Null Avenue had been sealed off by the CCD.
The remains of the Water Treatnt plant still smoked faintly. Parts of the building had collapsed completely while demolition vehicles sat ruined across the street.
Detective Clarke stepped out of the CCD vehicle, umbrella tucked beneath one arm.
"A bit excessive for a labor protest," he remarked.
Cee Cee shut the door behind her. "You joke a lot."
"I cope beautifully under pressure."
She didn't answer.
Clarke walked slowly into the scene, eyes moving over twisted tal, scorched pavent and dried blood stains.
Then he crouched beside a fractured section of wall. His fingers touched the concrete lightly.
Nothing happened imdiately. Then his expression changed.
Not dramatically. Just stillness. The easygoing laziness vanished from his face completely.
Cee Cee watched carefully
The air around him felt quieter sohow. Clarke's eyes unfocused slightly.
And it ca.
Noise bled into fragnts. Running feet. Panic. Heat.
Then Intent, sharp, focused. Deliberate. A man kneeling beside the wall. Hands moving quickly. No hesitation.
Clarke exhaled slowly and removed his hand.
"Professional enough to stay calm," he murmured. "Nervous enough to rush the wiring."
Cee Cee frowned. "You saw him?
"Not exactly." Clarke stood. "More like… emotional fingerprints."
He continued walking.
Near the front of the destroyed area, the massive tal beam MacKayden had stopped the previous day still lay where it had been thrown aside.
The concrete beneath it remained shattered from the impact.
Clarke approached it slowly this ti, eyes still unfocused.
"Officer MacKayden caught this?" he asked.
Cee Cee's head was tilted. "Yes."
"Hm."
He placed a hand on the beam. Again, stillness.
This ti it hit harder.
Impact. Violence. Strain. A sudden burst of overwhelming force traveling through living muscle.
MacKayden.
Then Movent. A bicycle. A girl weaving through destruction. Wrong angles. Impossible adjustnts. No fear.
Clarke's brow furrowed slightly. The fragnts beca unstable. Distorted.
Then suddenly, nothing. Not darkness. Not silence.
Absence. Like reaching out and touching space where sothing should have been.
Clarke's eyes opened imdiately. For the first ti since arriving, he looked genuinely surprised
Cee Cee noticed. "What is it?"
Clarke stared at the beam for another second. Then slowly, a smile spread across his face.
Not amused, knowing. Interesting.
He stepped back casually, the shift in deanor so sudden it almost felt unnatural.
"Well," he said lightly, dusting his hands off. "That explains Officer MacKayden."
Cee Cee blinked. "Explain what?"
Clarke ignored the question completely.
"So. Important matter."
"What?"
He looked around Null Avenue seriously. "Where can I get lunch around here?"
Cee Cee stared at him. "That's your priority?"
"I investigate better when fed."
And just like that, whatever intensity had been there monts ago disappeared behind lazy eyes and a crooked smile.
***
Many shop owners were surprised to see a CCD vehicle park right opposite Gerry's Pizza.
Detective Clarke erged from the vehicle along with Officer Cee Cee.
"You picked this place awfully fast for soone new to the district." Cee Cee said.
"Funny. I don't rember telling my legs to co here."
Cee Cee scoffed, arms folded.
"Are you still coming to babysit or are you waiting out here?" Clarke asked.
Cee Cee jerked her head forward. "Go on. I'll wait."
"Or you could head back to the station, hearing there's plenty of ss to clean up."
Cee Cee gave him a hard look, then got into the vehicle and drove off.
Clarke smiled faintly as the vehicle disappeared around the corner.
He stared at the logo on the sign above the restaurant.
Sa sign. Sa storefront. Sa place from the fragnt.
***
Gerald was mopping the floor when the bell above the entrance rang.
He looked up
Detective Clarke stepped in casually, umbrella tucked beneath one arm.
"No custors?" Clarke asked, glancing around the empty restaurant. "Either business is terrible or I arrived at a spiritually important hour."
Gerald stared for a second. "What do you want?"
"Food preferably."
Gerald sighed and tossed the mop aside. "nu's on the wall."
Clarke studied it seriously. "Your prices offend ."
"Then leave."
"I admire your honesty. I'll take spaghetti."
Gerald walked off toward the kitchen muttering under his breath
A few monts later the door rang again.
Yesu stepped in wearing her delivery helt.
She headed straight for the counter, pulled off the helt and emptied folded bills from her pocket into the register.
Clarke watched quietly.
Gerald returned with a plate. "Take this to table three."
Yesu grabbed the plate without looking, walked over, then paused in recognition.
Clarke smiled lightly.
"Hello. I'm sure you rember ."
"Yes," Yesu said. "How long have you been in town?"
He shrugged. "A few days."
"Yesu," Gerald called from the counter. "Don't stand around talking to custors."
"Yes, boss."
She ignored him completely.
"So," she said to Clarke. "You were the Rank asking for at the Housing Unit."
"Your roommate almost stabbed with her eyes," Clarke said. "Sha really. She's quite beautiful."
"Kate doesn't like strangers."
"I noticed.
Yesu sat with him. "Why were you looking for ?"
Clarke twirled his fork once. "Curiosity mostly.
"That sounds suspicious."
"I'm a detective. Everything I do sounds suspicious."
Yesu accepted that surprisingly easily.
Clarke took a bite before speaking again. "You were around Null Avenue yesterday, weren't you?"
"Yes."
"And?
"There was an explosion."
"Insightful."
"I know."
Gerald snorted quietly from behind the counter, pretending to rearrange bottles.
Clarke held Yesu's gaze
"Do you still think about what happened three years ago?"
Yesu's expression barely shifted. "Sotis."
"That's healthy at least."
"I didn't know there was an unhealthy option."
"There usually is."
A pause settled comfortably.
Eventually, Clarke stood and walked to the counter, pulling out cash.
As Gerald counted the money, Clarke's fingers brushed lightly against Yesu's helt resting there.
He got nothing. Interesting.
"Well," Clarke said pleasantly as he headed out. "Try not to survive anything too dramatic before we et again."
"We'll see," Yesu replied dryly.
Clarke laughed once and left.
***
Kunjunni stood in an alley with the sa CCD officer from before.
"When will I get my money?" he asked.
The officer leaned against the wall, unimpressed
"For what? Rumors?"
Kunjunni frowned. "I told you, the girl's weird."
"So are half the people in this district."
"She got hit hard. Got back up as if nothing had happened."
The officer stared at him for a mont, then sighed.
"You want a reward? Bring proof."
Kunjunni's eyes narrowed slightly. "Proof?"
"Sothing real. Sothing I can show people above ." The officer pushed off the wall. "Until then, you've brought gossip."
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