I frowned as AEGIS replaced my cup of tea with a fresh steaming one. I didn't take coffee because I couldn't sleep afterwards, but if I kept pounding this stuff, I'd have the same problem.

Also coffee tasted like foot. Or, I suppose if AEGIS made it, foot-flavored sugar.

But hearing what Micaiah had to say, I wasn't sure that getting a restful night of sleep was in my future anyway.

"So, Dragon is a Sino," I said. "Does he have any nationalist leanings?"

"We don't know. He's not an Exhuman -- that we know of -- and as a result, isn't exactly someone the XPCA has an extensive profile on. Working with the other agencies is as painful as always, but we're getting what we can from them. I've said it already and I'll say it again, but I won't share my speculations if I don't think I have enough evidence."

"Then what do you know about him?"

"He's an assassin and a very good one. He's never engaged a target that we know of and not wound up with a kill. He has strong connections and access to immense sums of credits, and therefore can wind up pretty much anywhere with whatever tools he could desire."

"Like inside of an apartment in Santa Fe, with an XPCA firearm and a couple exotics grenades?"

Micaiah shook his head. "That'd be child's play for him."

"And he's not afraid to engage Exhumans," I mused. "So like a hunter, or shadow ops."

"Something like that. We also know he tends to vanish for a few months at a time sometimes and then show up again somewhere else to make a few more bodies."

"Like, as a trend? Or just disappearing here and there?"

"Very much a trend. Always possible he's just moved somewhere else and nobody's found the bodies or linked them back to him yet, but I don't think so."

"Hmm. I dunno what that could mean. My first thought is transit time but...months? Maybe just laying low to lose the heat?"

He smiled at me but didn't respond. It reminded me of Moon, obviously something going on in there but not going to share it. Well, not the smile, also.

"Any thoughts AEGIS?"

She shook her head. "I don't suppose 'I hope Athan doesn't go after this guy' counts?"

"Like I'd knowingly chase after a professional assassin."

"Wouldn't you? It wouldn't be the stupidest thing you've ever done."

"Hey, I do stupid things because I have to. Because lives are on the line and someone has to do something now. I'm not out there running down Exhumans for fun."

"Sure," she said with a plain smile.

"I'm gonna grab Lia, be right back," I said, rising.

"Ooh, another Exhuman?" Micaiah asked, his eyes lighting up, and I had to laugh.

Lia seemed confused at first, but as we filled her in on the conversation thus far and I saw her unconsciously drawing in her legs and tugging at strands at her hair as she stared intently at nothing, I knew the gears in her head were turning.

"Not to be racist, but does he have nationalist leanings?" Lia asked.

"Hey, I asked that!" I said, beaming.

"Good Athan," she said, and messed up my hair playfully.

"Not that we know of," Micaiah repeated. "But we don't know much."

Lia tugged at a brown strand dangling in her face. "Well, I was just thinking...disappearing for a few months at a time...it's too long for doing resupply or transit. He doesn't seem to run out of clients or targets, just stops taking them for a bit. It might just be his MO to take breaks...but I don't think he'd be in this business for this long or get this good if he didn't like doing his job. I think it must be something else, and China makes too much sense. But I don't know if I'm just assuming based on race."

"Makes sense how?" I asked.

"Makes sense that he'd be vanishing because he's going back, or has connections there."

"Isn't China just glass and ash?"

Micaiah just gave a half-smile while Lia looked at me like she was questioning my sanity. "Dude, bro, why would we be sending troops over there regularly if that were the case, and why would many of them not be coming back?"

"Uh, radiation and natural hazards? Isn't that what they say?"

She slowly bopped me on top of the head. Between that and the pats earlier, I wondered if I was being trained. "How can you live and work this XPCA stuff every day and still think the American public is in any way truthfully informed?"

She turned back to Micaiah and continued. "It also explains motive, which I think is the biggest argument for it. If he understands the Defiant situation at all, which I'd bet a lot of money that he does, I'd bet that he killed Talon."

"Lia, he's an assassin. He doesn't need motive to kill someone."

She bopped me again. "First off, nobody's going to put out money for Talon. Even the XPCA wasn't sure they wanted him dead. And second, I meant you need a reason to be an assassin at all. Think of Karu, numbnut. She didn't just wake up and decide killing people was a good way to make a living. If this Dragon guy is a Sino nationalist, it would go a long way to explaining why he's a assassin, because he's working in the shadows instead of becoming a licensed hunter. That's a lot of job security, a lot of work, and a lot of free tech, intel, and logistics he's giving up...not to mention legal exculpability, all for what? To stay off the books? It doesn't add up as a career move for me, unless he's got beef with the government."

