Don Kuat

I stifle a yawn as the last response to the recharge prayers is decrypted and downloaded into the thumb drives provided to me by the Cathedral. The entire process took a few days, no thanks to the chorus showing up and taking an entire day to pray to the divines. The session stretched on late into the night and by the time those burka clad women left the transmission station, it was already close to midnight, preventing me from performing my sweep of the Citadel for Jasvinder that evening.

So yeah, I've been spending my nights camped out at the various spots Jasvinder would most likely show up at, including at his home, a neat end row semi-detached located in a posh, leafy residential district. Unfortunately, I've had no luck and no leads to show for all the time spent. Jasvinder has not made a reappearance at any of his usual haunts and appears to have abandoned his boy toy. Thomas spends his evenings cooped up in the house, occasionally venturing out to drive aimlessly about town, most probably doing the exact same thing I've been trying to do for the past few days. I had thought that Jasvinder would at the very least attempt to make contact with the boy toy, but he's playing it smart.

Or he never loved Thomas all that much to begin with.

So the late nights and increased workload were not helping improve my mood any. But at least I've managed to get one thing out of the way and have yet another free evening to search for a needle in the middle of a haystack. I'm sorely tempted to just grab Thomas and beat some information out of him, but that would be pure foolishness and a sure fire way of drawing the wrong kind of attention on to myself. I heard that Olivia managed to get herself hospitalized during the recent Fallen attack and she hasn't shown up at the station for the past few days. So the heat is off, at least for the time being.

Never thought that I would be thanking the Consensus for rustling the Citadel's jimmies so thoroughly. But that episode goes to show that time is running out. The dirac sea is an unnatural construct, sustained only by the divine energy funneled by the goddesses. Every successful incursion by the Consensus destabilizes the sea's surface, until the day comes when the dirac sea is broken open like an egg. And if that happens, its game over.

Game over for me, for Earth, for everyone.

Yeah, no pressure. I begin packing up the thumb drives into the box that came with it for delivery back to the Cathedral when suddenly, my personal mobile begins to ring.

"Yeah. Hello." I grunt into the handset, somewhat miffed at the unwelcome interruption.

"Hey, hey. Its Reina!" Lisa's voice trills across the line, "Is Uncle Don happy to hear from me?"

"Hi Reina." I reply, wondering why Lisa is calling me now, "I'm meeting you later today right? Outside that place you're having cram classes."

"About that Uncle Don," Lisa's voice trails off uncertainly, "something's come up."

Is the orphanage get suspicious? Lisa and I had agreed to have our meetups during the scheduled breaks that take place midway through her cram class. Its one of the best times for her to sneak away without anyone noticing. If this arrangement is no longer possible, providing her with serum becomes much more troublesome.

That reminds me, my stash is running dangerously low. Lisa needs a constant supply of serum to undo the damage inflicted by Jasvinder. After giving her a few doses, I tried to begin her training straight away. Lisa took to the lessons easily enough, but I noticed that her strength waned quickly the moment we began practical exercises. Lisa's internal 'mana pool' is dangerously small, a sign that her power package has not yet matured. She still needs to build her strength. If I push ahead with the training, I risk her condition backsliding.

I'll need to make a trip out into the concrete desert to perform a harvest once the excitement in the Citadel dies down. The Leader has ordered the reserves to remain on standby, fearing another big attack by the Fallen. My guess is that now the Citadel's defenses have been recharged through the Chorus, things will get back to normal in a few days time. It'll be cutting things close, but I should be able to manage it.

"Uncle Don, you know those sweets that Reina likes?" Lisa continues, "Could you bring a really, really big bag of them today? Please?"

Huh. Now that's a surprise. I never expected Lisa to request this from me. Is she trying to accelerate her training? Kudos for eagerness, but she really needs to rein it in. More haste, less speed and all that.

"Too many sweets is bad for you Reina." I gently reprimand, "All that sugar can damage your body."

"Uncle Don, you'd better bring all the sweets you have." Reina ignores what I'm saying completely, "That's right. Bring everything you have."

"Is anything wrong?" I ask, this time seriously worried. Did the Blue Ocean Initiative manage to capture Lisa? Am I being set up?

"Reina just likes eating sweets beneath the full moon." Lisa replies, "Just bring the sweets, OK Uncle Don? You'll understand later."

Full moon. The pass phrase signifying that everything is fine. So whatever is going on, Lisa is not being coerced or in any danger. But that just leaves further unanswered questions. What game is she playing at?

"I think we need to discuss this later Reina." I say, pulling seniority over her, "You're not old enough to be making these kind of decisions."

"All the sweets, Uncle Don! Remember!" Lisa keeps jabbering, "I'll see you later at the place where the road meets the clearing!"

Then she hangs up without bothering to wait for my reply.

