Location: Waiting Room

Time: Tokino-48 year (2108), Jan. 4 (Wed) 13:02

With no other viable options Deputy Chief Kaldsen and Special Agent Oliver agreed to consult with the information broker. I thought either the Deputy Chief or the artificial human would be the ones meeting with her, but neither made the trip.

Deputy Chief Kaldsen was completely unwilling to see the information broker herself, and she was even more unwilling to let the artificial human come see her. Apparently she was comfortable displaying such a childish attitude at the workplace.

There was no way Emelia could be allowed to come on a potentially dangerous mission, and Ms. Norfolk was still busy looking through footage.

That left Special Agent Oldridge, Special Agent Alexander, and me to go meet with the information broker. And based on what she said, the three of us would then potentially go secure Agent Oldridge’s sister.

I was hardly convinced on the merits of engaging in an operation such as that, but I was unable to convince Deputy Chief Kaldsen we should drop the issue. Any further complaints on my part would have only reflected poorly.

She also gave a rather dramatic speech. Everyone seemed to ignore it, so I decided it was best to do the same.

The drive to the information broker was short. She seemed to work out of a nondescript building in the shopping district, not too far from the MID building’s downtown location.

Her business must be doing fairly well, because as we entered her waiting room an extravagantly dressed red haired woman was happily leaving. For a moment I thought I recognized her, but I must have been mistaken.

Special Agent Oldridge approached the receptionist sitting behind the counter.

“We’re here to see Alexis Albright. We should have an appointment, for, now-ish?”

We hadn’t made an appointment. Before we left the MID building the artificial human told us that the information broker made the appointments on her own.

The receptionist grunted and closed the magazine she had up. She looked over at the display on her desk and clicked it a few times.

“There’s an appointment scheduled for Oliver Oldridge, Alec Alexander, and Kanon Kamiya at 1:15.”

He was right. Somehow the information broker was already expecting us. I suppose she might be half as decent as he made her out to be. I’m sure Father could use a woman of her talents.

“That’s us, but I don’t feel like waiting. We’re going in now.”

“Fine, whatever. I’m not paid enough to have to keep dealing with this. Don’t bother filling out any of the paperwork. Just head through that door.” The receptionist pointed to a door with her thumb.

Special Agent Oldridge wasted no time moving through to the next room, and Special Agent Alexander followed after him. I quickly said my thanks to the receptionist before moving on with them.

The room wasn’t what I expected. It was big, easily twice the size of the ARA office. And completely empty, other than an ‘L’ shaped desk on the far end of the room. There was a chair sitting on top of the desk, and a woman sitting on the chair, but I’ll let that go for now.

The wall with the door and the wall to my left were painted black. The other two, and the ceiling, were glass. I could see out onto the street we came from. I didn't notice the glass walls from the outside, so it’s safe to say they were heavily tinted.

“You’re ten minutes early. You’ve caught me completely off guard. Why do people keep ignoring their appointment times? What’s the point of making them if you don’t follow through?”

The woman talking to us showed no intention of getting off the desk. Her appearance was, well, unique.

For starters, she wasn’t wearing shoes. Her legs were covered by red and black tights. I don’t mean a red and black pattern. I mean one leg was red while the other was black.

Her skirt was red and black as well. It was also too short for someone her age to be wearing, assuming she was the same age as the Deputy Chief. Her top was covered by a black pullover hoodie. The sleeves were too long, extending about ten centimeters past her hands. She should have taken some of the sleeve length and added it to her skirt.

Her black hair was styled in such a way that her bangs covered the left side of her face. But it wasn’t completely covered. Depending on how she was positioned you could see past her bangs, to the skin underneath.

I don’t want to describe it much, as it’s none of my business, and she was clearly trying to cover it up, but there was extensive scarring centered around her left eye. I’d never seen scarring like it before. It almost looked like burns, but not exactly. Assuming it was her stigma, she was dealt a rough hand. Her left eye itself was covered by a patch. Not a novelty kind, but the kind you’d get from a hospital. Even if her hair did block the view, you’d still be able to see the straps from the patch running across her face. And the white patch really stuck out whenever everything else was red or black.

