The Five Evolution

『"Cheap motels aren’t so bad..."』

All seven of them were cramped into a motel room that smelled faintly of stale coffee, cigarettes, and cheap detergent.

The wallpaper was peeling in strips that curled away from the drywall like dead skin, and the carpet was the same faded brown as the stained ceiling above it.

It wasn’t exactly the kind of place people stayed because they wanted to.

A flickering neon sign outside painted the room in alternating shades of blue and red every few seconds, while an ancient air conditioner rattled against the wall like it was fighting for its life.

Next to the bed, a single window looked out onto a parking lot where three cars sat in various states of disrepair, one of them being the blue van they had arrived in.

Beside the lot, stood a lone oak tree, its longest branch leaning just close enough to brush against the glass whenever the wind picked up, tapping softly every now and then.

Ethan sat at the small table in the corner, laptop open in front of him. The glow from the screen reflected on his face as his fingers moved across the keyboard.

The pale blue light from the screen highlighted the shadows beneath his eyes that had not faded in the seventy-two hours since the Convergence.

He had not slept properly since then. But Amara wasn’t sure any of them had.

"Four people have been found dead in Janestown over the last two months," Ethan started, and everyone’s attention shifted toward him.

"The medical examiner’s report shows all four victims were missing their hearts."

Raj lowered the half-eaten bag of chips he’d gotten from a vending machine just a few feet from the room. "...Missing as in stolen?"

Ethan looked up. "Missing as in removed."

The room became noticeably quieter.

"That’s not creepy at all," Sophia muttered. She paused for a moment, then sighed. "Wow. I’ve turned into the kind of person that says generic stuff like that."

Naomi glanced around the cramped motel room and grimaced. "Please tell me we’re not all staying packed into this shoebox."

Ethan shook his head. "Another room was booked across the hall." He pointed toward the door. "That’s where you girls will be staying."

"Never pegged the Sun branch for being cheap." Naomi folded her arms. "Oh well."

Ethan did not look up from his laptop. "We’re only here to discuss the plan."

Andre leaned back against the wall. "So this is what the temporary coalition looks like."

Only three days had passed since the Convergence.

Three days since the Apostles had nearly torn apart one of the most secure facilities in the Institute.

Three days since four Directors had died.

Three days since Hale had threatened to destroy everything.

Somehow, it felt much longer.

"The branches don’t usually cooperate this closely," Andre continued. "But after what happened at the Convergence..." His voice trailed off.

Nobody needed further explanation. When four Directors got killed, word was bound to spread like wildfire.

Unfortunately, it only seemed to solidify the Five’s rep as trouble magnets.

"For whatever reason," Naomi said, "some geniuses upstairs decided our teams work well together."

Hiro laughed. "Funny."

Naomi raised an eyebrow. "What’s funny?"

Hiro looked at her. "The first time we met you tried to kill us."

"Guilty," Naomi said. There wasn’t even a hint of regret in her voice.

Sophia raised an eyebrow. "Good to see you’ve grown as a person."

"Thank you," Naomi replied sarcastically. "It took very little effort."

Sophia rolled her eyes.

Across the room, Amara sat on one of the beds. Her reading glasses rested low on her nose as she scrolled through files on her laptop with a flash drive plugged into the side.

At Andre’s curious glance, she held it up. "Director Hale gave us this before we left."

Sophia looked over. "The Apostle files?"

Amara nodded. "Footage from the convergence." Her expression darkened as soon as the words left her mouth. "The Collector. Michael. Babydoll. Sebastian..."

"Jeez." Andre rubbed the back of his neck. "It sounds like it must have been way more brutal than the story says."

Hiro sat up on one of the beds. "Brutal doesn’t even begin to cover it. The Director wants us studying the footage of the Apostles during our downtime."

Raj cracked his knuckles. "One month before they come back. Might as well use it cleaning up small-town folks messes."

Sophia smirked. "Yeah. Nothing says relaxation like heart thieves."

The humor faded almost immediately.

"Hopefully." Amara sighed. "Maybe we’ll learn something useful about the Apostles."

Ethan closed his laptop. "Maybe." Then he stood. "But right now we have a job."

He clicked a small metal sphere, held it out, and the mission board appeared as a holographic screen that illuminated the room: Four faces. Four victims. Four missing hearts.

Raj leaned forward. "Yeah, about that." He pointed at the screen. "What kind of thing even steals hearts?"

"That’s the question," Ethan said, and began assigning teams.

"Raj. Naomi," he called.

Both looked up.

"I need you both to go talk to the locals," he said. "Find out anything you can. Maybe someone witnessed something. Maybe someone saw something they should not have."

Naomi folded her arms. "I’ve never been one for asking questions. You know that."

Ethan ignored the complaint. "The victims were all found near the old logging road. You can start there."

Raj grinned. "Easy." He immediately slipped into a terrible detective voice. "’Sir, I’m going to need you to answer a few questions. Have you seen any strangers? Any wildlife acting strange?"

Naomi rubbed her face. "Fuck..."

Ethan turned, moving on. "Amara. Hiro."

Amara closed her laptop and removed her glasses. She folded them carefully and tucked them into the breast pocket of her jacket. "We’ll check the victims’ last known locations."

Hiro moved from the bed to the window. "As usual... stuck with the hardest job." He peered through the gap in the curtains with wariness. "Whatever is taking hearts could still very much be out there."

Amara gave him a small smile. "Then I’m certain you’ll protect me."

"Oh, yeah, one hundred percent," Hiro said. "But who’s gonna protect me?"

Ethan grinned. Then he looked toward Sophia and Andre. "You two are with me."

Sophia groaned immediately. "Hospital?"

"Hospital."

"Great."

Raj exhaled. "I am so glad that’s not me."

Ethan stood up. "Everyone knows their role."

The group began filing toward the door. The attempt immediately collapsed into chaos as seven people tried squeezing through the same doorway at once.

"Whose hands are on my butt?" Sophia asked while pushing Amara’s hair off of her face.

Hiro chuckled lightly. "That’ll be mine... my hands."

Eventually, they all stumbled out, and everyone quickly straightened, pretending that didn’t just happen.

Naomi lingered long enough to cast one final look around the room. The peeling wallpaper. The questionable carpet. The suspicious stain near the television. The small space.

"God." She shuddered. "I hate this place."

Amara adjusted the laptop bag on her shoulder and walked past her. "Then let’s solve the case quickly." A faint smile touched her lips. "And get out of here."

A moment later the group split apart, disappearing into different parts of Janestown.

Above them, dark clouds gathered over the small town. Somewhere in those woods beyond the city limits, something was watching.

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