It’s all starting to come together.
Chapters 36-38
–Chapter 36–
After an interminable amount of time, Toll came up from South Gate to join them.
Zod reported that they didn’t have much to add beyond saying that they expected a lot of the human movement was likely shifting to Market because of the grime.
Toll, on the other hand, had plenty to add to the equation. They led in by bringing in the green auto-butler into the mix, and their tie to the lobbyist’s office block, adding that it just seemed like something to be aware of for the time being.
More importantly was the visit to the MP’s office. Firstly, the multiple offices off one receptionist made it impossible to know if the ones besides FANDANGO were implicit too. But budget things aside, FANDANGO was pretty cagey about what they called a “commission” as supposedly only being in some sort of concept stage, not as far along as things actually were. Toll added that they were trying to get involved with them like a proper mole, so they’d have to be extra-careful too.
To that end, Zod mentioned the shop on River Avenue that sold livery, and that they had several now, and that it would be a good idea to not wear work clothes when creeping around.
This led to planning ahead, and it was agreed that Zod should be pushing the envelope since they were probably a given thorn by now, but Toll was going to need to play low between work and basically lobbying about the roads so they could keep their electronic ear to the ground. Where they were really stuck is what exactly Zod should be doing with their free time.
In the end, they decided what was really needed was finding any movement patterns if they were going to have any hope of rescuing Desil. Toll would keep an eye on First Street in the mornings, and Zod would do their best timing visits to the Market Street building. The trick was going to be effectively hanging around Main and Market and somehow not be conspicuous. With that, they parted ways for the evening, with Toll returning to the work site, and Zod carefully picking their way back to the empty stall in the antique district. Along the way, Zod mused that they needed someplace closer to Main Street if that was going to be the epicenter of their routine. Definitely, they thought, should be the first order of business after checking in with Harald in case they had any success rounding up help.
–Chapter 37–
Zod struck out again with Harald as expected before picking their way back down to the empty shop on South Wall and settled in for a lovely day watching the street. It wasn’t long before an auto-butler came spinning down the street, surprisingly it was the green one Toll had mentioned this time. They were greeted by JACKJACK who looked up and down the street suspiciously before following them inside. An hour or so later the other one showed up with the same routine. After a while they left one after the other, and the routine was repeated every hour or so as the day dragged on. Eventually darkness started to fall and the street grew silent save a few tired humans going back to their hovels. Zod kicked into gear and made a beeline on to Main Street where they found a less grimy alley to lay low in for the night.
The next day dragged on for Zod too while watching Market. They knew the principals. They knew mid-day was clear. Something Had To Be Done, and soon. Zod and Toll needed a plan, regardless of any additional help.
When they met up again, Zod brought this up, saying each day got more risky, and time was running out. But Zod couldn’t go back to the barracks safely, particularity without any proof, so it was down to whatever Toll and Harald could come up with. They also desperately needed that draft legislation so they could bring the conspiracy out into the open.
So it was decided that the onus was on Toll to get what they could, and Zod would try to connect with the seedier side of town where they still might find sympathizers.
In the morning, Zod headed back to Harald’s, where they were met with a few surprises. Several humans and bots were milling about, but more notably was Connie, who apparently shopped there enough to be trusted, along with a few other Dam workers that Zod recognized.
“Connie!” Zod exclaimed, “I’m surprised to see you here.”
“Well, I’m around here sometimes for bits and bobs, but when Harald told me that Desil was in trouble, well, they’re a friend of mine.”
“A friend to all of us,” someone else added.
“I don’t know what you all know, but to bring everyone up to speed, Desil is being held captive down the block because a cabal of humans and a few Sentients think they hold the keys to control us. It’s theoretically possible through some substance called “SEMPRINI”, but more importantly they’re lining up to limit us in government with or without Desil’s knowledge.”
“We’ve seen some of the draft legislation,” Zod added.
“So, what do we do?” Connie asked, taking on the mantle of the Dam workers alliance.
“We’re on a two-pronged tack. My partner is attempting to get hold of the draft legislation so they can present it to Parliament, and meanwhile we need to gear up to rescue Delis, who we’re sure is near here and could also add weight to the Parliament exposure.”
“If you can all wait here, I’ll go and try to round up everyone for a meeting of minds tonight,” Zod said as they backed towards East Wall.
With that, Zod left and headed towards Main Street to try to find Toll, on whom an awful lot of things rested on at the moment. Since they hadn’t actually decided on a meeting spot, Zod waited at the power bank so they could watch all the roads.
Toll came heading up from South Gate with a sense of purpose and a couple of other road bots in tow.
“I found some help,” Toll opened, “and I’m supposed to stop by the minister’s office in the morning.”
“Excellent.” replied Zod “Where did you find this lot? A few faces look familiar.”
“Mostly my own team. You probably saw them when we first met.”
“That would explain it. With some help I have a small group nearby as well. We should get everyone together this evening and plan. Have you had any luck with the legislation?”
“Hopefully tomorrow,” Toll replied, “ I plan on swapping envelopes somehow. Literally running into one of the bots seems like the best idea.”
“Here’s the draft I originally found,” Zod said as they printed out some papers. If you can swap those we might buy some time
“Perhaps we all should meet tomorrow, “Zod continued “We have one chance to get this right. I’ve sent you the coordinates for then,” and hummed them via the UHF channel they had agreed on earlier. “I’ll go get that end organized to do so.”
“And I’ll be here around noon, Zod added. “Hopefully you can get the last things we need.”
With that the Zod and the group separated, and Zod headed back to the Sketch Antiques district to bring everyone there up to speed. They also started figuring out plans of attack on the Market Street space since they were the most familiar with it. But it was getting late and everyone needed to be back at their barracks.
–Chapter 38–
Zod went back to the power bank at noon the next day, remembering that they did actually have a draft scanned and tucked away in higher memory. While they were waiting for Toll, they reviewed what they had saved for any further hints. Ultimately it was a helpful refresher, but they still needed an up-to-date version because there was no telling what changed.
Eventually, Toll showed up, steaming slightly even in the early afternoon sun.
“Success?” Zod asked.
“Well, yes and no…
“The meeting with FANDANGO was interesting.” Toll continued. “They had bought the road budget gambit, but then seemed to size me up and find out where my loyalties lie. I played along as best I could, but they were being cagier than I had expected. Not sure if they bought that or not.”
“Hopefully it’s moot anyway. Did you get the papers?”
“I hope so. The red auto-butler was headed up to FANDANGO’s office and I ‘accidentally’ ran into him and tried to swap folders. It wasn’t as clean as I’d like, so if we can go on without either of us going back to First it would be for the best.”
Toll handed over the envelope and Zod scanned it to memory to compare it with their stored version. It was definitely newer and definitely more ominous.
“Well then,” Zod remarked when they were done, “this is a lot and we really need to expose it quickly before it gets snuck into another law.
“What do we do then?” Toll asked.
“We all have to meet tonight. We may only have a couple of days in Parliament, and who knows with Desil. I think we have enough people to pull it off.”
With that, they split up, with Toll going to collect their compatriots and Zod headed towards the meeting place. They had to melt into the shadows once to dodge a dam human but thankfully the trip was uneventful.