When the waitress left – somewhat unsure, I thought – my companion let out a small breath. “We were talking about Clara,” she said, and piled food onto her plate with the same spoon we’d been passing around.

I shrugged. “Fine. Fine. I’ll check up on her next time I get a chance. I promise I’ll pay her a visit before the end of the week."

“Good,” said Durga, sounding relieved. “That’s one thing taken care of.”

We ate in silence for a minute or two while patrons came and went, Durga watching the passers-by and I staring out across the street at nothing in particular. With the gap in the conversation came the awareness that there was a good chance this would be the last meal I’d ever have if things went south tonight. I didn’t want to think about it, but it was hard not to. I didn’t have to go through with this. But the alternative was – what, an eternity of stagnant complacency while the tyrant continued to expand his influence? The trouble with sociopaths was they had a habit of ending up in positions of authority.

“Something’s up,” Durga said eventually. “This might sound odd, but I had another reason for coming to see you tonight.”

My brain immediately leapt to the heist. If she suspected –

But no. “Have you noticed anything strange happening today?” she continued. “I can’t put my finger on it yet, but I feel something building. Whispers of escalation. Apollo doesn’t believe me, and he’s rarely wrong, but I know I’m not mistaken.”

I frowned. There were similarities there to the discussion Lucy and I had had earlier that afternoon, and I didn’t like how broad they were. It meant we could be dealing with - well, whatever it was - on a scale larger than whatever Yun-Qi was wrapped up in, or the mystery surveillance on Eris’ computer. That Durga also thought something was brewing was a good indicator there actually was. And it must be early enough days that it was all being expressed through oblique signs and omens, which was a challenge to figure out even for an expert on omens, which I was not.

“Why are you telling me?” I asked. It wasn’t a flippant question, and Durga knew it.

“Because Themis dealt the first serious blow today. To you, a big name. For an infraction we all know is trifling.”

The assertion about me being a big name was largely unwarranted, at least compared to the likes of Lucy, but I was happy to take it. I’d had my moments. Although I supposed Durga did work for Shitface, and considering the amount of grief I’d put him through, I probably was a big name from his perspective.

“Themis lives to micromanage, and I wager she cares as little about reputation as a fish does about returns on capital investment.” I pointed out. “Hardly out of character.”

“Threatening demotion is,” she countered. “There’s little chance of coming back from that. Even for someone with your track record, it takes a lot more than ambiguously-intentioned kidnapping to warrant that extreme. The extra year’s sentence was more than enough.”

It had definitely been unexpected, but I’d put it down to Themis being obnoxious. “I’m listening,” I said. “I take it there’s more.”

“Right,” she said. Now that she was certain I was taking her seriously, a hint of excitement showed through in her features. “Our waitress tonight. Recognises me through only a name. You’re present when it happens. Not unheard of, but very unlikely. That’s strike two.”

“We were both present for both those events. Did you come across anything else while I wasn’t there?”

“Smaller things. Less obvious things. By themselves, or even a couple at a time, it wouldn’t be unusual. But it adds up. How about you?”

I nodded. “If we’re going on just today, then yes. Several. Less small.”

I didn’t elaborate, and her face fell somewhat. “You’re not going to tell me?”

“You’ll just blab to Shitface,” I said.

She gave me a confused look.

“Your boss,” I clarified. “If you’re right, this could be the most interesting thing to happen in Providence for decades, and he’ll wipe it off the board before I get the chance to look into it.”

She shook her head. “Harsh nickname aside, you’re wrong,” she said. “I can’t tell Apollo. I already went to him once. He doesn’t see anything approaching and thinks I’m imagining it. If I went to him a second time, even at some date in the near future, he’d take it as shirking my duties and find ways to fill my time with meaningless chores. So.” She straightened up a bit and made a mock salute. “Sworn to secrecy for the time being.”

“Your boss is a dipshit, to be fair,” I said. “Relies on his sight to fill the gap where his brain should be. Alright, then.” Mentioning the pope was probably unwise, but there was plenty of other ammunition to work with. “Do you know anything about computer security?”

She gave me an odd look. “Aren’t you the one in IT?”

“If I say no, will that make it go away? It’s not that kind of IT, besides.”

