Day 4

‘I’ve found her,’ Asa said, peering into the resistance HQ, not bothering to step inside because he apparently knew he’d be rushing off immediately.

As Sham turned to call for Ariel, he saw her already strolling down the centre aisle, her long green robe swishing with each step. ‘Sham,’ she said. ‘You’re coming. And Mona too—where is she?’

Sham suppressed the urge to cringe internally, and was saved having to answer by Tripe. ‘Around,’ he said. ‘Pissed.’

Ariel raised an eyebrow, but said nothing of it, instead only storming out of the church doors and whipping her head around the courtyard in search of her.

Asa’s eyes scanned over to Sham. ‘Guess she found out, huh?’

‘Not just her,’ Tripe grumbled from the rear of the church.

The gang leader smirked, but didn’t seem to need to rub it in; for that, Sham was thankful.

‘You guys all leaving me again?’ Tripe called out, standing from his pew at the end of the aisle. ‘You gonna leave me to track down this Lew fucker all by myself again?’

‘No,’ Sham said. ‘Don’t go anywhere. You keep following him by yourself and he’s gonna start recognising you, alright?’

‘But—’

‘Don’t, Tripe. We’ll be back soon, alright?’

Tripe looked like he was going to open his mouth to argue the point again, so Sham turned away and followed Asa back out into the church’s courtyard. In the distance, behind a couple of Loopkeepers ferrying piles of dirty robes to be cleaned, Sham could see Ariel with her hand on Mona’s shoulder. From the expressions on their faces, this was a serious discussion indeed.

Asa moved to approach them, and Sham whipped his hand to the man’s shoulder to stop him. He received a curious glance in response.

‘Let them have their chat,’ he said.

‘Aite.’

The two men watched across the bustling courtyard as Ariel calmed the furious Mona down, presumably using that same legendary grade Magnetism that had allowed her to put this whole church deal together.

‘Any luck with that other issue?’ Sham asked, his gaze remaining on Mona and Ariel.

‘You said you’d deal with him.’

Sham shook his head. ‘Been distracted. Had… had other shit on my plate.’

‘He spoke to Riot yesterday. While you were out sorting out Lew.’

‘Did she say anything?’

Asa shook his head. ‘Dunno. Probably not, but I ain’t about to put money on it. You know her better than me.’

Sham touched at the empty glass vial still in his jacket pocket. ‘Dunno if I do, mate.’

The man shrugged. ‘Well, better see about it sooner rather than later, innit.’

‘It’s on my list. Believe me. But there’s only so many things I can jump between. Got Lew on one hand, got Mona and Tripe kicking up a fuss on another, got this—’

He was interrupted by the appearance of Ariel and Mona at their side, and only then did he realise he’d been distracted. Again.

Mona glowered at him, while Ariel took a deep breath in and then said, ‘Well? Shall we see about Verd, then?’

Asa’s “associates” had tracked the new Looper to a bar in the Diplomatic District, where she had apparently been slamming clear spirits and mumbling various treasonous thoughts. But when the group of four—Sham, Asa, Ariel and Mona—arrived outside, a woman emerged from the shadows with her eyes on Asa.

‘She’s gone, boss,’ the woman said.

‘Where?’

The woman shrugged. ‘North,’ she said. ‘Perce followed her.’

‘North?’ Asa asked, at the same moment as Ariel said, ‘The Plaza.’

The four resistance members turned at once, striding with purpose towards the great Tower that loomed over them in this part of the city. At this time of the morning, and from this angle, Sham could see one side of the Tower glowing bright with the shine of the late autumn sun, and another cast into shadow. It was a foreboding sight, or rather, more foreboding than usual.

They heard Verd before they saw her. A woman stood in the centre of the Government Plaza, atop the edge of the great fountain sculpted in the shape of the heroes of the previous revolution, and was shouting at rough-looking young bloke who was trying to get her down. Judging by the dark patches on her trousers, she’d already fallen into the water at least once.

‘No!’ she shouted as the four resistance members approached. ‘No! Leave me alone!’

Ariel stepped forward first, hands raised to beg the woman’s patience, while Asa nodded away the young man—another member of his crew. ‘Verd?’ Ariel said. ‘I’m going to approach now, is that OK?’

‘No!’ the woman screamed again. ‘No, it’s not OK. Nothing is OK. Nothing. I have… I have… they hurt me!’ She pointed her finger to the Tower. ‘Them! They… they’re no government, they’re…’

‘I know, Verd. I know. I don’t disagree, my child.’