Damn it, what did she say at the end there? Road meets the clearing. Another pass phrase, this one meaning obey immediately without question. What the hell man, I though juniors were supposed to be respecting their seniors? You know what? Fine. If Lisa wants to play this game, I'll go along with it. For now.

But if she can't give me a good reason for this stunt, I'll be reaming Lisa through her metaphorical anus with a metaphorical cactus.

....

The dusk of evening closes in on the Citadel as I park my car at a strip mall and disembark, carrying a large plastic bag with me. Lisa's cram school is located just down the road and she takes her breaks at a fast food place in the strip mall, a nice spot for me to perform the handover. Once Lisa receives the dose of serum from me, she then goes to the washroom to inject herself while I take the opportunity to disappear into the crowd.

Its a good system, allowing us to meet without exchanging words or extended contact. But this time, I expect Lisa to give me a thorough explanation of what's gotten into her head. I can't just breeze through the junk food joint like usual. Death sense is not activating, so at the very least Lisa is not setting me up for an ambush or the like. With all that in mind, I join the queue of people lining at the counter and turn to the corner of the restaurant where Lisa usually sits.

And sure enough, there she is, sitting by herself at a table drinking a milkshake as she always does. Instead of buying take away as I usually do, this time I tell the server that I'm eating in and order the usual value meal. The food is indifferently dumped on to a tray after I pay the server and I accept the steaming plate of spaghetti piled with mystery sauce. Adjusting the balance of the tray so that the soup that forms part of the value set doesn't spill, I walk over to Lisa's table without wasting anymore time.

Lisa looks up as I set my tray down but remains silent while I take a sip of watered down mushroom soup. This tense silence continues as I begin digging into my dinner and by the time I'm halfway through my spaghetti, my patience runs out.

"Sweets are bad for you." I grunt, "So why are you asking for so many?"

"Not me." Lisa murmurs softly and shrinks back into her seat, her eyes cast downward. I stop shoveling junk into my mouth as what Lisa is saying sinks into my brain. Then, another voice coming from behind me joins the conversation.

"I told you to bring the sweets." a young boy's voice says, so young that it has not even broken yet, "Unless you have a problem with that."

"You miserable punk," I growl turning around to confront the newcomer, "What are you playing at?"

Its a young boy, as I had guessed from the voice. Short, slim with black hair. One of the kids from the orphanage if I'm not mistaken. I think I met him with the other tykes at Jasvinder's clinic. Someone who is totally unremarkable.

Except for the fact that this brat is confronting me with arms akimbo and staring fearlessly at my angry face, as if he expects me to back down.

Then I see the boy's eyes. The windows to his soul.

That's no boy. Its just a vessel for an old monster.

"Pardon me?" the boy asks again, "I don't think I heard what you said just now, Maximilian."

"Wu." I mutter in surprise.

"The sweets." Wu makes an impatient gesture with his hand.

"Yes. Of course." I answer handing the bag over without further protest. Was this the decision the Management had made? Redeploying Wu?

"I heard the matter with Sheryl reached breaking point." Wu grunts, a strange sound coming from such a young boy.

"Yes." I narrow my eyes at him, "Jasvinder has disappeared. We should have dealt with him sooner."

"The situation has changed." Wu shrugs, "Sheryl's situation presents us with a unique opportunity. I'll be taking over as the Senior Operative from now on while you remain the Speaker and Lisa's instructor."

"What unique opportunity?" I hiss, "Its a complete disaster!"

"Opportunity arises from danger, Maximilian." Wu smiles thinly, "And that's what we'll be doing tonight. Making the most out of that opportunity."

"We don't even know where Jasvinder is." I point out as I go back to eating my dinner.

"I have that sorted." Wu pats his chest, "Is there a shop that sells mobile phones here?"

"Yes?" I answer, completely befuddled by what he's getting at.

"Good." Wu nods as he takes the bowl containing the remainder of my soup and slugs it down in one gulp, "You're going to be buying a burner phone for me. Then we're going to the hideout so I can get my stuff back. You came in a car right?"

"Yeah." I affirm, "I'm still driving my old car."

"Wonderful. Lisa and I can shoot up in there later." Wu wipes his mouth with a serviette as he speaks, "We have a few days before things calm down in the Citadel. We should be ready to move by then."

"Do you need all my serum?" I complain, "Its not easy these days to conduct a harvest."

"I just inhabited this body. My power reserves are empty." Wu frowns, "If there is another way for me to rapidly replenish my strength I would take it, but there isn't. But don't worry about the serum. We'll have that problem sorted out by the time this is over."

"How? What are we going to be doing anyway?" I whisper as Wu begins to get ready to leave.

"I'll tell you, but not here." the Senior Operative begins tugging at Lisa and my sleeves, a surprisingly childish action, "Now let's get going."

"Its going to be a long night."