Chapter 178
This looks more like a bachelors pad than a prison. Kinsley complained. She lugged a bag of freeze-dried food behind her, readjusting her grip. And seriously? Youre letting him keep his pet?
I took it from her and placed it next to the litter box and a small basket of cat toys, ignoring shiva as she clawed at the bag, then surveyed the room. There were a handful of chairs, along with a console connected to a small wide-screen tv, and a long twin bed in the corner. It plays better this way.
Because he still has something to lose? Sae lugged Cameron in like a sack of vegetables, tossing his unconscious body onto the bed. He was blindfolded, and a pair of noise-cancelling earmuffs blocked out all sound. Unceremoniously, Sae shrugged him off her shoulder.
Not exactly.
Even though she hadnt explicitly stated it, I knew Sae was unhappy with my decision to let Cameron live. I wasnt happy with it either. Sparing him felt like unearned clemency. Still, I was about to enter a Trojan horse scenario where I couldnt trust anyone around me, and Id inevitably run into unknown variables. Having access to someone with intimate knowledge of the organization would be incredibly valuable.
Cameron probably wouldnt cooperate. The beauty of it was, he didnt have to. There was no need to resort to brute torture or intimidation tactics.
I could just ask him questions and let Azure sieve out the answers from the surface of his mind.
Hey. Kinsley backed away in alarm. Hes stirring.
Sure enough, Cameron let out an audible groan. He reached his bandaged hand up towards the blindfold on his eyes, but the morphine won out before he reached it, and his arm dropped.
Sae turned to me, her mouth turned downward. If he wakes up and sees me, solid chance he goes for round two.
Wouldnt want to undo the mercenary healers hard work. I fished the tape recorder out of my inventory, pausing briefly. With all the magic and technomancer stuff going around, Aaron hadnt even bothered to consider the far more grounded possibility Id wear an old school wire. Less wire than lapel mic taped to the collar of my hoodie. Itd taken a half hour to copy the original message to another device and scrub the original of anything I didnt want Cameron to know. The process was old schoolrecording over the parts I needed to abridge with dead-air. While the result wasnt exactly clean, and a mildly attentive listener would realize there were redactions, what I left painted an obvious truth in broad strokes.
That Aaron had sold Cameron down the river without a second thought.
I made sure the tape was rewound and left the device on the table in the center of the room.
/////
Kinsley doored me back to the old safe house. I scrolled past several quest complete notifications and a few messages before finding what I was looking for.
Time Limit: 1:59:21
Location: 3271 Talmont Avenue.
It was a mixed bag. Though I wasnt certain, the continuation of the quest chain likely meant my calling an audible and taking Cameron prisoner hadnt broken the quest chain, or was, at the very least, an acceptable result. The address and the imminent time limit to progress the quest was more difficult to parse in terms of positive and negative.
On one hand, it saved me the inconvenience of tracking Sunny down, or worse, waiting for him to drop in on me. On the other, that the time and place of the meeting was delivered via the quest in a decidedly non-negotiable way was concerning. The source of this content nov(el)bi((n))
Still, I couldnt back out now. I was committed. Now it was a matter of making sure I was fully prepared.
Matt
Level 14 Ordinator
Identity: Myrddin, Level 14 ???
Strength: 6
Toughness: 8
Agility: 20+
Intelligence: 17+
I jumped, turning towards the edge of the bench. A small woman in a robe and hood, her dark hair done up in pigtails, was staring at me. At first I thought she was a child. And I was entirely sure she hadnt been there when I sat down. Im not sure.
You dont know? The girl asked, saying the words slowly.
Im looking for my friend.
Whats his name?
No idea.
You dont know your friends name? She tilted her head, revealing the left side of her face. It was deeply scarred with criss-crossing red marks, and the milky eye was clearly sightless.
I ignored the question, focusing on the woman. He asked me to meet him.
So you know where youre going. The woman concluded with a dreamy smile. Her straightforwardness took me by surprise.
I nodded. Maybe. I just have no idea how to get there.
Curious. You do not look at us as the others look at us." The woman observed, then added. Do you know the words?
No.
Slowly, she reached out and pressed a hand to my chest. The mark is undeniable. Her blessing is upon you.
I bore with it, uncomfortable with the contact. As out-of-it as she appeared, the timing of our meeting was too suspect.
Any chance you can point me in the right direction? I asked.
I will take you to what you truly seek. The woman said. Her sightless eyes glinted in the dark.
I had no idea what the difference was, but didnt see any reason not to play along. That would be ideal. Though Im curious why youre willing to do so.
I sense neither avoidance nor repulse in your gaze. You simply see us as we are. The woman held out a gloved hand. Her palm split as she pressed it toward me, an oval-pupil, cerulean eye blinked twice and when it focused on me, the pupil narrowed.
Grasp the aether. Her hand reached up towards my forehead, taking up my entire view. The cerulean eye darted back and forth, as if it was desperately searching for an escape. Tears leaked from its edges, soaked up by the cloth of the womans gloves.
Wait" Before I could stop her, the woman pressed her palm against my forehead with an audible squelch. I barely had enough time to register that the had voluntarily allowed her hand to pass through before my body twisted and shrunk, my organs pressed together tightly until it was like I could feel them all individually, each about to burst.
My perspective narrowed as my twisted body hurtled through a black space at a speed I couldnt begin to quantify. Every so often, a glint of light would reflect off rounded walls, so darkly red they were almost brown, that led to openings that created what seemed like an infinite number of branching paths and highways.
It looked more organic than constructed, and the way some paths were jagged and never asymmetrical felt reminiscent of a circulatory system on a larger scale.
The darkness gave way to blinding light as I was more sprayed out than shot outI felt parts of myself that had no business being as far away as they were struggle to return to the whole.
When I finally hit solid ground, I swooned on my feet, struggling to stay upright. My limbs and body appeared to be intact.
Now, keep your guard up! A familiar voice called.
Yes, Ceaseless Knight. Someone panted.
Weve been over this, Enid. Drop the title. Its
Nick.
