Chapter 197: A Willing Volunteer

Before the crew discussed anything further, they followed Michael’s lead, eating their fill late into the night.

Of course, the ’night’ was metaphorical. Because Venus rotated very slowly on its axis, in actuality a day here was longer than a year. Though for the sake of keeping their circadian rhythm operational, they had decided to live the same way they would have on Earth.

“So, how did you figure it out?” Victoria asked, her curiosity evident. She knew that he had the ability to hack into alien networks. But here, that tactic wouldn’t work.

Claiming he had peeked into a random android database and learned that an AI uprising was destined to happen wouldn’t exactly fly, no matter what kind of mental gymnastics he tried to spin.

“By combining known information and following my hunch.” Michael stated calmly, quickly going over the missing cases Greg had given him access to.

“Tell me…” He smiled warmly, using his communication device to project several holograms for his crew.

“Does anything catch your attention?”

Exchanging glances, the crew went silent until several ideas came to mind.

“They all seem somewhat young.” Ava pointed out. “While there are a few cases involving missing children or the elderly, they’re in the minority. The majority of missing persons are between the ages of 18 and 30.”

Ava’s assessment was indeed correct. Sadly, however, the similarities seemed to end there.

“The gender, education level, or field of work don’t appear to be connected.” Victoria added. “Overall, there’s not enough information to draw a concrete conclusion.”

The others nodded in agreement.

Michael shook his head in frustration. “No… This is more than enough.”

He frowned.

“Don’t expect me to spell everything out for you. There… are bound to be moments when I genuinely won’t have an answer, situations that, regardless of how much I rack my brain, I won’t be able to find a way out of. Because a future occurrence like this isn’t a matter of if, but when… I intend to train you. To notice things others would miss, to think outside the box.”

After a brief second he added:

“When my back is against the wall with no way out, I want to be confident that I can leave things in your hands.”

“…”

The crew stared at him, surprise evident on their faces. Even though the moment was brief, they realized this was perhaps the first time they witnessed Michael show such genuine emotion.

Undeniably his words were touching. It proved that he didn’t just take them along for the ride due to their current prowess. He genuinely cared for them and wanted to improve them. Though, of course, they already knew that, considering how much he had already helped them.

However, his statement carried another meaning… Even if proud, Michael wasn’t satisfied, wanting them to improve even faster.

And that taken to the extreme could mean that they were a liability.

Something that nobody wanted.

With a silent curse, Richard stood up, locked the door to the hotel room, and sat back down.

“If Boss sees a way, then there is a way. Until we see it as well, we don’t deserve rest!”

Richard proclaimed coldly, he meant every single word.

“That is true.” Ava muttered, throwing a more careful look at the cases.

Watching them, Michael raised an eyebrow. He didn’t understand why the crew had suddenly gotten fired up, but he wasn’t about to complain.

“We need to think like a detective.” Claire exclaimed. “Pointing out the obvious sometimes guides you to the correct path.”

Victoria nodded as she spoke.

“The optimal condition for kidnapping someone would be for the abductor to be alone with the victim in a confined space.”

After a second she added:

“It would be even better if the victim were caught off guard and subdued before they had a chance to resist.”

Richard sighed. “I would have suggested they were caught in their sleep. But how would the kidnapper enter their living space in the first place? Without leaving clues, no less.”

Deep in thought, Claire glanced at Michael, who watched them silently, unwilling to offer more guidance.

’He said the age is more than enough.’ She thought, wondering what was so special about the age bracket.

It included the people fresh out of puberty and those in the early stages of their adult lives, yet the truth still eluded her.

With a sigh she glanced downwards, deep in thought. Only for her face to flush, realizing that due to the high temperature, she had forgotten to button up the highest button of her shirt.

Swiftly closing it, she peeked at Michael, hoping that he hadn’t realized it.

’Wait…’ Her eyes enlarged. The victims were out of their teenage years and would have to most likely willingly find themselves alone with their abductor.

“An… escort?”

Her mumble caused the room to turn silent.

Seemingly enlightened, Richard slapped his forehead. “Of course, how didn’t I see it sooner? An escort fits all of our criteria!”

“But hasn’t the profession pretty much gone extinct with… You know the certain type of androids?” Ava replied.

Glancing at Michael to gauge his reaction, Victoria reasoned:

“Maybe, they are the abductors. A single person can’t kidnap so many people, but if there is a network of these robots working together, it’s possible.”

With a satisfied nod, Michael smiled warmly.

“Bingo.”

Regardless if the theory was true, it was clearly worth investigating. Though all of the members secretly wondered how Michael had managed to arrive at this conclusion so fast.

“If that really is the case, what are we supposed to do?” Leo scratched his chin.

They couldn’t exactly go visit people that would be ordering android escorts. That meant they would have to make the androids come specifically to them.

As for who was going to play the role, it had to be one of the men. Since the reports proved that they tended to order escorts more frequently, which would raise their chances of encountering an abductor android.

“Who to send?”

Wondering out loud, the three girls glanced at Michael.

“Out of the question.”

With a unanimous decision, they disregarded the idea, shifting their attention to Richard instead.

“He is a Grandmaster, nothing sane would try to kidnap him.”

The next possible choice was Leo, though he was eliminated because he was out of the range bracket, and that could pose trouble to their investigation.

“With Leo gone, that leaves…”

Everybody glanced at Enzo.

Meeting their gazes, the man needed a few seconds to realize what his teammates meant.

“HUH?!”

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