The urban forest on the outskirts of the Northern Sector used to be a family recreation park. Now, this place looked more like a rotting nature museum, filled with giant trees whose leaves had fallen and black thorny bushes growing wildly.The Toxic Goose truck was parked on a former asphalt parking lot that had been destroyed swallowed by tree roots. Its diesel engine was turned off, leaving a very precious silence for its passengers.This was the first day they could rest without being hunted by death in every second.Raka sat on the truck's hood, dented from previous collisions. His shirt was deliberately open. He was using a piece of wet cloth to wipe his left chest.Whirrr—THUMP. Whirrr—THUMP.His Dragon Heart beat slowly, but its vibration felt steady all the way to the palms of his hands. The metallic black scale protector covering half his chest radiated a constant warm heat.Raka rubbed the surface of those scales, still trying to get used to the reality that his body was now

Dark. Stuffy. And a chemical smell that made the mucous membranes sting.Baginda opened his heavy eyelids. His vision spun, as if the world were being mixed in a giant blender.His last memory was very blurry. All he remembered was walking away from the truck because he was annoyed at Raka for being stingy with the biscuits, then suddenly a silent blue light net fell from above the trees, shocking him into unconsciousness.Now, he woke up in a completely foreign place. He tried to stand up and spread his wings to flap. Then let out a threatening 'honk' sound he usually used to chase away his enemies.THUD!His left wing hit something hard, cold, and invisible. Baginda staggered, falling back onto a surface that did not feel like rocky ground or the torn foam seat in The Toxic Goose truck.The surface beneath his feet was very flat and slippery, made of a thick metal alloy."Honk...?" Baginda hissed softly.A neon white light suddenly turned on right above his head, blinding his pitch-

"Baginda! Hey, Arrogant Goose! Come out, this isn't funny!"Raka shouted, breaking the silence of the dead urban forest. He tightly gripped the white feather he had found on the scorched earth, his knuckles turning white, and his breath panting irregularly.He was still trying to convince himself that Baginda was just hiding somewhere. Baginda wasn't kidnapped or anything like that.Raka turned around with a rough movement, charging through the thorny bushes that tore his shirt, then returned to the asphalt courtyard area where The Toxic Goose truck was parked."Vanya! Luna! They took him! Someone kidnapped Baginda!"Raka roared. His voice now no longer sounded like a barista, but like a wild beast that had lost its cub.Luna, who was sharpening her knife near the truck's wheel, immediately jumped to her feet. Her usually flat face was now filled with obvious worry.She looked at Raka, then pointed toward the ground with very fast and pressured hand movements.'WHO?! WHERE DID HE GO?!

"Do you think The Collector actually preserved that newly arrived goose?" asked the first guard. He took a drag of his cigarette then blew the smoke into the night air.Two guards in black tactical uniforms were standing leaning against the concrete pillar of the National Museum of Contemporary Art's gate.The cold night made them busier rubbing their palms together and borrowing each other's lighters to light a leftover cigarette bought from the black market."I don't know. But I heard they said the animal's feathers are made of metal," answered the second guard, then chuckled. "At least that bird won't be noisy once it's soaked in formalin. This life—"VRROOOMMM!The sentence was cut off by the roaring sound of a diesel engine suddenly heard from the darkness of the highway. Extremely blinding headlights struck their faces and almost blinded their vision in an instant."WHAT THE—?!"CRASH!Before they even had a chance to raise their weapons, The Toxic Goose armored expedition truck

"There's something strange," whispered Vanya when the sound of the boots Raka found in the cold storage broke the silence of the lobby, which was filled with dust from the steel door explosion.The sharp smell of antiseptic clashed with the aroma of formalin, creating an atmosphere more akin to a hospital than an art museum. The crystal lights on the ceiling flickered, as if the building's electrical system were dying.Raka stood frozen in the middle of that vast hall. 'The Builder's Wrath' cement trowel was gripped tightly in his black-scaled left hand, while his right hand felt the polymer plate on his chest which was feeling increasingly hot.Without having to look back, Raka knew Vanya and Luna were behind him without intending to follow him."Vanya, Luna, come in," he said. "The smell here is much worse than the sewers yesterday," he added while hissing softly.That command made Vanya step in quickly. Her futuristic glasses emitted a blue glow that busily scanned the room.Luna f