Across the Islands, Toward the Truth

Cobalt holds position above the service roof, his broad wings beating against the rain. Sho grips Azazel’s black wristband while Gill paws at the locked maintenance door below.

The shadow cat’s narrow white eyes lift. His ears angle toward muffled movement inside, then a brief metallic scrape travels through the door and vanishes into the storm.

A maintenance keypad sits beside the frame, its small display glowing beneath rivulets of water. A narrow vent breaks the metal above it, too tight for a person.

The security camera mounted over the entrance pivots with a soft motor whine. Its indicator changes from green to red, fixing a bright point on the wet roof.

Behind the door, something heavy strikes the floor. Gill crouches low, claws scraping concrete, while Cobalt circles once overhead and keeps his position, awaiting Sho’s next move.

Gill compresses his smoky body and thrusts into the narrow vent. The metal constricts around his shoulders, forcing him backward with a rasp of claws.

He withdraws beneath the keypad, but one white eye remains aligned with the vent’s grille. Through the slats, movement flickers in the maintenance room.

A red emergency-release handle is visible beyond the duct, mounted beside the inner door. Its cable runs upward toward a removable ceiling panel.

Another scrape sounds inside, followed by hurried footsteps. The camera’s red indicator stays fixed on the roof, while Gill turns from the blocked vent toward the access structure above.

Sho climbs onto the access structure beneath the roofline, rain sliding over his scraped palm as he reaches the removable ceiling panel above the release cable.

His fingers find the panel’s recessed edge and pull it free from its wet frame. The opening exposes the cable’s upper run and the dim maintenance room below.

Below, footsteps rush across the metal floor. The red emergency handle remains beside Azazel’s inner door, while the exposed cable hangs within Sho’s reach.

Gill pours through the ceiling opening and streaks across the maintenance room as a low ribbon of living shadow. The approaching figures shout and pursue him toward the far corridor.

With the path clear, Sho reaches through the opening, catches Azazel beneath the arms, and hauls him upward from beside the inner door. Azazel scrambles onto the roof.

Sho pulls Azazel fully through the roof panel and onto the rain-slick access structure. Cobalt drops beside them, wings folding protectively as the maintenance door bangs open below.

Gill darts back through the opening and emerges onto the roof, untouched. In the confusion, a metal access card skids from one pursuer’s pocket and stops beside Sho’s scraped hand.

Sho mounts Cobalt with Azazel clinging behind him. The tiger familiar launches from the access structure, wings driving hard through rain as Gill races along the adjoining roofs.

Cobalt clears the research wing and sweeps over North Island’s service lanes. Below, a security alarm begins to pulse, and the stolen access card clatters from Sho’s wet hand into the wind.

The crosswind bucks Cobalt above the linked platforms. Sho’s scraped palm tears against the familiar’s harness, leaving fresh blood, but Cobalt holds the line toward West Island.

Neon and restaurant signs replace the research towers. Cobalt lands on the roof above Sho’s apartment, claws striking loudly enough to wake the neighboring buildings.

Sho and Azazel reach their shared apartment through the roof access. Cobalt folds into the darkness, Gill slips under the door, and rainwater pools across the entry floor.