After the usual morning exercise and a shower, Nil visited the scrapyard. It was a planned visit, and he was annoyed that Andrew hadn’t warned him about Susan’s presence. Nil had bought breakfast sandwiches for them on the way—one for Andrew and three for himself. He gave her one out of his share.

“It’s alright,” Susan said, hugging Nil. “I won’t tell Katherine anything. We haven’t seen much of each other ever since the dismissal.”

“Weren’t you planning on living together for the time being?” Nil asked. A month after Susan and Katherine’s employment with the Metropolitan Police Force ended, Susan was evicted from the government ludus. Susan had already declared her plans to work for Nexus in the long term, but her former partner had yet to decide.

“Things changed. She’s not pleased with how easy the transition has been for me. The detective position meant a lot to her. It was just an easy way to get into a ludus. I wouldn't have signed up if I knew how much the brass limits ability usage.”

“Yeah. It takes a special kind of idiot to wait for Dispatch’s approval before using abilities. That bastard was going to kill you.”

Susan nodded. “He nearly did. Any more brain damage and I wouldn’t have the mental faculties to agree to a quest or get to the Nexus and use the Fountain of Pyrene.”

“I imagine that’s what happened to Officer Jones?”

“Unfortunately, so.” Susan sighed. “The guy was a dick, and I hated being his partner, but no one deserves to end up as he did. Anyway. I don’t want to risk my life in a job that carries the risk of imprisonment for self-defense, and I made that clear, pissing Katherine off. So, we’re taking a break from one another.”

“Where are you staying now?” Nil asked, hungrily digging into his sandwich. The morning warm-up had left him ravenous. He finished half the scrambled egg, avocado, and smoked salmon sandwich in two giant bites.

“Here, of course,” Andrew said, looking up from the aetherscreen. “No. It's not too soon for us to move in together. Yes. We’re boyfriend and girlfriend. We’re not discussing this.”

“I don’t remember asking any questions.” Nil started his second sandwich, looking over Andrew’s shoulder. “How is it coming along?”

“Good. They’re almost ready.” He nodded at two devices linked to his aetherscreen. One was identical to the bug he planted last time but smaller and skinnier, and the other was a new aethertech phone Andrew had arranged for him. Andrew pointed at the first. “Plant this on the wall Aish—the visage is in love with. Preferably close to a fire alarm, keypad, or near a camera.”

“I appreciate all you’re doing, Andy, but isn’t this a bit too dangerous?” Nil studied the aetherscreen. It included updated schematics. The pair gathered a fair deal of information on the building’s security over the past three months. “But what if they trace all of this back to you? What then?”

“They won’t,” Andrew said, looking up from the screen for the first time since Nil arrived. He finally unwrapped his sandwich and nippled on a corner. “I’m your guy in the chair, and only idiots do the job from their home. I got another location for the job and a separate set of equipment registered to a former Pits employee. He got kicked out for stealing money and moved to a safe zone in South America.”

“And I’ll be watching the perimeter with Skoll and Hati,” Susan added. “If, somehow, Symbiotech traces Andrew and sends their private security forces, I’ll be there to pull him out.”

“Keep your phone on you or near you at all times.” Andrew unhooked the device and returned it to Nil. “I might not be able to remote control it once you’re in the building. You might need to activate a few things and initiate downloads.”

“Just don’t do anything that will give us away,” Nil said after polishing off his second sandwich. He was still hungry and regretted not bringing more. The cultivation exercises had only increased his appetite further, making him glad he hadn’t picked the feat that multiplied his sustenance needs. “Remember. This is an information-gathering mission. Shina will have my new symbiote ready in a few more weeks, so I’ll need to go in again. This a test. A dry run.”

“Understood.”

It was midafternoon when Nil reached Symbiotech’s headquarters. He had visited them several times over the past few months, but they had yet to supply him with a new symbiote. Shina claimed that the company wanted something truly outstanding and noteworthy when using Nil to showcase its product in the main arena. Using an unstable or incomplete prototype could potentially ruin Symbiotech’s reputation. They intended to launch a new product line using Nil and refused to take any half measures.

