Chapter 56: Chapter Forty-Nine Oddities in the Suburbs

Kiru walked down the sidewalk. She was following a lead on a courier that had come all the way to the suburbs. She had tagged the courier outside a smaller house with only one occupant, delivering her cut of the items they sold for her, and a bill for her last medical ‘appointment.’ It was a bit more than just that, but Kiru had already heard from Qei that she was going to be visiting the bank. Qei didn’t specify why in her brief text over the comm, but having seen the instructions in those papers Kiru could guess. She likely wanted to observe who another woman would contact.

Kiru decided not to follow herself. Instead, she simply bugged the woman. As it would already take her a while to get back to the main parts of the city. She did have a part-time job to do. Thankfully, it was the evening shift. She planned to get a more important job later, when they knew more. She would have preferred to follow her in person though.

As she turned a corner she spotted a familiar face. It was the Irini girl she had spotted the other day. She was just stepping off a courier truck, a courier was helping her down as if she was a noble or princess from some story getting out of her carriage. Kiru wasn’t cloaked but at the moment they were not looking her way. On impulse she cloaked and it was just in time. The Iniri in question turned her gaze in Kiru’s direction, and looked over the area with that familiar odd expression.

The Iniri girl sighed, and said, “You are kind of shy aren’t you. I’m pretty sure you showing up here just before an inspection is simply a coincidence. Although would it kill you to show your face?”

Kiru said nothing at all in response. She was being baited again and she wasn’t going to fall for it. The Iniri clearly wasn’t surprised as she said, “Ah, figures you stay silent. Feel free to stay around, not like I can stop you. Just stay out of my way.”

It seemed this particular Iniri was feeling more talkative today. Since she was invited to stick around she decided to see what this ‘inspection’ was about. It seemed like something different, since she didn’t normally see an Iniri with a courier. Another thing she didn’t see was doors standing open on the street with someone waiting. That was the typical norm of their observed activities. Often those people were waiting a while before they showed up.

The Iniri girl turned to her courier. “Go knock on the first door.”

The courier girl nodded and headed towards the door of the house nearest the truck. She rapped three times, and then waited. A moment later a young girl in her mid-teens answered the door. The Iniri girl spoke to her, “allow us in. This is an inspection.”

The girl nodded, and opened the door more fully. The courier and the Iniri girl walked in. The young girl was about to close it, but the Iniri said, “Leave it open. It will be more convenient.”

Kiru followed them in. The Iniri sent the girl to fetch her family, and looked around the living room for a moment before turning towards her. “I thought you would follow me in. But you know, if you are going to keep following a girl around, would it kill you to at least talk to me?”

She didn’t answer again. The Iniri may know she was here, but she was the only one at the moment. It seemed the girl was trying a more aggressive baiting than last time. Something she had thought was stupid the previous time. Although it seemed she must have expected that.

“I figured. Well make yourself comfortable. I’ll be here for a while. I have several houses to visit afterall.”

Then the young girl came back with three others. Her mother, her two sisters. The four Neku soon stood in front of the Iniri girl, who ordered them all to strip. As soon as they were naked, she began to physically inspect their bodies.

After a moment she focused on the first girl, and said “Hmm you are suitable. Take her to the truck.” Then she turned to a second girl who seemed to be her younger sister. “You seem to have potential but aren’t quite ready. Go with her.”

The two girls were led out by the courier while the Iniri focused on the third sister. Her tentacle focused on a nasty scar across her belly. “Shame, if it weren’t for this injury you would have been quite suitable. Well at least I got two out of this household.”

The girls stepped back, and then the Iniri girl said, “Alright. I want you two to start packing those two’s things. Split them for sale, for donation, and for storage. I want anything that would remind you two of them, be it a photo, decoration, or school art project packed for storage. Also make sure to pack their bedding in for storage, you won’t be needing it for a while. Pack their clothes in the boxes for sale, or donation. Preferably for sale. Their toys, I want to be packed for donation unless you think they will fetch a good price on the market. Get to it.”

The two Neku nodded, and set to work. By the time the courier came back in without the girls, the two were already packing three large grav boxes as they had been ordered. Just the way May had observed before. Kiru just watched, and silently considered what she was watching. These Iniri seemed to prefer making others do most of their work for them. What was happening here was definitely a reflection of that. This ‘inspection’ also apparently seemed to be another way that they could get their foot in the door of a Neku household.

The Iniri girl made her way to a sofa and sat down to watch them pack. After a moment she looked towards where she was standing and sighed. “You know these inspections can get rather boring. It might be more interesting if you would at least talk to me.”

Kiru could see how this part might be a little boring for the Iniri girl. Especially if she had seen it a few times before. Kiru had been thinking. If this Iniri was feeling talkative it might be worth the risk of talking to her. Yet she didn’t really feel like speaking. So once again she decided not to answer. This didn’t feel controlled enough either. The Iniri sighed and stretched. 

