Inside the silver car in motion.
Roxxy sat beside Mickey, who was driving.
The entire backseat, stretching all the way to the rear, belonged to the other four and Sally.
"Ugh..."
"Next."
Syd slid over, and Toshi took his place to be the last one healed by Sera's power.
Syd ended up next to Jody.
She scooted over a bit to let him squeeze in beside her. The moment he turned to look, he flinched at the sheer amount of blood Jody was wiping off her face and clothes.
Truth be told, they were all pretty messed up. Jody just looked the stickiest.
Syd could still catch a faint, metallic whiff of blood from her. He wanted to shift away—desperately—but where could he go?
"Damn. You look like hell."
Jody replied, "..."
"You've got no room to talk, metalhead."
"Heh..." she chuckled weakly, trying to laugh it off.
"Unbelievable... You knew plastic tears easily and you still chose it over steel?"
"You know I didn't use it for defense."
"Sure, it protected you from getting digested, but at what cost, huh?"
"It was worth it if it meant taking her down."
"Still acting cocky after getting half your bones smashed..."
"Forgive me, sir~ I won't do it again," Jody said with her hands folded over her chest and a soft smile.
He had to admit, it was true. If she hadn't used that method, he wasn't sure how they would've beaten Soo-min. Hell, he even borrowed her idea to take down Fitz.
"So... how'd you take care of him?"
"Toshi blew his brains out. What about you?"
"...Buried her in a cement pit."
"Alive?"
"Alive, yeah."
"..."
"..."
"Weren't you worried she might climb back out?"
"Knew you'd say that. Don't worry, Syd. I made sure there's nothing left."
She gave him a wink and an "OK" hand gesture.
"I shot her straight through the skull... then stood there and watched her sink. The cement's probably hardened by now. No one's ever gonna find her body. She'll stay buried under that construction site... forever."
Jody said it like she wanted him to be impressed, completely unaware of how the other three operatives in the car were suddenly thinking the same silent thought.
"...Nice."
Syd replied.
"But a little psycho."
"You don't like it?"
"Don't like your face more."
"Oof~"
Jody dramatically clutched her chest and threw herself back like she'd been shot, then returned to her usual self with a cheeky grin.
"Now with sound effects? Great."
Syd ran a hand down his face.
"..."
The two of them went quiet. The whole car fell into silence—until one sound caught their attention.
It was Sally.
She had a zip tie attached to Syd's wrist and was fiddling with it curiously.
"What're you doing, you little shit?"
"Eek!"
Sally jolted, quickly pulling her hand away from the zip tie. Syd raised his arm to show her the restraint.
"This right here's called a zip tie. Basically a fancy handcuff. I DIY'd it to keep you tied to me. Wanna run? Gotta break it. But zip ties? Even wire cutters won't get through this. Just so you know. I'll let you loose once we're at the airport. When we're airborne and land at our destination, it's going back on."
Then he flicked her forehead.
"Syd... she's a child."
"She's a little shit, Jody. Little. Shit. Say it right."
Syd turned and growled at Sally.
"Kids like her? Real slippery. Just seeing her do the sad-face act makes me wanna smack her."
"That's a bit harsh."
The seating arrangement had Syd in the middle between Jody and Sera (who had dozed off). Sally and Toshi were sitting across from them.
"Sally..." Toshi gently patted her head.
"I'm really sorry about your friends... I couldn't get there in time."
At the mention of Niccolò and Chacha, Sally visibly wilted. But she managed to reply.
"Okay..."
"Was it just you three in the pickpocket gang?"
Syd asked.
"Well... I only knew Niccolò and Chacha for about two weeks... so..."
Her lips said that, but tears spilled onto her hands.
She hugged Toshi tight, sobbing quietly.
Toshi kept rubbing her head and back comfortingly.
"Were they pickpockets too?"
Toshi asked.
Roxxy nodded.
"It's okay... You're safe now. You don't have to go back to that place."
"..."
Sally wiped her tears on her sleeve. Toshi offered her a tissue to help.
She composed herself after a while, gradually calming down.