After visiting the building every couple of weeks over the past few months, Nil no longer needed a guide. He signed in and went straight to the testing area. A lab assistant first scanned Nil before putting him through the usual stress tests. He also did them while using Toggled Supercharging. The team hoped to ensure the symbiote wouldn’t falter when he pushed himself.

“I feel bad for the researchers and lab assistants,” Nil whispered when he excused himself to the men's room. They had scanned the room during a previous visit, and it had no surveillance equipment. It was far enough from other spaces so that people couldn’t eavesdrop either. “They’re decent people and just doing their jobs. This is going to fuck up their lives.”

“Are they innocent, willfully ignorant, or like Shina and don’t give a shit about the consequences of their research?”

Andrew spoke in Nil’s ear. The communication device was no bigger than a contact lens and semi-transparent. It linked directly to the new aethertech phone, letting Andrew direct him. All the devices Nil had on his person were illegal and would likely send Katherine up a wall if she found out.

“If they’re any good and really innocent, they’ll have no trouble finding new jobs. Besides, aren’t half these people Summoned? They can just throw themselves into quests and minimize their time on Earth. Are you getting cold feet?”

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“Hell no,” Nil replied. “Just feeling a little bad. Doesn’t mean I’m not going to do what’s right and needs doing.”

“It's okay to be a bleeding-heart fool from time-to-time. Just don’t let it screw you over.”

The lab assistants took a blood sample after he returned with a container of urine and directed him toward the symbiote lab. His heart rate increased as he palmed the new bug. Far more equipment, lab assistants, and cameras filled the symbiote laboratory. Nil needed to get the job done without getting seen.

During previous visits, Andrew had tried using miniature spy cameras to see things through Nil’s eyes. Either the signal was weak in the laboratory, or Symbiotech had security measures ensuring no one transmitted data without using their official channels. The pair had settled for a simple recording, and Andrew used it to direct him toward blindspots. However, each of those was in the line of sight of lab workers, limiting Nil’s options.

An opportunity presented itself when a lab assistant waved Nil over to show him the newest developments with the symbiote. They had improved the entity’s elasticity and heat resistance. When she probed it with a few drops of liquid nitrogen, it hardened, becoming rigid but not cracking.

“If these guys weren’t assholes, that could’ve been great for you.”

The lab assistant’s workstation stood under a security camera at one end of the long room. Given the location of other surveillance equipment, Nil and Andrew had theorized that the bit where the table met the wall was a blindspot. So, Nil leaned against it as they talked, looking for the perfect window to plant the bug.

Unfortunately, it never came.

“Oh, good!” Shina exclaimed cheerfully, marching into the laboratory. She looked well-rested and in far better shape than the last time he saw her. “I’m glad I caught you before the minions had you strip.” She glanced at the lab assistant’s screen. “That can wait. You’ll see the new symbiote when trying it on, anyway.”

“Will it be ready for my match next week?” Nil asked, sliding the bug up his sleeve and out of sight. “I’ve been feeling naked running around the Iron Gauntlet without it.”

“We’re aware, and I’m sorry for that.” Shina waved him along, walking down the long laboratory’s center and away from the secure testing room. “Given this Festus the Curator’s focus on you and your growing fame, we can’t afford to let anything subpar enter the public eye. However, we’ve prepared a special belt with our logo, and the buckle contains our latest burn gel. If the arena construct approves it, you can use Expend freely and do a little marketing for us. Then, by the time the symbiote is ready in a couple of weeks, we’ll also have a custom outfit for you. Product reveal, marketing, and excellent protection. What more could you want?”

Shina stopped precisely at the middle point of the room. She took a right turn and walked straight toward the wall. A miniature aetherscreen grew out of her wristwatch. When she touched it, a section slid open, revealing the hidden room beyond. It was the blank space on the blueprint Nil and Andrew had discussed at length.

