Elizabeth's Illustrated Prophecy
Roque recalibrated his senses with natural ease, fine-tuning his five senses and sense of balance as he opened his eyes.
The moment he did, Elizabeth sidled up and nestled into him. The net gear she'd been wearing clattered to the floor.
"Elizabeth?"
"Sleepy."
He scooped up the innocent little intruder, and she went limp like a blanket hung out to dry. Stroking her back gently, he scanned the surroundings. Robot Bini was busily gathering up cables, net gear, and the like on its own.
There were also a grim-faced orc and a blond human—Detectives Harry and Daniel.
"...You alright?"
Roque just nodded silently. Harry stared at him and Elizabeth with a tense expression, while Daniel was pulling unconscious Isumi employees out of their truck and laying them out on the road.
That's when ambulance sirens wailed in the distance. Hearing them, Roque stood up. Elizabeth was fast asleep, arms wrapped around his neck.
Daniel glanced at the pair and said,
"Lucky the hospital's right nearby. These folks'll pull through."
"Good."
Roque gave a curt reply, then hoisted Elizabeth higher with a little jostle. She rubbed her face against his shoulder, whimpering softly. A few pats on the back, and her breathing evened out again.
Harry spoke up, watching the scene.
"Word from HQ. Just like you figured—the Midland Investment Bank's servers and deposits got wiped clean. Unbelievable, but they didn't even know they'd been hacked."
He snorted derisively, as if mocking the banks.
"Gotta dig deeper to confirm, but looks like those recent incidents were all to cover this hack. Covering a simple bank job with murders? Hard to believe, but..."
The orc's gaze shifted to a young woman lying amid the other Isumi employees. The magician whose name they hadn't known until now. Only after she lost consciousness could they ID her face. Reina Schultz. No Midland citizenship, registered in the criminal database for petty theft and such.
"...The damages are massive. If it hadn't come out now, a couple savings banks would've collapsed in weeks. Midland's finance sector would've taken a real hit."
"The comatose brother?"
Harry let out a dry chuckle at Roque's question.
"On paper, that kid's already dead. The boy we saw? No relation to her—at least, not on record."
"Then?"
"Eh, it'll all come out in the investigation. Accounts in the kid's name frozen, connections traced—everything seized..."
Harry pulled a cigarette from his pocket and stuck it in his mouth. He reached for his lighter, then hesitated at the sight of sleeping Elizabeth. Fidgeting with it, he pocketed it again.
"...Figuring out that magician's name pieced it together. Looks like she worked under Black Viper for drugs her brother needed. Narcotic painkillers and special meds for his condition—illegal in Midland without permits. She ran errands for them in exchange for smuggling it in under their name. Things soured with Black Viper, but she used the skills and guts from that to hit the savings banks."
He dangled the unlit cigarette as he continued.
"Hospital confirmed—the kid's getting transferred to a university hospital in Japan soon as tests wrap. All fees prepaid."
"Gonna stop it?"
Harry smirked at Roque's words.
"Why bother? Without treatment, he's just a vegetable. And those prepaid fees? Can't claw 'em back. Banks might sue to recover, but they'll probably let it slide. Suing advertises their security got breached. Account seizures'll be the end of it."
The magician Reina lay on the ground, eyes half-open and vacant. Her net socket, where the cable had been plugged in, was half-charred. Even generously, it didn't look salvageable.
It made sense. A mighty dragon soul had used her body and mind as a bridge into Cyber Space. Her consciousness and memories were probably crushed like under a massive press.
Roque hadn't sensed her presence at all during the fight with Aleicant. And now, back in reality, she gave off no signs of life. Her flesh still breathed and circulated blood, but that wouldn't last long.
The magician who'd vented her rage on society using her brother as an excuse had died like that. The news would probably report it the same way. The banks would bury their breach.
Would she be grateful her brother lived as she'd wanted? Or grieve leaving him alone in this world? Either way, shattered Reina couldn't answer.
Then Harry extended a hand to Roque—a handshake.
Roque eyed it briefly, and Harry said,
"Speaking for the whole MLPD—thanks. Who knows how many more incidents before her brother shipped off to Japan. Honestly, we were just chasing your tail."
Roque adjusted Elizabeth and clasped his hand.
"Thanks in cash."
"Naturally. I'll push upstairs for extra bounty."
"Triple."
"...Noted."
