Cam teetered in his office chair as he thought about the remaining 24 hours this level had before the rising water got here. How did they know? he thought as he stared into the darkness of his computer screen. A lot of things in Howl, even to the police force, weren't explained clearly, and with the reality of Potentials and Distortions, anything could be impacted.
"What are you doing, big boy?" a rough youthful voice said behind Cam. Jumping as if caught doing something he shouldn't, he turned around, careful not to meet the gaze of the person standing in the entrance of his cubicle.
Dressed in all white, the person's skin looked almost translucent with its paleness, but from his features you could tell he shared the same lineage as Cam. From his full lips, high cheekbones, and curly but pale blonde hair. Though what probably threw people off the most, if folks could see them, would probably be his ice cold blue eyes. His self-proclaimed name? Light.
"What are you doing in my office, Lie?" Cam snorted, turning back to the black screen of his computer. Though it was clearly 1 in the morning, his partner had yet to return, and he had already reported it to the chief. He was supposed to be awaiting his reassigned partner…
"No," Cam whispered, but before he could turn back, Light had already moved to whisper in his ear.
"That's right, Cammy. I'm your new partner, and you know if I'm here, then she's here too—"
"Don't touch him, Light. He's clearly on the brink of insanity," a more feminine voice said from behind Light.
Cam rolled his eyes, still looking away from the pair he should have known he would be paired with. The Chief must have gotten tired of all his partners dying, so he assigned the most enigmatic duo for him to take care of. With a deep breath, he turned around to face Light and the girl named De.
"Alright, I need to know your Potentials and Distortions. If we're going to be partners, we have to be on the same page—no, same sentence, actually." Cam talked fast and made sure to look neither of them in the eyes, just in case their abilities had any ocular capability. In fact, it was normal practice in the police force to turn away from touching, looking people in the eye, or speaking people's real names due to the collection of Potentials and Distortions they had in the database for reference.
Technically, he should have known more about these two, but their profiles were under wraps due to the nature of their work. Both Light and De were considered daggers in the database, which meant that all of their history and distinctions were strictly classified for the sake of their missions. Their deadly, dark, and dubious missions—the kind that required operatives who could eliminate threats without hesitation.
"Cammy! No! We can't tell you all our secrets on the first date—we're not that easy on first meetings," Light responded, lifting his voice to a high octave as he emphasized 'date.'
"Of course, we know yours though," De said, opening her eyes not in surprise but in focus as she stared at Cam. "Cam Reginald Pearson. 6'5", brown skin, brown eyes, 270 lbs. Kind of reckless but dedicated to the police force. Potential: self-infliction, while distortion has something to do with the constitution of your body." De explained, never breaking her gaze from Cam.
Cam nodded his head at her little debrief. His file wasn't under wraps, and he didn't really mind since his abilities weren't as flashy or even useful compared to these two.
"Look, Cam, we have a mission Chiefy wants us to do before we leave Howl, and it has something to do with those teens you were tailing," Light said softly, as if he didn't really care.
Cam's eyebrows perked up. Another mission chasing those kids—why were they so important to the force? The teenagers had been nothing but pickpockets and petty thieves as far as he knew. Sure, they had some interesting abilities, but nothing that warranted this level of attention.
"Ok, ok, I can think of a few ways to capture them this time," Cam started.
"Capture?" De's voice cut through his planning. "Buddy, we're on this mission. You must know they're going to die."
The words hit Cam like ice water. He'd taken many orders from above, chased down dozens of suspects, dealt with dangerous Potentials and Distortions that could tear a person apart. But he had never received a direct order to kill children. His mind raced—what could teenagers have done to warrant a death sentence? What made them dangerous enough to send daggers after them?
De turned around and left without another word. Light nodded and followed her, while Cam sat there, struck silent by the weight of what lay ahead.