Chapter 216 B4. 13.2 – Visiting the Understrip

The fuck? I glanced at Deen. Instead of shaking her head, she rapidly moved her eyes left and right to sign that there was no trouble. There might be no trouble now, but there’d be lots of trouble in the future. This wasn’t what we expected.

“What are you talking about, Marlon?” Cecilia asked in a relaxed tone, her confidence unwavering. “This matter has no connection with Euphonia.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s connected to my ass.” Marlon chuckled, but his eyes remained narrowed with suspicion. “Euphonia has posted a bounty on you.”

Cecilia tilted her head. “That’s preposterous.”

Deen and I glanced at each other. A definite twisty plot twist. However, I found it comforting that there was a problem. I’d like to have problems in front of me instead of springing out later in a much worse situation.

That said, Euphonia moved super-fast. It hadn’t even been a day since we had given the USB drive to the PCM cop. What happened to Auron? We thought he’d make excuses for his failure, beg for his life and for another chance. Another possibility was that Euphonia would think Auron was hiding Cecilia and would decide to decimate the PCM.

We’ve underestimated our enemy. And, yeah… Euphonia’s our enemy now.

Marlon leaned back on his chair. “What did you—? Ah, I don’t need to know. But if I have to guess, you betrayed Euphonia.” He raised his hand. “No, no. Don’t try to argue your case. It’s better if I don’t hear about anything. If Euphonia checks my brain, I’m clear.”

“Are you telling us to leave?” Cecilia copied Marlon, sinking into the sofa. She crossed her legs. “I don’t think we can do that.”

This is so cool, I thought. We had problems and stuff, but I was fixated on this scene—two villains bantering. Marlon wouldn’t be a squeaky-clean guy. Should I ask Cecilia to introduce me to more of her not-friends?

“I can’t help you.” Marlon threw up his hands. “Euphonia is the greater evil here. You’ve got a target painted on your back, and I want to be as far away as possible when the bullet—no, a missile. A nuke! I don’t want to be anywhere near you when the nuke that is Euphonia hits.”

Cecilia pointed at Marlon. “You… are the only person who knows my new face. Not counting my lovely assistants here, of course.” She gestured to Deen and me.

Lovely assistant? Was she a magician doing a show? I wanted to have a speaking role, but I knew that this was Cecilia’s scene. I was a mere extra.

“You may say you’ve only seen my eyes,” Cecilia went on. “However, by your own admission, you’ve discerned the rest of my facial features. You and Thelma over there. If anything happens to us…”

Cecilia lied to set up her threat. The PCM cop saw Cecilia with us. He didn’t know who it was, but Euphonia could reasonably guess.   

“Threatening me now, are we?” Marlon asked.

“I agree that Euphonia is the greater evil,” said Cecilia. “You’re familiar with her method of ‘saving’ me. Coerced to sign a contract with the devil, essentially.” Cecilia stood up and placed her hand on Marlon’s table. “I may be the lesser evil… But I am the evil in front of you.”

“Threatening me with torture and other unspeakable things,” said Marlon. “I’m now risking your ire if I don’t help you.”

Cecilia tapped her long nails on the glass cover of the wooden table. “Choose. Suffer now. Or suffer later. But the thing is, Euphonia won’t know that we were ever here. What we’re asking from you is not related to her—I’m looking for an Adumbrae.”

“What for?”

“Fishing for information? You invited us in despite the bounty on my head.”

Marlon’s laughter filled the small clinic. “You got me. Can’t resist a gossip. I just have to know, what is it that you did to Euphonia?”

This guy is more reckless than me, I thought with a giggle. I’d fit right in the criminal underworld. Many interesting not-friends I’d make.

“Information trade?” Cecilia returned to her seat.

“And five dollars for the coffee,” said Marlon. “I’m not going to charge interest for your very old debt. How many years was it that had passed?”

Cecilia turned to Deen. “Do you have five dollars to spare?”

“My wallet isn’t with me,” Deen said tersely. Her eyes smoldered with fury. She was thinking that helping Cecilia was a mistake—I’d get an earful lecture about this later. “Even if I have the money,” Deen continued, “I won’t let you borrow it. I don’t want my fingerprints traced.”

