Investigating from a Single Photograph

Asic emerged from the hidden passage that Regis had built, arriving at a public park. He appeared about ten years older than he actually was, wearing thick round glasses and a plaid long-sleeved shirt while carrying a backpack. He looked like a nerdy guy you'd find anywhere in Cryptopolis, but in reality, the bag was filled with enough weapons to easily take down a small terrorist group. Asic's gait was slow, with a slouched posture, quite unlike a person who had been well-trained.

He took the subway to the central square of Cryptopolis, which housed the city's largest health park, adjacent to both the subway and elevated train stations. Not far away was the biggest marketplace in Cryptopolis, featuring an open plaza with a massive thirty-meter mermaid statue as its landmark. It was always crowded, as the plaza served as a recruitment hub for miners.

"Hiring one-star miners! $750 per day!"

"Hiring miner assistants! $460 per day, food and water provided, unlimited positions!"

"Hiring two-star miners! $820 per day! The more you dig, the more you earn!"

Job postings from small companies were displayed on every corner, accompanied by shouts of recruiters trying to draw attention, their voices hoarse from yelling all day. Many young men and women, unable to find work elsewhere, stood uncertainly, not knowing which company to choose. They needed money urgently, but reasonable-paying jobs were hard to find. One of the few options left was to work as a miner.

The companies hiring here were small, with few contracted miners, so they sought independent miners to hire at lower rates without much liability if the miners died on the job. However, without going through job agencies, it was impossible to gauge the quality of the miners being hired, and likewise, the miners couldn't be sure if the hiring company had any scruples.

One side sought cheap labor, and the other gambled on whether the company would treat them fairly. The advantage was that getting a job was easy; the downside was the high risk. Those without other choices would come here for work, and this was where Asic had heard from Palon that Ejin had come looking for a job.

[Master, why are we here?] OC questioned in Asic's mind. Asic sat on a bench near the mermaid statue, which had a fountain continuously spraying water into the air, day and night. He blended in seamlessly, looking like anyone else there seeking employment.

'Ejin disappeared at Oceanstone. Technically, I should be looking for leads there. But if the police department is involved, the chances of finding anything are near zero, so I decided to give up on that and look for clues elsewhere instead,' Asic thought for OC to hear.

[Why?]

'The police have a program called [Witness Protection Program]. It's designed to shield victims from dangerous criminals. In 2075, hackers were skilled enough to identify victims within hours, so the police developed a program that erased someone's traces from all kinds of surveillance—whether street cameras or car dashcams. Essentially, even if you hacked every camera in the world, you wouldn't find the person protected by this program.

'And even if the criminals somehow retrieved the data, it would take so long that the police would have already relocated the witness. This program is called [Filter Bubble]. If the police used Filter Bubble on Ejin, we won't find any surveillance footage of him.'

[So, there's no way to find any leads?]

'It's impossible to track Ejin through cameras or the internet right now. But no matter how great Filter Bubble is, it's just a filter that keeps Ejin out of sight on cameras.' Asic opened his bag and took out a photo. He approached a man who seemed to be a recruiter and asked,

"Excuse me, have you seen this boy?"

"Huh? Let me see." The man took the photo and thought for a moment before shaking his head.

"No, I don't remember."

"Thanks." Asic moved on to ask the next person.

"Hello, can I bother you for a moment? Have you seen this boy in the photo?"

"Excuse me, have you seen this boy in the photo?"

"This kid is a friend of mine. He owes me money, but I can't find him. Oh, you don't remember? Sorry for bothering you." Asic kept asking for several minutes, with no progress even after an hour, two hours, three hours, until finally, he approached a floating noodle stand that had just opened up. The stall owner had red skin, prosthetic arms, and eyes as black as eggs, wearing a white yukata with blue patterns. As soon as he saw Ejin's picture, he recognized him immediately.

"Of course I remember! My noodles were the cheapest—only 25 dollars! But that damn kid haggled me down to 10 dollars. Kept negotiating until I had no customers, and I had to agree to 15 dollars—damn it, I'm still mad about it. No profit at all!"

"Noodles for 25 dollars in this day and age are indeed rare. Do you have any leads on him? I'm trying to find him—any small clue would help."

"Hmm… I'm not sure, my memory's pretty bad."

"I'll take a chilled noodle bowl with extra beef, 50 dollars a bowl."

"I remember now!" The stall owner's demeanor changed instantly. He had just claimed to have forgotten, but now remembered as if it had happened yesterday. Asic scanned the payment through the system, and a bowl of chilled noodles was soon served.

