Outside the warehouse was the same car from Jessup’s surveillance photos. As the blond woman approached it, one of the guards rushed forward, and opened the back door for her. “Come on, I’m not going to bite,” she said, after slipping inside. She patted the seat next to her, a slight smile on her face.

I just sighed, and slipped into the car after her.

Once I was inside, the windows went completely opaque, obscuring my vision of the outside, and the car set off. There was a divider separating the front of the car from the back, so it was pretty much just me and the woman. “And you are?” I asked.

“Didn’t I introduce myself?” she said, with a small giggle. She placed a hand on her chest and made a small bow. “I’m sorry, my name is Helen Allison, special advisor to Father Mathias. I run many of the recruitment drives and plan a lot of the operations.”

I stared at her for a moment. The giggles were a little forced, much like her smile before. A small part of my brain said it was nothing, that she was harmless. The rest, including my link to the bears, told me there was way more to her than met the eye. “So why does Father Matias want to see me?”

“You’re a powerful, independent operator in the undercity. I’m sure he wants to stay on your good side,” Helen replied.

“Yeah, well, good luck with that. Can’t say my experience with the Guiding Light up to this point was, in any way, positive, so it’s going to be an uphill battle to earn my trust.” I paused and looked over at Helen. “I’m actually surprised the gangs don’t try to bust up your meetings, considering your message and what happened six years ago.”

“They have been an issue, but the Guiding Light isn’t defenseless. Sometimes a show of force is required before the gangs back off.”

“And I’m sure having a pet samurai doesn’t help with that at all,” I said, watching Helen out of the corner of my eye.

The woman straightened up ever so slightly, and looked at me with a faked surprise expression. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Right. My mistake,” I replied. Helen slumped down in her seat and looked at the opaque window. I couldn’t see her expression, but she definitely didn’t seem that happy. I had my suspicions, but I wasn’t going to push her… yet. So we made the rest of the trip in silence.

After about half an hour, the car came to a stop, and the windows cleared to reveal a fortified compound. It consisted of two small buildings, surrounded by a low, scrap wall. It reminded me of a gang fortress. I pushed open the door before someone could come let me out and stepped out into the compound.

Half a dozen cultists turned to watch me, hands on their weapons.

I don’t think going inside is a good idea. Even though I can provide access to all your catalogs, I cannot guarantee your safety when surrounded by civilians armed with Class I hardware.

“I’ll be fine, Nyx. Just let me know if you notice anything threatening,” I mumbled under my breath.

While I was having a staredown with the hired help, Helen exited the vehicle and glared at the surrounding crowd. “Get back to work. The Father invited her, and she could probably mop the floor with all of you without breaking a sweat anyways.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

As the locals disbanded, Helen walked over to me and gestured at a nearby entrance. “This way,” she said. I followed as she strutted into the nearby building. The interior was pretty much standard for the undercity, falling apart. Someone had made an attempt to patch up the worst of it, but they couldn’t hide its decrepit nature. She led me up the stairs to the second floor, and over to a door which didn’t have any damage. Helen paused for a moment, and knocked.

“Enter.” Came a reply after a moment.

Helen pushed the door open, and gestured for me to enter. The room was familiar, as was the man behind the desk. I’d seen the recruitment video. “You must be the famous Teddy, undercity samurai,” Father Mathias said, jumping to his feet and rushing to shake my hand. I allowed it, begrudgingly.

“I heard you wanted to talk to me,” I said warily. I had to admit, this wasn’t the welcome I expected. The man appeared to be completely unguarded and way too friendly.

His desk was covered with scrap paper and notes, which he swept up into a single pile and set to the side. “Now, I heard that you were looking for us, so I asked Helen to arrange for a meeting if she ever saw you. I’m glad you showed up at one of our meetings. Are you interested in our organization?” he asked excitedly.

“Sort of…” I replied, “I was honestly looking into who was stupid enough to use the name ‘Guiding Light’ after the massacre and whether they were a threat or not.”

Father Mathias’s face fell, “What happened six years ago was a tragedy. Our goal is to remove the tyranny of the gangs, and for a moment, we succeeded. What happened afterwards was beyond our expectations. The re-establishment of gangs so quickly after exterminating their predecessors, the senseless killing, and the government intervention. We didn’t want any of that. Our goals are pure.” Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Helen rolling her eyes. She wasn’t exactly being subtle.

“So do you have a different plan this time? Because it sounds like you’re recruiting people to just repeat your mistakes from last time.”

“Of course! We’re planning on offering training to some of the locals in each area. Give them tips on how to lead the civilians,” Mathius replied with a smile. I wasn’t sure if he was serious or not.

I stared at the man for a minute. “Are you serious?”

“Absolutely! A strong community leader will be able to take over once the gangs are gone,” Mathias said, with a nod of his head.

“Or they could just establish their own gang, once they have the opportunity,” I replied.

“That’ll never happen. I trust these people. They’re looking for a better future,” Mathias said, completely seriously.

I could feel a headache developing the longer I talked to this man. He was an idiot. Using a well known, hated organization to build up forces, and expecting that everyone was working towards the good of the community? That was the absolute best case scenario, and that wasn’t going to happen. People did what they needed to do in order to survive. The more likely scenario was they were training the next generation of gang leaders.

“So, can we count on your support?” the man asked. I could see hope in his eyes.

“Fuck no. Your plan is optimistic bullshit, and I wasted my time talking to you. If you want to improve the lives of the community, then work with them, fighting the gangs doesn’t solve anything.” I said, standing up. “You’re lucky that I don’t consider you a threat. I understand where you’re coming from, but it’s not something I can condone. Stay away from the northside, I don’t want your brand of crazy out there.”

Father Mathias’s face fell, but he still nodded. As I walked to the door, Helen held it open for me. As I walked down the hallway, I noticed she was following, so after a couple feet, I stopped and turned to face her.

She looked at me in mock surprise. “Yes? Is there something else I can help you with?” she asked.

“Absolutely. You can tell me what you’re actually trying to do by providing these morons with weapons.” I replied, looking up at her face.

After a few seconds, a smile broke out on her face, probably the first honest expression I’d seen on her. “Let’s find a room.”