39. P O W E R : Tower, Part III

CHAPTER IV

POWER: Broken Heart

"WHO. WAS. SHE."

"I... can't... remember!"

Detective Delvis Billiard (codenamed "Kardios")—currently under the thrall of the Pantheite Eros—gritted his teeth, his pink eyes flaring with light. "Impossible!" he raged, punching the glass separating him and his interrogatee. "My heart-seeking is infallible! He MUST relinquish the TRUTH to me!"

"Whoa! Take it easy, Eros!" Whynnie pleaded, grabbing Eros's arm. "If he doesn't remember, you can't force it out of him!"

"Heart-seeking is unaffected by loss of memory, you little—hold it right there, pal," Kardios interrupted, swiftly taking control of his body before Eros could finish. "Remember what I said? Watch how you talk to my wife."

Kardios's eyes shifted back to black-and-pink, and he let out an annoyed grunt. "Yes, yes, fine," he muttered, waving a hand dismissively at Whynnie. "But the memories—the truth—should still be accessible."

"Man, I'm tellin' you, I don't remember nothin'!" the XXNW guard cried from inside the cell. "I can't even remember what she looked like, okay? It's like—like it just got wiped out of my head!"

"Hrm." Eros rubbed his chin, disconcerted. "This is a very peculiar case."

"No kidding," Whynnie agreed, rubbing her own chin in a mimicking fashion.

Eros shot her a look and snapped, "Stop that!"

"You guys gotta have footage or somethin', right?" the guard called hopefully. "You can just see 'er on the cameras!"

"Unfortunately, our cameras went down before she set V-111 free," Kardios told the guard, retaking control again.

"All of them?" the guard asked in disbelief.

"All of them," Kardios confirmed. "Sitewide—with no central point of activation for the shutdown. So the witness—that's you—you were our last resort."

"You gotta be kiddin' me!" the guard exclaimed.

"Wish we were." Kardios put his hands in the pockets of his trench coat, giving the guard an unnerved glanced. "Whoever we're dealing with... whoever tricked you, and whoever set V-111 free... they're pretty much a ghost."

---

She stared blankly at the elevator doors as the elevator rose through the unfinished structure, a strange grin on her face. She didn't blink, or even breathe.

She simply stared.

The doors opened without the dinging of a bell—the elevator itself was also incomplete. She stepped out and headed down the hall, heading for the main office. She could see the lone inhabitant, the owner of the building, standing by the window, hands in his pockets as he looked down upon the grand, magical city.

She snapped out of her hollow state, assuming a casual expression.

-

"Mr. Fisi?"

Fisi's head snapped to the side, allowing him to see who had spoken out of one eye.

There was someone in his office.

Someone he hadn't heard.

Or smelled.

Or sensed in any possible way.