There were the black cars of the Kratians, lined at the side of the road. They themselves were walking around. Jack was afraid they had come to investigate the destruction he had caused while testing out his Ikanamis. He told Diana to get ready to go and hide the moment he asked her to, just in case his suspicions were correct.
The Ortho Sapiens were yelling around, shouting, and firing their guns into the sky.
"Twenty-seven humans, all fully armed. I think I can take them down with my Ikanamis unless they have a trump card," he muttered to himself.
"Jack, you don't plan on going outside, do you?" said Diana, pale with worry.
"If it comes to that, I will. I have my Ikanami now—they're little fries for me," he said confidently.
"Please, don't. Let's run away if it comes to that. I can't lose you," she said, grabbing his arms.
"Alright, I'll try not to, but please let go of me. I need to be at the ready to create a diversion if necessary."
"Okay," she said, hesitatingly letting go of him.
Jack looked outside again. He noticed they were carrying something to the fire and throwing it in. He squinted—the Ortho Sapiens were carrying dead bodies and disposing of them in the fire. Occasionally, they would shoot one of the bodies for fun.
Jack looked up. There were numerous such fires visible as orange pinpricks in the distance, their smoke columns faintly visible in the moonlight. Jack relayed this to Diana. She, too, came to the window and prayed for the parting souls—a custom the Kratians had picked up from human society.
"They're clearing up the evidence and removing the threats of ethereal revenants," he said.
When a Kratian dies, the energy in their Dantain remains trapped in them. A few days later, when the body starts to decay, the Kana pathway is exposed. The stored energy acts as a magnet, continuing to fill the Dantain of the departed. When the concentration becomes high enough, the energy forcefully divides the dead cells into life. However, once lost, consciousness cannot return. The dead wake up, their bodies stop rotting, and due to the high Kana energy inside them, they end up charred, emitting blue flames at all times. Their eyes glow blue, along with the many cracks on their bodies.
They attack anything with a high enough concentration of Kana energy, which is always present in Kratians. They are not affected by Kana energy attacks and can only be damaged by physical attacks. They can concentrate Kana energy into small energy balls, which, upon impact, result in massive explosions. When attacked with Kana energy, they not only take no damage but also absorb the energy.
When a revenant gathers enough energy, their Dantain explodes, causing a blast with a radius of several meters.
Hence, they only attack Kratians and devices that operate on Kana energy.
The Ortho Sapiens had finished clearing the bodies. They added more wood to the fire and then left.
Diana and Jack also went back to sleep a bit later.
7:00 A.M.
Jack was woken up by the sound of Diana cleaning the house. Diana's family still didn't have any house robots—they hadn't bought them because they believed cleaning around the house was great exercise. Jack got up, freshened up, and headed to where Diana was.
Diana was cleaning on the ground floor. Jack went to her, said good morning, and climbed to the first floor, where he took a wet cloth and cleaned the blood from the floor. Then, he broomed the floor and mopped it clean.
When Diana came upstairs, she got angry with Jack for cleaning, as he was her guest. Jack said it was alright—they were friends, and he would help around. Diana thanked him and hurried off to get ready for the day. Jack, too, headed to the bathroom, took a shower, and came out into the hall. Diana was still in the bathroom, probably bathing.
Jack hurried off to the kitchen and prepared breakfast. Diana came out of the bath and was again surprised by Jack's help. She thanked him for the food, and they had breakfast.
"Well, might as well get going. Time for the verification plan to start," he said, getting up after finishing his food.
"Alright, but are you sure? It's quite risky," she said, worried.
"Everything we do now will involve risk," he said firmly as he put on normal clothes.
"Let's just hope we don't have to undergo the risk then."
"Mhm," Jack nodded.
Diana hurried off to her room and got ready. Her straight black hair was tied into a bun, and she put on a light brown long coat over her white T-shirt and jeans. She came out a few minutes later to find Jack, who was already dressed—wearing a black T-shirt over white joggers. His dressing style was plain as ever.
