Under the Oak Tree - Time Before You

08 Interrogation

"Do you like it here?"

Riftan Calypse felt an intense gaze burning on him. His eyes however continued to be fixated by the traffic, a perfect excuse for him since the roads were darkening. The interval of street lights here was low compared to Anatol city and he had to be cautious about driving on black ice too.

"You have arrived at your destination."

The captain finally relaxed his grip on the steering wheel as he turned into a smaller road indicated on the car's navigation system. As the wagon gradually came to a halt, Riftan observed that the professor had become chillingly quiet. Is she waiting for my answer? Adjusting his brake, he was about to ask after the woman when he saw that she had already made her way into the nature reserve. Maximillian had come prepared with a medium-sized flashlight for hiking. The detective hurried after the petite figure which was fast disappearing into the dark.

"Professor, slow down."

"We need to hurry. There is a specific time I'm looking for. The darker it gets, the more predators are out."

Riftan instinctively reached out for his pistol and coupled it with his own flashlight. Increasing his pace, he soon caught up with the professor. The detective scrutinised their surroundings as he walked alongside her. Even though dusk had yet to completely fall them, his visibility was increasingly limited to his immediate proximity and the range casted by his torchlight.

"What are we looking for?"

"I'll let you know when I see it."

The captain frowned as his feet took another step into the thick layer of snow. While Wedon had been urbanised for centuries, apex predators still roamed its woods. The number had drastically dwindled, but it was still dangerous to be in the wild at night. His elation to meet the professor had clouded his better judgement.

"Shouldn't we be searching in the day instead?"

"Unfortunately, no. Snowfall has been extremely heavy in the woods this year, Captain. This is unlike the weather in Anatol, where we've just experienced its first snowfall in the morning. The thick snow here will continuously cover the tracks and habitats of animals, so I'm hoping to spot them in action during twilight instead."

"Have you identified the species? Are we looking for a reptile?"

"Nothing certain yet. But it appears to be a reptilian species long thought to have been extinct — W33. It's not usually nocturnal, but could have adapted since its extensive loss of habitat and population centuries ago. The last W33 of our continent was seen in the woods of Wedon, so this is my best bet of locating it."

"Extinct? Is that why it did not appear in Ruth's database?"

For yet another time, Riftan noticed the professor flinching upon the chief coroner's name. He felt an unfamiliar emotion bubbling like acid in him.

"Pro-probably. My database is definitely more extensive than his, since this is in my field of expertise."

"Where did the coroner know you from, by the way?"

Maximillian stopped in her tracks. Adjusting her baseball cap, she kept her face forward and responded half-heartedly.

"We used to share a sim-similar field of work. But it has been quite a while ago, and I'm not sure if he is the same man as before."

"Medical studies? Was he a senior from school?"

"I think we've come deep enough, Captain."

The professor interrupted him with a stern expression. She then placed her duffel bag on the snow and crouched by it. Rummaging through, the woman then pulled out complicated devices; untangling the wires and hiding them amongst the foliage.