Spinning Truth

The city never slept and neither did they. On the drive back to headquarters with Jill at the wheel, Sea-Z sat tight as a blade beside him. Her eyes raked the streets for any sign of a threat lurking in the shadows. The conversation with Dr. Evans replayed in Jill's head, the thought of young geniuses being sought after and systematically being murdered like this was chilling. But for Sea-Z, it seemed just another mission.

The phone rang, piercing the silence inside the car. It was Commander Noah.

"We got the phone and data files from Oliver Fang's device. I need you both to get back here and analyze it. We also intercepted some encrypted messages linked to one of the suspects. This may give us more to go on."

"On our way," Jill replied, hanging up. His grip on the steering wheel tightened as they tore through the city.

Sea-Z focused her gaze on the front, but her mind was racing faster than the car. The pattern crystallizing, the pieces interlocking like in a jigsaw puzzle. The killings, the lack of actual physical trauma, the entire operation was far from your run-of-the-mill killing spree. Forces at work beneath the surface and buried deeper than any of them might have imagined.

By the time they were back at headquarters, the tension in the air was palpable, with the building humming low for the silent intensity of a high-stakes investigation. The tech team had already been set up, and Commander Noah stood at the center of it all, overseeing the whole operation. On a big screen, streams of data from Oliver's phone blazed as the techs tried to break through the encryption and piece together the final moments of his life.

"Detectives," Noah welcomed them briefly. "We have retrieved a bit of the data, but most of it is highly encrypted. We're trying to break through, but that would take a lot of time.

Sea-Z said nothing, instead, her eyes cut to the screen. She watched as line after line of code tumbled across the computer face. It was in those lines that she hoped to find that one little slip-up which would give them something to go on. Jill stood beside her, peering at the screen, but his mind wandered to the other side of this operation-the people who were pulling the strings, an underground world seemingly orchestrating these murders.

Have we established any common links between the victims?" Jill asked, breaking the silence.

Noah nodded. "So far, all the victims had been part of an elite program sponsored by the government dealing with the grooming of the best young brains in technology and science. Oliver Fang was working on a classified project when he was murdered. Now, here comes the twist-we got a lead from his messages. He did contact someone just hours before his death, and this person seemed to know he was in danger.

Sea-Z's eyes jolted to Noah. "Who?"

Noah nodded toward the screen. "We are still trying to trace the contact. The number was encrypted, but we are working on a location. Whomever it was, they were warning Oliver about something. His last message was in a panic. And then. nothing."

Jill's thoughts raced. "Someone tried to help him. It means they know what is happening, or part of it.

Sea-Z was well ahead of him. "The guy who tipped him off, he's either in the underground network or at least close enough. That's who we have to find.".

While the tech team worked on, Jill leaned back against the desk, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched Sea-Z move with quiet intensity. She was something like a machine herself, always calculating, always moving toward the next step. He had perhaps admired that about her, yet it unnerved him too. She was unyielding, and one time or another he could only wonder if she could ever turn it off.

"We've got something," one of the techs suddenly called out, breaking the tension. "We've managed to decrypt part of the message chain. It's fragmented, but here's what we have so far."

The screen filled with a series of broken messages, but the content was clear enough:

Oliver Fang: They're coming for me. I don't know what to do.

Unknown: Keep quiet. We can keep you safe, but you must stay off the grid. Trust no one.

Oliver Fang: It's too late. I think they already know where I am.

This last message just made Jill's blood run cold.

Unknown: Run.

The room fell silent while digesting the weight of those words. Someone had tried to help, but had come too late. This "unknown" contact knew more about what was going on than anyone else.

"We need to find this contact," Sea-Z said, her voice sharp. 

"Trace the messages, find the source.

Immediately, the techs went to work, but Commander Noah shook his head. "It's not that simple. Whoever this is, they're using multiple layers of encryption. It could take hours-maybe days-to track them down.

Sea-Z's eyes flashed with thoughts, but not a word was said by her. She knew time was certainly not on their side-the more time passed, the graver this game would get.

Jill pushed off from the desk, his mind already running ahead. "We can't afford to wait. Whoever is behind this, is moving fast, and we need to move faster. Anything that could constitute a lead, any location that we can follow up on? He asked seriously. 

One of the techs spoke up. "We might have something. We found an IP address linked to Oliver's phone before he died. It's a warehouse in the industrial district. Could be a dead end, but we should check it out.

Noah turned to Sea and Jill. "You two are the best we have got. Go check it out, but be careful. In case this is connected with the underground, you will be walking into a trap."

Sea-Z nodded without hesitation. "We'll handle it.

Jill met her gaze, an unsaid understanding passing between them. They'd lived long enough to recognize this as barely the tip of the iceberg. The deeper they dug, the more dangerous it got, but neither of them was about to back off.

As they walked towards the exit, Jill couldn't shake off this feeling of growing trepidation. It was as if they were chasing shadows, and every step taken literally brought them closer to something so much more sinister than they had expected.

Sea moved with her characteristic cold precision, but even Jill could feel her tension building just beneath that icy façade. This mission had taken on a new level of intensity; the stakes were higher than ever.

By the time they reached the car, Jill turned to her and asked, "You ready for this?"

Sea-Z didn't look at him. "Always.

Jill nodded, turning the key in the ignition. The night yawned before them, dark and full of unseen dangers. They were running head-on into the unknown, but there was no going back now.

The hunt had begun.