Blood of the Guilty

Memory 18: Status Check

"Are you sure they're alright?" asked Minny, looking at the security guards on the floor, unconscious.

"Yeah, I just hit them with the butt of my gun," assured Exodus, "They'll wake up soon, so be quick and insert that key card."

Minny hesitantly placed the key card onto the scanner, granting access to the morgue database room in front of them. Upon entering, they were met with dozens of file cabinets in little aisles. Exodus and Minny walked around the place, looking for the information that related to the Akihabara murders.

"Three murders, seemingly from an unknown beast, only a torn off limb," whispered Minny as she looked through the files.

"Not the one we're looking for," Exodus replied before her eyes widened, "There! By the corner!"

Upon arriving at the cabinet, they inspected the folders and looked through the files. Exodus and Minny analyzed all of them, looking for any clues.

"Right here, check out the symptoms of the corpses," said Exodus, placing her finger on the file.

Rotting tissue, swollen tender lymph nodes, skin turning black, especially on fingers toes and nose. Bloody and watery mucous, weak bones, loss of hair, multiple organs failing and rotting. Bleeding from the mouth, nose, rectum, and underneath the skin.

"And look at this one," said Minny.

"Chance of accelerated aging?" said Exodus, "Body of an 89 year old, yet their official birthdate says they're only 25."

"Here's Pine's file... oh my god..." mumbled Minny, covering her mouth, almost barfing, "Traces of semen were found inside her body, but upon analyzing it the cells have already been dead under exposure of the air."

"Just what kind of monster..?" Exodus seethed, gritting her teeth as her fists clenched, clearly frustrated, "Damn it!"

Exodus threw the file at the wall, knocking down a couple boxes filled with papers. She crouched down on the ground, scratching her head.

"You knocked over a few boxes," mumbled Minny.

"Fuck those boxes," growled Exodus, "I'm shooting this murderer if I have the chance."

Minny walked over to the boxes, cleaning up the papers and placing them back on the shelves. As she placed the boxes back onto the shelf, she read some of the files that were in the folder.

"Do you think that they suffered?" asked Exodus, looking down on the floor and sliding her finger, "What do you think was running in their minds before their deaths? Were their lives flashing before their eyes?"

"I'd rather not think about it," mumbled Minny, looking at the case files that had caught her interest, "The ground near the victims was manipulated."

"Manipulated?" asked Exodus, "What do you mean 'Manipulated?'"

"These reports say that the ground that they found underneath the bodies were in a liquid state, a kinda swampy matter. The murderer must've used his Magia to transfer those symptoms.. possibly from the ground."

"Do you think that it's possible that the murderer's Magia is from contact?"

Minny put the files back, "Likely so. We have to be careful where we step or we might end up like the victims."

"That damn monster," said Exodus, standing up and wringing her hands together, "When I get to him I'll kill him!"

"The murderer's Magia is most likely Poison Magia," said Minny, "If it intoxicates the body so much with all these symptoms, then it must be that!"

"Great," said Exodus, pointing towards the exit, "Let's report our findings to Yosuke. I'm sure he'll appreciate that we've narrowed down the murderer's Magia."

Ding ding!

"What's that?" asked Minny.

"That's my phone," replied Exodus, reaching into her pockets and opening up her app, "It's from Yosuke."

"Yosuke?" asked Minny, "I've never had him contact me before."

"He hasn't contacted me ever since we met either. This is the first thing he's sent me."

Chuo Dori boulevard. Get there fast.

"What happened?" asked Minny, chasing after Exodus.

As Exodus ran through the hallways of the hospital she kept checking her phone, "This isn't good, this isn't good!"

"What happened?" yelled Minny, noticing the difference in stamina that the two had.

As they ran, making noise, Exodus had lifted her phone to her ear. It was clear that she was calling someone, mumbling for them to pick up. Minny had no idea what was going on.

"A little girl! Sofia!" yelled Exodus to Minny as they burst through the entrance doors, "She called for help! She found the murderer! Kyle was near and called Yosuke! He's providing help!"

"Kyle? The chef?" asked Minny before thinking, "That chef really is on our side! He's really willing to help us with this case!"

"God damn it, he's not picking up!" yelled Exodus, looking around and then running to a direction, "Hurry, Minny! There might be time before it's too late!"

"Too late?" thought Minny in her head, "But Kyle was strong. He had sneaky tactics. He could find a way out!"

In Exodus' text message were the last words that Yosuke had texted her:

By the time I'm sending you this, Kyle Karagami has likely died.