Vex paused again, the sole of his shoe halting mere inches from the man's broken body.
"Who?"
"A security guard," he gasped, the words tumbling out in a desperate rush.
Vex cold blue eyes narrowed slightly.
"A guard." The word was flat, a prompt for more.
"Yes! A male guard," the man insisted, clinging to this new thread. "He was the first person I saw that tried to steal the ability core. Before you, before anyone else!"
"Steal?" Vex repeated.
The air in the surrounding seemed to grow thicker, heavier, as if the very molecules were tightening in response to his focus.
"But... he couldn't steal it! He didn't. He is dead already, I killed him." The man's voice was frantic, pleading for Vex to understand. "I swear it. He was impossibly dead. I felt his bones break. I left him broken, totally destroyed!"
"Dead?" Vex repeated, the single word laced with a skepticism that felt like a physical chill.
"Yes, he is dead," the man replied, a desperate certainty in his eyes.
