act32side

I'll be waiting there for good news.

Except him...

Except that man...

Do you really have to ask, if you've already figured it out?

Is this all of them?

Do it.

The moment the officer gives the order, the soldiers standing by swarm in. The puppets' bodies are rapidly torn apart, their materials and internal wiring scattered all across the ground, until only their heads lean against each other.

Their once swift pupils fall from their eye sockets, exposing the torn wiring inside.

There is a deafening silence among the assembled crowd. Many choose to look away, unable to bear witness to this atrocity.

Only Diaz looks on without so much as a blink. His eyes are filled with fury.

Oh, right, I found this... storage device on one of your shelves. I had a man check it for me. Your design documents are all in here, along with a bunch of other things.

You've destroyed enough already. Won't you spare us this?

We have to eradicate all threats, Señor Diaz.

An almost inaudible weeping can be heard in the silent crowd. Even a man as headstrong as Diaz is unable to keep his eyes stony.

Give that to me, you thug!

Who's there?!

Out of the way!

Coño. She snatched it.

What are you idiots doing? Who let this punk in here? Seize her!

You...

Stop resisting, and hand that over!

Let go of me!

Trying to use Arts?

Ugh...

Hand it over!

Pft, in your dreams.

You dare kick me?!

The officer, after getting a kick in the face from Tecno, angrily shoves her to the ground and attempts to snatch the device back, but the Durin keeps a tight grip on it throughout the whole ordeal.

After multiple fruitless attempts, the officer gives up. He stands up, expressionless, and stomps violently onto Tecno's tightly clenched fist.

Again and again, until his sole is dyed solid crimson.

Still won't let go, huh?

I... I won't... Take it from me... If you can...

The moment he lifts his knee again, a red beam shines from the roof of a building up above, with a small red dot landing on his forehead.

Try stomping her again.

If you want to know what it feels like to have three bullets enter your body at the same time, go ahead.

What... took you so long?

I'd die if I leapt from the fourth floor of a building.

Hrmph.

Take your men with you, sir, all of them. Or you'll have more than bullets waving hello.

Fine, we completed our objectives... No reason to waste any more time with you.

Notify all units. We're pulling out.

Miss Ela? What brings you here?

Where is Reynell?

He's playing golf on the balcony...

Wait, Miss Ela!

My apologies... Did the shot just now hit you? Why are you so angry?

Something happened in Diaz's community yesterday.

Something happened? What do you mean?

Haven't you heard? Their arts festival performance has been ruined.

Why does this sound like an accusation?

Miłosz asked me to persuade the community to push back their performance so that it doesn't conflict with your opening ceremony.

Right, I asked Miłosz to talk to you about it. So you think that... because you weren't amenable to the proposal, I asked someone else to do this.

I saw Miłosz talking to that captain several times when I was your bodyguard. His drug warehouse is under your name.

Looking at it now, your relationship isn't nearly as tense as it seemed. He's even on your ceremony's guest list.

I've had my suspicions that I didn't investigate, but now that this happened, I have to work out what's going on.

Tell me, Miss Ela, did you come to me with a prejudiced answer?

No prejudices here. I want to hear your explanation.

No... My communication with that man is not about cooperation. It's more... It's to watch him play the fool.

So many have come up short when working against that community, and I was thinking perhaps he too would get a taste of his own medicine at their hands.

What?

That's the truth. It doesn't matter if you believe me or not, but I didn't order him to do this.

Maybe you didn't intend for this to happen... but did you think of the consequences beforehand?

You sent a leader of an armed force to deal with a bunch of unarmed civilians.

I never expected this to...

Or maybe you never cared!

You built this extravagant museum for the sake of your ego. Is that not enough? Why do you keep harassing people that have nothing to do with you? Over and over again?

Why? Do you really need any of this to prove yourself?

Enough, Miss Ela. It's time for you to leave.

Mr. Miłosz, I've been meaning to ask. How can you stand spending so much time around this monster?

Get out.

Enough, Miss Ela. If you insist on making someone the mastermind of this tragedy, then let's just say you have the man.

But it's time for you to go.

The man turns and stands firm. Ignoring Ela, he shifts his center of gravity, twists his shoulder inwards, then swings his club elegantly.

The golf ball draws an arc in the sky, and although it should have landed roughly a meter from the hole, it strangely changes its trajectory midair and slips into the hole.

Ela picks up a golf ball from the basket and lifts it up under the sun.

I noticed it a while ago. Doesn't matter how strange your trajectory is, your shots always land in the hole.

Mr. Miłosz, as the man closest to Reynell, can you tell me why?

Have you ever tried a single drive on your own merit, Reynell? Ever tried to draw a real curve in the sky?

Many times.

How did they go?

It's exhausting. There are no holes in the grass. It's a futile exercise.

Well, that's too bad.

Ela lets out a sigh and throws the golf ball in her hand. It tumbles in the grass for several revolutions before slowly drifting into the hole.

How did it go? Is it done?

Good. Even the timing of the evacuation was perfect. This is the first time you've executed something so beautifully since I came to Dossoles.

Those four?

Don't worry about them. Didn't you put that punk out of commission?

The whole community must be furious now. They can't stop them.

Now hurry up and get back here. We still have bigger fins to fry. Once this is dealt with, it'll be smooth sailing for both you and me.

What do you mean half the force? We'll use all the forces at our disposal. This will make or break everything. Get it together.

Right, send everyone back to the Galería. Have them stand by for orders.

The more the better. The cost is no object when compared to the potential profit.

Oh, and one last thing.

Remember to send a couple smart, glib-tongued fast runners to get those in the community riled up. We wouldn't want them to flame out disappointingly.

Phew...

El Capitán breathes a long sigh.

Although the stage and seats have been set up outside the Galería for its opening ceremony, there is hardly anyone in attendance yet.

Huh? This is so boring. I thought there'd be something warming up the party if I got here earlier!

Still a few hours to go. Nobody's here yet! We didn't have to rush over!

Hah.