Chương 13: Accidents Happen

I didn't end up waking Sylvie the next morning like I usually would. She needed time to decompress. Although it hurt to hear her say she hated me, I got it. She was being emotional and needed time to cool down. I hurt her, and so she lashed out. She didn't mean it. Right, she didn't mean it. I walked down the street, and caught the tram to work. On the way, I thought through everything. I had a week to figure out an alternative solution, if there even was one.

If not, then I'd have to go on the expedition whether I wanted to or not. If I could… maybe I could try and wiggle some freedom out of Hades. Since they needed me, it gave me an opportunity to test the syndicate. It'd been a long time since I tried to buck my reins… since before the kennel, actually. Even if I acted super rebellious, they probably wouldn't send me back there for the same reason they'd hand over inhibitors. They needed me sane to use my psionic ability. Then again…

Cerberus made it seem like I'd only get an inhibitor if I brought something back to the syndicate. Telling me I'd get another if I did good, and then giving me new orders? I didn't know any other way of looking at that. I couldn't risk relying on the fact they needed me sane for the upcoming expedition. If my assumptions were wrong, it'd be too late to figure something else out. I needed an alternative. One that'd at least give me some time to figure out what I was going to do.

I didn't know where to even start, though—no, I did. I just didn't like my starting point. My old gang, Deadlock, was out. Most of them were dead or too low-level to get anything from. There was only one person in particular I could turn to. I scrolled through my contacts, and hovered on one in particular. I hadn't contacted her since I started doing the syndicate's dirty work. If there was anyone that might be able to open a door or even just a window, it'd be her. Me: hey, it's been awhile. can we talk?

I paused just shy of hitting send, and leaned my head against the window. The chilly pane of glass felt incredibly soothing on my fluffy ears. I… I didn't want her to see me like this. It was the same reason I stopped talking to her back then. I didn't want her to be disappointed in me, and there was only one way it'd end. I rubbed at my chest, and dropped my phone into my lap. This was wrong. Contacting her just so I could use her to get some information—wasn't that the exact same thing Hades did to me?

What everyone did to me? It'd make me the same kind of monster. My phone felt like lead in my lap. I hesitantly picked it up, and moved to delete the message—"Now arriving! Now arriving!" The tram lurched heavily beneath me, and my thumb jerked up. It slipped right past the delete button, and I accidentally hit send.

"Pyre…" I stared blankly at the send icon just underneath the message. I didn't have long to contemplate the slip up. Sister Neriyov: Reyna! So good to hear from you. Of course. You can come by anytime. Our doors are always open… except at night ^^ Me: thank you. Even though it was digital, I could practically feel her warmth radiating through the message. Really, what else was I expecting? Condemnation? It may have been a long time, but someone like Neriyov didn't change so easily.

I stood up and slipped my phone into my pocket. The walk back to work was far too short. I had way too much on my mind to focus on work at the moment, and walking in the rain gave me some time to think things over. I found Quinn in her office, right where I thought she'd be. She was passed out on the couch without a care in the world. A line of bottles lay around her, and she had a large one clutched in her hands.

"Quinn…" I whispered, and shook my head. I carefully pulled the half full body of vodka out of her grip, and pulled a blanket over her. She mumbled something incomprehensible, and tossed over on the couch. With that done, I started to work. I went home before I could type up a report for the Skullker incident, so that was where I started. One document turned to five, and an hour turned to several. Before I knew it, the day was already winding to a close.

"Haah…" I stretched out, and yawned heavily. My ears pulled back, and my tail twitched at the motion. Had that much time really passed? I pulled out my phone to check— Unknown Number: Meet up tonight. Come in gear. (Attachment) It was a short, simple message. Just that one message completely altered my plans for the night. I didn't bother sending a message back. They'd probably already disconnected the line. There was only one group that contacted me like that.

I scrolled through my contacts and sent a quick message to Sylvie that I'd be home late tonight, and not to stay up for me. A moment later, it flashed read. She must've still been mad at me, because she didn't send a reply back. I leaned forward heavily on the desk.

"Hey Quinn?"

"Mmm." She'd woken up several hours ago, though looked like she'd nod off at any moment once again.

"Time to go?"

