I pulled at my Blue Crusade plate carrier uncomfortably. The silver sheen of the thing’s ballistic weave was hidden under my poncho, though that hardly mattered since my poncho was set to its BC pattern. I was about as conspicuous as could be. I shifted on the seat of my bike once more, mind lost in thought.
Red veil… I didn’t even know where to begin with this one. They weren’t the small-ti gangs that I’d been running into of late. They were coordinated, and all docunts pointed to them being a well equipped outfit. Finding them shouldn’t be too hard, but after that? I wasn’t so sure.
Why was a group that could’ve easily been PMCs instead in the human trafficking business, anyway? Cowards? Rayn? I wasn’t a hundred percent sure. I was sure about sothing though. They might have a hint about the Yellow Inc Savants. As things stood, they were my best hope for finding Mira.
If they didn’t have anything… Well, I’d have to hope that Saint pulled through. Other than that, it’d be basent and cavern searches one by one across the whole city, which would take ages.
I took a deep breath and settled back on my hover bike. After a few seconds, my leg started bouncing erraticly. All that caffeine was starting to get to , whether I wanted it to or not… so much for growing anymore. I was definitely stunted after all of this.
“You good?” A warm voice asked .
I shifted in my seat and glanced at an unmarked car parked in the space to my side. “Chek. Just- just nervous they won’t have what I need.”
“Then I’ll ask around and see if we have any other snitches.” The person speaking had his legs kicked out the window, dangling freely. The silver sheen of Crusader armor clung to him leaving no illusions about what organization he belonged to.
Inquisitor Shilling. Never t him before this, but he answered my call when I went to the Downtown HQ and asked around for info. We t by complete coincidence. Literally ran into each other. How lucky was that? He likewise had a vested interest in finding Red Veil.
Apparently, Inquisitor Shilling owed Hope his life, so he was all too happy to assist one of her Squires. A bit of repaying debts or sothing like that. I wasn’t one to complain. I needed all the help I could get, and he happened to know a guy who knew a guy.
My leg started bouncing again, generating electrical charge. I discreetly drained it into the internal batteries hidden in my Neural Link. I wouldn't want to discharge it now and let the Inquisitor know I had more going on than first appeared.
“Nice bike you got there.” Inquisitor Shilling kicked open the door to his beat up vehicle and and leaned out toward . His silver mask perfectly caught the light. “The north HQ pay better?”
“Probably not? This was a custom job.” I patted my bike lightly. Just needed to give it a paint job, finish filling in the plating, and it’d be ready to go.
Inquisitor Shilling scratched at his hair. “It doesn’t look quite finished. A prototype? Don’t think I’ve seen anything like that.”
I scratched at so rust that was starting to form on the sides of the bike. I’d definitely need to grind it once I was ready to finish the hover bike. ”Chek. Just got out of the workshop a couple days ago.”
“Are they making more? One of the Knights I know loves bikes.” Inquisitor Shilling stepped out of his car and took a seat on the hood.
Did I want to make more of these? I took a few breaths and tried to calm down enough to think it through. Might be a good source of funds? “I could ask. They’re expensive though. I got mine through a friend, but normally it’d be at least half a million.”
If I really wanted to go into the details, maybe a bit more. Gravitic itself was costly, so that weighed in heavily. Half a million wasn’t a bad price though. Traditional flyers would cost way more.
“All custom built, I assu?”
“Chek.”
”Here.” Inquisitor Shilling offered his phone to . It had contact information for Knight Winslow. “Have your friend ssage her directly. I’ll tell her about it when we’re done here.”
”Will she be able to afford it?” I saved the contact to my Crusade phone. Knights and Inquisitors were paid extrely well, but half a million was quite the sum of money.
“Probably. She’s a trust fund baby.” Inquisitor Shilling chuckled and took his phone back. “Ah- the snitch’s here.”
A rickety old hunk of a vehicle pulled up the slope of the parking garage. Its windows were deeply tinted, enough so that I couldn’t make out the driver through the darkness. It drove around the area a couple tis before pulling in on the other side of . The car abruptly shut off.
The window rolled down, revealing a young woman. Her hair flashed with vibrant colors of pinks and purples. Light Tattoos across her skin danced and twirled in what I imagine was supposed to be erotic patterns. Her clothes were quite revealing, and her sh shirt was cut low enough to show off her cleavage.
