Leonard found himself in a dingy run down dinner on the edges of the city, in a place people often referred to as the playground. While it was one of the least safe places in Citadel it was somewhere where you could let go of all inhibitions. From human to animal fighting rings all the way up to unsanctioned underground mech arenas, if you wanted a bloody form of entertainment this is where you came.
It also was home to Citadels largest black market, although it was more akin to a grey market. It still sold many illegal items, however such things the government often closed their eyes to, such as drugs, weapons and sexual services. However it was often referred to as a grey market by those in the know due to its public nature, everyone in the nation knew of its existence, and so nothing truly disgusting or deplorable was sold there.
The dinner itself that he found himself in was, if he was being polite, well travelled. Its walls were covered with a myriad of stickers and patches from its years of patrons, while its tables and booths looked to be falling apart.
“Coffee?” A rough looking older lady walked up to him, a round pot of black coffee in her hand.
“Please,” Leonard said, and the woman poured him a glass, placing it down on the table.
“Lemme know if y'need anythin',” the woman said as she wandered off, repeating the same at the next booth.
Leonard took a sip at his steaming cup, almost wincing as he tasted the strong thick sludge. “God this stuff is strong..”
He put it down, one sip seemed to carry more caffeine than he usually had in a day. Before he could think too much a gruff looking man took a seat at his table. Dressed in a large brown coat with a similarly coloured hat the man looked every bit a private investigator that one could be. His face was fairly plain, hair and eyes following suit being a dark shade of black.
Leonard himself had contacted the investigator under his other name, Jared Hagoth, and was dressed the part as well, his faceplate already proving its use.
“Mr. Hagoth was it?” The man began, reaching out and shaking his hand. “Peter Watson.”
“A pleasure.”
“Well then, shall we get down to business? What can I do for you?”
“There's going to be a meeting tonight at this warehouse,” Leonard slid a datapad over to the man, glad that he was straight to business and didn’t bother with small talk. “I know it's short notice, so I'm happy for you to just record everyone who comes in and out throughout the evening. If you can get names and home addresses even better.”
“Hmm,” Peter hummed as he looked over the datapad. “This is certainly doable, however a meeting late at night in a rundown warehouse district?” He glanced up at Leonard, “Tell me, is there any possible danger involved?”
“There will be some yes,” Leonard admitted. “The warehouse is owned by the Bloodhounds.”
Peter leaned back, letting out a small whistle. “That’s gonna cost you extra.”
“Money is no issue,” Leonard lifted up one of the two briefcases he had brought with him onto the table. The first being the home to his wig and faceplate that he was currently wearing, while the second he had purchased and filled full with cash, not wanting any transactions to be traced through his accounts.
He flicked it open and swung it around, bringing Peter face to face with 100,000 credits.
“That’ll do it,” the man whistled again, quickly pushing the case back closed and looking around to make sure no one had seen it. This area of the city wasn’t known for its adherence to the law. “I’ll have to go and start setting up now if I want to remain unseen. I can send you a list of people coming in and out in the morning, however names and addresses will take a couple more days.”
“No worries, take your time.” Leonard easily agreed, the man might not look it but he was good at what he did. In the future at least, it still remained to be seen if he was right now. “If I like what I see I’ll be sure to hire you again. I have a feeling you might be very busy in the coming years.”
“Heh, I’ll never say no to more work,” Peter stood, shaking Leonard’s hand again as the meeting came to a close. “I pleasure doing business so far Mr. Hagoth, and hopefully a pleasure going forward as well.”
“Of course,” Leonard, or Jared as he was now, returned the gesture. “I wish you luck.”
Leonard sat back down as the man left the dinner, taking a look at the thick sludge the waiter called coffee, but deciding it would be best if he didn’t finish it. Instead he fished out a few credits from his pocket, throwing them down onto the table before taking his leave.
“That went easier than I thought,” Leonard thought as he waved down an air taxi. “Though it was expensive, if he can get me names and addresses I can make the money back and more if i'm lucky.”
Though he could see the information to Bulwark through the secure comm his father was arranging, such information would hold no signs of their connections with the Condor Kingdom. However it was a lead that could bring him closer to such information.
“I can't fight my way through John’s warehouse because it could very easily be traced back to me, but another location that I have no knowledge of? That would work. So long as Peter can come through I’ll be able to find what I need eventually.”
The air taxi rose up into the air, Leonard already missing the smooth and comfortable interior of Nightingales limousine. While it wasn’t rough per se, it certainly wasn't bump free.
A call came through on his comm unit, pulling him back from his idle thoughts.
“Hello,” he said without a thought as he answered the call, his sister's face appearing on his comm unit.
“Hey Leo I was wonder-” Summer paused, face contorting in confusion. “Who are you?”
“Huh?” Leonard didn’t understand what she meant, that was until he caught his reflection in the air taxi window, the unmistakable face of Jared Hagoth looking back at him. “Fuck!”
“Oh right, umm.. Im Leoanrd’s friend, he stepped out for a second to do something and left his comm with me.” Leonard lied, trying his best to make it believable. “I can get him to call you back if you’d like?”
“Yeah..” She didn’t look the most convinced, however there wasn’t much more she could do. “That’d be good, get him to call me back.”
She hung up a moment later and Leonard slammed his head into the side of the taxi.
“Fuck! I'm a idiot!” His outburst was only met with a small beep from the taxi, an automated message asking the passengers to please not damage its interior. “And you shut up.”
Leonard went about taking off his disguise, storing them neatly in his briefcase. He waited a couple minutes before calling his sister back, her face popping back up on his screen.
“Hey Summer,” he waved.
“Hey yourself,” she said back. “Who was that with your comm before?”
“Just a friend I was out with,” he dismissed. “Anyways, what can I do for you?”
“Ok then,” she easily accepted. “I was wondering if you wanted to come to the simulation pods with me. It's been a while since I kicked your ass.”
“Ha! Kicked my ass?” Leonard smiled. “If I remember correctly you’ve never beaten me unless I was given a shit box and you were piloting a next gen mech.”
“Details details. Anyways you wanna? I want to see how much I've improved since joining the academy.”
“Yeah sure, I'm just on my way back now.” Leonard looked over his flight plan, giving Summer an estimation on how long it would take for him to get back. “Should I swing past the apartment? Or just meet you there?”
“Meet at the sim pods, I'm already on my way there. Gotta get in some warm ups you know.”
“You're going to need it,” he quipped with a smile, looking forward to stomping his brat of a sister into the dirt. “I'm not going to go easy on you.”
