Before searching anything, Saxon noticed Kenji’s computer was left open. While checking anything on it still required a password, Saxon could at least check what he was wanting to.
Saxon plugged in the flash drive he took from Midas. As expected, it was blank.
Saxon threw the flash drive on the ground, and crushed it with his foot in case it was tracking him.
Starting with the room he had sent Kenji tumbling into, Saxon found far more than he expected to, but there was a bit of a problem. All of the drawers were locked.
Saxon couldn’t muster a mythos even if he tried, so he continued to look around. After finding nothing in any of the rooms, Saxon recalled during his fight with Kenji that he had caught a glimmer of something around his neck.
Being careful not to wake Kenji up, Saxon slowly approached him. As he got closer, Saxon managed to confirm that Kenji did indeed have a necklace on. Saxon yanked on the necklace to snap it free.
Further, inspection revealed a key affixed to the necklace, but that wasn’t all. On the key, itself was an engraving of three swords crossed to form a K. Saxon recognized the engraving as the Killian family crest. Although it surprised Saxon, it explained quite a bit.
If Kenji was a member of the Killian family then it would explain where he received his combat training. Moreover, Kenji being a Killian explained one of the things that was bugging Saxon the most.
Kenji had noticed Saxon following him. Since Kenji was working undercover at Midas under the surname Fujisaki and was trained by Killians, him being able to spot a tail isn’t shocking.
However, Saxon wasn’t a traditional tail. Saxon was using The Gray Man. Couple that with the dim lighting, and Saxon should have been practically invisible, yet Kenji still picked him out.
There was certainly a chance his perceptive capabilities were just that good, but using his combat prowess--which he likely invested more into given his mythos--as a comparison point, Saxon doubted it.
Instead, it was far more likely that Kenji had observed James Martin: the avatar of The Gray Man. A key weakness of Saxon’s mythos is that a copycat is far more unimpressive once you’ve seen the real deal. As a result, Saxon’s copies are ineffective against anybody who knows the avatar of the mythos he is copying and has seen the original mythos in action.
Therefore, if Kenji had observed James using his mythos, it would explain why The Gray Man was unable to keep Saxon hidden from him.
Cracking open the drawers, Saxon managed to pull several different files and some fake identification for the alias of Kenji Fujisaki. The information divided itself into two separate categories: Midas and Chimera.
Although Saxon’s interests lay with the files labeled Midas it seemed he was fresh out of luck. A quick scan revealed that most of the information on Midas was old--not surprising seeing as how Kenji was put on leave a while back.
Worst of all, there were no reports on anything to do with mythoi changing. It seemed Kenji’s mythos hadn’t changed at all. Saxon guessed that Midas was suspicious of Kenji so they used the list as an excuse to put him on leave.
Even still, Saxon knew there may still be useful information, so snapped some photos of the file’s contents, and put everything back where he found it.
Saxon double-checked to make sure Kenji was still out cold before looking through the Chimera file. After he was sure Kenji wouldn't be waking up, Saxon opened the file and started flipping through it.
The first thing Saxon noticed was that there was more information. Additionally, compared to the Midas file, the Chimera file’s contents were far more recent and detailed. It seemed that when Kenji was put on temporary leave from Midas, he devoted all his time to gathering information on Chimera.
Glancing through what Kenji had managed to accumulate, Saxon stumbled across a lot of shocking information that had managed to slip past the FMPD.
To begin with, Chimera was a rival crime family to the Killians, which explained why Kenji was tasked with reporting on them. They had set up in the Backwater Bridge district, and had been collecting fees from the residents; Saxon recalled that the taxi driver who took him to the bridge mentioned that fewer people were making it out of Backwater, and figured this was why.
On top of that, the Chimera family was supposedly founded very recently and managed to grow its size tremendously based on the strength of its leader: Draumur Chimera. The name sounded familiar to Saxon, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
As he was caught in his reading, Saxon’s focus was broken when he noticed blood running down his arm about to drop onto the paper. Lost in thought, Saxon had neglected his well-being.
He took as many pictures as he could of the Chimera files, and uncuffed Kenji, to not leave any evidence behind connecting Saxon to the FMPD.
Saxon knew there was a probability of Kenji ratting him out to the rest of the Killian family. However, given Kenji’s overall weakness relative to what Saxon knew of the other Killians, he suspected Kenji was a new induction.
As a result, this was likely his first mission as an official member. Seeing as how Kenji already got booted from Midas, Saxon figured he was on thin ice, and thus would likely do his best to cover this whole incident up, rather than report another issue.
As he stumbled down the stairs, and out into the streets, Saxon sat on the sidewalk with the rain washing his blood off his clothes. Saxon was beginning to feel light-headed, but he needed to get back to Torch before he could pass out. It was too late to call Cleveland, Elly was probably out helping people, and Eddi was constantly working. That only left one person.
