In a spare room, several women had disgusted looks on their faces as a strange creature was placed on the table before them by two estrazi servants. As Lou demanded, Little Water returned the following evening, just as the sun was starting to set. It hadn’t taken too long to retrieve the corpse but given the importance of what she was carrying, Little Water decided to wait to limit the chance of trouble.
On their arrival, Lou directed her to a spare room, claiming she didn’t want a corpse stinking up any areas of the estate they used regularly. The table was already arranged when they arrived and, soon enough, a small audience was gathered around it. Little Water gave the signal and their prize was displayed.
Thankfully, the body hadn’t deteriorated while stored. Little Water took precautions but sometimes, manabeast reacted in unexpected ways. The flesh had lost some of its luster, no longer looking quite so wet. The strange purple fluid it leaked had dried on it, creating a crust that flaked onto the table when it was set down. For a moment, Little Water wondered if she was making a mistake. There was far too much of the Outsider’s sign in the room. There may not be any meaning to it, but her mind couldn’t help whispering that she was asking for trouble.
But it was too late for superstitions. While Lou was having a hard time looking at the corpse, the rest of the audience had recovered and stepped forward. The two with the most interest were the purple woman and a green man. They practically leaned over it, much closer than even Little Water would dare to get. Being dead didn’t automatically make it harmless.
“What do you think?” the purple woman asked.
“Fleshcraft, undoubtedly. The presence of eyelids suggest it had sight, but the eyes were removed. That nose belongs to a burrower or underwater creature, certainly not a canid. Many small alterations to the muscle.” A hand coated in the green glow of physical mana touched the creature’s head. “No signs of a reproductive system. A construct.”
“It doesn’t look very dangerous,” Alana said, stepping around his broad shoulders to get a look. Hanging over her shoulders was a damp towel and, despite her bravado, she gripped the ends tightly, undermining her nonchalant attitude.
“Constructs are usually made for one purpose,” the green man continued to explain. “Specialized for it. This one…I would say tracking. It has little agility, but good endurance. Two stomachs, an abnormally large heart. Reduced brain. Hm.”
“What about the blood? Is it poisonous or something?”
“Not just blood. Something mixed in with it, produced by a strange organ. There is also another strange organ. Unlike anything I’ve seen.”
“Nothing you’ve seen?” the purple woman snapped. “Original designs?”
“Mm. It will take several tests to determine function.”
She frowned, straightening and looking over her shoulder at Lou. “You all have a problem.”
“I know. I’m about to throw up my lunch.” Kierra, one of the agent’s mates, stepped away from the table to rub Lou’s back, fingers glowing with the same green mana as the man. Relations? That could mean that the purple woman was her mother. Little Water relaxed at the realization. That meant it was unlikely that she was an agent. It was relieving to know that she wasn’t in the middle of an Outsider conspiracy.
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“Someone making something Orum doesn’t recognize isn’t simply skilled. They are brilliant and experienced. Whatever that thing is—" A graceful hand waved at the corpse. “It’s creative.”
Lou’s eyes slipped shut as she enjoyed her mate’s attention. “Creative is bad because…”
“Someone with power is an annoyance. Someone with power and experience is a threat. Someone with power, experience, and ingenuity? They are an unknown threat, which is several times worse.”
“Not completely unknown.” Talia stepped around the purple woman, her face expressionless as she looked at the corpse. “Criminals give themselves away with their means. The why behind their methods. If this is a tracker, then it means that whoever sent it wanted to find someone on this estate but chose not to use more mundane methods. Excepting the reason they are simply insane, perhaps they don’t have access to a trustworthy sense of information. Or a less involved way of obtaining it.”
Alana perked up. “Many reasons why someone wouldn’t be allowed into a city. They could be wanted criminals. Could be their camp is so deep in the wilds that it would be too much of a hassle to travel themselves. Could also be broke.”
The purple woman scoffed. “Someone who can do this isn’t without means.”
“Unless this is all they can do. It’s impressive, sure, but I don’t imagine there’s much demand for living horror shows in the kingdom. I admit it’s unlikely, but we shouldn’t immediately jump to the conclusion that there’s an inhuman threat lurking about.”
“But there is.” Lou opened her eyes. “A known inhuman fleshcrafter right here in the kingdom. One with ideas of organs beyond this world.”
Alana’s eyes furrowed. “You don’t mean Aggro?”
“Unless there’s another flesh abomination lurking within our borders, yeah, I do.”
“No way.”
“It is unlikely,” Talia said, backing Alana’s clear disbelief. “Aggro has been dormant for two decades. Its minions haven’t extended a single limb beyond the territory it negotiated for. Besides that, it has plenty of connections. To the crown, to the merchants that trade with it, and probably more. It certainly doesn’t lack funds. It could buy our location. Or learn it through gossip.”
“Unless it didn’t know it was looking for us,” Kierra mused. “Little Water observed it following a scent. This Aggro might not have known who the scent belonged to.”
“What she said,” Lou said, grimace returning. “I know none of us have been to Fortitude lately. That means Aggro has broken its treaty with the kingdom and is operating outside of Fortitude. Which, come on, surprises no one, right? Better question, which one of us managed to get caught up in the thing’s plans?”
“Is this a satisfactory offering?” Little Water asked before they could be further distracted by their musings. While their conversation had worrying implications, it was another thing beyond the estrazi’s purview. If there was a problem, she imagined the people in the room were more than equipped to handle it without her sticking her snout into it.
Lou turned to her. “Depends. It’s not exactly dangerous or surprising that a powerful faction is keeping an eye on us. If we can’t learn more, this thing is useless.”
Little Water frowned but another voice spoke for her.
“I don’t know about your deal, but this creature is very valuable,” Orum said, his hand still on the corpse. “It is a good thing to study. I will also be able to divine more of its purpose with time. If there is any threat in it, I’ll find it.”
“Hah. Well, someone seems pleased. Supposed that means you’ve earned your reward, heh.” Little Water’s tail flicked with excitement, but she restrained it quickly. Lou smiled anyway. “Alright, you get your conversation.”
Little Water bowed. “Thank you.”
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t thank me, because I’m pretty sure you’re going to be disappointed. This is a whole lot of effort for basically nothing…are you sure you’re not in love with him?”