The hours began to pass with exasperating slowness. The lack of information and the uncertainty weighed on everyone.
Ymonesou was in her room, lying on the bed. She trembled as tears streamed down her cheeks. Feeling exposed and accused by Ana made her feel rejected and hurt. Every sob revealed her deep sadness.
Lizen couldn't stand imagining her like that and decided to do something. She left her room silently and in a hurry. She walked through dark hallways until she reached Ymonesou's corridor. At the end, she saw a guard leaning against the wall. He wore a red uniform and a dark glass helmet that covered his eyes, but he looked stern. They stared at each other for a moment. The guard's gaze seemed to say, "Leave."
Frustrated, Lizen turned around to go back. But the guard radioed that she had left her room. On the way, she ran into another guard who approached immediately.
"Miss, don't you understand the gravity of the situation?" the android replied in a flat voice.
Lizen frowned and answered:
"You should understand that people have needs."
The guard turned his head. He waited a few seconds in silence and added:
"Your door will be sealed if you try to escape again."
Lizen, enraged, began to shout at him.
"You can't do this to me! Ymonesou needs me!" she yelled. But her words had no effect on the indifferent guard. The android simply gestured for her to leave.
With outward calm, Lizen clasped her hands in front of her and stared at the guard as she walked past. She reached her room and slammed the door shut. She felt powerless and trapped.
Outside, the guard continued patrolling, occasionally stopping to listen behind doors.
Rage and helplessness made her feel unbearably heavy. She wanted to hit something. She leaned against the cold wall, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly slid to the floor. She felt the dull thud of her knees hitting the ground. Sitting there, she let hatred fill her. She clenched her fists tightly and let out a growl.
With effort, she stood up. Her legs were shaking. Finally, she collapsed onto the mattress and hugged a pillow, which gave her some small comfort.
Her thoughts constantly returned to Ymonesou: her big blue eyes, filled with tears, pained her heart. Every judgmental look, every harsh word, and Ana's unfair accusation were destroying her friend. It hurt not being able to comfort her, and she couldn't bear the thought of her suffering alone. Tears began rolling down her cheeks. She buried her face in the pillow and promised herself she would clear Ymonesou's name and protect her from any harm. She couldn't stand the thought of losing her.
Exhaustion overtook her. Her eyelids grew heavy, her breathing slow and deep. Finally, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to sleep.
While tension and waiting dragged on inside the mansion under constant surveillance, outside, in the vast dark grounds, the search for the killer continued under the pale moonlight.
Hours passed, and a lone guard advanced with his flashlight through the darkness of the forest near the mansion. The light cut through the blackness, briefly illuminating tree trunks and undergrowth before stopping at an old moss-covered stone well. The air was cold, and the silence was broken only by the crunch of dry leaves under his boots. He walked around the structure, carefully examining the ground.
He stopped, activated his radio, and reported in a low voice:
"Unit 3 reporting from Sector 1, perimeter of the well. No visible footprints or signs of recent disturbance. Area is clear."
He waited a moment.
Another guard, covered in dust and cobwebs, emerged with difficulty from a nearby ventilation grate that connected to old service pipes, shaking his head.
"Nothing down here either, everything's sealed and unused," the second guard reported.
The first nodded and returned to the radio:
"Confirmed, no leads in Sector 1 or nearby underground access points. Proceeding as planned."
The response came almost immediately:
"Copy that, Unit 3. Move search teams to Sector 2. Focus on the creek boundaries."
The two guards exchanged a glance and headed toward the meeting point with the captain. They found him a few meters away, bent over a tablet reviewing footage from the cameras hours before the murder. The captain traced lines with his finger, giving instructions to another guard about new areas to cover. The nighttime search, hindered by darkness and the vast terrain, was yielding no results.
Far above them, in the imposing structure of the mansion, only the window of Ana's office remained lit. Inside, the atmosphere was tense. Ana repeatedly ran her fingers through her bright red hair. She sat rigidly at her desk, surrounded by screens displaying security camera angles and blueprints. An android guard stood motionless beside her, processing information.
A notification flashed on the guard's tablet.
"Any updates?" Ana asked sharply, without looking up from one of the screens.
The guard checked his device.
"Unit 5 reports finding partial footprints a few meters from the side hall entrance, where the incident occurred," he reported in a neutral voice. "They appear irregular, and the database can't positively identify them. They seem humanoid, but the inferred bone structure shows anomalies, as if the bones were twisted or malformed."
Ana enlarged the image sent to one of her screens. They were strange, unsettling. She sighed heavily.
"Inconclusive. Like everything so far," she muttered.
"Tell them to keep searching for anything unusual in that area."
She knew it was a vague order, but she had nothing better. She had spent hours coordinating, reviewing every protocol, every image, and there was nothing solid beyond… shadows?
She looked up at Lucas, who was comfortably settled on a sofa across from her. He had just finished a coffee brought to him by a service android moments earlier and was now gesturing to the same android for another.
"Still nothing to go on?" Lucas asked with a calmness that Ana found insulting.
The security chief looked at him coldly.
"And you? What have you done besides take up space and order coffee? Or are you waiting for us to solve everything for you?" Her voice was cutting.
Lucas stood up calmly, ignoring the hostility.
"Yes, Ana, that's how it works when you know how to delegate and trust your team. Something you, with your need to control everything, seem to forget."
He took the second coffee the android silently offered him.
"And what's the point of so much effort if you find nothing? I'm here, supervising in my own way."
"In your own way? Your way is doing nothing while the responsibility falls on everyone else," Ana shot back. "I've been here since it happened, reviewing every detail, every report. You showed up hours later!"
"Of course, a man was dying in my arms, and… the owner trusts my judgment in handling crises, not obsessive micromanagement," Lucas countered, taking a sip of his coffee. His tone was mocking. "Because I organize, I don't just give orders." He gestured with his hands for emphasis.
"In fact, I think it's time to report directly to the police or the owner. Someone has to tell them the real situation. Not like you, 'Chief'—you could land yourself in serious trouble for not reporting." He emphasized the last word with sarcasm that made Ana clench her jaw.
Lucas headed for the door.
"And now you're leaving? In the middle of this?" Ana asked, incredulous and furious.
Without turning back, Lucas walked out of the office, leaving Ana alone with her frustration.
She stared at the desk for a long moment, breathing deeply to control her anger.
"Calm down," she told herself quietly, though her voice trembled slightly. "You can solve this. You have to." But doubt, fueled by the lack of results, was beginning to weigh on her.