Wish upon the Stars chapter 22

When she finally got the ring out, Callie was triumphant. It took  about twenty minutes to get the safe open because she didn't know the  combo. She had to use her ability to open it up. I was shocked to see  her pluck two strands of hair out and hold them up. The hair  straightened out and turned an even darker black than usual, and with  the two living needles Callie picked the lock on the safe.

She  grinned at my amazement. "My ability is pretty useful, and it can make  objects from shadows easy enough, but the constructs made from my body  are much more durable and much easier to control. For precision work or  durability I use my hair or clothes, which can be shifted into a shadow  form by my ability. Keys and throwaway stuff are easy enough to manage  from any random shadow though." She pulled the ring out with a smug grin  and showed it to me for dramatic effect.

I  was definitely impressed, but I felt compelled to point out one thing.  "So...that's almost definitely encrypted right?" She blinked, then  brought up the ring with an annoyed snarl and tried to start up the user  interface. Nothing. She tried a second command. Nothing. She spent the  next fifteen minutes trying passphrases and other ways to get in before  finally cursing and spinning to glare at me. I threw my hands up. "Whoa,  don't shoot! I wasn't the one who encrypted it, I'm sure Beaker can  crack it or something."

She  huffed and rolled her eyes. "Sorry. You're right, I know. I was just  irritated. Batty was too paranoid for his own good. Ugh, I just wish we  could open it right now." I froze at that statement, knowing she had  absolutely no idea what she'd just done, but wondering if it could  really be that easy. Wish detected. Grant wish? I  confirmed excitedly. It wouldn't grant it with no warning anyway, she'd  need to offer compensation, so I could at least see what it would run  me.  Insufficient stat points to grant wish. Requirements: 75 Fantasy, 100 Perception, 90 Focus.

I  gaped internally. What the actual fuck? Who the hell had encrypted this  thing? If Attic Bat did it personally that guy was terrifying. One  hundred points meant the skill used in the encryption was Beginner, the  equivalent of a G ranked ability, even if only barely. At least, if that  was how it was judged. I was still a bit shaky on the requirements for  wishes and how they worked, there seemed to be modifiers aside from just  counter force, for instance the fact that the information on the ring  was so secretive was probably driving the Perception cost up, but still,  the encryption should be pretty tough.

Callie  sighed. "Unfortunately Beaker is enchanting focused. We need an  inventor to break an encryption this good. Which is something of a  problem, because the guild doesn't have an inventor in the high H tier.  Crafting skills are a bitch to rank up, and that one isn't exactly  common because of the stigma against Mad Scientists." She bit her lip.  "I can ask around about it, I'm sure we have someone in town who can do  the job, even if we have to subcontract to one of the gangs or  something. I want this guy found."

That  was easy enough to understand. I could tell Attic Bat's death was  affecting her a lot. It was unfortunate that I couldn't help her with a  wish, though honestly I wasn't sure it would have been a good idea to  offer even if I could have. I'd have still done it, because I liked  Callie and wanted to help, but it probably would have been unwise. I  shook off the thoughts of what could have been and focused on what was,  wishing for secrets wasn't viable unless the people involved were weak  or my Perception got a LOT higher. "So, what's our next move."

She  frowned harder at that. "We search the tunnels down here. The killer is  H rank and with the two of us together we should be fine as long as we  don't get separated. He's probably gone already anyway, but if we can  find some kind of clue to where he exited the tunnels it might give us  an idea where he went. The more data points we have the more likely one  of us is to stumble on something later that clicks it all into place."  We headed to the door, unlocking it and looking around. Before she left  she pressed the button on the map, closing it up.

She  sighed heavily. "The Jerks won't have any good investigators on staff,  so as long as we aren't caught here we should be clear." She sounded  pained. "Batty deserved better than this, Solomon. He was weird and  anti-social, but he was my friend. He was kind to me when not many  people would have been." She swallowed hard before turning to me with a  harsh gaze. "I'm going to be more careful about this. Just because my  fuckup with the ring didn't cause his death doesn't mean it couldn't  have. We go slow and steady. We stick together. I won't lose another  friend, even a new one, to this asshole."

I  smiled under my mask, touched, and nodded. "Of course. Slow and steady.  I'd rather not die either, so no argument from me." Of course, Callie  didn't know about my bat, so she might not understand how unlikely that  was, but still it was nice of her to be concerned. I figured that kind  of blow would at least deal some damage to an H ranker, even if it  probably wouldn't crush him. Considering what I did to the support  pillar, a measly two Impact shouldn't blunt the blow much. If he'd been  at G I'd have saved it, but given we were basically the same level, fuck  that guy in particular.

