Lonely Thieves

Act V, Part X

Daryl's Side (April 14, 11:45pm)

Daryl ran down the darkened streets of the southern area of the Morning Star district, looking desperately for anything that looked like the Overman control hub. However, nothing stood out to him. Daryl took out his phone and called Hikaru.

"Nothing here! Pick me up so we can head out to the next place!"

In less than a minute, Hikaru barreled down the street and skidded to a stop in front of Daryl, who leapt into the car as soon as he could. Megumi was already inside, with an impatient and worried look on her face.

"No good on your side either, huh?" Daryl remarked dryly.

"It's got to be close by," Megumi grumbled as she fished out her phone. "You're sure we're not wasting our time looking in the wrong areas?"

"Of course I'm certain!" Maize yelled over the phone. "Overman agents need to stay within ten miles of the control hub. Considering that they're centered around the Florencia building, there's a limited area that the control hub could be around."

"Have you guys found anything yet?"

"Unfortunately not. David's doing his best, and he's got the help of the local vagrants, but they haven't covered much ground yet. Rob is still worried about Kolya, too, so he hasn't been searching."

"Kolya cut communications a while ago, right?" Daryl asked. "Is he dead?"

"Who knows?" Maize replied. "Nevertheless, Rob's going to stay on call until that can be confirmed."

"Enough about that," Megumi cut in. "Tell us where to go next."

"Right. We're taking care of the northern areas, so... go to the southeast quadrant."

Megumi glanced at Hikaru, who nodded to confirm that he'd overheard. He took a quick turn to the right and began driving towards the area in question.

As he watched the roads pass by, Daryl noticed a sudden blur between the shadows of the city at night. He'd thought it was his imagination, but another blur in the darkness made it clear that there was definitely something there, a hunch further supported by Megumi, who seemed to notice it as well.

"Hikaru. You should probably speed up."

Hikaru wordlessly pushed down on the gas pedal without uttering a word in question. The blurs started to appear again, and as the car passed from the district's more darkened areas to the more properly illuminated business zones, Daryl was able to get a clear image of who was following them.

"Overman Dogs!" he shouted out. "This is bad."

Indeed, several Overman Dogs were hot on the tail of Hikaru's car, following them closely with no signs of stopping. Hikaru pushed the pedal even harder, but there was a limit to how fast he could drive while in the city. Desperate, Hikaru turned behind and gave Megumi a knowing glance. She quickly understood what he was telling her to do and moved over to Daryl's side of the car.

"Hey, what are you doing? This isn't the time for stuff like that!"

"Stuff like what, moron? Hurry up and unlock your door!"

Daryl unlocked the door, though he was unsure as to what exactly Megumi was trying to have him do. Before he could question further, however, Hikaru suddenly cut into a tight alleyway. At the same time, Megumi pushed open Daryl's door and threw the both of them out into the street.

Daryl opened his mouth to complain, but Megumi quickly covered his mouth and pressed him against the dark walls of the alleyway as the Overman Dogs following them quickly leapt past them as they followed Hikaru in the car. Megumi and Daryl stayed still in the alleyway until the sounds of Hikaru's car could not be heard anymore, then Megumi pulled Daryl back out to the main streets as soon as they could.