Following the Leads

Sea-Z and Jill Trump hardly had time to catch their breath from the tension in that meeting room. It was as though the air still reeked from their physical confrontation when Commander Noah told them the grim news: a child genius was found dead inside his residence, and both detectives knew immediately their mission had just taken a far darker turn.

The drive to the scene was in silence. Sea sat next to him, her eyes half-closed, as if none of this chaos was fazing her at all. Jill turned to her every now and then, corner of his eye. He had underestimated her once before, but he knew better now. There was just something about her, something so cold it chilled even him. It wasn't just the things she did in combat. It was that vacant look in her eyes, as if she existed in a world different from everybody else.

With no time to waste, the very instant they'd reached the hospital, the antiseptic smell wafted in the air as Jill and Sea-Z stepped into the chilled, white hallways. The fluorescent lights above slightly blinked on and off, as if also protesting the grim task at hand. Jill, now conscious of Sea's formidable strength, couldn't help but glance at her continuously. She paced quietly beside him, her face expressionless, her mind apparently elsewhere. Delicate and unobtrusive, there was something about her that put Jill ill at ease-and yet, somehow curiously comforted.

"Do you know where to start?" Jill finally asked, breaking the silence.

Sea didn't say anything right away; after a beat, she turned to him from the corner of her eye. "Morgue," she said hoarsely, her words cut.

Jill nodded, as a shiver ran down his spine. There was something unnatural in her composure, yet he trusted somehow that she would do a fine job. The thought of fighting involuntarily made him hold his knee; he could feel the pain, but he just had to feign being all right after seeing Sea's nonchalant attitude toward the injury on her arm.

They went to the morgue, where the body of the last victim was waiting for a seventeen-year-old kid named Oliver Fang. The kid was some kind of coding genius, tipped to revolutionize artificial intelligence in Country Z. Now, his potential was nothing but a cold body on a stainless-steel slab.

Jill spoke to the family of the deceased, who was consumed with their grief. The mother lay incoherent in the arms of her relative, sobbing wildly, while the father sat pale and shaking, looking to the floor. Jill knelt down beside them with a calm professionalism, speaking words of condolence as he readied himself to question the family. Sea, however did not bother with any pleasantry. She merely breezed past the family and strode towards the small body that lay on the cold bed.

As Jill tried to comfort the family, his eyes trailed to Sea, who knelt beside the body and lifted the sheet without the slightest hesitation. Her hands moved with mechanical precision, checking the child's body for any signs of struggle or injury. Her face remained blank, emotionless, as if she were simply marking off a box on a form. Jill shivered at the sight.

Finished checking, she turned to face the Military attending doctor, "Tell me everything!"

Dr. Evans, chief of pathology, greeted them with a solemn look. "It's as bad as the others. No signs of struggle but the cause of death… Well, it's not something you see every day."

He beckoned to the body, folding back the sheet. Oliver's face was a mask of waxen terror, eyes wide with fear. Jill leant nearer, his eyes squinting now. There was no mark on the body, not a bruise or a cut.

"What killed him then?" Jill asked gravely.

Dr. Evans pointed to Oliver's head. "Massive brain hemorrhage. The strange thing is, there's no external trauma. It's as though something inside his head…exploded."

Sea-Z, still silent, moved closer. Her gaze flicked over the body, then to Dr. Evans. "Exploded?" she asked, her voice low but piercing.

The doctor nodded. "It's as if his brain was overload, but we have no medical explanation for it whatsoever. Same goes for the rest."

Jill crossed his arms and furrowed his brows. "Is there any connection between them apart from that genius status? Did they all go to the same events, work on the same projects?

Dr. Evans said nothing for a moment. "Well, they were part of the same elite clique of wonderkind students from an exclusive academy that was subsidized by the government to fast-track the development of their specific talents. Oliver was the latest killing, but I'm afraid that there's more."

Jill looked over at Sea, her face was serious as she pieced together information. Her eyes remained ice cold, as if news of another young life taken didn't have any effect on her.

Before Jill could say anything more, Sea-Z asked, "Where's his device?"

Dr. Evans blinked, taken aback by the sudden question. "Device?"

Sea's eyes sharpened. "Phone, tablet, anything he used in communicating."

Dr. Evans nodded reluctantly. "His parents gave us his phone. We've already handed it over to the police, but you can request access.

Jill raised one eyebrow in surprise, Sea's mind worked fast. She was already seeking computer trails. "I'll get that," he said, stepping out to make a call to the precinct.

Sea-Z was left with the body and Dr. Evans. She scanned everything in the room with her acued eyes. She didn't need words to know something more was going on here. She could feel it-like a predator in the jungle who sensed another.

Her instincts told her to dig deeper. "Were any of the other bodies showing similar signs?"

"Yes," Dr. Evans said, shifting his weight with a spasm of nerves. "All of them. No signs of struggle, no external injuries, but the same… internal damage."

Sea's eyes darkened. "We'll take the phone," she said shortly, already striding out of the morgue without another word.

Jill met her in the hall, already on the phone. "It's being transferred to us," he said, after hanging up. "We'll get access to it soon."

Sea nodded. "Good."

Jill's curiosity got the better of him. "You think there's something in the device?"

Sea didn't answer right away. "It's the pattern," she said finally. "These deaths—it's not random. They're being hunted."

It was the simplicity of her statement that sent a chill down Jill's spine. "You think someone's using tech?"

Sea's cold eyes flickered for a moment. "I think they're using more than just tech.

They stepped out into the cold night air outside the hospital; the sounds of city life were very faintly heard. Jill was deep in thought, trying to connect the dots, while Sea walked beside him with the same unreadable expression, her thoughts as deep and silent as the night.

Things were getting increasingly dangerous, and as they approached the next stage, one thing became clear, somebody was behind the scenes pulling the strings, and whoever that was, that person was a lot more dangerous than anyone had fathomed.

As they reached the car, Jill turned to Sea. "We're not just dealing with a killer, are we?"

Sea didn't turn around; she kept her eyes on the road as she replied. "No. We're dealing with something bigger."

The engine roared to life, and they sped into the night as city lights blurred around them. The hunt had only just started.