"Okay, so just to make sure, you didn't do it?"

  "No." Julliette replied.

  "And you have no clue who did?"

  "No."

  "Figured. Sorry, but I would have been kicking myself in the rear if it was you and I just passed you by. So, what happened then? Fifteen minutes is a long time."

  "Obviously, I noticed right away the cameras were out. I used a Skill to phase through the floors and emerged on the third floor. It must have taken me twenty seconds, max."

  "From when the EMP popped to you getting there?" Claire clarified.

  "Yes. I emerged in the main lab, the prototype was the most important asset to protect. It was already gone." She continued, a sour look on her face. "If I had just reacted a few seconds faster, I-"

  "What's done is done." Claire cut her off. "Who was in the lab when you came in?"

  "It was empty, but right after I arrived, Coalridge came in."

  "Him again. Get your boys to bring him in next. Does the lab have any other exits than the one he used? Windows?"

  "No windows, and that's the only door. The thief likely displaced the device remotely."

  "So you couldn't have stopped it, anyway. You did everything you could."

  Julliette didn't look convinced.

  "Okay, what happened next?"

  "I gathered everyone up, but no one could tell me anything useful. A few people were already gone. I didn't comment on it, and they're all here today, but they are high on the list for this reason."

  "Thank you, Julliette. Get me Coalridge next, please."

  Jerry Coalridge was a thirty-ish white man with neon pink hair cascading down to his shoulders. He wore overalls stuffed with various tools, with a black band T-shirt underneath. Claire respected the freedom with which he expressed himself.

  After the now routine preamble that lying was pointless, Claire rattled off the standard questions.

  "Did you steal the prototype?"

  "Fuck no. This project is really important to me. I'm pissed at whoever caused this mess."

  "Did you aid in the theft, including by disabling the cameras?"

  "I just told you I had nothing to do with it!"

  "Sorry, these first few questions are standard so I can quickly catch the culprit in a lie right off the bat. That does make it weird, because you were the last person seen working on the device."

  Coalridge gripped the desk, white-knucled from anger.

  "I didn't. Fucking.-"

  "I know! That's why I'm asking! I'm not paid to find a patsy, I'm paid to recover the prototype. I need to know what happened so I can catch the fucker who actually did it. So, I heard you were working on the engine of the machine a few minutes before the incident."

  Coalridge exhaled. "Yes. Cliff designed the first iteration, but he's more of a magic kinda guy. I specialise in natural mechanics. Sure, I have my spells, but- anyway. Yes, I was doing a little tune up. A couple of cylinders got misaligned after the last test. One actually got completely busted. I went to get a replacement, we've got them standardized by this point, and when I come back, the chief of security is standing in the middle of the room, and the project is gone. I was gone maybe half a minute. I have no clue how someone stole something the size of a couch, this fast. Wait. Space magic, of course! Cliff must have-"

  "I already spoke to him, he was the prime suspect for this very reason. He didn't do it, and has no idea who did."

  "...fuck."

  "With you also cleared, I'm back to square one, honestly. If you have a hunch, I'm all ears." She slipped into a more casual tone, since he didn't care for decorum either.

  "Well, that depends. Was it actually space magic?"

  "Yes, the device got put into some kind of pocket dimension."

  "The janitor lady, then. I don't remember her name, we don't really talk, but she comes in around three PM. But I remember she has some kind of Skill that lets her summon and un-summon cleaning supplies and bags of trash. Unless she's just conjuring them. But that's the best lead I've got."

  "Thank you. You can go home now."

  "Oh no, I'm staying here. I want to know who did it."

  "Fine, you can stay in the lobby."

  When he was dismissed, Claire turned to Julliette.

  "Do you know who he was talking about?"

  "We only have twelve janitors here, magic lets them work very efficiently. Third floor is maintained by..." she took a moment to consult some spreadsheet on her phone. Miraculously, her granite claws operated the device without problems nor leaving a scratch on the touchscreen. "...Maria Graff and Jeremy Morgan. Graff is the one on the shift that starts on 3 PM."

  Claire looked at the suspect list. Maria Graff was among the bottom names.

  "Alright, get her in here."

  The opening procedure repeated.

  "No, I didn't take it." The young black woman replied in a thick German accent.

  "Were you in any way involved in the theft or obscuring of it, like disabling the cameras?"

  "No." Ding. Finally!

  "You lied just now."

  "I don't believe you can actually tell if I'm lying."

  "...If I didn't, this conversation would be useless. Testimony is very unreliable without a lie detector present."

  "Nein." Graff waved her away. "This whole business about tics and body language is one big bullshit."

  Claire snickered. "I agree, body language can't tell you if someone's lying. I'm using divination magic."

  Graff suddenly straightened. "You did what?"

  "I have a Perk that can tell me when people lie around me. And it tipped me off when you denied involvement in the theft."

