“I can’t believe he ditched me…!”
Vee hissed through clenched teeth, her hands were gripping the school desk tight enough that the wood began to audibly creak.
Rehn winced lightly, as did the few other students in the classroom, as she sat besides her, not really knowing what to say. So she just smiled warm and supporting, one hand gently rubbing Vee’s back. The chameleon weasel relaxed visibly, the anger slowly replaced by a look of lost confusion and strange sadness.
“Ugh, now I feel so stupid for getting so excited…” Mumbled Vee uncharacteristically vulnerable, slumping onto the desk. For a second Rehn swore she had seen a flicker of golden light as she released her grip but quickly shook it off as just a reflection of the sun as it shone brightly through the window at the side.
“Of course not, it’s only natural.”
Rehn shook her head, reassuring Vee as best as she could. But more importantly, she couldn’t just let this end here like this! Firmly she nodded, maybe her nightmare had been real in a sense! Just a premonition that something had to Jak which would keep him away from school today.
“But maybe he hasn’t ditched you as well. What if he just couldn’t come today? You know how the slums are at times.”
“And here I had thought I would be the one to try and cheer you up in relationship troubles.” Vee chuckled awkwardly, a light blush dusting her cheeks. One that she quickly and unsuccessfully tried to hide. Now she was blushing bright red instead. “Ugh, kill me now, please!”
With an embarrassed whine she bonked her head against the desk all while Rehn giggled brightly. The feline’s eyes twinkled with amusement and a warm grin played over her lips.
“Oh, come on. It’s no that bad, is it?”
“Easy for you to say.” Vee rolled her eyes, old lustre returning to her eyes and personality. “So, you think he just got caught up in something, huh?”
“Yes.” Rehn smiled confidently, more than she should really feel, she felt like. Internally her eyes crossed at the twisting paths her thoughts took. “And it would really be too bad if you two just broke up because some stupid misunderstanding. I have enough of those in my novels.”
She stuck out her tongue in disgust.
“Why do you read that crap anyways? Not like there’s anything… interesting…”
A wide grin began spread over Vee’s lips as Rehn froze in terrible realisation of her mistake and began to fidget under her gaze with a quickly growing blush of mortification.
“A-a-anyways! You should absolutely see if Jak waits for you date tomorrow! Promise, okay?”
Rehn’s eyes hardened into her best stern stare but sadly her best wasn’t enough to distract from her bright burning face.
“Yeah, yeah. I will.” Vee dismissed her words with a wave of casual agreement. The teenager was already back to her old self and she was sniffing vulnerability! Lips coiling into a lewd grin, Vee pumped her finger into the O formed with her other hand. “But come on, share the juicy details! What’s your favourite position you want Thale to put you in~?”
“I-I-I…!” Rehn squeaked, eyes swirling with embarrassment as she searched for any way out and jumped at the first possible option.
“OH, LOOK!!! CLASS IS STARTING!!! CAN’T ANSWER, HAVE TO STUDY!!!”
With loud exclamation she pointed at the teacher as he just entered and hurriedly ducked behind the school book in question to hide the still crimson blush dusting her cheeks. The book was upside down by the way. And Vee simply cackled in victory.
An amused look crossed the beaver panther’s face who had obliviously stepped into the room.
“Ah, to be young again.” He chuckled silently, shaking his head with a smile, and heaved his suitcase onto the teacher’s desk.
———
“Yes… that would coincide…” Leora mumbled deep in thought as she braced herself against the table, leaning over a map of Dampfstadt. All of the ASRW sites had been marked on it, those that had been broken into were marked bright red. Laid out besides all of this were her notes and all the information she had been able to scrounge up in regards to both the ASRW and anything they may have been researching at the time. Nicely organised and assigned to each site via threads and pins.
Luckily her sudden inspiration the day before could be answered with everything at hand. Of the 21 sites, only 7 were closely connected to vents. vents directly connected to the core of Dampfstadt’s Steam Engine. And all 5 sites that had been hit by the Scarlet Bandits fell under these 7. It hadn’t stood out too much as there were many buildings throughout Dampfstadt that were less important and also had direct access. No, the important part had been the research that these 5 sites had been doing throughout the years. And the on-site research which had been broken into.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Leora honestly wasn’t able to make heads or tail out of the exact details. What it all boiled down to, pun not intended, however, was that depending on the location and intensity of usage, specific sections of the Steam Ways would be left under utilised. Normally it was a death sentence to climb through the active piping system, steam could burst through at any time. With this information, however, you could in theory perfectly predict when certain sections would be safe to venture through. Like, for example, during the first day of the Lebensfest where a direct path to the very heart of the Steam Engine would be opened up.
