041.6 Hours Since Quartz's Disappearance

My mind won't stop coming back to the fact that I don't have my sword on me. Forget the knives strapped underneath my hoodie! I'm basically defenseless. Why couldn't Vixen's new lead agree to meet at night? I feel vulnerable without the comforting weight of my sheath on my back. It'd be even worse if I was alone.

Gabriel seems only a little calmer than I. He has more faith in this not going south. He's a little taller, more intimidating, and I think there's an extra knife or two down his boots. Still, I can tell he's more anxious than he seems. He doesn't like to be anywhere without proper recon done the day before. Still, there's no one I'd rather have at my back. We've knows each other for a while now.

"Do you see that?", Gabriel breaks the silence, motioning to some graffiti on the side of a building. I turn to look, already feeling a bit of dread break in. It takes me a moment to recognize the revised symbol: four characters connected by an interlacing web.

"Damn, I thought we were going around gang territory. They must have expanded their borders", I mutter uneasily. Different gangs rule parts of the city's West side. There are groups more dangerous than this one, but I think I'd rather chance any other territory. We personally have a bad history here. Gabriel starts scanning our surroundings just as I begin to do the same.

"We're almost through. There's no way that they could already know we're here. Besides, I don't think they'd try anything", he assures me. He seems convinced that we're perfectly safe. I have a few doubts. The rebellion isn't popular everywhere on the West side.

It only takes another few blocks to come within sight of the border prison. It's called that simply because it's right on the invisible line between the city's West and East. The building itself is smaller, with only minor criminals locked up. Shoplifting and other harmless things like that. If Quartz was caught and identified as the rebel leader, he must be on the East side, but this place will have records if he is. He could be here if the cops didn't identify him. We can't run into the East prison with no proof that he's actually been captured. It'd be a waste of men and resources.

Gabriel and I move around the building and to the back. The building casts a shadow that hides us from view. I wouldn't of seen our informant if he hadn't moved to intercept us. I'm impressed that he thought to wear black, that is, until I saw it's a store uniform.

"What's the hardest rock?", Gabriel cocks his head, asking the stranger.

"You're looking for a quartz. It's unbreakable", the informant smiles grimly. It's important to make sure that this is the right guy. This little exchange is all code.

"Nice to meet you. Here for the files, right?", I pick up the conversation. I don't give my name, and don't expect one from the informant. It's all for safety.

"Yes, I have them stashed in the building over. My brother wanted us farther away so we won't get spotted", the informant walks a few steps away as if expecting for them to follow. I'm hesitant in agreeing. There could be an ambush lying in wait for us. Still, Quartz and Chichi have both worked with this man in the past, one could even say closely. The chance to uncover our leader's whereabouts is too tempting to simply walk away.

"Worst case scenario, we run, right?", my partner chuckles. He strides forwards and forces me to follow. I do so with a suspicious gaze.

The building over happens to be a small cafe. I'm a little uncomfortable to be meeting somewhere so public. There's not many people inside, it being the middle of the day, and the informant leads us to a back corner that's not visible from the front windows. Another man is there waiting for us. He has a totally 'discrete' plastic bag sitting next to him. I can see the wad of files through the thin plastic. At least we have what we came for. Our informant sits beside his brother, and I scoot into the booth on the other side with Gabriel. One of the knives in my boot shifts a little and reminds me to remain vigilant.

"Thank you for coming here. My coworkers think I'm sick today", the stranger apologizes, "It's better that they don't see me. I'm in charge of filing all the new prisoners and crimes. The files for the last week won't be missed for a few days". He picks up the sack and hands it over to us. It's a good thing all that the cameras in this place are focused on the front register.

I pull out a stack and quickly look at the medical notes of each prisoner. It's doubtful that Quartz used his real name, although I'm not sure if that is his real name. I don't know his face, either. Chichi told us to look for something about his eyes. I never even knew that Quartz had anything wrong with his eyes. Does he have vision problems? The thought of our faceless leader wearing nerd glasses almost makes me laugh.

"A missing eye, but that's all I can find", Gabriel groans and punches the papers away, "But Quartz is not a teenage boy". It took about ten minutes of silence to go through them.

"Nothing. I can't find anything about Quartz", I run my fingers through my hair in frustration. Vixen's other guess was that he was chased outside the walls, but I'm not sure if anything would be left of him if that were the case. The monsters out there are too numerous to wander around after dark.

"I'm sorry that we couldn't help more. I thought for sure that he was there. Even if it was just one night", the informant's brother looks confused.

I flinch back against the booth when the cafe's alarm system starts blaring throughout the store. The sound nearly deafens me. Gabriel grabs my shoulder and points over to the person who pulled the alarm. The girl wears a symbol stitched into her sleeve. It's not the same gang sign as the one we saw earlier, but it is their rival. We've been recognized. I turn back to Gabriel.

"Run".