  "...I didn't know magic could do that. I didn't have a fancy education like you police types."

  "I'm not a police officer, thank the gods. But yeah, I didn't really learn about such abilities until I got one myself. We're getting off track. You were involved in the theft."

  "No." No ding. What? Ah, imprecise again.

  "Sorry, were you involved in obscuring the theft?"

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Graff didn't reply. Silence stretched on for a whole minute.

  Claire rolled her eyes. "Yes, very clever, i can't tell if you're lying if you aren't saying anything. This isn't gonna help you much, though. I need to get to the bottom of this. We've already established you personally did not steal the device, so you're not going to get in trouble. I need to find the one who did, though."

  "I don't know who stole it."

  Claire's eyes widened when the pulse of lie detection failed to come. "How the fuck...

  "Okay, you're saying the truth there. But then, how did you help obscure the theft if you didn't know it was happening?"

  Graff stayed silent.

  "Okay, once again, from the top. Did you disable the cameras?"

  "No."

  "Then how did you obscure the theft?"

  "I didn't!" Ding

  Claire slammed a fist on the table. "For fuck's sake, work with me here!"

  "I didn't intend to help the thief!"

  Claire scratched her head for a moment.

  "Julliette, please leave us for a few minutes. I'll knock on the door when I need you back in."

  The gargoyle woman raised an eyebrow, but complied with the request.

  "Please, just tell me what happened." Claire pleaded. "I assume you did something that could get you fired. It can stay between us. I'm not HR, I'm just here to find the damn prototype. So please, tell me what you did. You're my only lead so far."

  Maria Graff had a sad, guilty look on her face. She sighed, and placed her hand above the desk. A burst of invisible, yet somehow tangible energy - mana, Claire realised - poured out of her hand, and something dropped on the desk.

  Claire looked at the object. It was a cylindrical silver device with a bunch of buttons along its chassis and some sort of cut gem on one end. It looked kind of like the sonic chisel from that old scifi show she used to watch with her mom. Shame it stopped airing after Breaches started.

  "What is this?"

  "I don't know. Looked expensive though. I found it after everyone left the lab. It was laying under the table the prototype was on. I thought no one would miss it, as it didn't look like any of the machines they were using."

  "And they made the mistake of paying you to little to buy your loyalty." Claire finished for her. "Thank you for this. I'll put in a word with the boss to give you a raise. You shouldn't have to resort to stealing to get by."

  "Can I go now?" Graff asked.

  "Is there anything else you know about the theft?"

  "No."

  "Then yes, you can go. Again, thank you."

  Claire knocked on the door, and Julliette came back.

  Graff grumbled something in German as the chief of security took off her cuffs.

  "Okay, but what was a prop from 'Professor When' doing there?" Claire asked, mostly to herself, as she stared at the device.

  Julliette was about to ask something, but Claire cut her off. "We won't discuss how I got this or why. Just now it was found on the scene of the crime, and it's unlike the other equipment that the team used."

  Julliette clearly wasn't happy about this, but she didn't complain out loud.

  "Honestly, I'm afraid to touch it. Good thing Coalridge didn't leave."

  A few minutes later, the engineer was back in the lab-turned-interrogation room.

  "Can you tell me what this is?"

  The engineer lifted the device from the desk carefully. His eyes shone with mana for a moment. "Some kind of magic multitool. The inside is filled with runic circuits. As I said, I'm not great with magitech side of things, but it's not Draxon make, that's for sure. Howards could probably tell you more, they're the person refining the runic arrays."

  Claire looked at the suspect list, then at Julliette. "There is no Howards here."

  "They took medical leave on Friday, and we've already established this wasn't done remotely." She replied.

  "Are they at least here today?"

  "Yes, waiting like the rest."

  "Get them in here. Thank you, Coalridge."

  Charlie Howards was a tall, muscular person of masculine features. While Coalridge's appearance belied a love for metal music and the surrounding culture, Howards was an out and open punk. Red-black dress, jean jacket with tons of patches, black boots that added another 2 centimetres to their already impressive height. The stark black makeup completed the look. Due to the makeup, their age was hard to determine.

  Fuck, now I really hope I get to work here full time. There are so many awesome people working here!

  "Hello, I've been led to believe you're non-binary. what is your preferred honorific?"

  "Mage." Howards responded, turning their chin up in clear challenge. Holy fuck, they're awesome.

  "Very well, mage Howards. I'm Claire Black, and I'm investigating the theft of the prototype device on behalf of Draxon inc. I'm going to ask you some questions, and please be aware I'm using divination magic to tell if you're lying. Just to get it out of the way: did you steal the device?"

  "I wasn't here on Friday."

  "I know, please indulge this little bit of formality. Did you steal the device?"

  Howards sighed. "No, I didn't."

  "Did you aid in the theft or in obscuring it, for example by disrupting the cameras?"

  "No. I was not here."

