Sheremetyevo International Airport - Moscow, Russia (4:00 PM local time)

Jacob Turner idly flipped a page containing weather reports in various locations of Tibet. The packet in his hands was comprised of many sheets held together by a binder clip. He highlighted various items that caught his attention. Sitting across from him, Esperanza was writing notes on some pad of paper. Jacob ran a hand through his hair, glancing up at the gate podium. Their flight to Hong Kong wasn't for another few hours. From Hong Kong, they were to stay overnight in a hotel nearby, then take a flight out the following morning to Lhasa, Tibet.

Esperanza's cell phone immediately went off and she frowned at the unknown number. "Hello?" Her eyes widened. "Dr. Turner? Um...what a surprise."

Jacob's head shot up.

Catching his inquisitive look, Esperanza shrugged. "Yes, of course. Just...give me a couple minutes..." She quickly got up, setting her notepad and pencil back on her chair. "Watch my things, please," she mouthed to him before walking away.

Why's Dad calling her? he wondered.

Esperanza stood by a pillar thirty feet away, far from Jacob's hearing range. "Go ahead."

"First of all," Noah Turner began, "I'd like you to know that I respect you and your work. Every time you come and do a lecture you never fail to amaze me."

She was so unaccustomed to compliments, and hearing it from a man who had as much experience as he did, it rendered her speechless.

"Esperanza? Are you there?"

"Sorry. I'm here. Thank you. What can I do for you?"

"Are you and Jacob still looking for those items?"

"Yes..." Where is this going? she wondered. The last time she spoke to him, he hadn't sounded happy about their mission.

"You know...his grandfather had spent so many years researching that...he never gave up on that legend..." Noah mused aloud, a trace of bitterness in his voice.

"Perhaps he thought it was worth finding," Esperanza said slowly. "Your son feels the same way."

"I was hoping you could talk him out of it."

"Me?"

"He won't listen to me. He's been brainwashed with that story since he was five...Do you honestly think this legend is true?" Noah inquired. "The whole idea is just crazy."

"Noah..." Esperanza shook her head. The man sounded so...negative. "I've seen myself what has happened with at least one of the items. And even if it wasn't true...what's the harm in finding out? Isn't that part of what we do?"

"What?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't..." Esperanza took a deep breath, hoping she didn't offend him. "I understand your concern...but I've been talking to your son...it's obvious he wants to finish his grandfather's work. For all three of you."

There was silence for a brief period. "You both seem determined to follow through with this."

"Yes."

"Fine. It was nice to talk to you. If you're ever in California...give me a call. I won't even ask you to do a lecture," he added with dry humor.

Esperanza smiled ruefully. "Of course I'll give you a call." She lowered the phone.

"And Esperanza?"

She held the phone back up to her ear. "Yes?"

"Take care of yourself," he said quietly. "And my son."

Esperanza made her way back to her seat at the gate, surprised to see that Jacob had moved to the seat next to hers, his backpack at his feet. In his lap, his stack of Tibetan weather, and in his hands, her sketchpad. The subject she had sketched in pencil was him, sitting across from her, studying notes.

She immediately snatched it away, clutching it to her chest as she settled in her seat. "You weren't supposed to see that yet."

"You're really good," Jacob said, admiration in his voice. "But I don't think I normally look that serious."

"I know."

"Was that a joke?"

Esperanza closed the pad and put it away. "Maybe."

He shook his head then went back to his notes. He must have read two lines before he glanced at her, clearing his throat. "So...my father called?"

She nodded. "He was hoping I could convince you to stop all of...this."

Jacob let out a sound of displeasure and looked away. "Typical."

"Turner...do you mind if I ask what happened between you and your father? Talking to you...and knowing your father...it's obvious you care about each other...but you don't get along."

"Because he's an a$$," her partner responded. "He wants me to live my life one way, I don't want that life. We...used to be really close. Then my mom left us." He leaned back in his chair, a faraway look in his blue-gray eyes. "She...said she woke up one day and realized she didn't want to be around us. Said she made a mistake. I...was ten at the time. Grandpa said that she was young...She and my father met when they were teenagers...they married during college. After my dad finished grad school...she left us. She didn't get to experience any other life except for the one she had with my dad and me. After she left...my grandfather tried to hold my dad and myself together...but things were never the same after that."

"Maybe...a part of you blames your father for your mother leaving," Esperanza guessed. She squeezed his arm lightly. "And you've never forgiven him."

He stared at her for several moments before looking away. A brief, sad smile came to his handsome features. "Maybe I never have."

