Ten minutes earlier, the Detention Center.
The cold light in the steel corridor flickered faintly within a surveillance blind spot. Jack Atlas leaned against the hard cot in his cell, his red-and-black jacket draped casually over his shoulders. He stared at the ceiling, his knuckles tapping impatiently against the metal bedframe.
"Tch... What the hell are Ushio and his lot even investigating? Their efficiency is way too low," he muttered, irritation smoldering in his violet eyes.
Jack had always had a short temper. Now that he had been inexplicably slapped with the charge of "intentional injury," he was even more furious, with nowhere to vent it.
"Click."
The electronic door lock gave a soft sound. The instant its red light turned green, the pressure-sealed door slid open by itself.
Jack abruptly sat upright.
"...What's going on?"
The corridor was eerily silent. Even the usual mechanical patrol sounds had vanished. He rose and walked to the door, giving it an experimental shove—the door swung fully open, revealing an empty passageway.
"Hey! Anyone there?!"
No one answered. Emergency lights cast pale strips across the floor, while the distant emergency exit sign glowed an eerie green like ghost fire.
Jack narrowed his eyes.
A trap? Or...
He stepped out of the cell, his boots striking the metal floor with distinct echoes. The surveillance camera around the corner should have automatically tracked a moving target, but now it was as dead silent as if its power had been cut.
"Ha..." He suddenly laughed, his fist clenching with a crack. "Interesting. Since someone has 'invited' me to leave—"
His pace suddenly quickened as he raced toward the impound garage from memory. Every security door along the way was bizarrely open, as though the entire facility had suddenly lowered all its defenses for him.
He arrived