Fate's Deception

Accepting The Shadows

The sterile hum of the newsroom was shattered by the sudden clamor as a nondescript package hit the production desk with a thud. The director, a balding man with weary eyes that told of countless deadlines, sliced the tape with a swift gesture, pulling out a VHS with a stark label: "AIR IMMEDIATELY OR ELSE." His hands trembled slightly as he loaded it into the player.

"Or else what?" murmured an intern, her voice a wisp of sound lost in the brewing storm.

The screen flickered to life, revealing a distorted voice. "If this message does not broadcast, the board of directors will perish—one by one."

The director's eyes met those of his team—a silent consensus. Fear tangled with duty; they aired the tape.

"Go live," the director commanded, his voice barely hiding the tremor of fear. The news anchors, poised before the camera, exchanged uneasy glances but proceeded with their grim duty. As the first tape rolled out across the airwaves, the silence in the studio was suffocating.

"Are we just going to do what Kira says now?" one anchor whispered to the other, her eyes wide with dread.

"Seems like we don't have much of a choice," her co-anchor replied, his Adam's apple bobbing with a hard swallow.

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In the quietude of Light's room, Shinoska sat cross-legged on the floor, her eyes glued to the television screen. Her breath hitched as the news anchors faltered, their faces contorting in agony before they slumped over, lifeless.

"Light, did you see that?" she gasped, her voice breaking the spell that seemed to envelop Light as he watched, his expression unreadable.

"Two anchors... and now the officers," Light murmured, more to himself than to Shinoska.

"Light...what is happening?" she whispered, her voice barely rising above the crescendo of sirens and shouts emanating from the TV.

Light didn't answer immediately, his brow furrowed, mind racing faster than the panicked heartbeats of the officers now rushing the news station entrance. He watched as they collapsed, one after another, clutching at their chests in futile desperation. "A heart attack? No, multiple heart attacks." Light thought, his intellect churning through the possibilities. "This is beyond coincidence."

"A second Kira..." Light muttered under his breath, the words tasting like a bitter revelation.

"A second what?" Shinoska turned towards him, searching his expression for clarity.

"Nothing," Light said quickly, brushing off her concern with a shake of his head. "Just thinking aloud."

"Light, this is... This is terrible! How could someone..." Shinoska's words trailed off into a sob, the horror of the situation crashing over her like a tidal wave.

On the other side of town, L sat surrounded by screens, each one a window into the pandemonium. His thumb pressed against his lip, a telltale sign of his deep concentration. The task force members exchanged uneasy glances as their leader's gaze remained unblinking, staring through the digital chaos as if piecing together an invisible puzzle.

"Multiple heart attacks, all at once? It can't be a coincidence," L muttered, observing the chaos through a bank of monitors, fingers steepled beneath his chin. The task force members around him were a mosaic of tension and disbelief.

""Could it be? Another Kira..." L's voice trailed off, his thoughts already racing ahead.

"Impossible," retorted Matsuda, his fingers drumming anxiously on the tabletop. "How could there be two?"