X2.7.2 – The Exploitation Business

"Life in the camp is impossible," said a man with a kind yet exhausted look in his eyes. "Most of us here have changed—psychologically. It's impossible not to. Some have lost their minds," he explained, surrounded by his three, small children.

Roa, Indigo and Rosso had signed up to volunteer at Camp Moriah, a vast refugee camp in the middle of the slums. They were tasked with figuring out any clues that might lead them to the Gate.

"Why did you come here? Was it not better at home?" asked Roa.

"Nobody wants to leave their country—their home. We had to leave. The war broke out when the Empire attacked our country. At first, we tried to stay, but when our city was destroyed, we had to flee. We were displaced several times in our land, until eventually, my wife and I decided to leave altogether." The man looked to the ground and rubbed his eyes. "Sometimes—I wonder if we made the right decision." He stared at the boy in the eyes, causing him to notice a tear on the man's face. "This place is hell. We have no running water, mud is everywhere—it floods into our tents. We are cold--we are scared."

The Sunflower gazed at the camp, its many torn tarps, the garbage piling up, and the general state of despair in people's eyes.

"Why are there so many young people?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Almost half of the people here are children. Some are without parents, having crossed immense distances on their own to survive. They have nothing but this hell now," the man explained. "At least, we have each other," he smiled, as he stared at his little family.

Where was the Humanity? Certainly, in this place there was little to none to be found, certainly not coming from the managers of such an institution. Roa's blood began to boil as scenes of suffering unfolded constantly in front of him.

"They make money from this suffering," he said, staring at the muddy road as they walked through the camp.

"Yeah," muttered Indigo.

"They make money—from this suffering," Roa repeated with a blank stare.

"We heard you the first time," said Rosso.

The boy snapped out of it and his eyebrows furrowed.

"We need to figure out who's in charge," the Sunflower said.

"I don't think it will be too hard. Look," Indigo pointed to several black SUVs pulling into the camp.

Several men in suits came out, huddling around a tall woman. She wore a white suit and a large, fancy hat on her head, which swayed as she walked, her heels squishing as she made her way to a white building.

"Disgusting," they heard her mutter as she walked away. "Let's make this quick. I don't have time for this."

The Jumpers looked at each other. They waited outside, acting as if they were working on something, keeping a close eye on the situation until the lady and her entourage of suits came back out and got in the car again.

"Let's go," said Roa.

"Where?" asked Rosso.

"We're following her. She must be the boss here. She's our connection to Lord Misery," he explained.

The SUVs made their way out of the camp and through the slums. The Jumpers activated their auras, and began moving faster, staying as far away from the cars as they could, without losing them.

"Someone's ahead," shouted Indigo as they ran.

"Yeah, I feel an aura incoming," said Rosso.

"Hide!" the Sunflower grabbed the other two and the heroes leapt into a bush.

After several seconds, the unmistakable features of a Shadow appeared. The being floated above them, his mask turning around as if looking for them.

"Whisper your auras," said Indigo very quietly.

Not having caught a whiff of its prey, the enemy eventually left, flying away in the direction of the cars.

"That was close," said Indigo, taking a deep breath.

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"Damn it. We lost the cars," said Rosso.

"Change of plan. I got another idea," said the Sunflower.

Night fell upon the camp, and the three snuck into the white building where the lady had previously set foot. Other than a sleeping security guard downstairs, the coast was clear, as they made their way to the top floor to what looked like the archives or offices of the building.

"I got this," said Indigo, as they stopped in front of a locked door. She pulled out some tools, and after a few minutes of jiggling them in the lock, the door swung open. "Easy."

"You learned that at the circus too?" asked Rosso.

"Actually, yes. I did an act for a bit where I was submersed underwater and had to unlock a bunch of chains before running out of air. I guess it came in handy, after all," Indigo explained with a smile and shrug.

They rummaged through files, locked drawers and desks, looking for anything useful. Hours passed, and deep into the night, the heroes searched relentlessly.

"It's just—numbers," said Indigo, with a hint of frustration in her voice.

"Yeah, but these numbers don't lie," said Rosso, staring at page.

"What do you mean?" asked Roa.

"I mean that there's an obvious push for more refugees. Look," Rosso pointed to a table on the page, "do you see? Each year, the number of inhabitants grows. Here are the requests to government agencies for additional funding. It makes sense. The—what I guess they would call—return on investment—on one refugee is low."

"So?"

