Elli, Techlock, and I spent the rest of the morning and lunch waiting. CD was supposed to be meet back up with us with his analysis, but the little bastard took his sweet time. We had just enough of it to get in a hearty meal of radishes, potatoes, and some salt jerky alongside biscuits and cool draughts of herbal peppermint lemonade.

I had to admit that it was good to eat at the table of a free woman and her well-to-do wages. The Mrehs had been great, but this was better, and the food I had back in my pantry was nothing compared to what Elli was continuously whipping up. And it was going to start showing around my gut if I didn’t slow down.

As the afternoon sun began to cast long shadows across the bay, we all started to get a little impatient. After all, there were only so many topics one could talk about in any given get-together before we just plumb ran out of air.

It was to our relief and smiles that CD finally shimmered into existence before us. He looked as cocky as always.

“Got a plan?” Elli asked eagerly, half-rising out of her chair with her fists clenched in anticipation.

She paused, suddenly realizing that he looked weird, catching what Tech and I already had. The way CD had decided to present himself was a confusing hodgepodge of historical and theatrical—a camouflage coat that was festooned over with buttons that gleamed too brightly, along with a golden cluster of 5 stars on his label. His camouflage pants were sharply creased, almost to a surgical edge, and his black boots shined like mirrors.

To be honest it wasn’t a bad attempt at what the Church said our heroes wore during the battles with the demons. However, it looked off. I was rather sure the stars and buttons weren’t supposed to shine like that. And that hat . . .

I cocked my head, trying to make heads or tails of it.

On his head sat a wide-brimmed ranching hat, six-gallons maybe, adorned with what appeared to be a digital feather flickering through a spectrum of wild colors. He looked comical if anything.

“Attention!” CD announced with a flair, his voice gritty and echoing slightly, as if he stood at the helm of an ancient battlefield rather than our modern workshop. “It has come to my attention that ape soldiers have been abusing their privileges. Private Alaric, front and center!”

Techlock and Elli both shot me looks, and I shrugged, curious to see where this was going.

He waited a bit, then ignored my lack of movement, continuing in his bit of theater.

“I wish to extend my congratulations, Private Alaric, on not only surviving the world’s first attunement between stone age simian and our sophisticated newly invented mech tech but also on somehow achieving an impressive synchronicity. The knowledge that my Nexus Scout design has melded so far with your apelike proclivities suggests to me that its invention was a grave error.”

I couldn’t help but grin, rolling my eyes.

“Nice to know you care, CD.”

“It would indeed pain me to damage such valuable merchandise,” CD retorted.

Elli laughed, stepping closer to examine CD’s outlandish uniform.

“Well, you certainly look the part of a commander, CD. Gods would the church love this. I can already see our heads rolling from our burning bodies,” she said and shook her head, chuckling. “Are you ready to lead us into battle, o wise . . .little asshole?”

CD gasped at her name-calling, but he said nothing. The AI obviously had a thing for her, and hell, I couldn’t blame him. I had a thing for her too.

Techlock raised a hand, his face a screwed-up visage of baffled curiosity.

“Did you program all of this? I’m extremely impressed.”

“Monkey surprised by banana pie,” CD said before sighing in an overly exaggerated manner. “I wonder what he will do when presented with a fork and knife!”

I ribbed Tech with my elbow.

“Yeah, we did what we could to make him funny with our, uh, programming. Elli, really. Dude’s a hoot.”

Techlock mouthed the word “Wow,” staring at our holographic mentor with eyes that shone more brightly than his buttons.

CD’s form flickered, and lights fired out onto the wall, a holo-map of the city beginning to unfold. The map was detailed, showing streets, buildings, and various other landmarks, all highlighted with colors that indicated their importance in Geoffrey’s operations and security. I had to be honest and admit that he’d done a great job, but wasn’t going to say as much or he might get weird thoughts.

CD's holographic projection brightened, throwing the map into stark relief against the cold concrete of the bay's wall. As each segment of the city pulsed under a different hue, he began detailing the extensive reach of Geoffrey's organization.

“I learned a lot in my scans over the city. His toughs stuck out and their traffic was easy to monitor, given the time I had to watch them. Geoffrey's organization is not just a ragtag group of street thugs; it's a meticulously structured mafia, woven deeply into the fabric of Alnda,” CD explained, his pointer hovering over several areas highlighted in red. “Here, and here,” he indicated, “Are what appear to be legitimate businesses—cafes, garages, even a washing service. But they serve as fronts for laundering money and illegal tech dealings.”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Elli cast a glance back at our bedroom.

“Is that washing service any good?” she asked.

CD narrowed his eyes, simply pointing at the wall. The map zoomed into a sector he’d demarcated in a color I called Glowing Ominous Blue.

“Despite what we’d thought, the underground bunker is simply his daytime meeting place. An office if you will. This area here in the Noble’s District, is his family home and main base of operations. Heavily fortified, with lots of security, many of them seem to cored ex-military. Breaking into this building would require stealth and precision. At least until he and the rest of his family are neutralized.”

I felt my face heat up.

“He and the rest of his family?” I whispered.

“As I understand from local literature, there is a primate succession that human hierarchies follow, and much of this succession is through the family. Tactically, I advise a total destruction of all of his bloodline.”

