The former SPK members sat at a round table, discussing similarities between the victims. Each member occasionally glanced up at the multitude of TVs in the room, each displaying a different broadcast. The death count was rapidly rising. Within two hours the number of murdered criminals had tripled to nearly two hundred. The SPK suspected that there could be even more who hadn't been reported yet. So far, they had been unable to discern any patterns.

Near sat in a massive pile of LEGOs, all colored various shades of black, blue, grey, white, and yellow. After selecting a handful of the pieces he was looking for, he got on top of a step ladder and continued his work on a project that had occupied him for the last two weeks: a life-sized statue of the Shinigami, Ryuk. The former SPK members were a little unnerved by how eerily accurate the statue of Ryuk was. Even after five years, every single one of them could distinctly remember Ryuk's bizarre appearance. Near's work nearly looked like the real thing, only blockier and with sharper edges.

Rester grunted, then shuffled some papers in front of him, which caused Near to glance up. Rester knew well from experience that Near had been taking in everything around him—including every TV—while working on his project, but he preferred that Near acknowledge them before speaking. The SPK had just finished discussing how the widespread natures of the murders, and the unreliability of the timeframes of the murders, had prevented them from making any connections. "Near, is there anything you noticed?"

Near paused just as he was about to snap a part of the Ryuk statue's eye in. He turned to the SPK members and surveyed them. They looked mostly the same now, with the exception of Halle Bullook, who was eight-months pregnant with Rester's child. They had never spoken of marriage, although Near assumed the two of them were living together. Near frowned suddenly, as he realized that chasing Kira was the last place an expecting mother should be. He was going to have to remove her from the SPK—at the very least, until the child was born. Near would have to discuss this with Rester and Bullook later. At least one of them would have to leave the SPK permanently, as far as he concerned. As long as he could do anything about it, the child would not grow up an orphan.

This made Near consider another concern: The SPK would be drastically reduced in manpower. He'd need to get the SPK officially recognized again and pick up some new agents. That shouldn't be too difficult. The current president, Mark Lapel, had been one of the few national American politicians opposed to Kira who had lived through his age. Near was confident he would quickly authorize them. He would talk about this with Rester later as well. Back to the matter at hand…

Near turned back to his statue and continued his work. "This new Kira… let's call him Neo Kira... most likely came into possession of a Death Note while Yagami Light was still alive." The SPK members seemed quite surprised by this.

"What makes you say that, Near?" Halle asked.

"I've been following every recorded criminal death by heart attack for the last five years. In particular, I've been looking for deaths that occurred in the middle of a crime being reported, as well as bizarre deaths. These were the hallmarks with which L originally found Kira. I haven't found any events that could reasonably be drawn to Neo Kira testing the Note, especially recently. Which leads me to conclude that Neo Kira did not feel a need to test the Death Note in extravagant ways. I suspect that he or she quickly figured out that the Death Note was how Kira was executing criminals, and after an initial test, Neo Kira became assured of the Note's power. Why Neo Kira would wait this long to start killing, though, I can't say at the moment. Perhaps Neo Kira fancied him or herself a disciple of Kira and was waiting for him to return. I can't be sure yet, though."

Rester frowned. That would mean that they could have maybe found a hint by looking for criminals who had died from heart attacks, but whose names had not been written in the two Death Notes. But those were long gone; Near had burned the Death Notes then and there in the warehouse after Ryuk had killed Light. This had seemed out of character at the time, and it wasn't until much later that Rester had even considered the possibility that Near might have been trying to hide something. Such as writing Mikami Teru's name in the Note…? Rester shook his head and dismissed the notion. Even if that had happened, it was in the past. The present was much more of a concern. And even if it was true, then they'd probably all be dead now if Near hadn't done it. No use dwelling on it.

Still, that lack of resources was a nuisance. They still had the copy Gevanni had made of Mikami's Death Note, but that wasn't nearly comprehensive enough by itself to be worth combing through. "So what do you think we should do, Near?"

Near was silent as he added the last few pieces that he was holding, then stepped off the ladder. He walked over to a mini-fridge and pulled out a bar of chocolate. He walked back to the stepladder, sat down, and began eating quietly. Rester knew better than to continue speaking when Near was like this. The genius was concentrating, trying to think. The room became quiet, save for the drone of the TVs (all set to a very low volume) and the sounds of Near chewing and swallowing. After he was about halfway through with the bar, Near finally looked back up. "Well, since we can't track Neo Kira, we'll need to flush him out."