Micaiah nodded seriously, looking like my kid sister had given even this professional intelligence officer something to think about. I couldn't be more proud.

"And if that is true," Lia continued, "then we've now got this assassin who's out there making contacts and successfully rooted in the underworld...and we still don't know why he's doing it. He's got access to China if he wants it, but keeps most of his time here where he hates us. He's gotta have a reason for establishing himself like that. And don't say it's a career. You have to have something more than a paycheck to spend your life killing people."

"Maybe it's not hard for him. Maybe he's a psycho?"

"I mean, it's possible, but I don't think it's ever a good plan to assume your enemy has no plan. So if we rule that out for now, we gotta look at what he stands to gain from what he's set himself up as, from the position of a hypothetical Sino national."

Honestly, I was just impressed what Lia could come up with with scant information. Taking that extra step to consider what the guy's actions -- and more critically, lack of actions -- said about his motivations, and what his motivations might mean for his future actions...this was like, two thoughts further than I ever got, and I was reminded again just how good Lia was at intuiting the human mind.

"Talon," I said, suddenly hit by her implication.

She nodded. "It's not often the opportunity comes around to destabilize the whole of the USA by killing a single person, but we're now in a situation where there was such a person, he was assassinated, and we have an assassin on the loose who was entrenched enough in criminal culture to hear about and be able to act on it if such an opportunity showed up. That's already fishy, but you throw in the fact we know he's currently after the Defiant and thus connected to them? The pieces all fit together a little too well for coincidence."

I leaned back in the couch a little floored, but Micaiah just smiled broadly. "Yes, that was exactly my conclusion, though I admit you had a few thoughts along the way I hadn't considered. Your brother said you were something of an infopath...might I inquire how your powers work exactly?"

She grinned and slugged me in the shoulder. "I'm not an Exhuman," she said. "I just pretend to be one online for money."

"Really? Well...wow. Maybe in a few years you might consider a position in an intelligence unit. We could certainly benefit from your insight."

"Why thank you,” Lia said, stretching her long legs and giving me a superior glance. "Might be fun working alongside Athan. Telling him what to do all day." She put on a serious face. "P-Force One, our intel indicates that if you do not pick up your dirty laundry today, America is doomed. Please make this mission your top priority."

It was my turn to bop her, and she giggled at it, even as she confiscated my arm away in hers to prevent a repeat offense.

"I'm actually P-F Actual; Jack is One, and they do not say please when issuing orders."

Micaiah cleared his throat and Lia stopped giggling and unwrapped her body from around my arm.

"That's the crux of our data, but I thought you might also be interested in the forensics from Talon's apartment."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"Didn't we already crack this case?" I asked.

"You don't just ignore evidence because you're convinced you're right, dummy," Lia said.

"Athan definitely does," AEGIS added. Gee. Thanks.

"The bullets were not just the same type as XPCA munitions, but were definitively XPCA-owned. Compositional analysis of the molecular shred puts the bullets in a batch purchased in bulk from one of our main contractors, but those bullets have gone everywhere in the world since then, so there's no way to tell which three bullets they were in that batch. Not that we track every single bullet anyway."

"Hmm," I replied.

"Similarly, we know the gun was definitely XPCA-licensed as well. We'll be able to match styrations if we get our hands on the actual weapon, but again can't trace it back otherwise. There weren't any biologicals left at the scene, as we'd expect from a professional, but there was one trace footprint left."

"Yeah, I saw that. Didn't look like XPCA boots, right AEGIS?"

She nodded. "I did my own analysis and got as far as that. Not any kind of shoe used in any kind of XPCA attire."

"She's smart. You three are basically your own little lab," Micaiah said, sounding impressed. "But, not to brag but we've got a big lab back at headquarters, and were able to construct a shoe print and find the matching shoe. Unfortunately, it's brutally common, and like the gun, won't do us much good except to confirm the killer once we have our hands on him. Either a men's nine point five or ten."

