“Who's he?” Annie asks of Detective Chavez, having noticed my interest in him.

“That's Detective Anthony Chavez,” I say. “And he needs help.”

—❈—

“So, let me get this straight,” Keisha says, after I explain what's going on with the detective, “even though we already have a whole revenge plot going on with two arsonists and a fuckface landlord, you wanna throw in a damsel in distress side story?”

I shrug. “Pretty much.”

Keisha looks at me like she's wondering if I hit my head somewhere.

Annie though, actually seems to be considering it.

Despite how it might seem from her question and attitude though, Keisha is clearly considering it too, as evidenced by her next words: “And when are we gonna have the time to do this? Cause again, we already got a whole thing going on.”

We. She's saying ‘we’. Whether or not she realises it, she already considers us to be a group, for better or worse.

…

Then again, maybe it would be better if I did this one alone? After all, let's be honest, the only reason I intend to help Det. Chavez is for the system rewards, without it, I would have wanted to help, true, but wanting to help is pretty much where it would have ended. The system rewards are unequivocally the reason why I'm willing to endanger my life to help a stranger.

More importantly, the system is the only reason I even feel like I can help. Without the system, I'm just another nobody, and that's why I'm starting to wonder if it wouldn't be better to leave Keisha and Annie out of this.

They don't have the system. They have no superpowers or unnatural advantages. I mean, sure, Keisha is a badass martial artist and all that, but Annie and I literally just had to rescue her from a bunch of very normal criminals just a few hours ago.

To make matters worse, whatever rewards I'm likely to receive from this quest will be mine and mine alone. Why should they endanger themselves for nothing? Especially when, like Keisha said, they already have their own problems to deal with.

“What's your plan?” Annie asks me, then pauses after a moment and eyes me suspiciously. “You do have a plan, right?”

I make an ambivalent gesture. “I'm actually more of a make it up as I go along kind of guy.”

“Make it up as you go along, huh?” Keisha asks flatly.

“So, what, you're just gonna walk up to him and say ‘hi, the universe told me your daughter was kidnapped. I'm here to help’?” Annie says.

“You think that'll work?” I ask with mostly genuine seriousness.

The looks I get from both girls tells me all I need to know of what they think.

“Okay, noted,” I say. “But even if that doesn't work, I'm pretty sure telling him where they're holding his daughter will be enough to get his attention.”

It's certainly enough to get both their attention.

“You know where she is?” Annie asks.

“No,” I admit. “But I think I can find out. Do either of you have a picture of a person on your phones? A person you know.”

The girls frown.

“A picture?” Keisha asks. “What you're psychic too?”

I take a moment to actually think about it. “Pretty much,” I decide finally.

“Huh, nice. Maybe when we're done here you can conjure my father's ghost so I can punch him in the face,” she muses.

The abusive drunk who left her with scars both physical and mental? No surprise.

That said though. “Yeah, no. Sorry, I don't fuck with ghosts.”

Keisha tsks in disappointment. “So close.”

Annie pulls out her phone, taps on the screen for a bit, and hands it to me with the picture of a pretty girl open on the screen.

“You're trying to see if you can know things about people from their pictures alone,” Annie observes, and I nod as I activate [Observe].

“And it works,” I say, returning the phone to her barely a second later. “Thanks.”

“And you think you can know where they're holding the girl from her picture alone?” Keisha asks, unable to help her doubt even after everything she's seen me do.

Oh ye of little faith.

“Well, I found out that Paula over there is hoping that her boyfriend will pop the question, and that he plans to on their anniversary next week. So, yeah, I'm pretty confident,” I say.

Annie's eyes widen. “Rodney's gonna propose?”

“I guess so,” I say. If they don't fight and ruin the whole thing anyway.

According to [Observe] that's a likely possibility; they fight a lot.

I rise.

“Where are you going?” Annie asks as I pull out of our booth, and I gesture at Det. Chavez.

