping hand, "You might not need to do that. We can use the access logs to narrow down the potential suspects. Anyone who, according to the footage, entered the corridor that day AFTER Ghost's entry was recorded is not a suspect. Anyone who left the lab before Ghost's exit is also in the clear."

Noah switched his light screen into pen mode, "It should be safe to assume, due to the personal nature of communicators, that Ghost is a single person. So as long as someone doesn't fit the above requirements in only one of his visits, we can safely rule them out."

As he spoke, Noah used his finger as a pen to nonchalantly cross names out of the personnel list one by one, "See this? According to the times, the Ghost was always meeting the councilor, and their meeting times are inconsistent. I assume it's because they were trying to make their meetings unpredictable so as to not get caught. But this lack of consistency is helping us rule out so many people!"

The long list was cut down smaller and smaller by the moment, making Fynn's eyes shinier and shinier. (✪◡✪)

Even Blackie couldn't help but sigh in satisfaction, 'Host… it's only in times like these that I remember that worldborn are supposed to have high IQs… Ai, you hide yours too deeply!' ╮(╯∀╰)╭

And when even Blackie was swooning over the brilliance of one amber-eyed, fluffy kitty, then nothing needed to be said about Levi. –The only thing preventing Astar Levi from hugging his baby to his bosom and showering him with kisses was not the father-in-law with flaring nostrils glowering at them from the side, but the fact that he, Levi, didn't wish to interrupt his baby's work!

Thus, the wild wolf Astar Levi exercised his utmost patience, quietly waiting for his baby to finish crossing out names, so he could wrap his wagging tail around him like a blanket.

"Really ought to thank the two for being so paranoid; we might even be able to rule out everyone but the perpetrator." Noah's pink mouth and curved amber eyes were smiling. All the way until he crossed out second to last name remaining on his list. Then his smile abruptly stiffened.

Because the only name remaining on the list was also the only name on the list he recognized.

"Well, I'll be damned…" Fynn clicked his tongue, "No wonder Asan suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth… what was he supposed to do? Wait for us to come pick him up?"

Noah did not respond, but his bright eyes dimmed a bit.

When Asan was revealed to have been the higher up in charge of this project, he had hoped that it was just a coincidence that this hot potato had been tossed to him. He had thought that the boy had just been unlucky to get management over a project that had been eyed by the terrorists. When they couldn't contact Asan, Noah had even been worried that something might have happened to him.

And when they identified that one of the unknown numbers might belong to councilor Desmond, Noah had even felt relieved. He had thought that, at most, Asan had been talked into something by the willy old fox without fully understanding what he was getting into.

But if the Ghost had been Asan all along, then how could Noah continue to deceive himself?

Would a decent person hire a Soother to perform a reverse-soothing on the berserk Fluxer, fully aware that it would cause a mental collapse and kill everyone in the vicinity?

Would a person, clueless about what he was getting into, get himself a second, unregistered communicator number to do dirty things with?

Would an innocent person be so paranoid as to cover his own tracks at every turn?

Fynn shook his head, "No wonder he found it easy to smuggle himself in! Who would be brave enough to tell his boss, whose mother owns the company, to follow the security protocol and wait for his turn to enter? Anyone with a non-negative EQ would hold the door open for him with a big smile like a gentleman fawning over a beauty!"

Levi keenly felt his baby's good mood dwindle, and he immediately snuggled his precious to his chest –father-in-law be damned! His baby needed him right now!

(Blackie, 'See that, host? Now that the wolf knows that getting all handsy works, guess what he will be doing in the future every time you are in a bad mood?' (¬‿¬))

A squeak of protest could be heard coming from the dining room, but Levi turned a deaf ear to it. Just how horrible must his baby be feeling right now? To think that a person whom he had considered a friend in the past was now plotting how to kill him!

Noah was indeed feeling an unspeakably bitter taste in his mouth, coupled with a searing and stifling feeling in his chest. He didn't even react when Levi pulled him into an embrace.

Aris was such a nice person! Sure, he was a bit young and inexperienced, a bit naïve, and definitely not as gifted in the IQ department as a worldborn… but he didn't wrong anyone!

Yet not only did he lose his life so young, due to some ambitious and not entirely sane bastards, but as it turned out, one of the mentioned psychos turned to be a person he was previously close friends with!

Noah remembered the very first day he had come to this world, the day of the first terrorist attack, the day when the original Aris had died. That very day, he ran into Case and Asan at lunch.

Noah did not remember seeing any guilt in Asan's eyes. Just scorn.

There was no awkwardness on his face either — just a cold sneer.

He, Noah, was a traveler that only came to this world recently. He wasn't the one who was friends with Asan once upon a time, nor was he the one betrayed. In fact, personally, he didn't even like Asan! But he still felt the piercing prick of pain all the same.

He was a worldborn that had no memories of his former life. These memories he had inherited from Aris were all he had. Though Noah's sense of self had always been crystal clear, Aris' life still seemed more real to him than his own life, which he could no longer remember.

He had gotten immersed in all those inherited memories, just like a viewer watching a movie, laughing and crying along with its characters. The other side might not be aware of his existence, but to him, he not only knew them – all of them – but he also felt as if Aris and him were the closest of kin. Even though the two of them had technically never met.

So was it painful? Of course, it was painful! How would his heart not ache?! This was not a faceless and nameless terrorist! This was a person he knew! A person that Aris had treated sincerely!

Yet what he got in return was a one-way ticket off this world…

It… it really wasn't fair! Indignance and resentment intertwined within Noah, making it hard to breathe.

He closed his eyes and let out a long and heavy breath. These feelings were not productive. They would not help make anything better. He was only harming himself. He should step out and clear his head.