  "Alright, thank you. Now, let's get to the real reason I called you in, mage Howards." Claire pointed at the runic device on the table. "I need your expertise in determining what this device is and what it does."

  They picked up the cylinder, and looked it over. "Not Draxon make, and certainly not my make. Who the hell leaves the focus out of the casing like this? Can I get uncuffed? I need to use an analysis Skill on this."

  A moment later, and their hands were free. Their eyes lit up, similar to what Coalridge did before. "Ooh, New Telemic, hadn't seen that in a while... what? Why would you..."

  The examination continued for a few minutes, with Howards pressing some of the buttons to test them out. Every time, the crystal lit up with a different color of light. Eventually, they put the device back on the desk.

  "Okay, so first of all, this thing is broken. The main circuit board is cracked all over, parts of it are melted. Second, this is some DIY work. The runes are hand carved, using a deprecated language, and what parts of it survived are not optimised in the slightest. Shoddy work, one-and-done type thing."

  "Alright, but what was it supposed to do, then?"

  "Well, the main runes didn't survive, so it's hard to tell, but it seems like some kind of divination aid. The mana converters inside modify the output mana into a kind that's easy to target over distances. Similar tech was used in military scale cursing."

  "...excuse me, in what?"

  "Well, obviously, that's a war crime now, but back in 2056, during the Great Asian War, China would send agents to Russian cities and mark people with a special mana signature. Pass them on the street, barely even touch them. Then they'd leave and send word back base, and half the citizens got cursed with internal de-alignment. Soul and body parts randomly rotated in place until the person expired from internal bleeding or mana poisoning. Cruel stuff. That's why they did it, though, to mess with morale. Then again, Russia responded with intentionally causing large scale Breaches to disease-ridden dimensions, so there isn't really anyone with a moral high ground in this story.

  "Anyway, This trinket is nowhere near as sophisticated, though. A mark from this would last an hour at best, and you could only target it from... a kilometre, I'd say."

  "Are there any further details you can determine?"

  "The market can be left at a distance of about seven metres, most of the buttons are to calibrate the offset from the focal crystal."

  "Well, thank you for your help, mage Howards, and for the terrifying lesson in history. You may go now."

  The runic expert quickly left the room, leaving Claire to stare at the broken marking device in thought.

  "I feel like I'm figuring this out a bit. So far, I think the markers were used to target the cameras, and then teleport the EMP charges to them. Did you analyse the charges, by the way?"

  Julliette shook her head. "They were so rudimentary that they destroyed themselves by turning on. There was just piles of molten circuits and a blown up capacitor."

  "At least that confirms it wasn't done by just conjuring the force. Okay, so the thief marks the cameras, someone off-site- nope, the wards weren't breached. They had the charges hidden somewhere in the building, sent them remotely all at once, cameras are busted for fifteen minutes. But they didn't need that long, since the device was gone within twenty seconds later. What was the very last thing the cameras saw in the main lab, right before the blackout? Sorry, I should have just got you to show me the recording."

  "A few seconds before, Coalridge left the room."

  "Okay. Coalridge leaves the room, cameras go blind, you check the the scene out, the device is gone. Coalridge comes in, is as confused as you, you round everyone up. Basically, what the cameras failed to see fir the rest of the time doesn't matter. Whatever was done, it was done before the actual blackout. Unless time magic bullshittery is involved, but if the thief can time travel, we'll probably never catch them, so no point considering it as an option right now. Biggest question: how did the thief manage to walk around the whole floor to wave this thing around, and wasn't seen doing it? Julliette, you're the security expert. What are the most common ways a [Rogue] class can obscure their presence?"

  "Many stealth Skills rely on blending in with shadows, but more advanced Classed can achieve full invisibility. The problem with that tactic is it doesn't obscure other senses, and trying to layer multiple spells obscuring different types of presence, like sound or mana residue, will interfere with each other. Then again, if you move slowly, you can make very little sound."

  "Okay, they could have went invisible, then. Wait for others to leave the doors open, or just mark the cameras through the walls. If we still operate under the assumption thwy work here, they'd know where the cameras are. They probably got into the main lab behind Ellwood when he was getting the filament, then waited till Coalridge left. Then they opened the pocket dimension, stuffed the prototype into it, and left in the ensuing chaos."

  "There are two problems with your scenario." Julliette interrupted her. "First, right before I phased through the building, I triggered the lockdown protocol. All windows and the entrance covered in metal plates, elevator disabled. No one got in or out for the next five hours. No one can hold an invisibility spell that long.

  "Second, [Rogues] rarely invest much in strength, and pocket dimension abilities require one to open a fissure in reality and physically push objects in. There was no time for them to push the whole device into their pocket space."

  "I see. I have a hunch that I'm on the right track, though. We need to review the footage after all. The last... five minutes or so. Of the whole building."

  "Let's move to the security room, then."