She leaned out of the vehicle, sh crop top pulling tight against her skin. She smacked heavily on a piece of gum. “Shilling? Who’s the chick?”
“A Squire.” Inquisitor Shilling hopped off his hood and moved between us.
I flashed an honest smile at her and put on an innocent expression. It'd been a while since I last used had to do sothing like this. “Completely trustworthy. I promise.”
“Hmm…” Her expression pulled into a sultry pout. “If ya’ promise. So? How much ya’ payin’ this ti?”
”Depends. Got anything for ?” Shilling casually leaned against the informant's beat up car.
“Maybe… maybe not. What do ya’ want to know?” She confidently glanced between and the Inquisitor.
“Red Veil-“
The informant imdiately started up her car and moved to roll up her windows. I flicked on Fear the Reaper, targeting her specifically. She went stock still, staring at with wide eyed terror. I think the term was ‘like a deer in headlights’? Never seen a deer myself, but it probably fit.
Inquisitor Shilling casually put a silver gauntleted hand into her window, preventing her from rolling it up. ”C’mon, Darla, are they really that bad?”
I dropped Fear the Reaper and flashed an honest smile once more. Or, at least, tried to. I definitely ended up baring my teeth just a bit too much. “The Inquisitor asked you a question. You wouldn’t want to disappoint us… right? After we ca so far to see you, too?”
Darla flinched and shakily shut off the car. “Ugh- s-sorry, what?”
Inquisitor Shilling tilted his silver mask toward for a lingering mont. “I asked about Red Veil. Are they really that bad?”
“Y-yeah… bad news. I- k-keep my na o-outta this, alright?” Darla trembled fiercely under my gaze like a soaked puppy bargaining for just a bit more food.
“Of course. I won’t even ntion an informant in the report.” The Inquisitor chuckled cheerfully. Classic Crusade rule bending. I doubted if he’d even bother to write a report in the first place. “So?”
Darla eyed for a mont longer, only proceeding once I nodded encouragingly. “I- I had a client a couple nights back. O-one of their runners, I think.”
”Go on.”
“He was super frail and nerdy. Barely managed to get a gal even after payin’ a bunch. Must’ve been the lonely sort. He talked almost all night long. About the only thing he did…” She mumbled that last bit in distaste.
They were bigger than I thought they were if they had their own runner. Might be a bit more dangerous than I expected. If I could just isolate the boss of the group though… no, I should take care of the runners first. Then maybe go see the boss? Or- hmm… I didn’t have enough info yet.
”Th-they have a bar. One on the Outskirts. Bunch of them et up there for drinks after their ‘missions’.” Darla glanced toward the ignition of her vehicle as if she were having second thoughts.
I casually leaned forward, tapping slightly on the body of my bike to get her attention. “What’s it called?”
“Red sothin’. Truck, maybe? I dunno. It was a while ago and I didn’t exactly stick around once I realized who he was with.” She shuddered in her seat, rubbing at her arms. “Ya’ better pay well for this one. My sister’s been sick all week.”
“Of course, of course…” Inquisitor Shilling motioned to . “Was that all you needed, Squire?”
”For now.” I eyed the young woman for a few monts longer. She cowered underneath my gaze like she’d fall apart at any mont. “I’ll go check them out.”
”Want backup?” Inquisitor Shilling patted a revolver strapped to his waist. “I ain’t much of a shot these days, but I’ll be able to hold my own.”
“It’ll be easier to sneak in by myself.” Inquisitors weren’t exactly inconspicuous. They’d probably sniff him out from blocks away.
Shilling waved a hand to Darla. “I’ll send your pay the usual way.”
Darla didn’t wait a second before rolling up her window and peeling out of the parking spot. Maybe I scared her too much? It’d probably be fine… hopefully. Maybe I should pay her a bit more to make up for it. At least to help out with her sick sister. “Sh-should I pitch in?”
”For what- oh, was it that sister comnt?” Shilling chuckled lightly and turned back to . ”Darla’s a street rat. She doesn’t have any family.”
“Oh.” Ugh- I fell for the oldest trick in the book. So stupid… I thought I’d learn by now not to get tricked by stuff like that.
