There was a pause. Then, Muka turned back to Faye.
"I said not to do that," she replied.
"No, I heard that," Faye replied. "But hypothetically, say that a Vampire didbite into a Human's NECK. It wouldn't happen to look like a pair of puncture marks like a snake bite, would it?"
Muka remained silent for a moment.
"That's an oddly specific question to ask," she replied. "I thought you didn't know about Vampires."
Faye's eyes narrowed.
"I didn't," Faye replied. She then glanced away. "However, there have been certain incidents on the Base. Incidents that we are finding…hard to explain."
Muka stared at Faye.
"Go on," she replied.
***
Back in the "Collection Center" on Military Base 2, Tsukuru let out a sigh.
"Call Paul Snelleart," he replied.
A moment later, the "Contact List" on his wristwatch was brought up, and it began scrolling down the list of names by itself.
Eventually, Paul's name appeared on the screen. The name became highlighted, and soon, a communication signal was sent out. Tsukuru heard a dial tone as his wristwatch attempted to connect to Paul's.
***
Back in his office, Paul Snelleart was going through paperwork. It seemed that there was a significant backlog due to his being absent for three days.
Paul let out a sigh.
'I swear, this crap multiplies when I'm NOT LOOKING AT IT,' he thought.
Suddenly, his wristwatch began to beep erratically.
Paul let out a sharp exhale of breath through his nose.
'What now?' he thought.
He brought his wristwatch up to his chest and looked at it. When he did, he saw Tsukuru's name on the screen.
Paul's eyes widened.
He brought his finger up to the screen, answering the call.
"Yes, Student Hikiko?" he asked in a tired tone.
A moment later, Tsukuru's voice crackled through the wristwatch's speakers.
"Sorry for the sudden interruption, Head General," Tsukuru replied. "But I was wondering if there was a room that I could borrow. Like a conference room with a large screen."
Paul raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"And what do you need that for?" he asked.
There was a slight pause.
"I've recently discovered a new Skill for my Ability that I want to test out," Tsukuru eventually replied. "But, I need a TV screen to use it."
Paul found Tsukuru's words unusual, but then he remembered that Tsukuru's Ability in and of itself was unusual. And considering the sounds of electronic interference and pixels created by his Ability, Tsukuru having Skills that required electronic screens wasn't too far-fetched.
Paul brought up the school's map on his desk.
"There's a conference room in the west wing that's currently not in use," Paul replied. "You can use that." Paul's eyes then narrowed. "However, I would like an official to oversee. Purely for observation purposes so we can update your file."
Tsukuru remained silent for a moment.
"What about Shizuka?" he asked.
Paul thought about this for a second. Shizuka did spend most of her time just sitting on her ass in her office. To be honest, her being the disciplinarian for the First-Year Students was more of a deterrent than anything. Essentially scaring the kids into behaving. Although he had noticed that she had paid a significant number of "visits" to that Second-Year student who had been placed in the dungeon for the "Pioletic" incident. However, that was most likely due to the fact that he was allegedly the same student who had injured Hikiko Tsukuru during the "Assembly Hall" incident during the first week of school.
"Granted," Paul replied. "Where are you right now? I'll have Shizuka meet you there and then escort you to the conference room."
There was another pause.
"Uh…I'm currently in the base's Collection Center," he replied.
Paul nodded.
"Please remain there until Sergeant Shizuka arrives," he replied, and ended the call.
Paul then brought up the "Contacts List" on his wristwatch and scrolled through it until he found Shizuka's name. He then pressed on it.
***
Back in her office, Sergeant Hikiko Shizuka leaned back in her seat.
'I don't think I've ever felt this anxious in my life,' Shizuka thought. 'Faye, where are you?'
She still had yet to hear anything about the Salvage Team sent to Pioletic.
'How long does it take to salvage some Glathrium and Beast Crystals?' she thought.
Suddenly, her wristwatch began to beep.
Shizuka's eyes widened, and she snapped her wrist up to her chest. Looking down at it, she saw Paul's name on the screen.
She answered immediately.
"Head General?" she asked urgently. "What is it? Has the Salvage Team finally returned?!"
There was a short pause.
"Uh…no," Paul replied. "They are still on Pioletic, as far as I know."
Shizuka let out a groan.
"I'm sure they are fine, Sergeant Faye," Paul replied. "But, in the meantime, I need you to DO SOMETHING."
Shizuka's eyes narrowed.
"What's that?" she asked.
"Student Hikiko has requested use of the conference room in the west wing to test out one of his Skills," Paul replied. "You are to go meet him in the base's Collection Center, escort him to the conference room, and observe. Afterwards, report back so that we can update his file."
Shizuka nodded.
"Yes, sir," she replied, as she got up from her chair.
***
Back in the Ninth Family castle, Muka was deep in thought. Faye had just gotten done explaining to her about all the strange happenings on the base. Specifically, about the three students who were found with strange puncture marks on their necks, as well as the three missing students, and the one dead student. Additionally, she told her about how they had found Ian looking like a Beast had ripped him apart, with similarmarks on his neck.
"Originally, we thought that it was just some stray Beast that wandered through a Portal," Faye explained, before glancing away. "However, we were never able to find anything."
Muka pressed her index finger against where her chin would be under her helmet.
"It sounds like there might already be a Vampire on this 'Base'," Muka replied, causing Faye to turn to her. "However, I don't believe we currently have any Scouts placed there. If we had, we would have been alerted to your presence on the Red Portal Planet long before our proximity sensors went off."
Muka glanced to the side.
"Additionally, one of our trained scouts would never be so reckless," she added. "It looks like there might be a Vampire there in secret. One who left the Settlement illegally."
She then turned back to Faye.
"Make sure to keep an eye out when you get back to the Base, then," Muka replied. "Judging by this information, it's highly likely that there's a Vampire at the Base. If you find out who this Vampire is, make sure to report it back to me. Hopefully, the Vampire's not an Illegal. But then again, don't worry if it is."
At Muka's words, Faye adopted a look of confusion. She tilted her head.
"An…'Illegal'?" she asked.
***
Back at Military Base 2, Shizuka was walking down the halls towards the Collection Center.
'The Collection Center?' Shizuka thought in confusion. 'What on Earth was Tsu-Tsu doing there?'
Shizuka was one of the few people on the Base aware of Tsukuru's System. One of only four, in fact. There was her, Logan, Quinn, and finally, Vorden. And because of that, she knew that Tsukuru had his own personal'Shop'. He did not need to use the Online Marketplace.
Shizuka entered the room and looked around. There, she saw Tsukuru leaning against one of the terminals.
As Tsukuru noticed Shizuka, he smiled.
"Hey," he replied as he approached her. He scratched the back of his head with an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry for imposing on you."
Shizuka raised an eyebrow.
"Why were you even in here?" she asked.
Tsukuru glanced to the side.
"Oh, one of my roommates bought something off the Marketplace, and I just so happened to be with him at the time," he replied. "So, I decided to tag along."
Hearing this, an amused look came across Shizuka's face.
'Ah, yes,' she thought. 'The Talen boy.'
Shizuka then motioned towards the door.
"Well," she replied, catching Tsukuru's attention. "Shall we be off, then?"
Tsukuru smiled, and he nodded.
Together, the two of them left the Collection Center and walked down the hall.
***
Back with Quinn, he approached the Student Dormitory. He had his box pressed under his arm and his compound umbrella over his head.
As Quinn entered the building, he pressed the button on the side of the umbrella, retracting it back into the black cylinder.
He then dashed down towards his room.