The tires of Anastasia's car screech to a halt in front of the Outbound Medical Examination building. She climbs out of her car before her driver can turn off her car. She glanced at her watch. Five minutes still before the meeting starts.
She picks up her face to get to the meeting before it starts. While she walks, she feels a pang of hunger. She was midway through her dinner when the call came for the meeting. Much to the dismay of her mother, she bolted from the dinner table after returning home barely an hour before. Now, when she returns home, she will have to listen to her mother lecture so that she quits her job.
Inside, she is pointed toward the conference room. Entering the conference room, she stands in surprise when she spots most of her fellow prosecutors, even the chief prosecutor, and a scattering of senior detectives fills the seat of the room.
She walks up the stairs to take a seat." Why was the meeting called?" She asks Mitch, a fellow prosecutor seated beside her, who simply shakes his head, just as perplexed.
Anastasia sighs, scans the room and leans backward to get comfortable on her seat. She is not aware why the meeting was called but seeing who are attending, the meeting is important. And to validate her intuition, the Lieutenant general of police of the outbound region step inside with some police officers and takes their seat.
A few moments later, the medical examiners enter, led by their chief, Peter, who takes the podium. But Anastasia's eyes remain on the woman who enters behind them. She knows the woman, or rather whole city knows the woman.
Her name is Lyra Whitford or Baroness Lyra Whitford. After her parents died four years ago, Lyra became a baroness, and then she spent most of the family fortune on buying strange things. For these reasons, Lyra became famous, but why is she here? She is not part of any law enforcement agency in the city.
Anastasia's eyes move toward Peter as the light of the room dims and the display behind Peter hums to life.
He looks at them, his voice grave and expression sombre." A serial killer has appeared in our outbound state," he announces, and an image of a woman fills the screen.
Peter introduces the woman on the screen; her image is then replaced by another, again he introduces the woman, and then the third." These three women," he announces, his voice steady," died in the exact same way."
A ripple of murmurs spreads through the room of disbelief. The three women are likely to be killed by the same person. But the information is not so important that all of them need to be presented. This is not the first time a serial killer has appeared in their state, and like before, they will be caught or fall silent after killing some people.
The chief prosecutor's exasperated voice." For God's sake, Peter, you didn't have to drag all of us out here. The meeting could have taken place tomorrow morning."
Smack! Peter's palm hits the podium, and the loud sound cuts through the growing commotion." Let me finish," He states, his gaze sweeping the room." Then you can all complain about me."
The room quiets. Peter is old and has only a few years left before his retirement, but he still holds respect among the group. "They died on the same day, and even at the same time, accurate to the second."
Anastasia hears whispers from all around her.
"They were killed together at the same time. What is important about it?" Someone mutters. Anastasia also agrees to the assessment. If she were the killer, she could do it too.
Peter continues." They were killed in different places."
Another voice suggests." A terrorist organization or a gang killed them to spread fear or attract attention to their cause."
Someone scoffs:" Peter's gone senile with old age, calling all of us to a meeting at such a time for such an absurd reason."
Peter continues." And they died in the open when nobody was present in their immediate vicinity and without any bodily harm."
Scepticism ripples through the room." Some kind of poison, then?" someone mutters.
Peter then clicks a button, and a video starts playing on the display, showing three separate videos of the three women. The three women walk late at night outside, one sits on the bench inside a bus station, another on a bench by a pond, and the third sits on a set of stairs.
The three women stayed seated for a couple of hours until the sun rose. They were disturbed. The first woman was disturbed by a man who sat beside her, and when their body touched, the woman simply toppled to the ground.
The second woman was nudged by another woman from behind. And the second woman fell, rolling into the pond with a splash.
The third woman was touched by a cleaning worker, and then the woman rolled down the stairs and landed on the floor.
"These three were dead," Peter explains," hours before they were touched."
"How did they die, then?" a voice from the other side called out.
"I told you their body showed no harm was done to them." Peter reiterates.
He explains," They died like…" He paused, and the screen behind him abruptly went dark." … like I turn this screen off. Their bodies also just turn off."
A stunned silence follows Peter's revelation, quickly replaced by a cacophony of questions about how such a thing could be possible.
Anastasia wonders how someone can simply turn off their body. It is impossible. They can control their body, but not reach the point where they can treat their body as a machine that could be turned off like a machine.
Peter says, cutting through the noise." Let me show you another video."
The screen lit up again, showing two men seated opposite each other. "The thin man with glasses is Leon Floyd," Peter identifies," and the other is a detective."
Leon clicks his finger in front of the detective's eyes. The detective freezes for a moment, and his eyes become dull. The detective stands up and opens the door. The video continues, showing the detective leading through the prison. When other stops them, Leon would simply click his finger in front of their face and stand still. Leon is led out of the prison, speaking briefly to a police officer, then simply walks away.
When Leon disappears from the screen, the man takes out a gun without slight hesitation he pulls the trigger. Then he falls to the ground, with a hole in his head, and the video ends.
Anastasia, shocked in silence and feels a crisis is coming. How can someone control another person? And control them to kill themselves.
"Peter, what was that?" The Lieutenant General demanded, his voice laced with disbelief.
Peter explains, "You all must have thought how Leon controlled the detective and others along the way. But you all do not believe it is possible. But the video is true. Leon hypnotised the detective and others along the way."
He continues," Same as our killer, who hypnotizes the three women's bodies to shut down."
Before the commotion breaks out, he continues," And I wasn't the one who called this meeting!" His gaze fixes on Lyra.
Lyra, standing by the door, steps forward and takes Peter's place at the podium. While everyone watches in silent shock at Peter's revelation. The world that looks normal now looks strange. Or they never saw the world for what it is.
Lyra states," I called this meeting at the order of the royal family." She pauses for a moment and continues," They want you to kill or capture the killer in a month."
The Carmichael castle, perched atop a hill in the north, cast a sombre, worn-out silhouette against the vibrant glow of Brodwin City. Its ancient walls, faintly illuminated by dim, scattered lights, offered a stark contrast to the Brodwin City below, which is illuminated by vibrant and colourful light. One symbolizes the past and another the future.
The Carmichael Castle was once the centre of the Outbound State. From which the Carmichael family ruled over the states. But with the advancement of time, all that remains of the Marquis Carmichael family is the castle and a few surrounding farms.
An older man stands on the castle's balcony looking at the city below with melancholy. He loves and hates, but the city would now encounter a disaster. A young man steps onto the balcony and says with urgency," Grandfather, you were right. The royal family intervened. This happened inside the meeting…" He recounts the entire meeting shown to him by a detective who recorded the meeting.
His grandfather chuckles." My dear grandson," He says, his eyes twinkling as he looks over the city that is going to be destroyed, "everything we lost will return to us shortly."
The young man nods, his body shaking with excitement and as his dream is going to come true." Grandfather, does the city really need to be destroyed?"
His grandfather nods." Grandson, for everything to return as before, the city needs to be destroyed."