We  moved to the door slowly, trying not to make too much noise. Once we  levered it open we both glanced up and down the hall. Callie shot an  indecisive look back at Attic Bat's body before her expression firmed. I  tapped her shoulder, whispering to her. "Ok, so what's the play here? I  know nothing about tracking, how about you?" I made a mental note to  add that to my growing list of skills to ask for as compensation for my  wishes. I honestly just had so many of them I was hoping to pick up.

Luckily  it appeared that being an investigator slash spy lent itself to that  kind of thing because Callie looked pleased by the question. Her voice  was relieved when she responded. "Yeah. I have a Minor Tracking skill.  Minor's are easier to pick up when your stats are higher, though most  high rankers only have a few because stretching yourself thin means the  skills you use more often don't rank up as fast. I do this kind of work  sometimes though, so tracking targets is something I picked up enough."  She gave a wry grin. "Weirdly my Perception is pretty decent. Guess it's  the assassin like way my powers work. Gives a certain impression."

Callie  took a deep breathe, closing her eyes before opening them to focus on  the hallway. "I see some small traces. Scuffs on the cement, disturbed  dust, that kind of thing. Follow me." She started to creep forward,  moving slow and low to the ground. Before we got much further though she  stopped. Without looking back she whispered. "Keep an eye out for  anyone coming up behind us, I'm going to be a bit focused." With that,  she resumed her slow forward creep, eyes glued to the ground as the made  her way down the hall.

I  was curious what she was seeing as we walked, and aside from keeping an  eye out for anyone coming up behind, I also did my best to try to  notice the traces she mentioned. I saw absolutely nothing, which I had  to assume meant she was resonating Perception with the skill in the same  way I used Might and Fantasy with my Minor Doom Sovereign Mastery. She  was clearly seeing details that I couldn't come close to picking up, and  it was pretty fascinating to see someone using a skill from this side  of things, even if that fascination stemmed from the complete lack of  evidence of what was happening.

We  followed the hall down, taking a left turn, and I marveled at the size  of this place. Whoever made this was incredibly impressive. I didn't  know what kind of skill or ability would let you shape solid material  like this but the stat requirements must have been insane. Maybe Fantasy  and Creation? Regardless my train of thought was derailed when we came  to a dead end. Callie stood up, looking around in confusion. "This  should be the spot, but I don't see anything. There has to be something  here somewhere."

She  stepped up to the wall, running her fingers along the edges until she  gasped. "Here! Hold on." She pressed down on a seemingly innocuous spot  on the cement and there was a click. With a silent shift of air a hatch  dropped open above us, and a ladder slid down, clicking into place and  leading up into the darkness of a shaft that looked like it extended up  quite a ways. Callie turned to me. "I'll go up first in case he's  waiting up there, keep an eye out for anyone following and then follow  me up when I give the all clear."

She  grabbed the ladder, hauling herself up with ease. The bottom hung a  foot or two off the ground but it was easy enough to step onto, and she  scaled the thing in record time. I turned to look behind us, making sure  there was no one and then settled in to wait. This entire thing was  nerve wracking. Even knowing that the killer wasn't down here anymore,  being in a secret underground gang bunker with the only confirmed  company being the corpse of a murder victim three hallways away was  deeply unsettling.

I  jumped a foot in the air with a gasp when I heard a banging from up  top, but it just turned out to be Callie. I was glad she wasn't here to  see my little startle and climbed up onto the latter, making my way up  easily. Once I was at the top I heard a slight click, and looking down I  saw that the hatch had clicked shut on it's own. Callie was standing to  the side of me looking down and I jumped a bit when I heard her voice.  "Man, it's always creepy when the secret doors close themselves. Like  every time."

I  rolled my eyes at that but smiled as she grabbed my hand and helped me  out of the ladder shaft. The entrance was one of those random and  completely forgettable metal boxes you see on the sides of streets that  you assume do something involving electricity because of the danger  sign, but have no idea what that might be. As soon as I got out it  clicked shut. I turned to Callie questioningly. "You get anything?" She  didn't look pissed, so I assumed she found some kind of clue, but maybe  she just hadn't been expecting much.

Her  answering grin put that possibility to rest as she held up a scrap or  torn fabric. Specifically a very tiny piece of colored silk. "Whoever  they are, they dress ridiculously under that black outfit. Still, this  is pretty distinctive so we can use it to track down some kind of point  of origin. Between this and whatever Batty recorded on this ring I bet  we can finally track this bastard down." She grinned viciously. "This  son of a bitch killed my friend, Solomon. I want his head on a spike.  You ready to do that?" Oddly, I very much was.