Chapter 160

Chapter 160

I returned to my apartment.

Ironic that I was beginning to finally think of it that wayas minenow that I was on the verge of losing it, along with everything else.

There was a throbbing hum as Sae stepped through the portal behind me. It was harder to read her these daysalong with the physical changes and expressionless compound eyes typically hidden behind sunglasses, shed become far more reserved than before. Still, the way her shoulders drooped and the way she pulled herself inward was simple enough to read.

Its not too late for you to bow out. I called over my shoulder as I pulled my social UI and tried to send Kinsley another message, mainly to confirm squelch was still in effect.

Thats something youre gonna learn about me, Helpline. I dont back down. Sae stared at me coolly. Still, the bluster fell a bit flat. nove(l)bi(n.)com

You get that what Im asking you to do isnt just for me, right? I asked gently. It serves a dual purpose.

Sae waved me off. Yeah, I get it. If I kept hiding forever, my ability to find a solution to this shit She gestured to herself would be severely gimped. This theater gives me a chance to present myself in a positive light. Not to mention, my usefulness would be limited.

Sae.

Fuck off with the mothering. Its just a lot, alright?

Yeah.

Sae crossed through the living area and went to her knees, removing one of the lacquered white panels beneath the TV. An adjustment Kinsley had insisted on that seemed extraneous at the time, given our alternative methods of getting in and out unseen. Sae peered in, only to turn and give me a thoughtful look. Sure youre going to be able to come off as an inexperienced mook?

I shrugged. Not long ago, I was an inexperienced mook.

She shook her head. When youre in the shit, you tend to push things too far.

How so?

The first time I got into combat, it was a nothing. A couple of low-level goblins. But I was shitting my pants. Jinny had slightly more experience than me, and she kept shrieking whenever her spells went off. Hell, Nick took to it better than any of us, and he was on the verge of losing his lunch constantly, especially when he cut something open.

My brow furrowed. Youre saying I seemed off.

Way too comfortable. It didnt matter because Nick vouched for you. But that first ambush? The Trial after? I must have wondered a half-dozen times what your background was. Because you just slipped into this analytical combatant mentality, like youd been wearing it your entire life. She studied the door. I guess, in a way, it makes me feel better that you were experienced before then. Otherwise, someone might get the impression youre some kind of psycho.

My lips pressed together. As much as I understood that Sae had a point, it was a precarious balance. If I presented myself as too meek and timid, it would seem incongruous in comparison to the type of person who would fight through a forcefield to attempt to save a region. Going too far the other way would arouse suspicion as well.

I opened my mouth to speak, only to be cut off by a sudden explosion of noise.

BANG BANG BANG

That was a cop knock if Id ever heard one. I snapped my fingers once and pointed to the hole. Sae slipped into the crawlspace, gripping the handles on the reverse-side of the panel and pulling it on behind her. It didnt align perfectly. I helped secure it from the other side until it locked in.

BANG BANG BANG BANG.

More insistent this time. If I made them wait much longer, there wouldnt be a door left to bang on. I grabbed the remote from the coffee table and turned the TV and Blu-ray player on. Unfortunately, the last person to use it had apparently been Iris. A still image of a computer-generated princess belting out a song within the bounds of an ice castle manifested on the vibrant screen. I spent precious seconds scrubbing through the video, looking for anything that resembled a dialogue scene, and pressed play on the first one I found, slowly bumping the volume from mute.

I dropped the controller and headed into the bathroom, kicking my shoes and socks off and mussing my hair, putting a few drops of Visine into my eyes.

BANG BANG BANG

I threw the door open, revealing both Foster and Hawkins, Hawkins with her fist stopped an inch from the door. She studied my appearance. Where were you?

Asleep. I said irritably.

Foster shook his head. Told you.

Hawkins shot him a look, then gave me a level-stare. Took you a while to answer the door.

No, waking up took a while. Answering the door went fairly quickly. I glared at her. I was being intentionally obstinate. Regardless of how in the right they were, theyd turned my life upside down over the course of the afternoon. Being too cooperative would be an obvious tell.

Should be the last check for the night, Matt. Foster said sympathetically. Probably being overly careful, but with theres too many new and unknown powers in play to take half-measures.

Glad youre expending so much manpower on watching me, rather than looking for Myrddin.

