"And who are you?" Gideon asked.

  In the blink of an eye, I closed the 20 yard gap between us, standing inches from his face with Brythan and Gustall directly at my back.

  "Nobody moves or everyone dies," I shouted.

  Everyone froze, except for Gideon, who scratched his head, totally confused. "What happened?"

  "Repeat what you just said," I demanded.

  "What happened?"

  "No, before that."

  "It's Lina's fault?" he asked, eyes wider than a pilot seeing their engines explode at 35,000 feet.

  Everyone held their breath.

  "Elaborate," I growled.

  "Lina saw the newsletter with a massive bounty and proposed we take a small group and intercept that newbie adventurer before the larger groups mobilized. I was scouting the location, and a goddamn nest of Devil Beetle's incapacitated me. Next thing I knew, a battalion of Black Diamond assholes scooped me up."

  "Everyone, go wait for me at the end of the tunnel. I need to have a brief chat with Gideon."

  Brythan and Gustall took my invitation and quickly squeezed past me, joining Veigan as he scurried down the tunnel. Yet, Celina didn't move, staring at me with regret. "Cyprus, please don't kill him."

  "Oh," Gideon mumbled.

  "I only plan to ask him a question. If he answers truthfully, you have nothing to fear."

  Their luck ran deep enough to avoid crossing me back on my hill or they'd already be dead. Holding a grudge for a kidnapping that never came to fruition seemed petty, even for my low standards to enact vengeance.

  "My healer was abducted in the area. Did you see anything? She's slightly taller than your sister, and was likely wearing a bulky all black armor set and a veiled helmet."

  Gideon's gaze wandered upward, scrunching his face tight like the act of thinking was causing him actual physical pain.

  "I mostly saw the ground. One of those nasty little bugs drilled into my side and laid eggs. I'd rather not speak about it."

  "What did you see before you were incapacitated? Don't leave out any details."

  "Oh... Yes, I'll tell you everything. First, can you withdraw from my personal bubble?"

  I balled my hands into fists, wishing I could strike the idiot without outright killing him. For Viessa's sake, I took two steps back and crossed my arms.

  "Thank you." Gideon brushed his shoulders off. "I was performing recon not far from the hill's crest, laying in wait when I saw a figure speeding down the hillside. The guy was doing rapid fire laps, but I didn't get a great look. I spotted two men, one tall and lean, and the other short and stocky. I think they were stalking the lap-runner. I withdrew after I saw them moving in to rally Gus and Lina, but then I stepped in this awful smelling shit and stumbled into a Devil Beetle nest trying to clean it off."

  "Is that so?"

  Gideon ran a hand through his untamed golden hair and shrugged. "I swear, we didn't even know you had a healer. I'm sorry about your ally. Considering how many people saw the bounty, any number of bad actors could've taken her."

  He reached out and placed a hand on my shoulder, which I found extremely discomforting. "I promise that's the truth. Now, uh, can you explain why you're sneaking around the Upper Tier with my sister and two of my officers?"

  I turned away and started walking, the elf once again occupying the forefront of my mind. "I wouldn't say we've done much sneaking."

  ***

  Total relief washed over Celina, when I showed up at the end of the maintenance hall with her unharmed brother right behind me. Although, the relief almost vanished immediately, replaced by an angry judgmental stare.

  "You didn't answer a single one of my questions!" Gideon looked toward his sister as the five of us turned down another tunnel where pipes coiled along the walls. "Why's he ignoring me? And who is the short stack? My heart is overwhelmed with joy that you all came on my behalf, but I'm a bit–absolutely confused. How did you sneak into the Upper Tier?"

  Nobody answered. While thoughts of the elf muddled my focus, the rest of the bandits couldn't bear looking at Gideon, let alone speaking to him.

  "I'm not short," Veigan said. "In fact, I'm precisely one quarter inch above the average male height when I'm wearing my work boots."

  "My apologies," Gideon said in jest before taking on a dead serious expression. "Friends, I wasn't given a choice. Eventually Black Diamond would have absorbed us. Could we have held out for another year or two? Maybe, maybe not."

