Chapter 48: Finding A Vorath

A crew member could not help but ask, and truly, it was a reasonable question.

If they were all going to spread out, what stopped the Voraths from simply taking them out one by one?

"You can prevent that with this," Captain Ennessa said, opening her palm to reveal several small buttons.

"This is a signaler."

"If one is placed on each of us and I crush mine, every one of you will feel a corresponding rhythm that can be followed directly to my location."

"It will be given to everyone embarking on this mission."

"If you see a Vorath, do not engage."

"Simply crush this button, and the Enhancers stationed around the surrounding alleyways will come to your aid."

"Also, once someone crushes their button, all of you will be signaled and must immediately move toward the source."

"Do not think you are running to your death. You will not be the only one answering the call, and only by surrounding the Vorath together will we be able to catch them."

"And we do not necessarily need more than one Vorath. Just one is enough, and we will be able to track their true base simply by reading their memories."

"There is also a reward of three million Star Coins for the one who first sights a Vorath, and one million for each of the first ten people to respond to the call."

She said this, and some members of the crew drew in deep breaths.

"Everyone wants the reward, so you definitely will not be alone in responding."

"Remember, this is not a battle mission."

"We are all to appear as ordinary civilians and, upon sighting a Vorath, crush the button."

"So, this is a search mission where we only need to find a single Vorath?" a crew member asked, and Ennessa nodded.

"You nailed it. The earlier deaths happened because the sector guards of Sector F were all trying to kill the Voraths."

"If all they had been doing was trying to capture one, there would not have been so many casualties, and those who were abducted could have simply crushed the button and received help."

Smart. She is a very smart analyst, Arlo concluded as he watched how quickly Ennessa worked with nothing more than a map, assigning everyone their positions while easily predicting the areas that were less likely to be infested with Voraths and those where sightings were more likely to occur.

What amazed him even more was that none of her hypotheses were mere guesses.

They all stemmed from a deep understanding of Vorath behavior patterns, which was simply amazing to Arlo, especially since he had also been taught the importance of becoming a tactician by his second brother.

"Are there any further questions?" Ennessa asked.

The crew members continued staring intently at the map on the table for a moment before eventually shaking their heads.

"It could not be any clearer, Boss. We will be fine," they all replied in unison, earning a firm nod from Ennessa.

"Good. Everyone has three more hours before night falls, after which you will all be required to move to your assigned locations."

"You can choose to look like drunkards, gamblers, or homeless people. Those are the types usually found wandering around dark alleyways."

"Also, the button can be placed between your teeth. All you have to do is crush it by biting down."

"That should be easier than fumbling around to take it out, especially since a powerful enough Vorath could stop you from doing so," she told them, and they all nodded, placing the buttons between their teeth.

"You are dismissed. You will all be moving out separately in three hours," she commanded.

They bowed one last time before heading toward the various rooms in the house.

"How are you holding up?" Ennessa asked Arlo, her previous commanding aura slowly fading as a smile appeared on her previously focused face.

"Good," Arlo replied curtly.

"Really, you know it is normal to be afraid. It is your first true mission, after all," she said, but Arlo shrugged.

"I am not afraid."

He was about to check out one of the rooms when his hand was suddenly caught, and he was pulled closer to Ennessa, who bent down until they were at eye level.

"Hey, I know you just fused with your cybernetics, and you might want to test them in a real battle."

"But you have to understand the aim of the mission. Unless you are attacked and face the possibility of fatal injury, you have to follow the plan."

"Don’t risk your life unnecessarily, got it?"

Captain Ennessa said, clasping Arlo’s cheek as she looked firmly into his eyes.

"Yes. I will be fine," he replied.

She studied his expression carefully for a moment before eventually nodding.

"Good. I have already shown you your position, so I am sure you will be able to find the alleyway yourself. Also, you can pretend like you’re some lost orphanage kid. That’ll make more sense."

She teased, earning an eye roll from Arlo.

"Also, place that signal inside your mouth right now."

He conceded and placed it at the far end of his teeth, earning a nod from Ennessa before she left the living room and headed toward one of the side rooms.

Left standing alone, Arlo’s eyes flashed before he walked over to the sofa, sat down, and simply closed them.

While everyone else would be trying to sight a Vorath and capture one, he had to find a way into their base, and he only had this night to accomplish that.

The mission would no doubt be difficult, as infiltrating a Vorath base would not be easy.

Hopefully, his Vorath transformation would make things easier.

I’ve got to make all of this work... somehow.

________________________

Three hours later...

"You all ready?" Ennessa’s cold voice rang out as everyone in the room gave a serious nod.

"Yes, Boss."

"Good. You may all move out now. Do not forget to crush the button if you notice the slightest anomaly, and do fight back if you face the possibility of death."

"That would be acceptable, since the Voraths do not bless people with instant deaths. Their wickedness will be their doom tonight."

"For the sake of a greater humanity."

"For the sake of everything we care about!"

The crew instantly roared back.

Immediately afterward, everyone moved through the door, with Arlo quickly following after the group and Ennessa bringing up the rear.

Once they arrived outside, they quickly mixed into the crowds of humans walking along the bustling streets, while Arlo pulled his hoodie over his head and blended into the crowd.

Once they were all gone, Ennessa turned on her tablet. On its screen were several green dots scattered among piles of red ones.

"All my eyes are on every one of you," she murmured to herself.

It was a secret she had hidden from them. While the buttons truly were signalers, trackers had also been placed inside them.

The trackers enabled her to lock onto every crew member’s position, and once a Vorath approached one of them, she would be able to see it because the corresponding marker would turn red.

It was her way of better ensuring their safety, as she did not plan to lose a single crew member on this mission.

[They are all gone,] the System’s notification flickered before Arlo’s eyes as he rounded a corner and entered another part of the street.

Finally, Arlo thought after noticing that no one was looking at him.

It was the perfect time to begin his own mission.

[You can begin tracking them now,] the System said.

Arlo closed his eyes as his nose began sniffing around like a wolf’s.

Three minutes passed while he remained in that strange position before his eyes suddenly opened wide, and he turned toward the far side of the street.

"I can smell a trace!"

They appeared like inky-black strands of strange, rope-like objects, something Arlo was already familiar with and knew to be none other than the special aura of the Voraths.

The dark strands extended throughout the area, and Arlo cautiously paid extra attention to the places where the Voraths had walked, eventually realizing there was no particular pattern to their movements.

It did not seem as though the Voraths were hunting for humans, but rather simply wandering around at random.

Unbelievably, Arlo spent a total of three hours following the traces before he finally felt the strands of aura drawing closer than ever.

After another hour of tracking, he finally arrived at the place where the smell was at its most concentrated.

A pitch-black alleyway.

Standing before the darkness, Arlo could already smell the Vorath itself, causing his heart rate to spike.

Yet none of it showed on his expression as he walked into the dark alley, a place littered with nothing but trash bins.

Walking farther in, he eventually reached a dead end, yet he made no move to leave and simply waited calmly.

Then the shadow before him shifted.

A humanoid figure slowly emerged from within the darkness, coming to a stop roughly ten meters away from Arlo.

The man had pale white skin and dirty brown hair and was dressed in ordinary dark jeans and an equally black T-shirt.

There was not a single thing about him that would make him stand out from an ordinary human, with perhaps the only curious feature being the strange round hat he wore.

That was probably why he could walk among thick crowds of humans without being noticed.

"I believe you have been tracking me for quite a while now, boy."