Wish upon the Stars chapter 331

With the new lead from Frostbite, we officially had options looking  for the leak. If we'd had to search in Rajak proper among the Unity  directly things might have been dicey, protection or not, but since this  was WCP business we had more options for people to watch our back. On  top of that, as per the protection clause of our contract, Frostbite had  an F-ranker follow along with us in case we needed backup,  specifically, she sent Rime along.

I was pretty touched  she dispatched her most powerful F-rank to keep an eye on us, though I  knew at least some of that was because she wanted Rime to make some of  the wishes. The F-ranker had brought along a large amount of valuable  elixirs as per our deal, and I would be able to grant her wishes without  compromising our efforts to boost my friends to F-rank before we left.  Though Benny and Jessie had both informed me that they'd finally been  seeing some reputation gain from the fight in the auction, with Benny  getting another twenty five points of Might (presumably from swinging  around that giant ass hammer) and Jessie getting twenty points of  Vitality.

I was glad to see they were benefiting, I'd  thought it was odd we hadn't seen any renown from that mess, but from  what I could tell people had kept it under wraps for a while and it took  time for rumors to disseminate. I knew sometimes great deeds were only  counted after the incident was considered over in the minds of those  involved too, like the scavenger hunt, so maybe that had something to do  with it. It just kind of sucked Callie and I didn't benefit, having  already capped our stats at the peak of G-rank.

We brought  Rime back to the house, introduced her to everyone, and then consulted  the resident WCP expert, Zeke. "So." I asked my uncle as we all settled  in. "Who should I talk to around here to find a middleman for brokering  information? I know wishes aren't great for finding secrets, but we act  as go betweens on enough stuff that I'm sure we have specific protocols  for where to find those kinds of people. Or can you not tell me that?"

He  shook his head. "No, that I'm free to share. You'll need to pay for the  actual information as per the rules, but directing you to where you can  purchase those services isn't an issue. Let's see..." He stroked his  five o' clock shadow furred chin. "I would say you should talk to Duncan  the Liar. From what I've heard, he's in everyone's business."

"The compulsive liar is a reliable source of information?" I asked in confusion. "Isn't that a bit...counterintuitive?"

He  shrugged. "If you can get him to talk. Believable lies come from a  place of truth. You need to understand something in order to obscure it.  If anyone would know it would be him, even if he isn't the broker, he  should have an idea of who is. Provided you can motivate him."

"I'm  surprised you knew that honestly. Rajak wasn't your city, and you've  just been kind of hanging around since we got here. I know you didn't  want to take over this branch, so why the research?" Not that I was  complaining of course, this was pretty useful to me. Still, it made me  wonder if his senses were just so monstrous that he passively picked up  secrets from all over the planet or something.

My uncle  just shrugged. "I got a dossier from the branch head, Facade, when I  arrived. He included a brief introduction to all the E-rankers within  the WCP, and most of the power players in the Unity in town. I suspect  he was trying to make sure I wouldn't have a reason to go poking around  for information if a question came up. He's good at managing problems  before they come up, it's how he's managed to remain in power so long."

I  remembered Callie having mentioned Facade. He was supposedly a party  animal without much real skill who relief on his lieutenants to do most  of the actual work, but we'd both pretty much guessed that was as much  of a cover story as his name suggested. Seemed like Zeke actually had a  bit of respect for him, based on his grudgingly appreciative tone, and  that said more in his favor than any number of rumors.

"Alright."  I said with a sigh. "So...how do we meet Duncan the Liar? I didn't hear  anything about him having a faction. Is he in the E-district? Can you  BE in E-district if you don't have a faction? Those buildings are huge,  are there people who just hang out alone in there?" I hadn't spent much  time in E-district, and I was honestly curious about how the most  upscale part of the Rajak WCP functioned.

Sadly, based on  his sigh, the knowledge I sought was not to be. "Nah." He said with a  wave. "He spends most of his time in the dark districts, the higher end  ones, but there are ways to get in touch and arrange meetings. Has to be  since according to the dossier he moves around WAY more than  necessary."

He pulled out a piece of paper  from...somewhere, maybe a spatial artifact? Not a ring, but I remembered  him saying he carried a ton of stuff on him., Regardless, he started  scribbling out instructions from memory before he passed them to me.  "The locker in question is in the terminal, so you won't even need to go  down into the WCP. Just write out a note to the specifications and then  slip it into the front slot."

I briefly considered asking  why he hadn't just written the note, but I realized the reason was  obvious. He couldn't interfere in my business. He was able to tell me  how to arrange the meeting, but getting a note from a B-ranker would  have basically obligated Duncan to show up, which would be direct action  on Zeke's part.

