Chapter 7 Observer
Jason POV
"Jason, I see her!" Sebastian called out from across the VIP box overlooking the stadium, lowering his binoculars. "There she is—third row from the bottom, wearing that light blue shirt."
I wheeled myself over to where he stood and accepted the binoculars. The Everdark University stadium was built to professional sports arena standards, capable of hosting major collegiate events and many people. It took me a moment to locate the girl he'd indicated, but when I did, I had to admit she was striking—the kind that would make most men lower their guard without a second thought.
"So this is the girl who managed to obtain your photograph, fingerprints, blood sample, and phone number in under two minutes?" I asked, keeping my voice level.
Sebastian's face flushed red. "Look, don't start with that again. You already gave me hell about it last night. She's just a regular college freshman, for Christ's sake. What did you think this was, Nocturne? Where every woman's a trained killer?"
His defensive tone couldn't diffuse my suspicions. I lowered the binoculars and let my mind drift back to what we knew about that place.
Nocturne maintained Round Table's complete operational archives, all stored in quantum-encrypted format within their vault systems. Due to the massive volume of data and equipment requiring constant maintenance and updates, a significant number of female operatives were stationed there. These operatives were all personally trained by the facility's leader, codenamed Dancer—Round Table's youngest regional commander, with capabilities that would make direct confrontation suicidal for our team.
It had taken months of intelligence gathering to confirm the location of the Black Friday files before we could plan our infiltration. I'd used their assessment day as cover, disguising myself as evaluation personnel to gain access. Despite my personal involvement to ensure success, the mission had barely succeeded—and I'd taken a bullet for our trouble.
"Dancer will trace that stolen drive straight back here," I had told Sebastian after I'd successfully secured the drive. We had brazenly stolen something on her own turf, and as the regional leader, she would be responsible for recovering the stolen archives. For a swift resolution, she would likely handle this matter herself rather than delegate it to subordinates.
He suggested, "Then maybe you should head back to Sunever City and lay low for a while."
I shook my head. "Even if she comes here, Round Table's kill prohibition is still in effect on American soil. She can't exactly start eliminating people, and besides—" I gestured toward my injury. "I need medical attention. Since this was an off-books operation, we couldn't use official medical channels. There's a renowned underground doctor here in Everdark. He's my only option for treatment."
And that treatment was critical. The back-alley physician had informed me that I'd been hit by M-99 nanobullets, which required specialized pharmaceuticals for proper treatment—specifically, N-99 nanobotic neutralizer. Otherwise, my limbs would gradually become paralyzed.
International Biotech Research Alliance kept its experimental drugs locked down tight. N-99 was just entering human trials—impossible to acquire through legitimate channels, which left me in the uncomfortable position of needing black market connections while hunting for intelligence on Dancer's movements.
The good news, if it could be called that, was the complete absence of any intelligence regarding Dancer's activities. Fortunately, Sebastian had managed to secure the N-99 last night, and the injection had halted the muscle paralysis progression. Full recovery would take time, but at least I wasn't getting worse.
Meanwhile, Sebastian's description of the delivery girl roused my curiosity. He admitted that he'd let his guard down because the woman was gorgeous, allowing her to snap his photo and even letting her cut him with his business card. But I suspected there was more to it. How does a trained FSOD agent get caught off guard by a sudden photo and injured by a business card? Either Sebastian had completely abandoned all caution, or this girl possessed skills far superior to his.
And her background check had turned up nothing suspicious—standard student records. How could someone with access to IBRA's experimental drugs be merely a freshman studying ballet?
I decided to see this mysterious girl for myself. And Everdark University's exhibition football game for incoming students provided us a perfect opportunity. Despite the potential threat of Dancer discovering us, I insisted on having Sebastian arrange our attendance, leveraging FSOD's authority to secure our access to the executive viewing box.
Sebastian had immediately begun scanning the crowd upon our arrival, locating her within minutes. We'd been taking turns monitoring, watching for any unusual behavior patterns.
Halftime had passed with her displaying nothing but typical student reactions to the game. But just as I was beginning to consider that Sebastian's assessment might be accurate, I witnessed something that made me reconsider everything. A stray football flew straight at her. She casually lifted her head and calmly reached up, catching it bare-handed with perfect precision.
"Did you see that?" I called out sharply.
"See what?"
"She just caught a football bare-handed. At full speed."
Sebastian grabbed the binoculars. "Are you sure? Maybe it just looked—"
"My legs are paralyzed, but my eyes and brain function perfectly fine."
I watched as the girl—Amelia, according to Sebastian's intelligence—threw the football back onto the field and sat down amid the cheers from surrounding students, as if nothing extraordinary had occurred. The casual athleticism of that catch suggested training far beyond typical ballet students.
This girl was becoming increasingly interesting.
"When the game ends, bring her to me," I instructed. "I want to speak with her directly."
Sebastian's eyebrows shot up. "Are you serious? I mean, however special this girl might be, she's still just a college student. Our priority should be tracking down Dancer and—"
My cold stare cut him off mid-sentence.
"This girl managed to obtain N-99," I continued quietly. "That suggests connections to IBRA. Let's see if she can acquire other items."
Understanding dawned in Sebastian's eyes, followed by a look of apprehension. "You mean Neutralizer X3?"
I nodded. "The BF drive is still being decrypted, but we can't wait for completion. We've eliminated every other category of biological weapon from our investigation. Only viral agents remain, and we'll need Neutralizer X3 to conduct safe research. Trust me, she's more complicated than she appears."