"But you're just a kid!" Jason yelled at Gabriel as they made their way back to their home in the corner of the slum. Seeing his big brother almost lose his cool, Kyle quietly tried to stay away. However, Jason dabbed an alcohol-soaked cotton pad on his wounds too quickly and precisely, causing Kyle to yelp from the pain.
"Ouch!"
"Shhh! You woke An up!" Gabriel hurried to the old bed and picked up a crying one-year-old baby girl.
"Shh... shh... It's okay, An! It's okay." Gabriel held his younger sister skillfully, patting her back and soothing her back to sleep. Anna calmed down quickly in his arms, closing her eyes peacefully.
"Don't treat me like a kid!" Gabriel said to his brothers after carefully putting little Anna down. "You guys are not much older than me. See? I can even make An stop crying."
Jason and Kyle looked at Gabriel's proud expression, unable to argue.
"Beats me. It's a mystery how she only follows Gab when mom's not around." Kyle chuckled.
"I mean, we can't go to school like you, even if we want to," Jason sighed deeply. "You shouldn't waste this chance."
"I'm not as smart as you, Jay," Gabriel shrugged. "Studying just isn't my thing."
Kyle chimed in, "Yeah, you're the one with 'superintelligence'. You manage all our family's finances and even take on freelance brainwork on your computer."
"Those are just odd jobs to make ends meet," Jason said with a sad smile. "No matter how hard I work or how well I do, I'll never get anywhere. Dreams and passion are just pointless."
Jason's gloomy statement made the cramped room even more depressing.
"No! That's not true!" Gabriel suddenly stood up, declaring. "You are capable of anything, Jay! I'm sure of it!"
Then the youngest brother smiled triumphantly at Jason, took out a book on basic medicine from his bag, and placed it in Jason's hand. Jason stared at that old tattered book. At that moment, it looked like a priceless gift to him.
"How... how do you know?" Jason muttered.
"That you want to become a doctor?" Gabriel grinned. "So it's true! I had a hunch when I went by the used bookstore. If there are more books you need, let me know. They give the originals a huge discount."
"Hey, what about me?" Kyle asked eagerly. "What can I do?"
Looking at his swollen face, Jason shook his head in dismay. "What good is this troublemaker?"
"Why not?" Gabriel looked thoughtful. "Kyle is so brave. You'll become... a hero!"
"What?" Kyle burst out laughing. "A hero? Is someone like that even real?"
"Of course!" Gabriel said firmly, glancing at their father in the family picture on the shelf, muttering only for himself to hear, "I know one."
"Hey, did you sprain your ankle?" Jason asked, noticing Gabriel's swollen foot. "Come here!"
"Oh, right." Gabriel looked surprised too. "I must have hurt it while running."
"What am I going to do with you..." Jason muttered, treating Gabriel's injury with a troubled look on his face.
"He'll do just fine!" Kyle reassured Jason with a broad smile. "He was cursing them like a pro delinquent!"
"Oh yeah? He was?" Jason raised his eyebrows.
"That was... just an act. I mean... ouch!" Gabriel, flustered, tried to explain.
They teased each other in hushed tones, careful not to disturb the soundly sleeping Anna. Their giggles filled the tiny, run-down house.
___
"Hey... Kyle! Detective Lanes!"
Kyle is lost in his thoughts, so James' voice initially sounds distant. When he snaps back to reality, he sees his team leader looking at him with sympathetic eyes.
"I know you've come a long way, but I need you to focus on this case now that your recusal has been lifted. Are you still suspicious of your brother?" James reminds him. "I told you he has solid alibis."
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"Yes, they confirmed he was doing community service with other inmates at the time of the previous murders. And during the latest assault, he was genuinely just taking a walk nearby." Kyle flips through the papers on his desk mechanically. "But if it's not him, then who could it be?"
"Someone else who fits the descriptions?" James shrugs. "We need to find and check all of them based on Ms. Ryler's hypnosis results and the witness's memory record."
By memory record, James refers to Evo's data archive system that allows users of Evo Network to save and review any moment of their lives since syncing their minds with the system. This data can be shared with other dominants at the owner's discretion and has proven invaluable in police investigations. Memory records can cover a broader range and provide higher quality than CCTV footage. They are also more precise and reliable than witness testimonies, capturing all senses and thoughts of the owner, akin to videos enriched with smell, touch, taste, and mental state. However, only dominants who are Evo users can create and experience these records. Recessives can only access their memories in reliable detail with the support of certified hypnotists, who are dominants with strong mind-reading abilities.
