Lonely Thieves

Act V, Part III

Norah's Side (April 14, 10:35 pm)

Norah ran through the streets of the Morning Star district, paying little attention to the onlookers who watched as she sprinted through town. She could not afford to waste time trying to avoid attention, especially when Kolya and the others had already taken on the job of checking out the situation at the Florencia building. She had wanted to go as well, but Kolya had stopped her and given her a different job to do: head out to where he was supposed to meet with the original Night Hunter and let him know what the situation was. Norah was worried about scaring the original Night Hunter away if he happened to be overly cautious, but there was no time for worries like that.

She eventually arrived at the meeting point Kolya had told her about, an abandoned parking lot in one of the seedier parts of town. Sure enough, it was the kind of place where people could certainly meet in secret, but the silent roads and rusted buildings sent shivers down her spine. The fact that it was the dead of night certainly didn't help her, even if there were a few streetlights still shining sparsely on parts of the area.

Eventually, she saw the signal that she was meant to look for: a blue-green light that flashed on and off in a quarter-beat rhythm. Norah quickly took out her own light and began flashing back in response. After a few moments, a shadowy figure in a black coat emerged from the darkness.

"Well, you're not who I was expecting," the man remarked wryly.

"I was sent by Kolya," Norah explained, putting her hands up to signal that she meant no harm. "There was a problem, so he sent me instead."

"I figured," Raven remarked as he turned around. "Hey! Come on out. It's fine."

Norah glanced behind Raven to see another figure emerge from the shadows. She immediately recognized the figure as Ingrid, though she looked a lot less commanding than she did before. She probably would have been taken aback by her appearance if Kolya hadn't already told her about her being there, but Ingrid appeared to not have received the same notice.

"What's going on?" Ingrid asked suspiciously. "I thought we were supposed to be meeting with Kolya here."

"Apparently, she was sent here by Kolya," Raven explained. "She knew the signal, so I assume she's telling the truth."

"I am," Norah said emphatically. "Kolya sent me here to explain things to you two so that you aren't completely in the dark."

"So you've abandoned the task Hayasaka Security sent you out to do, huh?" Ingrid said snidely. "Well, I'm here doing stuff like this, so there's no point commenting on it now."

"If you're done making sarcastic remarks, do you mind if I start explaining what's going on?" Norah asked with some irritation in her voice. "There's a lot to go through, and if I'm honest, I'm not even sure I get everything that's happening here."

Norah quickly explained what was happening at the Florencia building with as much detail as she could recall. Raven's face darkened as he heard more about the situation while Ingrid's expression showed she was struggling to keep up with everything that was going on.

"I see," Raven murmured. "That is worrying."

"What are you going to do?" Norah asked. "Kolya said you should do whatever you think takes priority."

"That's a tough decision," Raven remarked. "The Florencia building is important, and the way things look, I can't ignore the possibility that something might be going down. However, I don't want to keep playing defensively like this."

"What is it about the Florencia building that's so important?" Norah asked. "Now that I think about it, that building is the center of a lot of rumors. Do you know what that building is supposed to be?"