-X-

  I pulled my coat tighter around me, the damp chill of the early rising season biting through the fabric. I once again surveyed the wreckage of the gang violence that had erupted here not long ago, this time watching someone else go over the bodies. Some slumped against rusted dumpsters, others sprawled in the middle of the off-shooting alleys. A coroner’s team moved with quiet efficiency, their murmured conversations swallowed by the somewhat distant wail of sirens, though I could guess what they were saying based on my earlier look over of the scene.

  The surrounding officers on scene didn’t talk much, their faces grim, their eyes darting between each other as they shared a look that said ‘This again, am I right?’ as they pieced together the story they had seen too many times to count. A few jotted notes, others kicked at stray bullet casings, their boots scuffing against asphalt darkened with pooled blood.

  I exhaled, watching my breath curl into the chilled damp air. Another turf war, another senseless loss. I had seen enough of these kinds of things to know that no one really won in the end. But I didn’t really care about the turf war, I had something else to worry about. That being the escaped wizard and my missing anti-magic handcuffs.

  I had just gotten through the emotionally painful process of explaining why I needed another pair of cuffs, and I was slumped against a wall in exhaustion, not from embarrassment.

  I was nodding off when a pair of hands grabbed my own and stuffed a pair of anti-magic cuffs into them. I jerked my head up and looked at a young officer in front of me.

  The young guy smiled while looking at me and saying, “Hello investigator X, I’ve heard so many good things about you; the fearless X, who always finds the mark like a delver searching for treasure.”

  I faintly smiled, “Haha, I guess my name is still moving around the gossip circles even after all these years.”

  “Oh absolutely, sir. Your exploits are well known in this city.”

  I straightened up against the wall, “Though, my poor performance today is making me feel like I’m losing my touch.”

  The young officer shook his head, “No, sir, I can tell that you’re exhausted, and nobody works well when they’re exhausted. If you get some rest I bet you’ll be even fiercer than before.”

  “Thanks, kid. I guess I really do need some rest if you’re telling me so. It’s a shame that the trail I was following ran cold. But I guess that’s as good a sign as any to stop and get some rest.”

  “Alright. Have a good day sir.”

  “You too, kid.”

  I sighed as I watched the young officer walk away. Must be nice working as an official. He probably won’t have to worry for the rest of his life. Too bad he won’t ever be able to progress past a certain point.

  I shook my head. That restriction is one of the reasons why I went solo as an investigator. And yet, despite that, I’m still being used like a dog by the officials. Especially now, when their divination department is basically shut down due to the anomaly.

  I groaned. The sooner I solve this anomaly, the sooner I can get rid of this exhausting schedule. But right now, I think I need to get some rest first.

  I walked through the alleyways towards the street while I let my tired mind go over the course of today’s events. My Skills, Class, and Talent had been working just fine, leading me towards whatever was causing the anomaly, or at least something that could lead me to the anomaly. But after arriving at the place where I had been led to, none of the dead gang members had any karmic link with the anomaly. Eventually the feeling I had from my Talent flickered away like fire in a rainstorm, and no amount of investigation of the corpses had revived that feeling.

  I reached the street and ducked under an overhang to get out of the rain, while I used my cell to call for an autonav, having to blink repeatedly at the screen to steady my weary eyes. After calling for the ride, I put my cell away and rubbed my temples.

  Maybe the link my Talent needed was on one of the missing bionics. If that crazy wizard hadn’t been there, then maybe I’d have already been on my way towards the anomaly by now.

  I grit my teeth. Ugh, what kind of wizard can disappear without a trace like that!? Nobody would assume a wizard could do such a thing, he’s a freak of nature, completely out of normal bounds.

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  My hands rubbing my temples froze in place. Not because of the autonav that had pulled up in front of me, but because a random thought flashed through my mind. He’s like… an anomaly?

  A jolt of energy swept through me. Maybe that crazy wizard is the link I need!

  I was almost energized enough to continue the chase right there. Almost. Going a few days without sleep was definitely my current limit, if I went any longer it might start to significantly impact my ability to function. I wavered back and forth for a bit, on whether or not I should sleep or continue my investigation, but in the end I decided that if I hadn’t been able to find any traces of the crazy wizard after his escape, then going back there wouldn’t lead to me suddenly getting a new lead.

