In an abandoned warehouse in Zalcien's slums, not far from the Black Block, an old human man walked in circles waiting for news. He lifted his green cap to pass his pale calloused hand through his short white messy hair, exposing a line running horizontally across his forehead, and fixed his brown eyes on the door as he put it back down, checking whether any of his trainees had returned yet, concern written all over his lightly wrinkled face. When he finally got tired of waiting he sat down on a crate, patting his grey shirt and brown pants to get rid of the dust that had fallen on them.

At last, someone joined him inside, one of the local street kids wearing a black hooded coat too big for them running in and parkouring over a few crates before landing right in front of the man, kicking off a cloud of dust that covered them both and caused the older one to cough, the child - who couldn't be older than ten - hiding their face behind a thick green scarf, letting only a hint of the blue skin beneath visible.

"Sup Guy."

"Dane, good to see you. What have you learned?"

"Money first."

"That's not what I taught you."

The child grumbled before turning around and walking out. After a few steps without getting interrupted, they looked over their shoulder to see Guy still sitting on his crate, unimpressed.

"First rule of information trading, Dane. No one is irreplaceable, nothing stays secret for long."

Dane was about to reply when another street urchin dropped down from the ceiling, this one had four spider legs sprouting from her back and with dark purple skin, her four glowing blue eyes ignoring her fellow child and instead focused on Guy.

"Guy."

"Igne. It is a pleasure to see you. Do you have anything for me?"

"Yes. I learned-"

"HEY! I was here first you stupid-"

Dane tried to grab Igne's regular arm but before their hand managed to make contact with her one of her spider legs struck out, and found itself beneath Dane's scarf, its bladed tip lightly pressing against their blue throat. Beneath the hood of their coat, Dane's pupils shrunk as they gazed into nothing, the cold of the chitinous appendage against their skin being the sole thing they could focus on, completely missing Igne's frown.

"Don't."

Guy observed the two in silence for a few seconds before interfering.

"Igne, release them please."

The spider mutant complied, taking off the bladed tip of her leg from Dane's throat, leaving a white mark behind.

"As I said, Dane, no one is irreplaceable and nothing stays secret for long. You may have arrived first, but Igne is the one willing to talk right away, so she is the most important one. Better luck next time."

"But I-"

Before the blue child got to finish their piece Igne kicked them away with one of her regular legs, launching them through an empty crate that was destroyed in the process before their body landed outside, a few steps away from the entrance, conscious but stunned.

"You didn't have to be so rough."

"They didn't have to be so stupid."

Air flew out Guy's nose before his worries caught up to him. He might have had the time to teach unruly elements a lesson, but there were still serious matters at hand.

"So, what have you learned?"

"Mark and Jeffrey are back on the Block."

"Are you sure?"

"I saw them myself. They were working together while Barry and Larry directed them."

"Barry and Larry? Those two? Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Guy looked her in the eyes for a few seconds before sighing.

"Anything else?"

"They're opening a shop. I'm not sure what they're selling, I saw a few black rods and a couple of black electroguns, but there were more things in crates. I had to leave before I saw more."

"Was there anyone else with them? Like a living silhouette of sorts?"

"Yes. When I got too close, I saw it emerge from a storage room. I ran away at that point and picked random paths to confuse it if it followed me."

Guy contemplated her words before searching the inner pocket of his jacket, rummaging around before he suddenly threw a black mass high into the air that fell in front of Igne, where she casually caught it with her left hand. It was a pouch, made of leather and filled with many metallic things judging by the sound it made. Coins, of course.

"Good work, Igne. Come back if you learn anything more."

"Will do. Until next time."

The short spider girl did a little bow before walking out, fixing the pouch she had just gained to her belt with her spider legs, the parts before the bladed tips producing spinnerets that tied her newly gained pay with silk.

Sometime after she was out of sight, when he was sure she was out of earshot too, Guy got back up and resumed walking in circles. He hadn't fully believed the first kid that had come, talking about a ratkin and a lizardman carrying crates, but he had still paid him and asked everyone to watch out for any more information. Now? Igne's report had been the most thorough so far, the girl was a blessing in this kind of work, but it only confirmed what many other informants had told him today. Soluble's boys were back, but no sign of the slime themself or anyone else from the expedition. Only Mark and Jeffrey, working for their notorious... Enemies? Rivals? Annoyances?

