Behind them, Zara and Susie had silently made her way up the cliff face, joining them. Zara held Susie in her hands, and dropped her as Valeria did Marcus.
Lumi looked at the architecture around them. Whether by design or coincidence, their random spot had landed them right at the main entrance. Of course, despite being shaped like an entrance, it was doubtful what purpose it served.
Seals would enter through the seal tunnels below. The only way to get where they were was to either make their way up the cliff face, or exit the building through that entrance.
He sensed around and felt a shiver run down his spine from the several gazes he must be receiving. Elara was right, they were being watched, and whoever was doing it didn’t want to be seen.
"Stay alert." Valeria spoke quietly, her hand resting casually on her sword, and her body moving closer to Lumi to protect him.
"Calm." Lumi commanded. "We’ll proceed as if everything is normal. We don’t want to be overly aggressive until we understand the situation."
Lumi’s mind raced through possibilities.
The Wings of Darkness had already shown they were involved in Mora’s corruption. If they’d infiltrated this deep into seal territory, the situation was worse than anyone suspected. Even Lumi himself had thought it would take months until it got this bad.
He didn’t hear this part from Rena in his past life. Nothing about infiltration among the seals themselves. Though he could give an accurate enough guess.
The group looked back at the entrance with suspicion.
As they approached, a seal erged from one of the water-access points, shaking droplets from his sleek coat. He was exactly as Johno described. Light cyan in color, wearing a pink scarf wrapped multiple tis around his neck and a brown muffler hat that looked ridiculous.
Lumi narrowed his eyes, and clearly, the other Knights were thinking the sa.
What a coincidence that we found the seal we were told about first, and not anyone else?
"Visitors!" Dahni called out, his voice carrying a note of surprise mixed with concern. "And Aria Knights, no less. I wasn’t expecting... that is, we weren’t notified..." He trailed off, clearly flustered.
"We’re here on behalf of the Unified Mora Council." Lumi said, producing the seal Johno had given them. "Investigating irregularities related to the corruption."
Dahni’s eyes widened as he examined the seal. "Oh! Oh, yes, of course. Please, co in. I’m Dahni, manager of food preservation and warehouse operations here. I... well, to be honest, I’m glad you’re here. There have been so concerning developnts."
They followed him through the entrance into a heated interior. The station was larger than it appeared from outside, with multiple levels connected by ramps designed for seal bellies. It was a bit harder for humans to move, but still possible. The walls were lined with storage units, monitoring equipnt, and what looked like an extensive network of pneumatics.
"Concerning developnts?" Lumi prompted, watching Dahni’s body language carefully. The seal seed genuinely nervous, though only ti would tell if he was hiding sothing.
"Yes, well..." Dahni glanced around nervously, then gestured for them to follow him to a more private office space. Once inside, with the door firmly closed, he continued in a lower voice. "There have been seals moving through the warehouse areas who... who don’t seem right."
"Explain." Lumi said, leaning forward slightly.
Dahni wrung his flippers together, in a light show of distress. "They have the right markings, the right general appearance, but sothing’s off. They move differently. And they’ve been accessing areas I’m never aware were going to be accessed, moving supplies, rearranging shipnts. When other seals try to question them, they just... it’s so professional. They give their identifications and there’s always so justification giving them permission."
"And no one’s reported this?" Lumi asked, incredulous. Was the base infiltrated, or was it completely overtaken! "That seems like sothing worth ntioning to security."
"That’s the thing." Dahni said miserably. "They have identification. They have authorization codes. All of which I didn’t authorize! On paper, everything checks out. But I’ve worked here for fifteen years, and I’ve never seen these seals before. And the way they move..." He shuddered.
Of course.
Lumi wasn’t surprised at all. One of the favorite tactics of the Wings of Darkness was infiltration. He then asked. "Can you show us where these suspicious seals typically appear?"
"The side warehouse," Dahni said imdiately. "Level three. They’re probably there now. They seem to work in shifts, always at least two or three present."
"We’ll investigate." Lumi decided. "Dahni, stay here. Lock the door after we leave and don’t open it for anyone except us."
"You think it’s that serious?" Dahni’s voice rose slightly.
"We’ll find out." Lumi spoke seriously. "But better safe than sorry."
They made their way to the warehouse level, moving quietly and even stealthily. This was despite them having full right and authority to be present.
The warehouse was massive, filled with preserved foods, dical supplies, and various equipnt needed to maintain life in the harsh arctic environnt. And there, just as Dahni had said, were three seals moving among the storage units.
Zara guided them to just the right patch of shadow, and channeled her power, turning them all unnoticeable. From that vantage point, they spied on the seals below.
At first glance, they looked normal.
They had gray coats with black spots, moving with the sa gait a seal uses on land. But as Lumi watched, he noticed what Dahni ant. Their movents were too abrupt. Real seals had a fluid quality to their motion. These seals moved strangely stiff.
After five minutes, the silence was finally broken by Zara. "Those aren’t seals. "We’ve been watching them for five minutes. They haven’t spoken, haven’t acknowledged each other, they have only worked."
"Spies?" Marcus suggested. "They don’t have a reason to slack off or acknowledge each other if they are infiltrators on a mission."
"Maybe." Valeria responded, but she squinted her eyes. "Those movents... they could be constructs made to look like seals."
Lumi made a decision. "We confront them. If they’re legitimate workers, or not, we can see."
"We’re ready." Valeria, Marcus, and Zara all prepared themselves, ready to move alongside their leader.
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