Scene 14

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It was unfortunate that plans involving other people had to account for their free will. If Koda could control everything, then they wouldn’t even be in this predicament. 

But here he was, wandering through the administrative district, inching his way toward Central Tower, entirely reliant upon others. Not that he was waiting, per se. Koda took note of all the buildings in the area that had security cameras facing the street – which was a lot more than he’d like. He also used his Gift to see the sewer system below, which lay next to a different set of tunnels that connected many of the largest towers’ basements. Some of those basements blurred Koda’s vision; a spatial distortion field kept prying eyes from specific companies’ research. The biggest companies like Trulson Tech and Nadar had those, but frustratingly so did smaller ones like CFE and Sekko Research. 

Simultaneously, he kept a Gifted eye on the civilian, who’d spent a while in that park before she went south, then took some side streets west before heading north. Now she was making her way to the administrative district, blanket wrapped tightly around her, looking at the buildings with an appreciative eye. She could have been a natural tourist amazed by the sights. 

Were only Mav so smart. 

Koda let his Gift rest a moment, the black world only colored by white outlines vanished to city greys and a pale blue sky. His skull was starting to pound – looked like seeing two things at once was still too much for him. He wouldn’t have been able to see Mav even if he’d tried. 

Not that it would make a difference. Mav’s pure heart and straightforward demeanor could be a detriment to gathering information, but who would suspect him of all people to stealthily glean useful data from a guild which most likely had been given their own cease-and-desist order regarding the investigation? In particular a guild which Koda knew didn’t like to share information with outsiders, especially Peace Keepers. 

So any information Mav discovered there couldn’t legally penalize them. If he got information. If he did it right. 

Too many ifs for Koda’s liking. 

Then, nearly an hour after Mav charged to the Sacred Skies palace, a message came in. From Mav. 

It was long, paragraphs upon paragraphs detailing the garden and the palace. Koda gave a soft chuckle. 

Sorry I keep doubting you, man. 

Not only did Mav give no indication that he’d interrogated Sacred Skies members – though he did ‘make friends’ – he added plenty of exclamations and random capitalized words, which he did in his casual messages when he was excited. 

And, through their code, Mav gave him names of four companies Sacred Skies was suspicious of. Of his four and Koda’s three, only one matched: Sekko Research. 

Koda sent a quick reply, secretly informing Mav what to do next. In little over an hour, Koda would inform the civilian, who by now would have her own plan of action. Then Koda continued his meandering, keeping an eye on the civilian yet again with his Gift.