Signs of life, finally.

I was beginning to think that the entire studio complex itself was actually completely deserted all along and that Jay was simply talking out of his ass for some unknown, malevolent reason of the convoluted kind.

It was quite a relieving sight - that little missus, a folded laptop tucked underneath an arm, walking by our posse with the most perplexed look on her face.

No questions asked, no answers given, but she did give Jay a little furrow of the brow as she wandered away into the opposite direction. She had kinda a hotshot feel about her, like she's someone big and mighty.

My suspicions were later confirmed with the sight of Jay with a slight smirk, relaying out even more words to fill the silence.

"That there's our sound director and composer. If you found yourself vibing with some of the tracks in-game, chances are she had a hand in it, and that there in her hands are some of the sample tracks she recently composed for our new upcoming title."

That got Irene and I turning heads, alarm bells blaring incessantly, red flags waving frenetically through a storm of warning tides, and other metaphors that allude to bad stuff happening that I'm not clever enough to think of on the spot.

"You're making a sequel already?" I asked when Irene didn't. "So soon? It's only been two years."

"Why not?" Jay shrugged, still with that simper. "Mr. Philips thinks it's about high time, and according to him there's still plenty of untold stories needing to be told in the world of Asteria, plus we're already got the green light for it. So really… why not?"

Corporate-wise it was a sound decision. Analytical, it's only natural to strike while the iron's still hot, milk the cow for all its worth as do they say in the business world. Perhaps this decision was simply that, a surface-level decision for a surface-level agenda. Release sequel and earn profits. That there wasn't at all any ulterior motive lying beneath it all.

Whatever… speculating wasn't going to do much. It's time to get to the bottom of this. Asteria, this Howard Philips, their ties and links to the realm of Kronocia. Hightime to take a slice at this mystery pie.

No twists and turns, nor steps to ascent up to, and no longer the blacks and whites of empty halls - Jay finally led us into a room.

And what an expansive room it was.

First glances, first impressions - well, it kinda felt like I just got sucked into a vacuum of silence.

Rows and rows of cubicles, lots and lots of empty desks that sat powered-down desktops at a dozen, a pattern broken sporadically by a sparse handful of occupied swivel chairs - the measly dedicated few that actually came to work in spite of the chaos of the last twenty-four hours.

Dedicated was understating it, not a single person even bothered to look up our way, y'know wondering why there were strangers that clearly didn't belong… yeah, they practically ignored us, both sight and mind solely devoted to the soft warm glow exuding from the computer monitor, hearkening only the clicks and clacks of their keyboards… it was like the modern-day equivalent of meditation… really was a sight to behold.

"This is the A-team," Jay whispered, leading us precariously to an inconspicuous corner of the room so as to not disrupt the zen-like ambiance so silent and tense. "Personally overseen by Mr. Philips himself. These are the go-to-guys when you wanna go big and ambitious. Their passion for making games is something else."

Well, that much was obvious so long as you weren't blind.

One guy had enough of a beard to make Santa's look like a puberty-induced stubble. Another had wastebaskets for days with all of them brimming enough crumpled paper's worth for a full paperback novel. Then there was a girl on one end, rows of coffee mugs lining her desk, half-drank left forgotten by the wayside as she poured herself another. Amanda 2.0, I guess.

All in all, I counted a group of five amidst an office space that seated at least twenty, yet not a single one of them was the rugged, bespectacled, slightly stubbled, charismatic, peace-sign wielding developer we were actually looking for.

Howard couldn't be seen among his team.

"Where's he?" Irene whispered, patience already at a boiling point. "I don't see him."

For a change, Jay frowned. "Usually he'd be here. He was here last I checked. Hmm…"

Irene was glaring. "No goose chases if you can help it."

"Nah, I think I know where he is," Jay assured. "Roof, probably. Up there for a smoke, I'm guessing. Look - why don't you wait in his office, I'll go fetch him, tell him he's got guests."

