5th District, Tseludia Station, Pantheonic Territory, Thirdmonth, 1634 PTS
I reached the townhome without much fanfare, not even having to knock before Hestky opened the door, a sour expression on his face. I gave him a brisk nod before walking past him, settling down on one of the couches. Rachel appeared on the opposite seat, one leg folded over the other in a relaxed position. A stern expression covered her face.
“Finally done with your little vacation?” she asked.
She was reminding me of my childhood, of cowering before my master after getting into a fight with the other disciples. She didn’t scare me, but she was giving off almost an aura of intermingled annoyance and disappointment, and I felt some sort of need to mollify it.
“In the end, I think much more was gained than lost. The Heirs have been weakened, and I’ve acquired a substantial amount of useful information.”
I told her everything, about Ria and Taek Hadal, the offer they had extended to me, to the attack by Karie Hadal, possibly a member of a rival internal faction. I told her about the strange Celan assassin, and finally, I told her about the Prophet, and how I believed he might have known about her presence.
She laughed, as I described what he had said to me.
“Of course he knows. It is the role of the Depthist prophets to know things like that. Don’t worry about it, his words should be trustworthy. For us, at least.”
“Does that mean you think the lead he gave is legitimate?” I asked, unable to hide my eagerness. Any chance of extending my sanity’s time limit was something I couldn’t help but place great importance on.
She smirked at my undisguised interest before giving her response.
“It should be. I imagine his mistress wants you to survive long enough to be useful. I’ll look into this Ester Perivar for you, see if I can find out where he’s being held. If you’re lucky, it might be on-station.”
I nodded my appreciation.
“Do you think any of this should change our plans?” I asked.
“Hm.”
Rachel rested her pointer finger on her lips, eyes ablaze in deep thought as she considered the question.
“I… don’t think so. I say we see how the Hadal Clan approaches us going forward. Forming our own sect is still probably the right call, and we can work with them or merge if that turns out to be more beneficial for our goals.”
Her expression morphed into a sneer, as she continued speaking.
“I doubt it, though. They tied themselves to Sunlit Hall, and that goddess of theirs sympathizes with the ruling powers. I can’t imagine their elders would agree with our plans, even if the matriarch herself pushed for it.”
I paused, the outline of an idea having just formed in my head.
“We could try to take them over, gain control of their forces ourselves,” I suggested. It was an idle thought, not something I could just do because I wanted to. “But either way, we’ll have to see how things progress. For the moment, I believe we need to return to finding a way to deal with Hidoro.”
She smiled at my words. It was a suspiciously innocent look for her.
“I may have thought up a solution to the issue while you were… indisposed.”
“Oh?” I asked, questioningly.
Her smile morphed into another demonic grin, the expression looking almost more natural on her.
“How do you feel about the use of poison?”
—
This time, when I went out, I brought Rachel’s conduit with me. She placed another set of illusions on my face to disguise me, and I was able to walk comfortably through the streets without concerns of being recognized.
By chance, the meeting place happened to also be in the fifth district, just a few stacks and levels away from Hestky’s townhome. We had been asked to meet in a cafe that catered to Seiyal, and there were not too many of those in this part of the city.
“Is it really a good idea to meet up with her in person?”
The words were muttered under my breath, but I knew Rachel would be able to hear them. Her voice arrived as a whisper inside of my ear.
“She insists. Honestly, I’m impressed she even had a digital method of contact. Not many Seiyal bother to learn how.”
I ignored the veiled insult, accepting it as a cost of working with Rachel.
“How much have you already discussed with her?” I asked.
“Not much. All she would do is agree to a meeting. I got the impression she likes to take the measure of her contractors.”
I suppose that makes sense for her, working in a place like this. I just hope it’s not a trap,” I said.
“There’s no chance she knows your identity, though I can’t promise she won’t realize during the meeting. Just be careful and it’ll be fine. I’ll warn you if she sends any messages out.”
I nodded, idly realizing that I had been getting odd looks from some of the passersby for doing that after muttering to myself for a bit. Sheepishly, I straightened my robes and continued on my way, this time silently. It wouldn't be good to gather attention at the moment.
The cafe was perfect for a meeting place. It was relatively upscale, but had few patrons at this time of day. The room was fairly dark, with pale yellow mood lighting coming from lampstands spread around the space.
It was certainly no traditional restaurant, but I could see the appeal of the place. A waitress came up to me, but I brushed her off by saying I was joining a friend.
