Broker

Chapter 20

Verde scratched his head, frowning up at the building. He’d walked past the hotel more than a few times in his life, but he’d never bothered really looking at it. It looked more like a renaissance palace than a pay-by-the-night place. He wondered a little if maybe it had been a palace in the past, he honestly had no idea. He hated when tourists would ask him about places around Florence, like he was supposed to know everything about the place just because he grew up there. His expression slipped into a bit of a scowl.

“You’re dwelling on something stupid again,” Veloce said next to him. She was crouched down on the ground, checking the contents of her backpack. She hadn’t even looked up at him. 

He narrowed his eyes, “...how?”

“You got quiet,” She said and glanced up his way, the glint of a knife disappearing into her baggy sleeves. 

He scratched his chin, “...right,” He mumbled and looked back up at the building, “What’s the plan again? Why are we even here? There’s bound to be monsters showing up sometime tonight, we should be on patrol.”

She groaned and let her head rest against the alley wall behind her, “You serious? Alright, Occhi said that some business woman from the United States is staying here with a few of her people. Apparently she makes weapons that can kill monsters easy,” Veloce explained with an exasperated tone, “She left a couple hours ago for a party or something. She didn’t leave with any of her companions. We’re gonna go grab them.”

“Why? Seems risky,” Verde said, he wasn’t bothered with cutting a few purses or beating down someone for a cash grab, but places like this were bound to have security.

“One of them is her head scientist, let me finish,” She groused, crossing her arms, “He’s the guy who makes the weapons. We’re gonna make him make something for us! Think about it, Verde. Guns that can pierce a Lurk’s skin.”

He turned to face her, “Wouldn’t someone like that have security? Who else is up there?”

“A maid and a fashion designer,” She said with a grin, “That’s it. She didn’t bring a single bodyguard. We even know what room they’re in. We can just walk inside as long as we’re dressed nicely.”

He blinked and looked back up at the building, a small smile beginning to stretch across his face. “What about the hotel’s security?”

“None of them are light-touched, Occhi checked, the place is basically defenseless,” She said and finally got to her feet, slinging the bag over her shoulder. “So are you gonna get cold feet on me, or are we gonna make a power play?”

He licked his lips, Occhi’s eyes were all over town at this point, there was no way his information was wrong. He looked down at the suit he’d put on for the occasion, he’d been wondering why he had to wear such an uncomfortable getup but he understood now. It was a good plan, as long as they got in and out quickly. Veloce put her finger to her ear and nodded a few times, “He’s got eyes on all the routes out now, he’ll guide us out once we snag what we need.”

“I’m in,” Verde said and popped his knuckles, tufts of green flame puffing out with each little crack. She was right, this was their big chance. With anti-monster weapons they’d quickly rise to the top of the other light-touched in Florence. Veloce clapped him on the shoulder with a grin and the two of them made their way out of the alley. He adjusted his collar as she straightened her tie and the two of them walked right into the hotel.

–

Amos lay on the floor in a bathrobe, t-shirt, and boxers, surrounded by scribbles and notes. His eyes fluttering now and then as he bounced between the laptops he’d brought with him to increase productivity. He was glad that Sonya had opted not to bring him with her to Ishtar’s little debut party. The logic was obvious, of course, he couldn’t be associated with Ishtar even if she used her powers to earn the silence of everyone there. More importantly, he hated being on the water, it left him feeling isolated. Moreso now that he had his technopathy. He’d rather be working than drinking booze that cost way more than it was worth in his opinion.

Hmm… He mused thoughtfully as he simulated another design, connecting to the home servers at ASTA headquarters to draw on as much data as possible. I feel like I’m missing something. Just using the core as an energy source feels so wasteful. Ugh… Sonya knows something but she’s not telling me. He rubbed his face, There’s a use here that I can’t pin down, but the more I let my mind wander the more it just seems like magic to me. Which is nonsense.

He frowned and rolled onto his back, pushing a few stacks of paper out of the way, Is it, though? I mean… Pandora’s Box, Monsters, Superpowers, seems pretty magical to me. He pressed his palms to his eyes, But how does it work? What if I powdered the core and used it as a component in making a material? Can I even simulate that? It’s not like the computers fully understand what they’re dealing with.

He grunted and sat up, “Fuckin’ magic bullshit, I need data! I wanna go home!” He would have just sent orders back home to his employees to try pulverizing and testing the cores, but to be honest he wanted to be present for such an experiment. It was too late to remotely participate, everyone had gone home, but he was restless. He hopped to his feet and walked over to the large metal suitcase he’d brought in with him. Thankfully they’d taken a private jet, because the contents would have put him in prison without a doubt.

