The Mimic in Monsterland

Ingrid climbed up the tree growing a few dozen feet away from Laurel’s Fountain. In no way shape or form was she going to meet up with a stranger without doing some surveillance. She breathed in deep, concealing her presence. She would have liked to track the contact’s movement throughout the whole Gloom, but that wasn’t going to happen now. The meet-up was happening any minute now.

She was slightly annoyed with herself. She didn’t mean to fall asleep with the runts. But something about them soothed her and calmed her down, gave her a little peace. Reminded her why she did what she did. And why she couldn’t stop.

On the bright side, she felt more rested than she had in a week. I wish I could prioritize sleep more. Maybe soon. She shook her head. Don’t hope. Never hope. It does nothing but hurt when it goes to pot.

So she sat in her tree, waiting. The Tree’s shadow blocked a lot of the sun but she could tell the sun was still in the sky but going to drop under the horizon in a few minutes. This meeting shouldn’t take too long. More of a drop-off and an escort than anything if that geezer is to be believed. Babysitting from the sounds of it. She rubbed her neck. Leonard Ainsworth eh? He is not the stoic, badass splicer they paint him as.

Her thoughts returned to the night she met that old man, rubbing her rump. Her backside still hurt from trying to break through that window.

“Hello, I’m Leonard Ainsworth. So, what’s your name?”

Every nerve in her body was on edge. She barely comprehended the introduction she had just been given. Ingrid’s eyes continued to scan the room for another exit.

The man in front of her cleared his throat. “I’m pretty sure you are smart enough to understand that you’ve been caught with no hope of escape. And that you know exactly who I am.” Each flame in the room flared as he finished his statement. Ingrid closed her eyes. Shit.

“If not then I’m losing my touch.” He said.

The overwhelmingly smug man sighed. “Look, just hear what I have to say. You are free to leave once I’m done. That’s a promise.” She looked up and into his eyes. They were intense. But not filled with any sort of malice. For now. These upper city folk’s attitudes will flip at a moment's notice. I doubt there’s a chance I’m walking out of here unscathed.

“Do I have your attention now?”

Ingrid gave him a curt nod.

“Good.” He picked up the papers she brought, the plans for the hidden caches in the building. He smirked while he looked at them.

“You are interesting, to say the least. You did well to get this far without any formal training. Though I’m sure we both know the guards patrolling if you can even call it that, aren’t the cream of the crop. Rejects mostly. Men who either can’t defend in raids or barely fight. But that’s how it goes right after a raid. The good men and women that normally work for these crafters are resting up or were injured in the most recent raid.”

Ingrid shifted in her seat. Ugh, got a long-winded bastard this time around.

“Sneaking into this place could probably be done by a child in the scout's course. But that’s not what is compelling about you my friend. That’s not where your talent shines. No, it’s how well you control your Aura. And that is not something many have. Not without extensive teaching at least. I’m positive that if I wasn’t on the premises, you probably would have gotten away with it. Not that there wasn’t anything to get away with.”

He got up from his chair. “Where was it?” He looked over the papers again.

“Ah right.” He stood up and walked around the desks and into a corner of the room. Ingrid was about to get up and bolt for the door, but she turned and saw the fire was still raging. Yeah, it wouldn’t be that simple. Even the wall she was kicking down had a small line of fire in front of it. Primed to flame up in a second. She knew the stories of Leonard Ainsworth.

He moved a cupboard over to reveal…nothing. There wasn’t a hatch or a secret compartment at all. Nothing like what was shown in the plans. “See, they hadn’t even gotten around to making it. They forgot the papers or something. I don’t know. Don’t worry, they didn’t make any in the kitchen or the conference room either.”

Ingrid’s heart sank into her stomach. So, not only did I get caught, but I also was never going to get anything out of it. Truly brilliant job you dolt. She admonished herself for not doing more investigation of the site.

The man scoffed. “I know. Ridiculous. It’s been a constant struggle with these contractors. I almost could swear they just want to argue. Always on about something they don’t want to build. I pay them too much for all that.” He returned to his seat behind the desk.

“Don’t be too disheartened though. I’m going to offer you something far more valuable than whatever I’d have put in that compartment.” And sat up and looked right at her, his vision burning a hole through her head.

“An opportunity.” Fire flared once again, emphasizing his statement.

This one loves his theatrics.

“An opportunity to do more, see more than you ever have being stuck in this city. Stuck in the Gloom. To go and discover…” A smile bloomed across his face while he spoke. And the man began to monologue about exploring or something.

