The drink with Hild was rather peaceful. With the walls of the home they rented punctured. Gaston rented a room in an Inn. The two rented a room together while Gaston had a single room with a futon.

Gaston was planning to drink peacefully when the two barged in and continued drinking until three. He carried the two back to their rooms and got himself a quick fix by stimulating his nerves with his bioelectricity.

He was about to take a good sleep when Reginald dialed him. Taking the call, turning on the video, Reginald got a good look on his face.

“Should I call later? You look awful, Gato.”

“Janna and Hild.”

“They back together?”

“Don’t know. Don’t care. I wish they leave me out of their unresolved sexual tension.”

“Oh, my condolence. Then again, I still think that you should probably ask yourself something first.”

“No, I won’t.”

“Stepping on mine, then I’ll go ahead. Donovan probably approached you already and since you are my good brother. I’d informed you beforehand that Travis is MIA.”

“Got offed?”

“Nope. He just vanished after he was assigned. Last thing he looked up? Mortimer.”

“That’s disturbing. Other than that, what else?”

“Cult-tech.”

“What?”

“Cult-tech. Tech that we have been looking for. We tried to reverse-engineer, but unless you have one of their cult-technicians then it's impossible to even unscrew one part of their items without a failsafe being triggered. Do you know that they bid forty million dollars for a single part of the tech that they captured?”

“Seriously?”

“Yup. And here’s the best part. They were purchased by an associate of the Babaika Lions. Sir Lionel Hasburg. He has made the offering and managed to so far purchase all the cult-tech that they have gotten.”

“And what of it? He’s a well-known collector and arms dealing.”

Gaston felt a headache at the name mentioned. Lionel was one of the people that he had worked with before.

“For medieval items and roaring twenties items. But he purchased tech that usually he doesn’t purchase. The best part is that he was recently wired millions of money that he invested into jewels and minerals.”

Reginald sent two files while they talked. It contained all the details. The items that were bought. The exact amount. The time and location. Everything was included.

“Looks like they are eager to buy them. Why?”

“Profits? What else are they buying their tech for? Honestly, it’s not even about Lionel, but the buyer of the tech.”

“Mortimer?”

“Bingo. Lionel has been making moves. Selling to people who he shouldn’t have been selling.”

“Did he pissed off people?”

“Oh, he did. Thing is that he’s also a very valuable asset. He proclaims that it is for the best interest of the UEDF and the Consortium and its branches. But we know he has been supplying groups in South Africa, and Lebanon.”

Gaston clicked his tongue.

“So he’s going to be marked?”

“Not yet. Not until he makes it clear first that he is on our side and not on the side of the cult that everyone is hunting down. And Mortimer is smart. He’s a businessman and he knows that he stands to gain if he stays with the UEDF and the Consortium. The problem is the other guys who hate him. The European Pact is also considering blasting his head since he made a deal with a group who is against the Euro-Pact.”

“Politics again?”

“Yup. Mortimer’s has a lot of enemies lately. Doesn’t help that he’s been expanding on other areas that he shouldn’t be stepping his toes on.”

“I see. You don’t make this easy to refuse, Reginald.”

“Don’t like putting you into danger. You know that. But the thing is that no sane freelancer would try and ask that question to Mortimer right now. Of course, the trip there is going to be a pain in the ass.”

Gaston stared straight.

“Tell me first. Did you try asking the lioness about this?”

“She agreed. If anything the Lady herself asked for someone in the UEDF to assist Lionel in this situation. And all of them so far are asking the Adjutant-in-charge to become the third party.”

“They aren’t paying me enough for this bullshit.”

“They don't. But you have to do this whether you like it or not. It’s from the UEDF and I doubt you’d want them to hold a grudge because you refused this.”

“What exactly do they want from me? Guard Lionel?”

“Partly. Lionel has a good relationship with Mortimer so we’d like you to watch his six and represent the UEDF at the same time. Make it formal. And make it less of a problem for others who think that we are favoring them. Problem is that Mortimer’s head has a huge price on it.”

“I know. Hild might be after him.”

“Shit, that’s bad. I guess we have to pay her to stay away then?”

“You should. She was trying to dig information, but I guess Janna got into a fight with her to distract her from what she wanted. She makes it obvious, but Janna still knows what to do when it comes to her digging around.”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Well, she did a good job reining in the idiots who wanted to pass bills here in the headquarters.”

“She looked stressed.”

“She’s a fighter, not a bureaucrat. But she still makes good calls and I doubt the folks here would have considered it.”

“Is it really okay for her to stay with the Babaika Lions?”

“For the meantime. She’s there because Lady Romanov demanded her presence. Don’t know about the details, but I guess it’s to make sure that she has someone who can keep the lioness down if she tries to bite. Hilda Valeria and Jakob Stoll are strong, but I doubt they were heavily trained to fight Exemplars who specialize in monsters and mutates.”

Gaston shifted his weight. He looked at the thin walls of the Inn and the piercing light that was burning the clouds. There was silence behind the call.

“I don’t like sending friends and asking favors. But the cult made the usual people who do these jobs stretched thin. Janna will take over your duties. And I’ll make sure that you get to have great references for this. Actual people who are willing to sponsor you. Deal?”

