"Jody?!"
Even Syd Barrett himself hadn't realized when Jody had slipped behind the officer.
"..."
Joy didn't resist. She stood frozen in place.
"....."
"Don't play smart with me... hand over the gun."
With Jody's power trained on the back of her neck, the female officer had no choice but to comply. She leaned just enough for Jody to pull the gun out from its holster.
"Syd. Watch this one."
Hearing a curse from Jody's mouth was chilling. It only meant one thing—this was serious.
Syd followed her instructions without protest. He approached Joy and stripped her of every single piece of gear she had—badges, utility belt, shoulder comms—everything.
Then Jody whispered to him.
"Syd... Just go with it, alright? I need your backup for a second."
"...."
He had no idea what the hell was going on, but something deep in his gut told him to listen to her. He couldn't explain it, but for once, the guy with the oversized ego did as he was told.
"...Alright."
Rachel and Amy, the two remaining civilians in the shop, looked on with horror.
Then, without warning, Syd pointed his gun at them—and shoved the disarmed Joy over to their side. All three women were now grouped together on the other end of the shop.
Jody leaned toward Syd and muttered,
"Line them up against the wall."
"...Fine."
Syd cocked his gun and barked a command at the three.
"Alright, bitches—turn around and get your asses to that wall."
Joy snapped back. "You're armed in an airport! You're a terrorist—!"
Bang!
A .45 round whizzed past her face and shattered a vase behind the counter with a loud crash. Joy flinched in terror.
"You wanna walk or crawl? Your call."
Syd spoke without an ounce of compassion.
"...I'll go..."
"Then fucking go already."
The three women exchanged glances, then slowly turned and walked to the wall.
"Hands up! On the wall!"
The three raised their hands.
Once they reached the wall, Syd gave his next order with the same ferocity.
"Palms on the wall. Over your heads!"
Jody touched Syd's shoulder and whispered thanks.
"...Thanks, Syd. I've got it from here."
She pulled up a nearby chair, set it down, and took a seat—finally resting her legs.
"If any of you so much as twitch—Syd, shoot."
"With pleasure."
Syd grinned wickedly.
The three women froze against the wall.
Syd glanced over at Autumn's blood-soaked body on the floor.
"How is he?"
"Not a single breath left in him, Syd..."
Jody's words told him everything. Autumn was dead.
Despite everything—despite being on opposite sides—Autumn had been his senior from the same school.
Syd closed his eyes for a brief moment, honoring the man.
Once he was back in focus, Jody began.
"One of you... maybe two... maybe all three... are the reason we're trapped in here right now. Gotta admit, that little poisoning stunt? Smooth as hell. I didn't see it coming..."
She narrowed her eyes at the group.
"No ordinary poison causes someone to vomit that much blood. This wasn't chemical. This was a power—or worse, a technique—that one of you used. So I'll give you a chance. Fess up. I don't expect much, but... who slipped poison into our drinks?"
"....."
"....."
Silence.
"Hah! A third grader could figure this out. Only one of you had to touch our food."
"..."
The blonde barista, Amy, twitched at his words. She turned sharply toward him.
"Yeah. You, blondie. I had my eyes on you."
"W-Wait! You can't just accuse me like that! I don't even know you people!"
Jody stood up and stepped forward, sliding past Syd.
"Easy, Syd. Let me take this one. We're getting there."
She walked up to Amy. Now they were face to face.
"You said you've worked here how long?"
"Two weeks..."
"Uh-huh. Two weeks. So you must know Vivie—the owner—the one who hired you, right?"
"...Yes."
"And what's Vivie like? Tell me."
"Well... she's loud... likes to yell at the staff... but she's kind deep down..."
"Mm. That's right. Vivie's temperamental. Mood swings like a pendulum. But one thing kept her staff loyal—she was fair."
Jody kept going.
"She's a perfectionist. She knows this shop's in an airport, with customers from all over the world coming in and out. So she's strict—especially with the night shift, because they represent her brand. And if you really worked here... you'd know Vivie never left this place unattended. Not even once."
Syd, chuckling behind them: "...Oh ho ho... here we go..."
"This place is her home. Sure, she leaves around 10 PM, goes home, comes back the next day. But here's the catch, Amy. Vivie leaves after ten. And when we came in here, it was barely nine."
"Still, maybe her mom's sick or something. Okay, fine... I'll let that slide."
Jody exhaled slowly.
"But two weeks on the night shift? The most scrutinized position she has? And you forgot the shop's number one rule?"
Syd: "Wait, what rule?"
"...Vivie's shop... never serves vegan food."
! ! !
"Vivie hates vegans. That might be a flaw of hers, but that's who she is. Yes, this is an airport—but this is still Vivie's shop, and that woman would never, ever serve vegan food here. And since the vegan sandwich never existed in the first place—how could it possibly be out of stock?"
Syd grinned wide—clearly pleased he'd trusted Jody to lead.
"And this uniform..."
Jody pointed at Amy's outfit.
"When I grabbed your arm, I noticed right away. Like I said, Vivie's obsessed with perfection. Her uniforms are specific. Sure, the blue skirt is for employees. But the silk blouse you're wearing? Know what that is?"
"...."
"It's manager-only. Regular staff wear cotton. Maybe someone not from here wouldn't know that... but I do."
Still, Amy held her composure.
"You're just making stuff up! How would you know better than me?! Just because I wore the wrong—"
"I never said you poisoned us."
Amy froze.