At the back wall was a series of booths tucked into nooks in the wall. Only one of them was occupied, by a sturdy farsei woman with short, close cropped hair. While she was only in the Meridian Establishment realm, but I knew what made her dangerous was not her realm. She was sipping on a cup of wine as I slid into the seat across from her.
She glanced up at me, eyes inspecting every inch of my body as if I were an object on display.
“You’re the one who wanted to contact me? From the way they spoke, I had assumed it was a woman.”
Her tone was coarse, and I could recognize a light Bountian accent in her voice.
“You spoke with my associate. Why the meeting, anyway? Did we need to be in person to discuss terms?”
She shrugged, giving me a small smile.
“Would you like to order some food? This place makes excellent stew.”
“... Would you prefer to talk over a meal, then?” I asked.
“I would.”
It didn’t particularly matter to me either way, so I waved over the waitress from before and placed an order for wine and a stew. I didn’t bother specifying what sort of meat to put in it, as I knew most anything on the station would be synthesized meat anyway.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
As we waited for the food to arrive, I felt uncomfortable over the woman’s intense gaze.
“What’s your name?” she asked, the suddenness of it startling me.
I regained my wits quickly, however.
“Cyrus.”
“Just Cyrus?” she asked, smirking at me.
“Cyrus will do, as far as you are concerned. Are you planning on giving me your own?”
She laughed as if I had told a funny joke.
“And here I thought you knew, given that you found me before I had even told anyone I intended to do business in this field. Isn’t that curious?”
This was news to me, and I had to suppress my annoyance at realizing Rachel had failed to tell me something that was quite relevant to the meeting. Instead, I maintained my calm demeanor and gave a dismissive response.
“My associate directed me to you, all I was told was the nature of your… particular talents, as well as your likely origin. I expect the Hadal Clan may also be aware of you.”
She gave me a thoughtful look.
“So you’re not part of the Hadal Clan? I wouldn’t have expected that, given your realm. A rogue martial artist at the core formation stage… I imagine you’re either one of the gang lords, or…”
I shrugged.
“My background isn’t important, though I’d like you to know that I can do well by you, should we… go into business.”
She downed the rest of her wine, then sloppily poured herself another cup.
“That’s fine, then. My name is Yun. Just Yun will do, as far as you are concerned.”
She laughed, throwing a wink at me. It felt somewhat wrong to see that expression coming from someone of her profession. I chose not to take her bait. She continued speaking, noticing the pause.
“Well, Cyrus, you know my name, and you know my profession. So then, what do you wish from me?”
She leaned forward, resting her chin on her fists, her elbows lying on the table.
Just as I tried to respond, the server returned, bearing my wine and my stew. I thanked her, waiting until she was out of earshot to respond to Yun’s question.
“Of course,” I said, “I want you to poison somebody for me.”
She took another sip of her wine.
“I could probably make that happen. Any details?”
“His name is Hidoro, a gang leader in Canvas Town. Spirit Refiner. I’ve sent the details to you.”
Rachel had actually been the one who had done that, of course, but the details didn’t matter too much.
Yun pulled a small metal tablet from a bad sitting beside her in the booth, spending a minute or so manipulating its surface. I waited for her to look through the information, enjoying my food as I did so. She had been right, the stew was indeed quite good. The synthetic meat almost tasted like real hogbeast.
After a few minutes, Yun finally looked back up at me.
“This will be difficult. Spirit refiners are quite resistant to mundane poisons.”
“I’m sure you can make it work,” I replied, taking a sip of the wine. It was alright, a simple rice wine, but it paired well with the hearty flavor of the stew.
“Of course I can,” Yun said in an annoyed tone, as if I had insulted her dignity. “It’ll just cost you more. It says in the information that you don’t need me to kill him?”
“I imagine killing him will be more difficult. Weakening him substantially will suffice for my needs.”
She paused, lost in thought for another moment before responding.
“That I can certainly guarantee. I assume you would want me to inform you when the dose is expected to take effect.” I nodded.
“Yes”.
“I’ll have to brew up a purpose made poison for the task, I don’t have anything strong enough to substantially affect a spirit refiner at the moment. Shouldn’t take more than a few days.”
“Understood. How much serite would you need?”
Yun shook her head, putting a hand out to stop me.
“I don’t need money. Instead…” Her face lit up with a sly smile. “You’re the Riverfiend, aren’t you? How about this? I do you a favor, and you do me one in return? One follower of the unorthodox path to another.”