Callie had been  showing Rime around while Zeke and I talked, but after he confirmed the  contact method for Duncan, I went to find her and the two of us, plus  Rime herself, headed for the station with the entrance to the WCP. We  let Rime drive, which went fine, and I added another reliable driver to  my mental checklist. Benny hadn't ever learned to drive a shuttle, much  like I hadn't, and Callie would kill us all, so it was nice to have a  new option for transport when Jessie was busy.

Arriving  at the place, I saw Rime look around in interest. Callie noticed it too  because her immediate response was to ask our F-ranked protector. "Have  you never been here before?" It seemed crazy to me that someone could  live IN Rajak and never visit the WCP, but thinking about it there was  at least some logic there. The WCP and the Unity were competitors, and  the Palace was almost another city compared to Rajak proper. We hadn't  done much exploration of the world above, given my connections to the  forces beneath us, but someone like Rime wouldn't have that. This would  be enemy territory.

The  F-ranker's blue hair cascaded as she shook her head. "Never had a  reason. It's...interesting. Some of the lower ranks from the academy and  such spend time below, but I've been part of Fimbulwinter since I was a  child, and the boss lady doesn't send us down here. Too dangerous she  says."

"You'll  be fine with us." I assured her. "We're sticking to the mixed rank  areas anyway, and between our identity and our connections, the  E-rankers down here won't mess with us. Assuming no one gangs up on you  most F-rankers shouldn't be a problem right?" She was high up in her  rank from what I understood, and being Frostbite's second meant she was  probably pretty scary on top of that.

Rime  seemed taken in by the food kiosks, venders, and various other  interesting attractions inside the massive stone building that was the  entrance to the WCP. As per our instructions though, we ignored the  tourist attractions and followed the tile floor back into the depths of  the building, past all the canisters and away from the people. We turned  off into a side hallway that shrunk down from the huge open area to a  claustrophobic mashup of two walls so close together I had to turn  sideways to walk down it, emerging from THAT into a dark and somewhat  cramped low ceilinged room.

The  dim room was, as we'd been told it would be, full to the brim with  squat, dark metal lockers. "Alright." I said, checking the paper. "We're  looking for...Z34962." Closing my eyes with a sigh, I asked unhappily.  "Can one of you guys please tell me that the plates on the closest  lockers don't start with the letter A?"

Callie  leaned over to peer at one of the plates on the lockers. "A00032. Sorry  sweetie." I sighed in defeat. That was just great. This began our  journey through the locker hall, constantly checking the plates as we  went. Duncan the Liar was either a huge dick or extremely paranoid,  possibly both.

When  we finally got to the locker in question, I pulled out a sheet of paper  with the prepared directions, folded it around one and a half F-ranked  chits (bringing my personal coffers down to exactly one E-ranked chit,  or one hundred G-ranked chits) and then proceeded to spin the wheel on  the lockers door in a series of very exacting and complicated patterns. A  rune lit up on the metal after the third spin, and I slipped the paper  through the slot on the front, jumping as a loud bang shook the door.

"Did  it...work?" Said Callie cautiously. I consulted the paper, going over  several of the addenda on the note. There were a few details on  confirmation, and...got it, the bang on the door was a good sign.  Probably.

"It  did." I confirmed. "Or a giant energy chicken is about to burst out of  the locker and try to eat us. But the note says that would have happened  about thirty seconds after the bang, and since it hasn't it seems like  we're all good. Now...we wait." Duncan would get our message and show up  to talk to us, though how he would manage that I had no idea, the note  just said to wait here.

Rime  looked annoyed. "Of COURSE the first time I come to the WCP I have to  spend the whole visit in a cramped locker depository. Does it say how  long it will take for him to arrive?"

"Oh."  Said an amused voice from behind us. "Not long. I would imagine." We  all froze, having completely missed anyone appearing until the voice  spoke up. We turned slowly to find a foppish, brown haired man with a  scraggly goatee and predatory amber eyes leaning against the inside of  one of the lockers, which was open as he stared at us.

The  yellow doublet and tights were the same as I'd been told about at the  gala, and his hands toyed with a brass flute as he watched us. I felt  like a bug under a microscope. Even knowing that he was E-rank and I was  protected didn't blunt the edge of danger I felt from him. Like he was  insane and capable of anything.

Of  course, given his title, it was hard to say how much of that was a real  impression and how much he'd purposefully cultivated the feeling to put  people off their game. As 'the Liar' I expected Perception was his  bread and butter, and aside from stealth, I supposed Perception would be  excellent for giving false impressions like that. Either way, he was  here now. He held up a familiar folded piece of paper, sans money. "I  heard you were looking for some information." Well, that was a good  start. Probably.