A week has passed since the conflict. The SDA headquarters is buzzing with people going back and forth as usual. At the top floor in an office, Jin stood near the clock and finishes another call. There was only one more person he needed to talk to today. However, before he tries to enter a number, his phone rings. It was a number he recognized and was, in fact, the person he wanted to talk to. Jin answers and calmly says, “Asterius. Perfect timing as usual.”

An extremely rough and choppy voice responds to Jin's words. “Jin. Last call?” It wasn't clear whether Asterius was angry or excited but Jin knew it was the latter. He knew he didn't make calls himself often so Asterius was eager to hear from his old friend. “Quiet. Good.”

Jin takes a seat on a large chair and surveys the room. In front of him was a desk with a screen as its tabletop with two chairs across it. A large semi-circular window illuminated the maple room. Wooden cabinets and steel drawers of varying sizes were placed on the side, and a blank whiteboard was in the corner. The floor was made of a fine birch and a large double door was at the end of the room.

Jin continues. “You know why I'm calling.”

Asterius groans, “Last week?”

“Is it done?”

“Newspapers. Internet. Fake stories gone. No serious.”

“Reliable as usual. You know what I needed before I ask.” Jin looks out of his window and sees the checkerboard of buildings sprawling outside, while a lush garden peeked from below. The grand display of architecture made the city seem like a bit of the world was there at his doorstep. The flora beneath him was still as lush as ever.

“Words poor. Not me. Team said. You on paper.”

“Glad that my feats reached you. If it's done already, then I'll-”

Jin gets interrupted by Asterius's rough tone. “Wait. Have time. talk?”

“Catching up? It would be more appropriate to do that after work.”

“You, not busy.” Jin felt that Asterius was slouching at a table. As he was about to excuse himself by saying he has to read reports, Asterius cuts in. “Read after. Not important.” He made an educated guess Asterius was bored and tapping his fingers on the table as he spoke. Thoughts and excuses raced through his mind and, without any reason that would satisfy Asterius, he leans back on his chair with a sigh.

With a resigned tone, Jin says, “I have time now. What have you been up to?” He felt Asterius sneering on the other side. It was a rare opportunity for Asterius to outwit him and, as his friend, he knew that he will savour his victory to the fullest. Jin cracked a smile at the fact and relaxed in his chair.

“I travel, eat,” Asterius replied.

“Insatiable as usual. Did you see anything you like while you were there?”

Asterius gave a mighty roar. ”Good food. Pig. Chive. Bread. Nice woman give tea, fruit.”

“Enjoying your trip to the Eastern Order?”

“Fun. Many treasure. Words hard.”

Jin looks at the front door. “It would be good to come to the city and ask Michelle for some language lessons. She's more than willing to teach you reading and writing if you want. While you're at it, you can pick up a GPS so you can tell where you're going. I remember you said you were going to the Autumn Islands last time we talked.”

Snorts and growls echoed out of the phone. Flustered, there was a moment of silence between the two until Asterius could think of a response. “Se-seconds! After!”

“Tell me about your trip to the Islands. You did go after all.”

Grumbles continued as the words that came out disappaeared into the void. Jin hints a smile as he waited for an answer. “Not go. Sw'erland.”

“How was it?” He stared appreciatively towards the door. There was sense of thankfulness that Asterius could go somewhere which wasn't in the middle of nowhere, despite it being the wrong place. After all, it wasn't unheard of for Asterius entering a warzone by accident while he was on vacation.

Asterius breathed out a heavy snort. “Good. Fresh meat. Not eat all. Bad sce-”

“Say no more, I understand,” Jin interrupts. “But we can get you a GPS when you visit again.” Avoiding that conversation was for the best.

Asterius says with confidence, “No need. Go to land. Home move city. Men in-” He paused as he realized he said something he shouldn't have. Jin's eyes narrow at the statement. What business could he have here?

“The labyrinth is here? What's going on Asterius?” The fact the maze was moving to the city caught his attention. It was something that doesn't happen without a good reason nor was it something he would do to go to the city. A tunnel would have sufficed to come.

