“The stadium started to fall away the moment the host was taken in for questioning. No one knew exactly why, the only ones that were present were Alexander, Logan, Tr, Supervisor Penumbra, and Patricia.” Sara the security guard stated according to what her superior had informed her.

The supervisor noticed the way Patricia grinned as they watched the host get escorted out, Logan was about to interrogate her when the uniformed men came out of nowhere.

“They beat you to her.” Alexander said as he saw the guards, then at Logan's scowl. The leader of his squad pushed the bridge pf his glasses, convinced that something was amiss other than the alledged Rave equipment but before he could ponder, Ruben came up to him.

“Oi you!” The Cinnabarian spoke to Logan in a boisterous manner, Tr came in close proximity ready to punch him until he heard the following. “I need you--” Logan was caught off guard when Ruben grabbed him by the shoulder, eye to eye while Logan's eyebrows climbed up to his fringe, eyes widened, “--to help me find the prize money.” Ruben finished.

“You wish.” Tr interjected.

“I'm asking the leader, not the lackey.” Ruben remarked at Tr, then looked back at Logan. “Are you gonna help me or not?” The Cinnabarian asked in a demanding tone.

“I won't aid a delinquent in theft--” Logan started as Ruben released him with a disappointed glance, “--however, if there is evidence of fraud, best believe that my team will step in to dismantle the operation.”

Ruben's face contorted into a crooked smirk.

“You got guts, I'll give you that.” Ruben admitted, acknowledging him as an equal. “I don't work with whimps.” As Logan and Ruben negotiated, supervisor Penumbra saw Patricia smiling.

“You're too happy in seeing Natalie get taken away.” Penumbra started, to which Patricia grinned.

“If she's innocent, we have nothing to worry about.” Patricia stated then her green eyes shot a scrutinizing glance at Penumbra. “Unless she is hiding something that we don't know about.” Patricia hinted then walked away as her heels gave out a clink.

Supevisor Penumbra then gave the guards the all clear.

"After my supervisor informed me what had occured, I then saw Patricia walk out of the reception with a Tarot card that she picked up." Sara added, though she didn't know which card Patricia had in hand.

It was the Emperor.

The Emperor, 10 of Swords and Wands. All downright. "I see," she responded, realizing her mistake. "You purposefully showed me those cards."

Hexice spread the remaining cards into a ring between them, facing all the cards to her, all blank cards. "Don't play dumb. I know very well that you knew what I was doing."

Patricia clicked her tongue. "Then tell me what these say."

He gave her an ominous grin. "They say that you are nothing more than a puppet waiting to be thrown out."

Patricia smirked, "Oh Hexice, looks like you tossed out the wrong puppet." She giggled at the outcome.

“I noticed the way Patricia was acting. It's not noticeable at first glance, but you can tell by the way she looks at you.” The Japanese receptionist responded as she gave her statement related to her coworker.

Patricia hid the tarot card within her bosom, sliding the card between her breasts before she entered the reception. Akane was focused attending some of the client and revising the tickets.

She hadn't noticed Patricia yet when the blond sat down on the desk chair.

Patricia typed The Tarot on the keyboard and clicked the search for the Arcana on the website. As she scrolled down the website, a thumbnail popped up, the image of a large violet eye with an ominous stare thay reminded her of ParaVi. It made her shudder.

The way he licked his forked tongue sent a chill down her spine.

Akane stood from her seat and headed to the ladies' room, when the Japanese receptionist was metres away from Patricia's desk chair when Akane's elbow brushed the tip of Patricia's ponytail, the blonde recoiled.

“Watch it!” Patricia barked.

Akane felt a drop of urine staining her bloomers from Patricia's outburst as she rushed out of the door.

Her heart pounded against her chest as she looked back on the computer screen. She had to act smarter, estimate every obstacle that could be thrown at her and get past it. She shouldn't have let her guard down, if someone like Akane managed to surprise her, there was no telling what would happen to her if she got discovered.