"Roger." I sighed, and leaned forward on my hands.

"I… If something happened to me—"" Is something going to happen to you?" Her sleepiness melted into sharp-eyed wariness in an instant. Her eyes glowed with an almost eerie blue light, and she stood up to face me.

"Not if I can help it. I'm just saying if …" If I didn't make it back from the Mire expedition. If Hades decided I was no longer of use, and I had to go out my own way. If—there were too many of them.

"Would you look after Sylvie?"

"Reyna…"

"I'm not asking you to adopt her or anything." My words came out in a rush, and my chin dropped toward the desk.

"Just check up—" Quinn's hand dropped onto my shoulder. The warmth of her palm soaked down through my jacket.

"I'll take care of her. Don't worry about it. If anything, I should be the worried one with this kind of talk. Last time you talked like this was right before your… vacation… Oh, Reyna." Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work! The realization lighting up her face made my eyes drop once more. I couldn't face the pure concern radiating off of her.

"Yeah…"

"Look, I don't know what kind of trouble you're wrapped up in, but just like I told you back at the academy, yeah?" She patted my shoulder and pulled away.

"I can help. You just need to tell me."

"It's nothing." My ears pulled back for an entirely other reason, and my tail stilled behind me. The familiar words felt just as bitter as usual across my tongue. It was the same song and dance since I first met Quinn.

"Thank you."

"Of course." Her eyes narrowed on me.

"Do I need to drive you home tonight to make sure you don't do something stupid?"

"No," I blurted out, and winced at the interest growing in her eyes.

"If anything I should be the one worried about you driving."

"It's out of my system now." She moved back to the couch, and flicked her hat on. With her other hand, she grabbed a bottle, sniffed at it, winced, and then downed it anyway.

"Not like that it won't be." I grabbed the others, and started to clean up the office.

"Quinn, we talked about this."

"Yeah, yeah." She waved me off lightly.

"I'll call a cab tonight. Promise. What about you, though?"

"Sylvie's still mad at me, so I was thinking of going to a book club." Book club—it sounded like a blatant lie on the surface. It was a lie I consistently fell back on, so she'd long stopped being suspicious.

"Oh." As I expected, her interest rapidly faded. She moved toward the door of her office, and stopped just shy of opening it.

"Well, call me if you need anything. You'll owe me dinner, though."

"I will." I watched her leave, and turned my attention back to the computer to shut it down for the night. — — — I checked my phone, and leaned against the wall of an alley just across the street from an old warehouse. Street lamps up and down the street were mostly out, with only a few casting a dim glow onto the soaked asphalt. For the most part, everything was fuzzy shades of blue, yellow, and gray. My ears twitched uncomfortably under my helmet. I was back in full Barghest gear.

My tomahawk, which barely got a use last time, hung faithfully from my waist. Hopefully I wouldn't need it tonight either. I pushed off the wall, and stalked across the dim street to the warehouse. The doors were already standing wide open, and a squad of Hades' stooges stood around it in combat armor. Just like me, they had full helmets that totally covered their faces.

"Barghest?" One of them stepped in front of me. A scanner popped up off his shoulder, and swept over me.

"That's me." I looked between all the soldiers. They had some seriously high tech gear compared to my enchanted stuff. I'd been using the same armor for years. The man nodded, and stepped out of my way. The scanner neatly dropped back into a slot on his shoulder.

"They're in the back office. Better hurry. The boss is in a bad mood."

"Roger." I moved deeper into the warehouse. It wasn't a place I recognized, but workers moved around it moving crates of stuff around like it was a major Hades operation. Or maybe it was a major operation. Trucks were being loaded up, and rapidly taking everything away from this place. Two guards stood on either side of the door into the room. Both were inhumanly massive, and easily two times my height. They looked like they would need to crouch just to get into the door.

They wore ragtag clothes like they were trying to blend in, but no amount of camo would help their massive frames. Experiments of Hades? Back when they were… working on me in the kennel, they were experimenting almost exclusively for super soldiers. Was this the end result? Both looked like they could bench press a truck without any issue. I had no doubt in my mind they were Beyonders of some sort. Humans just didn't grow to that size naturally.

