(POV – Arthur Hensley)

Arthur wasn’t surprised when he realized Emily had reached that conclusion. Even for him—someone who spent a good part of his time studying the Virtues—it only took a closer look at the anomalous incidents for the pattern to become obvious.

In the end, it was almost natural to recognize what once seemed impossible: all those events, as different and disconnected as they appeared at first glance, shared the same origin. They were manifestations of a single anomaly... or, to be more precise, a single Virtue.

On top of that, considering all the virtues he had encountered so far, Arthur came to the conclusion that this one wasn’t causing all that chaos of its own accord.

Deep down, they were peaceful entities—or at least as peaceful as their nature allowed them to be. In Arthur’s eyes, something had happened, some unexpected event or external pressure, and the virtue’s powers had simply spiraled out of control.

“Besides that” Emily continued, leaning back slowly in her chair: “based on the data I received in the last few hours, I’ve concluded that, overall, the main ones triggering the anomalies are children” Her hands slid up to her temple as she closed her eyes for a moment, as if trying to organize the whirlwind of information: “Everything is happening too fast, too suddenly, for it to be caused by a common anomaly. And there’s no prior indication that anything like this could happen. In simple terms, it just... happened—out of nowhere, without explanation. The only cases that match this pattern are the ones related to the Virtues”

Emily opened her eyes again, blinking slowly as she refocused on Arthur, who remained beside her, silent and attentive. She watched him for a long moment before finally breaking the silence.

“You already have some idea of what’s really going on, don’t you?” she asked, her voice clearly tired but still steady enough to carry her words. She tilted her head slightly, studying every reaction on his face: “At least... some kind of guess”

Arthur studied her expression for a few seconds before shifting his gaze back to the data on the monitor. It was hard to admit, but he was genuinely impressed—not with the organization... no, with Emily.

Somehow, she had managed to gather an absurd amount of information in a ridiculously short amount of time, enough to pinpoint the root cause of everything that was happening.

Arthur, with all his background in virtues and years of experience dealing with similar cases, had taken far longer to be absolutely sure that the current incident was, in fact, connected to a virtue. The speed with which Emily had arrived at the same conclusion impressed him—and, at the same time, stirred a sense of admiration.

“I have to admit...” Arthur began, a faint ironic smile forming as he raised an eyebrow: “It’s pretty impressive how you managed to figure that out so quickly... and with practically no prior knowledge about Virtues”

Emily smiled, her lips curling with an irony that matched his: “I reviewed the recent cases before coming here” Arthur said, folding his arms as a thoughtful look crossed his face: “Like you mentioned, kids seem to be at the center of these manifestations. And the reason only they survive the anomalies is simple: without the child who originated it, the anomaly itself ceases to exist”

Emily nodded. That was exactly the same conclusion she had reached after going over the collected data countless times. The cases kept spreading around the world uncontrollably—every minute new reports surfaced in different countries, like a wave that was both hard to contain and even harder to predict.

“By the way... even though kids are manifesting anomalies, the same thing is happening with adults” Arthur’s voice cut through the silence, making Emily look up at him. There was something different in his tone—a weight, almost as if he’d been holding that information back for the right moment: “In the last few hours, there have been... a few suicide cases” he continued, choosing his words carefully: “Almost all of them adults. Some left letters behind, and they all said the same thing: that they couldn’t bear the guilt anymore”

Emily blinked, startled, as she watched Arthur looking at her with that crooked, ironic smile. She leaned back into her chair, feeling the cold upholstery against her back.

Apparently, Arthur had discovered—somehow—that she too was dealing with the same issue plaguing the suicide victims... No. Maybe it was worse: maybe Arthur was going through it as well.

He, Laura, Victor... And, most likely, as time went on, more and more people—children or adults—would end up being dragged, slowly, into that same abyss of despair.

“I imagine...” Emily began, lowering her gaze for a moment before looking back at Arthur: “That you didn’t tell me all this just to push me even further into despair. So... what exactly do you want from me by telling me all of this?”

Arthur didn’t answer right away. Instead, he picked up some of the papers scattered across Emily’s desk and quietly began sorting them. Emily watched him for a few moments, her gaze distant as she tried to understand the intent behind his movements. Little by little, however, something began to take shape.

Although it looked random at first, she soon realized there was a pattern in Arthur’s choices — a logical thread connecting each sheet. After a few seconds, satisfied with the final arrangement, Arthur stepped back and gave a subtle nod, inviting Emily to lean in and examine what he had put together.

