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What Edgar heard was unmistakable. Isabelle's eyes widened as she listened, confirming for Edgar his suspicions. What they were hearing was indistinct, yet noisy nevertheless. Isabelle and Edgar stared at each other while each attempted to determine where, exactly, the sounds were coming from. Edgar broke off eye contact as he nodded toward a nearby alley; he felt too exposed out in the open, even if it was dark. It would not remain dark for much longer, however. The two scurried into the alley, moving in silence, while keeping an ear out for the sounds they had discovered.

"It sounds close," said Isabelle, once they were tucked away in the alley.

Edgar lifted a finger to his lips to indicate silence. He scanned the street, making several sweeps, his preternatural eyesight taking in all the detail as if the sun were overhead. He turned back to Isabelle and responded in hushed tones.

"Very close."

The two dropped to their haunches and waited, listening intently, attempting to determine the cause of the noise and its location. It sounded nothing like either of them were familiar with, and they struggled to pinpoint where it was coming from.

"It sounds like it's coming from everywhere," said Edgar. He no more than mouthed the words, knowing Isabelle would hear them without difficulty.

"Maybe it is," said Isabelle, mimicking Edgar in keeping her voice low.

Edgar thought about it and began distilling the sounds. He realized the sounds were not clustered and coming from one direction, but rather independent things whose sounds echoed across the empty boulevard, combining to create the illusion they originated from a group. Isabelle was correct in her observation; they were surrounded by whatever was making these noises.

"Wait here," said Edgar, and flew up between the buildings on either side of the alley. As he crested the roof of one building, he stepped onto it and made his way to the other side. He hoped to catch a glimpse of the closest ... whatever it was, without being seen himself. He stopped at the lip of the roof and peered over, waiting for his senses to pick up the noise once again. He wasn't left waiting long; he soon had his eye on one representative from which the noises originated.

It looked like a drone. Down the street, to one side, the mechanical flying object moved in an erratic pattern. It would light up on occasion, snap on a spotlight and sweep it across windows, snap it off and continue its slow journey winding around the buildings. Knowing what to look for brought a couple of other drones into his awareness.

Interesting. What could they possibly be looking for? And who was operating them? Edgar took his questions with him as he made his way back to the side where Isabelle lay in wait in the alley.

Isabelle would have protested, but Edgar was already well on his way by the time she thought a suitable retort.

"Oh sure, yeah, I'll wait." Isabelle watched as he disappeared over the roof. "Not like I can fly or anything." She was too annoyed at being ditched to be much upset about her lack of flying ability. She thought about a number of comments she planned to make on Edgar's return but was cut short as a loud humming sound echoed nearby. She turned to look at the far end of the alley as a drone crawled around the corner.

Isabelle pressed herself up against the wall and scooted toward a pile of debris, taking care not to let the drone out of her field of vision. With quiet precision, she tucked herself into a cleft between the debris and the building, and raised her rifle, taking aim at the drone. She sat in silence, breathing slow, working to remain as invisible as possible despite being primed for action, while watching as it moved in erratic patterns.

She was at an impasse. Should she fire on this thing? It would be an easy thing to do despite the lack of a meaningful pattern in its movement; the drone was large and moved slowly. What it was doing was beyond her comprehension. She only knew there were others, and she guessed they were all doing the same thing. She could take this one down, but would draw attention to herself in the process, and she didn't know what their response, if any, would look like. She remained frozen as the drone moved deeper into the alley, coming closer to her position.

"Don't shoot." Isabelle heard Edgar clearly, though she guessed he barely made a whisper. "It's in my line of site. I'll hit it if I have to, but maybe we can avoid these things."

"What's it doing?"

"I don't know. Let's not find out right now."

Continued after the break

Isabelle remained silent. She lowered her rifle and brought it to her side as she worked to settle her body deep into the cleft, which was rather shallow to begin with. The drone had climbed three to four stories; as Isabelle returned her gaze to it, it dropped to street level and floated a scant few feet before her. The drone sent its pulsing lights over the wall on the far side of the alley, then turned and repeated this over the wall on which Isabelle was pressed against. It then surged forward, setting itself in front of the pile of debris and repeated the same procedure. Light bounced on and around Isabelle's helmet as she held her breath, unsure what signatures the contraption was scanning. She expected it to light up and hoped Edgar was fast enough to shut it down should it become hostile. The drone hovered before her longer than it had paused on its rounds; she tensed, ready to bolt. The drone beeped, snapped its lights off, and rose two stories, cycling through its routine once again.

Isabelle remained frozen until she heard from Edgar, who floated down once the drone had moved on.

"They're all over the place," he said.

"So let's get out of here," she said.

"Not so easy." He pointed up and then gestured for her to come close. "You'll get a better view from the roof."

"Fine thing for you," Isabelle started to say, but was cut short as Edgar brought his arm around her waist and pulled her in, swiftly closing the distance between them. Her words faltered as they flew to the roof.

"Look," said Edgar, once they were on the roof and overlooking the boulevard.

Isabelle saw innumerable drones darting between around the buildings. They all appeared to do the same thing, with the same erratic movement she witnessed with the drone in the alley.

"What are they? What are they looking for?" Isabelle took care to keep her voice low.

"I don't know." Edgar watched the two drones hugging the face of the building across from them. "At least we know we're not alone."

"Yeah, we could be sharing space with a digital monster."

Edgar nodded. Isabelle scoffed.

"That was supposed to be a joke."

"Joke or not, we should be prepared for the worst. Including digital monsters." Edgar raised his weapon and took aim at the higher of the two drones before them. He wasn't committed to a specific course of action, but his curiosity was starting to get the best of him and he knew it. What would happen if he were to take one of these drones out of commission? Would the others become hostile? Would he and Isabelle find a place of safety if this became the case?

His thoughts dissipated as his senses picked up new sounds and new smells.

"You--"

"Yes." Isabelle was already down on one knee, her rifle over her shoulder, scanning the rooftop. "Something's coming."

Edgar was gone from her side in a flash, as if he had never been there. Isabelle began looking around, but felt more than heard Edgar's harsh command:

"Stay focused."

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