"Barghest?" One of the guards nodded to me, and pushed open the door for me to pass through. I slipped past them, and entered the back office. Three people sat around the space, with each being more oppressive than the last. For one, Agent Haman himself sat on the couch idly flipping through a book. He glanced up at me, though otherwise showed no interest. Cerberus sat on the other side of the couch next to Haman. He glared at me as if my mere presence was an insult to his existence.

The man looked more pissed off than usual, and that was saying something. The other was a massive tank of a man just like the two out front. He sat in the seat of honor just behind the desk, and quite-frankly made it look small by comparison. He leaned forward with his eyes rapidly dancing across a computer screen. Scars ran along his face, and two burnt out husks marked his forehead like horns that'd been cut off.

The hulking man casually leaned back in his chair, causing it to emit a tortured groan underneath his size. He dropped his chin into his palm, and eyed me.

"Barghest, I presume?"

"Roger." My voice crackled with neutrality imbued into it by the voice modulator. The man grabbed a folder off the table and tossed it toward me.

"We're looking for someone." Cerberus' glare intensified. Why was an Executor, one of the highest positions in the syndicate, obediently sitting on the couch instead of the main seat?

"Lord Bartmoss, there's no need to lower yourself to explain matters. Barghest here is of the lowest dogs of our organization." Looking past what the man had to say—was this Lord Bartmoss guy not part of Hades? To get an Executor to talk respectfully like this… just how high of a position was he? What force did he represent? Someone from the central cities, maybe?

"Does informing my workers what their job is make me lower? Why didn't I know that?" Bartmoss's voice was calm without a hint of disdain. The way he spoke, though, made it seem like we were all mere ants vying for his attention rather than people.

"Of course not, milord." Cerberus' spine straightened, and for once he looked out of his element. That only caused his withering gaze to grow even stronger.

"My ability doesn't work on people." I said before I even bothered to open up the folder. It didn't work on any living creature for that matter.

"Troubling." Bartmoss shifted his attention to the sweating executor.

"Then have I any need for your organization?"

"Mi-milord, I—" The words caught in his throat. Cerberus, usually criminally smooth with his words, choked as if he was about to have a heart attack. I watched the exchange with interest. This was the first time I'd ever seen the Hades Syndicate on the back foot. Why did it feel like we were the lowly beggar pleading for work in this situation? It was… kind of exciting? Agent Haman snapped his book closed, and kicked Cerberus' leg to shut the man up.

"Convenience, milord. Aside from that, our dear Barghest here is more than capable of finding your man, isn't that right?" The last question was directed toward me. I opened the file up to reveal a man in… was that power armor? My eyes widened, and danced across the heavy set of power armor the man wore. Just what were they cooking up in the inner cities? It was quite distinctive, and more than enough to go off of. Although my ability didn't work on people, it usually worked on what they were wearing.

I narrowed my eyes, and focused on the image. Seek reacted to my focus, and I felt a slow connection establish in the back of my head.

"Got it."

"Just as I said, milord." Haman tipped his head toward me.

"Where?"

"I'm not sure. Triangulation can't be done here." I motioned to the warehouse. My usual process usually needed quite a bit of space to figure out distance to what I was trying to find.

"Hmm…" Lord Bartmoss raised his voice slightly.

"Heron. Paige." The two goliaths stepped in from outside. They did, indeed, need to duck. Bartmoss was about the same size as them, so he must've ducked to get in, too. For some reason, the image of someone as terrifying as him carefully ducking to not hit his head was really funny to me. I wasn't stupid enough to actually laugh at it, though. Not when the two of them looked like they could punch through my armor with just their fists. I kept my composure, though couldn't stop the tremors of my tail.

"Go with Barghest. I expect results within the hour." His heavy eyes shifted to me, and I instinctively ducked my head.

"Don't expose us. Be on standby should anything go wrong."

"Yes, Commander." The two slapped their fists to their chests in a salute I didn't recognize. I thought I'd get some help this time around, but it seemed it'd be just up to me once more. Despite having two living tanks now assigned to me for the foreseeable future, I somehow managed to keep my cool. I might inevitably fuck almost everything up, but tracking was the one thing I was good at. With the two close behind me, I left the warehouse behind to follow the trail.