The crowds fill the streets in festive wear, the city buzzing with excitement.
Voices, footsteps, and broadcasts echo along the Ring Road, a mix of excited chatter, languages blending, and snippets of conversations Semmelweis can't quite catch.
Semmelweis: You're late, Emil.
Emil: There's only one thing worse than the "Storm": holiday traffic! Vienna's gone crazy with all the roads they've closed, I had to detour around the entire city-center just to get moving again!
Emil: Captain, should we try to convince the Vienna government to cancel the parade?
Semmelweis: I'm afraid that's not a viable option.
Semmelweis: First of all, canceling would surely upset the citizens, the government would take significant flak if there wasn't a credible threat, and they won't do it on the thin evidence we presently have.
Semmelweis: More importantly, the kidnapper is likely to be in the crowd at this very moment. If we were to cancel the parade, it may tip her off. If she panics, the situation could easily spiral into chaos.
Emil: So, you already know who the kidnapper is?
Semmelweis: Yes. The kidnapper is Nora Ostern.
Emil: What? Nora ...
Emil: How could she be the kidnapper? Did she kidnap herself?
Emil: Are you basing this entirely on the media's claim of internal conflict in the guild?
Semmelweis: No, that's just part of it. Her main motive was to make herself look like a victim. That way, no one would suspect her, and she can play this game of hide and seek with us.
Semmelweis: And even if we had found her, as long as she plays the victim, she could easily mislead our investigation long enough for her plan to come to fruition.
Emil: But, how did you come to suspect her?
Semmelweis: Last night, the police received a report that someone saw a man and a woman breaking into Nora Ostern's house.
Emil: Yes, you and Pavia. I don't understand your point.
Semmelweis: My point is that it wasn't only us in the house that night.
Emil: You mentioned that, yes.
Semmelweis: But there was a third person at Nora Ostern's house last night—a woman, or more specifically, a vampire like me.
Semmelweis: It occurred to me that there was only one explanation, one person that could get in and out of that house without raising suspicion.
Semmelweis: It all makes sense, the darkness in her home, the heavy curtains. There's only one possibility: the third person was Nora Ostern herself.
Emil: But wouldn't the neighbor have seen her too?
Semmelweis: Nora is capable of travelling in shadow form, as I am. She infiltrated the house the same way she must have many times before, through the broken glass.
Semmelweis: Then the only people her neighbor ever saw entering the house were Pavia and myself, we didn't know about her secret entrance. No one else would, except Nora.
Emil: But why return last night?
Emil: Why did she risk going back home?
Semmelweis: That's a question only she can answer.
Semmelweis: Maybe she needed to grab something important, or something forced her to return.
Semmelweis: People usually consider their home a safe place. She wasn't expecting a stranger to be waiting for her.
Semmelweis: Being seen when she was supposed to be "missing" could disrupt her plans, so she attacked first.
Semmelweis: She didn't expect to be overpowered and injured by Pavia. She had to fight back with her egg.
Emil: She fought with an egg?
Semmelweis: The coating on the Easter egg contained mycelium. She wanted to use it to attack Pavia. But as it turned out, the mycelium failed to activate before he injured her. She was forced to flee.
Semmelweis: But consider this: why would anyone who did not already know the properties of that egg attempt to fight with it? She must have known it was already laced with mycelium, and only Nora Ostern could have known that.
Emil: So, she's the kidnapper.
Semmelweis: Precisely.
Emil: So we know who she is, but not where.
Semmelweis: We can easily deduce that, she's somewhere at the festival, enjoying the attention her mycelium-laced Easter eggs are getting.
Semmelweis: She wants those eggs to be found and for everyone to know they're hers. So those eggs must have some unique elements that reflect her personal touch.
Semmelweis: And those black-painted eggs are a part of Nora's unmistakable style.
Emil: So, then, is it all just as the media said? A spat between colleagues gone wrong? Why kidnap the others? Or is this all for some maniacal plot?
Semmelweis: ...
Semmelweis: So far, the image we've constructed of this Nora Ostern is as simplistic as a cartoon villain. There must be more to this story.
Semmelweis: How she intends to use the mycelium is still unclear.
Semmelweis: We only know that the Easter eggs have been scattered throughout Vienna and that everyone who finds one will gather during today's parade, marching around the city.
Emil: My God.
Semmelweis: We need to split up. Locate as many of these eggs as possible and warn everyone who finds one not to open it.
Semmelweis: I'll handle Nora Ostern.
Emil: Yes, Captain!
The market is so densely crowded that it resembles a choppy sea, with people ebbing and flowing around its stalls and performers.
Semmelweis: Damn it, this place is packed. With all these smells mixing together, I can't track her blood.
Semmelweis: Are we to stumble around blindly?
Emil: Captain! I found an Easter egg and a woman lying on the ground!
Semmelweis: What is her condition?
Emil: She's ... well ... unusually lively.
Semmelweis: What are you talking about?
Emil: Wait! Captain, this Easter egg is strange—it's moving, like it's going to spew something—
There is a sharp sound and the communicator falls silent, save for a staticky signal.
Semmelweis: Emil!
Semmelweis: Damnable thing! She's watching our every move, and she seems to be able to detonate these eggs remotely.
