"Tell me more about Hobo Beard first." I say, "You told me that it was impossible for souls to grow further once someone reached maturity. And now there's a medical report proving the opposite."

The Voice responds, "Alleging, not proving. We have no way at present to ascertain whether or not what the medical report claims is true. Nevertheless, I repeat my earlier statement. To the best of my knowledge, it is impossible for a soul to grow once its bearer has reached maturity."

I ponder for a moment before saying, "But what you are saying would not hold up if those SOPO officers got a sudden increase in spirit strength as shown by the inconsistency in their gold braid. All of them are adults so such a boost should not be possible."

"Agreed." The Voice concedes, "That means one of two things has happened. First possibility, the SOPO officers you encountered at the arboretum were deliberately hiding their strength. They were an elite unit that had opted to masquerade as a group of regulars."

"And the second possibility?" I ask.

The Voice rasps, "Archmage Naiberg has managed to find a way to achieve what I had thought impossible. If this is indeed the case, regardless of whether or not he is working with Fate, we must get our hands on the research, or preferably, the man himself."

I raise an eyebrow, "Why this interest? Sore at being proven wrong?"

"Hardly." The Voice scoffs, "I am merely considering your interests, Transmigrator. I have examined your spirit core several times and have come no closer to reaching a solution as to how to separate Mr Gallant from you. If Archmage Naiberg can achieve what the medical report claims, he at the very least has a better understanding of souls than myself. His research could contain the data I need to crack the puzzle that you have posed to me."

I see. Moving against Naiberg would be in my best interests. In fact, given the lack of progress on The Voice's part on resolving the problem of Gallant's soul shard within me, sooner or later I would be compelled to take action in that direction. I am sorely tempted to tell The Voice that we should work on the Naiberg mission first, but there is another mission that's on a tighter time limit.

"Hernandez's job for us, that one has an expiry date, right?" I query.

'Yes." The Voice concurs, "The Matsui family are very close to total defeat at the hands of SOPO. The Commander does not have the political capital to survive such a debacle and he will be hung out to dry by his backers if matters degenerate to that level. I suggest aiding the Commander first so that he can provide us with support later."

I tap the laptop with my fingers contemplatively, "Did Hernandez get the Matsui to attack the URI as part of a P5 plot? An attempt by them to expand the interim administration zone?"

"Close." The Voice says, "Both the P5 and the Host were thrown off guard when Marshal St Clair successfully staked the Legion's claim to the von Amsterg territory. With their investment in the Hero looking increasingly less secure, the P5 is hungry for any gains they can seize in order to keep their place at the table for the great powers."

"So that means sending in the Matsui and ORPO as cat's paws to soften the URI up." I conclude, "But is ORPO really that reliable? I remember hearing talk sometime back about them being less than professional."

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

The Voice explains, "ORPO is a piranha swimming in a sea filled with sharks. They have no mages in their ranks and little favor with the Council. ORPO is regarded as a second rate force that is assigned duties that are not worthy of the more capable and glamorous SOPO. That does not mean ORPO is not dangerous. Their pervasive presence and overwhelming numbers in The City makes them at the very least, a formidable nuisance and an ally worth cultivating."

"So ORPO tags along with any shark that throws scraps their way then?" I remark.

"Yes." The Voice confirms, "As SOPO's prominence increased and ORPO was left in the cold, the Commander began to accept assistance from the Legion, and later the P5, to keep his force afloat. He had correctly suspected that the Council intended to disband ORPO in favor of the RAU, a force directly subordinated to SOPO."

RAU. Those riot cops I saw busting heads at the Squat. No wonder Hernandez jumped at the chance to discredit the Council and SOPO when he received The Voice's package of evidence regarding the money being siphoned out from the redevelopment project. Anything that puts SOPO and the Council in a spot is good news for ORPO. Given their circumstances, I doubt ORPO cares about the further ramifications of their antics.

If Hernandez is willing to help with dealing with the black site though, it made it worthwhile to at least hear the man out, ORPO's poor reputation not withstanding. If the price Hernandez demanded for his support was reasonable, there was no reason why we could not cooperate. There was also the added benefit of dumping a load of instability into the death route. Can't overlook the intangibles here.

"Alright. How do we go about contacting Hernandez then?" I ask.

"By calling his private residence of course." The Voice says smugly, "I believe the Commander is home right now. Please hold."

....

"Goddammit. You know what time it is now? This better be good." the tobacco ravaged voice snaps hoarsely over the earpiece.

"Commander sir." I say brightly, "Officer Doe reporting for duty." A long awkward silence is all that greets me.

Hernandez finally gathers his wits and answers, "Smart ass. Was looking for you the past few days. Had your fun? Ready to talk business?"

"Yeah." I drop the faux cheer and begin speaking seriously, "I was talking to the boss about the documents you gave me. You know what we want from you, but it all depends on what your price is."

Hernandez responds in a calm , calculating tone, "Funny. And I thought for a moment there that I was your boss. My price is simple. Number one, don't threaten my family again. Ever. You got that?"

"Fair enough." I grunt.

"Number two, I need you to do work for me. Violent work that's right up your alley." Hernandez continues, "Do enough to make me satisfied, and I will help you with floor 50 and let Alley go." Hernandez laughs at his bad pun and The Voice snorts derisively.

"One job for one favor." I respond.

"You joking?" Hernandez says, "Or have you forgotten that poor Alley is sitting in a cell waiting in vain for someone to rescue her?"

I roll my eyes at Hernandez's ridiculous threat, "I remember. The boss just doesn't care. I'm not sure that I do either. One job." Alley got into this trouble because of her own stupidity. I am not going to waste my time bailing her out or giving Hernandez any leverage because of this.

Hernandez simply grumbles slightly at my response, as if he was expecting me to cut Alley loose. He speaks again after a while, "Alright. One job it is. I got just the thing for you. Something that will really shake things up here. Are you free at 8 pm tomorrow night?"

"Wide open, Commander." I quip.

"Good. I'm going to be sending you a message on the phone I gave you. You still have it right?" Hernandez says, "Its an address for a restaurant in Six Trees. You're going to be meeting your co-star for the big event over dinner. I'll go over the plan then as well. Be there."

"Co-star?" I repeat dumbly.

"Did I stutter?" Hernandez grumbles again, "Yes, co-star. The three of us are going to be putting on a show for The City and everybody is going to tune in."

Hernandez laughs slightly before concluding, "Whether they like it or not."