Harry's face fell. Daniel beside him mirrored it.
Roque released his hand as ambulances rumbled up. Without further farewell, he turned and strode away. Bini, loaded with cables and net gear, whirred after him on its wheels.
Seeing this, Daniel called out hurriedly.
"Hey, wait! More importantly, just now—"
Harry grabbed his junior. Daniel looked back puzzled, and Harry slowly shook his head.
"But Sarge, that factory district accident's gotta be connected to him..."
"Didn't see a thing."
Daniel glanced between his senior, the halting ambulances, and Roque's receding back, then shrugged.
"...Fair enough. Culprit's caught—that's what matters. Factory mess is for the assigned team."
Seeing Harry nod, Daniel waved at Roque's back and shouted,
"See ya when the cash clears!"
Roque raised a hand in reply without turning. Elizabeth stirred amid the ambulance clamor.
"...Roque."
"Yeah."
"...Elizabeth wants a sketchbook. Just one."
"Sketchbook?"
She buried her face in his shoulder and dozed off without answering. Why would a kid who manipulated electronics barehanded need a sketchbook? Still, Roque patted her back as he walked away from the scene.
Meanwhile, Harry clutched his forehead at his junior's outburst, shaking his head. Paramedics unloading stretchers looked baffled. Realizing, Daniel awkwardly gestured for them to hurry with the victims.
Harry pitied his foolhardy junior, then sought Roque again—but he'd vanished, as if he'd sprinted off.
Gazing briefly in that direction, Harry turned to the paramedics tending the unconscious. He spotted Isumi's logo etched small on the truck's side.
"...Damn. Nowhere they don't stick their noses."
Pondering charges to hammer these Isumi employees, Harry lit up. His long-dangling cigarette finally smoked.
Slouched on the sofa, Roque idly flipped channels. Every station blared about yesterday's factory district disaster. The serial killer frenzy had vanished like a lie. Maybe the banks buried it themselves, as Harry said.
One channel still covered it—the first to report.
Then Elizabeth's door cracked open, her face peeking out. She eyed Roque briefly, met his gaze, and vanished inside.
Roque closed his eyes, sinking deeper into the sofa.
"Spit it out if you've got something to say."
Silence fell, then the door creaked louder. Roque wondered if he should oil the hinges, glancing sideways.
The door swung wide. Elizabeth emerged—first time out of her room since he'd tucked her in yesterday. In her hands, the sketchbook he'd bought on the way home. Bini followed quietly, a set of colored pencils strapped to its back—like the ones bought with it.
Elizabeth marched into the living room and planted herself between Roque and the TV.
"Why?"
"Elizabeth tried making first sentence. Felt language lacking."
"What?"
"Three-sentence summary. Impossible."
Roque grabbed the remote. The blaring TV cut off.
"So?"
Elizabeth held up yesterday's sketchbook—real paper kids these days barely touched.
"So, Elizabeth decided to tell story with pictures. Longer than three lines, but Roque—listen."
"...That why you barely ate breakfast? For this?"
"Yeah."
Roque chuckled dryly, rubbing his forehead. Perfect timing—he'd been meaning to hear her full story. Maybe she sensed it; they were one in Cyber Space. He'd glimpsed her past in flashes already.
"Alright. Let's see it."
Straightening on the sofa, Roque nodded. Elizabeth took a deep breath and flipped to the first page.
A vast temple centered a gathering of dragons. The issue: the central one looked child-drawn and crude, while the backgrounds and surrounding dragons were near-photorealistic.
Roque raised an eyebrow. Elizabeth coyly covered her mouth with the sketchbook.
"...Elizabeth drew center Dragon King Lumilatel. Rest—Bini helped."
Bini, perched beside her like a retainer, beeped and bobbed proudly. But under Elizabeth's steady gaze, it quietly retreated.
Elizabeth cleared her throat faux-solemnly and met Roque's eyes.
"Two hundred years ago—1849. Dragon King Lumilatel made prophecy. Hundred years later, humans combine circuits, amplifiers, magic—create new world even they can't grasp."
Roque's faint smile faded as he watched Elizabeth and Bini. She flipped the page stone-faced. Neon-glowing Midland skyline—all Bini's work.
"Dragons knew Cyber Space coming then. Knew it make them transcendent."
Above the shining Midland sky loomed Elizabeth's dragon—not just crude now, but a mad, chaotic monster.