Sham glanced to Mona at his side, who pointedly avoided making eye contact. Mona stepped forward to assist Ariel, while the three men—two, in fact, as the other man had already been ordered away—remained at a distance. Sham knew his place; a Common grade Magnetism just wasn’t going to cut it, here, especially not compared to Mona’s Rare grade, and Ariel’s Legendary.

‘And there’s… there’s… I hear…’ Verd put her hands to the sides of her head, scrunched up her face, and screamed.

Mona hurried to the woman’s side, putting a comforting hand on her arm.

‘I’m going to hurt them! All of them!’ She pointed again at the Tower, as though having forgotten she’d done that already.

‘Maybe keep that to yourself…’ Mona suggested, eyes scanning the area, while Ariel said, ‘I understand the anger, Verd. Believe me, I do. Perhaps we can… Why don’t we go somewhere, together, and gather our thoughts? I promise, I am a good listener.’

Verd’s mouth twitched with uncertainty, then she glanced at Mona. ‘Can… can she come?’

Ariel smiled; she’d seen that she’d gotten through to the new Looper. ‘Of course, my—’ She cut herself off; this wasn’t a woman who had responded well to the church talk. ‘Of course, Verd. Let’s head to a tea room, shall we?’

‘No,’ Sham said, eyes fixed on the drunk woman ahead of them, and then he heard himself speak words he thought he’d never say. ‘This ain’t a tea problem; get some coffee in her.’ He took a step away from the group.

‘You’re not coming?’ Mona asked—notably the first thing she’d said to him since the reveal of the source of the voice.

‘No. I’m gonna go see about the cause of all this.’

Ariel nodded once, curtly, and began ushering Verd away.

Sham was disappointed to find the church empty, with neither of the other two resistance members seeing fit to hang around. Riot’s absence he could—for the moment—deal with, but Tripe being missing could very possibly mean that he’d ignored Sham’s instructions and gone out after Lew without him. Sham awaited his return by the fire in the centre of the courtyard, alone—the members of the church knowing better by now than to talk to him.

As the flames grew tall, someone finally approached his side, and Sham was surprised to see they were wearing the familiar green robe of the Loopkeepers.

‘No Tripe, then?’ Ariel asked.

Sham shook his head.

‘You think he…?’

‘Yes.’

At his side, the woman raised her eyebrows, and then poured something into a glass that Sham hadn’t noticed she was holding.

‘Wine,’ she said. ‘Not a good one. I didn’t think you would…’

Sham held his hand up in acceptance. ‘No,’ he said. ‘All good.’

The fire crackled around them, and the courtyard seemed to be uncharacteristically devoid of life.

‘Did you sort her out, in the end?’ Sham asked. ‘Verd?’

‘Hard to say. Usually I reach these people before any of the Legion have a chance to do any real damage. But this time…’

‘I suppose Lew was feeling cranky.’

‘That’s a very generous way of labelling it.’

‘Deranged, then.’

Despite it all, Ariel smirked. ‘Better.’

‘Where is she, now? Around here?’

The leader of the Loopkeepers shook her head. ‘She wouldn’t come. Said this wasn’t for her, and…’ Ariel leant in closer. ‘Of course, I don’t blame her. I’m surprised we’ve not failed to hook a Looper before now, even.’

Sham eyed the glass of red liquid in his friend’s grip.

‘Are we gonna need to roll a Hardened Liver check, here?’

The leader of the resistance shook his head, in both reply and in an effort to rid himself of the urge. ‘I don’t know if I think we can just leave her running around out there, Ariel. I think—’

‘Oh! No, of course. She’s at Mona’s. They’ve struck up a friendship of sorts, I think.’

‘Both damaged in their own way, I suppose.’

Ariel raised her glass in a toast to that notion.

‘What’s next for her? Try to bring her into the—’

Sham found himself cut off by the arrival of a familiar face, emerging from the night.

‘You alright?’ Tripe said, joining the pair of them at the fireside.

‘Where’ve you been?’

Tripe feigned anger at such a direct question, then got distracted by the half-empty bottle of red wine at Ariel’s feet. ‘What? No “how are you doing?”’

Sham ignored the response. ‘You went after Lew, didn’t you?’ Already the change in expression on Tripe’s face had answered that question. ‘I told you not to. He’s gonna recognise you if you keep going after him in the same Loop. What, you want him telling his boss that some weird fuck is following him?’

