Silhouette

Sarah, in her white Hero trainee bodysuit, felt a bit queasy. She wasn't the only one; this was her group's first time on an actual crime scene, and that was plain to see.

They'd been going on patrols in the streets for a week now, each time accompanied and overseen by a senior Hero, both to keep an eye on their work and ensure they didn't bite off more than they could chew. This wasn't even the first time they got called to lend a hand to the police, but so far it had been to act as reinforcement to chase a suspect or keep an eye on strange happenings. This... This was a bloody mess.

She forced the bile rising in her throat back down again when she spared another glance at the still dripping red dent in the armored truck's side. Those things were made to resist the average level of super strength at the very least, and this one was one of those meant to escort sapient robots and machines deemed too dangerous to be held at the Institue to their new home, a prison rated for the upper end of Super individuals, at least relative to those present in Zalcien. The fact it had been so damaged, and the way this damage had occurred...

At least the group had arrived after the remains had already been taken care of. The police had insisted the trainees weren't here to investigate, they were just here to be briefed on the suspect and what to look for going forward in their patrol. In fact, the officer in charge was opposed to their presence in the first place. It was their Hero overseer who decided they should come and be exposed to the sorts of things they may face as Heroes, a form of test to see if they could truly stand that career choice.

Sarah could see the logic in that. It was just uncomfortable that it was her uncle who was responsible.

She could see him out of the corner of her eye, wearing his Firefighter costume and chatting with the overweight officer in charge, his bushy blonde mustache full of crumbs. She could see the cop shaking his head as a junior officer came to him with a question, though she wasn't close enough to hear. Well, she could have listed in if she really tried, but she had no reason to. She trusted her uncle to share everything they needed to know and the police to do their job. Not to mention, the sight of the aftermath of the massacre had killed any curiosity she might have had. The same went for the rest of her teammates.

Kopper Kid was looking pale, a great contrast to his usual dark skin, but his expression was surprisingly calm. It likely had to do with how he kept an arm wrapped around Glicer Glitter, the usually cheerful energetic girl standing still with a distressed look on her face. To see the childish lover of glitter look that way was heartbreaking, but it made her uncle's reasoning all the more justified: Glicer was nice and had proven to be a good fighter in training, but that was again robots in a controlled environment. Real life wasn't as kind. Heroes couldn't always arrive on time or save everyone.

Scareowl's avian face wasn't the greatest to emote, his beak wasn't as flexible as lips would be, but the way his feathers hung down told her enough. She had to give it to him though, out of the entire group, he was the only one of them who dared to study the scene, his eyes searching for all possible evidence. Whether it was to see if his conclusion would be the same as the police's as a form of training or if it was to look for any hint they might have missed, she didn't know.

Elaimant was the one who took the scene the best. Their form was even worse than Scareowl's to discern what they thought, but she had been around them long enough to see they weren't as disturbed as the rest. Which, when she thought about it, made sense. Elaimant wasn't an organic. They understood what this scene meant, but it didn't impact them as much, just like seeing the corpse of a golem wouldn't move her quite like a pool of blood would.

Maledicta was... Uncharacteristically silent. She wasn't complaining or insulting the others, a habit they had yet to knock out of her despite their improvements when it came to teamwork. She was just standing there, leaning against a police car. At first glance, it looked like she had her arms crossed but looking a little closer Sarah realized she was actually holding her upper arms. She was no psychiatrist, but she knew this was a sign the drow was at the very least unnerved. It was no guarantee there was a good person beneath that prickly personality, but it was proof she wasn't Villain material.

Her uncle's whistling broke her out of her thoughts. She and the rest of the trainees walked up to him, and despite her best efforts, she had no success in figuring out what he was thinking behind that yellow helmet of his. She never saw her uncle as someone whose emotions could be hard to figure out, but she supposed this was also the first time she got to see him truly do his job in person rather than the usual guarding or training stuff back in the Headquarters.

"Alright everyone, gather round. Are you feeling okay?"

Meek nods answered him.

"Alright. If anyone needs some time, don't hesitate to say it. We'll accompany you back to the base where you can get rest or choose to go home. There's no shame in taking time to heal, and that applies to mental health just as much as the physical one."

Glicer's eyes drifted left and right before focusing back on Firefighter, a serious look on her face. Sarah didn't miss how hard the diminutive girl was squeezing Kopper Kid's, though he did not comment on it.

"Alright. So, this is the sad truth of a Hero's work. Like all professions that aim to help and save people, sometimes, you have to deal with the aftermath of when help wasn't there. This was a particularly gruesome scene, but cleaned as it was it isn't any worse than what we usually show trainees. Because while this is an important step in your education, we'd never throw you at a corpse without easing things in first."

He gestured at the officer walking back to his men as he gave one last wave to the Hero group.

"This officer kindly informed me of what their team figured happened here. Before I share it, do any of you have any idea?"

Scareowl raised a wing.