Several more symbiote containers waited beyond, along with several giant glass tubes of swirling, floating hexagons similar to those that had formed Fatima’s blades. It seemed more like a containment room than a workspace. In the middle of it all was a giant glass tube full of fluorescent pink. He didn’t need Energy Instinct to know it was full of Cursed Energy. The visage raced to the container that extended through the floor and ceiling and hugged it.

“Once your soul weapon is ready, you’ll be funneling any Cursed Energy you absorb into our containment,” Shina said, nodding at the room’s centerpiece. “We’ll process it for other projects and your future upgrades. But that’s not the important bit.” She stopped in front of a giant pod containing a fiery orange and gold symbiote. A trail of hexagons followed it. When Nil approached the glass, it threw itself against the surface as if trying to reach him. “The board finally approved it, and we’re working on your toy. It will bond with your soul weapon when complete, forming a gauntlet and some minor armoring. You and I can discuss later how to mature it. I was thinking of adding chains or whips to tangle our foes.”

Unlike the visage, Meatball hated the Cursed Energy around them. Nil had stored her in his core before leaving the ludus. He could feel her squirm and write as if disgusted or horrified. The whelp was uncomfortable and scared.

“I changed my mind. You need to plant the bug in here. As close to the center containment as possible.”

“This is incredible,” Nil lied. He wanted nothing more than to retreat from the container and leave the space. The noxious feeling he got from Energy Instinct was worse than anything he had ever felt. “I can’t begin to imagine how you started on this kind of project. It’s bloody incredible.”

“Oh, it’s my ability.” Shina smiled. “Did I never tell you about it? I’m an Artisan, and Hommonculi Master helps me create living tools. The symbiotes came to be from a lifetime of experimentation and development. It's not as glamorous or in demand as Soul Smithing, but all of Symbiotech’s medical breakthroughs and all you see here are because of it.”

“So, melding your homunculi with Cursed Energy is how you’re creating soul weapons?”

“I’m not precisely creating them. We have agents who harvest them from defeated and dead arena fighters. One of my partners resets and molds them into a seed-like form, and then it's a slow modification process to adapt them to Cursed Energy.”

Nil’s stomach turned as he assembled the pieces of the jigsaw. He guessed Symbiotech didn’t just use Death Gauntlet to collect Cursed Energy but also to harvest soul weapons from defeated opponents. He had a dead person’s tool in his arms. From what Layla had told him, the seeds that birthed soul weapons were living entities. It wouldn’t surprise him if Shina’s experimentation perverted or twisted them somehow.

He followed as the woman walked to the central containment tube. She tapped the attached console, and a long tentacle-like appendage extended from it. “That’s where you’ll slot your soul weapon once it's ready. We’ll extract Cursed Energy and install upgrades through it. It's a little uncomfortable, but it's nothing you can’t handle with Iron Might.”

“Fascinating,” Nil commented, reaching for the tube, but Shina caught his wrist before he could make contact.

“It might be tempting to unload the Cursed Energy now but hold on a little longer. The machine isn’t built to take it in raw without a soul weapon processing it first. I’m not sure if it will work, and there is a chance of overload. Best not risk it.”

“Got it.”

Shina checked her watch. “Let's go test the new symbiote,” she said, turning to the exit as the tentacle retracted and all of the central containment device’s consoles slowly sunk into the floor or the main body. “I’ve got another partner coming in an hour, and I like to give everyone my full, undivided attention.”

Nil didn’t know whether the space had cameras, but he ordered his racing heart to calm as he took a risk. He nonchalantly brushed the Cursed Energy containment tub’s aetherscreen projector, pretending to be amazed by the technology before following.

“Smooth.”

He left the room without Andrew’s bug. Nil had carried a version of it during every visit and planted them whenever he could. It was the first time he planted one somewhere where he believed it would make a difference. Most of all, he hoped Andrew would finally infiltrate the building’s security system. It was essential for pulling off their plan without a hitch.

“It might take a few hours or days, but I think this is it, Sunny-boi. We got the fuckers. Now, just to figure out the possible collateral damage and keep the kids from getting hurt. Then, Operation Screw Shina is a go.”