Chapter 18 - Let me tell you something

[Tomorrow Evening]

Flo stood in the middle of the Observatory's main research floor, completely surrounded by maps. There were maps pinned to the walls, maps spread across the desks and maps lying flat across the floorboards. Little colored pins were stuck into Cirnia's winding streets, circles were drawn around various districts and pieces of paper covered in scribbled notes were scattered everywhere.

At the center of it all stood Flo. Her hair was a messy nest, her eyes were heavy with fatigue and she was holding a piece of pastel pink chalk in one hand. She had barely slept a wink, having spent the entire night transferring every Lost Being case they had ever investigated onto a single, massive map of Cirnia.

"Case one..." she whispered, circling a location near the northern mountain region. "Case two..." Another circle appeared in the western residential district. "Case three..." Another. "Case four..." Another. "And five..." Another.

Flo took three steps backward and squinted at the map. She moved one of the pins, then another and then another.

"No," she muttered, adjusting them again. "That can't be right."

She picked up another sheet of data. The cases weren't clustered around a single neighborhood, they weren't following a specific road and they weren't concentrated around areas with unusually high ability activity. They were scattered completely at random all over the city.

Flo rubbed her forehead in frustration. "Come on..." She drew rapid lines between several locations but nothing emerged. She tried connecting them chronologically and yet, still nothing. She tried connecting them by distance. Nothing. She even tried drawing a massive circle around the entire city but that didn't help either.

Flo stared at the board for several long seconds before bursting out, "WHY ARE YOU ALL SO FAR APART?!"

The Observatory remained completely silent, save for a small cat sitting on the nearby windowsill who blinked at her.

"Don't look at me like that, Puff," Flo grumbled. Puff blinked again. "I know. There has to be something."

The heavy wooden door behind her creaked open and Mr.Hugo stepped into the research hall carrying a steaming cup of tea and wearing a face mask. He took one look at the room, then took another, his eyes slowly traveling across the walls covered in maps, the paper-strewn floor, the colored pins, the complex diagrams and the sheer volume of pastel pink chalk dust.

He looked at Flo. "Good evening."

Flo turned around instantly. "Mr.Hugo!"

"Yes?"

"I think I've found something!"

Mr.Hugo surveyed the chaos. "You've found a way to destroy our entire laboratory?"

"No!" Flo hurried toward him, holding up several sheets of paper. "Look at this. I've mapped every Ghost Detector incident we've had since the network went online, then I cross-referenced the locations with the previous magical disturbances, the original mountain incident, the shop collapse, the residential hauntings and every other Lost Being case we've encountered."

Mr.Hugo took a cautious sip of tea. “And?”

Flo barreled forward. "And there isn't a single obvious geographical pattern!"

"That's unfortunate."

"But that's exactly why it's interesting!" Flo's eyes were practically glowing with manic energy. "Because if there isn't a geographical pattern, then maybe the location isn't the common factor. Maybe it's what happens between the locations!"

Mr.Hugo blinked, slowly lowering his cup.

Flo grabbed another sheet. "If we reconstruct their movements instead of simply mapping where they were detected, we might be able to identify a trajectory! Then if we compare those trajectories against environmental changes, ability activity, population density, magical infrastructure and..."

She continued. And continued. And continued.

Mr.Hugo slowly lowered his tea even further as Flo's hands moved faster, pointing wildly at different diagrams. "...which means if the spatial displacement is caused by an external influence, then we could potentially identify a vector and calculate the origin point, unless of course the Lost Being itself is creating the displacement, in which case we'd need to..."

Mr.Hugo watched her in stunned silence.

Flo kept going without taking a breath. "...and if we account for the time decay of the soul-body connection, then the trajectory would have to be weighted according to the estimated separation duration, which means..."

Mr.Hugo quietly set his teacup down on a nearby ledge.

"...and that could potentially explain why the stronger cases have larger manifestations because..."

"Flo."

"...and then if we compare that against the areas where the Ghost Detector nodes have..."

"Flo."

"...we could..."

"Flo."

"...possibly..."

"Flo!"

She finally ground to a halt. "Yes?"

"You need rest."

Flo stared at him, offended. "No, I don't."

"You've been awake all night."

"I'm fine."

"You look like you've been personally attacked by a library."

"I am researching."

"You are hallucinating in pastel colors."

"I'm thinking!"

"You're thinking too much."

Flo frowned deeply. "But I can solve this."

Mr.Hugo picked up his tea again. "Of course you can." He turned back toward the door.

Flo immediately lunged forward and grabbed the tail end of his coat with both hands. "No, Mr.Hugo! Wait!"

He stopped, trapped.

Flo held on tight and launched straight back into her explanation. "I know I can solve this! Just listen to this one thing! So if we assume that the Lost Beings are not appearing randomly and the increase in cases isn't natural, then there has to be a common trigger. But because the locations are scattered, the trigger might not be geographical. It could be something that moves through the city or something that affects the magical field over time or even..."

Mr.Hugo slowly tried to tug his coat away.

"...a traveling magical disturbance!"

He pulled harder. Flo held tighter.

"...or a chain reaction!"

