Lonely Thieves

Act IV, Part I

Norah's Side (April 13, 12:00 pm)

As the alarm from her phone blared, Norah drowsily picked herself up from her hotel bed and looked around. She hazily recognized the place as the small motel room she had rented during her stay in the Morning Star District. She looked at the time and sighed. Her sleep schedule was totally ruined, but it wasn't as if she had any time to fix it. She needed to get back on the street as soon as possible.

As she left the motel and strolled onto the street, Norah noticed a new message from Robert, the head of the sweeper group she had contracted. She had done as they had asked and left them to their own devices, but it left a bad taste in her mouth to leave all of the searching up to them. Still, results were results, and as long as they found Megumi, it didn't matter what it took.

Norah's motel was not too far from the sweepers' bar, and after a few minutes' walk, she was knocking on the door to the bar once again. The bouncer opened the door, and this time, he waved her in without any extra fuss. Norah gave him an appreciative nod as she walked in.

The bar was surprisingly empty, with not a single customer in sight. Maize was walking to and fro cleaning the tables, while David was washing some dishes in the back. Robert, serving as the main bartender, glanced up at Norah as he was wiping down the bar.

"You're finally here. Something happen?"

"I just woke up," Norah sighed as she sat on one of the stools at the bar.

"It's the afternoon," David remarked snidely.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Norah grumbled. "Anyway, what's the deal? Did you find her already?"

"Yes, although we were unable to secure her. We found her in the sewers heading for an unknown location."

"Was she with anyone?"

"An adult caucasian male and a bum named Huong known for guiding people around the district. Huong was most certainly hired, but I don't know about the man."

"Don't worry, I know who he is." Norah assumed from the curt description that it was Daryl. So he had managed to find Megumi before she did. That only made her more determined to get to Megumi as soon as possible.

"Is there a chance that they were using the sewers to escape the lockdown?" Norah asked Robert.

"It's unlikely. They sounded like they were pretty close to their destination, and when we followed them outside, we were somewhere close to the center of the district."

"Really? Where were they heading to?"

"No idea. We searched the area for a while, but couldn't find them. We had to come back for a bit to tend to the shop, but we're going to resume the search soon."

"I'll help."

"No." Robert's answer was resolute. "I told you, as the client, you should just wait for us to return with news."

"Waiting is only going to put me on edge," Norah argued back. "I won't get in the way. I'm a professional too, you know."

Robert sighed. "Fine. Maize, take her with you."

"Huh? I don't want to play babysitter."

Robert glanced pointedly at Norah. "You can take care of yourself, right?"

Norah nodded slowly in response. "Of course."

"Then it'll be fine, right?"

Maize huffed, but she didn't argue any further. Robert nodded and turned to David. "You're with me. We'll split the area in half and search in duos. Don't make contact with the target without letting the other team know, understood?"

"Yes, boss!" David and Maize replied in harmony. The whole group dropped what they were doing and headed up the steps to get prepared.

Within less than ten minutes, Norah was out on the streets of the Morning Star district once more, with Maize following close behind. The two of them were searching the area south of the sewers, with Robert and David taking the north. As Norah glanced around, she took note of the massive building that towered over all the other buildings in the district.

"That's building's still standing, huh?" Norah wondered aloud.

"What are you talking about?" Maize followed Norah's gaze to the subject in question. "Oh, you mean the Florencia building? Yep, it's still around, like always."

"I don't think anyone has ever been able to tell me exactly what this building is here for," Norah remarked. "It's not an office building, and it's not a luxury hotel either."

"Well, at least we know who owns it, if the rumors are to be believed. The mysterious Mr. Fineman, who no one has ever seen."

Norah nodded silently. Mr. Fineman was essentially an urban legend, an infinitely wealthy man who owned several buildings across Twilight. No one knew if he even existed, but there weren't too many explanations behind why there were so many buildings owned by nobody in particular.

"Anyway, quit gawking and start moving," Maize griped. "There's no way that girl could find her way into a building like that, right?"

"I suppose so," Norah remarked as she turned away from the building. Having said that, she didn't know how effective searching on foot would be. The Morning District had a huge population of residents, and the streets were crowded with people trying to get to their destinations.

"This is pointless," Norah grumbled as she tried to keep pace with Maize through the unrelenting crowd. "I can't even get a good grasp of the area."

"You got a better idea?" Maize asked.

Norah looked around until she found an apartment building overlooking the street they were on with an easily accessible fire escape. She wordlessly pointed it out to Maize, who simply sighed and shrugged her shoulders. Nevertheless, she followed Norah as she slipped out of the crowd and climbed onto the fire escape.

