“Caw!” A cry roused me from my sleep, though it did little to help the pounding headache in the back of my head. It was a bit weird waking up with a headache for once. Usually, Quick Healing took care of it before I had to deal with it.

I groaned as my eyes popped open and I sat up in bed. I rubbed at my eyes harshly, displacing some goop that collected on my chrome one. A yawn broke through-

I startled back under my covers, one hand reaching for the gun under my pillow as movement flittered into my room. It was fast, too fast. Just as my hand wrapped around the handle of my pistol, time slowed down-

My body froze up as the movements stopped just on my bed. It was a crow. A fairly large crow, I think, but a crow nonetheless. Six glowing red eyes sat across its head, its pupil and sclera lost in the warm glow. Dark oily feathers covered its body, almost like an oil spill reflecting the sun. The bird approached hesitantly, cocking its ear up at me.

”Cawww~?” It softly cried, turning over on its back as it showed off its plumage as if trying to act cute. Its eyes widened a tone as it stared up at me slightly as if it would start crying at any moment.

”What are you, a cat?” Just what was going on- Oh… Corvid. Did the Perk summon a crow? It had six eyes, so it was definitely a sprite of some kind. The sprites I’ve seen all had four eyes though? Only Crow himself had eight. Was this Corvid a higher-tier sprite? Is that even a thing? It had a name, which was something every other sprite I'd seen so far lacked. Was that it?

”Meow~” The black beast's beak opened, creating a sound it definitely shouldn’t have been able to. It used its wings to push towards me, still lying on its back and showing its dark plumage.

Did it- did it want me to pet it? Is that a thing? Do birds even like being petted? I thought that was something cats and dogs- ah, it did meow though… Crow. Come out. Let’s talk about your subordinate here. Ah, unless this was the infamous ‘birdbrain’.

The crow hooked one of its claws—no, those were definitely razor-sharp talons—onto the blanket over my leg and effortlessly pivoted up, forcing its feathered head under my hand. “Meow meow~!”

I hesitantly stroked its feathers, finding them to be surprisingly soft and cool to the touch. And so, that’s how part of my morning went. I just sat there as my brain brokenly tried to figure out what was happening while the species-confused crow, Corvid probably, took advantage of me with its occasional meows.

As I rubbed its head, I stared down at the back of my hand. My memories of last night were faint, but I could’ve sworn I got a-

As if summoned by me just thinking about it, an expertly done tattoo of a crow faded into existence on the back of my hand. Corvid tapped a wing onto it a couple of times, and looked proud of himself. I stared down at the tattoo, flicking on Aetherial Perception to catch a rather strong current of the Aether flowing through it.

Not how I thought I’d get a tattoo… is it permanent? Can I just, like, vanish it like I can with the canteen? Be gone, tattoo!

The tattoo of a crow faded back underneath my skin. With it gone, the flowing Aether also faded significantly. The undercurrent was still there, but I wouldn’t be able to pinpoint it if I didn’t know exactly where the tattoo was.

“Caw~!” The crow sprite gave one last call then disappeared as quickly as it arrived. After I stopped petting it, the thing jumped off my bed with a determined look, stalked off a distance, and flew up. My Aether senses tingled just in time to watch it tear a hole through space and disappear.

I checked the Perk for Corvid a few more times to see if anything changed or if I could glean any new information from it but to no avail. I’d just have to wait and see. It was a really bizarre Perk in the first place, to the point I didn’t even know what to expect from it. Surely it wouldn’t be a waste though, right?

It wouldn’t be. It couldn’t be. No way Crow betrayed my trust just like that, right? Where was the honor amongst thieves?! Surely I just haven't yet seen its effects... I refused to admit it was a waste of a Perk and I’d gotten screwed over by the only avian I thought I could trust. Though, the bird was cool I guess.

That being said, there was an Animal Handling Skill that I noted down when I had a Skill Point last time. Maybe it was worth trying to get? I wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but the eidolons and sprites should count as animals, right? I mean, they were animals, I just wasn’t sure if they counted the same way non-aetherial animals did. If it could increase their favorability of me in even just the slightest, it’d pay off. They were the ones paying- helping me grow.

