Soon, there would probably be a blanket search going on for them. But without the reliance on cameras and video, it would be a tall task. And even if there were, it would be difficult to disseminate the information to everyone. Even so, it would start to become troublesome once descriptions of them began to circulate.
The biggest problem was probably the fact they had come to a suburban region, a place where everyone likely knew their neighbors at least in passing. The appearance of three new people would be a red flag. They would have to deal with this appropriately. Unless, of course… this was the home of Bloom and Mark to begin with. Did they plan so far ahead?
Sylas gave them a glance but didn’t ask. Since they were still on guard against him, there was no need to expose his thoughts.
…
The home was well-furnished, the fridge was fully stocked, and right in the middle of the living room, there seemed to be a radio setup of some sort. Bloom plopped down on the couch and pulled a pair of thick headphones over her ears.
“She’s going to be listening to see if she can pick up anything interesting,” Mark explained. “You probably saw it, but the only way to force technology to work properly in this environment is to use more energy than normal. If you want a cellphone to work properly now, you’d probably need to pull as much power as a deep fryer. Well, if you want consistency anyway.”
Sylas gave Mark a look.
“What?” He put his hands up. “I know some stuff too. Anyway, because they’re amplifying everything so much, it’s easier to pick things up than it would otherwise be. The satellite dish on our roof is actually only there to pick up those signals.”
Sylas nodded. “I understand.”
“Welp, I’m about to whip up some food. I usually cook for the both of us. Want anything in particular?”
“I’m not picky,” Sylas lied. “I do eat a lot these days, though.”
“Haha!” Mark gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Me too. All those extra stats come with their downsides. Don’t worry, we’ve got enough.”
…
The day came to a wrap and Sylas used the excuse of taking a walk after dinner to slip out. He walked down the street with his usual long strides, doing his best to maintain his former Speed.
‘They let me take this walk without pushback. I wonder if it’s part of observing my actions, or if it’s something else…’
Sylas didn’t know much about Lone Star. He had visited once or twice, but he ultimately lived in the northern reaches of Terranova while Lone Star was fairly far south. He had done an exchange once with Lone Star State, the university. He knew that they had a supercomputer that he could use, but he had no idea where he was in relation to it.
His strides brought him to the park and he took a seat on a bench, breathing in the air. Somehow, it felt fresher than normal. The Aether Plane was excellent in this regard, but Earth was filled with pollution. Albeit a small shift, it seemed to be changing.
‘Was my nose always so sensitive?’
He couldn’t help but wonder. There were so many hidden stats and implications to his visible stats, it was hard to tell what improvements were coming from where. Were senses baked into Constitution? Or were they in Mental? A combination of both?
Sylas looked up and saw a skatepark in the not-too-far-off distance. It was part of the greenery and a trio of teens were having their fun. The streetlights weren’t long from coming on, if they even did that anymore, and there was some peace.
‘Hm?’
Sylas looked at one of the teens more closely and noticed something.
[Carter Prince (F+)]
[Level: 3]
‘What a coincidence. Looks like he got away with it… for now.’
He recognized the build first, then he noticed that the teen was moving with much more fluidity than he should. He was too busy showing off to his friends to even notice that he had been exposed. Sylas looked away and waited.
The minutes ticked by and the streetlights eventually came on, but they flickered intermittently. Luckily, it wasn’t all at the same time, or else it would be even more annoying than it already was. The teens decided to go their separate ways and head home.
Sylas’ original plan for this trip out was to intercept a person and ask them about Lone Star. He had planned to keep it as casual as possible. While he was waiting, he had seen several targets, but since Carter was here, was there a need? This would make things even more convenient.
Sylas stood up and went after Carter. The teenage boy, who could have only been 17 years old at most, didn’t notice Sylas until they were separated by no more than three meters. By this point, they were on a trail by the park. It was dark enough that most everything was shadows, but not dark enough that they couldn’t still see with decent clarity.
Carter looked back and didn’t think much of it at first until Sylas spoke.
“Around here is enough.”
Carter turned back again. “What the hell are you talking about?”
He obviously wasn’t afraid, and Sylas didn’t expect him to be. If the kid survived in the Trial for three months, he had seen much worse than Sylas… at least visually speaking.
“You’re the kid who robbed the jewelry store earlier.”
“I don’t know what you’re—”
Carter suddenly attacked. Fast and ruthless. His fingers had already reached for Sylas’ throat. He could already see the final result. A pinch and twist and this man would be left on the ground bleeding out and unable to call for help. However, what he didn’t expect was that Sylas would sidestep his strike with even greater Speed.
‘I made a mistake,’ Sylas thought to himself.