Once they were on top of the roof of the building, the two of them glanced down at the street below. This gave them a better view of the area, but a new problem had cropped up.

"We're so far up that we can't make anything out," Maize groaned. "The viewpoint is a little better, but it's essentially worthless."

"Don't say that," Norah replied as she pulled out a pair of binoculars from her bag. Maize rolled her eyes, but even she couldn't argue that they would be helpful. Norah put the binoculars to her eyes and began scanning the streets.

As she had hoped, the better vantage point made it easier to search the area, but it hadn't improved her prospects much. She was still searching for one girl in a sea of people, and the girl knew she was being looked for as well. The insurmountable tedium of the task before her was quite clear, but she tried not to let it show on her face. She didn't need Maize thinking she was baggage, after all.

As she continued to scour the streets below, Norah noticed something that caught her attention as she was looking for Megumi. It was a group of suspicious looking men wearing hats and trenchcoats. You couldn't look more suspicious if you tried, honestly.

"Who are those guys?" Norah asked Maize, pointing the group out to her. "I haven't seen anyone like that before."

"Who?" Maize took the binoculars and looked in the direction Norah was pointing at. "Ah, those people are definitely suspicious. They don't have anything to do with the girl you were talking about, do they?"

"Only one way to find out, right?" Norah said as she headed for the stairs. The two of them climbed down the fire escape and landed back onto the street. As they made their way over to the other side of the street, Norah saw the group duck into an alleyway.

"Hurry up!" Norah whispered, pulling Maize along. "We'll lose them!"

"Jeez, what's the hurry?" Maize cried out.

The two of them eventually reached the alley that Norah had seen the suspicious men go down. Maize grabbed Norah as she was about to rush in and put a finger up to her lips, reminding her that it was better to be stealthy. Norah nodded, and the two of them slowly crept into the alley, taking care to peek around corners before pressing on.

They eventually found the group some ways down. They had taken off their trenchcoats, revealing combat uniforms fitted with state-of-the-art tactical gear. Their hats had been replaced by helmets that covered the majority of their faces, and they seemed to be speaking on a communication channel.

"Team Bravo is in position. ...Yes, we're done with preparations. When the signal arrives, we'll..."
Norah leaned in to hear more, but she was pulled back by Maize, who had an uncharacteristically fearful expression on her face.

"You idiot! What are you doing?!" She hissed in a low voice. "Don't you realize who they are?! They're Innocenti Special Soldiers!"

"What?" Norah was surprised. "What are Innocenti Special Soldiers doing in the Morning Star district?"

"Why would I know? More importantly, we gotta get out of here. If we get caught, we're dead."

Norah nodded, though she was reluctant. However, if they truly were Innocenti Special Soldiers, it was better to err on the side of caution. The fact that the Innocenti were a mafia family was a bit of an open secret, but their Special Soldiers were something only those in the underground were aware of. Even then, it was more of a hazy rumor; testimonies of dark-armored soldiers with no insignia who would suddenly appear, kill a certain person or destroy an uncooperative business, then leave without any chance of being followed.

Norah followed Maize out to the main street and into a nearby clothing store. The two walked into an empty corner of the store, and Maize took out her phone and quickly dialed Robert.

"Did something happen?" Robert's response was curt and swift.

"Kind of," Maize replied. "We ran into some Innocenti Special Soldiers sneaking around town."

"Are you alright? Do you need some help?"

"No need. They didn't see us. Anyway, what should we do? They can't just be here to get drinks, not at a time like this."

"No, it's unlikely. Still, don't approach them. We don't want any trouble, and we can't say they have anything to do with the current target."

"What do you think?" Maize asked, looking at Norah.

Norah hesitated. She could think of a reason for why the Innocenti would be after Megumi, but she couldn't tell the sweepers so easily. Still, she doubted even the Innocenti would send Special Soldiers after her. That would be overkill.

"No, I don't think they're related," Norah finally answered. "I do think it's a good idea to keep an eye out, though. Special Soldiers are too big a deal to ignore."

"I agree," Robert concurred from the phone. "Keep your search up, but try and avoid getting the attention of the Special Soldiers."

Maize nodded and hung up the phone. The two headed out of the store and gazed at the swathes of people walking through the streets. "Well, back to this. Hope you're not getting tired yet."

Norah shook her head. It didn't matter what she had to do. Finding Megumi was her only option at this point.