“I’m glad you could make it,” said the woman. She was wearing a bulky set of dark clothing, the kind designed to throw off body ID systems. It was similar to what Night Owls used for meetings.

“I… I wasn’t sure I should,” Lenore said. They were standing in a basement level pump-room on the edge of Old City, which she had been invited to by a mysterious woman at the cafe earlier that day. Judging by her voice, and the situation, she supposed it was likely that woman and this one were one and the same. “I don’t even know how you knew who I was. Are you a Night Owl?”

“No, but I’m trying to be. As for how I knew, well….” She motioned to another figure standing in the shadows.

They walked into the light, waved awkwardly, then said, “Hi Lenore, or, uh, do you prefer Angel?”

His voice sounded familiar, but she wasn’t able to place it. Apparently, the man could read the confusion on her face, because he quickly fumbled his mask off. Angel gasped. “Arte? What are you doing here?”

“We need your help,” he said.

“What’s going on? Who are you really?”

Arte frowned. “I’m… just me.” He shrugged, then motioned to the woman, who removed her mask at the gesture. “And that’s Mae, she’s a Solver. As for why you’re here, well, I realized where I knew your voice from after we parted in Old City. I would have come to you in the coffee shop, but the CSA wants to kill me.”

“T-they want to kill you?” Angel said. She shook her head and laughed. “That’s crazy.”

“More specifically,” Mae said. “They already tried to kill him.”

“And who are you?” Angel said.

“Like Arte said, I’m Mae, a Solver.”

“That doesn’t tell me anything.”

“It’s like being a mercenary.”

“A… mercenary?” Angel said. “A-are we being invaded?”

“No, she’s here to protect me from the CSA,” Arte said.

“I… don’t understand. Why do you have a mercenary? Couldn’t you go to the police?”

“For starters,” Mae said, “they’re working with the police, so it’s doubtful he could trust them. For second, Arte isn’t entitled to ‘service’ from the police anyway.”

“W-what? That’s nonsense. Everyone’s—“

“He’s a Class B,” Mae said. “Like me.”

Angel squeaked and jumped to a nearby wall, shrinking as much as possible. Her eyes darted to the nearby door. “A-a-a… a C-Class B?”

“That’s what people tell me,” Arte said. “But I don’t know why they keep freaking out about it.”

Angel didn’t answer, instead choosing to spend her focus keeping cool. After a few awkward seconds of silence, where it was clear she had no intention of explaining her feelings, Mae stepped in and said, “Federals, when they aren’t pretending we don’t exist, do everything in their power to portray us as terrorists, vagabonds, criminals, and various other flavors of nefarious ne’er-do-wells. Clearly their people bought into it.”

Mae smirked and continued, “And as for the federals themselves, who should know better?” A wicked gleam flashed in her eyes. “Let’s say they blinked.”

Arte hemmed, face contorted into a bemused and bewildered mien. “H-how does that work? Are… are associates secretly mean or something? Maribel was so nice, who could think she was a villain?”

Mae broke down laughing. “God… Arte. How are you so fucking cute?” She settled enough to continue. “Anyway, associates are regular people. I’m sure we have our share of creeps, but the feds are, in fact, lying their ass off.”

“Sh… shouldn’t people be able to, you know, go look?”

“Federals prohibit travel into ‘unsecured’ areas.”

“Th… There isn’t a prohibition,” Angel said. She started warming up to the idea this pair of Class B’s were harmless. “It’s just… unsafe.”

Mae shrugged. “Well, none of them do it, so the ‘not a ban’ has apparently proven quite successful. I couldn’t care less what bullshit you tell yourself to feel good about it.”

“It’s not bullshit! The Safe Citizen Program allowed our country to flourish like never before.”

“What part of ‘I don’t care’ did you fail to get?”

“Don’t come to me with your bad attitude asking for help,” Angel snapped. “If you— you Class B’s can’t handle whatever problem you got yourselves into, I don’t see why I should care.”

“If I had my way,” Mae started. “I would take Arte and lea—“

“Mae! Please,” Arte said.

Mae huffed, then turned and sighed. “Whatever. Just explain the situation.”

Arte took a few steps closer to Angel. His soft eyes and earnest expression cooled her anger. “The reason the CSA wants me dead isn’t because of something I did,” he said. “It’s because of something they’ll do.”

“What are you talking about?”

Arte frowned and hummed. “I don’t understand it myself, but apparently Gale is going to do some terror thing and blame it on the Night Owls.”

“Gale!” Angel yelled. “You’re out of your mind. He’s our most dedicated member. If it wasn’t for him the Night Owls wouldn’t do anything at all”

“That’s the point,” Mae said. “He infiltrated your group to manipulate them into doing something stupid, then the CSA swoops in and cleans up the mess, and who knows what they do after.”