Coming from a family as closely knit as hers was, Esperanza couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

==

U.P.R.F., Level 6 - Undisclosed corridor (6:45 AM local time)

One last attempt. He was in the lowest level by now. Popping his head through the grills, he found himself in a dimly lit corridor with no sign of life at all much less an indication of where this is other than one more level down. The only other source of lights was the infra red beams marking certain points and cordoning certain points of the along the hallway. He sensed Iwa warning against him using the floor and thus he retreated back into the vents and headed the way he was mentally nudged. There were another set of grills and he popped his head through to allow the Maru-cam to film the area.

It was a chamber of sorts, like the corridors it was dimly lit and was also marked by infra red beams; the dim lighting prevented the estimation of just how large this place could be. The Maru-cam only showed some vaguely cylindrical objects lining the walls, but since he wasn't supposed to get too close, there was nothing much to do but leave this room. Two other rooms and the results were the same as before.
One more room, this was lit, a click sound made him turn to the side. Was it the door locking? A red spot of light hit the floor, which came from the Maru-cam. It was indicative that Iwa wanted him to explore this room and she would lead him on. Following the lights he scrambled from spot to spot. The room itself was filled with monitoring devices, control panels and large cylindrical tanks with some manner of liquid that pretty much blocked out the view of whatever is inside. One tank in particular had caught Iwa's attention and Maru proceeded to check it out.

The clear liquid in this cylinder held a huge humanoid figure, the greyish skin male had a bald head, it did seem human but yet something about it was unnatural. Although this would seem like the only human-like creature around Maru had this feeling that he was being watched. The lights then started to flicker.

Leave

He did as he was told, scrambling towards the nearest air vent. The lights were off the moment he got a hold of the grills. The red beams of light hummed as they were activated in various location. It was time to leave.

==

U.P.R.F., Level 4 - Cafeteria (6:46 AM local time)

The coughing fit from Iwa had Doctor Yalana running over.

"What now?! Choking?!"

But Iwa grabbed her by the arm instead.

"...Ack...Water..." the younger woman gasped. Yalana grabbed a bottle of mineral water from a lab assistant's tray and handed it to Iwa who began gulping down its contents. Moments passed and she calmed down, Doctor Yamada had joined them.

"Okay now. What is... this?" Iwa shoved her cellphone to Doctor Yalana.

It was a brief shot as the Maru-Cam was panning away from the gray giant. The quality of the zoomed-in picture was quite clear; it showed a cylinder a little distance away from the gray giant and no doubt it was similar in physique yet it seemed different. Reddish, overdeveloped muscles busted through uneven pasty skin, creating a grotesque counterpart to the much more perfect gray giant.

"So it does exist," Doctor Yalana mused, handing the cellphone over to Yamada.

"You read the Raccoon City reports before coming here right?" Yamada asked.

"Kinda. Some pilot guy turn SWAT reported a mansion filled with flesh eating monsters and giant spiders or lizard or crocodile thing. His higher ups called him a nutcase and fired him or something."

"We had sources in some other Umbrella faculties stating that not only had they seen this guy and his sister running around but similar creatures and its derivatives. Why else would our Master show interest in this company?" He pushed his spectacle up as it to emphasis a point.

"Unnatural," Iwa mumbled, somewhat disturbed by what she saw.

"Hmmm... Spider-sense tingling huh?"

"Way off scale. He's not going to become that, is he?" Iwa enquired. Normally she wouldn't get involved much in the scientists' work, but since she might end up working with or for one those things...

"I hope not, but still if we could use these things." Yalana mused

"Unnatural."

"You keep throwing that word around. Funny you didn't use it on Reno."

"Reno's different. That thing feels unstable."

"I appreciate your input. I doubt you want that for a partner much less a master. Still let us worry about that. You worry about your fight tonight. Transport is coming to pick you up in an hour." Yalana added, somewhat amused by the feedback on her previous work.

"Anything about Sean?" Iwa suddenly remembered.

"I also emailed Noiv about the Shoto runt. He hadn't responded yet though I have my doubts that he has anything to show." Yamada interjected.

"I didn't realise you were so concerned about him," the redheaded doctor mused.

"I'm not, but I know some people who are."

"There's something you should know." Doctor Yamada took Iwa by the hand. "They got someone else in late last night. I'm still trying to find out who they have." He passed a thumbdrive into her hand and she pulled her hand away with it. Yalana laughed in amusement. These two were starting to get too creative for their own good.

==

Hong Kong, China (12:50 AM local time)


"Okay, I have to ask this," Jacob announced. "How did a girl like you learn how to drink Patron like that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Esperanza asked.

"You know how to drink," he declared. "You'd outdrink my college buddies any day."

