“Was this really necessary?” Ken grunts while he climbs up the ladder beside an old pawn shop.

  Upon reaching the roof, he sits on the wall to catch his breath. He looks up at the remains of buildings and the construction occurring.

  It has been two days since Baltro was defeated. With the fall of their Navigator, the Ascenders seemingly disappeared overnight.

  Rested, he stands up and walks to a rusty vent duct. He feels along the covers until he finds a gap for him to grip. With a little effort, the cover comes off, and he places it on the floor.

  Reaching inside, he feels around the wall. The feeling of dust and metal invades his senses as the sounds of tapping echo throughout the vent.

  This is Senzo's third dead drop Ken has visited. The other two had some money and medication. For whom the medication belongs, Ken can't answer; As far as he knew, Senzo was never on any prescription medicine.

  Impracticality makes a dead drop more secure, right? But no one talks about using it yourself.

  “Found what you're looking for?” Bristol shouts from the bottom of the ladder.

  “No, just dust so far, but–” As he replies, he feels a small handle deep in the vent. “Wait! I got something!”

  Tightening his grip on the handle, he pulls it and reveals a hidden drawer in the vent, screeching as it opens. He feels around the compartment and grabs a small pouch.

  Got it!

  He takes the pouch and closes the drawer. Dusting himself off after standing up, he looks at the surrounding buildings. The buildings on one side of the road are still intact, although some of the windows and doors are broken. Two blocks down the street are ruins from the fight with the Ascenders. The Sand De Royale hotel's carcass stands tall amongst the ruins.

  “Ken?!” Olya shouts. “What did you find?”

  Before Ken can respond, she hops onto the roof.

  “Did you just jump that?” Ken asks.

  She walks toward him with a curious look. “Yep! Is that a problem?”

  “No, I was–" Ken is interrupted by the creaking ladder. Turning their attention to it, Bristol climbs up.

  “Seriously, leaving a guy alone down there,” Bristol complains as he cleans the rust off his hands.

  “Feeling lonely?” Olya teases.

  Bristol scoffs, “No. I just didn't want to be left out.”

  “As I keep telling you guys, you didn't need to come with me. I'm just picking up dead drops today,” Ken sighs while he opens the pouch.

  “And as I keep telling you, I was assigned by the Slayers to come assist you,” Olya says with a smile. “If someone is out of place, it's him.” She points at Bristol.

  “That was a cheap shot,” he replies.

  Ken ignores their bickering and looks inside the pouch. He finds an envelope and a stack of money. He pockets the envelope and the money.

  “Hm? You're not going to read it?” Olya asks. Ken makes his way to the ladder.

  “I'll open it later. We still have twelve more to get to before we are done,” Ken answers.

  “Twelve?” Bristol says in defeat.

  “You wanted to come along,” he hears Olya say before she jumps off the roof, gracefully landing below.

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  Reaching the bottom, Ken hops off the ladder and dusts the rust off his hands.

  Glad I'm not coming back here.

  Once Bristol reaches the bottom, they follow Ken toward the fourth dead drop.

  They walk out of the alley and enter the busy streets. The flow of daily life in Phanasma is slowly returning after the Ascension. Construction vehicles frequently drive in and out of the ruins surrounding the city center. It's not rare to see soldiers and medics around the area. Not many are aware or sure of what truly happened, nor what still lies in the ruins.

  After several minutes, Ken turns left at a stop sign onto a quiet street. He always feels at ease when he remembers Cafe Arduo wasn't caught in the wake of the ceremony.

  “Never thought I would return here?” Olya remarks.

  “Yes. This is where the next dead drop is,” Ken replies as he opens the door to the cafe.

  Stepping inside, Ken smiles upon discovering the cafe like how it was originally.

  Glad to see they were able to fix the place up.

  “Fancy spot,” Bristol adds. “Is it fine if I grab something while you fetch the stuff?”

  “Be my guest,” Ken replies as he approaches the counter.

  Behind it sits a young lady with short grayish hair, sitting by the table, watching the crowds walk by. An unlit cigarette hangs from her lips, while her nail decorations contrast with her skin, ironically full of life. She doesn’t notice Ken approach her.

  “Mabel?” Ken asks. She doesn't respond. He isn't used to her being so lifeless. “Mabel? You alright?”

  “The hell do you want, Ken?” she coldly answers.

  “Just greeting. I wasn't sure who was caught in the ceremony.” Before continuing, Ken checks on Bristol and Olya. They are busy ordering food.

  He leans and speaks in a hushed tone. “I'm here to get a Pharduo special.”

  “We're out,” she answers in a disinterested tone.

  “What do you mean you're out? You didn't even check.”

  “Forget it, Ken. I'm not letting you leech off his corpse.”

  “Corpse?” Ken steps back for a moment and looks down in thought.

  Leech off his corpse? Is she referring to Senzo? He turns to the disinterested woman. How does she know about his passing? He bites his lip for a second before returning to her.

  “Fine, no special. But… there is something I wanted to find out about.”

  She doesn't look at him.

  “Do you know anything about a book Senzo had? He asked me to fetch it for him.”

  Her eyes furrow and look at him for the first time today. It is strange, but she looks as if she is ready to murder him. After a deep exhale, her attention returns to the window.

  “No clue what you're talking about,” she answers.

  Ken ignores the look she gave earlier and places his hand on his chin in thought. After a few seconds, he digs in his bag and takes out a card for checking out books in Arduo's Cafe.

  “Could I get a list of the books I borrowed then? I'm curious about something,” Ken requests as he presents the card to her.

  Mabel raises an eyebrow and sighs before taking the card and walking to the computer. While she types on it, Bristol taps Ken on the shoulder.

  Turning to them, Ken finds him holding a pretzel in a napkin and a coffee.

  Stretching out his hands, he says, “For you.”

  Unsure as to why, Ken reluctantly takes them and says, “Thanks…?”

  “Don't mention it. You're going to need the energy for today.” Bristol says as he sits by the table.

  Returning to Mabel, she is staring at him while holding a paper. He raises an eyebrow and asks, “What's that?”

  “A printing of your rent history. Take it and leave me alone,” she says.

  Ken grabs it between his fingers and turns around. He walks to where Olya and Bristol are seated and places his items on the table. He takes a seat and looks at the paper.

  “That's the dead drop?” Olya asks.

  Ken sips his coffee before answering, “No. It's my checkout history for the library here. Senzo always used my card to borrow books, so I'm hoping to find a clue.”

  “What exactly are you hoping to find there?” Olya asks, trying to peek over and see what's printed.

  “I'll explain it later. Right now…” Ken goes silent as he reads through the list.

  Olya rolls her eyes before returning to her meal, leaving Ken to his thoughts.

  Besides the books Ken borrowed, Senzo always checked out one specific book nearly every time they visited.

  Ken looks at the name and whispers, “The Analytical and Historically Accurate Book of Rules and Their Impact on Society by Maximoff Asterius.”