Chapter 354
“How about we up the wager?” I tossed a dart into the air and caught it by the tip. We’d already gone dart for dart over seven rounds, with neither of us missing the bullseye. “Trick shots, just like last time.”
Excited cheers rang out and the entire place fell silent. Even the music died off as everyone waited for Ligh’s answer. Word had apparently gotten around about the last time I tried my skills against the Commander and likewise suggested an increased ante.
”Oh?” Commander Ligh stopped just before he could throw a new set of darts. “I’m lishtening.”
What did I want from the Crusade? Increased pay was nice, but money would stop being an issue soon. The ball was rolling for Cold Moon, and I’d be able to print rayn there. Some kind of tool or gadget then? Or—“How about the Crusade gives me a fully kitted out jaeger as personal property.”
I rather liked having CJ29 follow me around recently. I needed to do some modifications, but having a customized jaeger would be kinda epic. It’d definitely help if combat broke out since I could turn the hound into a mobile weapons platform. And it’d be a lot more subtle then Mira depending on how I modded the bot.
”You know how expenshive thoshe are?” Ligh’s mask flashed and reflected my face back in its polished surface. “But fine. Assuming you put up shomething good.”
“I’ve got just the thing.” I reached into my bag to hide the motion as I summoned out the Revolver of Random Rounds. The horrifying weapon of potentially mass destruction was truly something else. I whipped out the revolver and raised it into the air. “Behold!”
”A rusty revolver?” Someone from the crowd asked.
”Not just any revolver! It’s the legendary Revolver of Random Rounds! One shot could cause a nuke to go off! The next might cause mass speed enhancement. Maybe even resurrect the dead…” I shrugged and dropped the revolver back down to my hip. “I dunno, it's random.”
A hush spread across the entire room as the implication of the weapon settled in. Every shot was like spinning the roulette. That seemed to peak the Commander’s interest. “Is it enchanted?”
“Um—I’m not sure?” I never figured that part out. “But the man I got it from told me it was a gift from the Eidolons themselves. So?”
”Hmm…” Inquisitor Ligh rubbed at the chin of his mask. “The jaeger sheems kind of cheap in comparishon.”
“Chek, well… I’m not really sure what else I’d want.” I rubbed at the back of my head. Maybe a Waymaker, but I was making my own flyers, and the Roughriders were much more my speed.
Commander Ligh stuck out his gauntleted hand. ”Then deal, shquire. I’ll personally get you a jaeger and a favor.”
I accepted the deal. A favor could be helpful one day. Rayn couldn’t buy connections, though it could surely help establish them. “Then I’ll go first. Something simple to start us off.”
Although I said I’d start simple, I wanted to win. I launched a dart at the other side of the room. It bounced off a sleeping Knight’s helmet and deflected toward the bar. It whizzed just past the bartender’s face, bounced off a bottle of rum, and slammed home right into the bullseye.
Clapping and shouts filled the air as the nearby crusaders watched the feat of borderline impossible skill. It all died down when Ligh took the line. He moved—and tripped over his own foot. The dart flung out, somehow perfectly tracing the exact line that my dart flew. It likewise slammed home.
Thus began a match of increasing complex and difficult shots. Each one raised the bar higher and higher, setting an unbelievable amount of pressure on me. Ligh didn’t seem any worse off from the start, but my head throbbed with more and more pain as I had to figure out the perfect angles, power, and everything else that went into the shots.
I wiped some sweat from my forehead just before it could drop into my eyes and lifted my dart. This was the one. This had to be the one. I wasn’t sure how many more I could match before missing, and I’d rather not just fork over the revolver.
I took a breath and launched the dart toward the door, where it’d—
The door swung open and Deputy Commander Viceroy stepped in at the worst possible moment. The dart, which had been perfectly calculated and angled, slammed into the gap between his armor—“Fuck! Watch what you’re doing, damnit!”
The music and festive mood throughout the entire bar ground to a halt. An awkward silence spread throughout the room. The previous pressure from the competition shattered like it’d never been there.
“What the hell is going on here?” The Deputy Commander growled out. “Don’t you have a lot work to do? I didn’t authorize a drinking party—especially when you’re still on the clock!”
The crowd scattered at his words. Ligh sighed and turned to me. “You missed. Let’s call it a draw, shquire.”
”What’s that mean for the deal?”
“Oh.” Ligh casually tossed a dart at the dart board. It slammed into the bullseye, of course. “I won.”
“Fine.” I grit my teeth and stared at the dart. Of course he won. What was I expecting? That stupid slag just had to open the door, didn’t he? I handed over the revolver. I was never going to use it anyway. The chances of it backfiring and getting caught in the bullet’s effects were just too high.
Commander Ligh pocketed the revolver with a cheerful hum and moved back to the bar—until Viceroy grabbed him by the shoulder and stopped him. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“To get a drink?”
Viceroy flinched like he was just hit by a sledgehammer. ”You’re the fucking Commander of the Crusade! You can’t be drinking on the job. What do you think this is? Where the hell’s your propriety?”
“Property? Why do you want to know that?” Commander Ligh pulled away and slid into a bar stool. “Thish ish why I didn’t want this shtupid promotion.”
”Then why the hell did you take it?!” His words seemed to just drive Viceroy into a frenzy.
As much as I wanted to stay and watch the drama unfold, Hope appeared in front of me like a specter and grabbed my ear. Without even giving me time to process, she dragged me out of the bar like I was some little kid getting scolded by her mother. “Ow! Let me go! Shit, do you have any idea how much this hurts?”