Once they reached Hong Kong, she suggested they go out and enjoy the night. Their flight to Tibet wasn't until eleven-thirty in the morning. Jacob had been surprised at her suggestion. Did she really seem that boring? The local bar/nightclub came highly recommended by the hotel staff, and was only a ten minute taxi ride. On this particular evening out, Esperanza had worn a pair of flared jeans and a light pink blouse with three-quarter sleeves. She had left several of the buttons open, exposing the top of a white lace camisole from underneath. Her long hair was in a topknot, and a pair of gold hoops that she had bought at the hotel gift shop dangled from her ears. He had put on a dark green collared shirt with thin white vertical stripes and a pair of dark blue jeans.

Her cheeks turned pink as she set her shot glass down. "I used to go to Cancun during spring break in college."

He paused with his whiskey. "Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"You? You'd party in college tourist central?"

"Once a year."

"You're full of surprises," Jacob stated. "Why Cancun?"

"Oh, I guess the whole idea of letting go for a week appealed to me," Esperanza explained, giggling. As she had gotten to know more about her partner the last few days, she had been surprised how easy he was to be around. She wasn't the most sociable person in the world - she'd rather be buried in books than in a crowd - but his warm personality had a way of inviting confidence. He was just one of those people who could randomly strike up a conversation with anyone on the street...and if one didn't know any better...they'd think that Jacob and the stranger had been friends for a long time.

"Wow. Well, I'm glad to know..." he trailed off.

"Glad to know what?" she pressed. "That I'm not as boring as I look?"

"I never said that," he said quickly.

"You were going to."

"No, I wasn't," Jacob denied. Then he grinned. "Okay, so you seem the type who doesn't really go out much."

"I'm not," she admitted. "Not anymore, anyway."

"Why'd you stop?" he asked.

A shrug was the answer. "I grew up."

He grinned, leaning back in his seat. "What I wouldn't give to see you loosen up..."

Much to his dismay, he found out later exactly what she was like. He'd forgotten...and so had she apparently...that the last thing she had eaten was a very light and early dinner back in Moscow. While Esperanza was very good at holding her alcohol, after five shots she was...out of inhibitions. Anytime anyone remotely attractive of the opposite sex went by, she'd pretty much plant a hand on their rear ends.

And then she went on to ask a bunch of other questions about male anatomy that even had him turning red a few times.

And whenever women would walk by, she'd ask them if their 'assets' were real. Anytime she got a 'no', she praised them on their selection of doctors. The girls were gracious enough to let her feel how natural said assets were. He got a lot of angry stares from other men who wanted to be just inches away from women feeling up on each other.

Which was why he was relieved when they got to their hotel. The front desk agent didn't even blink as Jacob walked in with Esperanza hoisted over one shoulder, passed out.

"Hey, wake up," Jacob patted her calf. "Where's your room key?"

"Hmm?" Her head lifted and flopped down.

"Come on, Esperanza, where's your key?"

When he got no answer, he set her down, leaning her against the wall next to her hotel room door.

"Hey. Stay awake for five seconds. Where's your key?"

Her eyes weren't focusing. He wasn't sure if she even heard him.

"Damn. You sure can party," Jacob muttered. He carefully patted her front pockets, feeling distinct bumps that weren't denim. Both contained cash. He then moved her so that he could inspect her back pockets. Which wasn't an entirely bad experience, but considering the circumstances...

He triumphantly produced a magnetic swipe card from her back right pocket and slid it through the lock. It clicked and he pushed the door open, pulling her along inside. He set her on the bed and promptly began to remove her boots. Halfway through unlacing one, she turned to lie on her side, absently pulling a pillow under her head.

"I had fun."

He grinned as he began to yank one of her boots off. "Yeah. Me too."

"Good," she murmured, her eyes closed. "You needed it."

"I needed it?" He paused while unlacing her second shoe.

"Yeah."

"Why's that?" he frowned.

"Because..."

"Because what?"

"You looked..." she yawned, "...sad about your mom and dad..."

Jacob carefully set her shoes by the closet before a rueful smile came to his features. He supposed he did. He didn't share the story of his life with many people. But at least with her...having known his father and grandfather...maybe she'd have a better understanding of why he was going though with all of this. He moved towards the door, pausing before turning off the light. "See you in the morning."

==

U.P.R.F., Level 3 - Green Sector Air field (Personnel) (8:00 AM local time)

Iwa yawned as she headed towards to the airfield, in one hand she carried a sports bag in which some of her things are kept. Reaching the checkpoint she was stopped by an Umbrella guard who was teamed up with a Shadaloo guard.

"Madam please take out all electronic and metallic objects and place them in the basket."

With a sigh she dumped the bag on the table and from it she removed her sword and her various throwing knives in their belt holder. Finally she added her tranquilizer gun to the items. What caught the Umbrella guard's attention of course were her digital equipment - a clam shell cellphone with its accompanying earpiece, a thumbdrive and a digital camera. Finally she removed her vest and dumped it on the table, daring him to question her further.

The guard swallowed and instead hooked up a USB cable to her camera. A large number of pictures showed up on his monitor and the guard scanned through them the more recent photographs first.