“She doesn’t sound like an assistant,” Marlon said, winking at Cecilia. To Deen, he said, “You shouldn’t worry about fingerprints. Did you enter the Understrip in a car? If you did, I can check all the cameras and find which one. If you entered on foot, it’ll be more challenging to trace your path outside the Understrip, but I can assure you that the city will become smaller for you.”

“Are you threatening me?” Deen asked with daggers in her voice. For a moment, she sounded scary and fucking badass.  

It seemed to have affected Marlon because his chuckles were half-hearted. “I’m stating a fact. No threats from me at all, lovely assistant.”

“Here’s a fact,” Deen said. “I can kill you, right here, right now.”

You go, girl, I cheered Deen in my head. Wonderful performance. I didn’t mind her hogging the spotlight because I was having fun watching.

“But you won’t do that,” Marlon said, “because I’m of use to you.”

“Where have I heard that before?” Deen gave Cecilia a sidelong glance.

Marlon pointed to the door. “As Cecilia has mentioned you, I invited you in. I’m on your side.” He was quick to change his tune.

“No, you’re not,” said Cecilia.

“I’m not,” Marlon conceded. “I’m on the side of information. I like knowing things. I like the feeling, the power, of knowing things that others don’t. Cecilia alone is a treasure trove of knowledge. She knows about the PCM and more… I’m pleased that she brought you two along. I have a sense of this—you have interesting stories of your own.”

“Once you know more about us,” said Deen. “You’ll scurry to Euphonia to tattle and claim your reward. I still don’t see why I shouldn’t kill you now. Why do we need—?”

“You need the information I hold, right here.” Marlon tapped his temple. “If I don’t have it, I can get it for you. It’ll be very helpful since you’re enemies of Euphonia. What do I get in return? Information from you. Certain as the sun rises that what you know, I can’t get anywhere else. I want that.”

“The case you present isn’t reassuring.” Deen had completely taken over the scene. “What will you do about the info you’ll get from us?”

“That’s my own business. What I can say is that no harm will come your way. I’ve survived in my humble trade this long because I take care of my sources. Consider me upholding the ethics of journalism. If I ratted out everyone, then no one will tell me anything. I would’ve found a knife sunk deep into my back ages ago.”

Their exchange is so riveting, I thought. Riveting. I sounded like a movie critic.

“What if Euphonia finds you?” I asked, finding the opening to finally have a line. Deen twitched but didn’t glance at me. Kudos for resisting her dictatorial tendencies.

“You shouldn’t let her find me,” Marlon replied. “Like you shouldn’t let her find you, which will be easier to accomplish with my help. At the end of the day, I want to be in the know. That’s my transparent motivation. Life is too boring otherwise.”

“Cecilia doesn’t want to pay her debt to Euphonia,” Deen said. “A summary of her story is enough payment for my question. Tell us, besides Cecilia, did Euphonia put a bounty on anyone else?”

“On you and your friend here, you mean?” Marlon pointed at Deen and me.

“My question is as I asked it,” Deen icily said.

“Yes,” said Marlon. “Euphonia posted one other bounty.”

“On who?” I kind of hoped it was on me. A hassle, but it’d add to my street cred.

“Please insert more information,” Marlon said in a robotic voice, pretending to be a slot machine. He laughed at his own joke. “How did you die, Cecilia honey? The juicier the details, the more questions I’ll answer.”

“I don’t know,” said Cecilia. “But they do.” She nudged her head toward Deen.

“Alright, I'll tell you,” Deen said. “Cecilia met Red Hood. The BID attacked. Cecilia died while Red Hood escaped. And that’s it.”

“Why did Cecilia meet with—?” Marlon started to ask.

“Answer our question first,” I said. “Who’s the other person that pissed off Euphonia?”

“Red Hood,” said Marlon.

My brain skidded to a halt. Deen and Cecilia also froze at yet another plot twist. Then my brain restarted, engaging scheming cortex, booting up bullshittery neurons. This was an opportunity I shouldn’t miss. I’d figure out other things later.

“How did Euphonia know that Cecilia and Red Hood are working together?” I almost choked while restraining my laughter.

“Don’t say more, lovely assistant,” Cecilia said, quick on the uptake. We should be improv partners. “We’re not a charity, giving away valuable information.”

