Linked

Chapter 15 - Experiment

Virgil got back from the band's rehearsal, shutting the door behind him. Remy had said that he'd made some plans with his friend Emile, so Virgil had gone home alone.

He looked over at the couch, seeing Roman sitting up, scrolling through a website. Virgil rolled his eyes, went over to the fridge, and got his friend some water. He set it down next to him before grabbing the computer, keeping it out of reach but not closing it. He nodded at the glass of water as Roman pouted. "Drink it," he said.

"But-"

"Just a little at least. Please," he said. "I don't want you to get dehydrated." 

Roman frowned, reaching over and reluctantly finishing the glass. He then reached out for the computer in Virgil's hands, who handed it back before sitting next to Roman. He miscalculated, forgetting to factor in the tilt due to Roman's weight, and ended up leaning into him. The two chuckled, re-situated themselves into a more comfortable position for the two of them, and Roman clicked over onto a document he had open.

Virgil smirked. "What's this?" he teased.

"Just some notes."

"You haven't gone to school in years, dude, come on." Virgil elbowed him lightly before studying the text.

"Remember that thing I was researching last night?"

"Mmhmm."

"I looked farther into it. Now we've got some criteria to figure out who Nightwalker is."

"Tell me more," Virgil said, quieter.

"Well, all of the people that have been affected seems random, right? A bus driver. An accountant. A kid. Etcetera, etcetera. No connections."

"How do you know?"

Roman looked away. "I might have stalked them online," he said quietly.

"Roman!" Virgil hissed.

"I know, I know," he defended. "But I didn't hack into anything or reveal anything they didn't share with the public."

"...You're on thin fucking ice, alright," Virgil relented.

"So there might be similarities, but nothing I've found.

"Hmm." Virgil frowned. "So what does this have to do with Nightwalker?"

"See, that's the thing. There's one underlying similarity. It's a stretch, but it's the only one I've found."

"Which is?"

"None of them are very boisterous." He glanced over at Virgil. "They're mostly like you. No offense."

"None taken." Virgil stood up, running a hand through his hair as he thought. "So...Nightwalker keeps targeting people that aren't very confident?"

"More or less." Roman looked back down. "Maybe because those types of people are more willing to do what they say."

"So..." Virgil frowned. "What would happen if they went for someone like you?" He crossed his arms. "Y'know. A stubborn motherfucker."

Roman smirked. "I've been thinking about it. And I think it's because they aren't strong enough yet."

"Huh?"

"These attacks didn't start until like, a year and a half ago, right?"

"Yep."

"Why then?" Roman set the computer on the table beside him and stood up, pacing around the room. "Why not three years ago?" Virgil watched as he moved, not bothering to answer the rhetorical questions. "I think it's because they had just gotten their hands on it."

"On what?"

"You and I, we can't do anything special. Nothing magic. It's all just science. Fancy science, but science." 

"Right."

"So what's different?" Roman frowned, trying to recall his earlier train of thought. "We've never heard of this type of thing happening before, so Nightwalker can't be city-hopping. And it did just start." He snapped his fingers. "Plus, these types of attacks - the mind-control ones - those just started, like, recently, right?"

"Yeah."

"So chances are they don't know what they're doing." He nodded. "They're new. Starting off easy, with targets that will cooperate."

"Okay."

"So..." Roman looked at the ceiling, pushing stray hairs away from his face. " Whoever Nightwalker is, they've gotta be an amateur. A cautious one, but still."

"Your point being?"

"We just need to look for someone who's careful, but still is around town a lot, and smart enough to think things through. But still risky enough to actually...go through with this stuff."

The front door clicked open, and there stood Remy, looking at the groundddddddddddddddddddddddddddd b134ground.exe. He glanced up, smiling once he saw Roman and Virgil. "Hey, guys," he said, dropping his bag by the door before retreating to his roommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.jpg.exe.jpg.exe.jpg.file.exe.file.file.exe.png.jpngexe.file

Virgil sit on the couch, pulling Roman's computer into his lap and glancing over the notes. "Shouldn't be too hard," he muttered. "Everyone in this city's a dumbass, anyway. We would have caught them by now if they were anyone else." He glanced up at Roman. "But you're right, they're careful."

"Tell me if you find anything new, alright?" Roman said, letting Virgil sift through the notes and tabs as he walked into the kitchen, moving Remy's backpack to the side.