The amber luminescence inside the armored transport vehicle fluctuated, the high-frequency signal interceptor on Athalia's console tracing a jagged, irregular waveform that didn't match the standard digital traffic of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
On the three-way split screen of the slate-gray tablet, her features remained carved in cold, unforgiving relief against the dark interior of her cabin.
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"Hold the calibration sequence, Julian," Athalia's voice cut through the sterile, stone quiet of the pathology suite, her tone dropping into a dry, metallic register that instantly halted Professor Adams's hand above the serum trays.
"An additional packet just cleared the secondary microwave buffer from the eastern relay. The regional hospital you are currently sticking in isn't just a low-budget municipal shell. The pathology wing is currently serving as an active logistical funnel for an unlisted black-market organ trafficking network."
Dr. Gadhi Lauren didn't blink, her green eyes narrowing as she adjusted the collar of her dark blue surgical scrubs. "A harvesting loop? Within a public county grid? That requires a localized administrative blind spot that modern digital insurance tracking should have flagged within six months."
"It is a protected blind spot, Gadhi," Athalia countered, her silver-rimmed eyes tracking a column of redacted surgical manifests scrolling past her left shoulder.
"The local agencies aren't ignoring the extraction numbers—they are actively changing the medical codes. The primary target operating through this specific facility is a high-tier asset code-named Buffalo Bill."
Julian in his habit adjusted his spectacles, his fingers resting light against the edge of his briefcase. "The name is a literary derivative of primitive echo."
"He moves exactly like the character in the text," Athalia said, her voice dropping into a chilling, flat cadence.
"He skins his casualties before the systemic cooling completes. He doesn't harvest for the black-market market value; he harvests for anatomical integration. And so far, every federal agency within the tri-state perimeter is deliberately covering his tracks, cleaning the tables before the local coroner can file a formal dental record."
She paused, her gloved fingers clicking a master command sequence into her console that caused the green lights on Julian's tablet to cycle into a deep, defensive amber.
"He is running a parallel trail to our teenagers," Athalia added, her gaze cutting back to the camera lens. "Stephenson thinks the wood incident was Bill's work. If the Vince Duchy connects Damon's feast to the skinned remains in the lower valley, they won't send a municipal van—they will burn the entire quarters down to the limestone. Keep your tools behind the lead line. The line is going hot."
With a sharp, geometric "click", her video feed went black, the encrypted link dissolving back into the static of the local microwave bands.
The silence that followed the disconnection was heavy, smelling of cold zinc and the sharp, old-water odor of the tiled floor. Julian did not resume his diagnostic setup; he remained standing by the stainless steel prep table, his eyes fixed on the empty third panel of the monitor screen.
"She's holding out than expected ," Adams said softly, his gravelly voice losing its competitive edge as he reached down to close the lid of the serum transport case.
He leaned his heavy back against the whitewashed stone wall, staring up at the low ceiling. "It's been exactly three weeks since the extraction failure in the western sector. Since Oscar's demise."
Gadhi took off her surgical cap, letting her long, dark braid fall over her shoulder as she leaned against the counter, her fingers tracing the edge of an empty glass beaker.
"She hasn't logged a single rest cycle since the funeral in Munich, and now she's running on adrenaline to do most things. When Oscar went down under the silver tracks, it must have really driven her over the edge*.
" Well it's understandable as she had taken care of him half his life before handing him over to crook for training in the operational block for nine years."
"And now Crook has withdrawn entirely," Julian murmured, his voice clean and devoid of color. He turned the large tablet over, setting it flat against the steel table.
"The gate logs indicate the old custodian didn't just abandon his pickup truck behind the maintenance annex because he smelled the wolf. He cleared his personal ledger and took the northern rail line back to the Gaspé Peninsula."
"The old man went back to the salt marshes," Adams grumbled, rubbing his temples where the gray hair was thickest.
"He spent forty years serving as the physical trainer for the MACE surface units, cleaning the floor tiles after Klaus flops and even Chris loose ends while keeping the human registration papers tight".
With Oscar dead and the university entering a state of absolute quarantine, Crook realized the few-years illusion was no longer stable. He chose the quiet of the coast over the inevitable fire in Ohio."
"We don't have the luxury of the coast," Gadhi said, her voice sharp and perfectly steady as she looked toward the heavy double doors that led to the hospital's central corridor.
"We are five minutes from the North Quad dorms, the Vince Duchy is definitely up to no good , if Bill gets into the municipal vacuum lines, he won't just be an independent skin-hunter in operation but an empowered hunter in every co ordinated where we stand on.