"So, that means that to make a lot of money, they need a lot of refugees in this place to make—financial sense," explained the boy from the desert, handing the page to the Sunflower.

"What you're telling me is that the Old Order, who caused the war in the first place through their control of the Empire, is also profiting from the camps set up to house the refugees—that they created?"

"Exactly."

"I bet you anything that the Old Order has its people in the government too. These agencies and private corporations probably work together, hand in hand, two sides of the same coin," said Indigo.

"Shove as many into this hellhole as possible and the owners make more money. What a business model," said Roa. "What about that lady who came out of the SUV? Did you find anything on her?"

"Nothing," both Indigo and Rosso said simultaneously as they continued to quietly rummage through the archives.

Another week passed before the black SUVs showed up again.

"What do you mean we have to tail them again?" said Indigo. "Don't you remember what happened last time?"

"Nirvana specifically said that we cannot be found. If they catch us, it'll send the plan into chaos," said Rosso.

"They won't catch us. Plus, what other choice do we have? We have made little to no progress in weeks," said Roa, noticing the lady coming out of the white building. "None of the other teams have made any real progress with the Gate's location. It's up to us—now or never. Make your auras Whisper, suppress your energies as much as possible, and we might be able to figure out where they are heading."

The others nodded. Their eyes stayed glued on the cars making their way out of the camp. Roa took flight, causing the others to follow, but not before exchanging a look of doubt.

"I thought we were supposed to stay hidden," shouted Indigo, as the SUVs made their way through the slums below.

"We'll be faster this way," Roa said. "I'm glad you finally could master Pan's Gift, man," he said.

"I've been trying for years. I'm telling you—it was tricky," the heretic explained with a nervous laugh. "Crap. Feel that?"

Roa felt an energy suddenly, and a Shadow appeared in front of them, blocking the way. They stopped midair.

"You must be the ones who tried to follow us last time," the enemy said.

"Let us through. We are just flying above the city," said Roa.

"You have been tailing our vehicles for some time now. Who are you?" asked the Shadow.

"None of your business," said Rosso.

"Everything is our business," responded the enemy.

"We're losing them! Indigo, Rosso, attack him. I need a few seconds," shouted the Sunflower.

The two looked at each other and blasted forward, pummeling the enemy with a barrage of strikes. The Shadow took both of them on with ease, blocking virtually every blow. The heroes gave it their all, pushing their auras to the limit, but the Shadow's defense was airtight. Eventually, he elbowed Rosso in the face, causing him fall down and crash on top of an aluminum roof, landing in the middle of a humble dinner being served. The table smashed into pieces, and the shocked family glanced up, scared and confused. Indigo was overpowered soon after, as the enemy's fingers wrapped around her ankle. She was launched at great speed half way across the slums, screaming.

"There. Resistance is fu—" the Shadow said with a tone of satisfaction, only to be interrupted by the Sunflower unexpectedly appearing before him.

The boy from Earth unleashed a punch that knocked out the enemy in one strike. His fist sizzled, glowing bright for a few moments after, a he shook the pain off from the impact.

"There's some of your own medicine, Shadow. The Brute Force Gift," he smirked as his eyes focused on the black SUVs, now almost disappearing in the distance.

"Indigo, can you hear me? Follow my aura," Roa said, sending out a Blurr her way, then another with the same message for the heretic.

Eventually, the three reunited midair, and as the cars made their way through some industrial yard, the heroes lowered to the ground, until they decided to continue on their feet, sneaking behind warehouse after warehouse. The SUVs stopped, they were checked by some armed guards, and were let into one of the storerooms.

"Get to the roof," whispered Roa, as they climbed onto a rusty, spiral staircase.

There, they lay down and gazed inside of the building through an opaque window.

"There's more black SUVs in there. This must be some important place," said Roa.

"There's the lady,' said Indigo, pointing at the woman coming out of the vehicle.

"Hey, guys," said Rosso.

"Not now, man, I'm trying to listen to the conversation," said Roa, shushing his friend.

"Guys," continued Rosso.

"Shush," said the Earthling trying to concentrate.

"Yo," said the heretic again.

"What?" said Indigo and Roa together.

He looked at them and pointed up, behind them.

"I think we have a little problem," Rosso said.

Roa turned around and a cold chill went down his spine. Five Shadows floated above them with their arms crossed.

"Anomalies found," said one of them, sending out a Blurr to alert more Shadows of their presence.

"Crap," said the Sunflower, staring at the message getting away.

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