The fact those four were working together wasn't the worrying part, of course. It was everything it implied that was. Barry and Larry had recently begun to work for a mysterious entity, one that had been targeted by a raid, and so far the only members of the raid that had resurfaced were working for the said entity's men. Not only that, but several witnesses reported the four thugs had been following a strange black creature no one had seen before. Guy didn't like how things were going so far. Soluble might have tended to whine, but they weren't that easy to get rid of. Not only that, but he knew for a fact that one of Runar's henchmen was on the job, and those were supposed to be good when it came to magic. It might be for the best if Guy contacted him...

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A chill went down Guy's back, stopping him dead in his track. He wasn't alone. There was something else here. And it wasn't a friend.

"Hello, Guy."

A black mass dropped down from the ceiling right in front of him, spreading a black goop all over the floor as he backed away, his eyes quickly flickering up to assess the threat before realizing there was no one up there. Guy watched all over the warehouse for any sign of movement but kept most of his attention on the darkness spreading on the floor from the strange black lump in the circle before it all converged back into that central point, slowly forming and standing up into a roughly humanoid shape.

"We have a lot to talk about."

Guy noticed that his interlocutor hadn't fully called back the black goop that had spread after its fall, tendrils of it still spread on the ground, throbbing like demented veins, and ready to snatch him up if he tried anything funny he assumed. No matter, Guy had negotiated with worse. The fact he was even still alive was proof enough that he could win this one.

"Hello to you too. You must be the silhouette Soluble talked about?"

"Yes, I am. You may simply call me Silhouette."

It began to slide around, slowly circling around him as it looked over the various crates of the warehouse.

"I must say, I expected more from you. The best information broker around the Black Block. All I get is an old man surrounded by empty crates."

"Bah, this is only a meet-up point. A place where my contacts can find me. I don't need a fancy hideout or anything of the sort. I sell and buy information, nothing less, nothing more. And ya know what they say about age."

"Yes, yes, never underestimate someone who lives a long life in a deadly career. I know my classics, Guy. I'm a civilized man, not some wild beast that needs to be put down. Clearly, you and your little friends didn't agree on that part."

"Look, Soluble didn't say anything about your intelligence."

"Oh? How strange. I do recall them mentioning my use of weaponry when they first came knocking at your door."

What.

"How would you-"

"You do not have a monopoly on information gathering, Guy. Not that you're the one to do the actual work in the first place."

"Hey! I spent my life running around in those streets! Those kids are lucky they have me to teach them tricks."

The black figure suddenly slid closer to him, putting its black faceless head a few breaths away from his, nearly touching his nose.

"Trust me, Guy, you have far larger problems than child labor right now."

The old man gulped as he took a few steps back before his heel caught on something, making him fall onto his back. When he looked down at his feet, he saw one of those black throbbing tendrils slither away.

"I did not appreciate your little surprise party, Guy. Neither did its participants. Now, I want you to make it up to me."

"This wasn't personal. I sell information, it's my job! No one else ever complained about stuff like this before, they know the rules!"

"You see, the issue with that train of thought is that I wasn't invited to the game. You can't expect me to follow rules that I've never been told, that no one bothered to follow when they tried to burst into my home and slaughter my family and employees. Besides, we both know you didn't limit yourself to being an informant in this expedition. Grover had lots to say about you."

"Look, it was stupid, I get it, and now I know you're not just a weird monster in the sewers but another gang leader with the territory and everything. I'll treat you like everyone else, even give you a permanent discount to make up for that little fiasco. But don't do something you'll regret. If anything happens to me, the others will notice and they won't be happy. I may not be a big player, but even they have their eyes on me. You think you can take on a Mechanized Guard, or maybe even Sunburn?"

The shadowy thing had no face, and yet Guy could feel the smirk radiating off of it.

"You know one of my men, on his own, survived an attack from Sunburn. Do you think I fear him? Do you truly think he would even care about you in the first place?"

