Motivations

In a dim lit room, the seven members of Squad Zero had gathered. They'd begun a debriefing session hosted by Hugo, and assisted by Jasper.

The leader spoke first. "First off I'd like to say, we've got high expectations on our shoulders. Our reveal to the public yesterday was a massive success, and so we've attracted a lot of hope from desperate civilians. You all understand the responsibility that comes with that, right?"

Everyone saluted. "Yes sir."

"Good. Now Hugo, you can start."

"Thank you," he turned on the wall-screen. Flashing on, it revealed a prepared slide show of documents ready to be presented.

"Thank you all for gathering here today for our first official debriefing as Squad Zero. As some of you may know, in the last month while you've all been training, I've been gathering mounds of information that we could put to use. This includes routes of possible leads from where we can start." Hugo paused to switch to the next slide. "Now there have been many incidents that people have stated are related to the Seven Sins, but today I present to you three of the most evident ones in connection."

Hugo displayed a photo of a school founded in the Xavier District. "We begin with the anomalous incident that occurred in the previous year's Advanced Xavier Education Program. The mass memory deprivation."

"Mass memory deprivation…?" Jarrett re-muttered.

"The case includes the memory wiping of 31 students in the class. The students either lost all knowledge or interest in the course by the time its final exams arrived. Some dropped out of the course before then, while some failed the exam due to not remembering anything. The largest oddity is the fact that 31 of the 32 were affected this way."

"So only one student wasn't affected by this odd phenomenon?" Axel asked.

"Exactly. One person was lucky enough not to experience any of this amnesia, while everyone around this person did. It's oddly specific don't you think?"

"Hmm…" Jasper listened in closely. "Sounds like the Sin of Gluttony's ability…"

"Exactly. And an important thing to note is that this occurred in not just any Education class. It happened specifically to the Advanced Xavier Education Program; a program meant to train and develop students into future prospects to work at the Cardinal Nexus. Take me, a successful example of one who graduated from the same program, and look where I am now—working right under the government's nose—a desired outcome."

Hugo now showed a line graph of trends in previous years, where it had risen to a peak, only to drop to rock bottom. He pointed to the massive drop. "Why do you think we had zero interns at the Cardinal Nexus this year? Because they all failed that same program. And without interns in a single year, is a setback of future employees to stock our premises. The Cardinal Nexus had been struck badly by this one incident. Keep this detail in mind."

Hugo now switched to the next slide. "Incident number two; the death at Numbra's Gentlemen's Club." He flashed a picture of a familiar looking male. "This is Richard Jennings."

"He's the CEO of that corporation based in Pactolus District, right?" Suto asked.

"WAS the CEO of Initiate Co. from Pactolus District. He died of cardiac arrest on a particular night while being hosted at Numbra's Gentlemen's Club, an unlikely place to die in such a way, right?"

The rest nodded.

"According to autopsies, he's never had a history of heart attacks. His heart was stated to be surprisingly healthy, even for a CEO of a corporation. It's a strange death isn't it?"

"Which Sin are you trying to relate this to?" Wardell asked.

"I've set my sights on the Sin of Lust. Quite fitting I know. But that Sin's ability is known for amplification of emotion to a point of fatality. No matter the emotion, happy or sad, this Sin will drive it to a point that will result in death."

Wardell now pestered. "But this could also just as easily have been a regular heart attack, no? What drives you towards the idea of a Sin partaking in this incident?"

Hugo stood straight. "The fact that Richard Jennings was well associated with the Cardinal Nexus. He was CEO of Initiate Co., a corporation with a well-manifested relationship with the Cardinal Nexus. His corporation was funded, and he brought about economic heights for the government. Quite the symbiotic relationship. Anyhow, his death and loss of lead would mean economic drops, a direct hit on the Cardinal Nexus. Do you see the pattern?"

Wardell now straightened himself. "Hm…"

"This brings us to the final link. Incident number three; the recent Pactolus Airlines plane crash accident."

Jasper's eyes widened. He quickly looked back at Wardell, whose eyes had become bloodshot.

"From a regular point of view, this accident could be seen as just any plane crash accident. But with the details I've gathered concerning the damage done to the plane, one could be convinced otherwise."

Hugo switched the slide to that of various pictures. They displayed unnatural indent markings done to the side of the plane that had crashed. Interesting photos taken of the plane's engine were also shown.

"Look closely. That's not just a busted engine. That's an engine that was directly hit by something." The photo showed destructive holes struck through each turbine engine.

"The Sin of Pride can control the movement of various things, right?" Axel was now curious.

"Correct," Hugo replied. "But with no indication of any external objects used to puncture these dents and holes, I can only assume that this was done by Pride's ability to manipulate air itself."