I caught a motion out of the corner of my eye and turned to see Techlock shaking his head.

“You two went too hard on the bloodthirst with your program. Maybe I should take a look at the code and fix things?”

“No!!!” Elli and I yelled simultaneously.

CD stopped and had the decency to look amused.

“What sort of ape logic would have us kill just the king and leave all his successors intact?” he asked.

Tech stood up.

“The kind that understands that Geoffrey ain’t a king. He’s a crime lord. Look, he’s got no one in his family of age with the fitness to take charge. The real successors are gonna be his LTs, most of whom I get along with pretty well.”

CD nodded.

“Go on.”

“They won’t like me, though, if it comes out that I did a power grab that murdered not just Geoffrey but also his little toddlers and his cute little wife. Her name’s Sansa by the way. Quite a charming gal.”

Elli nodded.

“Plus, it seems to me that if Geoffrey is our only target, then maybe we can catch him somewhere less protected that doesn’t also have the possibility of killing nobles. Releasing a mech into the middle of the Noble’s District with orders to destroy everything on sight just doesn’t seem like a good idea.”

I frowned. The way I was being talked about made me sound, well, too much like a murderous alien AI.

Elli peered closely at the map and pointed to another area marked in a somber gray.

“What’s this over in The Guilders? What’s he doing there?”

“That,” CD responded, shifting the map's focus, “Is where his 'family church' is located. It would seem that our crime lord and his family are devout followers of the Church. Specifically the Order of the Defensores Humanium.”

“Which only meets in the Guilders,” I finished for him. “Huh, so he’s a fan of the Imperial family and their crusades. Would never have guessed.”

Techlock chimed in, his voice tense.

“And don’t forget the hitmen.” He gestured towards several nodes on the map flashing intermittently. “He's got connections with multiple assassin guilds, both local and in the west. Whatever we do, we’re gonna want it done in one go. If he feels threatened, he won’t hesitate to call them in. And those guys, they know what they’re doing.”

The map shifted once more, highlighting residential areas in a soft green.

“These,” CD continued, “Are the homes of his extended family members. They are scattered throughout the city, a mix of cousins since the data I have accessed maintains that he has no living parents, brothers, or sisters, and just one aged uncle.”

“No!!!” Elli, Techlock, and I yelled at the AI. He paused, his face mimicking that of a sheepishly cowed man.

“Understood. Simians family ties shall remain protected.”

I leaned closer, examining the map, absorbing the web of Geoffrey’s influence sprawled before us.

“So he’s embedded at every level, huh? How do we even begin to tackle this?”

“Murdering his family?” CD suggested.

“Do we really need to go over this?” I asked, staring at the hologram.

“Well, yes. Maybe you should make it clear to me why useless simian lives are more important than your, well, simian lives.”

“It’s not about importance, CD, or worth, or . . .well, anything really. We don’t kill people unless necessary.”

“Ahh, I see. So you will kill them if you are forced to? That’s good to know. Just like that hairy ape you killed in—”

“CD!” I snapped. “Need-to-know basis! And why are we still even talking about this? Accept no for an answer.”

He stared at me blankly for a moment, and then just continued as if I hadn’t said anything.

“So, the family. We could probably lure them out and—”

“Do you want me to let your energy run out?”

CD turned to face me, his face set into a deathly glare.

“You wouldn’t dare, you primitive—”

“Hmm, somehow he seems so real, almost as if he were a, well, person,” Techlock said, looking between us.

Elli ignored him, folding her arms, her brow furrowed in thought.

“It's like pulling threads from a tapestry. We find the loose ones and tug. Could disrupt one of his businesses, do something that’ll get him there purposely.”

I looked back to the church.

“Tomorrow is a rest and worship day for the Humanium. Could we nab him on the way to church?”

Techlock shook his head.

“I’m the loose thread. I send a message and tell them that I want a meeting at the bunker, so I can show him just how sorry I am. He’ll suck that up, let me in, then make me beg til he gets bored. Probably torture me to death after that.”

“Shit,” I muttered while CD murmured.

“Interesting. I would like to be present, just to study what kind of torture techniques you apes have come up with and—”

“No torture, and please, shut up for a moment, CD,” I said, glaring at him.

“Listen,” Elli said. “While he’s doing that, you come in with the mech, Alaric. Start sneaking through and wipe out his guards. We were there before. Seemed kinda empty, and the guards were spacing out. I bet that, done right, you could get all the way to his main room without anyone being any the wiser.”

CD nodded in agreement.

“Wise apes are rare. Well thought out. And while Alaric destroys the enemy forces, and while you are tortured and beaten by Geoffrey, I will monitor the situation with a long scan, keeping everyone up-to-date on any possible disruptions. And I might record the torture. Just to be sure that the future generations know what it looked like.”

Elli shot him a flat stare.

“Looks like I’ve got nothing to do for this operation, so I can go out to Al’s workshop and start fabricating more goods for sale. I have a feeling that when Tech becomes a crime lord, we’ll be in heavy demand.”

“Don’t work yourself too hard,” I said, giving her a wink.

“I’ll work you hard,” she said, laughing.

Tech shook his head.

“Gross,” he muttered, but there was a grin on his face.

“Our roles are set. Tech, send your message to Geoffrey. It’s time to start taking care of loose ends and utilize your . . .skills.”