I narrowed my eyes. The fact that she had figured out my identity did not surprise me, but such a request did. It had to have been something she did not believe herself to be capable of, or something dangerous enough she wished to have someone else do it. Either way, I would need to be careful about what I agreed to.
“What did you have in mind?”
“Well… you’ll be free the next couple days, right? How would you feel about making enemies with a corporation?”
I frowned at that. Corporations on Tseludia held a lot of power, more than even some of the underworld organizations, because the most powerful of them had had the foresight to offer the chance for many government officials to invest in them. To make an enemy of a corporation was to risk making an enemy of the Pantheonic Government itself.
“That… depends. Which corporation are you talking about?”
Yun leaned back in her seat, stretching an arm.
“Have you ever heard of the Venin Group?”
I had not. Rachel quickly supplied me with their information, however.
“It’s a Staiven group. They dabble in fields like manufacturing for starship components and synthesizing food for various races, but their main industry is pharmaceuticals for Staiven consumers. Their ownership is entirely private, so their ties to the government should be on the looser side. It might be worth considering her proposal, since you lost most of our money.”
Negotiations were certainly easier when someone could pipe me any information I needed right into my ear. I nodded to Yun.
“I have a rough understanding of the group. What about them?”
“They are in possession of… certain components that I believe I could make better use of.”
“I see,” I replied. “And you’re wanting me to… acquire it for you?”
The woman nodded excitedly.
“Indeed! You’re the Riverfiend. If the rumors are anything to judge by, this should be a trivial matter for one such as yourself to accomplish.”
I imagined the rumors vastly oversold my abilities, but chose not to explain this matter to the woman. I expected she knew this already, given that I was asking her assistance in dealing with a mere mid-level spirit refiner.
“I’ll have to look into it. I’ll need to know what, specifically, the item in question is, however.”
Yun nodded, a serious expression on her face.
“I believe they’re working on developing aerosolized poisons capable of affecting even an earthen immortal. If you could acquire some samples of their research, I might be able to improve my craft, or maybe create an antidote I can sell.”
Selling an antidote to a poison that had just been stolen seemed like a poor idea to me, but I chose not to express the thought. All that mattered was whether or not she could poison Hidoro for us.
What’s more, I was surprised she was being so forthcoming. I was more used to poisoners who maintained an aura of mystery. Perhaps she really did feel an affinity between us as unorthodox practitioners, given how rare we were on the station. It was even possible that the two of us were the only ones.
I frowned, deep in thought as I shifted to actually considering her request. If they really were working on chemical weapons that could affect earthen immortals, they were playing with fire. If it could kill one of them, it could kill almost anything living, no matter its race or planetary origin. If I were to steal their research, even beyond this deal, I could probably use its results to my own benefit, no matter how far along in development they were.
Poison was a tool that allowed one to fight above their realm, and I was certainly not too honorable to use it.
I supposed they must have thought they could accomplish it before word finished traveling the long distance journey between stars. That would not be the case if somebody who was already on the station stopped them, though.
I inspected Yun’s expression thoughtfully. Her eyes gleamed with expectation as she met my gaze. I sighed, finding it difficult to meet them head on.
“Why are you asking me? Wouldn’t it be better to tell the Hadal Clan about this?”
Yun laughed.
“And let an orthodox clan know of my presence here? Besides, even if they did attack the lab for me, I doubt they’d be willing to give me the samples. I imagine they would just destroy them.”
“I suppose you’re right. It was a foolish question, then. I will… look into it, see if it’s something possible for me. I can’t imagine any lab willing to perform such dangerous experiments would be only lightly defended.”
She nodded.
“I’ve actually taken the liberty of looking into their defenses myself, already. I imagine your talents would be better suited to the task than mine, though. I’ll send it to your… associate?” I nodded, and she fiddled with her tablet some more. “Alright then,” she said, “You bring me their research, and I’ll poison your ganglord. How about it?”
She reached out her hand, and I shook it.
Miasmic Poisons: [While miasma is often used for a martial artist's personal benefit, excessive exposure can lead to symptoms paralleling those of poison or radiation exposure. This effect can be optimized by using certain arts and technologies. Unlike mundane poisons, these are far more difficult to manufacture, but are capable of affecting any living organism, even in some cases being capable corroding or damaging mechanical equipment. It is, of course, illegal to use, own, or manufacture in the Pantheonic Territory, but as with all things, the government can easily be bribed to turn a blind eye, if the price is right.]