Time. For the first day in many, Gunnar had time. He had contacted both related parties about his investigations; that being his friends and his boss. Now, he had to wait for Aethelstan to be free to talk further.

So he had time. A morning and a half, but it was still something. He kicked around the house for a while, playing a few games watching a few vids, but inevitably he headed where he always did. The Blue Barrel.

It had recently grown relatively calm in their neighbourhood at least, a lot of mercenaries made their lives around here and the Ouroboros Pact kept mostly civil with them. Though the city overall had also hit a quiet patch. Everyone with half a brain knew it was quiet before the storm. Nobles had begun to get involved, for fear of full on rebellion, most possies had all but worn themselves down and Puppet and their lackeys had grown even more illusive, but there was something else coming. No way the beast was going to disappear forever just because they managed to get the upper hand against them once.

In fact, Gunnar was even more aware than usual. He expected Puppet would come for his life now, regardless of their flimsy belief system. No way the Sinman themself had a stable enough mental state for that.

Inside the Barrel the mercenary walked to his usual table after ordering his usual drink. The sisters weren’t joining him in meeting Aethel today and the militia officer in question’s shift wouldn’t end for another few hours, so why not drink. Probably would have been a more effective distraction if he actually drank alcohol.

Gunnar’s mind had begun to wander with all the free time he had. Were his priorities in the right order? He was one of the few that knew about Puppet. Sure a good portion of the Undercity Front knew now, but they weren’t exactly free to do anything about it. Which begged the question, should he be taking care of personal matters right now? Even if there seemed a high chance it was all related.

Time passed by as he tried to enjoy the peace, though it certainly wasn’t quiet. There still echoed the occasional sounds of gunfire or screams, but it was lesser. A few young mercs walked in and out of the bar, most jobs were currently related to the riots and chaos and newbies were eating up the shrapnel. The fact they were also dying by the droves didn’t stop those reckless or desperate enough to seek out mercenary work.

Though he tried to hide it, it was obvious the situation was taking its toll on old Bill. He had even tried to turn away a few that looked too young or too weak to fight. The man had a reputation to uphold, but it was getting difficult to keep it. Still, nearly every regular in this place owed something to Bill and not a single one would blame him for retiring. Well, they might if he retired the Barrel too.

Finally, after another pair of kids with barely a hair on their chins rushed out the front door, a miserable looking familiar face walked in. Aethelstan looked over at Gunnar as he made his way to the bar, noticing the now empty glass in front of him. He made an inaudible order to Bill and after a moment grasped two drinks changing direction to Gunnar’s table.

‘Thanks,’ Gunnar said, taking the glass from his friend’s hand. Aethel nodded and fell into his own seat opposite. His uniform was still on, save for the badge that wore his name, he always took it off to lower the chance of anything he did whilst drunk getting back to his station, but he was a pretty well behaved drunkard. ‘Tired?’

Aethel had his head leant over the back of his chair. ‘Nah, why would it be? Not like the cities on the verge of collapsing and psycho monks murdered my family.’

‘Not to be a nit-picker but that last part is completely unrelated to your work. Also they’re not monks.’

His friend slowly tilted his head to stare at Gunnar, very much showing exactly how unamused he was. ‘So you gonna give me the juice or do I gotta squeeze?’

Gunnar’s smile faded. This was the part he had been worrying about. ‘Yeah… So, like I told you, followed up on a lead, found Devon’s church. What I didn’t tell you was that I also found out where he is. Or, where I think he is.’

Aethelstan didn’t even hesitate. ‘Where?’

He didn’t want to tell him, knowing Aethel as well as he did, but it was also something his conscience wouldn’t allow him to hide from his friend. ‘Outside the city. A mining outpost by the name of Guilders Rise.’

Aethel stared at him, his eyes unflinching, but he could see the man’s jaw clenching. ‘I’m going.’

‘The fuck you are.’

His face twitched and he lightly thumped the table. ‘Why not?’

Gunnar immediately motioned towards his clenched fist that had just drawn the attention of the local tables towards them, he raised his eyebrows. ‘Do I need to say anything?’

The clenched fist retracted and disappeared beneath the table. A variety of facial expressions spread across his face until he leant back with a groan, rubbing his tired cheeks. ‘The timing is shit.’

‘It is.’

He lay against his chair looking up to the ceiling. ‘I want to look the bastards in the eyes.’

Gunnar took a sip of his drink and also got more comfortable in his chair, sliding into place. ‘After your anger has subsided a little, I want you to ask whether or not it’s worth the risk for either of us to go all that way right now. City could explode into chaos again any minute, do we go chasing leads that might be zilch.’

