Outrun - Chapter 283

I watched Saint from a nearby building. Just to be safe, I sent several Dragonflies after him and even snuck one into his jacket. If he noticed the extra weight, he didn’t say anything about it across our comms. Everything he saw and heard would be sent right back to me. 

The guy casually walked across the Red Rocker’s parking lot. He waved to a few people and struck up short conversations like they were old friends. Even more insane, people talked back to him like he was just one of the guys with zero suspicion. It was so freaking bizarre.

He entered the bar, carrying my Dragonflies in with him. The bar itself was covered in red. I guess it fit since it was home to the RED Veil? I was half expecting it to be filled with, like, cages or something considering their main business. Just looked like a normal seedy bar I could find a dime a dozen anywhere in Aythryn City, though.

I hopped up on the concrete barricade and crossed my legs, letting the deck rest on my lap. So far so good. Still wasn’t a hundred percent sure what the reporter’s plan was other than walk in the front door. On the bright side, he might have a bright future ahead of him as part of the Crusade. That was just the kind of energy they were looking for.

Saint sauntered right up to the bar and flagged down the bartender. He shifted slightly, causing his jacket to cover the cam. I swapped to a different one just in time to hear Saint across the comms. “Can I get a bottled water?”

The bartender, a man with a surprisingly high-pitched voice considering his stature, tilted his head. “Bit of an odd drink choice, mate.”

”Here for business.” I swapped cams just in time to catch a confident smile from Saint. “Don’t like drinking on the job.”

The bartender returned with a bottle of water and slapped it down onto the table. He didn’t push it forward to Saint though, instead cupping it in one of his hands. “Don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.”

”I haven’t been around here before.” Saint laughed good naturally and turned in his chair, looking around the bar. “Nice place you got here. It really feels homey.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” The bartender leaned forward, staring at Saint.

”I mean it's got a nice vibe?” The reporter’s eyebrows knit together. He scratched at his hair and looked around once more, nodding to himself.

The bartender stared him down for a moment longer with twitching eyes. Then he burst into laughter and pushed the water bottle across the bar. “I think I like you, guy. Got a nice voice.”

”Thanks. I’ve been told it's one of my defining features.” Saint shot a knowing look to one of my Dragonflies. No idea how he noticed it clinging to the wall. Maybe I should raise my guard around the guy a bit more.

”You were the lead singer for Sorrow, weren’t you?” I muttered. It was a rhetorical question. Anyone in his situation would’ve realized it was a rhetorical question.

”I was.” Saint actually replied to me, waving a hand around his ear. “Long time since then.”

The bartender paused, looking back toward the reporter. “You- uh- talking to me?”

”Me?” Saint looked behind him before slowly shaking his head. “No, just the voices.”

”Right
 right
” The bartender walked off hesitantly, going to serve some other guy at the bar.

Saint just hung out at the bar for close to ten minutes. Not really sure what his plan was. He just walked in and started talking to people like he belonged. I guess it was working? Except for the fact he owed me dinner now. We were well passed the five minute time frame he bet on.

While he did
 whatever he was doing, I wasn’t idle. I sent out my Dragonflies, strategically placing them around in well hidden spots. Worming them up into vents was my favorite, but anywhere with a bit of cover worked. 

I didn’t stop out front either. I flew a couple deeper into the building, stashing them in halls and corners. By the time something changed, I had almost the entire premises under watch. Half the cameras were in my HUD, and the other half I had pulled up on my deck.

“Someone’s coming from the back offices.” I flicked to one of my cams, watching a bulky bruiser type head out to the front.

The bruiser stepped out into the bar proper. He looked around the room and beelined it for Saint. He slid into the bar seat next to Saint and waved at the bartender, slamming a heavy chrome arm onto the table. “Whiskey.”

”Whiskey. That’s a real man’s drink there.” Saint nodded his head to the bruiser. “What kind do you like?”

”Hmm
” The guy flinched, pulling his arm off the table. “Um- Monty Gom. From a Nomad family that comes by every once in a while. It’s only made in small batches.”

Saint picked up his water bottle and swirled it around. ”Never had the pleasure myself. I’m partial to Grim Skull whiskey.” 

“I’ve heard of that one.” The bruiser nodded his head like a wise sage. “Oryoat. One of the Blue Crusades subsidiaries.”

