Chapter 18: Chapter 18

“Absolutely unbelievable,” Pandora said. Hitori just finished explaining what happened last night with the Ex Stone to their liaison from the White Temple. Pandora had met them at their suite at Amun’s Rest inn. “How could you let that woman get away like that!”

“The team and I were in no position to chase phantoms in the dead of night,” Hitori said. “Especially not when we needed to clear the area before the City Watch or the Medjai arrived and started looking for answers, because, as I’m sure you remember, Kalindi, this mission is supposed to be a secret.”

“Pandora, and yes, you’ve done the sun’s work on that so far, I’m sure no one will notice the crater.” She rolled her eyes. “Did you at least see where she went, or get some clue who she worked for.”

“She headed west when she ran away, but I doubt that means anything. As for who she worked for… at first I thought she was a Paladin.”

“You think we stole the stone from ourselves?” Pandora snapped.

I wouldn’t put it past this bitch.

“No, obviously not, but she looked like one.”

“So, a mysterious Paladin wannabe swooped in at the last minute and swiped the stone from right in front of you?” Pandora said. “That’s even more ridiculous. If you fucked up and destroyed it you might as well own up now rather than make outlandish excuses.”

“If you don’t like our report,” Hitori said. “You’re welcome to head up north and check for yourself.”

Pandora sighed. “Fine, whatever. You say the Ex Stone is still around, then you are more than welcome to finish your job already. I won’t tell the Temple to expect much.”

“Whatever you report is your business. Now, if you mind, we have work to do.”

Kalindi huffed indignantly and scanned the room. When she reached the end, her eyes darted back to the start, like she was expecting to find someone. Hitori assumed she was hoping to take another verbal swipe at Chandra. When it was clear the Paladin was nowhere to be found, Kalindi gave a quick pout that almost seemed genuine, then settled her gaze on Elvira. The Duroterran woman was glaring back with murderous intensity.

You think if you startled Elvira she might punch Kalindi through a wall?

Pandora studied his teammate for a few seconds, her eyes full of haughty indifference with a dash of pity as they passed over her hair. She smirked and said, ”Oh, she’s all yours, you don’t need my permission.”

Elvira started and looked away, stifling a blush with little success. Kalindi laughed and turned towards the exit.

 

---

 

Elvira stared at the ground, trying to avoid grinding her teeth while at the same time fighting the blush on her cheek. Also, no small part of her wanted to leap across the room and punch Pandora’s smug face clean through the opposite wall. Thankfully, for her career at least, she resisted the impulse.

Her team captain escorted the offensive Paladin to the door and ushered her into the hallway. “Goodbye, Kalindi,” he said.

“Pandora,” she replied flatly.

Hitori shut the door without comment. He waited a few seconds, as though to ensure she hadn’t decided to loiter, then returned to the center of the room. He sat in front of the team on a small stool askew from the knee-high table.

“What a bother,” Gordon said with a chuckle. “She really need to tell us to do our job again?”

“I guess everyone’s got their own problems.” Hitori shrugged. “For now we’ve got to decide our next move.”

“I thought we were searching for the Ex Stone,” Chandra said. She walked back into the room shortly after Pandora left.

“Yes, but I meant specifically. We don’t have much to work with. Did any of you happen to see that woman last night?” He looked to each of them, then specifically at Protius.

“Sorry man,” Protius shrugged. “I passed out after you jumped in.”

“Think the rest of us were keeping our distance,” Gordon said. Everyone nodded with him.

“It’s alright, I got a good look at her myself. But it was so surreal another set of eyes would be reassuring,” Hitori said.

“Can you tell us what she looked like,” Chandra asked. “You said she might have been a Paladin?”

“Well, she was a Bachijan woman with white hair and pale skin.”

“That does sound like one. Perhaps she was a renegade?”

“Could be.” Hitori gave Chandra a long look. “Sit tight. I want to check something.”

Hitori walked to the front door and turned off the lights, then threw a thick cover over the window. He had Protius hold it up, then returned to the center of the room. Elvira heard him stand in front of Chandra. A dim light came on between them from his WebComm. Hitori spent a few seconds studying her face, adjusting the angle several times, before returning to the entry way and flipping the room lamps back on.