I've confirmed what I needed to know; I can [Observe] people through pictures, now I'm going to go and help the nice man who's somehow managed to stay a honest cop in Gotham of all places.

Keisha grabs my wrist.

“So, let me get this straight; you're gonna walk your black ass up to a cop, a white cop, who’s kid's been snatched by a gang, and you're gonna tell him what? You can find his kid if he shows you her picture? What the fuck are you smoking?”

I sit back down. “You know, he's one of the good ones,” I say weakly.

“Do I look like I give a fuck?” Keisha asks.

“Well, how are we gonna get her picture now?” I ask.

“Wait, what did you say was his name again?” Annie asks.

“The cop? Anthony Chavez. Why?”

In lieu of answering, Annie begins to tap on her phone.

Wait. Is she doing what I think she's doing?

“Is this her?” Annie asks, showing me a picture on some social media app of Det. Chavez and his family, a wife and a preteen girl who has to be Lulu.

God, I feel so stupid right now.

Keisha snorts, and I hold up a particular finger at her.

[Observe]

“Bingpot!” I say, pleased.

“Bingpot?” Annie asks, confused.

I wave over the waitress, the same one I gave the huge tip the last time we were here; she's finally stopped sneaking glances at me, and I still haven't figured out if it's because of the huge tip or because my CHARM went up thirty points between my first and second visits here.

“Do you have a pen and paper I could write something on, please?”

“Oh, um…” she looks around helplessly for a second, then just hands me the pen and small notepad she carries to take orders from customers.

“Thanks.” I smile at her, and her cheeks go red.

Guess it's the CHARM then.

I write out the address on a page and rip it out.

“Thanks,” I say again, returning her property.

“You're welcome,” she says, then hesitates for a second like she wants to say something.

“Anything else?” Annie asks, and the waitress, Christi, jumps, blushes redder, and hurries away.

Acting like Keisha and I aren't giving her looks for what she just did, Annie says; “So, what now?”

“Now, I help a man find his daughter,” I say, rising.

“Eugene,” Keisha says as I walk away, “be careful.”

I stare at the nineteen year old who, at fourteen, watched the first boy she ever loved get gunned down by police for ‘walking suspiciously’.

I nod.

Det. Chavez doesn't notice me until I'm right in front of him, and when he looks up curiously, I place the piece of paper on the table and slide it to him.

“The King's Hotel, downtown. It's abandoned, but the Viper gang uses it as a stash site. That's where they're holding your daughter,” I say.

Det. Chavez's eyes widen and he snatches up the address and stares from it to me.

“Who are you?” he asks.

Eugene Berger,” I say. “You can call me U.”

Chavez frowns. “I've never heard of you.”

I shrug. “Not many have.”

He looks down at the address again, and back up to me.

“Why?” he asks.

Ah, the classic distrust of altruism. Thank you for rearing your head once again you magnificent bastard.

I lean in to stare into Chavez's dull brown eyes. “Let me put it this way,” I say. “It would… behoove me, if you and your friends were a little trigger happy when you get your daughter back. Comprende?”

Chavez holds my gaze for several seconds, but, of course, inevitably, he blinks first.

He's only human after all.

The detective nods.

“Good,” I say. “Now, please, go get your daughter.”

A fire lights up in Chavez's soul, and he's out of the seat and marching outside in a flash, pulling out his phone and dialling as he goes.

I watch him go.

“Um, hi,” I hear Christi say behind me, and I turn to see the barely eighteen year old fidgeting. “Um, you're gonna pay for it right?” she asks hesitantly, pointing at Chavez's table.

There's a half-full mug of coffee on it.

I sigh. “Yeah, I got it,” I say.

Seriously, Chavez? I help you save your kid and you leave me with the bill for your coffee? For shame, man.

Alert!

Quest [Save Louisa “Lulu” Chavez] Completed!

Rewards: $15,000. EXP 15,000. ?