”That’s the one. Got a strong punch. Feels like a horse kicking you in the gut.” 

”What brings you by, chum?” The guy asked after the bartender brought by a glass and a bottle. 

“Business. I’m afraid.” Saint twisted in his chair. “I’m an
 associate of an associate. Yellow Inc.”

”Oh?” The guy’s expression instantly dropped into a heavy guard. “An associate of an associate
 I wasn’t informed you’d be dropping by.”

”Auditing, you know how it is.” Saint waved a hand and let out an exasperated sigh. “The big-wigs didn’t want anyone to know.”

So he was approaching like he was from the corporation behind the Savant Lab? Assuming I was reading in between the lines right. Risky. He was going in under the assumption that Red Veil wasn’t in contact with the corporation behind Yellow Inc. It was a fair assumption though considering how most Savant Labs opperated.

The guy leaned back in his chair and took a drink of his whiskey. ”Hmm
 I did hear something about an audit. Let’s go to my office.” 

Saint stood up and grabbed his water bottle. “After you.”

I leaned forward, dangling over the sheer drop off the building. Can’t believe that worked. ”Hey, Saint, we didn’t make a safe word. Um- if you need help, just call out
 Cucumber? I’ll bail you out.”

“Thank you.” Saint’s warm voice came across our comms once more. The guy really didn’t get that he wasn’t supposed to answer me, did he? Heh- I was starting to feel stressed even just sitting here.

I popped up the rest of the Dragonflies into my HUD and then moved over to my bike. Might as well get into position now, just in case. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Saint’s capabilities, but
 well
 I knew from experience even the best plans could be shattered easily. Although I originally sent the guy in a bait, that didn’t mean I wanted him hurt or dead.

The light scattering of rain provided me with the perfect cover. I disabled the limitations on the bike, flying freely up into the sky. I pulled to a stop high enough into the sky that the Red Rocker looked tiny below me.

With a thought, I sent a summoning call out to Corvid. The little bird tumbled out of the Aether a few seconds later. He plummeted in surprise at the height we were at. “Caw~?!”

I muted my comms and stretched out a hand to the Greater Crow Sprite. “Hey, buddy. Think you can help me out?”

”Ca-ca-caw!” He landed on my hand and confidently slapped his wing to his chest.

”If I have to jump, flick this switch, this one, and this one. Oh! And hit this button.” I showed the crow had to turn the flight restrictions back on. I hadn’t set up an autopilot system yet, so this was my temporary work around.

”Caw, caw, caw
 caw?” He flapped around his wing, tapping on the controls.

”Chek, that’s it.” I rubbed his feathered head and fully tuned back into Saint’s adventures into Red Veil.

They were in the boss’s office, sitting around a coffee table. The heavy-bruiser leaned back on a couch, arms thrown over the back. “So
”

Saint glanced around the office for a moment and then lazered in on the Red Veil
 boss? ”Ah, yes. I just had a few questions about our
 business together.”

“Hmm
” The bruiser leaned forward and tapped his finger on the coffee table. “Before you make any hasty decisions, I found out what corp you lot belong too.”

”Oh?” Saint arched a brow.

”Yeah. Look, personally? I like you. Got good vibes. This ain’t personal.” 

Saint sighed, shaking his head. “I have a feeling I won’t like where this conversation is going.”

“You probably won't." The bruiser chuckled. ”How do you think people would react knowing Visceral Cybernetics had its very own Savant Lab here in the city?” 

My breath caught in my throat. It wasn’t five minutes, but it hadn’t even been fifteen minutes yet
 how- no, I’ll buy him dinner. If that was all he wanted, I’d buy him a dozen. I pulled up a new tab on my deck and checked on the newest lead.

“I imagine they won’t care much.” Saint shrugged. “Was that supposed to be a threat?”

”The normal civies might not care. Blue Crusade Inc, though? Pay the Red Veil five million Rayn, or I go public about this.” Maybe he was the boss after all? I can’t imagine just a mid-manager scraping a scheme like this together. “Once the money enters my account, I’ll burn the evidence.”

“Blackmail, then.” Saint’s expression soured for the first time since he entered the Red Rocker. “I’ll have to talk to the higher-ups. This isn’t a simple decision. They’ll probably want an Aether contract too.”