A Sacred Edge concert in Oahu. Random shots of cats, birds and wildlife in Oahu. Some of the meals in The Makai. Photographs from a parade in Ghiradelli Square, the ocean, a comic convention and some guy dressed as a videogame character wearing battle fatigues, camouflage paint and a crocodile cap on his head and beside him a nondescript cardboard box and more photographs of cosplayers from the same game.

A doll shop in Spain, 12 young ladies dressed in ethnic costumes from all over the world, each young lady had a doll in their likeness in hand. A very beautiful female impersonator standing next to a one to one scale doll of a certain matador. The resemblance between the two is uncanny but naturally 'she' seemed more feminine and could have passed off his 'gentle little sister'. Photographs of spots in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Egypt that smacks of Iwa's tourist behaviour.

Some of the older photographs: a beautiful brown and white wolf and said wolf with its own pack of eleven. A blurry group shot of surviving friends from the previous tournament with no indication of who's who. An equally blurry photograph of the same group split into two teams - the Asian side kids with Ryu, Chun Li and Guy to turn to if there was trouble. The Americas side kids with Guile, Charlie and Ken.

Since the digital camera was clean the guard moved on to the cellphone. Phone numbers were found, numbers leading to a library, zoology faculty in San Diego and numbers to lecturers and students. Like the camera it too was clean.

The guard stole a glance at the very annoyed Iwa who was waiting for him to get his job done.

The last piece, the thumbdrive. Various files popped up the moment it was plugged into the USB drive - Project Dollification, Project Host, Relics, Hunting cats and Mission Logs. Clicking on the Dollification folder showed a couple of video files were in it. Clicking on one showed how a company known as S-Dolls makes its doll bodies and heads, another was a tutorial on how the dolls were given a face and the last was how to paint very feminine looking Bishounen.

Project Host was a blog of sorts, chronicling The Makai, its gorgeous rooms and gardens, the spa service in particular (the Loni Loni massage was highly recommended) and the delicious meals.

Relics was of course a collection of music videos of Sacred Edge, and Hunting cats involved a very long winded thesis about the camera shy African Golden Cat in the Congos and how the cats were more reliable than her source in Timbuktu.

Mission logs were mostly video files, involving a certain blond boy receiving messages from someone named Gaming Ferret, to make it from one place to another in a cardboard box hiding from or meeting up with various characters codenamed - Lead Husky, Stalker Wolf, Psionic Hare, Mother Ewe, Flying Eagle, Stomping Stork, Hungry Komodo etc. And someone named Data Squirrel would be recording the exploits of Decoy Puppy. Obviously this was some kind of skit as there were videos of various cosplayers doing something similar in that comic convention video in San Francisco.

"Are you done yet?" Iwa asked. There wasn't anything the guard could do except run the metal scanner on her. Other than the two blades in her boots there wasn't anything else. He had to let her go. So heading towards her transport, Iwa squatted down by some crates to retie her shoelaces. Maru scurried out from the drains and head straight for Iwa diving into her vest.

With Maru retrieved she boarded her transport. A team of med-techs, guards, Doctor Yamada and Doctor Ryan were already on board waiting for her. Both were dressed in protective gear instead of their usual clothes.

"He's up front." Doctor Yamada gestured as the helicopter began its ascent.

==

There was single pilot upfront; in the co-pilot seat are a laptop, a portable printer, a pack of photograph papers, one simple cellphone, a thumbdrive and a zip lock bag.

"You can travel long distance?" Iwa broke the silence. She was fascinated by the new development.

"This body has its limits. It could only hold a mere fraction of my powers." A deep voice came from the pilot, the words not in time with his mouth.

"You can come out now," The pilot ordered. A little distance behind them, the top of a crate slid open and two fellow Dolls clambered out of it. The trio of Dolls saluted each other. A Golden Lion Tamarin clung to one of the Dolls. Maru popped out of Iwa's vest and the two creatures squealed at each other, Iwa removed a tiny little pack from Maru and the two creatures headed off to the side.

The trio of Dolls just looked at each other and then shrugged with the same hand gestures as well. The funny thing about the three of them though was that all three of them were dressed in the same black colour sneaksuit and vest, the same hairstyle and the same red streaks in their hair. And the three of them had ended up picking up bits of mannerisms from each other from an earlier integration exercise.

The difference in height wasn't all that noticeable and Satsuki seems to have gotten a tan. The similarity in the trio wasn't done to confuse Iwa's former allies of course. It was mainly done more to get a certain organization used to having someone by this particular description roaming around this faculty. Only Iwa was allowed to set foot on Oahu while the other two were rotated in and out of the faculty.

"Satsuki," the pilot mentioned.