Hawkins pushed past me and did a lap around the room, sticking her head into each door as Foster waited by the front with me. You, uh, talking to anyone in here?

I shook my head, sticking a thumb towards the TV.

Im getting to it. Hawkins cut me off. One of the last graves we uncovered was fresher than the rest. A horse. It wasnt even close to dried out, and its stomach had been slashed open, the remains thoroughly infested. Ill save you the gory details

Those werent the gory details?

Trust me. Hawkins shuddered. It was bad. No one wanted to go near it. Shortly after, some rookie found the murder weapon. A baseball bat tossed into his neighbors field. DNA did the rest. Matched the traces of blood in the grain to the blood on the backpack. Word came down that the DA was willing to prosecute the case without a body, and we packed it in.

My mouth twitched. No one bothered to dig under the horse.

Hawkins chuckled. Thats right. Miles said you had good instincts. It stuck in my craw. Even if every other star aligns, prosecuting a murder case without a body is risky at best. And this wasnt the kind of guy who would crack and just give it up, even if the verdict came down as guilty. There was a good chance the family would never be able to bury their son. It kept me up at night. So, I committed the unforgivable sin of jumping the chain of command and brought it up to my lieutenant. Told him everything.

Whatd he do?

He was pissed. And instead of laying into the detectives, he grabbed a crime-scene tech, threw three shovels in the back of a squad car, drove us to the property, and marched across the field to the grave. And after a few hours of cutting through filth, and rot, and viscera, we found him.

I dumped the rest of the coffee in the sink, watching it swirl down. Congratulations. Was this meant to be some thinly veiled parable about how youre not afraid to get your hands dirty?

During the interview

Interrogation.

interview, Hawkins emphasized. Waller uncovered something ugly. You didnt bother denying it. Instead, you came clean. Warts and all. But it was a little too easy. Im uncertain whether weve dug deeply enough.

Its time for you to go. I said coldly. I needed these people out of my life as soon as possible.

Sure. Hawkins placed her mug in the sink and approached the door.

Unable to help myself, I called after her. That lieutenantthe one that believed you and put his career in the linethat was Miles, wasnt it?

Hawkins paused, her hand on the door. When she turned back, her expression was unreadable. In the off-chance we end up taking this another direction? Whether its six months or a year from now. No matter how suspicious or mundane the circumstances, if something happens to Miles? Youll find me back on your doorstep. And I wont be as nice the second time around.

Got it.

Have a nice night, Matthias.

As soon as the door clicked shut, I sagged, hand pressed to my chest, heart beating rapidly beneath my palm. I previously thought Id won Hawkins over. Or at least earned her sympathy. As it turned out, I was utterly wrong.

I turned the TV off, set my alarm for a half-hour and tried to catch some sleep on the couch. If everything worked out perfectly, and they bought it, this could all be behind me.

But sleep wouldnt come. The insides of my eyelids felt like oppressive curtains, robbing me of precious minutes.

Eventually, I rolled off the couch and opened the door. Foster and Cook were standing outside.

Looking a little rough there, champ. Cook sneered. Hed changed from his blue flower-print Hawaiian shirt to a red flower-print Hawaiian shirt. At least the man was consistent.

I ignored him and glanced at Foster. Mind if I take you up on that rec time?

Foster grinned. Sure thing.

A few minutes later, we strode down the hallway. They flanked me professional, Cook behind me and to my left, Foster ahead and to my right. The formation was tight. If I had to do anything physical to alert Kinsley that the wheels were in motion, they would have clocked it immediately. But that wouldnt be necessary.

The solution was the most recent entry in the quest screen.



Quest: Totally Real Merchants Guild Quest

Primary Objective Find a dungeon and clear it.

Secondary Objective Avoid turning Kinsleys hair white before her sixteenth birthday you bastard.

Reward: 1 Selve

Accept Quest? Y|N

I rejected the quest. With squelch blocking direct communications, it was the best alternative we came up with for getting a signal through. Currently, Kinsley and a solid chunk of her mercenaries would be ironing out a highly visible trade deal with merchant holdouts on the far end of the city. This had been in the works for a while, shed just have a slightly larger entourage than previously intended.

Leaving me, the building, and the feds coincidentally vulnerable. It was all coming together.