Esper Harem in the Apocalypse

In the busy command center, George's sharp eyes remained fixed on the blurry, chaotic footage of the recent attack. The monitors bathed his stern visage in pale, flickering light as he meticulously scanned each frame for any clue that could shed light on the mysterious assailant.

The room hummed with tension as countless workers sifted through data, documents, and debris scattered across the attack site. While George's colleagues, Seated nearby were his two colleagues. One, a bespectacled woman with a perpetually furrowed brow, hunched over a cluttered table, scribbling notes feverishly. The other, a middle-aged man with a perpetually unamused expression, observed the proceedings with a detached air of skepticism.

The footage played out like a chaotic symphony of destruction. Smoke billowed, alarms blared, and figures moved in a bewildering dance of violence. George focused on every detail, determined not to overlook even the smallest hint that might lead them to the assailant.

As George meticulously analyzed the footage, his eyes narrowed at a particular frame. In the midst of the chaos, something caught his attention—a glint of metal, a familiar shape. He froze the frame and zoomed in, revealing a bracelet, partially obscured by debris and dust.

Recognition struck him like a bolt of lightning. He knew that bracelet. It was a piece he'd seen before, one that had caught his eye on a different occasion entirely.

George's mind raced back to a conversation he'd overheard in a car, an innocent exchange between Alice and Rudy. They'd been discussing a lost bracelet, a gift from Alice to Rudy, and George recalled Rudy's careless remark about misplacing it somewhere.

Could it be? Could the bracelet from that conversation and the one in the footage be one and the same? George's heart quickened, but he was reluctant to draw any conclusions. It was possible that someone else had a similar bracelet, after all.

The image on the screen remained unclear. Blurriness, dust, mist, and fog obscured the area, making it impossible to definitively identify the attacker. The presence of the bracelet was certainly intriguing, but George knew that evidence this circumstantial wasn't enough to accuse Rudy.

He shifted to another tab on his screen and sent a message to the workers at the attack site. He attached a picture of the bracelet, along with a request for them to search for it amidst the wreckage. If Rudy were indeed the attacker, logic dictated that the bracelet should be present at the scene.

Now it was a waiting game. George leaned back in his chair, his fingers steepled as he contemplated the implications of what he had seen. The revelation, if true, was a grave one. Rudy, the kid he has known since forever, had seemingly orchestrated this audacious attack.

The minutes dragged on as George watched the live feed from the attack site. Workers scoured the area with meticulous care, their headlamps piercing the darkness. Every overturned stone and shredded piece of metal became a potential clue.

As he waited for a response, George's mind churned with conflicting thoughts and emotions. On one hand, he couldn't dismiss the possibility that Rudy was involved. The connection between the bracelet and their earlier conversation was too conspicuous to ignore. On the other hand, he hesitated to accept the idea that his own family member could be responsible for such violence.

Minutes felt like hours as George anxiously monitored his screen, hoping for word from the workers on the ground. He knew that finding the bracelet wouldn't definitively prove Rudy's guilt, but it would be a critical piece of the puzzle. In the shadowy world of clandestine organizations and covert operations, any lead was precious.

Finally, a message pinged on George's screen—a photo attached. His heart pounded as he opened it. They had found the bracelet—Alice's gift to Rudy—in the midst of the wreckage.

Its distinctive design left no room for doubt.

A heavy sigh escaped George's lips as he contemplated the gravity of this revelation. He couldn't deny the evidence before him. 

"Rudy… was the assailant behind the attack on the clandestine facility?"

George's colleagues, engrossed in their own tasks, hadn't initially noticed the change in his demeanor. But as he continued to scrutinize the image of the recovered bracelet, they picked up on his altered state.

The bespectacled woman, her pen poised over a notebook filled with scribbled notes, was the first to speak up. "George, have you found something? A clue, perhaps?"

The middle-aged man beside her leaned in, clearly eager for any lead they could uncover.

George hesitated, his mind wrestling with conflicting motives. On one hand, he wanted to maintain his image as the diligent investigator who'd cracked the case. On the other hand, a more sinister ambition gnawed at him—to eliminate Rudy and claim the glory for himself.

After a few seconds of contemplation, he chose the path of deception. He gave them a reassuring smile that concealed his inner turmoil and replied, "Well, I wouldn't say it's anything groundbreaking. Just a few pieces that might lead somewhere, might not. You know how these cases go."

His colleagues nodded in understanding, although the tension in the room didn't dissipate. 

The middle-aged man arched an eyebrow, clearly unsatisfied with George's vague response. "Interesting? Come on, George, don't keep us in suspense. What did you find?"

George weighed his words carefully. "It's related to the attack, but I need to investigate it further. Sitting in front of a screen won't get me the answers I need. I think it's time to visit the attack site in person."

He glanced at his colleagues, offering them an opportunity to join him in the field. However, their practical minds prevailed, and they declined his offer.

Both of his colleagues seemed intrigued by the idea, but practicality won out. The woman shook her head. "As much as I'd love to join you, George, we can't leave the command center unsupervised. We have to oversee the investigation from here."

The middle-aged man nodded in agreement. "That's right. We'll provide support from here, analyze the data, and coordinate with the teams on the ground."

George's fake smile remained firmly in place, but inwardly, he was relieved. He didn't want his colleagues to accompany him to the attack site. He had his own agenda to pursue, one that didn't align with their interests.

"Well then," George said, rising from his seat, "I'll head to the site and see if there are any leads to follow up on. I'll keep you both updated."

George then went to the attack site in his car, picked up the bracelet and went straight to his house— all while planning to eliminate Rudy from the picture.