POINT OF VIEW: DYLAN
Sunday, November 6, 2028.
Carlasco = Around 02.00 P.M
Greece = Around 11.00 P.M
Orkney Island = Around 09.00 P.M
Tapping on the phone, it was already 2 P.M in the afternoon. Because a customer suddenly collapsed in the store, and Dylan had to rearrange the demolished stacks of tuna cans, he just had the time to have lunch now. Removing the bento lid, he immediately chewed down the pork cutlet.
Until now, there was not a single news about Apollo. As the abductor and the location had been revealed, plus the rescue team was a group of Olympian gods, Dylan did not worry too much about Apollo's safety. But there was still one thing that had been bugging him since morning. As Mountain Ward Hill seemed to be commonly visited, would the rescue mission end up attracting unwanted attention?
"This is the first time I saw a customer collapse in a store," Michael suddenly came, he was also holding a bento box.
"Four years of working here, and this is also my first time," Dylan said. "What are you eating?"
"Same as you," Michael said. "Nothing beats this store's pork cutlet."
Dylan chucked. "Well ... Mr. Konishi said that in Japan, he knew of one store that serves the best pork cutlet. He's been trying to replicate the taste, but his cutlet never comes close."
"This one is tasty already," Michael said as he chewed the meat. "I wonder now how tasty the said meat is."
"Then you've got to go to Japan first," Dylan chuckled again.
"I wish I could," Michael scoffed.
"Me too."
Michael grabbed the remote control and turned on the TV hanging on the wall. He chose the YouTube application, saying he would like to search for the best pork cutlet restaurant in Japan. Strangely he raised his eyebrows, making Dylan look over his shoulder. The remote pointer was on a video with the title: 'Breaking News! The Mysterious Kidnapping Case finally came to light! – streamed a few minutes ago.
"Reporting from Ward Hill, Orkney Islands," the lady reporter in the video said. "In recent weeks, there have been strange cases of missing people. There was no ransom, and the victim seemed to have a background in music and songs. However, just today, at around 4 to 5 P.M local time, nine people suddenly showed up in a nearby town, six of them were reported missing from another town nearby. The three others were from Carlasco, near Edmonton, Canada. They were all nuns who are also reported missing in their city."
"Three nuns from Carlasco?" Dylan muttered, at the same time he turned his chair around to get a better vision on the news.
"Sister Mary, Jessica and Anna," the voice of the reporter was heard, but the video was showing three nuns who looked so pale, yet their dress was shabby. Immediately Dylan remembered that these nuns were the one whose 'Missing Person' poster was placed in the church, the night when he and Athena found Hera.
"The three nuns said that they were about to sleep at their church, when suddenly strange creatures like elf paralyzed and kidnapped them. When they woke up, they were already somewhere like a cave, and they were forced to sing at any time," the reporter said again. "Now we're going to hear the confession of Sister Anna about who's saving them."
The recording was switched to one of the nuns. Below the screen was a yellow rectangular board with the caption: Saved by Cosplays of Ancient Greek Soldiers?
The moment Dylan read the caption, he immediately got the answer to his earlier question: the rescue mission ended up attracting unwanted attention.
"There were five who came to save us," Sister Anna started speaking. "They were all wearing Ancient Greek costumes and helmets, like the old movies 300 and Clash of Titans. We saw them fight all these creatures, and then we decided to run away."
The lady reporter was on the screen again. "The victim said they came out from inside the Mountain Ward Hill. The police have investigated the possibility of a hidden cave entrance, but they did not find anything. More about this will be explained by Detective Anderson."
"I'm Detective Anderson," the grey-haired detective said. "It's true that we didn't find any hidden entrance. However, all these victims strangely insisted that they came out from the mountain. Surely we can't just drill down the mountain. But we will look into the case deeper, including the Ancient Greek cosplays who might actually be the source of the problem."
"Why do you think the cosplay of Ancient Greek soldiers has something to do with this case?"
"The tiniest unusual things must always be put into consideration when we're investigating," Anderson said. "Nine people claiming to be saved by some cosplays is a major thing. Obviously we can't simply ignore it."
"These nine people also claimed that the others are still trapped inside the mountain, didn't they?"
"They did," Anderson confirmed. "But once again, we can't drill down the mountain. Furthermore, the doctors also have said that the victims might have suffered PTSD. Hence they cannot think straight, and it's not odd if they claim the others are still inside the mountain."
"We also heard that the investigation will involve Carlasco Police Department," the reporter said. "Is that true?"
"It is true."
"Can you explain the reason behind the joint investigation?"
"The three nuns are from Carlasco," Anderson said. "Carlasco Police Department also confirmed that they are three of the missing persons there. Strangely, they were now here, alongside some locals who have been reported missing too. Surely we have to join forces to shed light on this mystery."
"When will their representative come?"
"As we're speaking, they're on their way. "Hopefully the joint investigation will produce new promising results tomorrow."
"Hopefully we'll be able to find the others as soon as possible," the reporter said. She then looked back at the cameraman. "These are all the updates we could give right now. We'll pray for the safety of every other victim, so that they will all return to their families."
The view changed back to the anchorman room, but in a few seconds it stopped. Michael promptly clicked the button to cancel the auto-play of the next video. "Hey, Dylan," he called. "Why are you so serious staring at the video?"
Dylan looked over his shoulder, but then he decided to turn around again. "Well ... it's ... A serious case, isn't it?"
"That's the only thing you have in your head?" Michael asked incredulously.
"Yes, why?"
"I thought one of the victims was your acquaintance."
"Ah ... no ... no," Dylan shook his head.
"Finish your lunch then. We've gotta go back to work soon."
Dylan shifted his attention to Michael's bento. Turns out the box was already empty. "I'll finish my lunch now," he said as he grabbed his chopsticks again.
"I'll wait at the bento shelf then," Michael said as he got up and threw the empty box into the trash can, before he left the break room.
Dylan put his chopsticks back on the table. He tapped on his phone again, but there were still no messages from anyone. He leaned back against the chair. Staring at the ceiling, he started wondering why Athena did not use the sphere of Lethe on these nine people.
For sure Dylan knew that commotion was unavoidable in this kidnapping case. However, if every single one of them had Lethe's pieces inside their head, not only would they remember who their saviors were, they also would forget anything about the abduction. Eventually the commotion would die down, as there was no information that could be extracted from the victims. Everything would come back to normal, as if the kidnapping never happened in the first place.
"Hey, Dylan," Michael suddenly called, ruining Dylan's trains of thought. "What?! You still haven't finished the food?" he asked as he approached him. "Your food is as intact as when I left you!"
"Ah! Sorry! Sorry!" Dylan picked up the chopsticks, this time he immediately chowed down the food.
"Hey! Hey! Take it easy man!" Michael said as he faced the water dispenser and filled a plastic cup. "You'll be choked if you eat that fast," he said as he put the plastic up on the table.
"Thank you!" Dylan picked up the cup and drank the water to its last drop. "I would really choke if you didn't give me water."
"Finish the food now," Michael said. "We're needed to unpack the new deliveries."
"Noted!" Dylan exclaimed. In no time, he emptied the bento and immediately left the break room.