He pulled again.

"...or possibly a change in the ambient magical field caused by..."

"Flo."

"...an external..."

"Flo."

"...source!"

Mr.Hugo finally managed to yank his coat free from her grip. "Sleep."

"But..."

"Sleep." He turned and walked down the hallway, patting his face mask like a diva. "Ugh, my mask is all dry with all that."

Flo stood there holding absolutely nothing, staring at the empty doorway. "...Why don't you act like a real mentor for once?!"

Mr.Hugo's voice echoed back down the hall: "Love you too, Flo."

Flo's eyes immediately filled with dramatic tears. "WAAAAAHHH!"

Puff looked up from her windowsill. Flo sniffled, wiping her eyes. "Nobody supports my genius." Puff blinked. "Except you."

Flo walked over and crouched beside the cat. "You're the only one who understands me."

Puff immediately hopped down and trotted directly toward her food bowl. Flo sighed. "Of course."

She filled the bowl and while Puff happily munched away, Flo stood up and looked back at the giant board. Her emotional meltdown slowly faded as her expression turned serious. Something had clicked. She didn't fully grasp what it was yet but she knew one thing for certain: she needed more people, more perspectives, more data and, more importantly, she needed a team.

Flo went to the Academy first. She searched the hallways. Nothing. She checked the practice grounds. Nothing. She scanned the cafeteria. Still nothing.

Flo screamed dramatically, tapping her foot. "Where is Mon Ami?!"

She pulled out her phone-like magical communication device and dialed Amelia but received no answer. She tried again but got nothing. "Where is she?"

Then, Flo remembered Trista.

She hurried over to Trista's small cottage. Trista opened the door and immediately blinked in surprise at the sight of Flo standing on her porch while she held on to empty air. (It was Cocol floating peacefully behind her on his DayShine leash.)

"Flo?"

"Trista!"

"Are you okay?"

"Yes!" Flo paused, tilting her head. "...Mostly."

Trista looked at Cocol, then back at Flo. "Did something happen?"

"I need you to contact Amelia."

Trista nodded quickly. "Oh! Of course." She reached into her pocket, pulled out her small DuskComm crystal and activated it.

"[-DuskComm-]"

A soft, lavender glow flared around the stone.

"Amelia?" Trista called softly.

A faint voice buzzed through the medium. "Trista?"

"Flo is here," Trista explained. "She wants to talk to you."

There was a brief pause before Amelia's voice came through clearer. "Flo?"

"MON AMIIII!" Flo yelled.

"Why are you yelling through Trista's DuskComm?!"

"Because I haven't seen you!"

"You saw me yesterday!"

"That was yesterday!"

Amelia laughed through the crystal. "I'm sorry, Flo. I've been really busy."

"Where are you?"

"At the advanced training grounds."

Flo's energetic expression fell. "Oh..."

"I'm preparing for the Defence Squad selection," Amelia explained. "The recruitment trials are coming up, so I have to train extra hard."

Flo's shoulders dropped. "Oh."

Amelia immediately caught the drop in her tone. "Hey. Don't sound like that."

"I wanted you to help me investigate," Flo murmured.

"I know."

"But you have to train."

"I do."

Flo forced a weak smile. "Then I'll cheer for you."

Amelia laughed softly. "Thank you, Flo."

"You're going to do just amazing!"

"I hope so."

"You will, Ami, you are the best TwiLighter, I know!" Flo took a soft breath. "Good luck, Ami!"

"Thanks, Flo!"

The crystal's glow faded as the connection closed. Flo stared at the DuskComm medium for a moment before her eyes suddenly snapped bright.

"Connect Caecilius!" she commanded.

Trista blinked. "Caecilius?"

"Yes!"

Trista activated the crystal again, though this connection took slightly longer to bridge. Eventually, a familiar, deep voice answered. "Hello?"

Trista hesitated nervously. "Um... hello."

"Who is this?"

"I'm Trista. I'm a friend of Flo."

There was a distinct pause on the line. "Oh."

Flo leaned her head right next to the crystal, silently mouthing to Trista: Ask him! Ask him!

Trista cleared her throat. "Flo wanted to know if you are busy."

Another pause. "Yes."

Flo's face instantly crumpled.

Trista listened as Caecilius continued, then relayed: "Caecilius said he's assisting his uncle with official work for the Ability Authority."

Flo slumped mournfully against Trista's wall. "Of course he is."

"Can I talk with Flo..."

Flo just straight up cut the call. Poor Caecilius but right now, Flo’s mind was too preoccupied with the lost beings.

Trista looked at her sympathetically but before she could offer comfort, Flo suddenly lifted her head. "Wait." She looked straight at Trista. "Are you free?"

Trista blinked. "Me?"

"Yes!"

Trista's quiet expression brightened immediately. "Yes! Am I needed somewhere? Is there a new Lost Being? I would love to help in any way I can!"

Flo grabbed both of Trista's hands in pure delight. "Perfect!"

Trista smiled warmly and Flo grinned back. "And no, it's not a Lost Being."

Trista tilted her head. "Then what is it?"

Flo's eyes sparkled. "It's something even better."