Suto gasped. "You're saying the Sin of Pride can manipulate atoms well enough to deal damage that tough?"

"I can't say for sure, but it's best to assume the worst. I wouldn't wish for any of you to underestimate that capability only to be torn in half by wind alone."

The idea concerned Jasper. "We'll need to discuss countermeasures for a situation like that."

"For sure, but for now, this debrief session is purely about pulling all of you in on a lead so we can formulate plans and ideas. Now continuing the topic of this plane accident, the Sin of Pride is not the only Sin I think was at play. I think that both the Sin of Greed and the Sin of Envy were boarded on the same flight."

"What makes you say that?"

"Two passports used for that flight were identified to be fake. And there were also only two individuals missing from the total body count after the flight's crash. 102 out of 104 people were found, either dead or alive, but only two were missing entirely, and authorities searched anywhere possible that bodies could have landed."

"Tsk!" Wardell suddenly stormed out of the room.

"Wardell?" Hugo was confused. "Why?"

Jasper stood up. "Leave him to me. You can continue your debrief. Just tell me the rest later."

"Yes sir."

Jasper then followed out of the room, and closed the door behind him.

There was an awkward moment of silence for the unexpected event. "Ahem… Anyways…"

"I have a question," Axel raised a hand.

"Yes?"

"How does two fake passports and two missing people prove anything that it was the Sin of Greed and Sin of Envy, let alone, Sins at all?"

Hugo cleared his throat once more. "Enter Peter Stephens, who was also on the flight. Peter Stephens was the Cardinal Nexus' choice to replace Richard Jennings as CEO after his passing. Stephens would be the last resort for a successful CEO of Initiate Co. in the Cardinal Nexus' eyes, because he was the last close relation to the higher ups over here. The man was on a flight to come to Xavier District, where in a conference, he would be promoted by a Cardinal Nexus minster themselves. But that was this unsuccessful flight."

"So he died in the crash?"

"Actually, no. Surprisingly he was one of the seven survivors."

"So then he could still be CEO, right? He didn't die."

"No. He was purely blind following that accident, and was also diagnosed with high blood pressure and an extremely weak heart. It's important to note he had none of these conditions before entering that flight, nor was he physically injured in any way that would bring about those conditions following the crash."

"And the Sin of Envy can blind people with its ability…"

"Yes Suto. Then there's the Sin of Greed who can draw emotional essence from fragile places, such as the heart, leaving it in a vulnerable state. Being left blinded in such a critical condition, even after surviving a plane crash, makes one unavailable for such a high demanding position such as CEO. That man is still hospitalized to this day, going through a day-by-day rehabilitation. Initiate Co. was inevitably left with no lead, and that led to economic drops for the Cardinal Nexus. Once again, another strike against the government." Hugo now pounded the table before him. "Do you all see the trend!? These aren't just coincidences! The Cardinal Nexus is continuously being targeted here!"

Everyone else in the room was abruptly brought to think of the situation. It made too much sense to be a coincidence.

"These Sins are more than just outrageous delinquents! They have motives, and they're executing accordingly. I can't help but think that there's a lot more to fear than just the idea of convicts running loose. They're plotting something. Why else would they be targeting such close relations to the Cardinal Nexus, and so precisely!?"

The statements left everyone in the room with shocked expressions. It was here that they realized they were dealing with a bigger threat than they had initially thought.

"Everyone, listen. There's one thing I can say for sure about these mysterious Seven Sins."

Everyone tuned in.

"They're targeting the Cardinal Nexus for a reason, and I think that reason is to grab the Cardinal Nexus' attention."

"Attention?"

"Yes. A group of only seven individuals wouldn't be so loud about their actions if they weren't trying to grab someone's attention. In this case, they're trying to get recognized by the government."

"And they've done exactly that…" Suto muttered.

"Yes. For the first time in an entire year since their initial reveal, the Cardinal Nexus finally recognized them as dangerous by mentioning them in our public broadcast yesterday. The sole formation of our team as a 'counter to the Sins' defines their danger even more. The Cardinal Nexus is playing into the Sins' hands without even knowing it! They've fully caught our attention."

"But what's the point of grabbing our attention? Why would they bring all this attention to themselves when it'd be putting them and their identities in danger?"

"Again, I don't know. They must have some bigger motive at play. And it must involve something coming from the Cardinal Nexus. We can only wait and find out at this point."

"No!" Axel stood up. "We can't wait. We've gotta be the ones to strike first! Before they can accomplish anymore of what they're plotting, we have to be the ones to pull the plug. That's our team's purpose, isn't it?"

Hugo looked down. Everyone else looked up.

"You're right. We'll end their stream of terrorism. Us seven, we'll stop them, forever... Here, and now..."