An eye peered at Gunnar through fingers. ‘That’s not exactly fair to ask.’

‘But it needs answering.’

Aethelstan finally took a sip out of his own glass. ‘If I was forced to look at this situation from an outside, I’d probably say no, but I’m just an officer and you’re just a mercenary. We’re not exactly a necessity.’

‘True, but also untrue.’ Gunnar started, pausing to drink a little more. ‘It’s probably a good thing Puppets stench is all over it.’

He looked up, a cheeky grin on his face. He knew his friend would be getting quite angry with him for not starting with that, he also knew that he wasn’t in the mood for jokes, but he also also knew that it was the perfect way to throw some self reflection Aethels way.

Aethel smiled back at him, but it was a smile of barely contained rage, he could hear the man breathing deeply, then drink a deep gulp of ale. ‘So, you’re gonna get your boss involved too right?’

Gunnar was almost disappointed at the lack of explosion. ‘Figure a nobles gotta have some fast way of travelling outside the city, also figured since it’d be a bad idea for you to go you’d prefer me or one of the sisters.’

‘I have other friends I trust too, you know?’

‘Any of them know about any of this?’

He crossed his arms and pouted. ‘A little. Just none of them are expendable mercenaries.’

A snort escaped from the aforementioned mercenary as he took another fizzy swig. ‘You bitch,’ he coughed and wiped the drink from his face. ‘It was gonna be or the Barnettes anyway, they don’t know all the details yet, but we both know they’d do it. So what do you want?’

The officer mulled it over, a major part of him still wanting to just get involved, he glanced over to Gunnar with a guilty expression. ‘You want me to be entirely honest?’ Gunnar shrugged. ‘The sisters are gonna be more useful here if shit hits the fan.’

‘Honestly, how dare you.’

He struggled to hold back a smile. ‘I’m serious Gunnar. There’s two of them and they have more connections. They also, you know. Are both kinda better than you.’

Gunnar raised a finger, but struggled to argue. ‘One thing,’ he blurted out.

‘Pardon?’

‘They’re both better than me at like one thing. Each. But still.’

Gunnar was having none of it, shooting him a look that was daring him to try and argue any further. He knew he was skilled, but he also surrounded himself with the very skilled. ‘Well… I have always been a little curious about what it’s like out there.’ He still relented.

‘You’re probably the most qualified anyway, the rest of us have barely set foot outside of Juniper City.’

Gunnar laughed. ‘It ain’t exactly the same thing. I travelled within the walls down established roads protected from the elements. Sure, it was about the only thing they were protected from, but I bet it’s still a damn sight safer than out there.’

There was genuine concern on his friend’s face. ‘Are you scared man? I can send someone else if it really worries you.’

He shook his hand. ‘No no no no. Not the sort of thing that scares me, I’m just sayin– I’ll go, happily alright? I was gonna volunteer anyway.’

‘It’s a good thing to have pride, but don’t overdo it bud.’

At that moment Gunnar decided he didn’t like being the subject of the teasing. He finished his drink and noticed Aethel was getting through his quickly too. ‘You thirsty?’

He finished the last gulp and burped a satisfied sigh. ‘I ain’t got a shift in the morning, eye of the storm means work’s calming down, I’m technically still on standby, but it’s the closest thing to a day off I’ve had in ages. So. I’m gonna get drunk quickly and then go home and savour the fact that I don’t have to move for many hours.’ He pointed the glass at Gunnar. ‘No offense to you guys, but I need some time alone. So much shits gone down and I don’t feel like I’ve had time to process any of it.’

Gunnar smiled at his friend. ‘Don’t have to explain a thing, you’re an alcoholic, I get it.’

‘Yeah yeah, just go shoo and talk to your boss.’ Aethel waved him off. ‘I’m gonna have one more drink, barely tickled at this point.’

Aethelstan was not actually an alcoholic, he drank about as much as anyone in this city, but as he said, there had been a lot of shit going down. ‘Just don’t go too wild,’ Gunnar told his friend, patting the man’s shoulder as he walked past.

He heard a few mumbles and grumbles as he walked out. Aethel was already standing to order his second pint. Gunnar trusted that his old friend would at least attempt to be sensible. He wanted to go see Davon face to face, clearly, but he wasn’t stupid enough to think it a good idea.

The mercenary began the walk to his new workplace. He still hadn’t used his new desk so he wanted to give it a go. That was definitely secondary to reporting to Walther of course. Gunnar took his cellpad from his jacket pocket and dialled Nati’s number. She did not take long to pick up, for once.

‘What’s up old man?’

