Silver shuddered as he stared at the armed man in front of them. His voice trembled. "You should know… w-we don't have any valuables with us. Please don't kill us."
Carl, standing beside him, didn't speak. He simply observed the man, silently analyzing the situation. From the looks of this guy, he's just a beginner. Probably only started a week or two ago.
The bandit caught Carl staring. "Hey! What are you looking at? Too scared to move, huh?" He pointed the gun more directly. "Then drop all your cash and accessories—and get moving."
Silver leaned toward Carl and whispered, "What do we do now?"
Carl kept his eyes on the situation. If this guy really is new to this, I should be able to handle him. And besides, there's something I've been meaning to try. Risky, but this might be the perfect moment. He glanced toward the alley beside them.
"Don't try anything funny," the bandit warned. "One move, and I'll put a bullet in your head."
Carl whispered quickly, "Silver, once I push you into the alley, run. Hide somewhere and call the cops."
"What?! I can't leave you here with this guy. You'll get shot!"
Carl's voice was firm. "Better one of us survives than both of us die. Trust me—I won't die that easily."
Silver still looked uncertain. "Look, if you're doing this just to look cool—"
"It's not about that," Carl said, clapping Silver on the back. "Just trust me. Go!"
Then, without giving Silver a chance to argue, Carl pushed him into the alley.
"Hey! Where are you going?!" the bandit shouted, confused. He aimed his gun at Silver and fired.
Carl threw himself between them just in time, activating a magnetic force field. The bullet ricocheted harmlessly off and struck the building beside them.
The bandit stumbled back in shock. "What?! What happened? I shot you—didn't I?!"
Carl grinned, unnervingly calm. That was terrifying… but it worked. "Oh, it shot me all right," he said with a laugh that made the bandit recoil.
"Shit… this guy's a freak!" the bandit exclaimed, then turned and ran.
Carl didn't hesitate. He took off after him, attracting small metallic objects nearby as he ran. "You're not getting away that easy," he muttered. He spotted a metal billboard pole ahead and used his magnetic force to sling himself forward at increased speed.
The bandit, glancing back and seeing Carl gaining, veered quickly into another alley—only to find it was a dead end. Panic rose in his chest. Oh shit… I'm dead.
Carl stepped into the alley behind him, still wearing that eerie smile. "You asked me a question and didn't let me answer. How rude."
"Stay back! I'm warning you!" the bandit cried, firing his gun.
Carl raised his hand, and the bullets halted mid-air in front of him. "You shot me already. Now how about a little payback?"
He thought for a moment. I'll use the backs of the bullets and the small objects I picked up. Just enough to knock him down, not kill. Thankfully, no nails among them.
The bandit, desperate, jumped up and grabbed a fire escape ladder. If I can get up there, he won't be able to reach me. He's unarmed.
"Oh no, you don't," Carl said, stretching out his arm. He manipulated gravity, creating a pressure drop in the area around the bandit.
The man dropped to the ground with a painful thud, groaning as he started bleeding.
Carl's eyes glowed orange, his grin widening. "Now… about that payback." He launched the collected objects straight at the man, who was left in a battered, semi-conscious state.
Back to normal now, Carl looked at the damage. "That should do it."
Police sirens wailed in the distance. Without wasting time, Carl leapt into the air and used his gravity control to float to the rooftop before they arrived.
The authorities arrived seconds later, finding the wounded bandit lying in the alley. Silver, now safe and breathing heavily, confirmed the attack. Meanwhile, Carl met up with him again, having created fake wounds on himself to appear injured. The two headed to Carl's house, where Carl helped clean and treat Silver's real injury. A bit of blood had accidentally spilled onto Carl's shirt during the process.
The Next Morning
Carl woke up to find the house quiet. Silver had already left. He got dressed and made his way over to Katy's office.
When he entered, he saw Katy fast asleep at her desk.
"Oh no," Carl muttered. "Don't tell me she was up all night because of the analysis."
Beatrix's voice answered calmly. "That is correct."
Katy stirred, rubbing her eyes. "Ah… Carl. You're here early."
Carl raised an eyebrow. "You think I'm early? I'm not. You're just waking up late."
Katy stretched. "What time is it?"
"09:30 AM," Beatrix replied.
Katy shrugged. "It's Saturday. No problem with getting up late."
"Says the agent. Don't you have some important mission or something today?"
"Not really. I'm a high school student. What kind of work do you think I get?"
Carl smirked. "Hmm… assassination?"
"If the target was you, maybe I'd take the job," Katy shot back. "But who would bother targeting a nutjob?"
Carl rolled his eyes. "Anyway… any luck with the analysis?"
Katy yawned. "Yeah, we found something. But it might be a dead end."
Carl leaned forward. "What did you find?"
"Well, the reason we couldn't match the DNA is because… he's not human. And not from Earth."
Carl blinked. "Not from Earth? Like, an alien? That's hard to believe—even for me."
"You probably don't know this because it hasn't been made public," Katy explained, "but we've confirmed life on some other planetary bodies in the solar system."
"Seriously?" Carl asked, eyes widening.
"Yeah. We've even made contact once or twice. And from our report, the DNA sample matches that of a Ceresian."
Carl looked confused. "A what now?"
"A Ceresian. From the dwarf planet Ceres."
Carl's confusion turned into excitement. "Then how is that a dead end? If he's not human, shouldn't that make him easier to find?"
"That's the thing," Katy said. "Ceresians produce a hormone that lets them blend in with humans—skin tone, language, even behavior. But they can only maintain the disguise while conscious. Once they fall asleep or pass out, they revert."
Beatrix suddenly cut in. "Carl, do you mind if I scan you for a second?"
"Scan me? For what?" he asked, skeptical.
"Just confirming something." Beatrix activated a light plasma beam and scanned him.
"You were with an injured friend yesterday, correct?" she asked.
Carl nodded. "Yeah, that's right."
"May I scan the clothes you wore yesterday?"
Carl blinked. "You want to scan my clothes?! You're not doing anything pervy, right?"
"Why would I do that?" Beatrix responded flatly.
Carl teased, "I don't know… maybe Katy put you up to it."
Katy shot back, clearly annoyed, "Don't drag me into this!"
"Fine, fine. Do what you must. But how are you going to get to it? My house isn't exactly next door."
"Don't worry," Katy said with a sly smile. "Beatrix is sending microbots to scan them."
Carl looked stunned. "Microbots? You mean like those tiny drones from sci-fi movies?"
"Well, more or less," Katy replied. "Not exactly the same."
Beatrix went quiet, processing the data being relayed by the microbots.
Carl crossed his arms. "I still want to know why you're scanning me and my stuff."
Katy raised a hand. "Wait a minute. You'll get your answer."
A few moments later, Beatrix broke the silence.
"Analysis complete," she said, her tone rising with confirmation. "I knew it!"