Maybe I should've gotten that Trait back then… what was it called? Beloved by Beasts? Something like that. If it worked on the creatures of the aether, then it would be way better than the majority of the options on that list. Combo it with Magus? Potentially a really good combo. Maybe in another life.

Speaking of Traits, I followed my typical morning routine and checked up on that lab that held the Aether egg. I’d been hard stalking the place ever since I first became aware of it, but the more I saw the less I wanted to break into it. At least, not yet. They definitely had daemons and Netrunners on staff considering the state of the place. It would be infinitely harder to get into than anywhere else I’d broken into.

I had some rough plans to get into the place, but most of them were reliant on getting Advent’s Blackout tech hooked up to my armor, which in turn needed money for a printer… joy. Maybe I should look into where my Squire paycheck was going? Hmm…

First, though, I had a good-paying gig up and running. I just need to find out what parent corporation was puppeting the shell companies. As long as it wasn’t a megacorp, which it shouldn’t be since they definitely all had their own ‘asset recovery’ teams, or a large corp, it should be manageable.

As for finding the parent company? It wouldn’t be too, too hard. Just very time-consuming. I’d never done this type of thing before, but I had some thoughts on how to get it done.

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My first thought was just to hire it out to a Netrunner for a fraction of my pay. It’d be way faster that way. I just didn’t know any Netrunners nor was I necessarily willing to shell out good Rayn to save a bit of leg work.

First things first, check them out on the Net. From there, I could bounce around their registration and other official documents to pull apart any inconsistencies or anything that stood out-

Ah wait… could that work? I’d save on legwork and not have to pay anyone… no way it could be that simple though, right?

With more than a small dose of doubt in my mind, I picked up my phone.

— — —

I tested out my Blue Crusade gear, looking over a lot of it as I walked to the department's front doors. Since I was headed in this direction anyway, I stopped by the Blue Crusade gym/megacomplex and picked up all my gear.

From what I could see, they were brand new. There wasn’t a speck or smudge on them, at least when I picked them up. The disgusting blood-soaked cloth with torn sleeves was nowhere to be found. Instead, everything looked as if it had been freshly made. I’ve gotta say, that old grandma down in the basement really knew her stuff.

It was a bit reassuring to have my gear back on as I walked into the place and headed for the Inquisitor’s office. Yep, this was my grand plan. Shove off the work to the Crusade. They- or I guess I should start using we since I was back around the meatheads- had a full tech department waiting for me to use and abuse. Gotta get my money’s worth somehow, right?

I simply sent the list to the Inquisitor and asked him to send it over and find out who the parent company is. As for the reason? A lead that probably wouldn’t go anywhere. Considering that’s how most of his current investigation was, he didn’t hesitate to send it over. I was hoping he’d send it to me over the phone, but then he crushed those hopes and dreams as brutally as he usually did and asked me to come in.

It was a while since I was injured, so I didn’t quite remember what was wrong with me. To be fair, I never really thought too much about my injuries since I healed so quickly. I think my arm was hurt. Hmm… and maybe my leg? A leg injury seems like a common enough injury, right?

I stole an arm brace on my way over and put my… was it my left or right arm? Hmm… Well, it was one of them. I slung my arm in the brace and forced a halting hitch into my step as if I was still hurt. Then, I added in a sprinkle of some other injured Cues just to be safe. The occasional short, sharp gasp for air. The occasional twitch to my eyes as if I was enduring pain. And to top it off, a forced blank face, though with a grimace hidden underneath.

And just like that, I found myself arriving in front of his door in no time. For better or worse was still up in the air. I knocked on it a couple times. A few moments later, his chilling, emotionless, brutally cold voice called through the synthwood. “Come in.”

I stepped into his office, finding the good Inquisitor half passed out in his chair as he idly spun in circles. It was one of those days, huh? “Sir.”

The Inquisitor’s sleek silver mask faced my direction as his spinning stopped. The enchantments of the mask started to take effect once more, though I was more than used to them by now. The momentary flight of guilt and paranoia throughout every facet of my mind barely registered as I looked around the mess of his office. It looked like some crazy drunk tried to organize but couldn’t quite see straight enough.

He yawned deeply before lazily passing me a folder. “Here… you shaid you got a lead?”

Surprise, he’s drunk again… or did he never stop drinking? I grabbed the folder and slipped it into my bag. “Chek. A few papers I remember seeing down there. Probably nothing, but it doesn’t hurt to look.”