"Hey..."
"....."
Syd called her again.
"So how'd you end up there in the first place?"
"..."
She hesitated to answer. Just stared at him with wide eyes.
"He means... how'd you get involved with the pickpockets?" Toshi gently coaxed her.
"....."
"Don't worry. We're not cops. He was sent to help you."
Jody added.
"Fuck the police. All my homies hate police."
"Syd, you're terrible with kids. Let Toshi handle this," Jody patted his shoulder.
Syd, fading into the background: "Yeah, alright, screw this..."
"So... can you tell us why you're in Paris?" Toshi asked.
Sally turned to face him. There was something about his kind eyes that gave her the courage to speak.
"Well... someone brought me out."
"Brought you out from where?"
"...A van... like this one..."
"Like the one we're in?"
"Yes..."
She explained further.
"But bigger... and... it was just us..."
"Us? Other kids your age?"
"Yes..."
"There were many of you?"
"Yeah... lots."
"What kind of van was it? Do you remember?"
"It had two rows of seats... they put handcuffs on us... and... they hurt us when we tried to run..."
"Sounds like a trafficking ring. Sally must've escaped during transport."
Jody spoke up. Toshi nodded, then asked more.
"Do you know this person...?"
He showed her a photo on his phone.
It was a picture of Candy Candido.
Sally's eyes went wide. Her whole body started trembling.
She clung to Toshi tighter, her voice shaking.
"This man!... H-He's bad! He's the one who ordered them to inject me!"
"...Inject you? With what?"
"I don't know! But I never want to go through that again! I'm not going back to that white room! Never!"
"...White room?"
"A lab."
Jody clarified. The coordination between the American girl and the Japanese boy was seamless—he questioned, she summarized. Meanwhile, Roxxy was quietly taking notes on her laptop.
"What did they do to you?"
Toshi asked. He could feel Sally holding on to him tighter now. She was truly terrified.
"They injected me... right here."
She rolled up her sleeve.
There, on the inside of her arm, were scars—evidence of repeated needle punctures, like that of an addict.
"!!!!"
Everyone in the car was shaken. Even Roxxy turned to look.
"It hurt... it burned like fire... I cried but no one helped... they just kept writing in their notebooks and threw me back in the room..."
"They wrote things down... a locked room... injections... Toshi, it's a human experimentation lab."
Jody said.
Inside the moving silver car.
Roxxy sat in the front passenger seat next to Mickey, who was driving.
The back seats, extending to the rear of the vehicle, were occupied by the remaining four members—and Sally.
"Oof..."
"Next."
Syd shuffled over, and Toshi slid into place for Sera to treat his wounds—he was the last one.
Syd moved to the side and ended up next to Jody.
She scooted a little to let him sit closer. When he turned to her, he flinched at the sheer amount of blood she was wiping from her face and clothes.
Honestly, everyone was a bloody mess, but Jody seemed particularly drenched.
Syd could still smell faint traces of blood coming off her. He wanted to slide away from her with every fiber of his being... but there was nowhere else to go.
"Hmm. Nice look," Jody commented.
"...."
"You're worse than me. You don't get to talk, Brit."
"Hehe." She chuckled awkwardly.
"Crazy... You knew plastic tears easily and you still used it to take damage instead of steel..."
"You know I didn't use it for that."
"It stopped the parasites from breaking you down, sure, but what did it cost, huh?"
"It was worth it to finish her off."
"Still acting all smug after nearly dying, huh?"
"Sorryyy~ Won't do it again~"
Jody pressed her palms to her chest and gave him a soft smile.
But he couldn't argue—if not for her stunt, he wouldn't have known how to deal with Soo-min. Hell, he even borrowed her idea to fight Fitz.
"So, how'd you finish him off?" she asked.
"Toshi blew his head off. You?"
"Buried her in wet cement."
"Alive?"
"Alive, yes."
"....."
"..."
"You're not afraid she might crawl back up?"
"Expected you'd say that. Don't worry, Syd. I made sure no trace remains."
She winked at him and gave him an OK sign.