Iwa handed the ID tag of one 'Ow Shi Hai' and a remote control to her predecessor. From Maru's pack she removed two small ziplocked bags, one containing her actual cellphone operating card which she installed back into her current phone and another operating card which she installed into the simpler looking phone. This one she placed into the basket.

From the other bag she revealed a few mini SD (Secure Digital) memory cards, and using the thumbdrive adapter to house one of the memory cards, she plugged it into the USB port of the laptop and uploaded the files. Three maps eventually showed onscreen and the latest to be added was that of the ventilation systems. It matched that of the earlier maps of the faculty and the island except for one part. Based on the map the lowest level seems to be larger than expected.

"It's a separate ventilation systems. It wasn't easy trying to find the right person to latch Maru-cam onto but it seems that the escorted cleaners get to go into certain places but not all." Iwa used the touchpad to bring up a photograph of some of the access cards. "Letters, number and colours seem to differentiate various security accesses."

A few more photographs showed a dim corridor with infra-red beams as ground motion detectors, one motion sensor on the wall was spotted. Another photograph showed something similar in various dimly chambered. Finally she pulled up the one that showed the only brightly-lit room amongst the few that were explored.

"Monsters in the basement," Iwa said with distaste. Her fellows Dolls were silent as was the pilot host. Taking the silence as an indication to go on uploading information into the standalone laptop she proceeded to add on data from the other SD cards. She got to a point where she uploaded a photograph of Sean in his cell and then called up the map of the Hawaiian islands.

==


The Makai (9:30 AM local time)


"Romance heats up at The Makai. Tournament more than just a test of skills..." Meliza, newspaper in hand, read the morning's local gossip column. "This is a really good picture of you and Riq, by the way..." She held out the folded piece of paper in Victoria's direction.

"I was there. I know," Victoria grumbled.

Karin snatched the paper from Meliza's hand to examine the picture of Victoria and Riq, their faces closer than the boundaries of platonic interaction. "Hmm... this is a real good shot. The photographer was prepared."

The women were in a private area of the dining room of the hotel's restaurant, enjoying a hearty breakfast of pancakes, fruit, eggs, bacon and toast.

"Well, if there were any doubts about him not liking you back, this pretty much shoots all of those down..." Meliza mused.

Victoria shook her head. "The press are going to exaggerate things all the time. That's their job."

"This isn't exaggeration." Karin pointed at the paper.

"Yes, it is!" Victoria insisted. "Photos can be deceiving these days thanks to technology."

"That's true..." Meliza agreed. "But were you two sitting twenty feet away kissing air?"

Karin giggled. "Oh, that would have been a funny scene..."

Victoria glared at her. "I wasn't kissing air!"

"So you two were sitting next to each other?" Meliza pressed.

Victoria flushed slightly. "Okay, so we were next to each other."

"Mm-hm." Karin examined her nails. "So the press wasn't lying in this case."

"Look, the whole story...they're making a big deal out of it!" Victoria picked up the paper and began reciting some quotes. " '...passionate encounter'...'hot affair'...We were just sitting there, talking."

"Do we look like we believe that?" Karin stared at her.

Victoria sighed, picking at her food. "Look, it wasn't like that."

Karin shook her head. "Do you know what happens after when 'it isn't like that'?" Karin propped her chin in her fist. "You go on follow-up dates-"

"You get flowers," Meliza chimed in.

"You'll get presents," Karin added. "This is the pattern."

"Then you get him in bed," Meliza finished.

"I'm not twelve!" Victoria exclaimed. "I know how this works." She took a sip of her orange juice. "And can we get off the subject of the gossip column? And while we're at it, let's get off the subject of men. Every time the three of us get together, men always seem to come up."

"They're fun to talk about," Karin shrugged.

"You mean critique," Meliza corrected.

"Whatever."

"Anyway, they're fun to look at," Meliza continued.

Victoria couldn't help but grin. "Dance with."

"Get flowers from, gifts from, and sleep with?" a voice chimed in.

The women all dropped their forks and turned to the owner of the voice who was just few feet away. Meliza stared at the ceiling and sank in her chair. The man settled in the empty seat right between Meliza and Karin.

Karin gave him a brief smile before shooting a glance at Meliza. "Well, well...it's been a while..."

Meliza went with the introductions. "Victoria, this is Dev. Dev, Victoria."

Victoria stared at him. "Oh my gosh, you're real. For the longest time, I thought Meliza was making you up." She shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, finally."

Karin glared at her. "Hello? Even I confirmed his existence."

"You said he was a peasant," Victoria reminded.

Karin cleared her throat, trying to ignore the look Meliza's boyfriend shot her direction.

Then he gave Victoria a charming smile. "It's nice to meet you, Victoria."

"Do you need to talk to her alone?" Victoria pointed at Meliza. "Because-"

"It's fine," he reassured her before turning to Meliza. "Your uncle called. Said you weren't answering your phone."

