In the van, Erd usually woke up first. Despite their age and the stereotyped slovenliness and known delayed awakenings, Erd rose at six. It was his tick and he claimed all the honours that came with it: he managed everything, becoming the patriarchal leader; he got to enjoy solace, being the only person to know what silence felt like and he got to get everybody his choice of coffee.
That morning, however, was different. It was the morning he realized that he had just spent the night with murderers. Quickly, he awoke every band member and they surreptitiously slunk out of the van.
"You read it?" Erd asked a few seconds after sending each person a link.
"It explains a lot." Hange said.
"Yes."
"We have to report them." Gunther said. "Not to is a crime."
"Really?" Auro asked.
"Criminal by accessory." Gunther said, satisfied with his knowledge of the legal system.
"But what if we-" Auro began.
"They probably could find out." Erd said.
"Actually, it is rather unlikely." Gunther said. "To see if we were accessories, prior suspicion would be required."
"I'm not for taking risks though." Hange added.
"So, we turn them in?" Erd concluded.
"Yeah." A general consensus began to form, without Auro's voice. "But-" The dissenter began.
"Just because you fancy her-" Erd began to scold.
"But what if-" Auro tried once more.
"Point is our duty is to report them, and I will if you don't." Gunther said.
"Well put." Hange supported him.
"Fine. Somebody report them." Auro conceded. "Her innocence will speak for itself."
Luckily for the couple, Levi was a light sleeper. Despite all their measures, the group woke him up. He, in turn, woke Petra up. "I think they know." He whispered.
"Let's just leave." Petra said.
"Leave them a thanks." Levi added.
Conveniently, the band carried paper and a pen in case of the obsolete materials' need. It was more for a façade, but both tools were functional.
Thank you very much.
As much as we would love to absolve ourselves – we didn't do it, we swear – we know that we would not be very convincing.
In either case, best of luck!
-Levi and Petra.
With the brief note penned down, the pair left, getting a head start thanks to the bickering band.
"They've gone." Erd said as the band reached the van.
"I have a visor image of them." Gunther said.
"You're too preoccupied." Auro wheedled.
The police response time was a record, as always. It took the officers two minutes to arrive. For a mere sighting of criminals, two minutes was excellent time. In real emergencies, of course, ten seconds was more common in better served districts.
New London was an odd conglomerate of different parts – much like most cities and mirroring its old counterpart. The East side, much like the older East, was derelict. There were developments and the East was not a slum, but it was the more downtrodden and less savoury district.
This led to the police regularly finding themselves in the district. Service waiting times reached their minimum but crime was still somehow faster.
The officers who pulled up to the parking lot and found the van knew that the criminals were probably long gone. Unfortunately, the pair of murderers had a lead. Fortunately, constant monitoring would lead to leads for the police. Already, most of the country was eliminated from the search. It was only a matter of time before they would be found.
The officers did as they were forced – they sent out the report and began to scan the area. They found the note at the van and dismissed it, handing it to the band. They pursued the nearest exit to the parking lot, unsure of where the couple would be. In fact, they knew that the pair could still be among the parked vehicles.
"Server has a new update." The operative told Zackly a few minutes later.
"East end, I see." Zackly said.
"Yes. I'm close enough to pursue."
"Enter the police detail – let's eliminate two concerns at once."
"I shall." The operative had a badge and would join the police force tasked with the tracking of the two murderers.
"Good. Keep me posted."
"Sure thing, boss."
"Thank you." Zackly hung up, happy that his small mistake would be dealt with in a neat way that did not involve his death.
The operative, operating as detective Hernandez, was at the police office in five minutes. In ten, he was leading the small detail that would find and arrest Levi and Petra. He would, of course, mess up and some mysterious mafia would take the captives away from police custody and into their shadowy counterpart, but that was not a concern of detective Hernandez's.
"A blotter came in. They're in the East end." Erwin said.
Peter Ral stretched about his bed and rose. "Let's head out."
"We have to find them – the police net is closing."
"I wouldn't be surprised if that's the REEBS net as well."
"I doubt anybody would be."
"Let's find them before they know." Peter quickly got dressed and Erwin followed suit.
"We need to look different." Petra panted a few corners away from the car park.
"What?" Levi huffed.
"If we look different enough, nobody would recognise us."
"But a computer would."
"Only those scanning for us."
"Intriguing, but how?"
"Hair."
"And?"
"We would need hats."
"True."
"Any ideas?" Petra glanced about, ensuring the lack of followers.
"We'll have to break in somewhere."
"But, where?" Petra glanced about the street and found it to be quite residential. Red brick row houses lined both sides and security was pervasive.
"I got it." Levi squinted at a fence that divided two properties, near a small break in the row of housing. Without further explanation, he ran into the house's front lawn and darted to the fence. Petra followed despite her cluelessness. The side and the fence formed a narrow alley. The alley was blocked by a door – an intricate metal grille that Levi climbed in a few seconds. Petra followed his steps, understanding some of his idea.
