The morning of the 4th

[ASG: The Long Night Commences]

GV had fallen asleep after midnight. He had wanted to keep looking to try and find where Joule had been taken but in the end he had collapsed onto his bed.

He woke up only a few hours later, before the sun had risen. He rubbed sleep from his eyes and forced himself up.

The memories struck him quickly. Last night flashed through his head at a lightning pace and at the end he saw Lumen's face in the moment before she vanished.

He changed his clothes but kept his coat on before quickly turning towards the door.

It was a school day but Joule was more important. He left through the door with that thought and set out into the pre-dawn darkness.

His boots smacked against the road as he ran, he didn't know exactly where he was going but he needed to move. As there was no destination, there was no way to know how close he was. In the past he would have a support team, be it QUILL or Joule's friends in Judgement. They would be the ones to find his destination.

He did have an ally though. The thought struck him suddenly. The Doctor called Heaven Canceller. The people who came to the auction and were now in a coma, assuming that someone called that in, they would be brought to the hospital. Joule had told him that previous level-upper network had been based on the brainwaves of Dr Kiyama. With that in mind, whoever was behind this would likely be doing the same.

He had a goal now. Find the person who created the network, there would be evidence left that he could pull from the sleepers.

His path turned as he ran towards Heaven Canceller's hospital. He could only hope he had taken a few sleepers they could find the person behind it all with.

As he ran, light began to grow as the sun began to rise. He made it to the hospital at 6:30 AM and made his way in quietly.

[ACSR: Strong-minded]

GV walked into his office less than thirty minutes later and explained what was going on. Heaven Canceller waited in silence and when GV finished he took out his phone and dialed. When it was answered he spoke into it quickly.

"Ms Kiyama, I'm sorry for calling so early but there is something important going on that might require your help."

A tired voice replied something that GV was unable to hear but the doctor continued "It's about the level-upper."

The voice stopped sounding tired and started sounding worried at that but he cut her off "Please, come in to the hospital to discuss this. It may be important."

The call ended and the doctor looked at GV directly.

"I do have some of the new victims in this hospital so I did suspect that something like this was going on. We may not be able to help you find Joule directly but we will be able to track down the person in charge."

GV nodded and spoke quietly "Thank you, I'm sorry that I had to call on you."

The doctor just sighed at that "Honestly, you kids shouldn't be forced into this in the first place. With Miss Joule missing, I will do my best to see her safe."

After that it took another hour for Doctor Kiyama to arrive and to get filled in on what had happened. She was dressed casually and GV realised that she would likely have to leave to help out at the child error facility she taught at.

She looked worried as GV finished his explanation before replying "I would like to help you and Joule, but after the original incident, my files on the level-upper were deleted. I can help you isolate the user's brainwaves but I can't cure the sleepers with just that.

"That's all I need." GV explained "If I can find the creator then I can track them down and find Joule."

Docter Kiyama nodded "Make sure you grab the level-upper antidote while you're there of course."

GV nodded and they got to work.

End of chapter.

A little short but mostly just to set the scene for the rest of this mini-arc. I actually thought about adding a bit more but I thought that where it ends now is a good ending point.