“What the heck was that about?” Elvira asked.

“The woman last night had silver eyes, and I thought it could have been a product of the environment.”

“What does that have to do with Chandra?”

Hitori laughed. “She’s the closest Paladin,” he said. “I suppose I should check you too.”

“Huh?” Elvira found Hitori leaning into her space, peering intently at her face. She blushed, but held his gaze. He wasn’t so much looking into her eyes as at them, but seemed satisfied after a moment and backed off.

“Not any silver at all,” Hitori said. “Not yet at least.”

Elvira looked about in confusion, settling on Chandra who seemed amused.

“People with sufficient Vital Net densities have a slight metallic sheen to their eyes,” Chandra said.

“You can barely make it out in normal light,” Hitori said, “but I thought it might be more apparent in the right conditions. That doesn’t seem to be the case though.”

“So, what, she was some kind of super Paladin?” Elvira said.

Hitori hummed. “I hadn’t considered that. I was leaning towards a Berserker.”

“All the way out here?” Protius said.

“What’s a Berserker?” Chandra asked

“Oh, wait,” Elvira jumped in before Protius could answer. “I’ve heard of them. They’re a mercenary company from back h— I mean, from Duroterra, right?”

“Basically,” Hitori said. “They’re known for having absurdly high VN densities.”

“Do you think Reaper could be one of them?”

“Who?” Everyone replied in unison.

“Oh, right,” Elvira answered with an awkward smile. “I haven’t told you yet. Dr. Menna mentioned him during my, um, ambush. I guess he thought I might have been him?”

“That’s a good lead,” Hitori said.

“It is?”

“Yes. Reaper will have a file in the Database if they’ve ever done work through the Guild, or even if they’ve run in to someone who has.”

“Ah, I see,” Elvira said.

Hitori smiled. “So that’s Elvira and I.”

Chandra cut in before Hitori could continue. “The city is looking for Paladins to help with survivors from last night. I was thinking I could join them.”

“I like it,” Hitori said. “Keep an ear out for rumors and hearsay while you’re working. There could be some clues in chatter from the White Temple.” Chandra nodded. “Also, Protius, you should go with. There might be some people still trapped in the rubble, and you can help with that.”

“O-okay!” Protius said. He looked a mixture of pleased and concerned, though Elvira wasn’t sure what he had to be nervous about.

Hitori turned to Gordon, who was already frowning. Hitori laughed, then said, “Come on, don’t be like that, it won’t be so bad.”

“Track record isn’t great,” Gordon said.

“You get to go shopping. Protius and Elvira need serious work on their armor, and I want to gather some supplies for an expedition into the desert. We’ll likely have to visit a few villages, especially if we don’t find anything at the Guild.”

“Should I look into a truck?”

Hitori glanced at Elvira, then said, “Probably best for now. Even a basic Longstrider takes weeks to get right.”

“Sorry,” Elvira mumbled.

“Bah,” Gordon said with a dismissive gesture. “Like driving anyway.”

“Alright, that’s good for now,” Hitori said. “Keep an eye on your WebComms and don’t hesitate to message if you need me.”

Everyone stirred to action, and after a few minutes coordinating things with the other members, Hitori joined Elvira outside the room. He was wearing his full kit, sans the helmet as usual. She wondered why Nova even bothered issuing the things, given no one wore them.

She felt profoundly underdressed by comparison. She brought a cute knee length skirt and matching blouse, but hadn’t expected to wear either while on duty. The floral blue pattern did not mesh at all with the heavy duty black belt for her scabbard. Problems for later, she supposed, for now she had work to do.

“So, we’ll be heading to this Guild thing then,” Elvira said, then grinned. “I guess that means I can finally figure out what it is.”

Hitori laughed. “Yes, but before that we can do something about your hair.”

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“I know I’m a bit raggedy, but is that really important?”

“At this exact moment, not really, but in general yes,” Hitori said. When Elvira continued to look at him incredulously he added, “It’s bad for Nova’s branding if you look like a bandit hobo.”

“Oh, right, that ‘luxury mercenary bodyguard’ thing,” Elvira said with a grin. Hitori smiled back. “Then I guess we’ll do that first.”