  I sighed as I stepped out into the rain and got into the waiting autonav. I thought I was closing in, but I guess this investigation is looking like it’s going to be a long term project…

  -Radiant-

  I was able to conveniently wash the blood off of me using the falling rain, and I had to change out of my blood stained clothes, but I didn’t have another hooded cloak or anything similar to wear. However, now that I was trying to distance myself from the way I looked in front of that investigator, I thought a change of style was welcome and appropriate.

  My stealth spells were still active, so nobody saw me changing my clothes, though I wouldn’t have cared about such things if it didn’t bring with it the high possibility of having the police called on me; since I had been monitored all day every day back in prison, I had long gotten numb to things like embarrassment of being watched.

  I finished changing and getting the blood off of me, which I could do despite being invisible thanks to the ultra detailed 3D model I had previously made when I got The Cloud portion of [Mental Operator]. I originally set up the 3D model to monitor my health and physical condition, but it came in handy here as well to make sure I didn’t miss any blood.

  With my new outfit on, I made my way into the store I had originally gone through the alleyways to get to; where they sold all kinds of different devices, but my goal in coming here was just to acquire a cell. And the cell was mostly just a stopgap until I would be able to buy a much better, and untraceable, one from the black market.

  Though, even after getting an untraceable one, this cell wouldn’t be completely useless; I could use it for keeping in touch with Minex and his group, as well as build up an ‘traceable record’ for my Experience Silver identity. If I wanted to keep a low profile, or at the very least not be an easy suspect, then having this cell record was basic stuff for a common identity.

  As I was looking at different versions of cells, I started to feel a rising tension in my body, and my hands started to itch. I started to think along the lines, ‘maybe having another cell would be a good idea’, but I shook my head and just grabbed a random nearby cell.

  Get it together, I just barely had to get away from trouble caused by my kleptic urges.

  I turned away from the cells and took a deep breath as I walked towards the check out.

  Maybe I should channel these impulses towards something more productive and valuable. Maybe a hobby, like video games or a sport, or maybe watching films? Hmm, films…

  Something like a heist! I always loved those movies on Earth.

  Wait, a heist?

  Yes, a heist! It’ll take a lot of planning, but that’s actually a good thing since my spare brainpower can go towards that rather than my kleptic urges. Ah, what a genius idea. If I get captured by the god or goddess this advice is definitely going into the next future message. It might as well be a divine revelation!

  I smiled at my own genius as I went through with buying the cell in my hand.

  After getting my cell activated and walking out of the cell shop, I downloaded the official autonav app for Tri-Heart City and called for one to come pick me up. This, of course, required giving my location to the app, and thereby the government.

  It didn’t take long for an empty autonav to stop in front of me, and I stepped out from under the overhang I was standing under and into the rain. After getting into the autonav I ordered it to take me to my desired location on the other end of the city.

  The autonav seamlessly merged into traffic, like a drop of water into a stream, and speedily coasted towards my destination.

  As I sat in autonav, I started to think about my actions and decisions over the past few months. As I pondered the decisions that had led me to unfavorable outcomes, I realized that many of them were made in time sensitive situations. Situations like the Dungeon of Tribulation where every second increased the difficulty, or spur of the moment decisions like back in the alleyway.

  I’ve never really been the best at making time sensitive decisions, I’m more of a long term strategy kind of person. After all, when I planned out my escapes everything worked out just fine; though I think it was more because my pre planning compensated for the time sensitive decisions I had to make during the execution.

  I groaned because I didn’t really know how to fix this deficiency, but the first step to solving a problem is knowing about it. And this problem had probably influenced all of the previous Radiants who went through this ‘time loop’. It really brought into question the veracity of the information in the future message, and that wasn’t something I had a quick and easy answer to.

  Maybe the previous Radiants had realized this as well, or maybe I was the first one. I was leaning towards the latter since there seemed to be too many unexpected variables popping up that weren’t even slightly mentioned in the future message.

  I sighed as I made the decision to not rely on the future message too much. Confirmed facts and details were ok, but I would have to try and gather my own information when it came to everything else.

  In any case, the future wasn’t looking as clear any more.