Impossible. Hobo Beard had entered the gents, that much is clear. He could not have slipped past me and left through the door either. That means Hobo Beard is either hiding himself in the washroom, or there must be a route here that allowed him to slip away. Both possibilities are not particularly reassuring, since that means that Naiberg is on to me. Things might get rough when I try to apprehend him.

I activate the artificial core and scan the gents for anything suspicious. No movement, but I sense the presence of fabric, wool, linen and cotton to be more specific, somewhere in one of the stalls I had already checked. Must be from Hobo Beard's clothes. That confirms it, Hobo Beard was here just a few moments ago.

I return to the stall where I detected the clothes and give it another round of scrutiny. Bending down and inspecting the toilet itself, I find a stack of neatly folded clothes wedged behind the base of the urinal. A slightly salty smell rises from the floor and I note a transparent slickness running from the ground and up along the wall. The odd trail leads to the vent of a disabled extractor fan where it disappears. Leaving the stall, I check the switches located on the wall of the gents and sure enough, the switch for the extractor fan is there, turned off.

I recall my fight with Chance, who was bouncing about the battlefield thanks to her ability to alter her body. Damn, this mission just became a lot more complicated.

"I think Hobo Beard went full nudist and shape shifted through that vent." I tell The Voice, "Can you track him?"

The Voice rasps, "I am trying to, but cannot seem to get a firm lock on the Archmage. He must have dropped most of the inanimate matter on his person before fleeing. I know Archmage Naiberg is still somewhere in the vents, but his exact location is not known to me."

I head back out of the gents and proceed towards the Metro's foyer since this is where the elevators and fire escape staircases are located. Hobo Beard can't hide in the vents forever. Sooner or later he is going to have to come out, and I can access almost any location in the hotel from the foyer.

"Keep watch on any possible exit points." I say, "I should be able to catch up to Hobo Beard with the core activated."

"We have other problems." The Voice rumbles.

I hide behind a staircase and hiss, "What now?" Don't want to be making a scene here.

The Voice continues worriedly, "I have been eavesdropping on SOPO HQ and Representative Michael has instructed SOPO to send a strike team to the Metro. They know you are here Transmigrator, and intend to take this opportunity to end you. You may not have the time to hunt for the Archmage before SOPO arrives."

"Shit." I curse, "Is that Hobo Beard's plan? Hide and wait for SOPO to show up?" Should I play it safe and pull out? But there might not be another chance to snatch Naiberg.

"That's not all." The Voice pronounces, "The four coaches that the patients from the ward were loaded into have arrived at Charlie Mountain District. The coaches have been parked at the Grand Boulevard just outside the Metro and the drivers have abandoned the vehicles."

"You sure?" I ask while going to the main entrance to take a look at whats going on outside. Sure enough, just beyond the Metro's stone arch are the four coaches The Voice had been talking about. But nothing is happening. The coaches are just parked there, as if they had been ferrying a tour group.

"Nothing's happening." I comment, "No mutants rampaging through the streets or any other weirdness." Something is certainly up though, otherwise the drivers would not have made themselves scarce.

"I have located the Archmage." The Voice informs me, "He has emerged from the vents and is now wandering around the roof completely naked."

Awesome. I head back to the elevators and right on cue, the doors of a waiting lift swing open to grant me entry. The moment I step in, the doors shut and the lift starts to rise without any input from me.

"I am sending you to the top floor of the hotel." The Voice says, "The roof access staircase is located there. Be careful."

....

I take a deep breath once I reach the top of the roof access staircase. Beyond the locked door in front of me will be Hobo Beard himself, wandering about buck naked in all his old, wrinkly, slightly overweight glory. It would be hilarious if this scenario did not present further complications for myself. I was going to need to think of a way to stuff a naked man into the black cab without anyone objecting. Hopefully the trench coat can fit Hobo Beard and save the people around us from having their mind scarred.

I draw the stun gun and kick the door open, hoping to catch Hobo Beard by surprise. As I emerge into the dusk of a cold evening, I see Hobo Beard looking over the roof's safety railing without a care in the world, his back facing me. His spirit core glows gently, pressure pulsing out in waves. I level the stun gun at the old nudist's back and fire both sets of prongs at him.

Hobo Beard's core immediately flares and a solid wall of spirituality is erected around his body, blocking the stun gun's prongs. As the prongs clatter uselessly to the ground, Hobo Beard slowly turns to face me with a malicious look on his face.

Hobo Beard gives me a nasty grin and he intones, "I give easement and rest now to thee, child of the goddess. Travel no longer down the path which ends at the barren clearing, for I shall bear the burden of your sin. Find peace within me."

Hobo Beard's spirit core abruptly contracts and a feel a massive pull being emanated from him. I stumble slightly from the sensation and Hobo Beard's face glows with pleasure at the sight. His core keeps contracting, the force of the pull growing steadily stronger. I roll my eyes at the sight of Hobo Beard's spell and activate my core to resist. Is this the great secret behind the soul extractions? Really?

Hobo Beard's core shrinks to the size of a speck and a vortex of suction tears away at my own artificial core. But it accomplishes squat, as I expected. I draw one of the needles and begin advancing on Hobo Beard, intending to put an end to this farce. On the other hand, Hobo Beard is positively delighted that I am able to resist his attack as the suction force dies down and his face splits into a disgusting leer.

"Do you believe in intelligent design, Mr Gallant?" Hobo Beard asks, as he erects another one of his spirit barriers, cutting himself off from me.

"Sure why not? There are gods in this world after all." I reply casually as I begin punching the barrier in order to cause it to fall. It wavers for a few moments, but that moment of weakness passes once Hobo Beard pours more of his spirituality into it.

"Yes!" Hobo Beard exclaims, "Gods. Plural. Equals in other words. Totally unlike that garbage Michael has been trying to feed me. Now, what do you think about the concept of balance, Mr Gallant?"

I stop pounding away at the barrier for a moment as the question takes me by surprise. "Balance is good, I suppose?" I reply, completely befuddled at what Hobo Beard is getting at.

"Good. Good." Hobo Beard says, "You really are the key. The one who will complete my Perfecta."

"Just as my Perfecta will complete you."