"That damn kid came here two days after haggling, brought a girl with him, bragging that he got a job and that once he was successful, he'd buy all my noodles. Probably one of the kids looking for work around here."

"Anything else?"

"Yes. The next day, I saw him with another woman—she must have been the recruiter he made a deal with. I was setting up my stall at that time, around now, but I don't remember the exact date."

"If you can't remember the exact date, is there anything else notable that happened around that time that might help pinpoint it?"

"Hmm… Sorry, I can't remember."

"Stall owner, I'll take two dried noodle packs to go."

"I remember now! There were a lot of balloons that day!"

[.....] OC glared at the stall owner through Asic's eyes with the utmost disdain. Humans were such fickle beings, willing to say anything for a bit of money. OC had truly learned something new.

'OC, check which days last month had an unusual amount of balloons here.'

[Acknowledged.] OC began its work, deploying hundreds of bots to scour social media posts from the past month to identify which day had an abundance of balloons around the plaza.

[October 8th, 2025—A marketing company released 77,777 balloons across Cryptopolis from Economic Zone 4. Based on wind direction, the balloons likely passed over this plaza from 14:15 to 20:30. Considering the noodle stall's setup time, there's a high chance that Ejin and the unknown woman passed through the plaza between 14:15 and 14:55.]

"Could you describe the woman?" Asic asked the stall owner.

"Huh, they were pretty far away. I couldn't see well."

"Just hair color, hair length, height, skin tone, and clothing—whatever you remember."

"Hmm… I remem—"

"I'll bring my friend here after work."

"She had fair skin, green hair, big chest, wide hips, wore heels, dressed in white. Taller than the boy by about ten centimeters. Couldn't see her face well."

"That's enough. Do you know where they were headed?"

"Towards the subway station. By the way, why are you looking for that kid?"

"He owes me money and hasn't paid. I need it, so I'm looking for him."

"Knew it! With that attitude, must have tons of debt." The stall owner seemed furious at Ejin for bargaining over the noodle price. Asic smiled, scanned a tip for him, and took the noodle packs before giving OC an order.

'You heard that, OC. Create an image of the woman with Ejin for me.'

[Master, the details provided by a third party are vague and unreliable. It's unlikely the image will accurately depict the target.]

'Accuracy doesn't matter—just make sure the distinguishing features are there.' Asic ordered decisively. OC processed and generated an image of the woman as described by the red-skinned stall owner, alongside an edited image of Ejin. Asic printed the picture and began showing it around near the subway station until someone finally recognized them.

"They might've headed toward Jemold Mall."

"Thank you." Asic headed to Jemold Mall, repeating the process. After asking ten people without success, he approached a café, ordered a coffee, and showed the picture to the barista.

"Have you seen this boy and woman?"

"Hmm… No, I haven't."

"Ah, I forgot—on October 8th, around this time, were you on shift? Around 2:30 to 4:00 PM?"

"No. Hey, Raffo! A customer wants to ask you something." The barista called for another staff member. Raffo seemed to be on shift during the time Asic mentioned. As he saw the picture, Raffo frowned.

"I remember the boy, but the woman might be different." Raffo shook his head apologetically, but Asic smiled. It made sense—the woman in the photo couldn't be the one in Raffo's memory since OC had generated her image based on vague details from the noodle stall owner.

'Gotcha.'

"Does that woman come here often?"

"If it's the one who came with the boy that day, yes. She's a regular. Seems like a recruiter for a small company. Are you looking for work too?"

"Oh, no. I'm just a debt collector."

---

Hours later, Ada arrived at a bar about ten stations away from the plaza. The bar was located beneath the subway station, near a Japanese restaurant. It was a busy intersection during the day, but at night it became quiet—perfect for a night out.

The woman entered, looking for her usual seat, but found a young man with dark hair sitting there. He wore a white shirt under a black open button-down, showing a glimpse of his alluring collarbone. Someone taking her usual spot would usually annoy Ada, but it all depended on who it was.

Ada walked over, saying, "Hey, that's my usual seat."

"Ah, hello. I didn't realize this was reserved. There's no name on it. I'll move right away."

"No need. I'm feeling bored today and could use some company. What do you say, handsome? Want to drink with an older sister? If you agree, I might forgive you for taking my seat."

"Well, lucky me. I was just looking for someone to talk to." The young man grinned flirtatiously, his gaze like a wolf eyeing prey that had wandered into its territory.