Fine by me. Irene, not so much, but what could she do about it?

After a while, she finally relented, sighing. "Alright, fine… just don't take too long."

"No problemo."

Howard's office was all the way on the other side, so once more we had to weave and wind ourselves through the maze of cubicles before we could reach.

Nearing it, we actually brushed past Mr. Santa-beard guy's desk, and as we did, he looked up at us, with sullen, sleep-deprived eyes shifting from person to person before it abruptly stopped short, landing on Ash.

He looked, he saw, then he smiled. "Nice cosplay, man," he said, a thumbs-up and a head nod conveying definite approval.

Ash, quickly growing accustomed, simply smiled back at him. "Why, thank you."

"Sound like her too," He mumbled, diverting his focus back to his workstation. "Nice…"

Once we reached, Jay swung the door open and curtsied us in with a flourish. Irene, as per usual, took the first strides inwards, closely followed by my own entrance with Ash bringing up the tail end of the bunch.

It was a modest space, not particularly extravagant nor grandiose - kinda reminded me of those work-interview squares they put you in, complete with the always customary wooden desk and office chair that seemed to be customary at this point, the only thing standing in prominence being once again the contrast of the whites and the blacks.

White tiles on the floor and ceiling, and black surrounding all four corners. Kinda weird color palettes to choose for an office… but who am I to judge?

"You guys just wait here, alright?" Jay called out from the otherside of the doorway, handle in hand. "Be back in a jiffy."

I nodded, Ash bowed again, and Irene simply stared.

Just a little bit more downtime, I thought. Five minutes or so of simple idly standby, that's what I thought this little office visit would entail.

Or so I thought, at least.

The moment Jay swung that door closed, the very moment that little click of the doorknob resounded, Irene suddenly spurred into movement, springing large strides towards Howard's desk.

"What are you doing?" I asked, just as she slumped into his chair, pulling drawers and lifting items from it. "No seriously, what are you doing?"

"My job," She answered, craning her neck into an open drawer.

"Did you realize something?"

"No, I noticed something," Irene corrected, her eyes briefly glancing at Ash. "And I'm guessing your Elf noticed it too."

I cocked my head, spun my eyes, only to find Ash nodding at me in affirmation. "The colors, Master. You must have thought it peculiar too, yes?"

"Black and white," I said, crossing my arms. "Wait, so it wasn't just a weird design choice?"

"It's an intended design choice, I'm guessing," Irene's voice sounded from below the desk. "In Kronocia, and I'm guessing in Asteria too, colors play an important role in a certain branch of magic for a certain group of individuals."

"Black and white," Ash explained. "These colors signify conception, creation, used mostly for summonings… a magic most intricate, only a rare few capable of such a feat. Those high in the hierarchy of magic…"

"Howard Philips, Mr. Game Director himself…" Irene popped her eyes over the desk. "The very top of that hierarchy. An Ancient Magus."

This overload of information I had to process real-fast to even stand a chance in keeping up. But from what I could gather… black and white, summoning magic, and an Ancient Magus… the only thing that I could gather -

"The Blightfall," I said, my eyes blinking into realization. "So he used this building, the colors in this, his magic, to summon the Blight?"

"Signs we all there the moment we walked right into the building," Irene said, standing back up on her feet. "Why do you think I was so itchy to get to the bottom of this?"

Ash cupped her chin with one hand. "I've never laid eyes once on a Magus. So few are they, that we Elves considered them myth."

Scoffing, Irene made a beeline to a bookshelf off to the side. "That's where we differ. Every kingdom in Kronocia had a Magus, some more powerful than others…"

"But why?" I asked, trying my best to make heads and tails out of the situation. "Why summon the Blight in the first place?"

Suddenly voices, Jay's… and someone else's, faint chuckles and chatters from the otherside of the door gradually creeping close.

"Guess we're about to find out," Irene said.