“Probably because you make up the appointment times yourself. Appointments are much more effective if the visitor gets a say in it.” Special Agent Oldridge didn’t seem amused by the situation.

“Ah! If it isn’t some of the fine employees from the ARA.” She jumped off her desk and started walking toward us. “Hey, couldn’t you have brought Vier with you? Or even your new intern? I was just talking about them.”

“Sorry, you’ll have to settle for us.”

“Hmm?” She stopped walking and looked toward Special Agent Alexander. “Is it really that interesting to you?” She pushed her hair flat against the left side of her face.

“It’s just strange. You’re trying to cover it up, so why not just get surgery? There’s no way you couldn’t afford it.”

Special Agent Alexander actually answered her. How could he say something like that to a woman he just met?

“Something like that wouldn’t work. There’s no surgery that could fix this. This is my punishment. What my stigma has become. This is what I got for committing the taboo one too many times. It’s a bit unfair though, isn't it? You’ve all committed the taboo as well, but I’m the only one who received a scar because of it.”

Did she know? Did she mean that as a generalization, or did she actually know?

“Just because we don’t wear them on the outside doesn’t mean we don’t have any.” Special Agent Alexander replied without missing a beat.

“True enough, fratricide. But it’s just upsetting that mine are so visible. Appearance is a very important thing in this world. I didn’t know this until recently, but it’s not a stretch to say that appearance is everything.”

“This isn’t relevant, there’s no reason to bring up our pasts.” I didn’t know what she knew, but I wasn’t prepared to take any chances. Best to just move past it.

“There’s a reason for everything in this city. I’ll let you have that advice for free.” She gave me a puzzled look. “Sorry, I say this every time, but I still don’t have a word for what you did.”

Was she beating around the bush or trying to get me to admit to something? Every sense I had was telling me to be alert around her.

“Can we just move on? I don’t care about what you’ve done or how messed up your face is. I only want to find Olivia, so let’s hurry this up.” I was glad that Special Agent Oldridge shared my desire to move past that conversation.

“What’s the rush, in-”

Special Agent Oldridge snapped his fingers. He must have amplified the sound, because it was loud. I couldn’t hear anything else until the echo died down.

“Don’t finish that sentence.”

“Oh? Is that supposed to be a threat? Am I being threatened? Haha. I’ll give you some free information as well.” She was laughing, but I couldn’t tell if she actually thought it was funny. “Bad things tend to happen to people who threaten me. Ah, don’t get confused though. That wasn’t me threatening you, I was just letting you know. Honestly, I’ve got no control over it. That Vier, he just loves me too much. He can’t stand anyone threatening his soulmate like that.”

Huh?

“I’m starting to understand why Karen hates you so much.” Special Agent Alexander gave the response we were all thinking.

“Hates me? Impossible. But let’s stop wasting time on my personal life. I’m worried about what might happen if the impatient man isn’t reunited with his girlfriend soon.”

Special Agent Oldridge tightened his fist at his side.

“It’s my sister we’re trying to find, not a girlfriend.”

“Really? Are you sure? I could have sworn it was your girlfriend. I guess my information on that was faulty.” She was attempting to hold back her laughter.

“No. It’s definitely my sister.”

“Well obviously. No one was ever doubting that.”

“Just drop it. And stop referring to me as the impatient man. I’m not being impatient, this is just a situation that requires fast action.”

“What else should I call you? You never bothered to introduce yourselves.”

She clearly knew all about us, but she was enjoying making a game of our visit.

“Oliver Oldridge, Alton Alexander, and Kamiya Kanon. Happy?”

“I get that you’re in a rush, but it’s Alec. Try not to get my name wrong during introductions.”

The information broker pulled her sleeve up and revealed a watch on her wrist. It was impossible not to notice scarring on her hand and lower arm that matched the left side of her face.

“Ah, finally, 1:15.”

She walked back to her desk and took her chair down, placing it where it belonged before sitting down.