He flipped through his mobile again and then slid it back at me, showing me a picture of the tread and a picture of a shoe. Looked like your ordinary high-backed lace-up sneakers. After a second, he swiped over to a picture of a standard XPCA sidearm, identical to the one I had with my uniform. All the P-Force and all the XPCA strikes and recons and intels had one. Sort of an ideal murder weapon in that regard, especially if you were trying to frame the XPCA for it.

"I'm assuming we don't know Dragon's shoe size?" Lia asked.

"Wouldn't that be nice. We're guessing he uses inertial dampeners constantly to silence his footsteps, which would also negate any chance of leaving an impact footfall. Tracks like the bloodstain are all we could hope for."

"He's not a huge guy though, from the photo. Nine point five sounds about right. But I'm just pulling that out of my barnacle. What are you, bro?"

"Eleven point five, but I've got broad feet, I don't fill the toes."

"Yeah me too. I have to wear guy's shoes sometimes because womens' are just too narrow for me. Ashton pride!" Lia laughed, and pulled her knee to her chest to wriggle her bare foot at my face. "High-five!"

I poked her in the foot enough to tickle and the offender fled with an impish squeak.

Once she was satisfied with being a pain in the ass, Lia sat back upright and continued. "So, nine point five versus eleven point five, that makes him, what…"

"Seventeen point three nine one percent less than Athan," AEGIS said, reaching for her nonexistent glasses. "But studies indicate that there is no formal correlation between height, weight, or shoe size."

"Well, you're the scientist," Lia said with a shrug. "I'm just the idea girl."

"And you've done a great job," AEGIS said with a sly wink. Wink [https://www.royalroadcdn.com/public/smilies/wink.png] "Just missed this once."

"That exhausts my additional data," Micaiah said, pocketing his phone again and then remembering to put it back on the table. "I hope it was helpful to you...I know your information will be critical to us." He looked like he had a thought. "Say, do you know where in Oregon they are? You said they were at a school."

"No, I don't. Rito's old high school or something. I can call her and find out if you'd like."

"I am ever the fan of more data," he said earnestly. "Only...please don't take this the wrong way, but would you be willing to just tell me and nobody else? If possible, I'd like to keep their location in as few hands as possible. Since there is a killer after them and all."

"You don't trust AEGIS and Lia?"

"And Tem," he added.

"Oh right. And Tem?"

"As I said, don't take it the wrong way. But you seem to be doing that."

"Well how else am I gonna take it? These two...three just helped us make some major leaps today. You think either of them is stupid enough to go post it on their holog?"

"Athan, it's fine dude," Lia said. "I'm happy to do analysis, but I don't wanna know some secret bit of information that might make a killer try to torture and kill me. Kinda rather not, actually."

"I'd like to know," AEGIS said, frowning slightly...I think. "But it'd just be for my own curiosity, not because I had any reason to act on it. I'd really rather Athan not know, for all the reasons Lia just gave."

"I...don't know...either!" Tem said from behind the couch.

But if what Lia said were true, I suddenly very much did not want her or AEGIS or Tem knowing this information. "Right," I said. "Everybody out then, I'll call Rito."

And with hardly any complaining, they all left the room. I realized as they were going that I was shooing them around in their own house and had another pang of guilt. A quick sweep informed me that we were definitely being watched by at least three cam-drones, which was lovely. I didn't want to reveal to Micaiah that he'd been spied on this whole time, but also didn't want AEGIS eavesdropping. Frustrating.

So as sneaky as I could, under the pretext of getting a glass of water, I stood up and flicked tiny bulbs into the vicinity of the drones. The one at the end of the hallway dropped, popping when I hit it and only becoming visible as its optical camo faded away on the floor. The other two began to make a mad dash for the garage, and I let them go. My phone buzzed and I glanced at it.

> jerk

AEGIS could be to the point when she wanted. I dialed up Rito and hung out while it rang.

The girl who answered was definitely not Rito. "Athan, sorry, I can't talk right now, I've got two dicks in my mouth and a stick up my ass."

"Hi Saga," I said.

"How'd you know it was me?"

"Uh, you two were together and she's about as reserved as you are freaky. Where are you?"

"On a bus. Also, reserved? Does this sound reserved to you?"

I heard faint yelling in the background, which sounded like Rito. "Is that Athan? Give me back my mobile! Athan! I'm kidnapped! Help! Athan? Hello?"

"She's yelling on public transit like a crazy person, Athan. Control your woman, sheesh."

"Saga...why did you kidnap Rito?" I asked.

