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Ultimate Skill Reload – Chapter 22
The White Room, La Jar Detention Center
"Dammit... where's the damn investigator?" Tayla muttered, her voice bouncing off the sterile white walls like a trapped echo. The cuffs around her wrists shimmered—sleek, sci-fi restraints humming with faint blue energy, tightening slightly with every subtle movement.
Her breathing slowed. She scanned the empty, bright room with its oddly quiet hum, the kind that made silence feel heavier.
"Let me just wrap this up quick..." she groaned.
No response.
She turned her head slightly, catching her reflection in the crystalline glass window on the far wall—a slightly distorted image of her elven features looking back at her, pale with fatigue and stress.
"What would I even tell the others..." she thought, sinking into the metal bench fixed to the floor.
Her reflection offered no answers.
"What time is it, anyway?"
"Huuuggggh!!" Tayla groaned out loud, shaking the cuffs against the bench's side. They rattled slightly, but the energy field buzzed in protest.
Then—Beep beep.
The smooth metal-plated door at the far end hissed as it slid open, revealing a tall silhouette draped in pristine white—General Iven Augustus.
"Oohh, uhh—" Tayla began with a sharp breath, unsure if she should posture defensively.
"It's alright, it's alright." Augustus raised a hand calmly, his voice casual as he stepped in. "Not here for questioning."
She blinked. "Then what are you here for?" she asked, brows furrowing in suspicion.
"Oh, just here to release you," he said with a lopsided grin, chuckling as if they were chatting in a hallway. "On command from your sister."
Tayla's eyes widened. "Laura?"
Augustus nodded, then made a gesture with two fingers. A guard emerged from the corridor behind him, approaching silently. He inserted a keycard into the cuff mechanism.
Beeeeep. A flash of light. The restraints unlatched.
Tayla rubbed her wrists, relief passing through her body like warm steam. As she stood, she followed the General into the corridor beyond, her boots echoing softly against polished steel flooring. The hallway flickered with hovering torches mounted on digital brass walls—a unique blend of dungeon grit and smooth sci-fi cleanliness. Rows of containment cells lined the path, some shaped like ancient arches, others shielded in force fields. Inside, convicts of all kinds—demi-humans, armored mercs, even a cloaked beast-like entity—sat or paced restlessly.
"This is... the first time I've ever been detained in a place like this," Tayla muttered under her breath, breaking the silence.
Augustus smirked. "Don't get used to it."
They stopped at a security station. A guard handed Tayla a neatly wrapped bundle: her sheathed sword, leather waist strap, adventurer's ID, and her dark green jacket, slightly wrinkled but intact.
Tayla scoffed, slipping her arms into the jacket sleeves. "Why did they even take this off?"
Augustus chuckled. "Maybe it looked suspicious. Protocols, you know."
She strapped her sword to her hip, ID clipped to her waist.
"You know," he added casually, "your sister threatened the authorities when I told her you'd been detained."
"Yeah... that's Laura for you," Tayla muttered dryly, imagining some poor rookie officer trembling after answering her sister's call.
"But even with her clout, protocol is protocol," Augustus added as they turned a corner, approaching a broad corridor filled with chattering voices.
The Visitor & Bail Hall buzzed with activity. Guards stood watch while civilians in formal wear or robes paced around. At the far end, Raymond stood tall, shifting nervously. Beside him, Joel sat with her hands clasped, looking every bit the worried older sister.
Tayla smiled faintly.
"But what about the body?" she asked abruptly, her voice low.
Augustus stopped walking.
"Oh that?" He placed his hands behind his back. "Already handled. No fingerprints, no foot impressions matched. And... well... it looked like he was gunned down."
His tone darkened just for a moment.
Tayla's brows lifted.
"I need to tell you something though—"
"That'll hold till the council meeting later today," Augustus cut in, waving her off. "For now, I've got business, and so do you."
"And what business might that be?" Tayla asked, stepping ahead.
He paused. "Your sister's arriving in La Jar this evening."
With that, he met his guards and exited the building without another word.
"Joel! Raymond!" Tayla called out, her voice filled with relief.
"Tayla!" Joel bolted up and rushed to her, tears welling in her eyes as they embraced.
Raymond approached next, patting Tayla's head with a crooked smile. "How's our girl?"