Semmelweis: We need to find her before the parade starts.
Semmelweis turns around, scanning her surroundings. The band begins to march in formation, playing a familiar tune. The lyrics catching her attention.
"Fearless souls wield the needle sharp."
"Dancing with fire, yet untouched by its spark."
"With a beam of light, let shadows depart."
"Time stretches as we bridge the space apart."
Semmelweis: This is ...
???: Excuse me, miss, would you like to buy a poem?
Semmelweis: It's the same woman who sold me that poem.
"Ladies and gentlemen of Vienna, thirty minutes remain until the Easter egg parade begins. Who will claim the Treasure Egg? Let's find out ..."
Semmelweis: The Treasure Egg ...
???: Thank you. Happy Easter, and enjoy the game.
Pavia: If you want to catch her, you'll have to play her game.
Kid: I can only tell you the most important rule: the clues to the Treasure Egg are hidden on each egg.
Semmelweis: I see now!
Semmelweis: Alright, let's play.
Semmelweis: The clue is on this black egg.
Semmelweis: "Fearless souls wield the needle sharp."
Semmelweis: "Dancing with fire, yet untouched by its spark."
Semmelweis: "With a beam of light, let shadows depart."
Semmelweis: Hmm, might these be clues? Perhaps "shadows depart" may mean something will appear on the egg's black coating? But we will need a "beam of light."
Semmelweis looks up. The sun is blazing in the sky.
Semmelweis: There's our light.
She steps out from the shadows, holding up the egg to the sun.
Semmelweis: Ah, I was right. A pattern emerges, but an incomplete one.
Semmelweis: A simple rotation should fix that.
The sunlight has already grown uncomfortable. She feels a growing numbness flood across her limbs, but she holds on, as golden lines begin to emerge from the dark shell.
Semmelweis: There it is! So this is the clue, and the key to finding it is "light."
Semmelweis: A simple code, an eternal presence—the sun that has burned since far before the birth of humanity
Semmelweis: Looking at the direction of these lines, it seems to trace a route through Vienna's city center, but something's missing.
Semmelweis: "Time stretches ..."
Semmelweis: "... as we bridge the space apart."
Semmelweis: So we're looking for a bridge, yes that's obvious. And it must mean the bridge at the city center.
Semmelweis: Then it is the Reichsbrücke! And where does the Reichsbrücke lead to—
Semmelweis: Stephansplatz!
Somehow amidst the people in parade costumes gathered at Stephansplatz, it is the Stranger-like Semmelweis with the toy gun that attracts the most attention and unwanted at that.
Semmelweis rushes ahead despite their glances, carrying the toy gun she has grabbed from a nearby stall, causing more than a small commotion.
She hopes the stall owner understood her frantic plea to "borrow" the toy.
Semmelweis: Pardon me, entschuldigung! Coming through!
She pushes through the crowd, vaulting over obstacles, flashing her Foundation ID to an awestruck guard as he moves to stop her, then finding an opening at last. She strides into the wide square, gravel crunching loudly under her feet.
She feels the strain of the sunlight burning down on her, and knowing she can't risk another look, she steels herself and charges into St. Stephen's Cathedral.
Finding a good vantage point, she presses her cheek to the toy gun's stock, places her left hand under the barrel, and looks through the likely misaligned scope.
Her eyes sweep over the rows of spectators—seniors, couples taking pictures, fathers with children on their shoulders, and finally a masked statue cradling a giant egg in its hand.
Semmelweis: So, there is our Treasure egg, which means Miss Ostern must be nearby.
Just then, through the scope, she spots a familiar face.
Semmelweis: It's that child again.
Semmelweis: So, he's figured out the clues too. Persistent little devil.
Semmelweis: But should I stop him from opening the egg? If I act too rashly, Nora may detonate the egg regardless. With the size of it, the mycelium will spread everywhere.
Semmelweis: But if I should hold back, I will still need to find Nora before he opens it himself.
Bella: Take the shot.
Semmelweis: You again ...
Bella: You'll never find Nora in time, and that kid is determined to open the egg. You really only have one option.
Bella: You can limit the damage, of course, but blood must be shed, so why not let it be ours to drink?
Semmelweis: ...
Bella: Aim for the eyes. Even with these darts, at this range, it'll make him bleed, it will make him stop.
Semmelweis: Shut up!
Bella: Shoot him! Do it!
Amidst the pageantry and joy below, Semmelweis stands wrestling silently with herself.
The sunlight momentarily dazzles her, her eyes stinging.
A sudden premonition strikes her: the child will die. He will die if she allows it.
Kid: My goal is to find the Treasure Egg. They say whoever finds it will receive the "Apostle's Blessing."
Semmelweis: "Apostle's Blessing"? What's that?
Kid: I guess it's some kind of special surprise prepared by the egg makers!
Kid: My mama says they're God's messengers, like angels, and anyone could be one—are you an angel, miss?
"Let's congratulate the lucky kid who found the Treasure Egg—"
The crowd cheers, the kid runs forward, disappearing from her scope's view, the statue's hand pointing at him like a withered branch.
At that moment, she forgets her premonition, replacing it with another feeling—a sense of certainty.
Semmelweis: Found you.
