I went to the local library for a change of scenery.
As it turned out, Buzzcut was a little of column A, little of column B. The dossier covered his career extensivelyHe was hired by the Austin City Police Departnt right out of college. Climbed through the ranks with many accolades and no black marks except a few excessive force complaints that went nowhere. Eventually, he hit lieutenant, at which point he submitted an application to the FBI. The interview went well. All signs pointed to him getting in.
Then, out of nowhere, he was slapped with an Internal Affairs investigation for murder-racketeering, and fled to Morocco before he could be brought up on charges.
It was easy enough to read between the lines.
Say whatever you want about the FBI, background vetting is one area where they do not fuck around. They will comb through social dia accounts, they will knock on doors and talk to that one friend who passed you a joint freshman year. If you, anonymously, put an edgy manifesto on the internet in middle-school, theyll track it and connect it to you. And if you happen to be a corrupt local asshole whos grown complacent, operating with minimal oversight while playing god, or taking kickbacks, or fist-fucking the civil forfeiture cookie jar, they wont just tell you to jog on.
Theyll happily kick everything they uncover to soone who wont hesitate to act on it.
I was guessing, but it was a solid leap. Caron was dirty as hell, the FBI uncovered the skeletons in his closet, and passed the smoking gun to Internal Affairs.
The question was, what was he doing back here when the do ca down?
There was nothing in the dossier to explain the sudden reappearance stateside. Maybe he ran out of money, but I doubted it. Guys like Caron always find ways to line their pockets, with or without a badge.
Even the concept of a direct confrontation already seed like a bad idea before I got to the class information. Then it went from bad to suicidal.
Because Caron wasnt a recon specialist, as my encounters in the alley and coffee place had led to believe. He was a Level 19 with all the capabilities that implied and more. Health regeneration, armored skin, increased damage as the fight went on. From the stats, he could easily out damage to begin with, and the longer a fight went on, the more dangerous he grew. He had a few odd feat choices geared toward reconnaissancethat would help if it ca down to a fight, making the biggest gulf between us a question of stats, but it also ant if I ended up having to retreat, he had a decent chance of tracking down.
I dropped the docunts in disgust, rubbing my eyes. No matter how I decided to go about it, this wasnt going to be easy.
Out of the corner of my eye, I clocked two people approaching .
No, two people and a child. I flipped one of the pages I was taking notes on and waited. The woman cleared her throat.
I glanced up, as if Id just noticed them.
Are you Matt? She asked, smiling a little too wide.
Thats . I leaned back and stretched, keeping my body-language open and unguarded.
They introduced themselves as residents of region 14, and thanked for my intervention. I gave them the humble variation of the aw-shucks-dont-worry-Im-not-a-tyrant response Id thoroughly mastered after the first ten tis Id had this conversation. Subtly alluded to the fact that I was just in the right place at the right ti, and that there was a group of people who lived in the region helping with the decision-making.
I was getting better at it. Id expected the regional populace to resent as a carpet bagger. That might still happen once the warm fuzzies faded, but for now, they seed to consider as more of a novelty than anything else.
They chattered on about their previous white-collar jobs for a while. The wife was in talent-acquisition, the husband was in real-estate. I pretended to listen. In truth, the parents were forgettable.
Their kid, on the other hand, was interesting. At first, I thought he was hiding behind his mother. Typical kid-stuff. But while he was holding her hand, his body was turned away from her, and his head panned from the northeast to the northwest sides of the library.
The sa reason I sat here. Hes watching the exits.
Whos this? I asked.
Oh! The mother said, as if shed forgotten he was there at all. This is our little warlock, Parker.
Mom. Parker said. He didnt draw it out, just stated it flatly. Then he looked at . Hey.
Hows it going? I asked him.
Fine. Parker said. He wasnt being rude, just low energy.
I pried gently into the familys circumstances. It was more or less what Id guessed. The parents had been trapped inside the region, while Parker was stuck outside. The fact that hed survived the transposition alone implied that hed seen so shit, even if he hadnt strayed far. It was a hard situation, and I had to imagine that the power dynamic in the family had turned upside-down overnight.
Still, they hadnt forced him to introduce himself, or corrected him for being short. They didnt seem afraid of him, either. All good signs.
In a sowhat awkward transition, I steered the parents towards the topic of vocations, leaving myself an opening to introduce mine. When I offered to give their son a reading, they gladly accepted.
I shot Parker a direct ssage:
The kids eyes widened.
The kid bit his lip.
I did Parkers reading as his parents stood by. Now that Id managed it several tis, I could keep a straight face even as my equilibrium did backflips.
So, at level five, youre going to get access to a feat called Flauros Resonance. Dungeon, Trials, anything that lets us slip over to the other side is considered a Realm of Flauros. I made air quotes. Flauros Resonance will highlight those realms within fifty yards. Obviously, you dont want to go in solo. Or at all. Theyre extrely dangerous. But if youre part of a guild
Were not, the mother said quickly.
I continued on, pretending not to notice the social blunder, its the sort of information Users would compensate you well for. And theyd help with the scouting process, so youd be safe in the anti.
Do you know any Guilds that would be interested? The father asked.
Mind giving a minute to check? I asked. The family nodded and stepped a polite distance away.
I deleted the ssage and rephrased.
I motioned for the woman, struggling to rember her na. Um, Siobhan?
She left her husband and son behind and leaned over the cubicle. Yes?
When you said talent acquisition, my mind automatically went to HR.
Siobhan smiled. There was sothing in the expression that was slightly predatory. Oh no. My job was a bit more aggressive than that.
Aggressive how?
Siobhan looked up at the ceiling, innocently. So might call it poaching.
Okay, thanks.
As Siobhan walked away, I replayed the entire encounter in my mind. Shed been exceedingly polite. Almost milquetoast, to the point I hadnt bothered learning her na. The kid seed to be putting up with holding his mothers hand, rather than initiating it. Shed been clever to not hold him in front of her. And while Id found sothing of value from the reading, there were plenty of other useful feats he had visibility on that mom probably would have na-dropped if I hadnt taken an interest in the kid.
Jesus, I had to pay more attention. These people were sharks.
Kinsley was taking the age-old approach of expanding while the iron was hot, and figuring out the logistics later. The rchants guild still didnt have a building.
I waved the family over and gave them instructions to contact Kinsley, then sent them to the hotel lobby. Dad got foggy eyed. Mom was appreciative, but I could tell she was gloating.
Finally. I reached down towards the upside-down note sheet covering the dossier.
Why are you looking up non-extradition countries? Miles asked, leaning over the other side of my cubicle and staring at one of the open books with a quizzical look on his face. Its not like we can leave.
I jumped. Then gave him a death glare. Research.
On?
I rolled my eyes, keeping my lie as close to the truth as possible. Background on a new hire for Kinsley. Guy claid to have spent a few years abroad in Morocco. He was evasive about why hed left in the first place. Seed shady.
Well. Miles popped a mint into his mouth. Morocco is non-extradition. But it also happens to be a favorite for undercovers who need to establish an overseas history on the fly. Sothing to do with the double-benefit of their docunts being relatively easy to doctor, and their governnt being notoriously difficult when it cos to information inquests. Miles shrugged. Guys probably shady regardless. Better to steer clear.
I grimaced, as Miles once again unknowingly pulled the rug out from under . Thanks for the tip. Did you want sothing?
Yeah. Got the band together. He stuck his hands in his pockets and grinned. Figured youd want to et them.
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