“Old friend. New food, many like.” The pitch in his voice was higher. Yet, it gave a feeling of talking to an old man trying to be young.

“We both know you cannot lie. Besides, if you really wanted to come see me, you would construct a tunnel straight to my front door and inconvenienced my staff.” To him, it wasn't the first time that a whole department was trapped inside the labyrinth, or, even worse, relocated onto a different continent. He remembers vividly how long it took to find everyone after such incidents. “Why are you really coming here?” Jin's tone becomes more serious as he leans forward on his chair.

Asterius's voice returns to being very low pitched. “Hunt. Friend say evil.”

“A wanted criminal?” At the same time he said that, the front door opens and a woman with a name badge enters Jin's office. She wore a black business suit and a badge that says “Olivia Coxwell”. Her light brown hair filled with life contrasted with lifeless eyes. She notices that Jin was on a call and quietly leaves three folders on his table. He gestures a greeting and nods before Olivia leaves his office, quietly closing the door behind her.

“Who is it,” Jin presses further.

”Zombie. Looking.”

“How did you find the suspect?” Different possibilities raced through Jin's mind at the thought of someone sneaking into the city. Let alone someone having a banned Affinity. Many questions came and gone until several theories were put together.

”Amazons. One month.” Jin organized his folders to examine the contents. Two seemed to be concluding reports while one looks like another case.

“The Amazons? Why?”

“Rescue. Found blood. Not them. Follow. Small village. Fresh, old. Foreign under old dead. Scared.”

“A whole tribe and a group of tourists? Give me the details.” Jin was surprised by the deaths. It wasn't the actual event that shocked him, but rather its location. If Asterius wasn't there, who knows how long it would have been before anyone found the corpses. Even the possibility of more victims.

“Team looking. Six months dead. Foreign one week.”

“Corpse manipulation,” Jin thought to himself. It was the only way a village could be controlled.

“Any ideas of the culprit?”

“Don't know. Team looking.”

Jin opens the first folder. It was a summary of the stolen van case, including a list of names and their records. Underneath were the culprits' confessions as well as a itinerary of their plan. “When you arrive, I'll ask Yusef to help.”

“Help good.”

“Anything I should be concerned about?” Asterius doesn't respond. “Send me your investigation. If they are really in the city, then it will become our problem.”

Asterius lets out a sigh of disappointment. “Serious friend. Meet soon.” Both of them hang up.

Without much else to do, he reads over the summary. Based on Agne's investigation, three people planned to make the perfect robbery. One person used their Affinity to create illusions while another used their abilities to detect people. The third person had connections to Lady Justice which is how they knew about the bank layout. Eric was recently added for his superhuman strength to avoid using explosives and risking detection. Their plan was to get into the vault through the sewers during maintenance and pry open the grate while the van explodes to muffle the sound they would make. After robbing it, they would backtrack out of the sewers to the surface. To cover their entry and escape, they set up special scenery domes to cover the cameras and planted several distractions along the way.

Jin reads Eric's profile particularly and gave a disappointed sigh. “How ironic that his tardiness would get him in trouble again.” After arresting Eric, the police entered the sewers and trapped the other three inside. Luckily all of them were unarmed regular civilians. The perpetrators were gathered in front of the bank where they confessed to their crimes on the spot. There, Eric asked how Jin dodged his attacks easily, including his final charge, giving an unimpressive response of experience.

He looked at the second folder and saw it was a case forwarded by Chief Agnes. It details a situation of a ragged looking person filing a report to the police. It seemed they were incoherent at the time. In response, the receptionist went to get their supervisor only for them to disappear. The transcript of the conversation was attached, though it was short and meaningless. Eyewitnesses reported that they ran out quickly but couldn't see much. It was a wonder why Agnes sent him the case for it didn't seem like an Empowered was involved. He decides to call her later for more information.

The third folder piqued his interest though. A major supermarket chain reporting theft at multiple locations. The list of locations affected, their security features, and the stolen items were stapled to the claim. According to it, the discovery was made after each location did a monthly inventory check. Behind the claim was an envelop, with the police logo watermark, full of photos. Not much else was written, but Jin could tell that he would need to be involved. He gave it a few more thoughts and made a call.

