Aaron’s eyes burst open as air was forcefully injected into his lungs. He was still falling but was now falling up as he gasped, coughed, and wheezed, clawing his way up from the asphalt. The daylight burned the dwarf’s eyes as he wildly looked about, squinting and trying to figure out where he was.
“Wood yu’s like at that.”
It was Corey’s voice—Aaron recognized that no-good, core-rotted wood elf’s voice anywhere. Brick walls, concrete everywhere, too much sun, he was back in the city. Judging by the distance between him and Corey, Aaron guessed his foray into the unknown afterlife did not take the same amount of time as the time that had elapsed in the living lands.
4 of 4 Preferred Skills pending selection…
The notification popped up as one of Corey’s goons turned and marched up to the dwarf. Aaron hurriedly equipped the first two skills he could think of: Crackshot and Dodge.
Aaron (Dodge) vs. Boomas Goon – 6 vs. 4 Aaron succeeds.
Rolling into the goon, Aaron took the elf out at the legs and caused the goon to fall over. A quick tussle followed by a successful strength check found Aaron on top with one hand on the goon’s throat. With his other, Aaron drew his grandfather’s hand cannon and pressed the barrel into the goon’s face. The street elf remained still and did not move as Aaron shifted his anger to Corey. “Since when did you become a red mage?!”
Corey’s eyes grew wide. “Yu’s saw it?”
Aaron pointed the revolver at Corey. “Don’t go milling about with me. Are you a red mage?”
The skinny street elf stood with hands on hips and smiled, unperturbed by Aaron’s hand cannon. “Relax, boyos. We’s gots a brutha ‘ere. Welcome, Brutha Frimslaya, to our ‘umble abode.”
Aaron’s aim faltered, though the goon underneath did not move, and Corey’s expression did not change. “You’re saying I’m a brother?”
“Aye, brutha,” Corey clapped his hands as he spun around and spoke. “Yu’s seen the vision, and the vision spoke to yu’s, aye?”
“Er, yeah…” Aaron carefully got up from the goon on the ground, who was keeping his open hands by his head.
Corey skipped to the wall and opened the hidden steel door to the Boomer hideout. With a smile and a wave of his hand, Corey extended an invitation to Aaron, “After yu’s.”
“Corey,” the dwarf lowered his weapon as he stood next to the street elf. “You’re acting weirder than a mercurial alchemist. What in the depths is going on? Are you a red mage?”
“No, brutha,” Corey smiled while flexing the fingers of his raised hand. His hand did not glow. “I’m no red mage; I just pick’d up a fews tricks from them buggas.”
“So you’re with the red mages?”
“Aren’t we all, mate?” Corey held his arms out wide, extending them to the world. “We’s all just tryin to fig’ya out ‘ow to get through this core-rott’d life.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
“Wit a question like that, I donna think yu’s know what yu’s means.” Corey handed Aaron his shaded spectacles. “I was goin to keep ‘em. But, since yu’s back, it’s only right yu’s get ‘em back.”
Aaron stuffed his long-bore revolver back in his coat pocket and retrieved his shaded spectacles. Rubbing his eyes and placing them on his head helped make the world a little more monochrome and easier to deal with. He sighed under the weight of his vision but focused on the present. “I need to save Tommy.”
“Aye, I know. Yu’s can’t; but ‘can’t’ neva stopp’d yu’s befor, ‘as it?”
“I need your help, Corey.”
“I would not’ta given yu’s ‘elp befor. ‘Oweva, yu’s a Vision now—a Vision dwarf! If there’s one for bettin’ on, it’s a Vision. But ev’ry bet is needin’ an edge. What’d yu’s need, brutha?”
They had traversed down small metal stairs with a wobbling rail and entered what appeared to be a large basement warehouse. Several Boomers were bustling about and between the rows of makeshift shelving, which seemed haphazardously placed throughout the room. Some pieces of furniture were littered about, as well as some electronic interfaces. Where there was an interface, there was a signal. Aaron stroked his ragged beard as a smile crept up the corner of his lips. “First, I need to tap into your wifi signal.”
Corey led the dwarf through the hideout to a small enclave of old, overstuffed chairs. The chairs were different from everything else in the room as they had an antique appearance and had been repaired by unskilled hands many times over the years. As the street elf directed Aaron to an overstuffed loveseat, the dwarf quickly equipped his Hacking and Investigation skills. Popping open his Hacklet, he jumped on the wifi signal as Corey directed one of his goons to grab a healing elixir.
“Do you have an elixir for Mental strikes?” Aaron asked.
“Sorry, brutha. We’s only got the physical types. ‘Oweva, I can get yu’s some otha magic potions if yu’s interested.”
Logging into the wifi, Aaron quickly set up a few daemons and firewalls before hacking his way back into the police network. “Yeah, I’ll need whatever you can give me.”
“What’s your plan, brutha?”
Aaron – Hacking skill 10 vs. Difficult DT – SUCCESS
Found her! Jackie was in a neutralization cell next to Swift. It would have been an odd coincidence if there were more neutralization cells, but the precinct only had two of them. Aaron scanned the building schematics, looking for the best way into the building as he formulated a plan on the spot. “I found Jackie.”
