Scene 12

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Despite being more than a hundred yards away, Maren could tell Mav’s determination in his gait as he stalked from the father and child toward them. 

“He seems pretty serious now,” Maren said. 

Koda didn’t respond. He tapped his arm-screen twice, eyes never leaving Mav. “Whoa, man, where’s the fire?”

Mav, still in the distance, halted. Maren looked between the two Peace Keepers. That manner of speech seemed strange for the dour trainee. Was this their code? 

“We have half the day to kill before we gotta rest,” Koda said. “Don’t blow it all out now.” 

If he was speaking in code, that likely meant they were going to start moving. Maren lit up her tablet and began gathering all the data she’d collected into a single document. 

“Nah, go explore,” Koda said. “You always wanted to see if Sacred Skies’ palace was bigger than Eternal Effigy’s, right? Why don’t you go check it out?” 

Eternal Effigy was the guild located in Kinslo, a smaller city farther southeast in Neirea, close to the coast. Were these two from Kinslo, or at least close enough that Eternal Effigy was their local guild? 

“Nah,” Koda continued, “I feel like wandering, myself. I’ll mosey to the Central Arena. You wanna see a match, right? If anyone’s challenging, I’ll buy the tickets.” 

Central Arena was, ironically, not centered in the city. Checking the map Maren had made, updated with new information, it showed that the small park they were in was closer to the city’s center than the arena – which was nearer to the northeastern portion of the city. However, a route from the park to Central Arena would bring Koda directly through the administrative district where most of the kidnappings had occurred. The Sacred Skies’ palace was also near the center of the city, directly west of Glen Park. Maren didn’t know Koda’s plan, but whatever he was concocting, it allowed for him to be in the thick of the kidnappings while Mav wasn’t too far away. 

Regardless of his plot, Maren would make sure she was a part of it. 

“I’ll message if there’s a Gauntlet,” Koda continued. “And you. A’ight. Peace.” 

Mav turned and walked eastward, toward where Sacred Skies was located. 

“That’s some code you got there,” Maren said. 

“Do not expect that from me often,” Koda said, lowering the protective layer back atop his arm-screen. “He’ll get information and – possibly – help from Sacred Skies. He’ll message me any updates. I will do the same.” 

“This coming from the guy who was confused that I knew your Gift?” 

“Don’t worry, our code is something he has completely memorized.” 

“How much info you think he’ll get from Sacred Skies?” 

Koda’s mouth twitched, maybe stopping himself from grimacing. “Anything will be fine. But now we are simple civilians, touring a city we have never visited, taking in all the sights.” 

“According to your message.” 

“So, officially, we are no longer working the case. But if I were to spot a civilian doing something she should not, in a place where she should not be, then I’d have to do something to stop her, as is my duty as a Peace Keeper.” 

Maren smirked. Looked like she wouldn’t need to fight her way into this plan. “So I’m assuming that means you don’t want this info transferred to your device.” 

“Officially, the less I know, the better.” 

She showed him the document she’d created. “I’ve done some digging on Selene Hicks. She’s a partner at the Polk & Austin firm here in Linick. She’s won some high-profile cases for a few of the companies I was already looking into: Sekko Research, CFE, and...” 

“Trulson Tech,” Koda finished. “That name comes up a lot.” 

“Do you agree with Mav? You think it’s them?” 

“It seems so, but the evidence we have is fleeting and circumstantial.” 

“But this is the best we can do now. Granted, three places to investigate is much better than the ten I had originally. Most of the kidnappings have happened within a mile or two from their headquarters. Everything’s centered around Trulson Tech. It seems like they’re the obvious choice.” 

“But?” Koda asked. 

“Trulson his huge. Much bigger than either Sekko or CFE. Their tech empire spans all of Talam. So why, even if they were abducting people to conduct illegal experiments on them, would they do it in their own basement? You’re telling me they don’t have another facility in the city they could run experiments in? Or that they were too lazy to look outside a two-mile radius of their own building? And then I saw ‘their’ workers dealing with the dumpsite breach. 

“Circumstantial or not, all these answers seem to lead directly to them.” 

“Which, you are suggesting, means one of the smaller companies that can’t afford as many properties is trying to make it look like Trulson Tech is doing this.” 

“Or at least diverting police, guild, and Peace Keeper suspicion onto Trulson.” 

Koda looked through the alder branches toward the sky, seeming thoughtful. “As I said before, conspiratorial, but not impossible. If true, then either Sekko Research or CFE have planned this out well in advanced.” 

Maren chuckled. “And it might not even be them. What if the company or group that’s doing this plotted it so well, all these clues we’ve found have led us into the complete opposite direction?” 

“Their plan is rather complicated,” Koda said. “Complicated ones are the easiest to leave trails in. No. I think it’s one of those three, and most likely it’s one of the smaller two. That is why our plan is simple: so it can work.” 

“So, we wait to see what Mav says?” 

Koda nodded. “Hopefully he will steer us toward the right direction. Hopefully that direction will lead us to either Sekko or CFE. Until then, we wait.” 

“So we split up,” Maren said. “Gotta make it look coincidental that you ran into me, right? If we’re together the entire time, I’m sure Selene would be able to find video feed and use it against you.” 

“Thought the same thing myself. I will go toward Central Arena, very slowly.” 

“And I’ll head south. But who knows? Maybe my sense of direction gets lost in my wanderlust and I find myself eventually going north?” 

“Then try to stay out of trouble,” Koda said, adopting a pseudo-authoritative voice. He began walking away. “I would hate to have to bring you to the police.” 

“Wait, how will I know which company to hit?” Maren asked. 

Without turning around, Koda said, “Listen to bird calls. Cardinal for Sekko. Jay for CFE. Goldfinch for Trulson. Pigeon for nothing and we need to regroup. The tune will be a simple Peace-Keeper code that you’ll be able to pick up.” 

“I don’t know what most of those sound like.” 

“Then figure it out.” Koda’s voice was getting smaller. “You’ve got time.”