“That’s fine.” The man leaned back on the couch, once more throwing his arms over the backrest. “Oh, and don’t try anything shady. If I die, the info is set to auto release.”

All the more reason to kill him. This guy wasn’t doing himself any favors. Well, except for giving us a massive pointer toward the source of Yellow Inc. It wasn’t the lab’s location, exactly, but we could probably find that by digging into the corporation, Visceral Cybernetics. From there
 it was only a matter of time till we found her.

Hmm
 or maybe we should keep him alive? If the info leaked, they might ‘clean’ up the lab. I doubt they’d just free their captives alive in such a situation. Alright, I changed my mind. This guy needed to stay alive.

“Naturally
” Saint stood up from the couch. He paced in front of the coffee table, pausing to scratch at his hair. “Five million?”

The boss frowned at the casual ease in which Saint was dealing with the whole situation. ”Yeah, what’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing, nothing. I just thought it’d be a bit higher, you know? And a one time payment? I mean, this is Visceral Cybernetics we’re talking about. It’s a bit demeaning.” Saint shrugged and walked around the couch, leaning on the back. “But what do I know?”

“Hey, you’re right!” The bruiser popped up from his couch. “How much would you ask for?”

”Hmm
” The reporter closed his eyes for a moment. “Maybe start with twenty five million, and then every year after go with another five? Ah, but the Aether contract might complicate things
”

Was this really happening? Why the hell was he helping Red Veil come up with a better black mail strategy? And why did it look like the boss was seriously considering his proposal? I zoomed in on one of my drones. The boss was definitely considering it.

”Not bad.” The boss picked up his glass of whiskey from the coffee table and sipped it. It was all an attempt to hide the grin threatening to spill over, and not a very good one at that. “If you ever tire of Visceral, the Red Veil will hire you.”

”Of course, that’s all assuming the corporation doesn’t decide to just burn you. Unless
” The reporter started one last bait to pull information out.

”Unless?” The Red Veil boss just couldn’t resist. Of course he bit into it without a second thought. 

”Well, do you even know where the lab is? If not, then it’d probably be easier to just bulldoze Red Veil and find another supplier.”

The boss casually put his glass down. “Of course I know where the lab is. It’d be stupid to risk my organization over a half baked plan.”

Lie. The guy was lying. His Cues were almost enough to convince a casual observation, but who was I? Especially with me super focused on his cues already. He did not, in fact, know where the lab was. Unfortunate. It was a nice fishing attempt though.

Saint nodded a few times to himself. “I’ll go call the higher-ups.”

”Fine.” The Red Veil boss moved to the door and shut it before my teammate could make his escape. “But you’re not leaving my line of sight till this is taken care of.”

”Haah
 cucumbers.” Saint muttered under his breath. “I’ll make the call.”

I rubbed Corvid’s head and checked my equipment. This would be quite a bit more dangerous then the Scav Dens I picked apart leading up to this point. This gang, while still bottom feeding scum, were better armed and armored. Not to mention actually used to fighting and violence. 

If I had the stealth advantage, I could maybe take them all out? They were mostly all in one room though. That, and their complex was absolutely massive. My chances weren’t looking great
 as a solo, that was. It just so happened to turn out that I had the perfect backup to call in.

I pulled out my phone and dialed up Inquisitor Shilling. “Hey, Inquisitor. I found them. Looks like they’ve got a reporter held hostage. I’m going in to save him, but I need backup ASAP.”

”Right, just tell me where.”

While I informed him of the situation and the plan, I pulled my Crusade gear out of my saddlebag and threw it on. A bit unfortunate I’d be revealing myself to Saint like this. Getting my partner in crime out was way more important, though. Especially after he just spoon-fed me exactly what I needed to know to hunt down Yellow Inc and save Mira.

I ended my conversation with the Inquisitor and adjusted my bike to be over the back door. Then I went over the controls one more time with my feathery friend. “Got it?”

”Caw!”

”Nova.” In the distance, I spotted the flashing lights and sirens of a Blue Crusade Waymaker. They’d be here soon. I needed to get down there and secure Saint before this situation turned into a prolonged hostage situation and wasted my rapidly fading time.

I rubbed Corvid’s feathers for good luck and then jumped off, plummeting down to the bar far, far below.