Chapter 70 The Things We See

The perspective of Boro:

Left the Information Headquarters—the patrolling request was confirmed and would begin starting tomorrow.

"Mh..." that’s fair—the System Killer wouldn’t strike again the same night, so it was only natural for it to be this way.

Whatever the case, I need to hurry up—need to take a closer look at the crime scene and see.

Once reaching it, I pushed myself across a bundle of people that were witnessing the scene—a notable crowd had gathered, which wasn’t a very agreeable development for the case.

Instantly, I froze—glared at the scene and it was beyond repulsive.

Three heads mounted on spines—a ghastly frown, a jolly smile, and the third one...

As my eyes observed it in higher scrutiny, my thesaurus couldn’t pull out an appropriate description for it.

It was... a grin stretched so obscenely far across its face that it had ripped through the very flesh that contained it.

"Yo, Boro," a voice carried from a distance—across a puddle of detectives at the scene.

I walked up to him—he didn’t seem to be that unnerved by this, but that followed with how he is as a person, I guess.

"How’s the situation, Ri?"

Immediately, his expression changed as he replied, "Ri?—who’s that?—me?"

"You don’t see anyone else here, do you?"

He peeped at all the people here—and with raised eyebrows, answered, "I actually somewhat do," then after a quick pause, added, "that’s actually what people close to me call me—interesting how you came up with it."

Standing in front of the heads that so deliriously glared into my soul, I was prompted to inquire Ri, "does this— does this not faze you at all?"

"What kind of ridiculous question is that?—of course it does."

No matter the words, my reply was instant and unchanging, "how come you’re so calm then?"

For a moment, silence clocked in; not for long, however.

"Because death is natural—it will happen regardless of the way it is conceived, so what is it that I should be appalled by?—the fact that someone gave these people a shortcut into death?"

I couldn’t help myself—my hand went on my chin and the neurons in my brain began firing for something that could be on an equal footing of his words.

"But should that really undermine the horror of humans?—the terror— I mean, the horror of what took place here?—if you can’t be ’appalled’ by the victims, can’t you be appalled by the killer— the predator instead?"

Consequently, he let out the sound of thought—a quick "hm" with no attachment, then replied concisely as if it’s natural to him:

"Even the person that committed all of this is just a mere person—they sleep, eat, age, and stay up at night worrying like the rest of us— this is actually a repeating problem for you, you put people on pedestals as if they’re something more than they are."

He shook his head, then continued, "you think the System Killer is some mastermind that is beyond basic human concepts?—the dude’s probably having the worst diarrhea of his life right now while you’re glorifying his ass like he’s some god."

Upon this line, my eyes shifted to the ground...

"You’re a detective—what detective work can you do when you have superstitious beliefs about the perpetrators?—how will you put yourself in their shoes if you can’t recognize that they do the mere basics all of us do?"

Silence—uncomfortable silence that had the background firing at 200% volume.

Then...

"But I mean all of this as a friend; I really love you, man, so even if I say all of this, know that I really mean the best for you."

Yet again, Ri impressed me beyond words—not the first time, and probably not the last one either.

His intuition was right—this felt like an attack for me—and I feel indescribably foolish for seeing it that way instead of for what it truly was.

"You’re right..."

Was I truly dehumanizing the System Killer and Black Death?—is that why I could never go anywhere with it?—all my research?

These thoughts were, admittedly, causing a migraine—a nasty ache that made me dizzy and tense.

"Don’t think about it too much—we have a disgusting mess to think about instead, so do yourself a favor and omit everything else for now," Ri said softly—a tender, compassionate tone that had nothing but affection.

Was he talking like this before as well?—did he speak in affection even when he lectured me?

"Right..."

"So, how did things go in the Information Center?—did they agree with what the circumstances demanded?"

This time, I answered aloofly, "yeah, yeah—they will start patrolling starting tomorrow."

Instantaneously, words left his mouth after hearing that... it felt unnatural...

"Tomorrow?"

The way he said that made me glance at him—he had his hand over his chin and an expression deep in the clouds.

"Yeah?—he wouldn’t do anything the day of the murder, no?"

He didn’t insinuate anything in this regard, yet I was prompted to ask him regardless—instinctively.

"Bonnie!!" he said as his face abruptly moved upwards—expression changing to that of profound seriousness.

A quick "huh" subsequently escaped my mouth—what did he mean by that?—what about her?

"We need to detain her immediately!!"

Questions in the air—and confusion.

"Detain her?—did she do something wrong?"

He proceeded to put his arms on my shoulder—almost shaking me in the process. "Not because she did something!!" yet again in screams. "She isn’t safe right now; we need her in our custody before it’s too late!!"

Finally, it began connecting—everything.

"Oh..."

Before I could properly paint the picture in my head, Ri ran off to Jessey.

I followed him.

"We need to get to Bonnie before the System Killer does—we stopped tracking her after Smile executed the alleged perpetrator!!"

How... did he figure all out of that so quickly?—just how far ahead are you thinking, Zuri?

Seeing this display of intelligence, a mild spurt of crooked jealousy went over my mind—one that was unquestionably unfair and shameful.

Jessey was also confused by his barrage of words, yet he didn’t even ask for explanations.

He simply listened to him.

And then obeyed.

Yet in spite of Ri’s intelligence and quick-thinking...

It was too late.

"Bonnie was found dead—she died en route to the crime scene."

The System Killer was one step ahead of us.

Or was it just one step?

Perhaps, just perhaps...

He had us in a chokehold from the very beginning.