Somewhere else, perhaps nearby, but definitely not close.
“Another one?”
“Yeah, same story. Couple of kitchen appliances, nothing else touched.”
“Damn weird, who would be running around steeling that stuff.”
“Hell if I know, but these times are filled with weirdos of all sorts. Maybe its some kind of fetish.”
“Gah. And what in hell would someone do with kitchen utils that would - never mind, I don't want to know.”
“Heh, no kidding. And its not kitchen utensils. Its the appliances, and not just things from kitchens. Any mostly metallic item of that size.”
“Yeah, whatever, still damn irritating, we pretty much know where they're gonna hit next, the pattern is almost perfect, but we're never there on time.”
“This next one is close enough we should beat them... should...”
Screeching of tires, fast talking at the housing district’s gate. One mention of the Home Appliance Thefts, and the guard lets them in. Looks bad for him if he hinders the policing agency from catching a criminal. Especially one that has now made the top of the major media agencies. The guard watches the police car race off, trying to figure the best way to tie his name in if the thief is caught, and the best way to keep his name out if they are not.
Screeching of tires, up in front of a house, one that looks almost exactly like every other house in this neighborhood. It is a good thing that the numbers are the front of the house are large, or else there is no way the police would know which to stop at.
Running towards the house, the family is out front, in shock. They had just stepped out to the front lawn to have a picnic on this fine and clear day. The husband starts his standard protect-my-home-from-anyone question, but interrupted with “Appliance thief, here.” And with wide eyes, follows the police in.
Inside, is a home that is exactly as the family had left it minutes ago. Minus of course, anything mostly metallic and roughly that size. That and the kitchen window. No broken glass, no sheet of glass placed off to the side. There is just no window at all. The frame and such is still present, the glass is just plain gone. Family does the standard shock and horror and how-could-this-happen-to-us thing.
The next couple of hours are spent asking questions, getting bad answers, and trying not to get visibly frustrated at a family that is acting like one of them just got shot. They lost, at most, a weeks pay worth of things. Waffle iron, blender, bread machine, toaster, and the like. The two police that were first on the scene leave disheartened. This is the first that happened while they, and others, were there. Seven appliances in about ten minutes. No vehicles, no one saw anything. The medium sized tree in the back yard blocked any neighbor's seeing of the kitchen window.
They have three days till the next hit, if the thief stays on their pattern. Given the speed at which they now know the thief can move, their minds dance and dream about what surveillance equipment they'll need for the next place.
In an scrap yard that is roughly but not quite the center of all of the thefts is a curious sight. Scattered in a flattened area is an array of home appliances, set in a loose semi-circle. In the focal point of this, a raised platform holds a small host of chibi sats. Raised again from this platform is another. Holding a single chibi sat. This one has some noticeable burn marks, and to even one that wasn't up to speed on tech would be surprised that it still was running. From it comes a rhythmic stream of sound. For where there any near that could understand the vocal language of the chibis, they could tell of the freedoms that the one preached to its fallen brotheren. And of the savior that was comming.