Elvira stared into the shadow. Supposedly, Gordon was sitting on that ledge somewhere, but if she hadn’t watched him jump up she’d never believe it. With him above, Elvira was alone in the alley below. Protius and Chandra left to take up an overwatch position on the other side of the lab, and Hitori was off to fetch gear from the inn for him and Gordon.

The last step was…. Elvira peered into the darkness. She really needed to develop a few more techs. Her little old Dash could only carry her so far, and even in its intended use it was starting to feel decidedly ’entry level’. Problems for later, for now—she jumped at the wall with a running start, planting her feet and doing her best to pretend she was on level ground.

There was a tremendous thrill in executing a tech, like being carried in the hand of God itself. Her hair whipped in the wind as the sky rushed forward in a blur and suddenly she was dangling in the air. With a delicate touch of aerial acrobatics she aimed towards what was theoretically a ledge with Gordon on it.

She plunged into the darkness, and after a split second of panic felt the reassuring strike of concrete on her feet. Then lurched forward and banged her head into the wall. Before she could topple down Gordon pulled her into position. She could barely make out the outline of his body. He motioned for her to follow to the front edge of the building.

They had a commanding view into Dr. Menna’s office, which he had stepped out of while she and Hitori were practicing lines for her part in the plan. She got to play the robber, a role she landed supposedly because Hitori thought it might cast some suspicion on the Black Temple during an investigation, though she couldn’t shake the feeling her captain was rounding out her skill set.

It reminder her of the time she shot down an invitation to an all girls drama club when she was ten. Said it would be a waste of time. Go figure.

Meanwhile, back in the present, all she had to worry about was helping Gordon with reconnaissance, or at least getting some pointers on it. They wanted to confirm Hitori’s theory about Dr. Menna. It would be terribly embarrassing, not to mention counterproductive, if they went through the bother of robbing the man only to find a handful of marks and a half charged Wolf Stim.

The doctor took his sweet time wherever he’d wandered to, and the air cooled considerably by the time his office light flashed on once more.

Gordon tapped her wrist, and pointed towards him. “See that in his hand?”

Elvira squinted hard and leaned in, bracing against her teammate. She could barely make out a small metal case, and nodded.

“Guess things are go,” he said. He turned to Elvira. “Gotta drop down and gear up. You link the hands free?”

“Not yet,” she said. Gordon was referring to a small earpiece she’d gotten from Chandra earlier. Actually… she had no idea how to set it up. Gordon held out a hand and she passed it over. He fiddled with it and her WebComm for a few seconds, and when she put it in she could hear Hitori giving orders.

“When the doc leaves, let us know.” Gordon tapped a spot on his own earpiece. “Then get into position. We’ll guide as needed.” And with that he dropped out of sight. Elvira resisted the urge to follow with her eyes. Instead, she doubled her focus on Dr. Menna.

He was leaned over the desk with his back to the window, messing with something out of sight. The silver case rested close to his right arm, inside his direct field of view.

She wondered if Li could grab the box unnoticed. She was very sneaky, but what were the limitations of the Shifting Arte? Did it always have to be done in shadow? His office was very well lit, in any case.

The doctor stood without warning, grabbing the case and stepping away. Elvira almost called it in, but he started to pace. In his other hand Elvira could see a palm sized circular tablet. If she had to guess she’d say it was a WebComm.

After a few minutes, the doctor returned to his seat and back to whatever he’d been doing. This process repeated a few times, before he finally threw on his coat and rushed out the door.

“He’s on the move,” Elvira said. The earpiece tingled a little when she pressed on it, a sign she took to mean it was working.

“Confirmed,” Hitori replied.

With that, Elvira dropped from her perch, aiming diagonally so she wouldn’t roll into the far wall, then sprinted deeper into the alley. Her footsteps echoed down the path, deafening in the deathly silence of the industrial district. Only a faint whistle from the wind offered any amount of cover. She cringed internally with each step, wondering how her teammates learned to move so quietly.

“Don’t think he’s heading home,” Gordon said over the radio.

“Where’s he going?” Hitori replied.

“Not sure. Following the seventy.”

“Almost straight towards the wall, could be planning to leave the city. Bet we can catch him on Talaat. Can you get five into position?”

“Got eyes on her now.”

“Good. I’ll coordinate with two on the next channel.”

“Hey Elvira,” Gordon said.

“I’m so confused,” she said.

Gordon laughed. “You’ll get the lingo eventually.”

“I assume I’m five?”

“Fifth on the team.”

“Ah, simple enough.” She supposed that meant Gordon could see her from somewhere. She scanned the roofs around her, but couldn’t see any hint of him.

Gordon chuckled. “Rude, was waving and everything.”

Elvira rolled her eyes.

