Chương 75: Listening In

In a small, dimly lit room deep within the new building was a wall of small, mechanical buttons. Above each one was a number marking the VIP room it connected to. The button connected to room 6 released a soft, muffled noise. Evel sat in the lone wooden chair, maskless but otherwise in full costume. He mindlessly practiced his shuffles while leaning forward, ears open for anything important.

"... 5% increase year over year on the newspaper side. The Imperium may soon look for new contracts…" Across the wall, a clock hung on the ceiling. The time read: 4: 50 Forty minutes until he had to perform, and even less until he had to leave for final preparations. He pressed button 7, the room where the Mayor was currently staying. Silence. Evel pressed button 8. This was where Vito and Corienne, the top two leaders of Redigo stayed.

"... Colton is returning soon, too, so that party will have to be even bigger. Fuckin' love that guy." The male voice belonged to Vito. He was a muscular, black-haired man with deep brown eyes and sharp features that immediately caught Evel's attention when he first walked into the circus.

"How did the brothers turn out so different?" Corienne chuckled. She was a fierce woman with shoulder-length, curly orange hair.

"Graham's rubbing off on you, eh? Someone's gotta give that kid a break."

"Joking, joking, of course." Corinne giggled.

"He's so easy to irritate that it's impossible not to make fun of him."

"I actually saw him with that girl he's been obsessing over just a few minutes ago."

"Laura?" Corinne gasped.

"She gave him a chance?"

"VIP seats and everything. They're in booth 2, we can visit them later." She whistled, "VIP? With how little you pay him?"

"He's a soldier of Redigo!" Vito retorted.

"An occasional expense like this shouldn't hurt his pockets."

"Honestly didn't expect that out of him. Even that bonehead knows how to treat a woman right, you should learn from him." It hadn't exactly been Blake's plan. It had actually been Evel who had chosen to give him VIP in a 'random draw.' Both pieces of major income he had gotten were from Blake, so he felt he should repay him a little. Keeping the Banners happy also helped on the business side of things.

"You think he'll quit?" Corinne asked.

"Quit? No chance. Nobody will willingly give up their retirement." Corinne snorted, "You know what I mean." Vito paused.

"Usually I'd say no, but he's never really shown a desire to actually walk down the Path, so who knows. He might actually make the switch, but I can't imagine him switching to Book until things go a lot further." Corinne hummed.

"Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. The poor girl will probably break his heart soon anyway."

"What about you?" Vito asked.

"Any plans of quitting this branch anytime soon? You can't possibly be satisfied as number two with your talents."

"Maybe I just enjoy the company?" Corinne replied playfully.

"Maybe…" Vito trailed off. Evel switched back to the Mayor. Still silence. Evel cycled through each room carefully, seeking any critical information. Unfortunately, they mostly talked about surface-level business talk or personal affairs. Occasionally, whenever an important topic would come up, they'd suddenly go silent. Must be something similar to the silencing dome that Arlo used to isolate our conversations.

Even if it wasn't the circus listening in, somebody from far away could always be listening with an ability, so it was a precaution many took. Still, a lot of private and critical information could be found just by compiling what every party thought to be common knowledge. Above that, a few parties weren't nearly as cautious as others. Perhaps he'd underestimated what Agent was capable of due to their status as a class B Banner, but they had truly accomplished a momentous feat.

Evel hadn't been very specific with what he wanted outside of what the circus would need, but the deep experience of his employers really shone through. For one, this method of listening in on conversations didn't rely on any form of recording technology at all. Apparently, although rare, some people with sound-based powers, or the odd Weaver, would have the ability to tell when they were being recorded. That was absolutely not a risk he could afford to take.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Instead, the walls of the rooms were angled and rounded in such a precise way as to bounce all the sounds into one specific location. Then, that noise was transferred through essentially a tube that maintained the quality of the sound as high as possible, before finally sending it to the room Evel was hiding within. The buttons picked which room to listen to when. One flaw that Evel immediately found was voice transmissions.

Arlo and all the recruiters for the Banners were able to use such an ability, so he'd expect that to be their preferred method of speech. According to Avid, this wasn't as effective as it may seem. First, it was easy to listen in as long as someone understood the technique as well. The bigger reason was that this form of communication was considered rude. It was a manner of speech preserved for clear superiors or under tight restrictions.

All that's to say, the circus was perfectly moulded to fit Evel's needs in the safest way possible. A Banner, no matter what class, was not to be underestimated.

"That girl, her movements aren't bad." A voice came from the Mayor's room; a gravelly male voice belonging to the head of Acies, Grave.

"The performances lack luster, but the venue was well-made." The Mayor replied coldly.

"At the very least, it allowed us to have a productive discussion. I'll see you shortly."

"Hm. Keep yourself hidden."

"Of course." A door creak, then a light thump. The Mayor had invited Grave over to his room 15 minutes ago, and the remainder of their conversation had been completely silent. Then, his room returned to the familiar silence. Evel continued listening in. Redigo's group, Corienne and Vito visited Blake's room and greeted Laura. Since her restaurant was a frequent meet-up spot for the group, they were all already familiar with each other and mostly joked around. The two didn't linger and left shortly after.