The back revealed a shed. Levi smiled a little as he used a stone to shatter the small window in the shed. He groped about the dark interior, hoping for an absence of rats, spiders or any other unsavoury tenants. Instead, he fished out a pair of shears. Victoriously, he held them up.
Petra smirked. "No way." She held her hair taut and closed her eyes, expecting a painful pulling as Levi cut her hair. It was, as always, quicker than she expected as the gardening tool groomed her. "And you?" She said a few seconds after her haircut.
"I-" Petra snatched the shears and nodded, suggesting a particular cutting. "Fine." Levi sighed. His hair was then cut as well. Petra left the shears in the shed, reaching through the broken glass to place them on whatever counter Levi had found them on.
"Now?" Levi queried as the pair exited private property, climbing over the fence once more.
"No hits on public transport." The officer monitoring CCTV said to Hernandez.
"They're smarter than we give them credit for." The detective grunted.
"Makes it tougher." Another more pessimistic subordinate mumbled.
"I need a team to search for them." Hernandez ignored the negativity.
"And the honour among thieves…" The subordinate gloomily continued.
"We'll divide up the region they can be in and we will find them." The detective authoritatively continued. "And don't make the arrest until I'm on the scene."
"Why?" Another subordinate queried.
"Because that is the best practice." Another sarcastically said.
"Good, now that we're ready, I'll divide up the map and we'll find them." The detective disappeared into his office. "Yes, Zackly, all is fine." He said on the phone.
"Good." Came over the line.
"You'll have the Guinea pigs soon."
"Thank you." The line cut. Hernandez smiled and went to work.
"We should find a way to communicate with them." Erwin said as the pair sat on the tube.
"They won't have visors." Peter said.
"And we don't have connections."
"I can't pretend to know how they'd think either."
"Unfortunate."
"Yes."
"We could try a conventional search."
"Yes, but I think there are areas we can eliminate quickly."
"We ought to assume that they're smart."
"She's my daughter."
"Fair enough."
"They may have wizened up and changed their look."
"We would probably find them in a public area." Erwin said after pausing.
"Public?"
"Underground concert."
"Why?"
"It's hard to find people in a crowd."
"Maybe, then."
"A week rave."
"What?"
"They soup people up on drugs and con them for a week straight."
"You mean, she would-"
"I don't know. It's where people are the hardest to find."
The road was empty. The pair needed to leave the quiet, more suburban area. "Do you remember anything about raves?" Levi asked.
"Raves?" Petra wondered why he would bring those up at such a point in time.
"The underground concerts that-"
"Oh, yeah. Why?"
"If we sneak into one, they'll never find us."
"Could we get in?"
"We're both 18, so, yes."
"Where, though?"
"I say, we stalk the band."
"And if they take the van?"
"I doubt they would." Levi began to double back. Petra followed. The van had not yet moved and the group found it deserted.
"Let's check every exit." Petra suggested, turning about to see every way to leave the lot.
"But we'll have to be sure that they don't see us."
"We can do it." The lot was bordered by two roads – both residential. In the centre, the lot was bisected by another street, and on the side, two exits led to the tube, making there be a total of eight exits. One was the one they chose – to their left. The one in front, though they had no idea, was the location of Erd surreptitious meeting.
To their back right, also without them knowing, the band walked down the street to find "The Basement" – the biggest rave site known.
"We can't follow them onto the tube." Petra pointed out.
"We'll have to hope they didn't take the tube." Levi sighed.
"Fair point." Petra scanned the area again. "How about we glance at each point and meet back here?"
"Sure."
"Hopefully we won't get separated."
"Well… in case." Levi pulled Petra to him, planting a kiss on her face.
"How melodramatic." Petra mused, running to the back left. Levi ran to the centre front.
They met breathlessly at the van. Both nodded a no and headed to their respective next road.
"We take the last one together, then?" Levi panted as the reunited at the van.
They both ran to the back right street. The road was residential but the silhouettes of the band members was visible, so the pair followed quietly and closely. Indistinct conversation was audible as they stalked the members, hoping not to be caught again.
"This site lists 'The Basement' as the biggest rave site." Erwin said.
"Where is it?" Peter looked over.
"They give us the district, but we'll have to get our own directions within it."
"Makes sense."
"Luckily, we're on the right train."
"Good."
"And I think I know where to find out about the rave."
"Will we be able to get in?"
"They'll visor scan us and put a nark blocker."
"What?"
"Sorry, I forgot that you've not been to high school in the modern days." Peter smirked. "The visors can be used to report crimes, but certain apps block that feature. A police visor would also raise a flag."
"So that's how they stay under the radar?"
"It's quite simple, but the police can't do anything about it."
"Fine. We'll break into a rave."
"So now, officers, you have your regions. Be sure to use facial recognition because it's easy to trick the eye." Hernandez bellowed as the hover bikes set off into New London.
(Please pardon publication delays. I hope you liked this. The POV switching is intentionally confusing...)