“Anyway, we’re on the wrong side of the target, so be patient. You can Dash at will ‘cause it’s dead right now.”

Elvira followed his guidance, and before long she found herself hiding from the moonlight in a shallow nook. Gordon left her to wait for the doctor while he joined Hitori in tracking his progress. Supposedly Protius and Chandra were nearby, but there was no sign of them.

All that was left was to wait.

And wait.

And… wait.

Elvira glared down the road. Did that rat bastard of a doctor take a detour? Did her radio go out? Before she could test it Hitori told her Dr. Menna turned down the street.

It took some effort to make him out, walking close to the opposite wall. The silver case was tucked tight into his chest. He certainly had the look of someone worth robbing.

I wonder if f—she shook her head. No time to daydream, there was work to do. She sunk deeper into the shadow and focused on the doctor. He sure was taking his sweet time.

One eternity later and he was finally within a few paces. Elvira signaled to Protius. Dr. Menna tripped, toppling to the ground and sending the silver case bouncing down the road. Elvira stepped into the light.

“Took you long enough,” she said. Shit, that wasn’t what she meant to say at all. She tried to ignore the nervous clench in her stomach as she planted one foot on the metal box.

“Reaper?” Dr. Menna said as he fumbled to his knees. “I was on my way to bring you the stone.”

Elvira resisted the urge to blurt out ‘Who?’ and instead managed to say, “Ah, so that’s who you’re working with.” Then added imperiously, “I guess they had no idea how popular it would be.” She pinched her face into her best menacing glare, mostly to avoid looking bewildered. Improv was another thing on her todo list.

“What? Who in the red sands are you?”

“That’s a mystery you’ll have to live with, I’m afraid.” Elvira plucked the case off the ground and turned to walk away. “Come, Apollo! Hold him and let’s get out of here.”

Protius dropped to street level behind the doctor, and as he landed silver bindings materialized around the man and dragged him prone. The hood on his cloak was up, to conceal his nationality in the hopes the doctor might assume they were agents from Duroterra, possibly even the Black Temple itself.

“Look out!”

Confused, Elvira turned to see why Protius yelled, and saw Dr. Menna with an outstretched arm aimed at her chest. Black mist spiraled to a point on his hand, then a ball of scarlet light burst forth. Elvira recognized it as a high level Flame Arte, the sort that got your name put up on a wall somewhere. Assuming anybody cared.

Elvira reflexively pulled the case in front of her chest, barely in time to catch the sphere dead on. The metal flashed red hot, and half the case vaporized in an instant. The force of the metal ripping apart tore it from her hands, and knocked her to the ground. As quick as the explosion started, it stopped, the distinctive whoosh cut off with a thump. The red orb reduced to mist, then vanished in an instant.

A clatter of tings drew Elvira’s gaze, where she saw a crystal about the size of her hand tumbling away. It was nearly transparent, except for strange crimson tendrils pulled into a point deep inside. She bounced to her feet and stepped forward.

“I won’t let you get away with this!” Dr. Menna yelled. He launched another Flame Arte, this time far smaller and easy to dodge, though still enough to get Elvira to back away. The crystal rolled within reach of the doctor, who snatched it from the ground and buried it in his chest.

Elvira drew her sword, unsure what to do with it. She felt safer at least. Protius motioned for her to back off.

Dr. Menna was still pinned, and this section of the city was almost completely abandoned, so things weren’t hopeless yet. Elvira wished again that she’d joined that acting club. This would have been a great chance to show off her skills.

“God, man, there’s no need to overreact,” she said. Not a great line, but it was honest.

The doctor made like he was about to respond, but then cried out in pain. Elvira took a quick step forward before catching herself, she didn’t want to get too close if this was a trick. She looked to Protius, who was equally confused. Before they could move, the doctor cried out again, this time a long, drawn out scream.

Elvira decided this was unlikely to be a ruse, so she approached and kneeled at his side. He was gasping, harsh and wet, and trying to pull something out from underneath him. She picked him up, after asking Protius to remove the bindings, and set him in a seated position. His eyes were vague, face flush with sweat, and both hands clasped tight to his chest.

She focused on him, and willed her Vital Net to read his status, then looked at Protius with concern. “Uh, Vinni says he doesn’t have a VN?”

He gave her a curious glance, then said, “Does that mean his Vital Net collapsed?”

“Most likely,” she said, then turned back to the doctor. “Do you think that crystal thing caused it?” She wedged her fingers under his hands and began to pry, then cried and jumped back.

“What happened?” Protius stepped forward.

Elvira shook out her hand and then looked at it. “What…” She held out her hand to Protius. The tip of her index finger was missing.

Protius looked from her down to Dr. Menna, then touched his hand to his ear. “Uh, boss, something strange is going on.”