She had to tread with caution, she had to find the Life Gem and abandon the decadent rock of a stadium and soon. Considering the possibility that she would be discarded like a used marionette, she wasn't going to leave empty handed.

She had to prepare to strike.

Her green eyes scanned at the screen whilst she typed on the document, noting the shifts of her coworkers; their habits, their weaknesses. The participants could also pose a problem so she revised the forms of each one to perfect her plan. When she found Haeji's form and looked at her mismatched eyes on the ID, she thought about her, her brother and Juuzou.

Her hirelings could also pose a threat to her plans.

“I finally found you…” Juuzou thought while staring at Joon and Haeji from the entrance of the infirmary. “Juuzou, its you!!!” Joon grinned, fast walking towards the white haired male.

Trust no one. Patricia thought. Not even him.

Patricia typed the strengths and weaknesses of each of her hirelings.

Buri

Chirrin

Juuzou Soma

Lirien

Nae

Saeri

Yeong

Yu Jun

After she wrote down the list she moved on to another topic: the stadium's infrastructure. If she wanted to find the Life Gem, she had to  encourage Logan, the leader of the Rave Hunters, to go deeper into the stadium's bowels. If he succeded in hacking the security system of the stadium, he could encourage his crew to search for the illicit RAVE parts and dismantle the traps that could be installed within the ruins of the stadium. Patricia just needed to use some of her assets to sway him in finding it, then let the Korean thief swoop in to fetch the gem and get rid of her.

If the spectacled blonde failed in his endeavor, she had to visit the Deity of Realms as a last resort to find the Life Gem.

She wasn't the kind of person that would seek help, even a single, independent woman needed an ally to assist her.

As much as she hated to admit it, Patricia had to face her fear, even if it meant visiting the Deity of Realms for a second time.

“When I was on my way back to the reception. I saw Patricia leave the stadium, but there was something strange coming from her, like, she was marching off somewhere. I tried to follow her, but she disappeared before I could catch up to her.” Akane explained.

“I was doing my job when these men came into my workplace and cornered me.” Brandon accused Alexander, TR, Ruben and Logan for invading his work area and personal space.

Brandon was checking the recent activity of the portals until he heard footsteps coming closer. He turned over his shoulder to see the intruders. His sleek steampunk glasses shielded him from the impact of Ruben's fist, though it didn't stop Brandon from falling backwards to the ground.

“What the hell!?” Alexander shouted as he walked up to pick Brandon, Logan also followed to help Alexander hoist Brandon up from the floor while TR headed for the equipment, eyeing it. “What is wrong with you?!” Alexander spat at Ruben while the curly haired Rubrum rolled his eye.

“It isn't Rave equipment, shit.” TR checked the equipment, disappointed with brows furrowed.

“It's a load of malarkey! I wanna know where they hiding the prize money.” Logan glared at Ruben throught the lens of his glasses while Brandon did the same.

“We're not here for the prize money, you dolt.” TR trekked to his teammates.

“Some investigators you are. None of you found a single clue about the prize money nor asked about the armed guards that crushed your bird.” Ruben scoffed.

Armed guards? A bird? Brandon asked himself.

“A drone is not a bird, Ruben.” Logan corrected him.

A drone? Brandon thought before he connected the dots.

“But it can fly.” The Cinnabarian refuted.

“Drones hover, they don't fly.” Logan said matter of fact.

Supervisor Penumbra had informed him about a drone that one of the caretakers have struck down a couple of hours ago. Then he recalled about the corrupted data that the hacker left behind, the security system had lost footage. That explained why the A.I.D. sent an alert on his device.

“Crows fly! Are you calling me a liar?!” Ruben barked.

“Crows aren't drones, ya big dummy!” TR sneered.

“Then what are they?” Ruben interrogated petulantly.

“So you are the ones who hacked the security system.” Brandon hypothesized.

“What?” Ruben was even more confused at the accusation. Alexander slapped his forehead in a facepalm.