Unlike before she did not say anymore. The Iniri simply relaxed into the sofa and refocused on the two Neku who were working. Not long after, they finished the packing. The two came over to stand before the Iniri, and said, “We are done.”

“Good. Stand by the door.” Then she turned to the waiting courier. “Get those boxes ready for transport, and load them on the truck as well.”

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The courier nodded, and made for the boxes. She started with the storage box, sealing it up, and adding a label to it. Then she activated its anti-gravs, and proceeded to move it out of the house. She was only gone for a couple of moments before she came back and sealed the donation box. She sealed it but didn’t label it. It was taken out in a moment. She was just as quick with the for-sale box. Giving it a cursory examination of its contents before labeling it, and heading outside with it.

When she came back for the last time, she simply took up a position beside the Iniri girl, who was getting out of her chair. Kiru followed, and headed out the door. The Iniri girl stopped outside the door, and spoke to the pair. “Thank you for your cooperation. A courier will be by in a few days with your bill, and storage location. I’ll also have an appointment arranged for both of you. Don’t be late.”

The Neku nodded, and the mother said, “understood.”

“You may go back to your normal lives and forget this encounter, and until we tell you otherwise, you two are not to think about the two I am taking with me.”

They nodded, and headed back in. The courier closed the door behind them. The Iniri stretched. “Well that is one done, go knock on the second door.”

The courier nodded, and headed to the house to the left of the door after leaving. Kiru followed along. She had already seen one, but she didn’t quite feel like leaving yet.

Not long after the courier knocked on the next door. A woman answered the door. She peeked out the door, asking if she could help. The Iniri spoked, “Allow us in, and leave the door open. This is an inspection.”

The woman nodded. Opening the door wide. The courier, and the Iniri girl headed inside. Kiru followed them in again, but only to see how things would go. Again the woman was asked to gather her family. She only had two daughters. 

As soon as all three were standing before the Iniri, she had them strip before physically inspecting their bodies. After a couple of minutes she stepped back, and smiled, “Oh lucky, everyone is suitable here. Well, except for the mother, she is too old. Take these two to the truck and put them with the other two.”

Then she turned towards the woman, and instructed her to start packing up her daughter’s stuff, and things that would remind her of them. She nodded, and got to work. After that, things went similar to the last place, and before too long they were out the door.

The Iniri seemed happy, and had her courier knock on a third door moving in the same direction as last time. This went much the same as the last one with her again taking the daughters and leaving the mother behind alone. At the fourth house, however, something different happened.

The fourth house was just a younger mother and her twin daughters. After inspecting all three of them she seemed very happy, and took both daughters. Ordered mommy to pack, but unlike at the last few houses she wasn’t ordered to pack just her daughter's stuff but most of her own. She was to leave only a few outfits to last her a few days and the essentials. 

As she went about that the Iniri girl said, “It’s not often that everyone in a household has this much potential. Unfortunately, we have to leave at least one behind to tie up some loose ends before we can take them in. I’ll send someone for her later.”

Kiru blinked. She was a bit surprised to hear that. The Iniri girl hadn’t said a word to her in a while, but that sounded important. It left her wondering why she shared that. Then the Iniri turned to the courier. “Go fetch my mobile terminal. I have something I need to do.”

She nodded and headed off. The courier came back with a mobile terminal, which was a portable tablet with a comm node. It was basically a highly portable computer and could be used for all the same functions while also having a call function. The Iniri girl set the terminal on a table, and activated it. She soon went to work. Kiru moved over her shoulder and watched. It didn’t take a genius to see that she was setting up a bank account.

The Iniri girl said, “Watching me work? Just setting up the standard account for her early. So we can get her out of here for an extended session with us. I’d like her to consolidate her accounts and start getting things paid and squared by the end of the week. Especially since we will be bringing the family back here when they are ready. It would be best if they still had the house to return to.”

Kiru took that in. She was beginning to get an idea of what the Iniri girl thought about her shadow. Well, there was no point in breaking that illusion, it seemed to be working in her favor. She had just learned something interesting. More clues, so sticking around had worked in her favor. 

The Iniri girl spent the entire time setting things up on the terminal. Including making a couple of calls to get it running. She finished setting the account up, just as the courier was finished loading the woman’s packed stuff into the truck. She sighed, “Alright that’s that,” as she stood up.

She had the courier write some stuff down, and then deactivated the terminal. The paper with the writing on it was given to the mother. “I have set up a new account for you. Close all your current accounts and transfer the money into that account. When you are done I want you to contact us for further instruction.”

The woman nodded. The Iniri gave the terminal to the courier, and they left. The courier girl headed to put the terminal back in the truck on the Iniri girl’s orders. Kiru stretched and checked the time. She still had some time before she had to leave in order to make it on time to her evening shift. If she wanted to run, she could wait even longer. She decided to stick around a bit longer. To see if the Iniri girl would let slip anything else interesting.

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