"I shot her in the brain and watched her sink into the pit. The concrete's probably hardened by now. No one will ever find the body. That bitch is going to be buried beneath that construction site... forever..."
Jody said it like a friend sharing a cool story. But without realizing it, her words caused the other three operatives to fall silent, quietly processing what she just said.
"...Good," Syd replied.
"But also a bit psycho."
"You didn't like it?"
"Didn't like your face more."
"Ooof~"
Jody clutched her chest and dramatically leaned back as if shot in the heart, then sat back up with a sweet smile.
"Wow. You've got animations now?"
Syd facepalmed.
"..."
Things fell quiet between them. The whole car went silent—until one voice broke the stillness.
Sally.
The little girl had a zip tie tethered to Syd's wrist, and she was picking at it curiously.
"What're you doing, you little shit?"
"Ah!"
She flinched and let go of the tie immediately. Syd raised his wrist to show her the zip tie.
"This thing? It's called a zip tie. Basically, a fancy handcuff. I DIY'd it to keep you attached to me. If you wanna run, you gotta break it. But even steel cutters can't slice through a zip tie, got it? I'll undo it once we're at the airport. When we land, you're getting another one."
He flicked her forehead.
"Syd... she's a child."
"A little shit, Jody. A. Little. Shit. Say it right."
Syd growled at Sally.
"Kids like her? Sneaky as hell. Just looking at her sad puppy face makes me wanna smack her."
"You're way too harsh."
The current seating order had Syd between Jody and Sera (who had dozed off). Sally sat across from him, next to Toshi.
"Sally..." Toshi patted her head.
"I'm sorry about your friends... I couldn't save them in time."
When Toshi mentioned Niccolò and Chacha, Sally grew quiet. But she had enough strength left to respond.
"...Okay."
"They were pickpockets too, weren't they?" he asked.
Roxxy nodded.
"It's okay now. You're safe. You don't have to go back there anymore."
"..."
Sally wiped her tears with her sleeve. Toshi helped dab them away with a tissue.
After a while, she calmed down and grew still again.
"...Hey."
"..."
Sally looked up at Syd.
"How'd you end up there anyway?"
"..."
She hesitated, staring wide-eyed at him.
"He means—how did you end up being a pickpocket?" Toshi clarified gently.
"..."
"Don't worry. We're not cops. We were sent to help you."
Jody chimed in.
"Fuck police. All my homies hate police."
"You suck at talking to kids, Syd. Let Toshi handle this," Jody patted his shoulder.
Syd, fading out: "...Welp, screw me..."
"So... can you tell us why you were in Paris?" Toshi asked.
The little girl turned to him. His calm face gave her a sense of comfort and safety, enough to give her courage to speak.
"Someone took me out..."
"Took you out from where?"
"...From... a vehicle... like this one..."
"Like this one we're in now?"
"Yes... but it was bigger... and we were the only ones inside..."
"'We' meaning... other kids your age?"
"...Yes..."
"There were many?"
"Yes, many..."
"What kind of vehicle was it? Can you remember?"
"There were two rows of seats... They handcuffed us... and beat us if we tried to run..."
"Sounds like a human trafficking transport... She must've escaped during transfer..."
Jody concluded. Toshi nodded and continued.
"Do you recognize..."
Toshi showed her a photo.
It was a photo of Candy Candidato.
Sally's eyes went wide with terror.
She clutched Toshi's arm tightly and spoke with a trembling voice.
"Him! Th-that man! He ordered the others to inject me!"
"...Inject you? With what?"
"I don't know! But I don't want it again! I don't want to go back to the white room! Never!"
"...The white room?"
"A lab," Jody clarified again.
Toshi and Jody worked well together—he questioned, she interpreted. Meanwhile, Roxxy was silently typing notes into her laptop.
"What did they do to you?" Toshi asked, feeling how tightly she clung to him now.
"They injected me... here..."
She rolled up her sleeve.
There it was—a scar at the inside of her elbow. Repeated punctures. Like a junkie's arm.
"!!!!"