Once they returned, their conversations turned to simple banter and discussion of the performances. Prachar's group, Zephyr and Erden's conversations turned casual until they left the room. They visited the Mayor's room, at which point they held a very brief conversation. Of course, Evel couldn't actually hear it. It was entirely possible they just went in there and silently stared at each other for five minutes. Probably not. Another VIP, a merchant named Moe, talked only about the performance with his assistant.

He praised Mateo's card tricks and Clara's gymnastics highly. Of all the VIPs, he seemed to be enjoying the performances the most, and he was very enthusiastic. Another merchant, Shui, talked about his marital problems and his mistress. The Malaya family talked of their untalented heir and how they prayed he'd at least be blessed with a good affinity. Thirty minutes rapidly flew by, and Evel turned off all the buttons and picked his mask up off the table. He took one last glance at the buttons.

Ideally, he'd have someone trustworthy to listen in at all times. Since it wasn't recorded, any information revealed during his time performing would essentially be wasted. Evel sighed. It wasn't so easy. There was nobody trustworthy enough that he could possibly put in charge of such a confidential task. It wouldn't matter regardless, if the only thing they could talk about while he's out there was his showmanship.

The information he was getting now was a goldmine, but it relied on one important thing: the people of importance would continue to show up to watch. The higher the quality of the performance, the more information he could get, which meant more credits. Evel shut the door behind him tightly, covering the secret entrance with a bookshelf. He then left the private room, his office, and marched towards the changeroom.

The moment he arrived, the brown-haired girl in her thirties with a pointed chin and eyes full of relief approached him.

"Oh, thank goodness, you're here." Yuna was put in charge as the director of the show. She was responsible that everything flowed smoothly, people knew what they were doing, and should an accident occur, she'd cover it up.

"Of course, I said I'd arrive a few minutes early, didn't I?"

"Right, right." Yuna scrambled through her notes.

"Small change in plans, it'll be Rora, one of the new girls, introducing you. She'll also guide the audience through your tricks, and since she was always the intended backup, she should probably, hopefully, know the lines. Just be wary in case she messes up." Yuna looked to Evel to confirm he was listening, then continued.

"Everything else is the same. Clara's resting up after her gymnastics routine, and Mateo is currently on his third set. Once he finishes the juggling routine, then you'll be up."

"How are the audience reactions?"

"We didn't even fill up the main seats, not to mention the overflow seats, but the people who did show up are enjoying it, I think." Evel raised an eyebrow. She didn't sound very sure of herself.

"You think?"

"Well… these people are a little strange. Back in the slums, each performance is met with cheers and yells and chants. There's always a certain," Yuna paused, trying to fight the right word.

"Rowdiness?"

"Exactly. The security folks are always so busy, and there's always one accident replacing the last. Here, on the other hand, security has only had to deal with one small issue. Not to mention, anytime something good happens, it's just a wave of polite claps and a rare 'Whoo'."

"Seems like that's just how the uppers are."

"I think so too, but we won't know until we see how many people will show up in two weeks. Of the performances so far, they seemed to like Mateo the most, so that's probably a good sign. He's still iffy on some of the newer tricks, but he's basically got the old ones down to the T."

"Everything's going smoothly otherwise?"

"Eh. A few of the newer guys crashed and burned, but I've gotten pretty good at replacing them in time." Evel nodded. He hardly had to help out, and Yuna practically had everything under control.

"Thank you, Yuna, you're very reliable." He praised. Without her, the performances would significantly drop in quality and professionalism.

"O-o-of course!" She stammered, averting her gaze.

"I-It's almost time for you to get on stage. Rora will introduce you." Evel hummed and stretched his arms over his head. From the changeroom behind the stage, he could hear Rora's powerful voice.

"... for Mateo!" A round of applause travelled through the crowd. Evel slipped out of the room and confidently walked down the dim corridor, his cape swaying gently behind him. He shortly arrived directly beneath the stage, his auburn eyes longingly fixed on the vibrating floorboards from Rora's voice above him. For the Ichoris Legerdemain to succeed, it relied on his performance here.

"Now, my friends... the appetizers are over. Over the last few weeks, faint whispers have echoed through the dark alleys and grand plazas of this great city. Whispers of a man immeasurable by regular standards. A man who holds destiny in the palm of his hand." He looked at the mask in his hands through a soft smile, one last time, before placing it firmly on his face.

"You've heard the rumours." Her voice swelled, capturing the entire audience.

"Tonight, you bear witness." Evel stepped onto the launch platform, his hands gripping the railing tightly. All the rehearsals had been completed, and the tricks practiced. All that remained was the actual execution.

"Prepare yourselves for…" Clack. The spring released. The stage doors snapped open, and the platform launched upward, catapulting Evel into the blinding stage lights. He struck the landing square in the center. Without missing a beat, he swept the cloak back and took a long, deep bow. Under his mask, he wore a wide, satisfied smile.

"The Oracle Hand!"