Along with the full time agents led by Huashin, Araka and the other interns were heading to the scene on YA-11 Expressway, inside their own van driven by Anawa. Araka, looking at the scenery of Bakju as they drive on the urban expressway eastward, was thinking what she made her different from other candidates: sure, I ran fast; by there was such an urgency that everyone, including Moraka, Uncle Nakuo, and even Huashin knew that I was the missing piece?
The convoy of two vans pulled over near a blockade formed by both State Police patrol cars, emergency vehicles, and civilian vehicles. A State Police officer rushed the SAIR squads, breathing heavily. Huashin immediately got off the car and approached the officer while showing her badge : "How's the situation?"
"Cars flipped, several casualties, both civilian and police force," the officer reported, "it's not just a panther gone crazy."
"Because it's not just a panther," Huashin said while loading her modified PAK-23 pistol, "The SAIR is taking over the scene."
As Huashin's order dropped, the other SAIR agents quickly followed and moved ahead. In the back, Jun was observing the scene while talking to Araka: "it's my first time seeing the State Police being afraid of panthers."
Just as the main task force led by Huashin moved ahead toward the direction where the civilians were fleeing from,
flanked by Minde and Anawa, the intern group also navigated through the clogged expressway to get closer to the scene.
"Instructor Anawa, is all this mess caused just by a panther?" Tenka said while seeing civilians fleeing in horror, "this is more like as if some gorillas escaped from their cage and attacked everything they see."
"Because it was not, at least not your typical panther, and of course involving something that should be classified," Anawa said while lowering her eyebrows.
The group stopped in front of the bright yellow security tape established by the State Police earlier, and Huashin signaled the group to breach the tape.
"Get your Matake suppressors ready," Huashin said, "we're engaging with a shard controlled being."
"Shard?" Jun raised his eyebrow: "What is that? A crystal?"
"In simplest terms, yes, it's a crystal," Anawa said while also pulling out her PAK-23 pistol.
Meanwhile, Araka was looking toward the direction where Huashin's team was heading toward - beyond the blockade formed by two police patrol cars and other vehicles, the sound of metals being compressed and glass breaking down passed through her ears; then, a loud roar, louder than any panther she knew, echoed all around the clogged expressway. Suddenly, Araka felt her mind sensing something approaching her, and it was a sense she never had before.
"What- what is that?" Tenka said while stunned by the roar.
"That smell," Okuri sniffed the air and said, "it smelled like a rotten one, covered in blood."
"Anawa," Huashin said while getting further into the blockade, flanked by two agents holding the suppressors, "watch the kids."
As the roar became louder and louder, while the other interns were still trying to process the situation, Araka jumped onto a nearby sedan and got the first sighting of the "panther": a panther, with its body covered in blood and bullet holes, was approaching menacingly from somewhere in front of Huashin and the other two agents.
As Araka stood in the car, a scream echoed—sharp and scared.
"My daughter's still there!"
She looked toward somewhere behind Minde and Anawa.
"Madame, you can't go back—it's too dangerous!" The State Officer warned her.
Araka adjusted herself and scanned ahead - a girl - maybe eight - was stranded beyond a splintered guardrail near a flipped car, with her foot caught, eyes wide with terror as a faint snarl emerged from the shadows near the wreckage. Across the flipped car, the panther finally revealed itself: its pupils had been enlarged, while its mouth was dripping blood.
Huashin, upon seeing the panther emerge from the back of the flipped car, fired her first shot - an energized round to the direction of the panther. It didn't land on the panther as the panther jumped onto the flipped car, but created a blast that made the panther retreat for a bit. However, Araka saw something else: the panther was approaching the stranded girl.
For a moment, Araka hesitated; Should I help the child? Araka thought, staring at her trembling hands and her Vensan uniform.
And then the question came, not from anyone else—but from the voice that lived in her heart.
"What would Ms. Possible do in this situation?"
And after a few seconds, she jumped, launched herself toward the security tape - the surroundings blurred into wind and noise as Araka jumped past the barricade.
She didn't wait for orders. Didn't process the yelling of Anawa and Minde behind her. Her legs hit the pavement with a slap, and she sprinted forward—toward the truck wreckage, toward the flipped vehicle, toward the child.
The air smelled like burning plastic and ozone, faintly metallic. Araka, navigating through the maze formed by abandoned vehicles, felt something wrong pulsed through the space, like a heartbeat out of sync with the world. The sense she sensed earlier suddenly became stronger than ever - like a signal being sent to her brain.
The girl was crawling, whimpering. A thick shard of glass had pinned her school satchel to the cracked pavement. Her ankle was caught in the strap.
"Hold on!" Araka shouted, ignoring all the yellings from Tenka, Anawa, and even Jun.
She slid beside the child and yanked the bag strap loose. The girl's wide eyes met hers.
"Can you stand?"
The girl nodded but trembled too hard to move. Araka pulled her up, wrapping an arm around her waist.
Right above them, the balance of the flipped vehicle shifted a bit as the panther was approaching.
"Keep your head down," she said. "We're going to run."
Then she heard it.
A snarl— From the above, the creature approached, showing its head, with two eyes opened—too wide, too luminous, and entirely unnatural.