“I’m Alexis Albright. An independent businesswoman just trying to make ends meet. I specialize in the acquiring and disseminating of information. Now what is the purpose of your visit today?”

“You already seem to know, but my sister has been taken hostage. I need to know where she was taken. I heard that your own sister is with her.”

“Don’t worry about Allison. That girl is always capable of handling herself. She’s already been released. And as for your sister, that’s easy. She’s being held at 244 Peach Street in the Irving district. She’s in good condition, and that won’t change for a few hours at least, not until they finish trying to deal with their actual target.”

“What?” Special Agent Oldridge wasn’t the only one who was surprised. Ms. Albright didn’t give us any time before revealing everything.

“You asked where she was, and I told you. What part of this aren’t you following?”

“But, how do you know? And why did you tell us so easily? Aren’t we supposed to pay you or something?” Special Agent Oldridge had certainly been preparing himself for a negotiation.

“Are you implying that you won’t pay me? Should I have demanded the money upfront? And if you want to know how I knew, I’ll have to charge for that as well.”

“No, I don’t mean it like that. I don’t care how you found out. I’ll pay. Even if the ARA won’t cover it, I’ll pay. This just isn’t how I pictured buying information from you.”

“It usually isn’t like this, but my two closest and oldest friends, Vier and Karen, sent you to me in order to help. What kind of friend would I be if I haggled prices with you now? Despite what you might think of my profession I’m still a decent human being.”

For some reason, I didn’t believe that. And the idea that Deputy Chief Kaldsen sent us to her for help is nothing more than a fantasy. If it wasn’t for the artificial human we’d have never even heard of her.

“Then, thanks, I guess. How much do you want?”

“Don’t worry about it. It wasn’t very difficult information for me to obtain, so I won’t charge you much. You’ll get a bill in the next few days. No point in taking up any more of your time at this critical juncture.”

“Ha, so that’s your angle? You gave me the information upfront so I’d be eager to go. How am I supposed to haggle for a good price in this circumstance? I’m sure the bill you’ll send me will have an extra zero on it.” Special Agent Oldridge figured her out and confirmed my expectations.

It wasn’t a friendly gesture. She was only acting in the way she thought would be the most profitable.

“Maybe. I’m a businesswoman after all. Do you have anything else to say about it?”

“Yeah, you’re good at picking a mark. Send me whatever bill you want.”

Special Agent Oldridge turned around and left the room. Once again, Special Agent Alexander followed him, leaving me behind.

Was I supposed to thank her? That would be appropriate, but I wasn’t sure how criminal organizations worked in this city. Was she technically even a criminal? I didn’t want to insult her.

“I wouldn’t worry about being rude to me, I’m used to being ignored. Not to name any names, but my best friend often goes months without ever saying a word to me.”

She didn’t have to give a name, and she should reconsider calling her a friend.

“By the way, Kanon, you shouldn’t look too hard for Enki. If you stick with the ARA he’ll show up on his own.”

“Where is he? If you know anything, please tell me. I’m willing to pay. Or if you’d rather get overseas connections I could work out a deal.”

I still felt uncomfortable with her, but I wasn’t willing to miss a chance at any information she might have.

“No, as tempting as a connection to your family is, I don’t know where he is either. He’s not the kind of person you can find. Like I said, you just have to wait for him to reveal himself. For some reason he always obsesses over that annoying Alec fellow. I’m sure it won’t be long until you can meet him.”

“Special Agent Alexander? What does he have to do with any of this?”

“Who knows, maybe his personality just rubs him the wrong way. But none of this has happened yet anyway, so don’t bother thinking about it too much.”

“I still don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“That’s expected. If anything, it’s my fault for breaking my own rules by speaking in such a cryptic way. Unfortunately, that’s the depth of what I can say on the issue. That’s why I didn’t bother trying to charge for such weak information.”

“What’s with that? I thought there was nothing you didn’t know.”

“That’s just a slogan. An exaggeration. Like how every coffee shop has the city’s best coffee. But what I know and don’t know is irrelevant. You need to catch up to the others before they leave. Irving borders the slums, so I doubt you’ll find a cab to take you there.”