I awoke once more nearly four hours later, covered in sweat and with what could only be called a dawnache. While the opiodic drug was most notorious for it's euphoric and relaxing effects, a 'bad leaf' would often lead to this kind of adverse reaction. The dreams I had were...something else, though the memory of them is quickly receding.

Slowly pulling myself forward, I hesitantly begin to stretch out my overly stiff muscles and groan as I feel a few of them rip. This is one of the secondary results of tainted weed, severe muscle spasms and contractions. I've only ever fallen to this state a handfull of times, but that fails to make it any less upleasant.

Coming to the decision to just get this pain over with as quickly as possible, I manage to get to my knees, then quickly stand and stretch as much of my body as I could. Several agonizing minutes later, I had Thea reboot once more as I made my way to the bathroom.

_______

"So, Perriot, what might you require of me this fine day. It's not often at all that someone of your...notoriety, thinks to contact little old me," the goblin before me says. Having filed down many of his teeth had mostly removed the hissing accent of his people, but I could tell his seprentine tongue was still somewhat of a hinderence to proper speech.

Ro'lok For'gosh, or 3-9-6, was a metre tall, sickly green, horrid smelling, vile, unrepentent lecher of a goblin. Unfortunately, or perhaps not, he was also one of the best infiltrators in the slum. His little act, much like my own, served to protect his real identity, as most of his employers simply knew him as Two-Toe. I shouldn't have to explain why, right?

Tracing the jaw of my mask, I tilt my head slightly to the side while pulling a small envelope from my sportscoat. I had decided to go with an off blue today, one of Toes' favorite colors. Tossing the item on the grimy desk between us, I wait until he had grabbed it and leaned back comfortably in his seat before speaking.

Proper goblin courtesy, as I was his guest. Holding up a finger from my now free hand, I begin, "First of all, I require someone with extensive knowledge of the sewers." Another finger raised, "Secondly, against my better judgment, you are undoubtably one of the more suited applicants to help me with and upcoming, multi-stage operation." At this, I close the distance between my fingers, which had made a slight V shape before doing so, " Lastly...you know how to keep your mouth shut, which is the most crucial aspect of this little plot of mine."

Concise, to the point, and most importantly, honest. Goblins are creatures that are inherently decietful, and it is niegh impossible for any but their own to verbally lie to them. If it weren't for their genetic disposition towards theivery, uncleanliness, and overall total studidity, the small creatures would likely have taken over long ago.

People tend to look down on their race as vermin, but that simply isn't true. The problem lies not in their cognitive function, but in their total mental capacity instead. Should a single goblin gain the memory, and dicipline of even the average human, they could very easily creat a criminal empire rivaling even long standing orgonizations.

Much like Yos'lok here.

The goblin in question simply chuckled and used one of his retracting nails to open the file. A few moments after he began reading, the papers fell silently to his desk, and he looked at me with a gaze filled with both shock and admiration. "That neo-web post...that was really you? No, I should have known you're the type that would so brazenly declare war on the city."

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Smiling in turn, though his only hint of that was a slight elevation of my eyelids, I nodded. "My scheming is coming to fruition, Yos'lok. I remember quite vividly how you sneered at me when I first spoke of my plans. As I've insinuated, I'd rather you be crushed with the rest of the ilk of this insufferable place, but even my bias cannot overcome my logic. You are the best fit for this job, but only slightly. If necessary, you can and will be replaced."

Slowly, I watched as the pale demeanor of the goblin across from me flushed only slightly before a businesslike smile crept to his face. Picking the envelope back up, he scanned through it once more while humming what I recognized to be a gobish war-tune.

Thus, it came as little surprise when his greed-filled eyes locked onto mine. "You are honest, and yet decietfull. You threaten, and yet protect. Your plan is both insane, and yet also ingenious." Slowly, the goblin stood in his seat, then outstretched a closed hand to me, palm down. I stood as well, never breaking eye contact with the little creature in front of me, and placed my hand on top of his.

"We have an agreement then?" I asked, more out of formality than actual need. Yos'lok smiled in return, carefully showing only the edges of his teeth. "Yes, I believe we do."

_______

"All went well, sir?" Asked Brim as we cautiously maneuvered our way out of Two Toe's sewer-hidden lair. The goblin could have easily afforded several apartment buildings, and likely did, but for appearance sake he remained within the bowles of the city.

"I am still alive, and with one employee gained. I'll likely have to scrub myself clean for the next several hours, but I've been expecting as much since I whittled down the infiltrator candidates between him and 4-9-1." Choosing between a goblin and a lizard had been a hard choice, in fact, I would have gone with the latter if he didn't have a penchant for theivery. I needed a ghost, not a theif.

"I must say," chimed in Thea," Mr. Toes seemed rather interested in the later part of your contract. While I understand that my connection to the neo-web causes me to be a liability in terms of security, could you at least hint at what might have caught his interest?"

I thought over her request for the next few blocks. While it was true that while Thea had arguably the security protocalls in the city, the one that designed them for her would likely be able to crack them, even with my alterations to their coding. I've kept a large part of my plans away from the AI, but in the end decided to answer her as honestly as I could. "As you know, Thea, this plan has been in the works long before we met. In all honesty, even just moments after my...accident."

The image of gnashing teeth, a large predetory bird, and an old man flash through my mind, but I quickly supress them and continue on. "In that long stage of preperation I've had quite a lot of time to observe and learn the habits of many of the city's underbelly. Yos'lok, for instance, has a particular liking for sironic wines. The merfolk are rather...at odds, with us landwalkers however, and so the price of said alchohol is several times it's weight in pure mana stones. I simply scribbled a rough estemate of how much he would be able to procure in a year with the compensation of this job."

Thea remained silent for a moment, likely manually reading over several pages reguarding the various prices I had mentioned. After seemingly finishing, she played what sounded like a fist hitting an open palm. "You threatened his life in the case that he rejected your offer to convey your assurance in the operation's success, as he knew your character would not allow him to move in on your profits! Then, you baited him with compliments to ease him up for the bribery you planted beforehand!"

Chuckling, I give a light nod, reguardless of its necessity, before correcring her slight error. "That is a very, very rough way to put it. I gave you a non-criminal personality for a reason Thea. You've got the gist of it, but with one thing out of place. I didn't bribe him to appeal to him, I did it to outright buy him. He and I are alike in one thing; we sell to the highest bidder, reguardless of previous contracts."

After several moments of silence, Brim seemed unable to bear Thea's simple-mindedness as he filled in the blank for her. "Lass, what the boss's trying to say...is there's no higher price than the one you set yourself. In their case, the boss wants'ta destroy the city, an'ol Toesie wants to toast to it."