The Egg

Mateo and Ines rolled into Fluado. This was the richest part of the city, and the two felt it as soon as they came in. A set of housing units next to each other, each in a different colour with a perfectly maintained lawn and fence outside of it. The two went into the park where Terrence said he'd be, and sure enough, Terrence was there.

"Okay, Ines, Mateo. You ready?" He asked. He got on one knee. Mateo followed, and Ines dropped after a few seconds. He moved his phone to the centre of the circle, and on it was a map of Fluado. They were in the park, which had a blue circle over it. Behind them was a set of houses with a red circle over it. A few stores also had blue circles around them.

"Okay, here's the deal." Terrence started. "Blue circles are where I think there's a decent chance someone will be. Red circle is the mayor's estate, and I am fairly certain the gods would throw somebody in there to be funny."

"Makes sense." Mateo nodded. Terrence saw Mateo's face tense up a little when gods were mentioned, but they both seemed to agree to push the idea to the back of their minds.

"So I say that first off, we get Ines something to work with, and then we storm the place to see what we can deal with. Sound good?"

"Yeah." Mateo said, standing up.

"Hold it." Terrence said, gesturing him to kneel again and putting his fist in the middle of the circle. He put his phone in his pocket and put his fist in the middle. Mateo put his own fist on top, and Ines finally put her own small fist on top of that.

"Now then, we're officially a team until this game ends." Terrence said as he stood up, looking around the park for any signs of life.

"Oh, also!" Ines chimed in, pulling three pink balaclavas out of her bag. "We'll probably need to hide our faces during the raid on the mayors house."

"Did you just have these?" Mateo asked as he put his in his back pocket.

"Well, I thought it'd be neat." Ines said in her same joyful tone. "I just thought I could make a set of cuddly bank robbers, but then I ordered way more material then I needed, so I thought I'd make human sized balaclavas. They were all just clogging up my room anyway, so keep them!"

"Sure." Terrence nodded, stuffing it in his back pocket, mildly confused. "I'm gonna go check the east side of the park. You two can check the west end."

Terrence sprinted across the field, leaving Ines and Mateo alone in the almost empty park. The night sky was starrier than usual, and the only life was a few people walking their dogs.

"You think we could follow the dogs?" She whispered to Mateo.

"I don't think so?" Mateo whispered back.

"Besides, I'm the only dog needed around here!"

Mateo jumped back at the muffled voice coming from the pocket of Ines bright pink cardigan. Ines casually took Glyle out, displaying him in her open palm. Glyle worked with what he had, strutting around on the hand, hands on his hips, with the occasional booty shake.

"Name's Glyle, how ya doin?" He asked.

"Is this your power?" Mateo asked.

"She bled on me, and then I came to life. That's about all we need to catch up on, capiche? Now, let's get Ines saved. Got it?"

"On it."

The two walked through the park, checking the trees for any signs of life besides birds, even if Ines insisted on helping any babies that fell out of the nests. Even the bathrooms were free of anyone tied up. Mateo thought for a second about how that was an outcome he disliked.

"So are the three of us in it for the rest of the game?" Ines asked, trying to pick up a sewer grate. Mateo did it for her, and she listened in for anyone. It was just rushing water underneath, so that was also a bust.

"Wait, would there be anything by the fountain?" She asked. "Or is there a fountain?"

"I think there's a fountain?" Mateo replied. A quick glance at his map app confirmed that was the case. So they ran towards it. When they got there, it looked normal. In fact, it was more populated, being in the centre of the massive park. It was mostly people on dates admiring the fountain, which was of an angel being hatched from an egg. It was actually meant to be a mortal shell and be a piece about how life cannot be beautiful without death. But everyone thought it looked like an egg, and kept saying it when it was revealed the artist cheated on his wife with a fifteen year old to annoy him. He was still alive, which everyone knew after Janet made a video once of her pointing to the statue and yelling 'EGG' a bunch of times, causing him to call for the Felloni family to be removed from power. Nothing came of that.

Everything underneath the egg looked normal, with the exception of a few bubbles popping out near the centre of the water right underneath. When Ines pointed it out, Mateo dove in, retrieving the woman with a straw stuck in her mouth. She looked mortified, but she was alive. Ines quickly untied her and got the tape holding the straw in place out of her mouth. The girl didn't say anything, just staring at Ines in shock for a brief second before running off.

"Ines Destrade is safe!" The voice rang out in their ears. Ines breathed in a sigh of relief, and Glyle fist bumped her.

"Right, I'm gonna see what Terrence is up to." Mateo said calmly. "You cool with staying here?"

"Yeah." Ines sighed, before sitting on the ground. "Wait, before you leave, I just need to ask you something."

"Go on."

"Are you helping me because of Ramon?" She asked.

Mateo froze in place for a moment. Her casual look was gone, and in it's place was a more solemn one.

"It's because of Ramon, yeah." He nodded.

"Is he alive?" She asked.

"I wish I knew."