Best to make this practical joke short. I dove into an idle restaurant and marched straight ahead. Sat the dizzy woman down to face towards the entrance. Perfect. Impossible to miss.

Pulled a napkin off a holder, wondering what slight would rub the most salt into this wound. I didn’t know the guy at all to customise.

Telling him to piss off wouldn’t do much good, and would betray my cracking nerves. This was becoming a problem, after all – and not one I’d be able to solve. Being on a radar of people with unlimited resources was the worst no-win scenario.

The only way forward was to imply I’m an unattainable quarry, always one step ahead. He must have better things to do than bash head against a wall. Right?

Wrote a reply to a single question he has ever asked me.

“You did.”

I was even sure it was true. Anybody would be at loss for words after a string of minor insults like this. Stuffed the napkin between the drooling girl’s intertwined fingers and ran straight into a waitress.

Quickly typed out, “She’s not feeling well. Will be pick-d up shortly.”

“Oh. Oh, dear,” young woman with the menus glanced back and forth. “Let me get some water.”

I used the chance to make an abrupt disappearance.

Didn’t leave any spy cameras behind. They were expensive, and I’d rather avoid an ambush. I was known for going back for my stuff, after all.

Just as I considered notifying my no-longer-mysterious pen pal about the change of locale, stomps of combat boots bounced off the walls. Way more than would have fit inside a single chopper.

More milled outside in the open air, as if not entirely sure which building to cordon off – but they sure seemed prejudiced against this one. Some were casing the shops nearby in pairs.

“D-damn.”

Chewed on my lip.

Just finding a back door won’t work here. An employee popping out to dump trash was too conspicuous. Climb up? I didn’t have proper tools to make a getaway from higher floors.

Descending past several locked doors, broke into the lowest level. If this indeed was a well-prepared trap, the greenhouse would be watched, too. Even so, I knew this place better than an entitled brat from a whole another domain. This was my home ground. Not the first time I had to sneak out from here under precarious circumstances.

Jogged through what used to be a bunker. As no serious creature threatened the streets in nearly a century, somebody has tried to turn the space into a luxury retreat. Alas, no relaxation below ground was ever going to happen. Not since the bull mole scare.

Now, several odd, antique cars were incorporated between the hydroponic stands like it was some sort of museum. It’s good there was proof, I suppose. I wouldn’t have ever believed the size of those windows.

Repeating columns stretched far under the other high-rises. I climbed ladder at the very end of the tunnel. The grove of fruit trees up top seemed silent. Light footsteps came and went.

“What is the army even doing here?”

“I don’t know, radio said something about a drill?”

“But why are they not letting anyone in? I’m gonna be late for my shift!”

“Just enjoy your long break.”

I cracked the metal lid open to look. My eyes have not met anyone else’s. Just as expected. Even knowing the access shaft was somewhere around here, it would have taken some effort to find. This manhole was out of the way, and even then – hidden by the edible jungle.

With jacked inverted, I emerged into the path with laboured steps. Nearly limping. A pair of eagle-eyed soldiers watched this overgrown boulevard, but their gazes didn’t even linger on my crooked elderly visage.

Another group sat on the bench and enjoyed their extended lunch.

“Who do you think was that kid?”

“You kiddin’? Clearly gotto be the Kalantan general’s lineage.”

“Yeh. So young though.”

“And so lucky!! I, too, want to order a horde to storm a place.” 

“Deni, you were lucky to rise above a private.”

“That’s because of my leg!”

Unsettling. I had assumed the lord has left for the bogus meeting. Instead, he was gallivanting just around the corner. He, of course, was not supposed to run headfirst into danger, even if I had baselessly assumed that would be the case. Or was he here because I’ve grown that predictable?

I didn’t even need to retrieve my spy camera to know who burst into the electronics shop. In fact, it’s for the best I don’t. The haughty highborn figured out my shopping habits.

However, the local forces would have arrived much quicker. They could have flooded the street and blocked the greenhouse’s emergency exit, too. I would have used another gap then, but it was a noteworthy nonetheless. It’s as though the two halves were not working in tandem. Political tensions? A literal goldmine for someone in my field!

How did they get a hold of my client, though? As much as I didn’t like having been predicted by young Raktkalis, to be completely seen through by two parties was way worse.

Dismissing that as impossible, I arrived to the only conclusion. The snooty nobleman managed to decode the contents of warhorse. Then, as a junior officer, he got debriefed and shoved aside.

Oof.

Today could have gone much differently.

As irritating as anyone getting that database for free was, that was just the tip of a nose. My client list was compromised. I can’t work with any of them again. Naturally, I obfuscated the identities, but it’s not impossible to connect the dots. After all, he clearly did.

Things were beyond bad. I’ll need to hunker down and play dead. Perhaps play dead for real, offering up someone else’s corpse with necessary proof taped to the forehead.

The radio on a tired tram prattled on about the thrilling developments downtown, “We have reports of bodies being carried out; some people are being escorted to the automobiles. Potential witnesses? We can only speculate about the motives of this horrendous attack, as authorities are refusing to make an official statement at this time. The attack might be in connection with the recent sabotage. Wildlife sympathisers have not claimed yet, but it is speculated...”

What?

What attack? Bodies? Whose?! I hadn’t even left as much as a scratch on anyone.

Great. All I needed is to be pursued with the vigour set aside for insane radicals.

Gory scenes from the academy flashed in my mind. I ground my teeth. That tetchy maniac was determined to make me pay. In red waterfalls.

As much as I’d like to believe the bloodbath downtown was an emotional outburst, that man wouldn’t be recognised as a potential heir if he was prone to erratic hissy fits. This was calculated. An invitation. Raktkalis committed mass-murder – all to lure me into retrieving a recording. Something that’d get the heat off me – and put it on him, nuking the scion’s entire career. More, perhaps. Branded and exiled, or even sent to the mines. That’d be something to see.

I savoured that notion. Then let it go. Even if there was such a thing, the news wouldn’t report on it.

Perhaps the body of a scapegoat will need to turn up sooner than later. No more poking the general-in-the-making, either. I need to completely disengage from this mess.