"What?" Meliza immediately dug for her cell phone in her purse, quickly seeing that her uncle had left a message. Her eyes widened as she listened to the brief message. Then she excused herself to call her uncle back in private.

"So what are your plans for the rest of the day?" Karin asked after a few moments.

He took a sip from Meliza's water glass. "Nothing so far."

"Are you enjoying your stay here?" Victoria asked. "Meliza said you surprised her with a visit and haven't left yet."

"Yeah, I haven't decided when to leave. I think-" he cut himself off, hearing Meliza's voice. Her words weren't clear, but it was obvious that she was upset.

The two women glanced her way as well. Meliza suddenly got off the phone and walked towards them, her expression somber.

"You okay?" Victoria prompted.

Meliza glanced between her friends before her gaze rested on Locke. "It's RJ." As a hint of wariness entered her boyfriend's eyes, her friends' confusion forced her to finish. "My cousin. He was in a car accident last night."

==

Xanon Manor, England (8:30 PM local time)

Xanon Manor stood proud and prominent, and yet it also exudes a quiet, undisturbed impression onto those who view it. Located upon the rural landscape of Oxfordshire, this pre-19th century mansion continued to stand the test of time, steadily rising in value as each year passes. As if indicative of its own aged, reserved nature, Xanon Manor is not known to inhabit many visitors, if any, a fact that its nearby suburban neighbours have come to acknowledge throughout their lifetimes.

However, tonight was different. As the clear blue sky transformed into a darker shade, and the moon and stars made their presence known, Xanon Manor also underwent a change. There were now various vehicles stationed outside, and the normally undisturbed building has now become a hubbub of activity.

Inside was just as impressive. The ballroom, where everybody is situated, is grand, exquisite, and pristine. Men and women, garbed in expensive suits and dresses respectively, moved about on the tiled marble floor. Some were dancing, others are drinking, and others are engaged in mild conversation. Above them were three crystal chandeliers, each casting a brilliant glow into the room. A symphony orchestra plays, helping to add to the atmosphere.

This all changed, even if for a fleeting moment, as soon as she walked in.

The men were the first to notice the woman, but soon many eyes in the room fell upon her body, which is clothed in a deep, dark red evening gown that clung to and accentuated every shape and curve of her form. At one side of the dress a split cuts upward to reveal a pair of legs wrapped in a dark pair of stockings. A pair of matching red stiletto heel shoes adorned her feet, and a silver pair of earrings dangled and gleamed teasingly from her earlobes. Her arms, shoulders and neck are bare, save for the modest silver necklace she wore that bore a key-shaped, antique-looking design.

Lastly there was her hair, purple in colour. Where it would normally flow out in two, equally jagged-looking directions, it's instead held back. Yet even in this form it managed to retain its sporadic design, whereby it initially cascaded down the back of her head and then, upon approaching her right shoulder, underwent a zig-zag decline towards the back of her legs. With the way her lavender locks fell, it's as if they're unwilling to make contact with her milky-white skin, lest they end up marring her appearance.

The seer known only as Rose paused to consider the attention she's receiving but soon detached herself away from the matter. It was, after all, nothing new to her, and surely far from being the last. She walked further into the room just as the noise of conversation picks back up and the guests resumed their previous duties, seemingly ignoring her for the moment.

The reason Rose is here at this socialite gathering is in response to a personal request by Maximilian Xanon, a fellow associate of hers. With the promise of a handsome fee for her services, Rose is to entertain Xanon's invited guests with a reading at the end of the night. A part of Rose has long suspected, however, that there was more behind her invite than simply offering a tarot reading.

Rose is near the back of the room now, where the catered meal can be found across several connected tables. While Rose is not particularly hungry, surveying the different platters of food - predominately British cuisines, yet giving way for a few other, selective European feasts - came close to swaying her decision. Apparently she wasn't the only one that's not hungry, for the food up to now has remained untouched.

"Lady Rose," a voice beckoned to her. It turned out to belong to the man of the house himself, who gave a slight bow once he gained her attention.

A very wealthy man in his own right, Maximilian was very much as reserved as the mansion that bears his namesake, generally keeping himself away from public spectacles. Only a selective few know the multi-millionaire beyond this, namely how he belonged to a faceless, nameless circle that mainly operates in the shadows. Their purpose and existence is straightforward: to keep the world safe from the use of what would be perceived as ancient and mythical, but are ultimately deadly powers. While many would dismiss this operative as mere falsehood and silliness, what Maximilian is a part of is completely anything but.

Rose returned the bow with a slow blink of her eyes. "I trust that things are well?"

"As good as things can be at the moment," Maximilian replied. "I presume you are aware of the events in London two days ago?"

