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“All right,” Alice says once she’s cleared the last of the rocks and fixed the boom in place, “I’m not worried about being overheard any more, so I can fill you in now. The main arm of Nadab’s operation is Big Money Industries: he’s got his fingers in a lot of pots, but almost everything traces back somehow to Big Money. They’re headquartered in the high plains of Altilluvia, near the lake at the head of the Long Fall and the border with Eversummer below. Just getting there will be a challenge, as the nearest shore is made of cliffs almost two miles high, so our best bet is to head all the way East to the end of the Notosynoro Mountains and dock there.”
“Can’t we just go up the cliffs,” Phyr asks.
“Not unless you grew wings since I last saw you,” Alice says.
“When’s the last time you looked at my character sheet?”
She pauses for a moment and concentrates, then says matter-of-factly, “OK, the first part just got a whole lot easier. New plan: we find a spot at the base of the cliffs and Phyr flies us right on up. We’ll still have a bit of a hike, but the going will be much easier and shorter.” The guys nod, and Phyr takes out his map. Alice starts marking it as she says, “Big Money is headquartered right about here, in a city called Thousand Bridges. We’ll want to overshoot it a bit, because the Hypnagogia Channel has a strong current running from East to West. It’s not so bad where Járnviðr opens up the channel and it splits to run around Moristella, but the farther South we go, the stronger it gets. Phyr can use his powers to manipulate the wind if the weather’s unfavorable, though.”
“I can?”
“Yeah, just power down.”
“How do I do that,” he asks.
“You concentrate on powering down,” Alice says flatly. Phyr blinks away his blank look, then closes his eyes and screws up his face, and a green light envelops his body as he shrinks down to his old size. As the light fades, he’s wearing his old clothes again.
“Well, now I wish I’d grabbed my blasters,” he says as he looks himself over. “I didn’t think I could fix them without my technomancer skills.”
“Did they get damaged,” Alice asks.
“Thorn cut them in half during the fight.”
“Oh.” Alice thinks for a tic, and says, “Well, don’t feel too bad about it. You couldn’t get those puppies back to full power, anyway. Not without some serious gear. Only a handful of places would have what you need, and they’re all hard to get to.”
Vector says, “I’d be surprised if a conglomerate called ‘Big Money Industries’ didn’t have access to one.”
“Prepare to be unsurprised,” Alice says, “Because they do. But the focus of their mining, weapons, and other manufacture operations is all the way in California. Because of the geology, the Aguja Piedra Mountains have a lot of exposed mineral veins, but only the climate and geography of Northern California makes it feasible to extract and refine it at any kind of scale.”
“Seems like more of a reason to hit them up, if it’s so important to Edric,” Phyr says. “And my blasters are on the way there.”
“That… is a good point,” Alice says thoughtfully. “We still want to go to the headquarters first, though, to learn what we can about his operations these days.”
Vector raises a finger, calling for quiet. After a moment’s thought, he says, “What if we went to California first, and fucked up his ops there. Wouldn’t he scramble to get things back in order, making it easier to do whatever we want in Altilluvia?”
“Not bad,” Alice says, “But not quite good enough, either. If we just start raining destruction on ‘em, there will be lots of immediate collateral damage, not to mention environmental devastation and downstream economic disruptions to normal people’s lives. We want to use a scalpel here, not a sledgehammer.”
“Good call,” Phyr says with a decisive nod. “We’ll stick to your plan, then.”
Alice blinks in surprise and says, “Just like that? No whining about the boring parts?”
“No,” Phyr says, a slight grimace crossing his face. “You’re clearly the brains of the outfit now, I’m the muscle, and Vector’s the face. We should play to those strengths, or I’m just gonna stir up trouble again.” He looks down at the map with renewed focus.
“Hey,” Alice says, placing a hand over one of his. “Are you all right?” He looks at her, and seems about to say something snarky, but the concern on her face disarms him and he stares agape for a moment as he tries to switch gears. “I mean it. You’ve done almost a complete 180 since the last time I saw you. I’m not complaining at all, I just can’t figure out whether that means you’re taking this really well… or really poorly.”
Phyr takes a moment to collect himself, then gives a deep sigh. “I think I’m taking it well. Thorn killed Pannych, but I know Dee’s still alive outside. I was thinking about what that all means while I was flying around, and I think it means she’s consumed by self-loathing. She gets like that sometimes, and she’s always able to deal; but I worry, y’know? I don’t think she knows how to ask for help when she needs it - like, I don’t think that’s an option to her, at this time in her life, because she’s not used to having anyone in her corner. Before I met her, everyone who mattered to her had let her down in some big ways, and it takes time to come back from that.”
Alice and Vector remain silent, letting him open up and waiting to see if there’s more he wants to say. After a long stare into the distance, Phyr continues: “So I figure, the best thing I can do as her friend is to take this seriously, knuckle down, and do the best I can. Maybe having someone carry on the fight while she can’t is what she needs for her healing process. Or whatever this is.” He looks up at his companions, weariness and exhaustion on his face - but he doesn’t seem disturbed, weak, or near any kind of edge; simply determined. “You’re the brains, so you tell me: does that mean I’m taking this really well, or really poorly?”
Alice tightens her grip on Phyr’s right hand and opens her mouth to speak, but Vector puts one hand on her shoulder and takes Phyr’s left hand in his other, saying, “It means you’re a good friend.” The moment becomes a group hug, made just a bit awkward due to the rocking deck of the small sailboat.
Phyr breaks away and says, “All right, enough Kumbaya for now. We’re hitting up the headquarters to find out what we can about his operations before we decide what to do. I doubt he’s putting up Master Plan posters around town, so what kind of security are we up against?”
“Top-notch,” Alice says. “Nadab is always scouting for talent, he promotes from within, pays well, gives competitive raises, values open communication, doesn’t over-compartmentalize, and knows the value of well-rested troops; all of which adds up to eager new blood led by seasoned veterans.”
“Hmm… not a lot of cracks there,” Phyr muses.
“Are we even sure this guy’s bad,” Vector asks. “What you describe sounds a lot like a good company to work for.”
“Yeah, and it also sounds like action items from the Evil Overlord List that Dee read when she was sixteen,” Alice says. “His endgame isn’t meritocratic utopia, it’s entrenched plutocracy. All this apparent benevolence is just a means to a much more sinister end. Trust me.”
The boys think this over for a minute, then Phyr says, “Wait - you said he’s always scouting for new talent, and he’s a good employer. What if I join up?”
“He knows who you are,” Alice says. “Hell, every rich fuck on the planet has heard of the crew who raised the floor on the Noob Isle economy, and they’re on the lookout.”
“He’s heard of Phyr, the gunslinging dwarf in the ‘jaunty garb’.” FLASH! “But has he heard of DJ Ragnarok, the six foot mana god who’s looking to throw in with a solid outfit?”
“You mean the guy who rolled into Noob Town the day before yesterday with Vector here?”
“Hey,” Vector says insistently, “I work for the highest bidder. Not my fault if everyone’s confusing DJ here with my old partner who tragically died with his BFF in the badlands a couple weeks ago.”
“He still knows me,” Alice protests.
“You mean the seer to the Old Guard who’s now a free agent,” Phyr asks.
Alice pauses to completely rethink this angle, then says, “Gentlemen, I believe we have the beginnings of a mighty fine plan.”
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