‘Dunno if I really like being called a “weird fuck” to be honest.’

‘Insults aside,’ Ariel said. ‘He’s right. We can’t take such unnecessary risks. Not ones which might demolish this whole house of cards we’ve built around us. Speaking of…’ She looked around the courtyard at the few Loopkeeper presences who weren’t steering far clear of the trio. ‘Let’s talk inside.’

The three of them crossed the courtyard for the safety of the church, where the presumption was that it would be far more difficult for anyone to overhear their scheming. Once inside, and the doors closed firmly behind them, Sham turned to give Tripe a bollocking once again.

‘Tripe, you can’t—’

‘So you don’t wanna hear what I’ve found out, then?’ the man asked, a broad smile crossing his face. ‘You don’t wanna hear how we can take out our second member of Legion?’

Sham’s jaw snapped shut; he did, of course, want to hear exactly that.

‘Just tell us he didn’t spot you, first,’ Ariel said.

‘He didn’t spot me. And, fuck, it’s a good’un.’ The man paused, his eyes on the bottle of wine. ‘Could I get—’

‘I’ll get you a glass,’ Ariel said, an ounce too urgently. ‘Keep talking.’

Tripe sighed, remaining quiet as he strolled down the full length of the aisle between the sets of pews, taking a seat at the front, by the altar. This was a man that was enjoying the power he had over his audience.

‘Tripe…’

‘So, I followed him, yeah?’ the unlicensed physician finally said. ‘All day, really. And I kept my distance, I promise, I did. Honestly, it weren’t much of a challenge; this fucker had his head so far up his arse that he doesn’t notice anyone who isn’t a pretty young woman or, worse, his own reflection. Didn’t know what I expected to find, obviously, but I’d hoped he’d head to his boono dealer eventually. He was swigging the stuff all day, like, so I knew he’d need more soon.’ Tripe looked around for Ariel. ‘Speaking of swigging…’

‘It’s coming.’

‘What did you find, Tripe?’ Sham asked.

‘So he went to his dealer, right? A strange woman, she was. Up in the Great Allotments, one of those commune types, I reckon. You know the sort.’

‘Libertarian.’

‘Yeah,’ Tripe replied. ‘So I follow the fucker there, and this woman’s all hugs and kisses and whatever, but she’s too old for Lew, I reckon.’

Ariel thrust a wine glass, filled near to the brim, into the man’s hands.

‘Cheers, darling,’ Tripe said. ‘So, yeah, small talk, small talk, small talk, then Lew finally snaps. I say “finally” but it was probably more like, I dunno, five minutes. He ain’t a patient man at the best of times, but… Yeah, he snapped. The woman’s whole attitude changed in a snap and suddenly she’s bringing out vial after vial after vial of the stuff. And I think, alright, Lew’s gotta be choosing what he wants from a big selection, right? But, no.’ Tripe paused, as if for dramatic effect.

‘No?’

‘Nah, he’s not choosing. That’s his order. All of them. Maybe… thirty vials of the stuff?’

Sham glanced to Ariel just in time to see the woman raise her eyebrows, then take a big swig from her own glass. ‘...Thirty?’

‘Yeah, fucking thirty. Maybe more, I dunno, maths ain’t my forte.’

‘Fuck,’ Sham said, finding Tripe’s smile suddenly contagious.

‘Yeah, fuck.’

‘What?’ Ariel asked. ‘So he put in a big order, so what? I don’t see how this helps up.’

‘Don’t you see?’ Sham replied.

‘He ain’t a customer,’ Tripe added. ‘He’s an addict.’

Ariel’s eyes narrowed. ‘I see…’ The tone of her voice suggested, however, that she did not see.

It fell to Sham—of course to Sham, who had no shortage of experience in this particular matter himself—to explain. ‘Addiction? It’s a weakness. It might not be his fault—though I dunno how someone in a position like Lew could feel they need this sorta stuff—but it’s still a weakness. Something we can exploit.’

‘Right, sure,’ Ariel said. ‘But how? I don’t—’

‘What happens if his dealer isn’t there when he needs her?’ Tripe asked. ‘What does Lew do then? What happens to his… to his state of mind?’

‘And if someone else controls his supply…’ Sham prompted.

‘...then they control the man.’ Ariel whispered this final thought, staring deep into the red depths of her wine.

Tripe, still smiling, looked to Sham. ‘Well? What do you think?’ he asked.

‘I think… let’s go find that dealer.’