It was still mostly conjecture as she couldn’t know for sure that this would be the case, but Leora was pretty sure that the goal of whoever the Scarlet Bandits were working for had been this information.
“A safety concern of this magnitude and it hasn’t been brought up yet? Why?”
Her eyes narrowed lightly. Had someone of the research team hidden the truth? Why not just destroy it then? Questions upon questions, but those could be answered after a potential crisis had been averted. She just sighed heavily and shook her head in the end.
“Special Police can deal with that.”
A knock at the door nearly made her jump, startled. She blushed lightly, since when was she getting flustered this easily? Great, the stress really was starting to get to her. Exhaling audibly she brushed an errant hair strand out of her face and opened the door.
“Leading General Zapehn! My apologies, but it is already after midday and as you haven’t joined us at break I believed it would be prudent to bring you water and food.”
Saluting as best he could while holding onto a plate filled with a bottle of water and the surprisingly tasty rations of the canteen, was an orange and blue doberman with big, fluffy ears.
“Ah, thank you, Officer Ungehn.”
Leora smiled, her mood brightening visibly as she accepted his delivery. Officer Lagua Ungehn was one of her most helpful subordinates and very proactive in making sure that everyone kept to a healthy schedule.
He had also come at the perfect time. With her notes compiled, she just needed to inform the Central Commander of her findings for an investigation of the marked Steam Ways. It was likely that the Scarlet Bandits had been hired by a third party, one that had dangerous intel seeing as they had perfectly targeted their necessary information.
“I will notify him at once.” Officer Ungehn saluted once more before briskly moving to fulfil his duties.
And Leora readied herself for the coming meeting. Better make sure she wasn’t parched or starving, a grumbling stomach was the last thing she needed now. She could only hope that nothing more would pile up either.
Naturally her hopes were promptly shattered less than twenty minutes later as she stood in the office of the Central Commander. He had patiently listened to her explanation, unlit cigarette dangling from his lips, and nodded slowly. And then, with a lazy twist of his wrist, had laid out his own information onto the table. Despite the seemingly indifferent motion there was steel within the dragon bear’s gaze.
“As of last night, a sixth ASRW site has been broken into. Despite increased security, the intruders known as the Scarlet Bandits once more managed to enter undetected before escaping unscathed. The site overlaps with those noted in your report. In confirmation with other intelligences from the Special Police it is from this moment onwards that the theory of a deliberate plan to invade the sacred heart of Dampfstadt will be assumed to be true. Congratulations, Leading General Zapehn, you have just been granted permission to enter one of the best protected locations throughout all of Gaia with a small troop of the best men available.”
The avian feline blinked startled at that sudden development, barely able to keep her jaw from falling down. Nervously she licked her lips. Her mouth and throat felt very dry all of a sudden.
“Sir…” She began hesitantly. “Isn’t that a bit much for someone like me? There are more skilled and better equipped Guard’s for this type of protection, surely.”
Her words had clearly hit a sore point as the Central Commander ground his teeth, the cigarette abused by them as he spoke.
“Sadly there are not. As of three days ago an engagement of vital importance had these ‘more skilled and better equipped’ Guards, as you put it, pulled out of Dampfstadt to protect the site in question. The Erz-Mayor’s presence there further diminished our local troops. At the time there was no reason to oppose this decision. Now, however, I would have fought tooth and nail to keep at least half of them here.”
Leora nodded slowly and she really wished Officer Ungehn had handed her another bottle of water beforehand.
“Any chance that this could have been a planned manoeuvre?” She proposed slowly, coincidences like this rarely were such after one investigated them enough.
“Undoubtedly.” The Central Commander snorted before he could even finish that single world. “I would love to say, but unless the Erz-Mayor himself has suddenly decided to turn traitor on his own people, then that third party of yours simply has had the devil’s luck on their side.”
“O-of course!”
Leora immediately nodded firmly in agreement, eyes wide and nervous at the direct mention of the Erz-Mayor’s involvement. There was much that could be said about the smarmy and sometimes overly friendly politician, but the idea of treason was nowhere near the list. The Central Commander smiled humourless grimacing as he spat out the ruined cigarette.
“Good. Now, please gather your men. By evening you will be moved. Plans and blueprints of the Core Engine will be provided on-site.”
“Yes, sir! I will get right to it!” Leading General Zepehn saluted, eyes hard with determination.
“Dismissed.” The Central Commander sighed, waving her out of his room. She complied and the door fell close behind her a few seconds later. Another sigh escaped the draconian ursus. “You’re treading onto dangerous ground, Miss Zepehn. I hope you know that and are prepared for what is to come.”
He slumped into his seat, looking far older than before. The tightness of his face loosening, revealing a field of worried wrinkles. Sometimes he truly hated his job more than anything.