"Sir, this looks like an attack on a transport vehicle. There were only a few traces of blood inside the vehicle, so if the normally present guards weren't absent then it means most of the fighting happened outside. The attackers broke in and handled the guards in the back with ease, so the blood either comes from the guard at the front after they got out or some infighting happened between the attackers."

"Sound reasoning. Anyone else?"

Sarah's eyes wandered back to the dent in the truck.

"The blood looks like it all came from one person, the one who got... The one whose head was banged against the van. If they were the only person to be so hurt, maybe this was some kind of punishment?"

"I see the logic. Anyone else?"

Surprisingly, it was Maledicta who spoke up this time.

"Three attackers. One used energy weapons, one blunt force brute, and the last one some kind of gas attack, I think. Maybe there were more, but these were their means of attack."

"Oh? Could you elaborate?"

"The bullet marks all come from the inside, fits in with what guards are usually equipped with. The energy weapons left some burns, it's how I know they were what stopped the vehicle in the first place. For the gas, the front doors weren't forced but they have no other sign of struggle, so something that slipped through is the logical answer. For the brute, we have the back doors and the butchery at the side."

"Alright. Anyone else?"

This time no one answered.

"Alright. Maledicta, you've got most of it. This vehicle was transporting a patient of the Institute. They were attacked by a trio of opportunists low-level Supers, Ballistic, Pink, and Finger Gunner. They're not a formal group, but this isn't their first team-up. The last one is more solitary than the other two, but he's also smart enough not to plan big hits by himself. Evidence shows they were preparing an attack on a jewelry store nearby when they noticed the transport and tried their luck."

He turned his arm to show the small screen attached to one of his gauntlets, a small picture of an android appearing.

"Ballistic is a powerful robot with high defense but without any integrated weapons aside from his physique. His body has a quirk, it heals damage. Nothing to the level of a cut limb, but a hail of bullets is effectively useless against him. He's our brute."

He swiped, and this time it showed a mutant.

"Pink is an axolotl and another regenerator, unlike her robotic accomplice she can regrow lost parts. Her metabolism lets her work off most toxins, she's known to inject herself with dangerous cocktails before operations to use different tactics, making her unpredictable. She's the one who knocked out the front guards, she let out noxious fumes."

One more swipe. This time, it was a cowboy-wannabe. He looked like a regular human, but it was hard to be sure with the bandana and the big hat covering most of the face.

"Finger Gunner. His only known power is the ability to shoot energy bullets out of his fingertips, with their power varying based on the time spent charging. It may not sound like much, but they can get strong enough to pierce metal, and that's all a good shot needs. He's also the only one of the three whose real identity was unknown until now. We now know he's John Jameson, an accountant in one of the Union's subsidiaries. He was not high enough in the hierarchy to be privy to important information, but we suspect he used his position to gather information from colleagues to know when to lay low."

He put down his arm.

"Those are our attackers, and also our victims. Two are confirmed dead, the last one is up in the air but the police aren't optimistic."

Kopper blinked a few times.

"Wait. Sir. How can they be the attackers and the victims?"

"They attacked the vehicle and successfully took care of the guards. No one was killed, but most will need some time to recuperate. That's where things take a turn for the worse: they failed to realize the danger the patient being transported posed and got taken by surprise. The prisoner took over Ballistic's body, destroyed his original head, used Pink as a shield from Finger Gunner, and then had fun killing him. We suspect police sirens chased him off before he could take care of the guards as well."

The trainees all had a similar reaction, their eyes widening in shock as the horror of the situation came back in force. Even Elaimant, despite their lack of eyes, let out a white noise from the momentary lapse in the control of their natural magnetic field.

"That's where we are now. The patient, known as G433, is now out in the streets in the body of Ballistic. It's unclear if the original AI could be recovered at this point. We suspect G433 to have access to Ballistic's memories and to be using them to find somewhere to hide. You shouldn't be involved in this case from there on out, but I will show you a police sketch of how we expect him to look by now. Should you spot this individual, immediately contact your tutor and leave the scene."

This time he didn't show the screen in his gauntlet but instead took out a paper from his utility belt. The drawing showed a body identical to the picture of Ballistic they had seen, but this time the head had been replaced by a bulky computer screen, along with some kind of tentacles coming from the back. A pixelated face with a sadistic smile was on the screen.

Elaimant hummed.

"Question: What more do we know of this G433?"

"From what the director of the Institute told us, he is some sort of virtual amalgam, a forgotten science experiment a century old. He was recently recovered and brought to the Institute by an anonymous individual, though knowing Dominique's history I have a guess as to who it is. Regardless, G433 has been hostile since discovery and the reason behind its transport was an unsuccessful attempt at body snatching. They theorize his odd composition allows him to better integrate foreign components. He has become a high-priority target so, again, if you post him, report it but do not engage."

The trainees nodded as seriously as they could despite how sick they felt.

Firefighter had a feeling he would have to bail them out of a fight by the end of the week.