The Thwackers are tied to [JOSEPHUS] and Zod starts wondering if they can trust anyone. Meanwhile the town is kicking up a party
Chapters 23-24
–Chapter 23–
The day was quieter than usual, Zod thought to themselves, and wasn’t sure if that were good or bad. It meant that they could hear more, but it also meant that he could be heard more. It also meant that they shouldn’t let anything grind their gears, as one says.
After a while, a human arrived at the building, and Zod recognized them as [JACKJACK], one of [JOSEPHUS]’s, minions. They wish they could hear more, but even with the gain cranked up it was just too far, and they couldn’t risk getting closer. So they waited. Eventually [JACKJACK] came outside with one of the Thwackers that were in the barracks, and after a few moments the Thwacker went inside and they headed back to town.
Zod stayed on watch, correctly assuming that [JACKJACK] was headed back to the Market Avenue door. They were burly and crass and not the sort of creature one would find wandering among politicians even if they did have a sickly sweet grovelling demeanor.
Eventually the wait paid off. Two of the suspect Thwackers emerged from the barracks and headed into town. “Interesting”, thought Zod, and went to follow. Watching them, they had to be careful as the duo seemed pretty cagey. They picked their way though the crowd, and Zod picked their way even more carefully. Zod watched as they made their way down Main and turned onto Market. They stopped, knowing where the two were headed. Curiouser and curiouser, Zod thought.
Zod opted to head back out West Gate to see if they could find out what the other two were up to. Along the way they passed a livery shop, and Zod decided to go in and get some more generic livery “for a friend”. Stashing that in another pocket, They made their way to the back of the tents again.
Passing the time, Zod had a chance to look at the notebook they picked up that morning. It was handwritten in a hurried font so the reading was slow, doubly for memorizing it. The first few chapters talked about where [SEMPRINI] came from, which was many miles up the North Road in the foothills, and that it was very rare and very difficult to mine.
The reading was cut short when the two Thwackers that he had tailed earlier came back to the barracks. The other two met them outside and after a brief conversation they all went inside. Without any other options given the time of day, Zod decided to stay and keep watch. Meanwhile they swapped their livery out because they were sure they were getting suspicious with all their meandering about town, particularly where someone with a job like theirs was uncommon.
–Chapter 24–
The sun was going down, and the barracks continued to be quiet. Zod figured it was time to go and confer with Toll, but they were feeling a little cagey about anyone at that point. At the same time there was nobody else they confide to. They made their way back along the wall to the road again. They kept an eye out, but doubted that those four Thwackers would be seen along this road again. If they were smart they’d try to get reassigned to the South half of Ring Road.
They then slipped along the wall again until they hit the road, and then turned East towards the camp. They hoped the campsite was still there which, thankfully, it was. Zod opted to not go in, but rather concealed themselves in the bushes and used the agreed-upon frequency to communicate with Toll.
“Greetings,” said Zod, “I hope the day has gone well.”
“It has, other than being four bots down.”
“They’re definitely with [JOSEPHUS]. I saw two of the bots going to the same shop on Market that they had gone into earlier.”
“They weren’t much use anyway,” Toll said somewhat bemusingly.
Zod considered whether or not to tell Toll what they knew about where [SEMPRINI] could be found, but ultimately they decided that the fewer people that knew the better. Besides, Toll was still a bit of an unknown.
“Have you learned anything,” Zod asked, “there are too many people moving in too many directions for me to track”
“I think someone found the trail, so it’s useless now”
“That’s unfortunate, but if they haven’t found anything by now they’re not going to. I had a look myself last night.”
“Nothing?” Toll asked.
“Nothing worth mentioning at this point,” Zod didn’t exactly lie.
“Now what?”
“I don’t know. Watch the doorway I suppose. I don’t think I can risk First Street for a while. You?”
“I don’t know,” Toll responded,” I’m a supervisor so perhaps I can try First Street. I’ll have to confer with the others so I can have some cover on our end.”
“Any angle”
“Not a clue. Asking for North Street funding I suppose. Let’s touch base tomorrow night”
“I’ll do my best, “Zod replied and shut down the comms channel for the evening.
Zod wasn’t sure they were being paranoid at this point, but Toll hadn’t found much. Then again they did say about the trail, and the only other significant thing they could likely have done was marking people taking the road. Then again, nobody but Desil, the shopkeeper, and now Zod knew anything about where [SEMPRINI] came from. Still, they were glad nobody had seen them in the new livery yet.
Zod wondered if their management was actively looking for them at this point, or just have their papers filled out and ready for their return. When Zod did go back they’d better have a doozy with the number of days this had taken, and if they solved the mystery it seemed like it was going to be a lot more than that A lot of humans and Sentients alike in deep trouble.
Zod opted to head back towards North Gate with their navigation lights off and relying on their new-fangled infrared system layered over their night vision. It wasn’t perfect in the dark but it did make a difference. When the reached the shops they crept in behind and watched the gate until the bars opened. Even Sentients could get inebriated if they kicked off their power regulators and turned off a few logic circuits. Zod had tried it and while fun, it wasn’t the sort of buzz they preferred. In fact, most of their compatriots thought they were a bit stodgy.