Huashin, adjusted her stance, turned toward the direction Araka rushed toward, Its back shimmered with broken bone-like ridges, and something green and glassy was embedded deep in its throat - a shard.
"Shard-mutated," she muttered. "It swallowed it."
The girl screamed as the creature growled low, paws slamming on the bottom of the car.
Araka pulled the girl behind a shattered barrier post.
"Don't move. Close your eyes. I'll distract it."
She wasn't thinking clearly. Just moving.
She grabbed a piece of twisted aluminum from the ground—maybe part of the truck siding—and threw it with full force to the left.
It clanged loudly.
The beast snapped, leaping toward the sound.
"Now go!"
Araka bolted the other way, zigzagging through the vehicles carrying the girl and navigating her way back to the security tape.
From behind, she heard a metal crunch, then a howl - Huashin's energized round struck the flipped vehicle. Sparks flew. The noise spread down the road in a wave of screams and sirens. The round landed on the panther, managed to crippled the creature, and the other two agents used their suppressor to trap the creature.
As Araka made her way back, she was first approached by the girl's mother.
"Thank you so much!" The woman said finally in relief.
"Araka," Jun, upon seeing Araka made her way back, rushed to the scene and checked for bruises, "are you okay?"
Araka nodded: "other than some small scratches by the metal, yes."
As the situation had calmed
Behind her, Huashin stepped forward, arm raised, eyes narrowed in focus.
"You just broke three field protocols and nearly got yourself shredded," Huashin snapped, teeth clenched.
"I had to—there was a child," Araka gasped, still shielding the girl.
Huashin didn't answer. She pressed her left hand to her earpiece.
"Situation contained. Subject isolated. Shard signature confirmed—Class B. Calling in containment. I am the civilian and intern."
The child clung to Araka, now crying.
Huashin sighed, eyes softening just slightly. Then she knelt beside them and reached into her coat.
Araka nodded, adrenaline still coursing through her. Around her, Tenka, Sukeo, Okuri, and even Jun were in confusion, but they couldn't even say a word.
By the time the scene was secure, Araka was seated in the back of the van, the girl already taken away by medics.
Huashin stood at the door.
"I don't need to explain the consequences, do I?"
Araka didn't respond.
"You disobeyed field clearance as an intern, violated barriers, and approached a shard-mutated entity without basic training, and walking in without any protection.
"But I saved her," Araka said, while being restrained by both Anawa and Minde.
"And almost died doing it," Huashin sighed.
"Would you have left her?" Araka asked, voice quiet but shaking.
Huashin stared at her for a long moment.
"No," she said. "But I wouldn't have gone in alone."
Silence.
Then Huashin finally exhaled.
"We'll be placing you in temporary three day confinement. Standard protocol. You'll have access to food, your books, and training material. You're not being punished. But you will learn."
Araka nodded slowly. She didn't regret it. But she felt the weight.
On their way back to the training complex, everyone in the van was silent, even Anawa. Araka, kept her face low while flanked by Huashin herself, was still trying to process what had happened earlier: what did I do wrong? I just want to be someone like Ms. Possible? What if I didn't act?
Back to the complex, Araka was escorted by Huashin herself to the confinement cell - a windowless room with a bed and a squat toilet stall. As Huashin turned to leave, she stopped at the door.
"For what it's worth…" she said, not looking back, "that was the bravest thing I've ever seen for years.
Araka didn't say anything.
"Araka, please forgive me for what I had said earlier. However, I think you should also hear from our side of the story."
"The story?" Araka seemed to calm down a bit.
"But here is the story. Like several years ago, when I was your age, one of my closest friends, just like you, was among the best when she came into the shrine I went to. However, she was injured while trying to save a child from a fire, so she had to leave the shrine for good."
Araka, upon hearing the story, didn't reply.
"The situation is, it's not because you're just an intern and you couldn't interfere with the operation. It's because you're not trained and you're not even equipped to handle this kind of situation at this point."
"But-"
"Here you need to learn a lesson," Huashin made her tone warmer and said, "However, during the confinement, we will hand you the full SAIR outfit, along with the Guideline for Rescue Missions, and you'll be tested as your confinement ends."
Araka still didn't say anything, yet her expression showed some relief.
"By the way, we also have received a card from the kid you saved. She said she's grateful that someone like you would be able to drag her away from the mouth of the panther."
As Huashin finished her sentence, she turned the door shut. However, the conversation didn't end here.
"Anawa said she will help grab you the changing clothes later today during the dinner time, and if you want to bring something else, notice her at that time."
As Huashin left, Araka, now sitting in her bed, was thinking about what made her special: was it the agility, the stamina? Or the so-called Matake, maybe related to her sharpened sense with the panther? Or her instinct to save people regardless of what situation she was in?
However, beyond these, Araka was also thinking of the terms Huashin mentioned: Shard? Matake suppression? Why would the SAIR need to suppress Matake? How come something like a panther could have the power with the same name as hers? Why it had that rotten smell when it approached her? Inside Araka's mind, there were way too many questions to be answered, and way too few explanations.
I'm going to find out, she thought.