Inspector Alek Shrader interlocked his fingers and rested his chin on them. He had been awakened in the middle of the night and summoned to his office. However, the story recounted to him by Noah's team made him realize he left his bed for nothing. The events of the night had nothing to do with the ongoing case. "What's this about a little girl?" he asked the group with his brows furrowed. The Inspector looked really pissed and about to explode."It was nothing," Nadja said with a wave of his hand. "We are pretty sure Rin imagined her.""I did not," Rin fired at him. "I saw a girl in front of Eve. You can ask her."Everyone turned to her. Eve seemed reluctant to speak at first but then said curtly," I saw no girl."Rin became teary-eyed and left the room.Schrader let out a pregnant sigh. He hated dealing with teenagers. The instant dive into drama was something the Inspector could do without. He had to get up early in the morning for a town meeting."Okay, let's wrap this up quickly

As soon as the Fellowship team entered the Inspector's office, Alek Schrader's scowl deepened. He slid the morning newspaper towards Noah."Great job!" he fired sarcastically. "What a sweep you guys did last night! Seven players are dead! Elite players, my ass!"Piper picked up the newspaper before Noah could.The headline read- "Did the murders happen in our sector?" Noah asked, ignoring the Inspector's insults."You bet they did! The Mayor's office has been calling me every fifteen minutes for updates! The City Watch Chief has already washed his hands off this fiasco. He's pinned the entire responsibility on me. He told the Mayor that I was in charge of the entire operation. The media is demanding my resignation!"Noah took a seat opposite him. "We're sorry about the players.""Sorry? Great! That solves it all! Look at this-"Schrader pressed a button on his device, and the picture of a young girl flashed across the virtual s

Noah's eyes scanned the battlefield. The enemy numbered four: three female soldiers and a male leader. Their equipment was as good as Providence labs. He gestured to Piper to appraise them."Let me introduce myself," the leader said, cocking his head. “I am Draven, A gamma leader.” He pointed at the three fighters behind him. "Zurie, Sonja, and Layla will assist me tonight. We are from-""-Inferno!" Eve interrupted, fuming. "I know you, Draven! You ambushed several Providence players last month and killed them!" Her expression was one of fury."Hee hee hee." The leader laughed like a hyena and shrugged. "Ah, it is a privilege to have my name familiar to the legendary Eve Trinity. You have killed many of my brothers and sisters as well."Eve waved her arm in dismissal. "You'll die like they did, you scoundrel! Tell me, Draven! Are YOU behind the player killings? This crime of yours doesn't seem like an organized attack? Have you gone rogue, huh? Are you not following orders from the top

Both Eve and Zurie were level 50+ players. Their faceoff was bound to be explosive."Seems two of your friends are already dead," Eve taunted. "Why don't you surrender? I will let you live.""We, of the Inferno, come prepared to die," Zurie replied with a dismissive wave. "A glorified, ass-swaddled girl like you would not understand." "What I understand is you should prepare to die, or in the best-case scenario, live your remaining life in prison. The murders you have committed warrant even worse.""Really, bitch?" Zurie barked. "Do you think your Providence bosses will just let me stay in city prison? You're under a horrible delusion! They will take me underground and torture me! The bosses whose dicks you suck kill more players than we do!"Eve scoffed. "That's just garbage filled in your head by your stupid cult.""We are not a cult, Trinity stooge! We… are… the… revolution. YOU will be garbage by the time I am done with you."Eve needed no more provocation to fight. She powered up

Dead Silence.Noah was frozen in place. So was the world around him.He did not see his childhood flash before his eyes. Neither did any specter haunt him.Noah moved his pupils and surveyed the surrounding area. Everything had stopped. A time pause? That was not possible. Was he hallucinating?He strained himself and found he could move his face. A minute later, he could move his body above the waist. Finally, he could budge his feet. What was going on?Noah eyed the scene before him. Draven stood motionless a few yards away, but was barely visible. Five-foot tall flames surrounded Noah, but they were static and did not burn him. It was bizarre, but too real to be a dream. "Confused, aren't you?" a voice murmured, breaking the dead silence.Noah turned around and saw a bearded man staring at him from inside what looked like a window or a television screen. The boy was confident the stranger was above a hundred years old. "Who are you?" Noah asked.The old man smiled with emotion