He had his holo watch on his left wrist and his Ortho Sapien band on his right.
"Shall we get going then?" he said, smiling at her.
They got out of the house, and Jack took out his Ortho Sapien car from Diana's garage, sparkling in a deep black color. He opened the door for Diana, and she got in.
"When they ask for your ID, give them this," he said, handing her an identity card showing the name Morgan Smith. Jack had grafted Diana's picture onto the original one.
"Where did you get this?"
"It was in the pockets of an officer killed by Franklin. Probably his wife's."
Diana nodded. Jack started driving, and they headed to the police station.
Even though the government was split, the police department was shared between the two races. That meant that humans' Pittsburgh and Kratians' New Pittsburgh shared a common police station.
10:00 A.M.
They reached the police station. The building was located in Pittsburgh, which was teeming with life and activity—unlike New Pittsburgh, which was completely in shambles. Jack and Diana entered the building.
"Sir, I want to file a missing report for my friend. They have been missing since yesterday," Diana said at the help desk.
"Alright, madam. Head to that counter—you'll find Officer Jones there. Talk to him," the officer said.
"Thank you," Diana said and headed to the designated place.
Jack observed his surroundings. He noticed a few people wearing the Ortho Sapien wristbands. He didn't stare too much so as not to raise suspicion.
Diana started telling the officer fake information. Jack initiated his psychic Ikanami and used it on the officer.
"My name is Morgan Smith. I am a human who lives in Apartment 472 of the building Sunshine Heights. I am a human, and my friend, Damian Wilson, hasn't come home since yesterday. We live together. Please look into the matter," Diana said, looking worried and sad.
"We will, ma'am, but we'll need some more details, like when he left the house and what he works as," the officer said calmly.
Diana started telling him the various fake details she had conjured up on the way there. Jack was listening to the officer's thoughts. He was behaving normally, writing down statements, and thinking through various possibilities. Diana continued with more details.
At that moment, Jack sensed a rapid fluctuation in Kana energy behind him. He turned swiftly, still not revealing his energy. Ambulance sirens blared outside the building.
A few officers were coming out of the inmate section, dragging another officer out of the place. Jack used his psychic Ikanami on the man, sensing Kana energy from him. The man's mind was full of chaos—multiple voices speaking at once, making it impossible for Jack to understand anything. However, the man kept saying no, denying whatever the voices were telling him.
Jack exerted more energy into the man's mind, still unable to distinguish anything. The man looked at Jack for a second, then looked away.
As they passed by Jack, the officer suddenly utilized a large amount of Kana energy, lunging at him and knocking him to the ground.
"I will kill you! I will kill you! You DAMN PEOPLE WHO KILLED MY KIN!" the officer shouted.
"You are not one of the society, are you? Watch out for them... They can use Kana energy to..... ," he whispered in Jack's ears before the officers came and hurried him off.
Jack was left on the ground in a daze. That man was a Kratian, and he had recognized Jack by sensing who was invading his mind.
Officer Jones had gotten up, and he offered Jack a hand and helped him onto his feet.
"Thank you. What was that just now?" Jack asked.
"That was Officer Simian. Workload is getting to him, and he has started hallucinating things. Please overlook the matter; we are taking him to a hospital," Jones said, looking outside as the officers forced Simian into the ambulance.
"I see. Hope he gets well soon," Jack said, brushing dirt off his clothes.
Diana finished her report, and they got into the car. They started out, and once they were on the highway, Jack told her what happened.
"Who are 'they'?" Diana asked.
"I don't know, but that was a good heads-up. I hope he breaks free and runs," said Jack.
'They'—who could they be? What can they do with Kana energy? Numerous such questions were welling up in their brains, yet the answer was nowhere to be found.
They reached home, and Jack parked the car in Diana's garage. He told Diana that he would sleep during the day so he could keep watch at night and look out for any Ortho Sapiens that had infiltrated the police and followed them here.
They had lunch, and Jack went off to rest to prepare for the night.