The Inquisitor stood up and stretched slightly. “Eshpecially after almosht everything down there mysteriously caught fire when we shent another team down.... Anyway, you shtill injured? And yet working on the case shtill?”

“Ha ha… you know me… just love working…” I shuffled back towards the door as he pulled a flask from his desk.

He eyed me, then looked down at his flask. “Just water.”

Right, like I’d believe that. He took a long drink from the flask. Just when I thought he’d come up for air, he raised a finger to me and kept gulping down the liquid. Was this kind of blatant disregard for the Blue Crusade really fine, dear Inquisitor? What if your boss comes-

The Inquisitor stumbled, splashing what smelled like whiskey all over me as his flask flew from his hand and disappeared perfectly into my coat pocket. He barely managed to catch himself, using his hands to brace on the desk just as the door opened up.

I looked back to see the entirely black-clothed Blue Crusade Commander enter the room just as the Inquisitor looked down at the papers as if he were in deep thought. Although shadows covered the entirety of his face in an impenetrable veil of darkness, I could almost feel the gleeful smile as the commander looked at his hard-working Inquisitor.

The Commander’s voice sounded far too happy as he stepped into the room. ”Ah, my favorite Crusader!”

Was this- was this okay? This kind of blatant workplace discrimination surely went against several sets of rules, no? Whatever happened to a fair and equal working environment? For that matter, why could I feel his eyes looking at me as if I was a bug?

”Ah, Commander… I was just pouring over some documents.” The Inquisitor said casually as he stood up. I raised a wet arm and sniffed at the whiskey. Not the only thing he was pouring.

”With one of your squires, I see.” The way he said that word sent a chill down my spine. I could almost feel the loathing on it. Sir! I’m sure I’ve never even met you before! Why the hate?!

The Blue Crusade Commander, clothed entirely black just like the last time I saw him, took a step forward. A slightly exaggerated huff of air came from him. “Are you- are you drunk?”

Finally! Someone else noticed! I felt like crying tears of happiness. Surely, the Inquisitor would be reprehended. Or! Or with any luck, fired. Then I could fade away from the Crusade as if I was never here-

“Squire, turn in your badge. This kind of behavior is unfitting of the Crusade.” The Commander said with righteous fury radiating in his voice.

How did this turn around onto me- right, that bastard doused me in whiskey! Wait, this is my chance! I withdrew my badge and tossed it to him. “I’ve disappointed the Crusade with my unruly behavior-“

“Shir, go eashy on her. My shquire was valiantly injured on the job and is shtill in recovery.” Inquisitor Ligh sighed deeply as if it pained him to see me this way. “Although thish behavior ish unfitting of the Crushade, she’sh shupposed to be off right now. I shelfishly called her in to talk about shome thingsh.”

Now you admit being drunk on the job isn't right? What the hell is happening here? And stop defending me you useless waste of air! How hasn’t he realized you’re the one slurring harder than a whole bar of drunks!? “Sir, I-“

”Ah, so it's like that… fine. But I’ll be watching you closely squire…” The Commander’s shadowed face seemed to grow several lumens darker as he stared at me. His voice also sounded oddly resentful as he tossed back the badge.

I unwillingly grabbed the badge, failing to stop my glare from heading to the Inquisitor in time. ”Sir, I-“

”Go ahead and leave us, squire. Don’t let me catch even a hint of alcohol on you in the future, or even the bestest Inquisitor in the entire Crusade won’t be able to stop me from firing you!”

I was too frozen to even move as my brain struggled to catch up with the rest of the world. I woodenly turned towards the door, the whiskey fumes starting to get to me as I opened it up.

”Ah, Shquire Ichima?” I hollowly turned back to face my scumbag Inquisitor. He spoke in the most serious and sober voice I’ve heard from him yet. “Don’t forget to return that some other time.”

Although the mask covered his eyes, for some reason I just knew he was lasered onto my coat pocket. More accurately, the contraband flask I was carting off right under his boss’s nose. He’d be lucky if I didn’t crush it into smithereens after this fiasco. “Sir, I-“

”Leave us, Squire!” The Commander ordered sternly.

My brain felt far too broken to even deal with the rest of the world as I turned around and defeatedly walked off.