WELCOME TO THE CASTLE OF DREAMS.
ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK.
When we sleep our mind remembers how the magic of the world works, and takes us to other worlds, other lives, other dimensions even... all of this through DREAMS. And it is in this castle th...
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"Same terrorist from last week?" Jaques asked, scratching his scruffy beard as he walked over to Lara. He wanted to take a look at what the Star Cop's Hacker was analyzing.
Lara nodded in confirmation and let him take the tablet she had in her hands. The screen showed the exact moment when the diner had exploded. From the rubble, a woman with red hair that only covered half of her head rose and walked into the street as if nothing had happened. With her clothes practically non-existent, the two could see that her two arms and one leg were made of some kind of metallic alloy.
"This is the moment the Greens Horns try to get her." Lara draw Jaques' attention to a group of motorcycle trolls who parked nearby, and, started shooting the red-haired woman with everything they had.
"The bastards didn't stand a chance." The detective said, seeing shot after shot bounce off the body of the trolls' target. The woman didn't even glance in their direction, leaving the crime scene with a bound that took her high up and away from the security cameras filming the event.
Jaques followed the direction of the jump with his eyes, saw a building on the other side of the street and imagined that the girl should have landed on the roof without too much trouble.
"It's the third time she's blown up somewhere in town, and we still have no idea what her motives are. First it was an old warehouse in the Red Rabbit's area, then the law office on 5th Street, and now this diner. What's the fucking connection?" He grunted.
Lara paid no attention to him and by the way the girl's eyes sparkled like a club night, Jaques knew she was no longer in the same world as him. Unfazed by her lack of manners, he continued to study the crime scene. The burning place was just a sleazy diner. Did her criminal have a problem with their menu?
According to records, the explosion made twelve victims among employees and customers. Twelve people who lived in the worst part of town and who nobody cared about.
"Why she has no problem killing innocents, but she doesn't fight back when confronted by gangs or anyone else?" Jaques went back to talking to himself, a habit he considered a hallmark of his profession.
"I think the important thing is not who was in the establishments, but the places themselves." Lara said, returning from whatever she was doing in the Matrix.
"Finally found something interesting?"
"I asked a few friends here and there for help. One of them dug deep and brought me a connection between the three explosions. Fifty years ago, these places all belonged to NewLife labs. Have you heard of them? I don't remember ever seeing anything about them in the network."
Jaques laughed and took a cigarette from the pocket of his overcoat.
"I'd be surprised you've heard of it. New Life went out of business almost thirty years ago, way before the installation of the Matrix, the compulsory registration act and the extraterrestrial invasion of 3055. With so much more 'cooler' stuff to read and find out, why would today's kids care about a biotechnology company that went bankrupt due to bad management?"
Lara shrugged.
"Well, now I'm going to have to care. If my contact is right, our terrorist is blowing up old New Life addresses. Try and guess what's in the place where these guys' main department used to be."
She took the tablet from Jaques' hands and pulled up an image that made the detective curse seven different gods.
"The main power plant? She wouldn't be crazy. An explosion there and the damage could blow half the city up." He said.
"I don't think we're dealing with someone in their right mind." Lara replied.
Jaques started to walk back to his car and motioned for his partner to follow him.
"In that case, we'd better not risk it. Except this woman isn't something the police can handle with the ridiculous weapons they give us. It's time to throw a bounty on the black market and hope that some well-equipped idiot, with a dead wish, decide to take the job."
A heavy rain fell over the city, drenching the two before they reached their vehicle, but Jaques didn't care. If he couldn't finish off his mysterious terrorist in time, wet clothes would be the least of his problems.
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