The whole car was stunned—even Roxxy turned around.
"It burned... it felt like fire... I screamed but no one helped... They just wrote in notebooks and sent me back to my room..."
"They... wrote in notebooks... locked rooms... injections... Toshi, it's a human experimentation lab..." Jody muttered.
"Yeah... that's probably what it is..."
He replied to her.
"Then how did you end up there?"
"I didn't want to be there!"
Sally raised her voice.
"The guy in the picture (Candy), he came to my house! He said he'd take care of me!"
"Your house? Where was that?"
"... I... I don't have a mom or dad... We all lived together, and this bad man (Candy) came and took a bunch of us away!"
"No parents... lived together... realization ...an orphanage. Sally used to live in an orphanage. And Candy came to pick her and the others up..."
Jody was beginning to see the connections. Toshi was also piecing it together.
"This bad man... he lied to you, didn't he?"
"Yeah!"
The girl nodded.
"He said he'd take care of us... but he locked us in a room... and kept injecting us every day... that's all I know! I swear!"
Toshi could feel how traumatized Sally was.
It sounded like something out of a movie — but this was all too real.
It was way too much for any child to bear.
"So basically... this little rascal's an orphan... then one day this shithead Candy shows up saying he'll adopt them... but turns out he's a liar... and ends up experimenting on them daily... is that about right?"
Syd might've sounded dismissive, but he got the summary across just as clearly as Jody did.
"Did they do anything besides the injections?"
Sally shook her head.
"So your friends who were taken with you... you don't know what happened to them now, do you?"
"..."
Sally didn't respond, but the silence was telling.
At this point, Jody leaned in and whispered to Syd.
"Syd... do you think the drug Betty's been selling... is the same one Sally got injected with?"
"Yeah... I was thinking the same thing."
"I mean, it makes sense, right? When someone develops a new drug, they usually test on animals first... but someone like Candy... he probably tests on humans. Do you see where this might be going?"
"Yeah... I'm starting to get the picture."
"Then you know what question you need to ask next?"
"Of course..."
"Hey. Kid."
"...Y-Yeah?"
"That third eye of yours..."
"..." Sally gulped audibly.
"Did you have it since birth? Or did it come from the injections?"
"...I got it after... they injected me."
That answer sent a shockwave through everyone in the car — except Mickey, Jody, and Syd, who had already suspected as much.
"...There it is..."
Syd scratched his chin.
"So before that, you didn't have any kind of X-ray vision, right?"
Sally nodded.
Toshi: "What about the others? Did they get powers too?"
"I don't know... I never saw my friends again..."
Toshi: "So they were separated. You were kept either in your cell or the lab, right?"
"...Yes..."
Jody: "Then it's not surprising she doesn't know anything. She's just telling us what she saw."
Toshi patted her head.
"You were very brave to get through it all, Sally... You're amazing."
The little girl curled up beside him like a kitten.
"So are we really saying Sally's powers came from that injection?"
Mickey asked as he turned the car into a side street.
"We can't confirm just yet... but that's how these things usually go. Before powers awaken, they're just normal kids... But once they do, the aura and the symbol show up. It's just that..."
Roxxy turned toward Sally.
"Sally's already past the usual age for awakening. In other words, it's highly likely she was never meant to have powers. But the experiment gave her powers."
Syd: "Let's see your symbol, kid."
"...O-Okay..."
Sally summoned her orange aura, along with the eye symbol.
And that's when something dawned on Jody.
"Syd... how can you even see her symbol?"
"...Huh? What?"
"Just now... you asked Sally to show her symbol..."
"..."
"But you're not a power user."
"...I was asking her to show it to you guys. Duh. Look around — everyone else in here is a power user. Weird question, Jody."
"...Right... true..."
Both Jody and Toshi examined it and quickly came to a conclusion.
"Yeah... it's just like ours..."
Toshi said.
"Every detail."
Jody added.
"But like I said... we can't confirm anything yet. We have to get Sally somewhere safe and let the lab team take a proper look."
Roxxy chimed in.
"Lab?!"