 

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Elvira walked out the salon after an hour. Her new style was very short, although Hitori was hardly surprised. There were still a few places where her hair was notably dented.

“I had to settle for a pixie with an undercut,” Elvira said, still fidgeting with her hair. “Thankfully I didn’t loose as much on top.” She added with a forced laugh, ”Otherwise I’d have an even shorter style than you do.”

Not that I care, but she’d probably appreciate a compliment.

“It looks good,” Hitori said. Elvira smiled back. “Very practical, like Ms. Athens.”

Smooth…

Elvira laughed and rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes, speaking of, I suppose we should get going?” She followed as Hitori led the way. “You do bring up an interesting point though.”

“I do?” Hitori said.

“Well, I’ve noticed most of our uh, classmates, have rather long hair. Is that more of that ‘Nova Branding’ stuff?”

“Probably, although I think you shouldn’t underestimate the power of a good braid, nor how dedicated some people can be to a style.”

“Hm, yeah, I guess that explains Bridget,” Elvira said. “She does seem, well, a little bit extra about everything.”

Hitori laughed. “Yes, that, and also everyone’s way too scared to yank on her hair during a fight.” Hitori slowed to a stop. “We’re here, by the way.”

“Already? Where?” Elvira looked around.

Hitori motioned to a squat, somewhat shabby building tucked beside the busy market. Above the door was a colorful marking, a gold circle surrounded by silver and green rings, with a splash of red cut halfway through from the top. Hitori pointed at the emblem and said, “That’s the symbol for the Mercenary Guild, if you ever need help they’re a reliable place to go, especially since they operate the old radio network. With an office in almost every city and village on Esper they can pass a message anywhere you need. There’s even one in the Academy.”

“That’s pretty handy,” Elvira said. “But isn’t this rather plain? I was expecting something a bit more, uh, glamorous, given how much Nova values its image.”

“Oh, the Guild isn’t a part of Nova,” Hitori said. “It’s rather the other way around, so Nova is technically subordinate to the Guild.”

“Technically?”

Hitori laughed. “Well, there are few bigger, and none richer, so we have a lot of sway.”

“I guess there’s politics for mercenaries too.” Elvira had a somewhat wistful look.

“Yes, unfortunately. Thankfully the headmaster deals with most of it. Anyway”—Hitori opened the door and ushered her inside.

The interior of the guild office was more refined than its exterior. The furnishings were plain but immaculate, and the cool light and subdued colors exuded a relaxing atmosphere. A few people milled about, chatting about missions in small groups or sitting at narrow desks working over electronic terminals. On a nearby wall was a larger and more complex version of the symbol over the door.

After looking about for a minute, Elvira leaned close to Hitori and said in a hushed voice, “Why don’t some of them have markings? Are they, like, students or something?”

“Everyone here is likely to have a Mercenary Emblem somewhere,” Hitori replied. “And if you look again you’ll see if they don’t have one on their skin, they’ll have a badge attached to their armor somewhere.”

“Oh, is that an option? Could I get that instead of a tattoo?”

“Well… not for Nova. Smaller companies can get by with a Guild Token, but more established firms are required to use an emblem.”

Elvira looked thoughtful for a moment, then asked, “Why?”

“Accountability,” Hitori said. “It’s important to know what company someone is with if there’s been an infraction.”

“But what if someone covers it up with a mask or something?”

“That won’t work. A Guild Emblem isn’t made with ink, but rather a kind of arte.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, though you’re also required to have a visible marking, for people without a tool to detect the signal.”

“Wait, what signal?” Elvira said. “Are you saying we’ll be tracked all the time or something?”

“No, the Emblem connects to your Vital Net, so you can turn it off if you want, though it will turn back on if you start fighting.”

“I see…” Elvira stood in silence for a moment.

Hitori smiled at her. “Yet more questions?”

She laughed. “I feel like it would take days to answer them all.”

“Probably years,” Hitori grinned. “Anyway, for now, we’re here visiting Bachija before we’re officially inducted into Nova and get an Emblem of our own, and we’ve decided to visit the Guild Office to research some local history.”

Elvira looked bewildered a moment before comprehension dawned on her. “Right, yes, of course.” She smiled. “We’re going to be very busy next year, after all. Gotta make good use of our free time.”