“What?”
“Jackie. I found her. I can get her and Tommy out of their cells, but I need to get in the precinct for the release order to look legit.”
“‘Old on. Yu’s serious? Do yu’s knows the heat that’ll be on us?”
“Nothing a little ICE can’t handle.”
“‘Ow, mate? ‘Ow’s yu’s thinkin’ o’ doin' this?”
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Another successful hack through the precinct network gave Aaron access to all the officers working there. Also, it indicated there was movement happening. The tribal law enforcement had been notified of Swift’s arrest, and their arrival was listed as pending—time was of the essence here. A quick skim through the list of precinct officers and a grin formed within the dwarf’s beard as he saw the perfect name to frame. “You remember that blue noob who interrupted us earlier today on the street, the one Tommy knocked out?”
“Aye, I thinks so.”
Twisting his body around, the dwarf showed his Hacklet display to Corey, which contained a picture of the police officer. “That is Officer Sean McGrady. Newly graduated from cop school and recently transferred to this precinct due to, uh, personality conflicts, it says here.”
“Oi, that’s the cherry blueberry! That fuckin’ noob was a real stain on my street. What yu’s doin’ wit ‘im?”
“A noob cop is the perfect cred target. Half the time, any new in an organization won’t really know what they’re doing. So, I’ll clone his credentials to get Tommy, Jackie, and Swift released. When they see McGrady provided the order, they’ll ask how he got authorization, why he did it, etc. While McGrady will have no clue how any of this happened—and they’ll accept that because he’s new.”
“Sounds green, mate. Do yu’s thing and fuckin’ screw the blue-noob-berry.”
“I could copy credentials from here, but the copy will leave a digital smear that any halfway decent forensicist will recognize. To keep the credentials clean, I’ll need to use them on-site.” Someone handed Aaron a healing elixir, and the dwarf chugged it back in one gulp. “Ack! That’s nasty—like drinking slurried brimstone. Anyway, what this means is I’ll need to break into the precinct and use a certain officer’s credentials to create a release order for Tommy, Swift, and Jackie.”
“Wait, you mentioned Swift again. Oo’s Swift?”
“Stay with me, Corey. Once the release order goes through, I’ll need you and a couple of your boys to receive the released trio at the door. Upon receipt, all of you get in a car and get gone before anyone knows what’s good.”
“Ah-ah, ‘old the tit tree’s milk, mate. Yu’s expectin’ me ‘n me boyos to waltz in the coppas ‘ome, take yu’s ‘n mines, ‘n waltz out like it’s Sprin’tide Eve?”
“I don’t expect you to waltz, but yeah, that’s the gist.”
“Fuckin’ tree knobs, mate. That ain’t gonna work.”
“It will work because I can clone temp credentials for you and your crew while in the precinct.”
“N what about, yu’s? ‘Ow’s a Vision like yu’s getting in ‘n outta there?”
The dwarf released a long, controlled breath as he reviewed the schematics a second time. This was the real trick of the operation, and it seemed like his only real option. Aaron looked up from his Hacklet, “You wouldn’t happen to have a shrinking potion handy, would you?”
Corey smiled. “Yu’s in luck, my Vision brutha. I ‘appens to ‘ave one ‘em potions in the back.”
“Do you always have just one of everything in the back?”
“It’s the biz, mate. Eh, yu’s like a hitta dust? A trip for the road, ‘n on the ‘ouse, since yu’s tryin’ to ‘elp Jackie.”
Something in Aaron's brain clicked, and his finger missed a few keystrokes on the Hacklet. The dwarf paused as his brain was suddenly empty from Corey’s invite. His fingers hovered over the keys of the Hacklet, trying to remember what he was working on. Nothing was ever really on the house, but a hit of dust would really help right about now…
“A’yo! Gimme brutha ‘ere a sprig o’ dust ‘n a bitty potion.”
Aaron looked to his left and right—was he sweating? Not sure if that was sweat, but it did feel like he was salivating, a lot. He cursed the black depths as he struggled to remember what in the world’s core he was doing.
“Yeah, brutha. I knows yu’s was goin’ clean for Tommy, but ‘e’ll understand. This dust’ll get yu’s brain on the right think.”
Tommy. Aaron quickly rapped on the keys of his Hacklet and pulled Tommy’s police report on screen. His friend’s mug shot consumed half the screen, and Aaron sat still, staring into the island elf’s eyes. Those deep, dark eyes seemed to contain the darkness of the oceans—is that what the oceans looked like after their long kiss with the setting sun? The darkness held both thrill and terror for those who would dare adventure into their depths. Aaron couldn’t remember the color of his own eyes, and the dwarf wondered if any depth could be seen in his eyes. The dwarf held the side of his Hacklet screen and whispered, “I’m coming for you, brother.”
“‘Ere yu’s go, my Vision. A sprig ‘n a bit. My treats to yu’s.”
