Chapter 16 - Busy as a Bee

Flo had become incredibly busy lately.

Almost every other day, the Ghost Detector console would ping once, sometimes twice and whenever it did, she would grab her satchel and rush out with whoever was available at the time.

Sometimes it was Mr.Hugo. Sometimes it was Amelia. Sometimes Trista came along.

And on a few rare occasions, all three of them came running after Flo at once because apparently letting her investigate supernatural disasters alone was no longer considered acceptable behaviour.

Trista had officially become part of their little Ghost Observatory squad. Her DuskComm ability was surprisingly useful. Using a small magical communication medium, she could maintain a psychic connection between everyone even when they were separated during investigations. She could relay messages, coordinate positions and, when necessary, communicate directly with Flo without anyone having to shout across a haunted building.

Amelia, meanwhile, was usually the one keeping everyone alive. Her TwiLight shields were invaluable when Lost Beings became unstable, especially when their volatile magic caused the surrounding structures to start collapsing.

Mr.Hugo used his ObserVation to analyse magical traces and environmental shifts that Flo couldn't afford to stop and examine herself.

And then, of course, there was Cocol. Cocol was always there. Literally.

Flo had attached a DayShine leash around his translucent form and carried him everywhere like a giant floating balloon. She had decided to carry him wherever she went in hopes of finding his connection one day.

She had gotten so used to walking around while holding his leash that she often forgot how absurd she looked to the rest of the city, with her hand always up, holding something invisible.

"Come on, Cocol," Flo said as she walked down the Observatory stairs one afternoon. Cocol floated along behind her.

He did not answer, he did not complain and he did not even seem particularly interested in where they were going. He simply floated.

Flo looked back over her shoulder at him. "You're a very low-maintenance travelling companion." Cocol blinked his glowing hollow eyes.

"That's good," Flo nodded to herself, turning back around. "Very good."

Over the past several weeks, the squad had solved case after case across Cirnia.

They encountered Lost Beings that appeared angry, scared, confused, lonely, sick or simply lost. Some manifested as distorted humanoid figures, some took the shape of strange shadowy beasts, some caused entire buildings to shake and others wandered aimlessly through the streets without even realising where they were.

But the pattern remained consistent.

Once Flo used her DayShine magic to stabilise them, their violent or distorted forms would dissolve, leaving behind small, harmless spectral entities.

And whenever there was a white thread connecting them to a physical body, Flo followed it.

Some investigations took minutes, some took hours and some required the efforts of the entire squad.

But eventually, one by one, the Lost Beings went home.

All except Cocol and that was becoming a heavy, looming problem.

Flo had searched everywhere. She had followed every possible trail, cross-referenced city records and even started carrying Cocol around on ordinary errands just in case she happened to trigger a reaction somewhere in Cirnia.

But nothing ever appeared. No white thread, no magical resonance, no physical body and no answers.

Flo sat on the Observatory floor one evening with Cocol floating peacefully beside her. Her hands were wrapped tightly around his DayShine leash while she looked up at him.

"I still don't understand," she whispered.

Cocol tilted his translucent head.

"Every other Lost Being we've found had a connection to their body," Flo said, pulling her knees up to her chest. "And Trista's connection was weaker than when she first woke up..."

She had been studying the phenomenon obsessively.

The farther a Lost Being travelled from its physical body, the weaker the white thread became. That much was certain.

But after resolving multiple cases, Flo had noticed a second, far more frightening variable. Time mattered too.

The longer a Lost Being remained separated from its vessel, the weaker the link appeared to grow.

It wasn't an exact twenty-four-hour limit, nor was it a fixed deadline. They didn't know the exact mathematical threshold, only that distance and time both actively worked against the soul's tether.

So Time and Space were both inversely proportionate to the strength and visibility of the white thread connection.

Flo had written those two relationships across an entire blackboard on the main floor.

She looked at Cocol again, her eyes slowly filling with tears.

Too much time had already passed since she first found him in the mountains.

"That means..."

She reached out and hugged him or at least tried to.

Her arms passed partly through his ghostly form before she pulled his leash closer to hold him near.

"...maybe you're already too far gone."

Cocol simply rested against her shoulder, expressionless.

Flo's lips trembled as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"I don't want that... If the connection gets weaker with time, then maybe I can't find your body anymore."

Poor Cocol had absolutely no idea why this overly emotional researcher was hugging him but he simply floated quietly beside her.

Amelia walked into the room a moment later and stopped in her tracks as she took in the scene.

She looked at Flo, then at Cocol and then back at Flo.

"Oh, Flo..."

Flo immediately wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

"I'm fine!"

"You're crying."

"I'm researching!"

"You're hugging a ghost while crying," Amelia said flatly.

"It's emotional research!"

Amelia sighed and sat down beside her on the floor, listening to her while comforting her.

"Hey. We don't know that your theory means he's gone."

Flo sniffled softly.

"I know..."

"So don't decide the ending before we actually know for sure." Amelia gently bumped her shoulder against Flo's. "We'll keep looking."

Flo's eyes filled with fresh tears.

"You're so nice!"

"Don't cry!"

"I'm not!"

"You are!"

"I can't help it!" Flo wailed softly.

Amelia laughed softly, shaking her head.

"Yeah. I know."

There was another, deeper issue developing beneath the surface.

The cases were increasing. At first, Flo had assumed the Lost Beings were simply rare, tragic supernatural accidents.

But now? There were too many. Way too many.

That evening, the entire squad was gathered around the Observatory table while Flo covered the wood with maps, street diagrams and scribbled notes.

"Why are there suddenly so many?" Flo asked, leaning over her research.

Mr.Hugo adjusted his spectacles.

"That is the grand question, isn't it?"

Flo tapped her pencil rhythmically against the paper.

"And why do they need stabilising in the first place?"

Amelia crossed her arms, leaning over the notes.

"If they're not inherently evil, why do they become so destructive?"

"Exactly!" Flo pointed at her excitedly. "And why don't any of them remember being Lost Beings after they return to their bodies?"

Trista, who had been listening quietly from the corner of the table, looked up at the scattered records.

"Maybe..."

Everyone turned towards her at once.

Trista shrank back slightly under the sudden attention, hesitating before continuing.

"Maybe... something is causing them to become Lost Beings."

A heavy silence fell over the room.

Flo looked at her, then slowly turned her eyes back to the street map of Cirnia.

"That's what I'm thinking too," she murmured, picking up her pastel ink and circling several ping locations. "They aren't appearing randomly."

Amelia leaned closer to examine the clusters.

"And if they're becoming unstable because of something external..."

Flo looked at the growing ring of pink circles spreading across the map.

"...then what is causing it?"

Nobody had an answer.