“Exactly.” Hitori led her to the front desk, and after some conversation with the young Bachijan receptionist he secured them a pair of adjacent terminals. Elvira spent a few minutes playing with the controls under Hitori’s supervision.

She pointed to a symbol on the screen and said, “So this must be the database thing you mentioned?”

“Yeah, maintaining records is one of the Guild’s most valuable services.”

“Do you think they have a file on me?” Elvira said with a playful grin.

Hitori chucked. “Probably not. The companies submit information on their members, and Nova does that after you’re inducted.”

“Let’s find out.” Elvira typed ‘Elvira Valentine Peri’ into the search field and pressed enter. No result came back in the main query, but in the next section, ‘Records Containing’, a file appeared with the title ‘Aurelius Chromatius Marcus’ and a picture of a middle aged Duroterran man in a fine suit. Elvira quickly closed the list. “Nope, I guess there was nothing.” She laughed.

“To be expected.” Hitori nodded. “After all, you aren’t famous yet.” He sat down at his own desk. “Anyway, for now let’s dig in and see what we find.”

Hitori started with the obvious queries, though his search was hampered by a metafauna called a Reaper. Quite a few records came back about mercenaries with one listed as the cause of death. He tried a few more angles, then typed the word ‘ghost’ into the search on a whim.

There were a few mercenaries and soldiers who used it as a call sign, and a decent number of mission reports where some apparently supernatural phenomenon turned out perfectly mundane. He couldn’t find anything similar to what had happened with Dr. Penthu.

He tried ‘malhahonic projection’ next, but all he could find were records about the Projection Arte, a civilian tool for projecting an image onto a flat surface. Not without its uses, of course, but nothing like what Hitori was looking for. But then, what was he looking for?

Some record of the Ex Stone, he supposed.

Not sure why. It hardly matters, as long as we get it back.

Hitori sagged against his desk, resting on his arms. First the strange tag from Wickham, and now the Ex Stone. He found himself again wondering about some kind of arte based mind control. The thought seemed ridiculous—absolutely—but he couldn’t explain why he hadn’t told his team about the doctor.

It was strange, certainly, but was most likely an adaptation of the Shifting Arte, hardly impossible. Yeah, but why bother? He supposed it wasn’t pertinent to their mission, so it’s not like he needed to tell them. He sighed. Maybe he felt bad about Dr. Penthu.

He looked for him after the stone was taken, but couldn’t afford more than a minute before he had to grab Protius and retreat to the Inn. The man most likely died in the explosion, given the sensitivity to light. Very unfortunate, would have been a great lead in the hunt for Reaper.

“Hitori! I think I found something.” Elvira’s voice broke through his thoughts.

“Oh, what?” Hitori said. “I didn’t have any luck.”

“Yeah, I was stumped at first,” Elvira said. “But then I remembered my idea of a super Paladin and searched along those lines.”

“And you found something?”

“No, there were still too many reports about that metafauna,” She said. Hitori caught a hint of a sly grin on her face and frowned at her, which only deepened her smile. “From there I moved on to records related to the White Temple.” She looked at Hitori expectantly. When it was clear he wasn’t going to take the bait she poked out her tongue and continued. “Anyway, long story short, I found something in a dossier on White Temple history. Apparently they used to be led by someone called Reaper.

She continued, “I know it’s not much of a lead, but given the evidence, well, I thought….”

“That’s some impressive research,” Hitori said.

“Thanks.” She blushed. “I had plenty of free time at the compound, so I read a lot over the data link.”

“Looks like it paid off. I think our next stop will the White Temple.”

“To find more detailed records?” Elvira said. “This here wasn’t more than a mention.”

“Well, yes,” Hitori said. “But more to see if we can’t find that woman, or at least someone who’s seen her. As strange as it sounds, it’s starting to look like the White Temple stole the stone from themselves.”

Elvira laughed and grinned mischievously. “You said this job was party time central, so what’s with all the intrigue?”

“I wouldn’t get used to it,” Hitori said. “This kind of adventure isn’t the norm as a mercenary.” Speak for yourself. “Anyway, let’s keep researching while Gordon finishes shopping, then we’ll head out.”

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