“Archie. Report to my office immediately.” After mere moments of hanging up, the sounds of rushing footsteps trample over to Jin's door. After a knock, Archie bumbles into the room. He was breathing heavily but stood tall in front of Jin.

“Lieutenant Archie, here at your request.” His voice squeaked near the end, still nervous from being called on such short notice.

“Take a seat.” Jin motioned to the chair as he slides the folder forward. “Give your opinion about this.”

“Yes sir!” He hastily scrambled to the chair and looked over the file. Silence fell as he read the report. His expression morphs into confusion, concerned about what he was reading. “Shoplifting sir? This seems like something the local police should handle.”

“It should, but they passed it to us. You know what that means, right?” Jin leans back on his chair and waits for a response. The sun descends to peek through the windows to blind the room in its rays.

“The police suspect an Affinity was involved?”

“Yes. I doubt Chief Agnes likes asking for my help.”

Archie scratches his head. “The stores aren't very secured sir. Some places don't even have security systems.”

“Yes. But their investigations can't give an answer.”

He finishes reading the report and places it on the desk. “Do we send this to the Investigation Department then?”

“You will handle it.” Archie opens his mouth slightly.

“Me sir?”

Calmly, Jin says, “Yes. I'm asking for you to solve this.”

Archie was in complete shock at the sudden job. “But shouldn't they solve it.”

“Not always. Part of your duties are to deduce and investigate less serious cases. Try your best and take your time.” Jin waits patiently and watches Archie struggle to work out the case.

Archie looks down at the folder before looking up again. His eyes filled with conviction and he starts to look at the pictures quickly.

“Excuse sir, I will need to borrow your desk.” He unpacks the folder and spreads out the reports on the table. His eyes and hands dart to photos of the shelves, the checkout areas, and the warehouse; and on the back of the photos, there was a number stamped. Clipped to the photo of the security devices was a status report with green checkmarks neatly drawn on the right side. Next to it were several blueprints with a number stamped on the bottom corner.

Underneath were a list of items stolen. As he read the reports further, his eyebrow raised slightly on one side. He noticed very little was stolen from each store, noting less than half dozen items were missing. The items were inexpensive and essential for daily life. Nothing on the list seem to satisfy a craving or whim. In fact, it seemed like a bare minimal grocery list.

He looks up at Jin who seem to have sat motionlessly since he started reading. “Sir. Are the produce accounted for?”

“They can't confirm. Nor can they confirm the baked goods.” It seemed he met a dead end with his idea.

As he reaches for another report, a question seem to pass through his mind. “Sir? Can I take a look at the stores robbed on the map?”

Jin seems to be content with the request. “Very well.” He lifts a cover on the table, revealing a keyboard. Immediately, a hologram rises out of the table. As he types into the keyboard, the hologram morphs into different shapes and panels until a city appears on the desk. Afterwards, several buildings on the holographic city glowed red.

Archie's eyes open wide in shock and stands suddenly. “A line. Are they trying to go somewhere?” Jin remains silent and watches Archie continue his train of thought. “There are stores in between that weren't robbed. Are they updated on security measures?”

“Some are.”

“Nothing suspicious was noticed by anyone. Products haven't been tampered with. The cameras didn't see anything odd, and the alarms didn't detect anything wrong. Then the only place that an Affinity could have been used is when they are checking out.”

“Well done.” Jin stands up and the whole hologram disappears into the void. “Since the city was made for people with Affinities, lots of countermeasures are in place to prevent crimes. In other words, they weren't stolen, but bought.” Jin crosses his arms. “As for motivation, the suspect is likely running away.”

Archie glances at the table concerned. “But from what?”

”Who knows. But if they continue this pattern of running, we know their next target.” Jin starts to clean up his table and gather the sheets back into the folder.

Bewildered, Archie couldn't stop himself from asking. “Why did you ask me to solve the case?” He understood his boss knew the situation and didn't need him for anything.

“Because you are coming with me and need to be filled in.”