Hope ignored my complaints and didn’t let go till we were back in the hall. She seemed genuinely pissed. “Really, Zuku? Drinking? At your age? Why the hell did you let Ligh drag you into that?”
”I haven’t even had a drink!” This was so unfair. I was just about to win, too! These damn people ruined—
I flinched and tried to pull back as Hope leaned down closer to me and sniffed. “Whiskey?”
”So not my fault. One of the Knight’s dumped a bottle on me!” It was just after the third round of trick shots. I tried to put on my most honest face in the hopes she’d believe me.
“Mhmm.” She dropped her hands onto her wrists and stared at me. “Dev, what do you think?”
”Probably sober.” The squire took my side, which was nice. Not everything was out to get me—“but we are on a deadline.”
“Right!” Hope pulled out a pack of papers and passed them to me. “Here’s your warrant. Go—go wash up and then get to work. Seriously, squire, don’t let me catch you down here again.”
”This is so unfair—“
“Squire.” Her voice dropped low and full of warning. I promptly shut up. “Get to work. I’ll go have a little… chat with Ligh about inviting you to drink again.”
I watched her stalk toward the bar like a predator ready to rip something open. Dev shrugged and followed after her, leaving me standing in the middle of the hall with the warrant in my hand.
“Ugh—“ Seriously just my luck for them to show up. I lost my revolver, my dignity, and everything in between. I sighed and moved for the stairs.
— - —
I dropped by the BG Gym to take a shower and change my clothes. It took a bit more effort to get the whiskey cleaned out of my gear than I expected, but I’d had plenty of practice with blood. It wasn’t too bad.
After that, I finally headed for the headquarters of Phyxaflame. It was, predictably, in the Corporate Quarter. The company had its own building about halfway to the center. This wasn’t just a small corporation, but it wasn’t quite a big one either.
I did some more research on my way over, of course. Phyxaflame was responsible for over half the city’s fire suppression systems. They had contracts on everything from Medtech’s hospital to the small apartments in the projects of East End. In the city, they were a big name. Outside of it? Not so much.
I entered the front door, fully equipped with all of my Crusade gear to leave no doubt about my affiliation. As soon as I entered, I felt eyes crawl across me. I just ignored them and moved toward the front counter of the lobby. I was by myself this time around. CJ was still getting upgraded, and Dev ditched me for Hope.
A woman moved away from her terminal and approached me. She hesitated for the briefest of moments before training kicked back in and she put on a bland smile. “Welcome to Phyxaflame. How may I be of assistance?”
”I need help with an investigation.” I flashed my badge to her and leaned on the counter. “I hope that won’t be an issue?”
She paused a tick and then shook her head. “I’m sorry, it’s corporate policy for a manager to take care of Crusade relations. If you’d please wait, I’ll call one down.”
“Chek.” Fancy talk for its above my pay grade. There was no point in pressuring her so I just nodded and moved off to the side.
While I waited, I continued to dig through the Crusade’s database for arsons relating to Lavender. There were a surprising amount of copycats that were caught. Not to mention quite a few patterns that were highly peculiar. The weirdest pattern was having no pattern. Lavender just hit whatever he felt like—or was paid to. Maybe if this didn’t work out, I could try and approach him as a client?
Thirty minutes later, a rather fit man came down to the lobby. He had on one of those perfectly fitted suits that the rich loved so much. “Ah, a friend from the Crusade. Please, come with me. I’ve prepared a meeting room.”
”You are?” I pushed off the wall and moved over to the man.
”Jerome Palswort. Everyone calls me Jerry, though.” The man smiled like he just told some elaborate joke. The smile cracked when I forgot to laugh.
”Zuku.” I waved a hand. “I’m here for an arson investigation.”
”I’d expect nothing else. Please.” Jerry turned and motioned for me to follow him.
”Are you familiar with Lavender, Jerry?”
”It's Jerome.”
“Why’d you tell me to call you Jerry, then?” I frowned. “And you didn’t answer my question.”
”Um—yes, the arsonist, right? I’ve seen him on the news.” The man opened a door and motioned me in without seeming all that invested in our conversation.
I stepped into the meeting room and watched him. He wasn’t meeting my eyes. Either he was avoiding the question, or he was just focused on getting us in here. Probably the prior. It matched his body language.
I slid into a chair and leaned back. With a flick of my Kinetic ability, I ionized the air around us. It was something I’d been working on, and it had surprising applications outside of just what I thought. Ionizing the air like this introduced artificial tension to the atmosphere, similar to Fear the Reaper without the edge. “What do you know about the fire in the Redhook Logistics Zone.”
He shifted around uncomfortably. ”I’m afraid I can’t speak on the corporation's internal investigations—“
“Look, I like to be amiable. Friendly, even.” I slapped the warrant onto the table. “I’m here to find one guy, but I’m sure I could turn up a hell of a lot worse if I really dug through everything this warrant gives me permission to dig through.”
”This…” Jerry picked up the warrant and read through it.
“I’m in a bit of a rush, you see.” I leaned forward onto the desk and clasped my hands. “You can either help me, or you can get in my way. On one hand, I’ll be out of your hair as soon as I’m done. On the other, I’ll dig around and find every activity the corporation would rather keep a secret. What will it be?”
He dropped the warrant back onto the table and sighed. “What do you want to know?”
Nova. Maybe this wouldn’t be a pain in the ass after all.