‘Just had a chat with Aethel. He wants me to go check out that lead I messaged you girls about last night.’

‘Ehh? I was kinda curious, but I’ll respect it, you two were together way before we entered the picture.’ He heard fumbling and muffled whispering in the background of the call, then Nati’s annoyed response to it. ‘No obviously not that kind of together you clod,’ she whisper-shouted in reply.

Gunnar ignored the snippets of conversation he was hearing. ‘You’re not getting shot at today?’

The bickering continued quietly, he could hear Nati pushing her sister away. ‘Course not, we’ve just finished an easy enough job for a shop owner at the Glass Park. The uh, protesters have lessened around the elevator itself, but there’s been a lot of looting and opportunistic thieves, surprising no one. Plenty of jobs to recover wealthy dwellers’ treasures,’ she paused. ‘So anyway, that means you’re leaving the Ring?’

‘Well. Hopefully not for long. If I can get a decent ride it should only be a week or so.’

There was the sound of laces being undone on the other end of the call. ‘Huh. So you’re just gonna leave us lil folks here if shit hits the fan? Then again, you could do with the sun. You’re getting pale,’ Nati commented as she started to snack on some food.

‘Glad you guys are getting some rest. I’ll message you when I’m leaving.’

Rustling sounds grew through the cell. ‘Awright. Dom’t gemt heatstoke,’ Nati hung up the call with what was clearly a mouth full of food. Gunnar groaned as he shuffled the phone back into his pocket.

The mercenary continued through the streets towards Walther’s little gaff, keeping his eyes on all corners to make sure no homicidal cyborgs were following him. Recently very few civilians were on the streets for obvious reasons, but now he walked past a few that were feeling a little braver. Of course the very next street over he walked past a scattering of dead bodies with a few militia officers around them, so things were still far from safe.

Such was life in the city, even without the riots. Maybe other cities were safer, but there was rarely news or correspondence between the cities save for neighbours. Every city was different with their own laws and cultures. The only constant was the power of the noble class and the suffering of the dwellers below them. Well, that was as far as Gunnar knew, from the few cities he had been to and various travelers accounts.

He arrived at the warehouse unharmed. If there was one thing that he was thankful for, it was that most gangers and petty criminals could recognise a mercenary and weren’t wasteful enough to attack them on sight. Most. So going from point A to B had less danger than to the average dweller. Never a zero percent chance though.

Gunnar performed the whole routine to get inside, though this time, Juju was the one to answer the door, Oswin still away in the upper city. He grunted a greeting to Gunnar and let him into the main room, still not quite happy to see him. Before he went to see Walther, Gunnar had one thing to ask the gaunt man. ‘Did you manage to get the old pad to Slaine?’

He shrugged. ‘Aye. She said she’d take it and one of the bosses drones took it to her this morning. No news about it yet.’

‘How did you convince her?’

Juju’s expression soured. ‘I didn’t. Lord Walther just offered her a bonus if she looked into it.’

Gunnar didn’t find himself too shocked. To a wealthy noble, a small bonus was a wave of their hand. He was still quite thankful, but it likely wasn’t done as a favour, more an investment. If they could get anything on Puppet on the pad it would benefit them both.

‘Is the boss here?’ he asked.

Juju sat down by his station, simply pointing towards the office as he got on with his own work. Gunnar looked around to see that Wen-Lian wasn’t currently in, so he just headed towards Walther’s office.

He knocked on the door a few times, then let himself in. ‘You know generally you wait for the occupant to welcome you in before entering,’ Walther commented. He was sitting behind an ornate wooden desk, something he had to have transported from the upper city. If he had multiple teams as he claims that was a severe waste of time and arguably money. There were several documents neatly piled on different parts of the desk, a few flashy nicknacks and a deskpad in the center of the desk, he was typing away at it.

‘I’m shocked. You weren’t up to anything untoward were you?’ Gunnar teased.

Walther cracked a subtle smile. ‘No, but I do value a little something called manners.’ He pushed the keypad away from himself and looked up at Gunnar, adjusting his glasses higher up his nose. ‘From what dear Juju said, you have something to discuss?’

Gunnar nodded towards one of the seats placed opposite his boss. Walther gestured an open palm towards them, giving him permission to sit. The mercenary sank into the comfortable soft cushion of the noble’s chair. ‘I dunno how much lil Ju told ya, but I was investigating something for my friend.’

‘The Gospel offshoot, yes?’

‘I think they call themselves flocks, but yeah that,’ he cleared his throat. ‘Anyway, so. Think I found something you’d be interested in.’ Gunnar pulled the diary from his pocket and threw it over to Walther. ‘Check the last page.’

