Zoe jumped down beside Victoria. The moment she entered Bullet Time, she caught the rancid stench so often found on Chelated Beings.
Zoe checked the Chelated Being's condition and confirmed that it was truly dead. She grasped the monster's left hand and pulled it close for inspection—it was an unmistakably human hand.
"How did you know it was a Chelated Being?!" Zoe nearly cried out. "How could you tell—"
"I told you before, didn't I? Sometimes intuition is more accurate than reason, especially when you're certain you've accumulated enough experience," Victoria said with a light laugh, turning her head. "Susie, call Ende. Have her find the theater manager and bring her here."
"Can... can I go now?" The still-shaken woman looked at the Quicksilver Needles before her. "I..."
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I'll need you to stay here a little longer." Victoria looked up. "There may be more than one Chelated Being in the theater. We still don't know whether they picked the dead at random or whether they specifically chose you."
The woman nearly lost her footing, and Susie hurriedly caught her.
"It's okay." Susie gave her a sympathetic look. "Don't worry. We won't let that happen."
The woman's face was pale. "...Then, should we call the police? Would the police even be any help in a situation like this?"
"We need to contact..." Victoria had been about to say "the nearest station," when she suddenly remembered that most of District 12's Quicksilver Needles had already been withdrawn.
Victoria stared at the corpse for a while, then looked up. "Don't worry. Leave it to us."
Two minutes later, Ende arrived carrying the manager in her arms. The woman was very young, with a neatly pressed short ponytail that exposed her smooth forehead. She looked to be under thirty.