The dwarf slowly dragged his gaze away from the Hacklet screen and looked at the end table to his side. A small potion bottle was on the table, next to a vial of dust, small enough to contain one hit. Aaron tried licking his lips but suddenly found his mouth dry, though he was definitely covered in a sheen of sweat at this point. He glanced back at the deep, dark eyes of Tommy and could almost see the large elf talking to him from the screen, “Hey, buddy… I need you to do me a favor…”
“Eh, yu’s good, mate? Yu’s lookin’ more white than usual.”
“Ah, yeah,” Aaron tried to loosen his collar but found that his top two shirt buttons were unbuttoned and the collar couldn’t be looser. Using his non-Hacklet hand, he fumbled with his coat pockets. “I, ah, yeah. I’m good.”
Corey watched Aaron alternate between reaching for the contents on the table, to checking if his pockets were still part of his trenchcoat. The dwarf’s mouth slowly opened and closed as if he intended to say something, but words did not escape those empty lips. The street elf carefully watched Aaron mentally stumble again and again before suddenly swatting the dwarf’s hand away from the table. Aaron snapped out of his trance and glared angrily at Corey while the Boomers’ lieutenant took the table’s contents and put them in one of his pockets. “Yu’s do what yu’s do. I’ll hold these til yu’s ready for ‘em.”
Aaron wiped his face hard as if trying to peel the trance off his features. He nodded to the elf and returned his focus to the Hacklet.
“So, we’s goin’ like unda’cova coppas?” Corey stretched out across his sofa, languid and nonchalant. “Like street boyos on the escort?”
“I think it will be more convincing if all of you were in uniform.”
“We’s ain’t gots no uniforms, mate.”
Aaron finished a few more keystrokes on the Hacklet. “You do now. Just located a cleaner’s where some uniforms are freshly laundered and waiting to be picked up. You and your boys get those uniforms while I make my way through the precinct. If all goes according to plan, we’ll be done and out in under an hour. Where’s your phone?”
“Nah-ah, mate,” Corey waved a chiding finger. “I ain’t fallin’ for that again.”
“That wasn’t my fault. You should have cut the account and run like I said.”
“Aaron, Vision brutha, it’s too soon, a’right?”
“Fine, give me something where I can write the address for you. Also, you got another one of those elixirs?”
“Yu’s got the monies?”
Aaron stopped and looked at Corey, his face hard as stone.
Corey looked around the room aimlessly, then let out a loud, trilling, repetitive laugh. Aaron had forgotten how annoying the elf’s laugh was. “‘Corse I gots anutha elixa. I’m just messin' wit yu’s, bra.”
Aaron returned to working on his Hacklet as Corey waved a couple more of his boys over and gave out orders in hushed, elven words. Another elixir was given to the dwarf, who took a moment to examine the contents suspiciously. “You got any more for the road?”
“That’s me last one, brutha. Make it count.”
Shooting back the elixir did little to avert its acridness. His face turned reflexively bitter, prompting a laugh from Corey. “You got a chaser or something?” Aaron asked while trying to work the taste out of his jaw.
“Nah, mate. Yu’s donna wanna chase that. Yu’s got to feel the healing notes and take it straight for the healin’ to work.”
“You need to take some brewing lessons. That stuff tastes like shite.”
Corey laughed again, then jumped up from his chair. “Me boyos ‘n me gots to move. Yu’s ready?”
“Yeah,” Aaron stood and closed his Hacklet. “I’m ready. Drop me off at the precinct, then go pick up your uniforms. Tommy, Jackie, and Swift will be ready for you to pick up by the time you get back.”
The dwarf wrote the cleaners’ address on a piece of paper while Corey spoke, “Yo, dwarf. Yu’s knows, I neva thought I’d see Jackie again, yu’s know? So, like, this means a lot to me. I wanna yu’s to knows, I hold no debts for yu’s.”
Aaron handed the paper over. “Thanks, Corey. Glad to hear you’ve cleared my debts.”
“‘Oweva,” Corey continued while carefully placing the shrinking potion in one breast pocket of Aaron’s trenchcoat and the small vial of dust in the other breast pocket. “If yu’s canna free Jackie, ‘n she’s stayin’ in there, then donna show yu’s face, eva. If I see this ugly mug o’ yu’s befor Jackie, then Imma ‘ave to remove this face o’ yu’s from yu’s head.”
“You’re a real glow stone, Corey.”
The street elf laughed, saluted, and then whistled his gang into movement. “Let’s make our turf green, boyos!”
Several gang members hustled throughout the hideout, running up and down stairs, grabbing various items strewn about the area, and exiting at different locations. Aaron watched all the movement and raised an eyebrow at Corey. “This seems like a lot more activity than we need.”
“There’s more goin’ on than yu’s, Frimslaya. Yu’s just happen to be goin’s on the same time as us.”
Adjusting his shaded spectacles, the dwarven investigator looked down at the screen of his closed Hacklet. It felt too convenient that Corey had this much activity happening right in this moment. Also, Corey was never one to hand out merch, not with some expectation of payment to come. Aaron knew something bigger was at play, but he didn’t have time to focus on that. The Hacklet displayed the time, a reminder that Swift would not be long in the cell before the tribal police came to extradite him. He nodded to Corey, “Let’s go.”