"It's for a really good reason! You'll see. I'll let her go when we get there. Well, when we get there and then the amusement wears off. Actually I might not let her go. Man you should see this, she's actually being embarrassed for yelling on the bus now." She lowered her voice to an amused whisper, somehow even quieter than her normal voice. "I just got an old lady to bitch her out for being rude. Isn't that a riot?"

I nursed my temples with my free hand as I took several deep breaths. Goddamn. Fucking. Saga. Why was she such an irresponsible asshole?

"Saga, let her go, and stop…" I glanced at Micaiah "stop messing with people."

"I dunno man. It's a lot of fun, taking to the streets after being so cooped up. Road trip, man."

"Saga, dammit."

She laughed delicately.

"Look, the name of the school where Rito took the Defiant, do you know it?"

"Sure do. She won't shut up about leaving them there. Seems to think she won't get paid and has spent a lot of time trying to get back there."

"Well...I guess it's good that you're not letting her. We'd like the Defiant to stay hidden if possible. Can you tell her that, and do it seriously, because this is actually important to the world not ending?"

"I guess if you put it that way. But you owe me."

"I guess I won't tell the XPCA officer in my living room where you are and what crimes you're currently committing. Does that count?" Micaiah looked up at me with a cocked eyebrow. I gave him a small smile and wave.

"Whatever."

"So what's the school?"

"Got a pencil ready?"

I put the phone on my shoulder while I borrowed Micaiah's mobile, opening a new page of notes and waited with stylus in hand.

"Okay it's...P…" Saga began.

"P."

"...E…"

"E."

"...N…"

"N."

"...I…"

"...Saga."

"...S."

"Dude, seriously?"

"Yeah. Rito had a really interesting high school experience. You ever hear the expression live by the sword? Well Rito, she lived by other phallic objects--"

I heard yelling resume in the background again and just waited through Saga's cackling and the distant sounds of an innocent girl getting bitched out by an old bus lady again.

"I do love the American public transit system," Saga sighed.

"Can you just tell me already?"

"You are such a spoilsport. Okay it's P…"

"No."

"FINE. It's Primrose High. Penis was close."

"Only in your mind would penis be close. Thanks, Saga. Kinda."

"You're very welcome. I'll be back before you know it. Hang in there, Athan."

I hung up and looked up at the somewhat alarmed Colonel who had heard a very interesting one-sided conversation. Before he could say anything, I gave him back his phone...deleting the note I'd just written...and told him the name of the school, which he wrote down and began searching for at once.

"Nice looking place," he said. "I hope they don't do anything to it. I don't want a bunch of high schoolers getting involved in our mess."

I frowned at the thought. I hadn't considered that, only really thinking of the Defiant as this abstract destructive force in a world-ending sense, and not the damage they might do just by existing somewhere. Mini, in particular, I could see running through halls, pulling cheerleaders' hair and getting in fights with the jocks…

As soon as one mess got sorted, it just made another one, didn't it?

"Thanks for everything," Micaiah said as he stood and collected his things. "I hope this wasn't too painful an intrusion for you. If you're that dead-set against intelligence, I can just try to stay out of your hair from now on. Focus on working with the other P-Force and leave you in Colonel Dawn's capable care."

I shook my head. "It's fine. Besides, you're only part-time Intelligence anyway now, right? So I can just hate you part-time."

He laughed, but when we shook hands at parting, it was significantly warmer than when I'd greeted him and given him a tepid invitation inside.

He gave me one last glance and smile as he got in his car and left, but a lot of what he'd said was still there with me, still bouncing around in my head.

Especially Dragon, and especially what Lia had said about Dragon. If he was looking for the Defiant, had I seriously screwed up by becoming one of the few people in the world who knew where they were? Had I painted a target on my head for an international Sino assassin to come looking for me?

I dismissed the thought. That was crazy. There's no way he'd know I knew. He'd have to get it from Micaiah himself that I knew, at which point he could just get the info from Micaiah himself.

I was fine.

Or so I told myself.

But as I laid there that night trying to sleep, I kept having thoughts like 'unless he was listening to my call with Saga', or 'unless he bugged the mobile of the XPCA investigating the case' or 'unless he knew I have a connection to Talon and Rito'.

So as it turned out, my earlier fear was completely misplaced. It wouldn't be the tea which was keeping me up all night.

It was those familiar, unimpressed eyes, staring at me from the dark.