"We have arrived at the target location, currently on standby."
[Confirmed. We expect great results from you.]
BZZT!
The HQ operator's voice was as cold as ice. Shelly, who was appointed as our field operator before, was replaced at the request of minister Isaac Raven. Francis would also personally supervise today's capture operation.
'In the end, I didn't get a chance to talk with Ilyas.'
Because of an urgent order from Francis telling me to immediately deploy, I had no time to straighten things up with him.
"Captain, the target is here."
I focused my gaze on my surroundings. Our target had moved deep into the city, wandering the streets and blending in perfectly like a human. Fortunately, there's one thing that could help differentiate it – the clothes. It still wore the same clothes over the last five days, which made it look like a homeless person covered in dirt and dust.
Standing on top of a building's rooftop, we could easily spot it.
"Let's follow it."
Capturing it directly would gather too much attention, we needed to follow it quietly until it went to a less crowded place.
After following it for a few hours, I noticed that its mannerisms actually resembled a human – a weird human to be exact.
Tangled hair covering its face, slumped shoulder and bare feet, skin as pale as a corpse - it looked like a ghost haunting the street. But other than appearance, it actually knew common sense, like walking on the side road and waited for the red light when it crossed the street.
The creature's adaptability was horrifyingly fast.
The sun had almost set, but the creature still wandered endlessly. It wasn't until the sky had turned black that it started to move.
From wandering aimlessly in a crowded street to walking on the alley. This was a method it had used to ensure no one detected its way of consuming humans.
We followed it to the alley, closing in slowly without startling it.
When the alley was empty enough, we immediately sprang into action.
"Capture it."
I dashed as I pulled out my dagger. Noticing my presence, the mimic transformed back to its monstrous appearance – trying to run away.
An earth wall created by my team cut its escape route. Vines caught its limbs, stopping its movement.
SLASH!
THUD!
Not a single scream slipped out from its mouth as its head was separated from its body.
I flicked off the blood left on my dagger, watching the lifeless mimic on the ground.
Once they were dead, the head actually transformed back to the face they copied. As if acting like humans wasn't enough, they tried to guilt-trip us into thinking we killed another human.
"Wait, this is not the minister's wife."
The face it transformed back into was similar to the minister's wife, but there's contrast difference in the nose and eye color. The previous two didn't have this problem, they were exact copy of the human they mimic.
'This is making me uneasy.'
So I decided to let the HQ know.
[Bring the body to the lab, we'll analyze it.]
Francis was the one who answered.
"Roger."
Left with no choice, I moved my team to clean up the traces of battle.
Because of that, I didn't notice a more prominent enemy was moving behind the scenes. Observing us from the shadows.
.
.
"The lab test came out, the DNA shows it was a completely different person."
Francis' words were like a nail stabbing into my heart.
I reread the lab test result paper in my hand again and again but the content was still the same. So how could another person also turn into a mimic?
"Researchers claimed that 'the mimic' isn't actually copying its target but actually infecting the brain, like a parasite controlling the body. That explained its human-like behavior and its ability to manipulate sympathy."
"Then what about the clothes? That didn't explain how it could wear the same clothes as the minister's wife."
Francis raised his head at my question, "Why do you think we could only find it on the third day?"
It was a rhetorical question.
"It's capable of adapting. Unlike the other two, it knows if it goes based on its human emotions, it will be killed. So it moves based on human logic. Switching clothes and creating a decoy is part of its plan."
'It has intelligence?'
"Then, all the blood marks left behind were…"
"Probably humans turned into a mimic."
'So they weren't eaten, but turned.'
My speculation was completely wrong. If it's a parasite, then over the past two days, it was hiding while multiplying, injecting itself into human society.
I focused my gaze on the lab result again. One thing that had been catching my attention was the result of autopsy.
[A black tentacle in the spine.]
They didn't use this in battle, but this might be why there's no trace of escape around the blood marks. They used this tentacle to leave the area. But that left one question unanswered.
"Is it possible that it left the marks behind to confuse us?"
'Why would they leave the blood marks to begin with?'
If they had the intelligence of a human, it would be common sense to cover up the crime scene and clean up the mess they had created. But from this pattern, it seemed to be misleading us somewhere while they were building something sinister behind our watch.
These blood marks might be another decoy from them.
"That's what we speculate as well." Francis confirmed my theory, "This creature might be more intelligent than we thought."
'That makes hunting it even harder.'
I frowned, the edge of papers in my hand was crumpled under the pressure of my fingers.
This was turning into something too big to handle secretly. It wasn't only our team's problem anymore, it had become a national threat that could eliminate humanity.
"We'll collect more data to hunt down these parasites. Go back and rest for today."
Francis patted my shoulder, telling me to leave, which I quietly obeyed.
"Yes sir."
A sigh almost escaped my lips. To completely hunt down these monsters, we needed to combine the manpower of detectives and B-Rank detection espers — something I had no authority over.
So I left this case to Francis and went back to our team's meeting room, where my teammates from Team Zero were.
"Ilyas."
Ilyas was sipping tea while scrolling through his phone. At my call, he raised his gaze.
"Let's head back together."