But Ingrid couldn’t give a single care about any of that nonsense. She couldn’t afford to. She didn’t have time for any of it. Her priorities were here and now. Not that she could do anything about it. Even if this guy lets me go, how will I get the rest of the cash for Mort? It’s too risky to do any more pickpocketing. Breaking into homes at night was a recipe for disaster.

She mulled over her options until she noticed the man had stopped talking and was giving her a miffed glare. “I’ve been practicing that speech for a while, you know.”

Ingrid just shrugged. The man let out a big breath. “Maybe Jaren’s right, this recruitment stuff might not be my strength.” He rubbed his forehead.

“Look. I will get to the point. I want you to join my guild. That’s what this building is. A new Guild Hall. And I can tell you don’t care about any of the tusxic crap I spew out about it. But I can promise one thing. Money.”

The man pulled out a pouch of money from one of the desk drawers and dropped it. “Life’s most dull but effective motivator. I can pay you well over what you scrounge together. With the added benefit of it being legitimate. So you don’t have to worry about running into someone like me who isn’t quite as…hospitable.”

He picked the bag back up, tossing it in his hands. Her eyes tracked the movement of the bag. “I see that I have your attention now then. Good. I have a job for you. And this here is the payment. Or at least half. You will get the other half when the job is done.”

She nodded to him. “What’s the gig?”

“Oh, so you can talk. I was beginning to wonder. It's a simple job really. You will meet up with someone tomorrow evening at Laurel’s fountain. He will be carrying a scroll. Take the scroll. Lead him out of the Gloom and back to the Residential District in one piece. That’s it. Easy right?”

Escort through the Gloom. Weird.

“What do I do with the scroll?”

“The boy, your contact, will tell you when he drops it off.” The man said while giving the bag of coins one more toss.

Ingrid nodded. “Yes.”

He threw the bag into her hands immediately after her answer. She tucked it away without hesitation. She knew there could be a tracking sigil on them but that didn’t really matter. She’d be rid of them by tomorrow anyway.

“Now remember, that’s only half the payment. And I expect you to complete the job. You don’t want to renege on me. I will know.” His voice quality changed. It held a lethal edge to it. It was more serious now than it's been this entire conversation. She gulped, completely out of reflex.

“Great! Your contact is a dwarf named Fennel. He’ll be easy to spot. Look for the young dwarf with a laughably confused look on his face.” He said with a smile. “Oh, I can imagine it now. That poor pup.”

“Dwarf with a laughably confused look, huh.” She muttered to herself while she sat in the tree. She eyed around the small courtyard that held the fountain. Nothing but the usual crowd so far. Drunks and bums kicked out of Main Street. No dwarves.

Her eyes fell on the fountain itself. A once great monument. Back before the incident twenty years ago. She had no real memories of it during its heyday. She was only a toddler back then. The only memory she had was her mother stuffing her into a barrel before everything went down.

Some of the older folk in the building told her stories of what it looked like. A beautiful pale brown tree devoid of bark. However, it was full of life, lush with radiant green leaves and bright blue flowers. Water flowed from every branch of the tree, gathering into the pool below. Water that healed and brought energy to those who drank of it. The gem of the Gloom.

Ingrid had a hard time believing the stories. This gem was split right in half and is currently covered in filth. Bone dry too. She couldn’t really imagine there ever being water around it.

But none of that mattered right now. She had a job. A legitimate one at that. Sanctioned by the Leonard Ainsworth. She rolled her eyes before focusing them on the street that led back to the Gloom’s main street and entrance.

He should be coming from there, especially if he doesn’t know much about this part of town. She shifted in the tree, trying to get comfortable. She had a feeling she was going to be here for a while if the contact was new to the area. Then one of Juli’s barkers probably already got their sensuous claws dug in. And if not her, then one of the other tempting establishments would get him.

It was right when she found her comfortable spot that she heard a commotion starting near the fountain, opposite of where she was watching. One of Mort’s men collecting from a bum. I never understood why Mort ever lent money to these guys. He wasn’t going to come back. I guess it gives his crew something to do. Still feels like bad business sense.

She heard the first smack and turned her head back to the street her contact was coming from. And there came a young dwarf male walking along. One that most certainly had a hilariously confused look on his face. A dwarf with blonde hair and dog ears strolled into the plaza.

Looks like it’s him. I’ll watch him for a minute. Make sure he is the one.

The dwarf continued and walked up to the fountain, giving it a once-over. Yep, not very impressive, is it?

The dwarf’s ears twitched in the direction of the bum’s shakedown.

Oh please no.

The dwarf rushed over to the bum’s side.

Damn it. We’ve got a hero.