Episode Two - Organic Clue (Part 2)

They searched the rest of the village, bumping into Koga and Anaelle, who appeared to have finished a good workout. There wasn't a scratch on their bodies. "No survivors, Captain," Koga reported, sheathing his katana reaper.

"I don't understand it. The troop numbers were abnormal." A frown notched the space between Anaelle's brows. "A mandrillus troop usually consists between fifteen to twenty tails. This was beyond that. And they aren't usually so aggressive. It was as if they were high on narcotics."

"That's because there were two different troops." Eira piped up, oblivious to her teammates' shocked appraisal of her ghastly appearance. "The troop I came across in the forest had black tinged fur. Those were natives from Skocia. An Eilerisian mandrillus is always cream or white."

"They all look the same to me." Koga scratched the back of his shiny head, his confusion palpable.

"Interesting." Anaelle mentally noted down this fact. "That makes sense. We've never encountered a Skocian mandrillus before. It begs to question what were they doing here in Eileris?"

"What's even more odd is this patch of skin I carved off one." Florian declared out of the blue, the last to arrive. He handed the skin to Lars. "It's a barbaric brand of ownership. Stigmatizing or human branding was an inhuman custom practiced in the old era to mark slaves or be used as a form of punishment. Whoever got close enough to mark this predator is either brave or stupid."

The team swarmed their captain, studying the strange symbol. It was a simple cross sitting on top of a semicircle with a tiny circle inside. Koga snorted under his breath. "It looks like a child's doodling to me."

Lars held it up to the sun. "This is an old wound, likely a few years old."

"I wonder if it holds any religious meaning." Anaelle pointed at the cross. "Before predation, mankind believed in an almighty being — a God they worshipped. The most prominent religions that existed were Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. Based on this cross, I would say it's related to Christianity. This symbol resembles a grave but it's the circle inside it that puzzles me."

Eira's eyes never left the symbol, a hazy memory nagged at her. It felt like she had seen this before. But, where?

"Take this back to the lab." Lars relinquished the organic clue to Anaelle. "Have it tested and analysed. I want to know its origin."

"Roger that, Captain."

Mouth set into a hard line; Lars regarded his team with icy calm. "Before we depart, comb through the forest one last time. This wasn't a simple mandrillus attack. It was deliberate. And whoever is behind this, won't stop here. There might be another clue to help us uncover what the hell is going on. It's impossible for an entire village to disappear within minutes of an attack." Turning to Eira, he said. "Take the child back to the phantom and radio to base. Call off the emergency unit and send for the sanitation crew. Everyone else, spread out."

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Eira tended to the little girl inside the phantom, grabbing the first-aid kit. Miran, their pilot approached with some dry towels and bottles of water. "Here you go, Eira."

"Kaaqa. Thank you." Eira accepted them, uncapping a bottle. "Have some water. I'm sure you're thirsty." While the child drank, Eira wet the towels and proceeded to clean the grime off her.

"Why is your hair pink?" The little girl chirped, staring at Eira with enormous emerald eyes. She looked like a vintage porcelain doll from the old eras, only lacking the robust vitality of a lavished nobleman's child.

Eira guessed she was either seven or eight years old. Wearing a lopsided grin, she replied. "It was an accident. A friend of mine wanted to surprise me, and this," she gestured at her pink hair, "is what happened."

"Did you get mad?"

"No. I was taught never to get angry at things that have already happened. There is no use crying over spilled milk. The only way is to move forward." A saddened smile touched Eira's lips. "Although, it's easier said than done." Shaking off her melancholy, she reassured the child. "And no, I didn't get mad at my friend. In fact, I think I look quite nice in pink, don't you agree?"

"It's pretty!" the child agreed enthusiastically, her fear forgotten.

Eira was glad her hair colour helped to put the child at ease. She continued checking for injuries. "Kaaqa. You look beautiful too, just like a doll."

Tilting her head, the girl asked. "What is this kaaqa?"

"It means 'thank you' in my language."

"You're not from Eileris?"

Eira shook her head. "Vie. No. I am a Skocian tribesman. You can call me Eira." She smoothed back the child's short locks. "And what about you? What is your name?"

"Jade. My mother says it's because of my eyes."

"Jade." Eira echoed prettily, tweaking the little girl's nose. "It's beautiful."

"Your eyes are much prettier than mine," Jade insisted with childlike innocence. "It has green, blue and brown!"

"Kaaqa. But my mother never named me after my eyes, so that makes you special," Eira returned playfully.

At the reminder of her mother, Jade's shoulders caved in. Her anguish returned. "Will they find my mother? She went looking for father when she made me hide inside the trunk."

Eira hesitated. She didn't want to lie or risk upsetting the child. "Can you tell me how the attack happened?"

"I was playing with the other children when a man appeared. He brought a monster with him. The women started screaming and I was so scared." Jade shivered at the awful memories of standing there, petrified as blood spilled. "Those monsters were everywhere. T-They killed my friends! And one of them bit me. That was when my mother rescued me and carried me home."

Eira's stomach nose-dived. She forced herself to keep calm, not wanting to alarm the child. "Where were you bitten?"

Rolling up her sleeve, Jade showed two barely noticeable pinpricks on her inner arm. Eira's brows furrowed. No wonder she had missed them. There were no puncture wounds or bleeding, in fact it looked completely healed. It made no sense. "Do you feel ill? Or do you need to vomit?"

"No, I feel fine."

Grabbing both of Jade's arms, she shook the child lightly. Her gaze bored deeply to convey her seriousness. "Don't mention a word of this to anyone, alright? Promise me that you will tell me if you start feeling unwell."

Anxiety gripped Jade's features at Eira's forceful insistence. Her lower lip trembled.

"Don't worry," Eira soothed, taming her own distraught. For a moment there she had allowed her past horrors to overwhelm her, the pain inflicted by the soldiers remained a mental scar in her mind. She took a steadying breath. Jade wasn't her. She would protect this child. "Everything will be alright. You're safe now. I only want to protect you. I promise."

Eira couldn't stop the niggling of suspicion that something was very wrong. If what Jade said was true, then someone was trying to create more super soldiers — like her. Two things were certain. The culprit wasn't government based and his or her technology was inherently more advanced.

That thought frightened Eira more than any apex predator could. How very wrong she was to assume that fear was a harmless, old friend for even fear had the ability to evolve over time.