Alan Smithee in Metropolis

The sound that was formerly of screaks was now replaced with the agreeable silence. The rain still falling, now more gently than ever, mixed with the wind in a whisper, and covering the ground the scenery. That or the convoluted blast's shock wave noise had taken out of commission about 80% of Dan's hearing.
Such a radical machine. Was it the work of a helping hand or not? Could there be any more "loaded statues" scattered across the town? Wouldn't that even be too far-fetched?

Dan, in an impulse, went to grab the notebook kept in his lab coat.
As he searched his lab coat for the handbook, a light rectangle made of paper loosed itself free from a ripped double stitch disguised in the coat's right shoulder's back and, without Dan noticing, fell down to wet cement, gliding.
Dan, having found what he wanted, with frantic, automatic, movements began turning over the pages, reading. There might be more useful information that he could draw out.
He needed it ever so much.

And there also was that "pea projectile"; he had realized it had the colour of platinum. It was made of something that he couldn't identify, but he guessed it was something organic. Whatever it was, it was assuredly a toughened proteic compound.

That notebook eventually shed clues about his sudden spurt of "luck". In the last-but-one page there was something surprising, besides incoherent, written. Perhaps about the statue itself. The words were such:
Look for the Sahankra of Tumhina's brightest spot
Wherein lies the horse of the warrior of Gemini
And riding it is a single hope for the hopeless,
Behold its flag, for it appeases all those who fought
resisting the demons whom, marching, came to vie

As he gazed at that small coded text, Dan could help feeling anything else but uneasiness. Presuming that was Vincent's handwriting, it was, more than not, not only a forewarning, but instructions for the man's own welfare. Vincent. As the name crossed his mind, Dan remembered that he was in the dark to so much. The image of Vincent talking with his alter-ego. About how he wanted to obtain "conclusive data".

What had become of him? Maybe he had also walked into the wrong alley and those monsters ripped him to shreds? Yet, somewhere in Dan's heart-felt core, he was aware that that man was still out there, somewhere, alive. a man with two minds, leading a double life...
Duplicity, just like, if Dan wasn't mistaken, pretty much anything relating to Gemini lore.
There was a connection lying there, Dan believed, but he still couldn't see it. Vincent, though, was, as far as he realized, his best bet, if he was to find his sister.... and a unscathed way out of there. Of course, Dan had no desire of crossing ways with that creepy loon, again.

.... In his bewilderment, and perhaps ignorance, he never realized that part of the system functioned having an oscilloscope that registering, and that signaled, any and every intense change in the surrounding sound. The receiving input, through some sensors, of those creatures' acute shrieks was the mechanism that triggered the machine.
Anyhow, when it came to machinery and mechanics, Dan could never be considered a «whiz kid»; such topics were always filled with annoyance, for him: his mechanical skills were always lacking, since early times.
It was always recognized by the family, since his boyhood days, Dan's lack of talent for gadgets.

Observing closely, in one of the horse's paws, in the lower side of the statue there was an inscription on a steel plate, slightly under the size of a match box saying: «That the wisdom of the mighty Boaz and Joachim may guide all into the right path».
Another unintelligible sentence. Quite the common occurrence in those blocks. It wasn't the smartest move to just stay there, exposed to the unknown. Knowing that those hellish creatures essentially rendered in weapon useless didn't exactly with a warm feeling inside.
At any rate, he would need more imposing firepower. Something with more kick.

In that precise moment, a 'meeow' sound spreaded, echoing across the empty space in the plaza. Dan jumped backwards, leaning himself against the statue, terribly afflicted. He knew he was practically defenseless. The echo lasted for some seconds and faded into nothingness, leaving a daunted Dan in the silence again. A cat, lurking around? Could it be.... Hyas?.....

Was he hallucinating? It was not possible. Hearing things. That was it, the aftereffects of the explosion, still undermining his ears; he could notice a bit buzzing hammering inside. And yet..... A meow, a familiar sound. A vagrant cat roaming around. Hyas could have made it through: he figured that he never really knew what had happened to his pet. A pet that had eventually saved him before. A guide, to whom Dan became found of. It was viable.

Or it could just be the wind, as if infiltrating in and coming out of all the chinks in the area. Then it came, again. Another meow. He wasn't hearing things. It was definitely a cat in the neighbourhood. Dan couldn't trace it, though.
The calling seemed like it was coming from everywhere, in erratic fashion. On second thought, after hearing it a third and a fourth times, it seemed to him that the sound came from the avenue next to what looked like a warehouse which apparently served for storing wheat, which in turn was next to the avenue opposite the research center.

Dan spent quite some minutes scanning the surroundings, assessing what to do next. He grabbed his handbag, hastily unfastened it, and picked one of those 13 cartridges magazines. The package he had collected in that pantry still had 3 more magazines to go. Recalling the instructions, he reloaded the weapon, releasing the empty one.
As the empty magazine fell to the ground, Dan finally took notice of the bulky paper.

In reality, it was a sapphire coloured envelop, resisting intact to the watery ground. Suspicious, he nervously picked it up. After that, he headed towards the avenue in jogging speed. Pain circling in his left thigh. He had to endure it. Another meow. Definitely coming from that direction.
He hadn't yet understood from where the package had fallen, but something he could attest to, was that the wrapper paper was rigid, dense, of high quality, and water-resistant. encrypted with beige words stating: «Confidential», and below: «To S. Lydia Sagi eyes only».

Dan's own eyes widened in expectation. THAT name. Vincent had pronounced it earlier. Another oddball into the mix. He quickly tore through the envelop only to find a carefully folded letter. With his lantern in his left hand and the paper in his right, he slowed down whilst glancing the small print letters, beginning with the embellished header with the words: Astraea Biochemical Division. under the company's name another one: Consultor for the Vice President of Operations - Amin Mikusu. That was the sender of the letter.
The letter itself was short in content.

It was announcing the investment of a budget consisting in a pretty substantial sum for the 'confidential' approved operation, deemed crucial in order to "the corporation gain competitive edge, in the myriad of conglomerates, in such a tricky global market" and continued to express that "furthermore I warn you that a team of elements of the I.N.T.P. section will proceed head way to the lab facilities, next week, for validation of the hosts. This matter had already been addressed, so there's no need to state the cautiousness that must be ensued".
The letter ended "with the best regards", from what seemed a consultant with the highest expectations. The last sentence was:
"Anything short from of riveting success is utterly a disappointment for the human soul, my friend." followed by the cursive signature: 'A. Mikusu'.

It always like that. Some higher-ups in some corporation with eyes set only into entering the future with a foot ahead.
Strange, the silence now. No echoing meow, nothing. Something; concentrating harder, there was a vague sound of current passing through coming from somewhere in the left, as if an electrical shock was being zapped in a determinate area.

He felt he was closer. It'd just around the street's corner. Street that, by itself, was very much nondescript. Closer to see Hyas again. Then as he crossed the corner, Dan watched in front of a supermarket window, two, no, three inflated, hideous dogs, shining, and snarling at the sight of meat.