Malik dragged Kyle by the arm through the hallway, half-carrying, half-dragging him. Kyle's feet barely kept up, his body limp from Lucy's "greeting."
"Stay awake..." Malik muttered. "Don't make me explain to the higher-ups how you died five minutes after arriving.
Kyle groaned. "I'm… fine…"
They were halfway to medical when rapid footsteps echoed behind them.
"Malik!" Faith skidded to a stop, panting. "Paul's calling you. And he said it was urgent."
Malik let out a suffering sigh. "Of course he is like today wasn't chaotic enough." He shoved Kyle toward her. "Help him to medical."
Faith caught Kyle, slinging his arm over her shoulder. A breathy laugh slipped out of her as she steadied him. "Let me guess... Lucy wanted to see what everyone was talking about?"
Malik ignored her and at them both sternly as he backed away. "Don't let him die. If he dies, I'm blaming you."
Faith rolled her eyes. "Go, before Paul blows something up trying to get your attention."
Malik grumbled under his breath and jogged off, leaving Faith to help a half-conscious Kyle limp toward the medical ward.
He pushed open a reinforced steel door labeled: R&D Lab – Authorized Personnel Only.
Inside, the place looked like Tony Stark's garage but if someone manic and sleep-deprived managed it.
And there, hunched at a console with three monitors and five empty energy drink cans was Paul.
"OH GOOD, YOU'RE HERE!" Paul shouted without turning around.
Paul looked like he hadn't slept in three days and was powered purely by caffeine.
He started talking before Malik's could respond. "So, remember the Radcliffe night? Yeah well, I heard that demon came out of an alley. So I went there but found nothing. I thought maybe it was disguised as a trash can. And it wasn't, I checked the trash cans though."
Malik blinked twice. "I didn't ask..."
Paul inhaled dramatically. "Okay, then I used my demon and he found a concealed demon technique. Like a barrier and it hid a passage."
Paul slapped the screen next to him. An underground corridor blueprint appeared.
"And the passage down, way down."
Paul slapped a tablet into his hands. Heat signatures glowed red and orange across a mountain map cluster.
"So that monster didn't appear. It walked out, from here." He tapped the screen.
"Because I was curious. I sent a bot down there and after thirteen days of travel I lost contact."
He zoomed a map. A blinking dot pulsed on a part of the mountains southeast.
"Though I was able to pinpoint their last location."
Malik leaned forward. "But that's… less than six hours from here?"
Paul pointed wildly. "YES. Meaning there's teleport interference or the mountain is lying and it's secretly a demon airplane."
Malik blinked slowly. "…What?"
"The point..." Paul slapped the table, "is that I found where that demon came from. And there are multiple heat signatures on that mountain."
"Multiple like… a nest?" Malik rubbed his forehead. "I need to take this to Central."
"YES YOU DO." Paul yelled. "And also maybe bring me some of them for research purposes."
Malik turned to leave, already pulling out his communicator. "Do not tell anyone else. Do not go there and do not send more machines."
Paul nodded slowly.
Then raised a finger. "I already sent three more."
"PAUL."
"It was before you got here, don't yell at me!"
Malik groaned and walked out.
Paul shouted after him. "IF THEY FIND THE ROBOTS, THEY BETTER NOT STEAL THEM. THEY'RE EXPENSIVE!"
Outside, Malik stopped and took a long breath. "Damn it."
He pulled out his communicator, thumb hovering a second, then tapped.
The line clicked.
"Chairman Yamada speaking."
Malik straightened. "Sir… you need cal in an urgent meeting."
A beat of silence.
"We have a problem."
At Central HQ, Chairman Owen Yamada sat at the head as always. Director Amara Walt and General Marquis Hawke were already there too.
The captains sat in the long table when Malik finally slid into the last empty seat.
"How is Malik late to a meeting he called urgently himself?" Captain Elena Rourke asked, irritated.
Malik stood, bowed his head slightly in apology. "My apologies." he said. Then he turned to the table and began.
"What I called you here for is because an agent I sent to investigate this new evolving demon issue has found something." Malik said, voice steady now that he had their attention. "He tracked where that demon that appeared in Radcliffe came from. It exited from an underground passage that leads out to a mountain range southeast of here. The location's on Mount Everest. And he confirmed multiple heat signatures there."
A low murmur passed around the table. General Hawke didn't bother to hide his bluntness.
"Like a nest?" he asked.
"Yeah." Malik answered. "But the problem is we don't know what kind of nest. It might be low-ranked demons controlled by a single higher being like North Division Captain said, some demons can force unity among weaker ones. Or it could be a nest of the evolved demons."
Chairman Yamada leaned forward, hands steepled. He closed his eyes a moment, then opened them and looked directly at Malik.
"Please, pass my gratitude to Paul." he said quietly. "This lead may be the break we need." He turned his head and addressed the assembled captains. "What we need to do now is find out what's there and kill them."
Malik added, almost immediately, "Paul said he'd like to have samples to study them."
Director Amara Walt's lips curved slightly. "Studying demons is my duty." she said.
Chairman Yamada nodded once. "But Paul helped us find the nest, the least we can do is give him a single specimen." His gaze swept the room, stopping on each captain in turn. "Now, for this operation. I will be assigning the East Division Captain and the North Division's Captain and the Vice-Captain."
Dylan's hand was up before the sentence finished. "Why not me too?" he asked.
The Chairman's answer was curt and final. "After the stunt you pulled, Captain Garrett, you won't be taking any Central missions for some time." The room went quiet at that, then the Chairman added the mission details. "This mission will be tonight. And you will leave no survivors."
Malik interjected. "And the mountain is far from residential areas. So you don't have to hold back."
Vice-Captain Rashad pressed his palms together, with a smile on his face. "You heard the man." he said.
The Chairman cut him off with a single, precise nod. "Meeting's dismissed."
Heads turned, chairs scraping and the captains rose in a slow motion. And left the meeting chamber.