He opened the case and ran his fingers over the sleek metal drone. There were eight of them inside, each of them equipped with guns loaded with anti-monster ammunition among a few other things. He smiled at his babies, they were his latest success, he just needed something to test them out on. He was just about to mentally connect with one of them when a knock came to the door. He jumped and slammed the suitcase shut. “Uh… yeah?” He called.

“It’s me,” Mikayla’s voice called out through the door.

He frowned and walked over, opening the door. Sonya’s little fling was hugging herself tightly, she looked down at the ground then back up at Amos. “Um… can I come in? It’s… really lonely in the room.”

He shrugged, “I’m not much better company, but sure,” He said and stepped aside.

She smiled at him gratefully, “Thank you,” She walked over to the bed that didn’t look like he had just been tossing and turning in it and sat down. He rubbed his shoulder uneasily before going back to his notes and sitting down. Before he could spread his awareness back out to the laptops, she cleared her throat, “Is Sonya doing something dangerous?”

He forced himself not to react physically and glanced over his shoulder at her, “Did she say something to you?” 

Mikayla looked down at her hands, she was wringing them tightly, “That she would protect me,” She said in a low voice. “I’m not an invalid but I feel uneasy.”

He let out a sigh and rubbed his neck, “Look, I can’t really say what she’s doing at that party right now, I have no idea. Don’t wanna know. Just that she’s meeting with some important people or something, it’s business. I can say, though,” He said and turned to face her, “She doesn’t lie. You can trust her to keep her word.”

He grinned, “Besides!” He said and waved his hands dismissively, “You’re in the room with the most dangerous person in the building, you’ll be fine.”

It’s the best I can do, just reassure her, she’s just not built for this kind of life. I really hope Sonya sticks to the plan and puts some distance between her and all this once we get back. I know she’s sweet on the girl but seriously…

“You don’t want me around, do you?” She asked.

He actually winced this time, “I just think you’re better suited to a studio, like me, I’d rather be in my lab right now-”

A jolt went through his mind, he blinked, she was about to say something when he held up a hand, “One moment,” He closed his eyes and extended his senses to his computers. He could hear her gasp as the screens scattered around the room began to flicker. What was that? An alert? From where? He followed the source until his mind’s eye connected with one of the hotel security cameras. A familiar face, no, two familiar faces.

It had taken him only a few minutes earlier to find out through social media that the pair called themselves Veloce and Verde. Verde could create green fire and use it to shape weapons that could carve through the flesh of low level monsters. Veloce was incredibly fast, moving at speeds that even the human eye couldn’t pick up on. Both of them were wearing suits and casually walking towards the elevator. He frowned and followed them to the elevator camera, zooming in on what floor button they hit.

His blood froze as he pulled out of his connection to the network.

“Mikayla, I need you to go into the bathroom, now,” He said, pointing at the door.

“Huh?”

“Do it!” He growled and hopped to his feet, hurrying over to the metal suitcase, they had at best two minutes. “Someone’s coming and I don’t think they’re friendly.”

That was enough to convince her to move, she got up and hurried to his suite’s bathroom, scurrying inside and shutting the door. He flung the case open and looked down at his babies, “Alright darlings,” He said and stepped back a pace, holding out his hands, “Time for a live fire demonstration.”

His eyes glowed and as one all eight flickered to life, the low hum of fan blades filling the air as they leaped into the air one at a time, positioning themselves in two descending columns. He gestured and they moved to position themselves in line with the door. He switched his vision to the hall camera for their floor, the two light-touched had stopped in front of Mikayla’s room. Verde’s glowing weapon appearing in his hand was all he needed to see to know their intentions. Verde sliced the door open with two quick swings and pushed his way in while Veloce raced to Amos’ door, her finger to her ear. Is she talking to someone? Probably Verde. They’ll know Mikayla isn’t in her room. How did they know about us?

Amos rounded on the door and gestured, “Shoulda stayed home,” He snarled and gave the mental command. 

Immediately the drones to his right opened fire, a volley of bone-colored bullets ripping through the door and leaving two columns of holes in it. His vision switched back to normal for a moment to assess the damage done, A successful first test! He grinned and switched back to the hallway, expecting the corpse of Veloce and Verde coming out to investigate. He was half right. Verde was hurrying into the hall but Veloce had merely stepped away from the door, a grin on her face.

“Thanks for the heads up, Ocche,” He heard her say through the hole-ridden door. “I guess our target is a bit more dangerous than we thought.”

She kicked the door in and vanished from Amos’ field of view only to reappear in front of him, a sneer on her face. His eyes widened as a punch so fast it might as well have been a cannonball slammed into his gut. He gasped, crumpling to the ground. “You’re right,” She said over him, “He doesn’t need to be in perfect shape to work.”

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