Emily went over each line of the report carefully. Overall, the documents contained data about recent anomalous cases — where they occurred, what time they manifested, who the victims were, and so on. At first glance, she couldn’t quite understand what Arthur intended to show her.

Still, she kept reading, driven by the nagging feeling that something was hidden there — something she simply hadn’t noticed yet. Minutes passed as she sifted through maps, timelines, and profiles, mentally linking information that had seemed scattered.

Her fingers tapped lightly against the table, a habit that always surfaced whenever she was close to figuring something out. And then, finally, after cross-referencing every piece of data, analyzing every detail, and decoding everything she could... Emily reached a single conclusion.

“The appearances... aren’t... random?” she whispered, her voice trembling as doubt pierced her thoughts. Even she seemed surprised by where her mind had led her.

Arthur, standing in front of her, gave a faint smirk and nodded: “Exactly. Even though everything looks random at first, you’ll notice that’s not really the case. Even with incidents popping up all over the world, there’s still an obvious pattern centered around this region”

As he spoke, Arthur leaned slightly over the desk and used the tip of his finger to circle a specific area on the globe suspended above it. The ambient light reflected off the polished surface, highlighting the exact point he was referring to.

Studying the globe closely, Emily’s eyes followed each of the circles Arthur had marked. In all of them, incidents involving anomalies had been recorded in the last twenty-four hours — some minor, others far more serious.

Gradually, the connection between those points began to take shape in her mind. And in the end, as she stared at the collection of circles on the map, Emily arrived at a single conclusion.

“The... Pacific Ocean?” The question left her lips tinged with uncertainty, though she wasn’t really asking anyone but herself. For a moment, she felt foolish for not noticing the patterns sooner — they had been there the entire time.

Arthur nodded again, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth: “Exactly. I still have no idea what’s out there, or why all of this is happening in that spot. The only thing I’m sure of is that there’s something strange in that area. I have a few hunches, of course... but I’ll keep them to myself for now. At least until I’m absolutely certain”

Emily, instead of immediately absorbing Arthur’s words, kept her eyes fixed on the globe — more precisely on the only spot that remained untouched, unmarked by the red circles he had drawn.

That place wasn’t entirely unfamiliar to her. On the contrary, it was one of the deepest abysses ever recorded on Earth. Even outside the organization, numerous research groups devoted time and resources to trying to uncover its mysteries.

What could exist so far beneath the surface? Was there something prehistoric still alive? Some isolated ecosystem no one had ever seen? Questions like these drove scientists all over the world.

And despite all the organization’s advanced technology — sensors, penetration drones, magnetic scans, and detection equipment that bordered on the impossible — even they had no conclusive answers. At least... not yet.

***

(POV – Protagonist)

My days in the organization had been going by surprisingly smoothly. No catastrophic incidents, no unsettling feeling that the world was on the verge of collapsing—and, most importantly, no sign that any of my sisters would suddenly show up out of nowhere, dragging me into the inevitable task of cleaning up whatever chaos they’d leave behind.

Of course, as usual, that peace didn’t last long. Out of nowhere, I started feeling something strange. It wasn’t coming from any specific place, nor did it follow any pattern — it just... happened.

A sudden sensation, almost like an internal shiver, something close to fear. It appeared without warning, lingered for a few minutes — just long enough to put me on alert — and then vanished as if it had never been there at all.

My sisters didn’t seem particularly bothered by it — assuming they were even feeling the same thing. Honestly, I doubt it. It’s much more likely they simply don’t care. At first, I thought about digging deeper to figure out what was going on.

But all I found were reports of anomalous cases popping up worldwide at a slightly higher rate than usual... which, ironically, isn’t even that unusual, since anomalous incidents are practically routine at the facility. Even so, that feeling persisted, as if something was off — something only I seemed to notice.

Also, my Alter Ego has been acting weird lately. Not that he’s doing anything particularly suspicious, or — as usually happens — guiding me to those strange places where my sisters show up. This time, it’s different. He just... appears.

He stands off in some corner, completely still, with a distant look in his eyes, as if watching something I can’t see. And then, without warning, he sinks back into me. I’ve tried talking to him a few times — at least as much as that’s possible — but all I ever get in return is silence. He just ignores me, like he’s trapped in his own thoughts.

I thought the entire month would pass like that, without any major incidents. But the next morning, when Emily, Victor, Rupert, Laura, and even Arthur showed up at my door — all of them wearing tense expressions and worried looks — I realized something seriously wrong was happening. Something I somehow hadn’t noticed until that moment.