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With the patience of an oak, Edgar stood at the boarded up window, peering through the slat, watching the beings swarm in and around buildings as they advanced through the city. Once they moved out of sight, he ducked to another corner office, but the windows were blacked out; he imagined the view was blocked by the towering buildings around him.

He could move to the roof, but he did not know how much taller the building he was in rose over the others, if it rose over the others at all. Knowing little to nothing of the beings also made such a venture risky. What eyes had they in the sky? What remote capabilities were at their command? Without the information necessary to prevent himself from being seen or caught--and thus jeopardizing everyone else--he was stuck. He wondered how often Ceres had felt such while learning the patterns of these beings. How long had it taken her to discover the right locations to be able to cross the city without being found?

Edgar leaned against one of the walls considered what he had seen. The beings wound their way thoroughly through and around a building before moving to the next one. At least the view at boarded up windows afforded him some distance, thus had he seen their bodies in the windows of buildings a few blocks out. He also noticed other buildings had blacked out floors. He wondered if those were used as asylum from the beings as well, or if a number of floors and buildings had been painted over in such a way as to avoid raising the suspicion of the beings. Not that it mattered much; the beings poured into each building whether or not it contained blacked-out windows.

The beings were methodical. Efficient. With such a mode of operation, and given their sheer number, it was plausible to consider they could sweep the entire city in a matter of weeks. Once completed, what kept them returning? If the timing of the vampires in the Barrows coincided with the arrival of the beings in the region, then they would have been at this for decades. Were they swarming over other metropolitan areas in similar manner? If so, it spoke to their commitment to the complete and utter annihilation of humans, vampires, and any other creature they deemed necessary to destroy. But if this kind of search activity was limited to specific areas, it suggested they were looking for something.

What could be of such import that the beings would spend decades looking for it? What motivated them to remain in place, doing the same thing over and over again, with zero success? Ceres said there was a pattern to their movements. Based on what Edgar had seen, he was inclined to believe her. If this was indeed the case, their behavior suggested they were not looking for something specific. However, he could not speak to their intelligence. They were of singular mind, a hive; this much was clear. Though this did not define them as intelligent. It was possible these beings were very stupid, and only their hive mentality kept them safe. Possible, but unlikely. They were an advanced species, having tamed the stars to travel from however far out in the universe to land here and execute their pogrom against humanity in all of its forms.

Edgar could continue to speculate, but this would amount to nothing more than more speculation. Dissatisfied, he made his way back downstairs.

Continued after the break

Edgar opened the door to the floor where the humans were gathered and entered on light footsteps, though he came to observe he need not concern himself with such careful measures. The humans were beginning to stir; those who had awakened fully were clustered in small groups, speaking quietly with one another to avoid waking those who still slept. Ceres' thralls were moving around, offering morsels of food to those who were awake.

Without pause, Edgar continued to the conference room where he had left Isabelle and Ceres sleeping. He slipped into the room in silence, though these two were already stirring as well. From opposite sides of the table, they both yawned wide, moving their arms overhead in mirror of one another. They burst into light laughter when they realized it. Edgar waited until they appeared to be more coherent, and then broached the subject of the beings.

"¿Que buscan, Ceres?" What do they search for?

Ceres looked at Edgar, taking a moment to recognize he had left the conference room and was returning, then realized he was referring to the beings. She shrugged.

"I don't know. They showed up and pushed humans and vampires underground. I assumed they made their rounds to wipe out any strays."

Edgar nodded.

"Could be. Are there groups like those outside scouring every major city?"

Ceres replaced her feet on the table with her elbows, leaning forward. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked down at the table, deep in thought. She then raised her head to meet Edgar's gaze.

"No. There are not. Not like outside. In other cities, the sweeps are less often. We try to time our trips between the big sweeps, to get as many humans north or south as quickly as possible. It seemed to me they sweep this city regularly because of its position. Everything and everyone has to go through here, or else you have to take the wide path out around the mountain range to the east. Few take that route; it's riskier than moving through the city. And forget about heading west."

"Hmm." Edgar took a seat beside Isabelle and leaned back. If this was the only way up or down through the region, maintaining a concentrated force made sense. Secure the bottleneck, and you make it all but impossible for anyone to get through without your knowledge. Still, he and Isabelle had walked almost halfway across the city before having to hide from the drones, and Ceres was taking humans through the city with some regularity. There were flaws in this logic.

"You think they're looking for something specific," said Isabelle.

"They might be," said Edgar. "But for decades? That part makes me wonder."

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