The old man took the book. ‘Hmm, paper.’ He inspected it a little, then opened it and flipped through it to the last page. He scanned it quickly, then placed it gently back on the desk and slid it back over to Gunnar. ‘You think the beast is Puppet?’

‘You don’t?’

Walther brought his hand to his mouth and stared at the book. ‘I think that the research into the toxin is well underway and the city is ready to boil over any minute.’ He looked up at Gunnar. ‘It’s possible.’

Gunnar sat forward. ‘Then why are you hesitant?’

‘That’s obvious. You wouldn’t have come to me if following up on this lead was simple, which means you need something from me. If this Devon was running away from Puppet, or whatever this beast is, he would have fled outside the city. Thus, you would be away awhile and that would be a risk.’

The mercenary clicked his tongue. ‘It’s outside the ring. Guilders Rise.’

‘Guilders Rise?!’

‘You’ve heard of it?’

‘It’s miles away!’

That was almost certainly a yes. ‘So you don’t want me going?’

Walther sighed and sat back in his swivel chair, it was made of a cream coloured soft fabric. ‘No actually. I think you should go.’

‘Certainly didn’t sound that way,’ Gunnar complained.

Walther stood up linking his hands behind his back, he turned from Gunnar and walked to the wall opening a small cabinet hanging from it. The old man then turned to the mercenary and threw a small disk at him. Gunnar caught it with ease. ‘Do you know how to drive?’ Walther asked him.

‘Well. I did learn in a simulation, never owned a vehicle though.’

The old man sat back down with a grunt of discomfort then a sigh of contentment. ‘I own one truck for travel outside the city, only ever used it once or twice, but I have shrapnel to spare. It has an autopilot so you don’t need to drive, but some knowledge could help.’

The recipient looked down at the disk, realising it had a brand written on it. Clementine. A manufacturer popular with some nobles. ‘So?’

‘If you don’t try and we lose to Puppet, you’ll never stop asking yourself if this might have helped in some way. So yes, I say go, the risk might be great and you might come home with nothing, but at least you’ll know it and I’ll know it.’

It was easy to forget how long nobles could live, it was easy to forget just how long the one in front of him had lived. No doubt in that time Walther had made plenty of regrets, he spoke from experience. He thought it a risk, maybe even a bad idea, but nothing worth having could be found without risk.

Walther nodded as Gunnar dropped the strange keys in his pocket. ‘Meet me at the great cargo doors tomorrow morning. I’ll give you a few extra supplies for the road.’ Gunnar saluted only a little sarcastically and stood up to leave.

That brief meeting done, Gunnar decided to give his desk a quick go, it could be gone by the time he was back, so why not? The man sat down and had a shuffle through the supplies given to him. There was some top tier equipment that would have previously been out of his price range, a molten recycler for example, stick that on the end of a ballistic firearm and it actively salvages whatever it can from every shot. Not enough to make an entire bullet obviously, but it does save some shrapnel.

Wen-Lian came back whilst he was looking through the containers on his desk and reading various documents. She started a conversation with him with Juju standing nearby and injecting his own dry responses occasionally. They didn’t talk about anything important, just getting to know each other. Gunnar explained he wasn’t a native and Wen-Lian told him she was from one of the many shanty slums outside the city limits. There were those even less fortunate than the dwellers of the city, some of them lived in the deep ancient tunnels below the city, others lived in the shanty slums, almost never allowed within the city limits. It was impressive for her to make it as far as she had.

He had experienced a few exhausting exchanges that day already, so the conversation didn’t stand for too long. Wishing Wen-Lian and even Juju a good day, Gunnar left after taking a few choice weapon mods and tools from what had been left for him. As soon as he left the building he dropped his friends a message to let them know what he was going to do and where he was about to go. Immediately he received a thank you from Aethelstan and some unflattering sarcasm from Nati. The younger sister just expressed worry, which he was thankful for.

Truthfully, Gunnar couldn’t decide if he was excited or terrified. He knew few people that had been outside and there was a good reason for that, several in fact. If the terrifying heat wasn’t enough there were the roaming bands of sun worshippers, driven mad by the vast desert and debilitating heat. Then there were the beasts, the monsters that had found a way to survive with only each other to eat. Varying in size, but all as deadly as each other. Luckily those were quite rare.

Thanks to his circling thoughts, Gunnar struggled to sleep that night. Fully awake staring at his own ceiling, his thoughts raced across what he might find, what he might see. Some part of him wanted it to be an adventure, as childish as that was. He was working a job, helping a friend, he wasn’t there to enjoy himself. Still, it may be his first and only time outside the city. He had to try and enjoy it, right?