The wind howled over East City as if trying to warn the world of what was about to happen.
03:17 A.M.
The streetlights flickered. Shadows stretched across the road like claws reaching toward something just out of sight. The world held its breath.
Inside the Tucker residence, all lights were off.
Except one.
A faint orange glow pulsed beneath the door to the basement.
[STEALTH PROTOCOL: ACTIVE][Aural Suppression: ONLINE | Shadow Mask: 92% Efficiency][Timeline Sync Integrity: 96.4%][Location: Tucker Residence – Upper Floor Access Gained]
He was in.
MC materialized inside the hallway, his footsteps soundless, aura cloaked in a divine field granted by the Goddess of Will. The house smelled faintly of oil, chalk dust, and something rotten beneath it all. Not quite blood.
Not yet.
He crept past the study—papers strewn over the desk, schematics of alchemical circles, annotated books on chimera vocal cords—and paused at the staircase railing.
Down below, a door creaked open.
Heavy steps descended into the basement.
Shou Tucker.
Cradling Alexander under one arm.
[Observation Marker: CONFIRMED – Target has initiated Phase One of Fusion Sequence][Intervention Authorization: GRANTED][Secondary Priority: Secure Subject "Nina Tucker"]
No hesitation.
He turned, moving swiftly and silently to the end of the hallway.
Second door on the left.
Nina's room.
Inside, the girl slept curled up under mismatched blankets, clutching a stuffed rabbit. Her breath was calm. Unaware. Untouched.
He stepped into the room and reached out.
A soft pulse of silver-blue energy shimmered around his fingers. Divine Calm—a gift from the Goddess of Life—settled over her mind like a lullaby woven from starlight.
She stirred, blinked, and looked up at him. No fear. Just confusion.
"Are... are you one of Papa's friends?" she asked, voice small.
He knelt beside the bed, voice warm but steady. "No, little one. But I'm someone who cares very much about what happens to you."
Her eyes widened slightly. "You're... like a dream."
He smiled faintly. "Maybe. But this dream is going to take you somewhere safe."
[Dimensional Transfer Seal – GARDEN SANCTUM: ACTIVE][Ward Protocol: TYPE NEUTRALITY – Set for Human Presence][Emotional Harmonization: ENABLED]
A light shimmered under them both, forming a seal of shifting symbols and leaves that danced in the air. The divine crest of the Nature Goddess pulsed softly.
He laid a hand on her forehead. "You'll wake up in a garden. With kind Pokémon and no scary basements. Stay close to the little ones, alright?"
She didn't understand "what are pokemon ?" But she knows one thing that the person in front of her is a kind person just like her mother and then --
She nodded sleepily. "Will Papa come too?"
He said nothing.
[TRANSFER COMPLETE: Subject "Nina Tucker" – SAFE ZONE STATUS: VERIFIED]
The room dimmed as the magic faded. The silence that followed was louder than thunder.
MC stood, face unreadable.
He had work to do.
The basement was off-limits… for now. Tucker was about to begin.
Instead, MC turned toward the study.
A flick of his fingers summoned glowing glyphs across the air—recording sigils passed from the God of Knowledge and the Goddess of Fortune both. Every drawer opened itself silently. Every document lifted and turned pages. Every secret was peeled back.
He found the first file.
"Subject: Chimera Test – Female (Unnamed, Deceased)."
He read every line.
She had begged him to stop. There were notes on her screams, on her lung capacity post-transmutation, and cold metrics on her vocal deterioration.
He didn't vomit.
He didn't cry.
But something inside him stopped breathing for a moment.
[Evidence Archive – Phase One: COMPLETE][Subject "Tucker, Shou" – Charges: Spousal Disappearance (Cover-Up), Unauthorized Transmutation, Pending Child Endangerment][Judgment Timeline – 4 Hours Remain Until Violation Trigger]
The bedroom door creaked open behind him.
Footsteps in the hall.
Not Nina's.
He didn't move from his place by her bookshelf.
He simply waited.
Let the monster walk in, expecting to find his daughter asleep.
Let the monster realize what he had lost.
[Stealth Field: SUSPENDED][Presence Concealment: RELEASED]
Footsteps stopped outside the door.
The knob began to turn.