"I never said you spiked our drinks. I said... you're not staff."
! ! ! !
"What I believe is... you and your 'friend' worked out a plan together. Set everything up just right so you could take him out"—she pointed to Syd—"and snatch the kid."
Syd stepped beside her. Jody leaned her shoulder against his.
"But you didn't expect Autumn. And you really didn't expect me—a former employee."
She tapped her chest.
"You worked here?"
Jody smiled before stepping close to Amy again—this time with a swirling ball of air energy trained on her chest.
"So sure, you could've lied about Vivie going home. Maybe she did. Maybe she was sick of the shop. I might've even believed that. Maybe she finally accepted vegans. Who knows?"
"But what I can't ignore... is that you're wearing a manager's blouse with an employee's skirt. That doesn't add up. That's why I can say—you don't work here. And if you don't work here... then Vivie and the rest are probably dead, buried somewhere beneath that cursed ground!"
At that moment, Amy's white shirt bloomed red as air bullets blasted into her torso.
"UGHAAARGHHH!!!"
She collapsed instantly, rolling with the force of the blast, face planting into her own blood.
"You killed Vivie."
Thwip!
A final air bullet drilled through her skull.
She died on the spot.
Just to be sure, Jody knelt down, ripped open Amy's bloodied shirt with another air shot—and there it was.
A syringe. Filled with green liquid, rolling out from her bra.
" THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYIN' !!!! I FUCKING KNEW IT!!!"
Syd said.
" Boss! you're so sharp! ", Sally glazed innocently.
Now that one of them was taken out, Jody looked up and continued speaking.
"Whether her name was Amy or not... one impersonator is gone. But the ground outside is still unstable... which means the real source is still here. That brings us to the next one..."
That person—was "Joy".
"At first, I was suspicious... Someone like Sgt. Harvey working with a cop like you? Or maybe... you're not even a real cop to begin with?"
Jody held up Joy's gun, the one she had confiscated, and handed it to Syd. He inspected it and found...
"This... isn't a standard-issue British police gun..."
Syd said.
British police usually don't carry firearms. But if they do, they're issued a Glock Model 17 or 19.
But this... this gun wasn't a Glock.
It was a Stoeger STR-9.
If it's holstered at the hip like normal, no one would notice the difference while walking around. But Autumn saw through it. He aimed at her because he'd already marked her in his mind from the beginning. Still... why did Sergeant Harvey take the bullet for her? That's something even I can't explain. But I did notice—every time Harvey spoke, she turned her back to us. That convinced me they were working together... and that they'd done something to Harvey.
Without hesitation, Jody shot Joy point-blank with an air bullet—first in the torso, then in the head. Blood exploded from the woman's body, splattering all over Rachel, who was standing nearby. The woman screamed in terror, curling up on the ground, trembling uncontrollably.
Joy's body collapsed on top of Amy's lifeless corpse.
Jody reloaded the air bullets into her fingertips, then walked up and aimed at the heads of both bodies.
Boom!
Their skulls burst open like water balloons, leaving behind unrecognizable remains.
"..."
Jody smirked, withdrew her finger, and turned to the last remaining suspect.
Rachel.
The tan-skinned woman was now crouched low, hands clutching her head, shaking in fear.
"Alright... what should we do with this one?"
Syd stepped up beside Jody. Sally tried her best not to step in the pool of blood, now mixed from so many different people.
"No idea... is the floor still unstable?"
Syd led Sally to the window. The white tear gas outside had begun to clear, and he tried to focus on the ground. But what he saw made his blood run cold—the floor was still bubbling unnaturally.
"Shit—!"
He spun around with panic etched across his face. Jody read his expression instantly and realized—things were not okay yet.
She turned to aim her finger at Rachel, but just then, a gun barrel emerged from the floor—pointed directly up at Jody.
A flash of light and a deafening bang followed.
Bang!
The moment Jody saw the gun, she jerked her head aside—not fast enough to dodge entirely, but enough for the bullet to only graze her shoulder. It tore through her jacket, leaving a bright red spray in its wake.
"JODY!!!"
Suddenly, the ground beneath Syd and Sally gave way without warning.
"Whoa—?!"
The floor swallowed both of them before they could react. Jody screamed at the top of her lungs as she watched her friends disappear.
"SYYYYDDDDDD!!!"
Standing across from Jody, now collapsed on the floor, was the "tan-skinned woman" who claimed to be Rachel. But her eyes were completely different from the person Jody had spoken with earlier.
The moment slowed.
Jody raised her finger and fired an air bullet—but Rachel was quicker. She stomped her stiletto heel straight into Jody's face, striking hard and clean.
Jody's vision went black for a moment, her eyes shut from the blow by instinct.
Rachel wasted no time. She pointed the Stoeger STR-9 and fired directly at Jody. But Jody launched herself forward just in time, grabbing the barrel of the gun mid-shot.
!!!
The two women wrestled for the weapon—back and forth, until finally, Rachel gained the upper hand and threw Jody across the room.
CRASH!
Jody slammed into the cashier counter and rolled down behind it.
CRACK!
"AAARGHHHHHHH!!"
Her leg broke from the impact.
Jody clenched her teeth against the pain.
"...Syd's aura has faded away!?"
Which meant her body was no longer reinforced by metallic properties. Her body had returned to normal.
She bit down hard. Her hands trembled violently. Anger surged in her chest—and her mind raced, searching for any possible way to turn the tide.