Part 12: Midpoint

ACT 2: MIDPOINT

Christian's Perspective:

Christian and Margaret finally reached the school after taking a long detour, only to find the entrance surrounded by several Wolf Dozers. But they were mostly defeated by Desmond and Louis.

Louis was heavily injured on his right arm, as the two went up to them and asked what happened.

Desmond gave a thorough explanation, but most of the Dozers have left and chased Meadow elsewhere. Louis, on the other hand, was not liking their presence in the school. He never liked the DEA ever since he knew about them, but Margaret explained that they needed to find Meadow.

"Meadow? Who is she to you?" Louis asked, feeling rather suspicious of two individuals he had never seen before enter this school. "She is the president of the Student Council too."

"Why does that matter to you, spike head?" Christian asked, barging in as Louis held his hand against his chest.

"This is a school, not a playground." Louis said, feeling a sense of responsibility for the missing child. "If you don't want me to ask the authorities to escort you, I suggest you leave."

"But we are the authorities…" Desmond thought.

"We are investigators sent by the DEA. We are just trying to find more information about Li Peng." Margaret supported Christian formally, showing her identification under the IDEU.

"Certification doesn't mean you are in the clear." Louis said. "NOW get your butts out before I kick them myself."

"You-" Christian was getting rather annoyed at this punk before Desmond cut in swiftly to calm them both down.

"Now, now." Desmond said, adjusting his glasses. "As part of Parc Centros and the school, I think we should treat them as guests instead of some criminals."

"Desmond. They are the DEA." Louis yelled out loudly, attracting many students to the windows.

"You are just scaring the kids." Desmond advised him to lower his volume. "Besides, instead of arguing, we will probably need their help to find Meadow and Wei Ken."

"Tch, whatever." Louis softened his hard heart, as he lowered his back against the wall. "What do you propose we do then?"

Christian wanted to finish the mission he was given, and demanded to see the principal or teacher in charge of his class.

"The principal would never see someone like-" Louis stopped as he felt a hand touching his shoulder.

"Stop being so aggressive towards others, Louis." An old woman said as she came down to meet them. "If you don't want me to tell your boss to fire you."

Louis quickly apologized as they both bowed and treated her with the most respect.

"Christian and Margaret, you may come to my office right now."

The old woman asked the two to come up to her office, as she explained about Li Peng’s sudden disappearance.

Her office was neat and organized with many books of all sorts of literature. A bird was chirping in a cage at the window but was silent as soon as she sat down. Paintings of all sorts were hung across the walls, and red velvet sofas on the sides.

She was Li Peng's form teacher, even though she was also the principal of the school. She knew about her students, and that Li Peng was always a good boy who attended classes regularly. He was not a boy with any family issues, and could work well with his classmates.

She then mentions Wilbert’s daughter, and how frightening she was as a child. The two were appalled by her descriptions, of her skipping classes, bullying other girls, stealing from them, and was always covered in bruises. Wilbert never appears when the school called for him, and her mother abandoned her. She does not know the relationship between her and Li Peng, but she knew his daughter was definitely up to no good. Her death was quite tragic, but Li Peng’s disappearance was even more devastating. She also said that Wilbert’s daughter never came to school for a while, before she was found dead in her home.

“Her name was Victoria. Her personality does not match her face, almost like a lifeless doll.” The principal added, feeling chills even talking about her. “It was almost like Li Peng was the polar opposite of her. A gloomy cloud and the bright sun.”

“I guess no one knows where Li Peng is or how he disappeared, huh?” Christian said, as the principal frowned and shook her head.

“Children go missing all the time when you don’t look at them with attention and care.” The principal replied. “But for some reason, Li Peng’s disappearance felt like he was dragged into it by an unnatural cause.”

“Thank you for your time.” Margaret said. “This information is enough.”

“I wish you two well. Stay safe out there.” The principal said. “That sudden rush of Dozers that entered the school premise… is concerning. Meadow and Wei Ken are gone right now, and I would love it if you can search for them as soon as possible.”

“We’re on it.” Christian said, as they both got up from their seats.

They left the office, as Desmond was waiting outside for the both of them.

“Did you find any answers that you wanted?” Desmond asked as they walked down the corridor.

“Nothing particularly of use, to be frank.” Christian said. “But Wilbert’s daughter seems to be the centerpiece of Li Peng’s disappearance.”

“Either way, we have to find the two kids now.” Desmond said, as they met Louis at the bottom of the stairs.

“I’m going too.” Louis said, now covered in bandages on his arm.

“You stay here and keep a lookout.” Desmond said. “I don’t want to carry you back when you get even more injured.”

“I am fine.” Louis said, clenching his fist and tapping his biceps. “Tsssow...”

“Yeah stay put.” Christian said, as Louis gave him an irritated stare.

Christian was feeling uneasy about Li Peng’s case, and knew that it might have been a case that he couldn’t save. His disappearance was too mysterious with no good leads, yet Wilbert’s daughter felt like she could be tied into this. He was frustrated with himself as Margaret told him to cheer up and continue on finding Meadow first.

In any case, the Wolf Tamer was still nowhere to be found, and yet things felt like they were under someone’s control.

“Let’s just take the car and…” Margaret paused as they headed out the entrance of the school, only to see that their car had been sabotaged. The tires were punctured and they could no longer take the fast route. Desmond suspected someone was watching them, or more precisely Christian himself.

Christian knew that this wasn't just a culprit who hates him, but did not want them to disrupt their plans. He checked his car to see nothing was stolen or out of the ordinary, which meant it was someone who had been watching their every move the whole time.

Margaret used her Cube on the tires to check for fingerprints, but that person seemed to have left no clues. It was most likely pierced by a Dozer, and one thing it proved was that the control of these Dozers felt forced. But Christian thinks that Meadow was not part of the plan, but has elevated their motives and were simply caught inside the palm of their hands.

“Wei Ken said that they were headed to the police station earlier.” Desmond said. “We should go there by foot.”

“Yeah, I guess it is our only lead.” Christian said, as they began checking the direction towards the station.

Samera wasn't picking up her phone, which made Desmond worry even more.

The three headed there instantly in hopes of rescuing those children.

Back at the Secret lab under the Punggol Police Station, Samera and the two kids were surrounded by Wolf Dozers. The necklace was no longer with Meadow, hence the wolves were now less aggressive towards them. The radiation gas that was flowing from the pipes were making them go crazy, which allowed Samera to weaken quite a few with ease.

It was strange that the police officers above were not sending anyone down. There was something strange happening up there which was holding them. Samera climbed up the stairs with the two kids, and decided to leave to avoid the cops. After all, they were victims and only stumbled into this place by accident.

Samera brought them to safety as the three made a run back to the school. They turned back only to see officers running into the building. They were surrounding the place, calling out a name repeatedly. "Randall Tang has escaped!"

When the officers finally realized that the laboratory was left in a mess, they panicked even more. There was no evidence on who stomped the place, as the three of them met Christian, Desmond and Margaret along the way.

Samera explained thoroughly what happened, as Christian and Margaret realized Randall had escaped not too long ago. Meadow cried about a monster that was released by a strange man, as Christian phoned Neva to assure that her sister was safe. Several police cars zipped past them, as the whole crew headed towards the school. This whole case felt so confusing that Christian had no idea what to do. He had no leads, and bad things seem to keep coming.

As soon as they reached the school, they sent Meadow and Wei Ken to the sick bay to rest for a while.