Angel shook her head. “This… this is impossible. I don’t know what your plan is, but I won’t have you turning us against each other.” She started to march for the door, but stopped when Arte cried out.

“Wait! Please,” he said. “Before you leave, can you hear me out? I don’t know who exactly Gale is, but he’s working with bad people.”

Angel grit her teeth, fighting the conflicting urge to storm out the room, or else scream and attack the pair who’d thrown her into disarray. If there really was… if Gale was…. She trembled and looked away. “F-fine. Talk.”

Arte released a tense breath. “Thanks.” He launched into an explanation of what happened to him since Old City, in particular what he heard from Gale and Seig in their meeting, as well as the men from Thirteen. Mae chimed in with a few supporting details, covering for Arte’s general lack of knowledge about things like Admins and Policemen.

When they finished, Angel slumped against the wall, too stunned to speak for several minutes. Her companions seemed to sense her need to process. She didn’t want to believe it. Gale was… he was really something special. She’d never met anyone with his fire or vision.

The idea he could be an Admin, after his passionate speeches about the CSA’s corruption by greedy mega-corps, about how now was their time, about the urgency and moral imperative of their mission…. It couldn’t be possible.

But Arte…. She looked at him. He had an earnest expression. Somewhat hopeful, somewhat sad. She didn’t know him well, be he struck her as entirely too unsophisticated to lie, almost painfully naive.

“I… I still,” Angel started quietly. “This is so hard to believe.” She shook her head. “And I don’t understand why. What are you trying to accomplish?”

“We’re trying to stop the attack,” Arte said.

“Actually, I’m keeping Arte safe,” Mae said. “And if I had my way I’d ship him to the nearest Blue Zone and leave you to your fate.”

“Well, why don’t you,” Angel said with her best attempt at vitriol.

Mae sighed. “It’s a long story, but in short, because he insisted.”

“And that’s… normal?”

“More or less,” Mae said. “I am a Solver, after all. That means I solve problems, not run from them.”

“A… are you sure this isn’t a misunderstanding?”

“We laid out the facts. If you have another interpretation, I’d love to hear it.”

Angel paused, hoping something would come to mind, but she had to admit, even if Arte was wrong about what he heard, the fact Gale met with an Admin was troubling. She took a deep breath, then said, “I’m not prepared to believe Gale is a traitor, but… I don’t think you’re lying either. Isn’t there some way we can clear this up?”

“In fact, I believe there is.” Mae smiled. “But first, tell me everything you know about Gale.”

Angel hummed. “Not much, to be honest. He was basically running the local branch when I joined. He’s passionate, and… perhaps a bit frustrated. None of the other members are very enthusiastic, and in spite of being Night Owls for years it wasn’t until Gale came along they started meeting in person.”

“Did he ever suggest violent action?”

“No, of course not,” Angel said quickly, then, “Well, not exactly. He was always telling us we had to be… proactive. And I’d say he considered our cause a matter of life and death.” She looked away and frowned thoughtfully, then shook her head.

Mae studied her a moment, then asked, “Is there any specific person or place he was concerned with?”

“No, or, well, actually…”—she eyed Mae warily, but couldn’t sense an ulterior motive—“there was something recently, at our meeting yesterday. He said he found a way to prove everything the OLS has been saying. He was looking for volunteers, but I… was too nervous to chime in.”

“What’s the OLS?” Arte asked.

“The One Law Society,” Angel said. “It’s a political party that believes the Safe Citizen Program has been abused to create a two tier legal system. The Night Owls are technically a part of them.”

Arte nodded, perhaps a little too vigorously. “Ah, yes, I see.”

Mae laughed and shook her head, then said to Angel, “Is there any way you can arrange a meeting with Gale? If he’s looking for someone to help with an op, that might be my chance to find out what he’s up too.”

“What if he isn’t doing anything wrong?” Angel said. “You aren’t going to turn around and sell us out, are you?”

Mae gave her a flat look. “Of course not. Like I said, all I care about is keeping Arte safe. Strictly speaking, it doesn’t matter if he is up to no good, or screwing you guys over. What I know is that when Arte walked in on him and Seig, men from Thirteen came to kill him. If Gale’s doing something he’ll leave Arte out of, then my work here is done.”

“I don’t know if that’s reassuring or insulting.”

Mae sighed. “Look, tell you what, if Gale’s plan is actually legit, and won’t put Arte in danger, I’ll help get it done.”

“Really!”

“Free of charge, even, but I doubt that’s the case,” Mae said. “Now, can you get us a meeting?”

“I… I think so,” Angel said. “I’ll have to check the board.”