"We brought in thirteen guys today," Marcus sighs, his broad shoulders slumping. "Recessives, thin build, spotted near the scene around the time of the assault. I even included those who didn't wear black hooded raincoats, figuring they could easily take them off. But all of them have alibis. They don't even have the lock-laced sneakers as Ms. Ryler described."
"Damn. The culprit might be out there planning the next murder right this moment," James says, frustration evident in his voice. "Are we missing something?"
___
Meanwhile, Anna is at a fan signing event, one of her regular activities. The rising star of the show industry has a massive fan base, forming a long line of eager supporters.
"Anna! Please look here!" The crowd yells wildly every time Anna turns and waves at them.
"Oh my God! You look much prettier in person!" A young girl approaches Anna, squealing with excitement. Anna, sitting at her table, beams with her signature charm. "Really? Thank you so much! What's your name?"
"I'm Lydia." The girl hands a large pile of gifts to Rachel, Anna's manager, so heavy that Rachel has to set it down among the other fan gifts. Looking into Lydia's sparkling eyes, Anna begins signing her new album.
"Sure, Lydia. This is a memory record copy. Enjoy it with all of your senses, okay?"
"Well, I'm afraid I can't," Lydia replies, her voice tinged with regret. "I'm a recessive. But I still want to keep this as a precious collectible!" She beams. "I watched your performances on TV. Although I could only use my eyes and ears, my heart was truly moved!"
"Oh... is that so..." Anna hesitates. As she hands the signed album to Lydia, she lightly touches the girl's hand. Unbeknownst to Lydia, Anna catches a fleeting glimpse of her mind in that brief moment before she leaves, happy to pass the turn to the next fan.
After a few more hours, the event wraps up. While everyone prepares to leave, Anna stretches in her break room, trying to relieve the fatigue that has built up. Nearby, Rachel is still bustling about, overseeing the event's conclusion and moving large boxes of fan gifts.
"I'm beat," Anna yawns. "Take me home, Rach!"
"Just a little longer, An," Rachel replies, hurriedly checking the presents before sending them to the agency. Anna prefers storing them there to prevent her home from flooding with them.
"I... used my ability on a fan today, you know," Anna says, her gaze distant.
"Absolute empathy?" Rachel asks, surprised. "Doesn't that tire you out?"
"Yeah... so I avoided high fives or handshakes," Anna recounts. "But I was curious. She's a recessive, yet she's my fan. I wanted to know what she truly felt at that moment. I still find it hard to believe that the recessives admire a dominant like me. But her feelings were sincere."
"You think too much," Rachel shakes her head, concern etched on her face. "Lots of people love you, recessive or not. I'm one of them too, remember?"
"You are different, sis!" Anna chuckles, trying to reassure her. "You are like my family."
At that moment, a gift card slips out of the gift box that Rachel has just lifted, catching Anna's attention with its unusual envelope, adorned with an indistinct stylized symbol. Curious, she picks it up and opens it.
"I haven't checked it. Maybe a letter?" Rachel glances over, uninterested.
Anna unfolds the envelope and the gift card inside. The words read simply:
"Let's meet up more closely next time.
- Black Hood -"
A shiver runs down Anna's spine as she drops the card, trembling.
"H... hey... doesn't that look like... you?" Rachel points at the stylized symbol on the envelope. The symbol is painted with a special ink that gradually becomes clearer over time, revealing a drawing of Anna sitting alone on a public bench in the suburbs, under the rain.
___
Coldor Police Station stirs with the arrival of an unexpected visitor. James and Kyle stand formally as James greets her.
"Hello, Ms. Bennet. We've been waiting for you."
He extends his hand politely to the beautiful young woman, who looks like an office lady and is escorted by three sharply dressed men, their expressions unreadable. They exude a VIP aura, especially with the expensive-looking fused silica glass lapel pins they wear. The pins feature a logo of an upward arrow piercing through the letter "O" in the word "EVO," symbolizing the Evo Network, which is renowned among dominants as the first and only telepathic social network in the world.
Returning the greeting, the young woman shakes hands with James and Kyle professionally. "Please, just call me Crystal. I apologize for the delay. The process of providing the memory record of the deceased took longer than expected, but we did our best since it relates to the recent major case."
"We understand," James invites them to sit in the closed meeting room of the major crime unit. "But you could have sent us the record online. Why come in person?"
"That's what I'd like to discuss," Crystal Bennet, the Technical Lead of Evo Tech Solutions, the Evo Network provider, begins speaking to James telepathically while signaling her assistants to take out a laptop from a briefcase, then leave the room and stand guard outside. After a flurry of keystrokes, she turns the screen toward the detectives, her expression serious.
"I think... there's something wrong with this memory record."