Sally started trembling again, but calmed down when Toshi reassured her.
"We're the good guys. We're not gonna trick you, Sally. Our lab is run by good people, don't worry. ☺😊"
Syd followed up: "...So how the hell did you escape from there anyway?"
"They came to get me..."
"They?"
"The ones who injected you?"
"...Yes..."
"You didn't recognize any of them?"
"...There was... one."
"!!!!"
"What's their name?"
Syd asked.
"...I heard the lab people call him Dr. Diamond..."
"...Dr. Diamond..."
Roxxy quickly jotted the name down.
"Just one person?"
"...Yes... a man..."
"Was he old?"
"...Not really... he seemed like... the leader."
"The lead researcher..."
Jody muttered.
Toshi took it from there.
"Is there anything else you can remember?"
"...Nothing more... I don't even know where they took me... they never let us see outside..."
"So you were put in a van, not knowing where you were being taken, right?"
"Yes..."
"And all of this leads up to what you told us earlier... that someone helped you escape?"
"Yes... I was sitting with the others... and then suddenly the van braked, like it had been hit from outside... then..."
"Then what?"
"The door burst open... and then... they started shooting. It was just like today, exactly like today..."
"The door opened... gunfire... you were ambushed?"
Toshi: "And who helped you out? Do you know?"
"...I don't..."
Sally shook her head.
"There were four of them... four with uncovered faces... The rest wore black armor and carried guns..."
Roxxy's ears perked up.
"...Black armor... carrying guns..."
She called Sally over and flipped open her laptop to show her a photo.
"Like these? SWAT guys?"
"...Kind of..."
"...And those four with no helmets — can you remember who they were?"
"...No... just that there were three men and one woman... they were scary. Really scary!"
"..."
"So what? They let you go?"
"...No... it all happened so fast... but I remember... they attacked near a port... I took my chance and ran onto a boat..."
"You serious?!"
Sally nodded.
"And next thing I knew... I was here."
"Damn... gutsy little thing..."
Syd smirked. He was starting to like this kid.
"Jumped into a port, huh? So the ambush must've been in a coastal country."
"...There are hundreds of coastal countries, Jody. No way to know."
"...Sally, do you remember what kind of boat you were on? How long the trip was?"
"...I think it was a cargo ship... but I don't know how long... I hid... hid in a container the whole way... I even fell asleep..."
"...Do you remember anything else about the ship?"
"..."
Sally shook her head.
"...Just looked like a regular boat... the kind you see docked at any port..."
So there wasn't much to go on from here.
Still, Toshi appreciated how hard she was trying to remember.
But she was just a child, after all.
"Take your time, Sally. No pressure. What you've told us is already incredibly helpful. You did great."
"But Jody, don't you think the same thing I'm thinking?"
Syd asked.
"Yeah. Candy's after Sally like his life depends on it... even sent professional killers after her... but..."
Jody swallowed.
"There are other groups also trying to get to Sally... This isn't just a two-sided game anymore..."
"...Yeah... This is no longer 2-player mode. It's full-on multiplayer now."
Sally's Case Summary
(Based on Sally's testimony)
Sally is an orphan who was staying at an orphanage — likely an unregistered or illegal facility, as the children were never officially documented. One day, Candy Candido arrived and claimed he would adopt her and several other children (the exact number is unknown, but likely exceeds ten). In truth, he abducted them for human experimentation — most likely related to the same (or similar) power-enhancing drug that Betty Domergue has been illegally distributing.
The location of the experimental site remains unknown, but Sally mentioned someone referred to as "Dr. Diamond", who appears to be the lead figure behind the experiments and likely holds significant responsibility in the operation.
Sally managed to escape during what appears to have been an attack on the transport vehicle used for moving test subjects. Amid the chaos of the firefight, she seized the chance to board a ship unnoticed and ended up in France — without knowing where she was headed.
The identity of the attackers is unclear, but it is highly probable that they belonged to a covert government agency.
Details of the attacking force (unconfirmed affiliation):
Equipped with their own armed personnel
Led by four commanders: three men and one woman