Ed focused on the strings in the air, searching through the find the solid red one that connected to Oliver. As his mind disappeared into the void, he made sure to keep some focus on what was happening in the room, in case of any changes.

Let’s see what he did...

Ed found himself in a filthy alleyway. Dim light seeped in from the streetlights at either end, fading until the centre of the alley was cloaked in an impenetrable darkness. There were a few dumpsters set out along the rustic brick wall of the old apartment building. The entire alley stunk of rotten food and old trash, as the dumpsters were rarely emptied. Loose boxes and pieces of broken furniture littered the ground around the dumpsters, a testament to the laziness of the city.

A frail old Japanese man entered the alley, dragging a trash bag across the ground. His chest heaved as he made his way to the nearest dumpster.

“Let me help you there.” Ed turned around at the familiar voice, coming face to face with a younger, more human version of Oliver. Wearing a long trench coat, Oliver carried the bag and dumped it on top of the nearest dumpster.

“Dōmo arigatō.” The man spoke in Japanese, bowing towards Oliver. Seeing the confused look on Oliver’s face, he paused for a moment, thinking. “Sankyu.” He said in English, his thick accent still prevalent.

The alley fell silent as Oliver just stood there staring at the man.

Lifting his head, the old man locked eyes with Oliver and cried out in fear. An insatiable hunger lingered in Oliver’s eyes. All went still for a moment, before Oliver pounced on the old man. The old man was torn apart with reckless abandon, adding to the foul smell of the alley.

Everything faded away as Ed brought his attention back to the meeting. Victor and Haruko were locked in a heated debate over several sections of the contract, with Oliver chipping in on occasion.

“This profit split is unreasonable. Our company is doing a lot of the work in this deal, and yet our work is not being properly reflected. How do you expect me to pay my workers when I’m barely making a profit?” Argued Haruko.

“This was already discussed and settled on by our bosses several weeks ago. Besides, this profit split is perfectly reasonable. It is our company that has to produce and transport the products around the city. Your company is only responsible for placing it on your stores’ shelves.” Victor stated calmly.

“Well, things have changed. There are a lot of company’s vying to get their products on our shelves. We don’t have the space to please everyone, so we have to make the best choices for the company.” Oliver interjected.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

We’ve been put in a tough spot. I really need to find something useful in Haruko’s past.

“I promise you that our product is better than the rest of the competition, and that even with this current split, you will make far more with us than you will with anyone else.”

“Is that so? I think we can decide that for ourselves. Is that okay with you?” Haruko asked in such a way that Ed and Victor had to be okay with it.

“Of course. Follow me and you can test it right away.” Victor said confidently before walking out the door.

Walking behind the group the entire time, Ed waited until they sat down in the car before focusing his attention on Haruko’s past.

He found himself inside a bathroom. Loud, disorienting music blasted through the bathroom door. Two girls were huddled in the corner. One of them was bent over the countertop, while the other was counting a wad of cash. Haruko... Guess that explains her current job in Hell.

Haruko walked out the door as the young woman finished snorting a line of coke. Ed stared into her dilated eyes for a moment before following Haruko out of the bathroom. Something’s telling me that I’ll find what I need if I just keep following her.

Walking through the crowd, Ed followed closely behind Haruko as she got absolutely wasted at the night club. While this was happening, Ed sensed as the car got closer and closer to its destination. Come on, come on. I’m running out of time.

As if following his command, the scene around him sped up. With the night coming to an end, Haruko drunkenly stumbled out of the nightclub and took a taxi back home.

After fiddling with her keys for a couple minutes, she entered her cramped studio apartment and fell face down on her bed.

Left alone in her apartment, he forced himself to calm down and decided to trust in his instincts. He searched the room, looking high and low to try and find anything he could use. His eyes swept across a shelf before snapping back and focusing on the framed photo in the middle.

In the photo was a much younger Haruko, squeezing an old man in a tight hug. Both were smiling happily, but that wasn’t what caught Ed’s attention. Instead, he was entirely focused in on the old man in the photo. That’s the man Oliver killed. Does Haruko know?

The room around him faded, as Ed found himself back in the car. He looked between Haruko and Oliver and felt that there was a good chance that she didn’t know. Hell, Oliver might not even know. I doubt that was the only time he killed someone. And honestly, this entire thing feels unlikely. How did he end up working closely with the daughter of someone he killed? This could be very useful. I’ll try and pull Oliver aside to see what I can do.

The car slowly came to a halt and parked out the front of a nondescript factory building. People were constantly moving in and out of the building. Some were packing large boxes onto the back of trucks, while others were constantly moving stuff into the warehouse. Trucks were constantly coming and going, and everything seemed to be flowing as smoothly as possible.

Watching the two of them get out of the car, Ed immediately turned to Victor. “Give me a chance to speak with Oliver alone.”

Acknowledging what Ed said with a nod, Victor quickly got out of the car and followed behind them, and Ed did the same.