"I ain't afraid of dying."

"Oh, I can do much, much worse than death. Just ask poor little Soluble."

"What do you-"

Silhouette began to shiver, odd creaking and ripping sounds echoing through the warehouse as slowly its head began to open in large folds and flaps, like a twisted fleshy flower, the strips of shadowy skins falling back more and more to reveal first a black skull then more and more of a black skeleton staring at Guy, its mouth open as it spasmed left and right before speaking once more, this time in a much more familiar voice, slowly leaning forward all the while.

"Obey Silhouette, Guy. Submit or suffer."

All at once the fleshy folds and flaps closed back as Silhouette stood back straight, and everything was back to normal - as far as a living shadow could be normal.

"I do hope you will prove to be of the cooperative sort, Guy. I am good to those that work for me, but my enemies? I make sure they'll never get to try again. So tell me, which one will you be?"

On the ground, the old information broker stared up at the nightmarish creature, his entire body shaking uncontrollably as blood trickled down his fingers, his nails displaced and almost ripped off from how much he was clutching onto the ground.

"Wha- What do you want?"

"I have a few things in mind. Most importantly, you and your little workers won't say anything about me but will tell me everything they hear and know, especially about Runar. Then, there are a few more ways I'm sure you could be useful... Tell me, are you familiar with magical contracts?"

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In an alley leading to the Black Block, two locals were conversing. One was a lanky human and the other a blubbery toad who was quite curious about his friend's latest gossip.

"So, there's a new place? A full-on shop?"

"Yup. Next to Maviza's magical trinkets' stuff, the old place that sounded cursed as hell with all of the heart attacks."

"Uh. And what's its shtick?"

"It specializes in auto-defense stuff so far. Maces, arm and shin guards, they're even selling electroguns!"

"Aren't those useless after a couple of shots?"

"Yeah, but that's the thing! If you bring back your empty one, they'll replace the battery for a fully charged one for free!"

"Whoa. No tricks? No occasional explosions? No sneaky fee?"

"None so far. The place doesn't have much yet, but what they have is good, if a bit basic. Like, the maces are just black sticks, but during a demonstration one of those easily dented a metal sheet. Like, if you see someone with one of these menacing you, just comply, your wallet may be angry but your bones will be thankful."

"And the electroguns? Are they any good?"

"Yup. Just yesterday some dude tried to rob the place while I was browsing, and the clerk just pulled out this teeny tiny little thing that shot an electric arc strong enough to throw the dude back outside. He was even fuming!"

"Whoa. So, you've been there, right? Who's in charge?"

"You ain't gonna believe it."

"Tell me."

"Barry and Larry."

"Who?"

"You know, a small bald guy with mutton chops and a tall one with a goatee? The weird half dwarf half elf kids?"

"Those two? I think they sold me a broken watch that only told you the right time once per day."

"Don't you mean two?"

"No, it didn't even manage to do that! You sure it's safe and not a very elaborate scam?"

"Of course I'm sure, when have I ever been wrong?"

"You last boyfriend. And the girlfriend before that. And that time you bought a lamp because you thought there was a genie in there. And that other time some guy convinced you he made some clothes only the worthy and intelligent could see-"

"I get it, I get it, but this time it's legit. They're the managers, but Larry and Barry aren't in charge."

"Who is, then?"

"I dunno. Some guy called Silhouette from what I heard, I asked one of Guy's runners about it and they said he was trustworthy and that's it. Nothing more than that."

"Huh. Usually, they talk more for some extra coin."

"Bah, it doesn't matter. Say, you wanna go there later? If we pull together I'm sure we could buy an electrogun we could share!"

"Eeeh, I'd rather have something on me at all times than share."

"Aw, shucks."

"Bah, we can still check it out. What does the place look like?"

"Oh, it's all black and white! It's funny I think."

"I don't think it's going to stay white for long."

"Bah, that's their problem. Say, have you heard about Samantha's new partner? He's supposed to be some kind of orc noble."

"No way!"

"Yes way!"

The two kept on chatting and gossiping along, only briefly stopping to complain while stepping other a few thug corpses on the way, living yet another day in the slums.