“I knew it!” Marlon’s smug look was very punchable. “The moment I saw Euphonia’s posted bounties, I knew that you and Red Hood are cooking something extra spicy. But why betray one Adumbrae for another? Euphonia’s the scarier one, isn’t she? I suppose I can’t say that because I know next to nothing about Red Hood. If you tell me—”

“We’re not saying more until we see value in your help,” Deen said. “And in keeping you alive.”

“Scary, scary,” said Marlon, shrinking into his chair with a coy look. “You won’t regret working with me.” He was enjoying this, and so was I.

“This is why you were fine with inviting Cecilia,” I said. “You sounded glad, like super excited, when you realized it was her. Definitely not a normal reaction when you’re visited by someone who’s angered a powerful Adumbrae. You wanted Cecilia’s connection to Red Hood.”

Marlon tapped his nose. “A lovely and intelligent assistant.”

“We’re straying far from our goal,” said Deen. She was always a killjoy when things started to get interesting. I knew that she didn’t want me making up more stories. “We’ve come for only one piece of information—the location of an Adumbrae in the city. Preferably one that is easy to capture.”

“Do you want to know what it’s for, Marlon?” Cecilia asked. “That can be our payment. It’s not much, but you’re establishing good relations with us. A discount to gain a repeat customer.”

Marlon’s face turned all business-like. “You’ve availed of my services many—”

“Not Red Hood,” said Cecilia. “This is the first time you’re connecting with her… through me. You don’t want to waste this opportunity. I know you, Marlon.”

Marlon took a deep breath. “Fine…” he said in a resigned tone.

Pretending to lose wouldn’t work on us. I could sense how excited he was to expand his network. He and I both. In Marlon’s mind, he was the winner here. To me, I was the winner. I had a bounty! Weeeee!

“Tell me what the Adumbrae is for,” Marlon said. “I can guess—it’s for your experiments to reverse seeding. I know why the PCM hired you.”

“I make no secret of that,” Cecilia replied. “However, this is different.” With a flourishing wave, she waved to her body, from head to toe. “This body is my creation. My sole creation. No aid from Euphonia whatsoever. You know what this means, Marlon.”

“This is the lockpick to remove Euphonia’s chains,” Marlon said, nodding. “And you require an Adumbrae to stabilize your body?”

“Something along those lines. Tell me where I can find one.”

Marlon tapped the glass on his table again. Seconds passed. We all looked at each other. The suspenseful music in my head continued to thrum.

“Does it need to be a natural Adumbrae?” Marlon finally asked.

“No,” Cecilia said. “Are you going to point me to Big Marcy’s clients? Are any of them here?”

“Plenty,” said Marlon. “Many moved here after the BID decided to have a party at La Esperanza.”

“Aren’t the Tea Party and Big Marcy enemies or something?” I asked. That was the only piece of information I knew about their relationship, and I’d blurt it any chance I got. Made me look more knowledgeable about the criminal organizations.

“An uneasy truce is an accurate way to describe it,” Marlon said. “That is now how things stand. Bah, you girls are running up your tabs. Enough free information.” He tore a piece of paper and scribbled on it with a gilded fountain pen. “Here’s the address of a bar frequented by Big Marcy’s clients. Visit it later and catch one.”

“Which ones of the customers are Adumbrae?” Deen asked.

“That’s for you to find out,” Marlon replied, handing Deen the piece of paper. Was it because she had the air of a leader? “A word of warning—this is an establishment owned by the Tea Party. They will have armed guards. They will have bio-scanners.” He let his words linger, hinting that he knew we weren’t human.

“Won’t be a problem for us,” I said. Maybe I could bust out my newest mask for some infiltration scene.  

“Are you going to attack the bar?” Marlon said. “I advise against it. You’d make enemies of both the Tea Party and Big Marcy.”

“Big Marcy is already our enemy,” Deen said. “And Euphonia. The Tea Party doesn’t seem threatening in comparison. Thank you for the transaction. We’ll be on our way. If we find out that you—”

“Threats have no effect on me,” said Marlon, smirking. “I’ve heard so many over the years. Go on, capture your Adumbrae. I have an appointment in eight minutes.”

Wordlessly, we exited the clinic. Cecilia was in high spirits, laughing that everyone in the criminal underworld would soon assume she was under Red Hood’s protection. Deen was glum as a plum—I just made up that expression. My best friend was legally required to worry about everything.

As for me, I was wondering how to check the bounty on Red Hood. How much was I worth?