Ash groaned, burying his face in his pillow as dread and guilt washed over him. He didn't mean to snap at Team or his friends. He knew they were just concerned for him. But he shut them out, he pushed them away. He was too indulged in his own self-pity that he didn't see they were trying to help him. He knew, whatever happened, his friends would always have his back and never abandon him.
'I should apologize to them,' Ash thought. Just as he was starting to plan ways to apologize to them he heard a very loud banging on his bedroom door.
"Ash, you idiot! Man up, will you? It's been two freaking days already! Get out from your lair and face us!" Rose voice emerged from the other side and he knew that she was beyond pissed right now. She'd gone into bitch mode and Ash knew more than anyone to never provoke the beast inside her. It was no doubt Rose would break his door if he didn't act fast. And so he stood up and walked
"That's my bestfriend! This is just the beginning, there are still more heartbreaking trials that will come to us in this quest. But we shouldn't let them get through to us. I can see the Authority and the Black Clan Empire are tearing us apart. We need to trust each other and be strong more than ever. We won't let anyone break us apart," Team said as he put his hand on his bestfriend shoulder and squeezed."Speaking of, what should we do now? I don't really know where to start with the investigation now that we're doing this independently, without access to the authority resources or even reinforcements. We're on our own now," Ash said as his worry started to creep in."Don't get too worked up over that, Ash. We started collecting the clues and took photographs of the crime scene. Even though the authority won't support us, they're still letting us get the evidence ourselves. Seth and I recovered some debris and weapons from the crime scene. We
After they had their breakfast, the group took up their respective places around the dining room as they got busy decoding on their laptops as they went through their investigation. Seth was inputting all the information to the laptop while Simon was caught up with the paperwork of the results they'd gathered from the dead bodies.Rose and Team were contacting some connections to gain access to sensitive information and resources that they could use to aid their investigation, now that the authority wouldn't give them access to these resources.Ash, on the other hand, was staring on the note the Black Clan Empire left in the crime scene as he tried to dissect every word and decipher it."Having a problem there, Beautiful?" Ash was startled by Alexander voice as he joined him on the table, taking the seat beside him."Ah, yes. There are some things that I still don't get.""Is that so? Well, let
"Actually, I don't think that the note pertains to a certain place in USA that associates with the earth's revolution. I think the note pertains to a definite direction." Alexander raised his eyebrows, his eyes were looking at him questioningly and in that instant Ash knew that he'd piqued his curiosity and interest on the matter. Ash met Alexander eyes, the room filled with silence as they stared at each other. Ash could feel the thick tension of mystery and danger around the room. He always felt that whenever he was in the middle of solving a mystery case. Of course, he'd gotten used to the eerie feeling around him, but this time Ash couldn't ignore it as he was about to explain the mystery note to Alexander, who not only was a civilian, but also a stranger. At least for now.'But I feel so safe with him, I feel that he can be trusted. And he's been helping us without question. Even though the authority treated him like trash. And I could never accuse him of somet
"As for what I said a while ago, I have a feeling that the note pertains to a certain direction in the USA. It says the revolution of the earth has finally moved. The gears have started rolling. It means that the movement of the revolution has already started. And according to the Cartesian coordinate plane, where do you think the revolution started?" Ash lifted his head as he gazed at Alexander whose eyebrows were meeting in the center of his forehead."Wait, Cartesian coordinate plane? What the hell is that?" Now it was Ash time to frown in confusion as he was trying to figure out why Alexander didn't know about the Cartesian coordinate plane. Surely, everyone knew about the Cartesian coordinate plane? It was the coordinate system everyone used in Math. Geometry, Trigonometry, Calculus, Speed, Velocity and Physics, among other great discoveries, all used the coordinate plane. Hell, it was even taught during their high
Follow its direction and you will be guided in the right path."Following the coordinate plane that we formed, the right path pertains to a right angle, or specifically, the 90 degrees angle. So if we start the coordinate plane's rotation from the first quadrant, where the zero degrees lies, up to 90 degrees, we get-" Alexander and Ash gazed on as the first one pointed the perpendicular line they draw upward from the origin, where the 90 degrees lies."The place in this note pertains to the two locations! The South and North Dakota states!" Alexander said in victory as finally, they had narrowed down the places written in the mystery note. But much to Alexander surprise, Ash was not responding to him in the same way."Ash? What's the problem? Aren't you happy we've finally managed to narrow down the locations?""No, I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm happy that somehow we're following the whole riddle. But I
Ash and Alexander rushed through the living room while holding the map, the ruler, the compass as well as the note with them. Ash was smiling from ear to ear as he sensed the thrill and excitement of cracking the code. It was a time like this where Ash was having the most fun in his life as a warrior. There would be no words to describe how incredible and satisfying he was feeling. The feeling of shedding the light and making path from the cruel darkness they were engulfed with. He was so excited with his discovery that he suddenly screamed with "I've cracked the code!" that made everyone startled and looked at him in surprise. Ash grin widened as he took in the appearance of his friends. They were all looking at him as if he just sprouted some seeds on his head."God Ash, We take it you're excited that you've cracked the code already. And we're really glad by that. We're finally moving to the next phase. But you don't have to be so overreacting and surprise us from
Thankfully his friends got his silent plea and decided to get serious. They also knew they've just tortured Ash enough, both the good and bad ones. They also wanted to make it up on Ash for what happened in the hall of authority and as their leader, they would follow him."Yes. All the data we've gathered is here." Seth said as he went back to his seat and got his laptop. He gave a meaningful stare at Alexander which he nodded in return. Alexander released Ash and gave way for Seth to be on Ash side. He went on the nearest couch that was not far away from the table and sat comfortably with his one leg tucked on his other knee. Together they stared at each images as they ran through from the evidence they gathered from the crime scene."We believed that the rescue and retrieval operation happened around 3 to 4 am. If my memory was right, we reported the incident to the authority around 2 am and arrived at the City 30 minutes later. The on
Ash, on the other hand just nodded in affirmation as his theory was seconded by Seth. He knew as of this moment only Seth was on him calm mind to think things over."That's good. At least we've narrowed down our search. If only we can have some access to the surveillance cameras under the City, we can determine the criminals. But sadly, that information is accessible to the Head department." Ash sighed sadly as he looked at his teammates."But I think Mell can help us! I mean he's really kind and being the authority Head's secretary, I bet he can consider sharing the resources to us. Team, have you tried calling Mell?" Seth tilted his head towards Team as he asked him."Uh. Sadly, we weren't. His line was busy. Maybe because he too was investigating the crime scene at the City.""Wait- Did, did you just say Mell? " Alexander decided to interrupt that moment as he heard a name that sounds familiar to