MF1.0 - 54 - Best Laid Plans

The recruit looked up into the night as they stumbled along the riverbank. Night in the city had a completely different feel than to the day. During the day it felt like it was choking, barely standing up under the strain of all the people and the bullshit.

At night, it felt like that weight dropped away. In the well-lit places, people breathed easier, in the dark patches, people tried not to breathe at all, lest they catch the wrong kind of attention.

The recruit breathed easily, unafraid of attracting attention. Attracting attention was the purpose of “sneaking” out of the Agency.

The beast dropped down from the sickly mangrove tree and stood to his full height. ‘I didn’t expect to see you again.’

She required a steak and threw it to him. ‘We didn’t exactly get to finish our conversation before.’

The beast tore into the steak and wiped his mouth with an enormous clawed hand before looking back to her. ‘What more did you to say?’

‘Don’t you want to know when the mirror is going to fall?’

The beast sagged. ‘It is close.’

‘The night after tomorrow. If you can manage to stay hidden for that long, and avoid…undesirables until then, you’ll be golden.’

He snorted. ‘You haven’t told me what you want out of this yet. I don’t have access to the currency anymore.’

She sat on a tangle of roots, unworried about the mud on her shoes and pants – one requirement would fix that – and looked up at him. ‘From what I know of the mirrors, you won’t need all of it to bring your girlfriend-’

‘Wife,’ he interrupted.

‘Whatever. Back from the dead. Heart of a whole world, you don’t need it all.’

‘All is safer.’

She snorted and drummed her fingers on her knee. ‘If you want all of it, you don’t get my help. If you give me some of it, just enough to make it a good payday, then I’ll help you.’

He paced back and forth, mumbling in a strange language. Alien language. His language. Finally, he stopped and stared at her with his strange, almost glowing eyes. ‘How much do you need?’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘You take the big part so can make your girl, I’ll take whatever I can get my hands on.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">He knelt and put one of his big hands on the ground in front of him, she watched as it sank into the mud a little. ‘You have a deal,’ he said. ‘You have a deal.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘Night after tomorrow, ship yards up the river,’ she pointed. ‘It should appear about ten, need a watch?’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘No.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘Stay hidden until then, and be there early. We’re not the only ones after it, and not everyone has such altruistic reasons for wanting it.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘What is…your reason?’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">She stood and scoffed. ‘Like I said, a good payday. Money makes the world spin, what else is there to care about?’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">The beast looked at her. ‘If you do not know, there is no point in telling you.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">She walked over and stared down at his kneeling form. ‘Just so you know, if you double-cross me, I will kill you.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">He shook his hairy head. ‘I am quite aware this world is without mercy.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘Be there, or I’ll take it all for myself.’ She turned to walk away, but a hairy hand stopped her.

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘Not once have you given me your name.’

<p style="color:rgb(189,190,190);font-family:Verdana,'CenturyGothic',Tahoma,sans-serif;line-height:normal;">‘Like a monster needs names,’ she hissed as she shook his hand away. ‘But…fine, whatever. It’s Enid.’