Chapter 19 – Emily’s Late Night Visit
Luke expected a junior agent.
A quick check. A short conversation. A warning about using his power in public. Maybe a simple form to sign.
Then they would leave, and the matter would be closed.
That was what should have happened.
But Luke did not know one important thing.
His awakener permit had already been delayed by the Bureau.
So what was supposed to be a simple warning was not simple at all. If another agent came, this would not stop with one visit. It could become a reason for repeated trouble, repeated checks, and endless small harassment.
In the original novel, Luke mostly had to deal with Emily and, later, her team in Phoenix Order.
Emily never used this matter to pressure him.
She ignored many things she could have made difficult.
And because of her, her team also did not really push into Luke's affairs.
But that would not be true for other agents.
Other Bureau agents would not be kind.
They would not look away.
And they would not care what happened to him.
Luke did not know any of that.
He only knew that the Bureau had likely picked up the ice-attribute signal from the alley, and that sooner or later someone would come to ask questions.
So he waited.
Two hours after the alert appeared on the Bureau's monitoring system, the operations floor was quieter than usual.
Most of the day-shift agents had already gone home. The night crew was smaller, more focused, and much less likely to care about a minor signal unless it turned into something bigger.
The alert itself looked ordinary.
A short burst of ice-attribute energy in the eastern residential district.
Duration: under two minutes.
Intensity: moderate.
No second power signature.
No civilian emergency calls.
No follow-up activity.
Classification: low priority.
Probable unlicensed practice.
The duty officer reviewed it, marked it for routine follow-up, and checked the roster.
Normally, a case like this would go to a junior field agent.
Someone new enough to need the experience.
Someone low-ranking enough that sending them out in heavy snow would not waste anyone important's time.
But the location caught someone's eye.
Emily was at her desk finishing transfer paperwork when the alert summary appeared on the operations board.
She had not been looking for it.
She had been forcing herself to focus on her work — closing old cases, arranging files, and preparing handover notes before her move to Phoenix Order. She had less than a week left. There was too much to do and not enough time.
Then her eyes caught the address.
Eastern residential district.
Block 14.
Sector 7.
Luke's neighbourhood.
Emily stared at the screen.
The alert was minor.
Brief.
Ice attribute.
No danger signs.
Already marked as routine.
She looked away and tried to go back to her paperwork.
She lasted maybe thirty seconds.
Then she looked again.
Ice attribute.
Luke's neighbourhood.
No permit.
Emily's jaw tightened.
Idiot.
She did not know whether he had been practicing, testing his power, or just being careless. But she did know one thing.
Director Vale had delayed Luke's permit on purpose.
That meant every detected use of his power outside corporate grounds would be logged.
Another mark against him.
Another reason for the Bureau to pressure him if they wanted to.
If another agent went there and Luke handled things badly — said the wrong thing, acted strange, gave them any reason to push harder — then the matter could shift from a warning into a formal investigation.
And a formal investigation meant access to his apartment.
His recent movements.
His records.
Anything the Bureau decided was relevant.
Emily stood up.
The duty officer was still trying to assign the case. Someone had suggested Torres, but he was tied up with another task and would not be free for at least an hour.
Emily walked to the station.
"I'll take it," she said.
The duty officer looked up, surprised.
He was a tired man with thin glasses and the face of someone who had spent too many years buried in reports and forms.
"Agent Emily," he said, "this is a routine check. It's below your clearance level."
"I know the area," she said. "I can handle it quickly."
He hesitated, then gave a small shrug.
"Suit yourself."
He logged the case under her name, printed the sheet, and handed it to her.
Emily took it without reading further and turned to leave.
She did not explain why she was taking a junior agent's work.
She did not tell anyone where she was going.
She simply took her keys, passed the security checkpoint, and stepped out into the snow.
The drive took longer than usual.
The roads were clogged with wet snow and slush. The ploughs had not yet reached the residential districts. Emily drove carefully, her headlights cutting a narrow path through the white.
The wipers moved without stopping.
The radio stayed off.
Inside the car, there was only the sound of the engine and the soft crunch of tires over packed snow.
When she reached the area, she did not go straight to Luke's apartment.
She started with the alert location.
That was procedure.
And tonight, more than ever, she wanted to trust procedure.
Emily parked near the warning area and began her check.
First, she looked over the streets around the signal point.
Then she moved outward.
She asked a few people nearby if they had noticed anything strange.
Most had not.
That was normal in weather like this. Heavy snow kept people indoors. Curtains stayed closed. Doors stayed locked. Very few people saw anything unless it happened directly in front of them.
Still, she kept asking.
Eventually, she moved toward the market.
There, she spoke to a worker and then to an older man who had been leaving around the same time as the signal.
Both remembered seeing Luke.
He had come to the market alone.
He bought groceries.
He left on foot.
That matched the timing too well to ignore.
Emily's expression slowly changed as she followed that line of thought.
Then she checked the area where the energy signal had been strongest.
The alley was quiet.
Too quiet.
She walked the alley slowly.
Her eyes moved from wall to wall.
The ground.
The corners.
The old brick.
The shape of the snow where it had settled.
There was no obvious blood.
No visible body.
No clear sign of a struggle.
And yet—
A section of the wall looked slightly off.
One part of the ground had frozen and then settled differently from the rest.
The space carried the faint feeling of disturbance, the kind that was easy to miss but hard to forget once noticed.
Emily stood in the alley for a long moment.
Her face no longer looked calm.
Not really.
It was tight now.
Suspicious.
Nervous.
Worried.
She checked the area again, wider this time.
Nothing.
No direct evidence.
No witnesses who saw a fight.
No second energy signature on record.
No report from civilians.
Only Luke's signal.
It took her nearly two hours to arrive, investigate, ask around, and check the full area properly.
By the time she finished, it was already late at night.
The snow had lightened by then — not stopped, but eased enough that the roads and entrances were easier to see.
Only after that did Emily drive to Luke's building.
The apartment block looked quiet. Most windows were dark. A few warm rectangles of light glowed behind curtains.
Emily parked, got out, and went inside.
She climbed the stairs to his floor.
Then she stopped in front of his door.
The hallway was dim.
The overhead light buzzed faintly.
The carpet under her boots was thin and worn.
Through the walls came the muffled signs of other lives — a television somewhere, a child's voice, the clink of dishes.
Emily raised her hand and knocked.
Luke heard it from the chair by the window.
Firm.
Not aggressive.
He stood, walked over, and opened the door.
He had expected a junior agent.
Someone bored.
Someone distracted.
Someone who would ask a few questions and leave.
He had not expected the one person in the Bureau who knew him better than anyone else alive.
Emily stood in the hallway in her Bureau coat.
Snow was still melting in her dark hair.
Her cheeks were pink from the cold.
Her expression was professional — calm, composed, measured.
But her eyes held something that professionalism could not fully hide.
Luke looked at her.
She looked at him.
For one quiet moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Emily lifted the case sheet.
"Routine energy-detection check," she said. Her voice was level and official. "An ice-attribute signature was recorded in this area approximately four hours ago. As a registered awakener in this district, I need to ask you a few questions."
Luke held her gaze a moment too long.
Then he stepped aside.
"Come in," he said.