"Yes. The Sorrow of Earth, One of the Eight," was the reply. More than aware, in fact, she added, albeit in thought. In truth, Rose had foreseen it all three nights ago. However, as with many of her premonitions, the vision had been vague, yielding more questions than answers. Only the unfortunate reading of a news publication reporting the incident days later on her part was able to answer such questions.

"Few things are lost on a mind such as yours, my lady," Maximilian commented warmly. "Of course, we cannot speak any more on this matter openly. It would be best to discuss it further within more private quarters..."

==


Ka'anapali, Maui (9:40 AM local time)


At a local restaurant by the beach, a young woman enjoyed her breakfast of macadamia nut pancakes. Her long blonde hair was pulled up in a ponytail. A blue sleeveless blouse clung to her curves, and dark blue flared jeans cased her long legs. She idly tapped her stiletto boot on the floor as she read the morning paper.

She abruptly looked up as a photograph of a tanned Asian-looking man was tossed on top of the newsprint. A tall, brown-haired man with a moustache and goatee slid into the booth across from her, grinning as she merely pushed aside the photograph.

"Nice to see you, too, Sasha," the man greeted, leaning back in the booth. "Thanks for seeing me on short notice."

Her green eyes settled on him before giving him a welcoming smile. "Anything for you." She picked up the photo. "This the guy?"

"Yeah." He leaned forward. "The client said that he stole some of their confidential information. He had an accomplice. They want to know who his accomplice was, and after he tells you that info, they want him dead."

"Why not do it themselves?"

"They have other loose ends to tie up."

"Really?" Sasha studied the photo some more. "So that's it? I just get a name, give it to you and that's it?"

"It should be pretty easy," he shrugged. "This guy got into an accident last night. Drunk driver wasn't watching where he was going, crashed into him, so he's currently checked into West Maui Hospital."

"You want me to go after an injured man?" Sasha inquired.

"It never stopped you before."

Sasha set the photo aside. "Okay. What's his name again?"

"RJ Rinaldo."

==

Xanon Mansion (8:45 PM local time)

"Unfortunately, this latest heist has granted our adversaries the advantage once more," Maximilian was saying.

The "private quarters" Maximilian had in mind turned out to be one of his private offices, located in the East Wing of his mansion. At the moment he was seated behind his desk, whereas Rose stood just in front of it, although with her back to him.

"Yes, Bison..." Rose paused and took a few steps forward, keeping her back to Xanon, before she continued. "Or rather, the man he's hired is not only aware of the legend, but appears to be wholly knowledgeable on which of The Eight to acquire." The seer turned around to face Maximilian, bearing an almost foreboding look. "Perhaps just as much as your party has amassed on the subject."

"That can't be possible," Maximilian responded. "There has only ever been one great, leading authority on the subject of The Eight, and his research data remains in our possession to this day."

Rose appeared to slip into thought for a moment, but then spoke again. "I understand that part of the documents you passed on to Ming Croft to aid in his assignment included some, if not all, of that same research data, correct?"
The multi-millionaire picked up on Rose's implication immediately. "Yes, but actions were taken the moment that news of Ming's passing reached us." Maximilian took on a grim expression at this, as if unwilling to revisit the reality of Ming's demise. "Any vital documents such as those, which could have fallen into enemy hands, were promptly retrieved from his hotel room. They're in our possession now."

Perhaps so, but it remains apparent that Ming did not keep that information solely to himself, Rose thought, as an image of Esperanza momentarily filled her mind.

"At this point all one can do is speculate," Maximilian addded on. "The pressing matter, I feel, is to establish what course of action we need to take in response to these recent events."

"I agree," was Rose's reply, "Which is why I also took action the moment I learned of Ming's passing."

Maximilian remains paused where he sits, waiting for Rose to continue.

"Ming's death turned out to not be in vain... for the ramifications of it have caused a rippling, domino-effect. A close friend of Ming has taken it upon herself to continue the task, and in response to this, I've requested the help of an old friend of mine to assist her."

"If you don't mind me asking... who is this old friend of yours?"

"The grandson of another old friend..." Rose stepped up to Maximilian's desk and then walked around to the side of it, causing him to swivel his chair to the side to keep her in sight. "Of a man who was once one of your own, whose work you stated you still possess." The lavender-hair woman accentuated her point with a light tap of her index finger against the top of a folder filled with documents, perched near the right corner of the desk.

"Dr. Jonas Turner...?" Maximilian uttered, his eyes brimming with surprise. "You spoke to the grandson of the late Dr. Turner?"

"That's correct," Rose confirmed.

"I had not imagined that a Turner progeny would choose to continue Dr. Jonas' work," Maximilian admitted. "Particularly since Dr. Noah Turner, although not a member of our party, nonetheless made the decision to abandon his father's research altogether." He took on another grim expression. "Even more so since his passing over a year ago, where he now refuses to even acknowledge his father's efforts."

