Poison City

“What’d he say?” In the back alley of the shoddy internet cafe near the docks, Sue and Luoshan Zi were looking right at Gloria while she was on the phone with Marcus.

“He said he will go to the cafe with his friends. And then he’ll go to your apartment.” Gloria sighed and turned to Luoshan Zi: “Are you sure? I don’t imagine you’d have another secret apartment to hide?”

“No. But we’re not gonna need it anyway, right?” Luoshan Zi shrugged.

“What? You’re not gonna wait for us?” Sue asked.

“No - I’m going to go ask some of my old friends for help. I think - ” Luoshan Zi paused, sighed, then shook her head: “I am not entirely sure how many of them would be willing or able to, since - well, since they’re all kinda old, much older than us. But hey, I’ve gotta try. I’ll contact you when I’m done.”

“Okay.” Gloria nodded: “Then - be safe and stay in contact - we’ll be right back. And we’ll - go meet in this internet cafe’?”

“We’ll see.” Luoshan Zi nodded.

It was only a brief pause for them. They were here to collect things from Gloria’s temporary hideout, and to clean it up, if possible.

The landlord wanted to ask some questions when he saw the three of them coming in, but he retreated back into his own place after receiving a warning look from both Gloria and Luoshan Zi - instinctually, he knew that this was not the best time to put his nose where it probably didn’t belong.

Small knives, a few daggers, a taser, some pepper spray and a baton. Even Gloria herself did not remember she had so many stashed weapons. And they took some cash out of one of her easier to find safeboxes - they might need it, they might not. But it’s always better to have it and not need it.

They split on their way into the street where street vendors congregate. Luoshan Zi was heading to the border between the South-Western and South-Eastern Districts to find her contacts; and Gloria would be going to the closest community archive with Sue, to have an emergency meeting with Turner Ouyang.

The community archive was at least 40 minutes away on foot, which meant walking would not be the optimal option. For a taxi, it took them 20 dollars and 10 minutes.

The community archive was less crowded than it normally was. No one was near the entrance, only a few old folks hanging by the gate and parking area. And when they walked through the front door, no one was standing behind the reception’s desk.

“Something’s not right. ” Gloria sniffed the air a few times, before pushing her Qi through her meridians: “Find a corner to hide. I’ll go forward and take a look.”

“You are here.” Just this moment, four men walked out from the book shelves in the open space immediately past the entrance and reception’s desk. Three of the men were in black jackets and somewhat rugged looking. They looked like thugs, or worse, skilled fighters. Another man was skinny, weak looking, had his hands tied behind his back and had a cloth sack over his head. The man in the middle, ironically the shortest one, with a vertical scar under his left eye: “Look, I am so glad we didn’t come here in vain. I’m sure this poor chap thinks so.” He said as he pulled the cloth sack away from the one held by him - it was Turner Ouyang, with tapes over his mouth and bruises on his face.

“Who are you? ” Gloria took a deep breath and asked: “What do you want?”

“Now that’s a weird question, isn’t it?” The man in the middle chuckled: “Because we’re wondering the same thing. What the hell do you want? Why are you looking into things that shouldn’t concern you, huh? Why do you, and your scared friend hiding back there, come here and dig your noses into places where they don’t belong?”

“We’re just casual scholars, looking into the city’s history.” Gloria answered.

“STOP LYING!” The man in the middle pulled out a knife with saw teeths on the spine and grunted: “What do you want? Tell me now or I’ll spill his fucking guts right here in this fucking dump of a library! What do you know!?”

“Wait wait wait!” Sue burst out and raised her voice along with Gloria: “Please! Please don’t hurt him!”

“How fucking rom-com. How fucking touching.” The man grunted: “Answer the fucking question! What do you want?! What do you know!?”

Gloria had to stall and wait for a chance to strike. The two men on the side were coming in, flanking them on both sides. Lucky for them no one was coming in from behind. And upon closer inspection, some kind of black mist shrouded all three men’s shoulders and foreheads.

“What the hell are you looking at!? Tell us, NOW!”

“We just wanna know about the infrastructure project that went on decades ago!” Sue screamed her answer.

“What?!” The man in the middle seemed surprised. “WHY?”

“Because my parents died in that project - or - in that conflict.” Sue wiped her eyes: “No one told me at the time. I knew by accident, so now I want to know - I need to know. I MUST know.”

“Who told you?” The man’s voice was cold, he was ready to kill.

“Some - some guy in the city. He’s dead now.” Sue sniffled.

The man on the left, with a nose ring and piercings on his brows, lunged at Sue, a short sword in hand. Gloria shot in front of Sue and blocked the man’s way. Two of them collided.

Blood dripped on the floor.