“And it’s not that kind of Security,” she echoed. “Unless you want me to break a laptop over someone’s head.”

I could think of several suitable candidates. “I found some monitoring software on one of the Helpdesk computers,” I revealed. “Suspicious as hell. But I’m not an expert on these things.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, then, because neither am I. I have better things to do with my day than run around smiting malware. Although fewer than I'd prefer.”

“Interesting,” I observed. “Unexpected words coming from a warrior-type.”

“I battle physical monsters, Loki, not virtual ones,” she replied. “And not even those these days. All the monsters are gone.”

“I’m a little insulted by that,” I said.

She gave me a skeptical look. “You call yourself a monster, but you aren’t, really. You’ve mellowed. We all have.”

I snorted. “Yes, well, I think anyone would ‘mellow’ if they were stripped of most of their agency and forced to do an already crap job as incompetently as possible. Moreover, I haven’t lost sight of who I am. I know exactly who I am. It’s everyone else who had the wrong idea. Half the old stories about me aren’t even true. I know this because I’m the one who made them up.”

“Oh, yes. Like the one about the Great Fire of London.”

“No, that one’s actually true,” I said. “In my defence, I was very bored.”

“Oh,” she said, deflating a little. “Most people would find a hobby.”

“Destroying things can be a hobby. You should know all about that.”

She sighed, and it was a wistful kind of sigh. “What else was there?”

“Strange supplier interaction earlier this afternoon. It was a straightforward call, but the contact insisted on meeting in person. I get the impression he was expecting me in particular, and it was very unlikely he could predict that. I didn’t know I was going to call him. And his history with Providence was limited.”

“Like the waitress. Regina. Her name’s Regina.”

“No, this one was weirder. And then you, of course.”

“I’m not up to anything underhanded,” she said defensively.

“Don’t worry, we can fix that.” I hesitated a moment before speaking again. “Have you discussed this with anyone else yet? Do we know if this is happening to everyone?”

“Not yet. You’re the first person I’ve spoken to about it. Other than Apollo.”

“Let’s keep it that way for now,” I advised, polishing off the last of the noodles between breaths. “We’ll look into it tomorrow. Right now, I’ve got to go home and sleep.”

“Do you want a lift?”

I thought about it. “No. I’ll make my own way. Take in the scenery. Keep an eye out for any more oddball scenarios. By the way, I hope you realise you’re paying for this.”

Although if I was found shoplifting, the worst likely to happen would be that the local law enforcement would be called in, at which point I’d flash my work ID, alerts would register and superiors would be notified, and I’d be let off the hook. Someone would deliver a sanctimonious lecture and there would be some meaningless token punishment from Compliance at the company end, but the main thing was the annoying hassle. By now I’d been through the whole rigmarole enough times that I was on almost friendly terms with some of the local law enforcement.

She nodded. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll come by your desk sometime.”

Her eyes darted over my shoulder briefly, and when I followed her gaze I saw she was already there, settling up with Regina the waitress at the counter. Nice trick. I used the moment to gulp down the rest of my kopi before slipping out of the restaurant and into the crowd, weaving through the streams of people out enjoying the balmy night air. No one followed.

As I walked, I pulled out my phone to text Tez. He’d promised me a test, and Durga, with her proximity to Shitface, seemed like she could be part of it. But if so, it was a poor choice for sabotage.

It buzzed in my hands. [Unrelated,] the message read. [Also new. Didn’t see this earlier.]

Interesting. That spoke to seer interference, probably Shitface. Probably benign. Which made sense, given what Durga had mentioned about their conversation earlier. Not much I could do about that. It was also hard to tell from Tez’s response how much immediate-future me had discussed with him. Via text, probably not a lot. Certainly he didn’t need to know about Durga’s observations. One thing at a time.

A second text flashed up on the screen. [No changes to plan. And no hints. Cheating defeats the purpose.]

[Spoilsport,] I texted back, to no response.

But we were still on, with as few answers as ever. With little clue as to where to look for this apparent test I was meant to recognise, the next step was to return home and prepare. If Tez was right, something would come up. If not, we could be in for trouble.

Of course, there was going to be some sort of trouble one way or another. If you asked me, it was well overdue.