The Inquisitor’s mirth died down. ”You should get soone to watch your six. Just in case.”
“I’ll call soone in.” I didn’t really want to involve the Crusade more than I already had, though. Maybe Saint would make a good lookout? That wasn’t a bad idea.
”Keep up to date? On Red Veil, that is. They’re making a na for themselves.” Inquisitor Shilling shifted around my bike back to his unmarked car. “Quite a few Knights back at the precinct would be all too happy to cave in their skulls.”
“After I find what I’m looking for.” It was the least I could do for all the help. I actually had a direction now. And a strong one at that. “Um- we’ll see what I find while I’m there?”
He slipped back into his seat and started the engine up. ”Then I’ll see you around, Squire. Oh! And give Inquisitor Hope my regards.”
“I will. Thanks for the help.”
“Don’t ntion it.” He tipped his head to . Then he pulled out of the parking space and left the garage.
I watched him go. Doubt I’d ever see him again, but who knew? This world was strangely small. I shook my head and pulled out the Mapp. What did she say it was called again?
Red Truck had a few hits, but there weren’t any that were a bar. I looked around a bit more, trying all sorts of combinations. Eventually, I found it. There was a little joint on the Outskirts called the Red Rocker. I flicked my bike on-
Hmm… maybe I should listen to the Inquisitor. He might’ve had a point. I hesitated for a mont before calling Saint just in case.
— — —
The Red Rocker… I stood on a building quite a bit away from the bar and looked at it through a pair of binocs. It wasn’t anything fancy, but definitely had a large group that frequented the place. The parking lot was full of cars. That’s right. Parking lot. It was so weird seeing one of those. The fringes of the city really were just built different.
Boots crunched softly behind . I reacted instinctively, pulling my coil-pistol. Ti slowed, letting flick back-
“Just !” Saint imdiately threw his hands up in surrender.
“Sorry.” I slid the pistol back into its holster. “You just surprised .”
The handso reporter dropped his arms and moved up next to . He pointed towards the place. “Is that it over there?”
I picked up my dropped binocs. ”You can see it from here?”
“Course!” He tapped at his chro eyes. “These things didn’t co cheap.”
No kidding. Hmm… looking at his eyes made want so of my own. It was about ti I got rid of the clone-flesh for sothing a bit more useful. Sides, the cloned one had been starting to ache recently. After this was all over, I could look at making a new one.
“So?” The reporter motioned out toward the bar. ”What’s the plan? Go in and ask a few questions?”
I side eyed the reporter. “Do you want to get shot?”
“No? Trust , it always works.” A bright smile lit up his handso face. He shifted slightly, causing his hair to perfectly cover one eye. Chek, definitely a dia star. The guy practically radiated charm and swagger.
I was planning on going in… but if he was volunteering to go get the information I needed just like that, then why not? I didn't have much of a plan anyway. Not like I could just sneak in and find a ledger with all of their cris on it… or I might, actually. Criminals kept better tracks of their deals then politicians did.
“Know what? Sure. You can go in and ask questions.”
I shifted to the side slightly. Hidden Hands and Illusive covered my hands, hopefully obscuring them even further as I summoned Crow’s Celestial Compass. I pulled a dinsionally dissonant dart from the compass and casually slipped it into Siant’s pocket. Just in case.
“Really?” The cheerful reporter wiped at his forehead in mock relief. “Thought for sure that you’d shoot down.”
I banished the compass with one hand and patted his shoulder with my other. ”I trust you. Just stay in contact the whole ti, chek?”
“Course! I bet I get to see the boss within five minutes of walking in.” Saint smirked at . Confidence leaked from his entire body.
I doubted it’d be that simple. I’d be impressed if he wasn’t stolen away as soon as he entered the premises. He was the perfect bait for a human trafficker. Not every day that a man as handso as him walked into the place. ”You’re on. Loser buys dinner.”
“Nova.” He nodded toward my hover bike and pulled lightly at his jacket. “Can you give a ride down, though? The elevator was out of order, and I’d rather not take the stairs again.”
”Chek.” Glad to see it wasn’t just that had this horrible curse… unless- did I infect him? No- that was impossible. Who ever heard of an infectious curse?
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