“Hey Herman,” Saxon said, having to rest the phone on his shoulders because his fingers were too damaged to close.
“You okay?” Herman asked, picking up on Saxon’s fatigue in his voice. “Isn’t your day off?”
Saxon winced as the rain continued to pour down on his open wounds. “Did some work on the side. Found some stuff.”
“And found some trouble by the sounds of it,” Herman remarked.
“I need you to pick me up,” Saxon requested. “Listen I’ll call you lieutenant if that’s what you want, but nobody else I trust is available right now.”
“Send me your location,” Herman responded.
“Just did,” Saxon said, fighting to stay conscious.
Herman opened up Saxon’s message and found himself stupefied, pondering how Saxon managed to wind up in Backwater of all places. “On my way.”
“Thanks, man,” Saxon said.
A few minutes later Herman pulled up outside Kenji’s house. Herman rushed out of the car toward Saxon. With Herman’s assistance, Saxon managed to stand, and eventually hobbled his way toward the car, before laying flat across the passenger seats.
“Torch?” Herman asked.
“Yeah,” Saxon answered.
As Herman began to drive, Saxon waited for him to start asking questions, but the moment never came. Even after exiting Backwater, Herman remained silent.
Saxon began straining himself to sit up.
“Lay down,” Herman commanded, glancing at the rearview mirror.
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Saxon ignored Herman and sat himself up anyway. “Ok, something is weird about you today. By now you would normally be lecturing me till my eardrums blew off. What gives?”
“I want to,” Herman said plainly. “I want to scream at you till my lungs pop, but this isn’t the time. Right now you put your trust in me to take you home. If I use this as an opportunity to lambaste you, that’s a betrayal of that trust. Whenever you need help, which is more than you like to admit, I don’t want you to think you can’t rely on me without getting lambasted.”
“So you aren’t gonna complain?” Saxon asked.
“You’re alive, how could I complain about that?” Herman responded.
Saxon narrowed his eyes. “You’ve wished I was dead a couple of times, don’t lie.”
“True,” Herman responded, cracking a smile.
The car came to a stop at a red light. As the car jostled forward, Saxon exhaled deeply as a shock of pain hit his system.
Herman turned his head around to face Saxon. “Now lay down, and get some rest.”
“Thanks, lieutenant,” Saxon said, obliging Herman’s request, and laying down.
“Anytime partner,” Herman replied.
Once at Torch, Herman helped Saxon exit the car, and put Saxon’s arm around his shoulder to help him walk.
“Tomorrow, try to cover up to hide any of your injuries,” Herman suggested. “Quinn isn’t your biggest supporter after everything with Desmond, so you’ll probably be doing desk work anyway. Best to let this heal off naturally.”
“Understood,” Saxon replied.
“You’re also gonna tell me everything you figured out today, just not now” Herman said sternly, letting Saxon stand on his own as they reached the door.
“Sure thing, Mom” Saxon joked.
Herman rolled his eyes with disappointment. “Catch you around.”
“Again, thanks,” Saxon said sincerely.
In response to Saxon, Herman gave a thumbs up as he got back into his car, and drove away.
Saxon quickly did a once-over of his clothing. Thankfully, most of the blood has been washed out by the rain while he was waiting for Herman.
Doing his best to hide the pain he was in, Saxon marched into Torch. The smell of dinner being cooked immediately filled his nose, but Saxon had had food at The Whetstone.
Looking around, Saxon managed to spot Octave eating with Elly. Upon making eye contact with each other, Elly waved at Saxon, signaling him to join them.
“Already had food while I was out,” Saxon said, sitting down to join Elly and Octave, “but I can stay to talk.”
Octave took a big bite of his burger to finish it off but shortly after began pounding on his chest. Saxon picked up a water bottle and handed it to Octave.
After downing all the water in the bottle, Octave breathed a sigh of relief.
“Slow down when you eat,” Elly instructed Octave.
“Yes ma’am,” Octave responded diligently.
Saxon glanced over at Elly. “Ma’am? That was fast.”
“Kid is a quick learner,” Elly whispered back.
“Are you okay?” Octave asked worriedly, noticing the blood on Saxon’s clothing.
“Oh, this much is normal for him,” Elly remarked.
“Isn’t none the normal amount?” Octave questioned.
“Not for me it seems,” Saxon said. “Octave, how'd the trips around town go?”
“It was nice,” Octave answered. “Helping felt good, though I could only do so much.”
Elly slapped Octave on the back. “He’s being modest. It was a big help having somebody a bit younger with us. Lots of times people your age don’t trust adults. Can’t say I blame them. Having somebody who could relate to them made us a lot more approachable.”