“This was a terrible idea.” The leader of the group stated.

Brandon sent an alert while the RAVE men and Ruben were arguing. The automaton scanned the perimeter and shot a beam to teleport Brandon out of his work station before the same automaton shot a beam to detain the intruders in a barrier and escorted them out.

“At least I found out who the hacker was through the ordeal.” Brandon stated as he finished giving his declaration of the events related to his person.

“With hearing as sharp as mine, you'd be surprised with the secrets I overhear around the stadium.” Alma started, this statement was recorded by the I.B.I. before the night of her death. “I only went out to grab a drink before I heard one of the contestants cry. Patricia was conversing with this contestant in particular. I heard her mention the cure that she would give to the patient that laid bedridden in the infirmary in exchange for a favor. I have no clue what this favor is. I'm assuming, that this favor would be either for this contestant to win the tournament or to fill out a survey. If it's the latter, I can't leak that type of information cause it would get me fired.” The survey was similar to the ones akin to advertising a product, like sportswear or another service. A sponsor would offer a contract to a competitor to use said brand to bring in revenue. For example, a fresh new contender accepts to sport the brand and appear in commercials. The rising star accumulates a following for an event, the clients pay for going to the event, have fun, and take souvenirs. If the rising star has a social media platform, the better. That's marketing for ya. You wear the product, the product wears you. If one of the employees persuades the artist and suceeds on getting a sweet deal. The employee gets the credit, or a frame with “Employee of the Month” emblazoned on the frame.

One of the inquisitors enquired further about Patricia. “Patti? I don't know much about her since she's more of a workaholic. Patricia is a perfectionist when it comes to her job, straight forward. She's not a fan of small talk either, she looks like the type to cast a death glare if you poke about her personal life, her fake smile is also creepy. Reminds me of my mother.” Alma shuddered at the thought of her gaslighting, shoppaholic mother. “I overheard her talking with a new caretaker. An asian albino, he's not hard to miss. White hair, pale skin, bugundy eyes, baritone voice. I had to figure out how to loosen him up a bit and ask him about the girl with the mismatched eyes. The girl and the sick patient are siblings, albino boy is a childhood friend of theirs.”

Another inquisitor asked about the male Rave hunters. “I don't know much about them other than what Sajid told me about the drone. My guess is that they're using this Rave riff-raff to steal the powersource. Most of the stadium is gem-powered. Believe it or not, there is a hidden gem that had been dormant for a millennia. With a stadium built on an ancient ruin, there has to be a hidden gem somewhere, or at least a skeleton buried underneath. If you ask me, those guys are after the motherload and use those drones to steal it for their own lucre. You know how humankind gets when there is power involved.”

One of the I.B.I. agents sped the audio to find any further information related to the suspects. So far, the only information they could extract from the defunct was about her coworkers, the contestants, and the interloper. As the I.B.I. heard the word shapeshifter, they rewinded the audio and played it.

“It's difficult to identify a shapeshifter to a certain level. Many shapeshifters can change their appearance but they can't change who they are. Mirror is an excellent impersonater: his energy is vibrant, light, rarely fades into a dark undertone. He likes being dominant, the center of attention, though it's strange that his vibe has been dimmed to a yellow hue. His aura is usually a shiny rainbow disco ball. One time Mirror shapeshifted into Patricia to take her paycheck. He gave his usual radiant vibe and strolled in to take the check and walked out like a diva on a runway, I hadn't noticed the difference until Patricia came in, and I could sense that her esha came off in rivulets. She came for her paycheck, and I realized that she was the real deal by the way she gave off her fake smile. I sensed her vibe spike in whips. I also noticed that Glen wasn't his usual self either, his eyes usually lit up when he saw me. He ignored me, which was wierd. So I heard Glen and Mirror murmuring about something about a few hours ago, I thought Mirror was mimicking a British accent until I heard Mirror respond: Yes Warlin.”