Gaston sighed, “What are the rules?”

“No ichorium. No special abilities. Tech over T3 and T4 are regulated. You need to make sure that you are a participant of their dealings.”

“Only T2 gear?”

“We’ll provide for you. Not that you are that affected by disruptors in the first place.”

“We’ll see. When do you want me?”

“Sooner as you can.”

“Location?”

“We’ll get you a VTOL to Taiwan. Then we’ll fly you to Riyadh. They'll be taking you to South Africa. Lionel’s in Riyadh so you’ll be meeting him and his bodyguards.”

“Roger that. Tell Donovan that I accept and this time he better make it clear that I’m not doing this without getting any benefit this time. Janna's going to handle the problem here then”

“Got it. I’ll message Janna and then have someone pay for Hild to stay away from Mortimer’s head. Get some rest, Gato. You’ll need it.”

Gaston stopped the video call. He laid flat on his futon and stared at the ceiling. He grabbed hold of his head and screamed without a sound before his eyes went solid and dull.

Six hours later Gaston opened his eyes. He looked to his side and saw Janna playing around with the remote. She gave Gaston a dull look before switching the channel.

“Heard you took the job.”

“I did. Sorry about letting you take over the Adjutant role.”

“I don’t mind. It got Hild to stay away for now. She’s still around, doing work for that Fixer in Neo-Tokyo. Apparently, she’s still after some cultists who might poke their heads out. What a try-hard she is.”

“She left already?”

“You know her. She isn’t particularly concerned about goodbyes and she likes to leave that way.”

“Oh, hmm, you aren’t wearing your mechanical eyepatch today.”

“Have to repair it after she punched me in the face. So, working for UEDF this time?”

“Yeah, I guess they really want to kindly ask if Mortimer is trying to do shit. Reginald told you?”

“He did. Not that I was hiding some of my reasons why I’m here. You heard it, right?”

“I understand.”

“Course’ you always do understand. At least you pretend to understand sometimes.”

“Anything on your mind lately?”

“Nothing new. Just the usual irritation of our way of life. Honestly, I’m starting to think that it’s better if I return to the UEDF than deal with Romanov. She’s tricky and most of her systems are approved by UEDF standards.”

“Your plans?”

“Keep up with this until I get enough assessment. Not that she cares that we are gathering information on her Company. She asked for this arrangement in the first place.”

“Guess you’d be working hard for the next few days.”

“Meh, it should be alright. The bullshit in the headquarters made me somewhat resistant to paperwork and answering calls from parties who wanted something. Saw how you work as well so I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, I’ll have to fly to Taiwan and get on a plane for the next few hours. Can you take care of the damages done in the house we rented?”

“I can. Don’t worry about it. Watch your six, Gato. Lionel, Mortimer, they are usually people who have dots following their heads.”

“I’ll be doing that, sis.”

“Good.”

Gaston was about to walk out of the room when Janna caught his wrist.

“Don’t die on me, Gato. You’re the only family that I have left.”

“I’m always careful, Janna.”

“I know. Still, don’t do anything that is beyond your paygrade. It can’t be helped this time, but I hope you remember that they aren’t paying you to solve their problems for them. Don’t walk a mile if you can.”

“Okay, I’ll be going home. Would you like to go together?”

“Nah, I’ll head back later. They have a small hot spring so might as well decompress while I’m here. I’d be buried with work anyway sooner or later.”

Gaston left the Inn after that exchange. He hitched a ride with a pick-up truck, went inside the home he rented, packed his luggage and then went to the LZ designated.

It was near a beach. The area was cleared. Gaston looked up and he saw the space had a tear before a split-realm cruiser arrived on the spot and then deployed a VTOL.

Marking the ground and landing on the spot. The back of the VTOL opened up and the one who came out was Reginald.

“Come here personally? What about your work?”

“This is work, my friend.”

“You sure the missus isn’t angry?”

“Eh, she’s mostly fine with it. Besides, they want me to brief you again and then have you sign confidentiality papers. I’ll be only with you until Taiwan before I join another ride back to Switzerland and then take some files to personally deliver back to headquarters.”

“Are you sure you are not a courier?”

“They are being overly careful. But it has merits considering that they are quite paranoid about tech lately. So here I am doing a shit ton of work for them.”

Gaston entered the VTOL. The VTOL took off and joined a split-realm cruiser.

Gaston rested his back on his seat.

“Guess we’re all busy these days.”

“We are. But that’s how things are. Even after the world ended, we are still working ourselves to death. The appearance of monsters doesn’t stop our lives.”

“True. Anyway, let’s get this over with then.”

“Oh, we’ll be making stops in some offices in Taiwan before I go back to Switzerland. You okay with that, friend?”

“Sure, not that I’m eager to arrive there.”

“Thanks. We can go now.”

Reginald commanded his receiver. Gaston prepared himself for the split-realm jump and then wore the safety devices. The pilot of the split-realm ship counted before engaging the split-realm engines.

Gaston closed his eyes and then felt the space around him tear up. He was floating for a second before he could finally feel the space again.

Opening his eyes, he saw that his display had changed the time zone and his GPS marked him far from the island that he was staying a while ago.