“Just happy to help,” Octave said, brimming with pride.
“Would you mind if I ask you something Octave?” Saxon asked.
“Go for it,” Octave replied.
“I know you said you didn’t know what your mythos is, but did you do any research?” Saxon inquired.
Octave was confused but felt there was no harm in answering. “I never had the resources to do much digging on my own, but when I worked at the Epilogue they gave me some books about myths involving music when I started. Said I should read through them all, and see if anything clicked”
“But that was when you already had your mythos?” Saxon asked.
“Yeah,” Octave responded, “and I don’t have them anymore, since I didn’t take them with me.”
Saxon knew the books had likely been admitted into evidence. Although the books came after Octave already had his mythos, if Saxon’s timeline was correct, Octave must have read them before his mythos was altered. Saxon suspected the books might be a clue, though finding them may prove difficult.
“This may sound strange, but was there ever a point when you lost your mythos?” Saxon inquired, wondering if Octave may have had a hard reset.
Octave shook his head. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Does the name Orpheus ring any bells?” Saxon asked.
Saxon caught Octave’s puzzled look as Saxon mentioned the name Orpheus. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Yeah it does,” Octave said.
“You told me about him,” Elly chimed in. “Your friend right?”
“Friend?” Saxon said, perplexed as to how a mythological character could be Octave’s friend.
“Not Orpheus the myth,” Octave clarified, noticing Saxon’s confusion. “He picked his name just like me, and he chose Orpheus. He’s the one who taught me all about music, to begin with. When I asked him about his name, he told me all about Orpheus and how he was the greatest musician whose music could even move Hades to tears.”
“Have you ever read about Orpheus?” Saxon said.
“Not until I got those books from the Epilogue,” Octave retorted, “and those were pretty different from the stories Orpheus told me.”
“What makes you think his mythos is Orpheus?” Elly inquired.
Saxon debated how much to share but ultimately concluded that the more they knew the better. “I got my hands on some of Midas’ files. Looking through them, I was surprised to see Octave listed in the database, and doubly so when they had his mythos listed as Orpheus when he didn’t know it himself.”
“When I was at school, some guy from Midas came around and encouraged anyone who was an avatar to apply for some program,” Octave recalled. “Gave it a shot, but I never got in.”
“Midas would still assess your mythos as a potential candidate,” Elly said. “They’ve got some strong avatars meant for fishing out what your mythos is and what it does.”
“Wait!” Octave exclaimed. “If it listed what my mythos does, then did it say if my music forces people to dance?”
“No,” Saxon answered, “it didn’t.”
“So then you know it wasn’t me,” Octave asserted.
“Not necessarily,” Saxon countered. “Something strange is happening in Fable.”
“Well that’s vague and ominous,” Elly remarked jokingly.
Saxon sighed. “Right now it’s just a theory, but I think somebody has found a way to alter an avatar’s mythos and has been using it to change the manifestations of mythoi. Why they are doing that is beyond me, however?”
“Do you think it was the dude with the badge?” Octave asked.
“There was someone with a badge?” Elly inquired.
“Right before Octave’s mythos changed he met with somebody who had an FMPD badge,” Saxon informed Elly. “I don’t know if they are working alone, but I suspect they are the one responsible for altering Octave’s mythos to make it force people to dance.”
“You gotta find this guy!” Octave stated.
“Working on it,” Saxon said.
“Got a plan?” Elly asked.
“Need to talk to some people,” Saxon said. “I need to build rapport with my new partner Lya.”
“Aren’t all FMPD members suspects?” Elly questioned.
“There are a few I trust, and as for Lya, she wasn’t a member when Octave had his meeting,” Saxon responded, “so she wouldn’t have had a badge.”
“Anybody outside the FMPD?” Octave asked.
“I have a lot of connections,” Saxon assured Octave. “Tomorrow, I’m gonna try and grab lunch with my friend Eddi. The dude knows more about mythoi than anyone I know. Hopefully, he can shed some light on if the whole altering thing is even possible.”
“You could even ask him about Octave’s mythos,” Elly suggested.
“Would you?” Octave asked.
“No problem,” Saxon said. “That’s all for later. Right now I need to find a way to get some of this information to the FMPD.”
“Can’t you just report it yourself?” Octave questioned naively. “I mean you work there.”
“You think he got covered in blood, acquiring the information legally?” Elly asked rhetorically.
“That’s a fair point,” Octave acknowledged.
“I’m gonna need a way to leak this information slowly, and believably,” Saxon said.
“Sounds like you have something in mind,” Elly remarked.
Saxon smiled. “Well, it just so happens that I recently became acquainted with a very good reporter.”