The two of them ran under the ebbing light in silence, the passage of time marked by the dwindling number of working folk around them.

And the emergence of the seedy monsters that lived in the crevices and alleyways of those Backstreets.

Foreigner had twice been turned around by the sheer immensity of the City, wondering how Foxtail had kept the both of them on path with all of the meandering alleyways and corridors. Luckily they were not under threat of imminent attack from those Sweepers, as the Evening Bell hadn’t been rung yet.

Eventually, he found it, the familiar unkempt signage of the Wired Oceans company, and knocked on the door before entering the establishment. The chaos within the store shelves and dust that lingered on long forgotten items gave him a sense of comfort as this at least was a place where time stood still. Foreigner waved Itzhak in, surprised that a man of his stature was able to fit within the door frame at all.

“Jin, it’s Foreigner. I’ve brought a guest with me.” Foreigner yelled past the counter into the curtain beyond. And then he realized with a bit of embarrassment that the room was soundproof on the other end, to avoid disturbances and outburst like that. He rang the bell that sat on the counter and in a moment, his ally and contractor came out, a neutral and distant expression on their face like always.

“I see she went too far. And forgot my gift wherever she left it.” Jin stated, looking at the still slumped over Foxtail. They turned to Itzhak, “You can move her to the chair in the room behind the curtain. There should be space available for her there. Do you prefer coffee or tea?” Itzhak shook his head and walked inside the other room, single minded in his efforts to care for Foxtail. Jin walked over to a space behind the counter and pulled out a can of iced tea and a can of coffee, handing Foreigner the coffee can. “We have much to discuss.”

The two walked into the room and pulled out a couple of smaller chairs from the densely packed space. Itzhak stood, body rubbing up on papers and loose electronics with the slightest twitch of his muscles.

“I am not surprised that Little Fox has such strange acquaintances that aid her.” Itzhak smiled as he looked at the both of them. “And it would seem that I am among them. Tell me, what was she doing down in the arena today? She was angry, restless, dogged like a rabid beast just barely holding on.” Foreigner and Jin locked eyes with one another and Foreigner began to explain the turn of events that led them to the Blade Garden.

“And now we’re back here, pushed just a little further from square one if you would be kind and help us with this hodgepodge rescue operation.” Foreigner asked Itzhak, knowing quite well what the answer would be.

Itzhak slapped his bicep and gave them a thumbs up, “Point me where a skull needs to be cracked!” Jin cleared their throat and pulled out a white board and the invitation left in their care.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“There’s another front that we’ve pushed forward. I had mentioned before that the note was probably some form of geo-locator, and my experimentation bore out as much to that end.” Jin was becoming animated with the discussion, the distance in their eyes drawing closer and closer to the room they were standing in. “The function for assessing if an item is read or not suggests the kidnapper owns the master sheet, and likely has more functions than the limited selection here.” Itzhak was unable to follow along but nodded in acknowledgement of the revelation, however important it was. Foreigner took hold of the information and started to form a plan.

“If all we can do is make sure we can approach without being noticed, that would be best. It might mean she won’t be in her drop off location and might actually be with Peepers and your Meister.” Foreigner looked at Jin and saw that they were shaking their head to the contrary.

“I can’t remove the geo-location function without destroying the note itself. They ping at one another with a unique frequency, meaning I can’t create a dummy note either to shake her off our trail. Also, we cannot gamble on my Meister and muse being where the kidnapper is. Which meant I went with an alternative solution.” Jin pulled out a device, a round compass device with an antennae. “I cannot directly connect with the other notes frequency but I can scan the area for this frequency amidst the ambient waves and pinpoint their location that way. This doesn’t solve the issue of finding their victims but does solve the problem of maintaining the element of surprise.”

“And we don’t have any confirmation she’ll be nearby to them. Which is why we needed that rotten fuckers assistance to begin with…” Foreigner was exasperated with their situation.

Why don’t you take what you need? A seductive whisper crawled through the back of his mind, a familiar voice swimming underneath his skin. And these waters… the cracks widen enough for one of us… big fish to swim through… Foreigner was having trouble maintaining his balance at the request, nausea beginning to set in as he felt his body float.

“I was hoping we would have the help necessary to find the others but it seems that we were unsuccessful in that front. I’ll work through the night to figure something out. Please, allow yourselves the rest. Sleep within this facility or on the floor behind the counter. I will arrange what few pleasantries I have, although the girl will be taking the lion’s share of these items due to her beleaguered condition.” Jin moved with purpose through the stacks of trash and acquired pillows and blankets from the folds. Foxtail curled up in the long chair, seemingly content with the blanket and pillow placed over her. She looked at peace, the way a child her age should look, without a care in the world.

“We can take turns looking at the door, er,” Itzhak gestured to Foreigner, “What is your name again? I do not recall having heard it and I cannot address you as just ‘friend’ forever, no?”

“That’s another story entirely, Itzhak. Just call me Foreigner for now. I’ll be sure to give you a full rundown of my situation once all of this is over. Or we have the quiet moment to do so during our watch.” Foreigner replied.

“Say no more friend. Now rest. I will wake you when the shift begins.” Foreigner merely nodded in acknowledgement of the statement and allowed his body to fall to the side of the wall. His muscles ached with fatigue and his mind was delirious and foggy.

Rest…We have much to discuss… little sliver…