Lonely Thieves

Act V, Part VII

Megumi's Side (April 14, 11:30 pm)

Megumi continued to watch the news report with worry as more information became available. Overman agents were swarming the building, and were raiding the roof as the broadcast went on. Despite this, no information about anyone being captured had been brought up despite it having been several minutes since the raid had started. She could only hope that Trevor and Chisato somehow made it out of there, or were at least in hiding.

After a few more minutes, Megumi forced herself to shut off the broadcast. There was no point in continuing to watch when no new information was being given, and the others seemed to have come to a decision on what to do.

"Well, I don't like it, but Hikaru's probably right," Huong concluded as he chomped on an old cigarette. "There's really nothing we can do without more information."

"And to get that information, we'll have to check out the area," Hikaru added. "There are people who've probably been watching the place since all this started. If we can hear from them, we can probably get a better idea of what's been happening around here."

Huong grumbled, still relunctant to go along with Hikaru's suggestion. "It's not my style to wander so close to police activity. People recognize me, you know. If I rouse the police's suspicion, then it'll be me who ends up facing jail time."

"You don't have to come," Daryl pointed out. "Honestly, we only came because we thought you might have a way to get in."

"You think I can let you say that without defending myself? My job requires cred, you know? Can't have people saying I'm no use!"

"We won't say anything like that, so don't worry," Hikaru said with a sigh. "Besides, he's right. You don't have to risk jail time for this."

"Whatever floats your boat. I still think this is a bad idea."

"Even if that's the case, I think the risk is worth taking." Hikaru stood up and put on his coat. "We're better off heading there by foot. It's not far from here, and it'll be impossible to mingle in the crowd otherwise."

Daryl and Megumi left the tent with Hikaru, since neither of them had any further business with Huong. The group walked back out onto the main streets and began making their way to the Florencia building. Though Megumi had rarely ever visited the Morning Star district, she found it rather easy to figure out exactly where the building was due to all of the people still swarming around the area.

The group arrived one block away from the area surrounding the Florencia building, but it was clear that they were not going to get any further in. The Overman Foundation had already cordoned off the area, with alarm fences deployed around the entire block. The large mass of onlookers spread out to the opposite street and continued to watch the situation with awe. Megumi, Daryl, and Hikaru easily melded into the crowd, though they found it hard to see anything worthwhile from where they were.

"I suppose trying to get any closer than this would be suicide, huh?" Daryl remarked dryly as the three pushed their way to an empty spot on the street. "Still, we won't really get much info out here like this."

"If only we could find one of the staff members that got out of the buildings," Megmi sighed. "Then we could at least ask them what happened before they left."

"I doubt they've been released by the police yet," Hikaru mused. "I'd love to ask some of the bystanders what they think, but I'm worried that'll get us tagged for suspicious activity."

"That was the risk we took by coming out here, right?" Megumi began looking around for someone to talk to. "Come on, let's go ask around."

Megumi walked up to an adult woman on her phone. "Excuse me, do you know anything about what's happening with the Florencia building right now?"