"Thanks to his grandfather, Jacob Turner is no stranger to the legend," Rose stated matter-of-factly. "Perhaps it's the work of the fates, how events have led to this moment in time." The purveyor of visions allowed herself to muse briefly at the thought.

"I too feel this is beyond a mere coincidence," Xanon said. "However, I also believe that Mr. Turner and his partner alone will not be enough to deal with the threat we're up against."

"What do you have in mind?" Rose questioned.

"Since, according to the legend, the power cannot be attained until all of The Eight are gathered," Maximilian started. "As long as we can acquire as much of the relics as possible, it should effectively hinder, if not stop, Bison's efforts."

"A race against time..." Rose spoke in a near-cryptic manner. "Are you aware of where the remaining artefacts can be found?"

"There are three undisturbed locations left, two in Asia. To be specific, the areas of Thailand and Tibet, the third being in the Middle East." At Rose's inquisitive glance, he explained himself. "An interesting observation Ming had made during his travels was a parallel between the selective historical sites the relics were being removed from, and abnormally strange weather conditions and anomalies that took place within the same areas."

Interesting, Rose considered. Perhaps the artefacts were 'revealing' themselves in some way, for better or worse...

"It's as you said, my lady," Maximilian said with a smile. "Ming Croft's death was not to be in vain."

Rose only nodded in response and then turned, heading for the double doors of Maximilian's private office.

Maximilian stands up in his chair, watching the back of the woman, who is just as mysterious and sagely as she is beautiful disappear past the doors and down the mansion hall, leaving him behind with his thoughts. Not in vain, indeed...

==

Makai lobby (11:00 AM local time)

"Jin! Hey, wait up!"

The courier whirled around to the side, eyes resting on the person running towards him. It took him even less time to recognise who it was that just called him.

"Sakura," Jin said with a friendly wave, then stopped his pace to allow the younger fighter to catch up to him. "What's up?"

"Oh, I was just wondering if you'd seen Mien today," Sakura replied. "I tried calling her, but it's like I can't reach her..."

"Sorry, I haven't seen her today," Kushina answered with a near-apologetic tone. In truth, he hadn't seen his fiancée since yesterday morning. He hadn't even stayed in his hotel room last night, but had crashed at Fei Long's instead after a night of revelling following the Hong Kong native's victory. The latter had almost done enough to deter his mind away from those strange images he'd seen on Natalie's laptop that afternoon, before the match. Almost...

"Oh that's okay," Sakura said, flashing a warm smile to illustrate her point. "I'll have to try her again later, I guess."

"If I catch her today, I'll let you know," Jin offered.

"Okay, thanks," Sakura replied. "Oh, and I know it's kinda late, but... congratulations on winning your match. Pass that same message onto Fei as well for me."

"Thanks, and I'll be sure to do that," Jin began to walk towards the elevators. "Take care."

"Ja ne!"

==

Makai, Room 105 (12:00 PM local time)

Jin braced himself for the cat to attack or pester him in some way as soon as he opened the hotel room door, yet to his surprise it didn't come. As Kushina walked further into the room he spies the feline next to the other side of the bed, appearing to poke at something that's on the floor. The object then made a beeping sound, causing the cat to shy backward, whereby it slowly prowled back towards the object, as if prepared to poke at it again.

"Baka-neko! Get away from that!" Jin shouted. The cat instantly stopped its advance and stared at him with wide eyes, before reluctantly heeding Kushina's command. It then leapt up onto the bed, only to stare accusingly at the offending device the moment it emitted the beeping sound a second time.

A visible frown raced across Jin's face as he went to pick up his cellphone, silently hoping that the Baka-neko hadn't caused any damage to it. The phone beeped a third time, alerting him to the fact that he has an unread text message left on there.

"Two-one-two-one-one-seven..." Jin trailed off, reading off the rest of the message in his mind. He read it over a second time, but felt no closer to figuring out the meaning behind it. The text had been sent close to midnight, he noted, which meant that Natalie had not come back last night. Which meant the worrying possibility that she was in danger, hence the cryptic message. It's the latter point that caused his frown to grow wider.

"N and W..." Jin said to himself. North and West? Was she giving me directions, the location of something? He read the message again. One-seven-en... four-nine-double-u... Could that be where Natalie was located somehow? Gold-coloured eyes soon widened with realisation. The message... those are coordinates. Latitude and longitude...

Jin went into a long sigh, feeling the gravity of the situation sinking into him. This was exactly why he'd wanted her out of all this, yet a part of him begins to feel that she's not entirely to blame. Nevertheless, he knew that he had at least two things to do now in response to this.

One, find out more information about these coordinates.

Two, pay Kyle Bradford Parker another visit.