Tayla hugged him back before stepping back. "I lost them... I—I—"
"Let's go meet Kaido first," Raymond said quickly, cutting her short with a gentle look.
"Okay," she nodded, wiping her eyes. "Oh, and General Augustus said there's a council meeting later today."
"I got informed too," Raymond replied.
"It's about an attack," he added, tone shifting. "La Jar's canyon base. Something... mutated. Beast-like."
"What?" Tayla asked as they moved through a set of sliding double doors into the city hospital.
The hallway was alive with magic-tech hybrids—nurses in long robes pushing floating medical trays, robotic arms adjusting IVs, and bioluminescent vines curling through the walls, pulsing softly like a living organism.
"He's in Ward 4," Raymond said.
They passed through the corridor, passing by rooms filled with demi-human patients, tech priests, and even one individual being healed in a glowing crystal pod.
At the end, a reinforced metal door awaited.
Raymond handed Tayla a keycard. "Here."
She swiped it.
Beep. The door hissed open.
Inside, Kaido lay unconscious on a bed, face bruised, head bandaged, one arm elevated. Crystalline life support systems hovered at his side, a glowing gem embedded into a glass tube connected to his vitals.
Tayla stared. Her steps faltered. "Kaido...?"
He stirred. "Oh, thank God," Tayla whispered, walking to his side and placing her head gently on his forearm.
"Jeez... stupid... my body's hurting all over," Kaido muttered, eyes still half-closed.
"Kaido..." she chuckled, blinking away her tears.
"And... I might be the reason for that bandaged head," Raymond added sheepishly.
"Ha...haha," Tayla let out a short laugh.
"Well, I found him fighting someone outside the city limits," Raymond said, taking a seat. "Good thing I had a tracker in everyone's comm."
"Talk about privacy," Kaido muttered, glancing at the pulsing gem on his bedside.
"He took a real beating," Joel added. "Slept like a log."
Raymond leaned forward. "Kaido, what happened?"
Kaido was quiet.
Then, slowly, "Well... just so you know, I didn't mean to hide it from you guys. I just thought... I'd finish it first."
Tayla raised a brow.
"I noticed someone watching us. Across the inn. For days. I could hear them... and well, I am sensitive to things like that."
He looked away.
"So I used Frank's presence. Masked it over mine. Slowed my heartbeat. Regulated my body temperature."
"That's just crazy," Tayla interjected.
"That's our Kaido," Joel added, amused.
Kaido lifted a hand. "Ahem—"
"Right, right, go on," Tayla nodded.
"They took the bait. Sent one of theirs. I underestimated her. Big mistake."
"A bit of a fight?" Tayla echoed. "Your entire body's wrapped up like a dumpling!"
"You almost died," Raymond added, voice stern.
"At least you'd remember me," Kaido grinned weakly.
"We're not joking," Raymond growled. "You were reckless. Brilliant, but reckless."
"I did it for Frank, alright?" Kaido barked.
They froze.
"I did it... for him. We can't afford to lose him. Not with how popular he's gotten... among those cult freaks."
"Where is he?" he asked.
Tayla's face dimmed. "They took him."
Kaido sat upright. "What?"
"It was the cult. He told me one of them had tanned skin—just like the others. They took him at the last second."
"And Elias?" Joel asked.
"Gone. Disappeared the moment I turned away. Like he vanished into thin air."
Everyone went quiet.
Raymond leaned back. "We don't act yet. If Augustus saw, he's handling it."
"Dammit!" Raymond growled, hitting the wall with his fist.
"There's a name," Tayla said. "Spike. Their leader."
"Spike..." Joel repeated.
"There were five of them. One got killed. By a man who showed up. Sounded Southern. Dual pistols. Seemed like he was there for Frank."
"That's... helpful," Joel said. "But we have no lead."
"Oh, we do," Raymond replied, tapping his communicator. "Elias's tracker is still active. Stopped near the eastern coast. Fifty miles. Two days on foot."
"That's too long!" Joel snapped.
"Patience. Council meeting comes first."
"What about Frank?" Tayla asked.
Raymond frowned. "His signal's gone. Like it's dead... or destroyed."
"Maybe he left the tracker behind?" Tayla offered.
If he did....i would have received a signal.....
Raymond replied.....
Dang we got a hell of a job to do guys.....Kaido replied adding....