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  The bandits left him stranded under the heavy weight of condemning silence. A fate Gideon clearly couldn't stand.

  "I know it's not ideal," he said. "But I got all of us officers benefits: healthcare, guaranteed gold bonuses, and housing coupons. And we'll be put on the fast track for lieutenant."

  "Son of a bitch," Brythan muttered. "You deserve to be in the Cellar. Burtrip destroyed our families, and sold your own half sister overseas. Now you want to work for him?"

  "I'm aware," Gideon growled. "I've never forgotten that, and never will. But for now there's no other choice."

  "I'd rather have dignity in death than do that bastard's bidding," Gustall spat.

  "Amen," Celina added.

  "Fine." Gideon threw up his hands. "Once we get out of here we can all disavow the contract and die in a terribly one-sided battle. If that's what you all want, so be it. Just tell me what the hell is going on."

  "From what I've gathered, they're going to rip off the vault, then Cyprus is going to kill Barret," Veigan said.

  "Wait, what?" Gideon froze as the rest of us reached an intersection.

  "The entrance to the Anderhorn Vault is right outside this tunnel," Veigan announced.

  "Have you three gone mad? Or are you under some kind of spell?" Gideon asked. "We have to leave now. Sorry, Cyprus, but we can't take part in this."

  I didn't really hear him as I moved on auto-pilot.

  "We can't leave the way we came in," Celina said. "The shift change is underway, it won't be long before this place is under lock down. I'm sure they've already stumbled upon the bodies."

  "The bodies?"

  "Over half of my colleagues are dead," Veigan said. "My career is ruined and I'll be on the run for the rest of this short life."

  Gideon gulped, unable to comprehend the evolving situation he found himself a part of.

  "Hold it..." he swooped in front of the pack. "You're gambling our lives on a stranger?

  Meanwhile, I kept replaying the previous afternoon through my head, figuring Viessa was most likely in the shack when Khaled and Whitcomb abducted me. Black Diamond showed up around the same time, and likely cleared the shack. And if they truly didn't have her, that left Chaos. Or she scaled the cliff behind the shack and got picked up by one of the groups near Waystone.

  I ran another dozen possible scenarios through my head before we reached the end of the hall and Veigan raised his arm.

  "Cyprus, there are always two captains on duty. Please, don't kill them. Let me speak to them first."

  I snapped out of my trance. "We'll see."

  We emerged from the tunnel, stepping into a marble foyer, its luster mirroring the shifting glow of refracted light. The archway ahead gleamed, its crystalline frame dazzling before giving way to a grand atrium where a brilliant skylight soared overhead. Sunlight illuminated the steel vault that rested on a wall behind a counter manned by one captain.

  Target: Sylwen

  Level: 8

  Karma: -5715

  Additional Data: Captain of Black Diamond's Second Information Extraction Squad. Specializes in various types of throwing weapons. Spends most evenings alone on the Skywalk, staring out into the fog, contemplating his true purpose in life.

  Veigan led the pack, sticking his chest out, acting like we all belonged and it was business as usual as we crossed into the atrium. The sunlight beaming in from overhead nearly blinded us as Sylwen's brow raised.

  "Dear fellow captain, what's with the entourage?" Sylwen said sarcastically.

  "Where's Tenflay?" Veigan asked.

  "Moving his bowels. What unfortunate affairs bring you here?"

  "Trust me, I hate seeing your pockmarked face in the morning. It never ceases to ruin my appetite. However, I'm here on Barret's orders."

  "What orders?" Sylwen asked through clenched teeth, seething.

  "Because of our colleague's recent incompetence, he's decided to funnel additional funds into hiring more skilled contractors."

  "I take it the squads you sent after Cyprus never came back? You should've read Arthwin's report."

  "I did," Veigan said as anger devoured his smirk. "The report suggested the bastard was near death, and that he'd likely pass during the night."

  Sylwen sighed and leaned back in his wooden chair, hands over his head, revealing a felt bag filled with hammers strapped to his side.

  I tilted my head forward, forcing my hood to hang lower, obscuring my face with a thin shadow.

  "Fighter's fight. According to the report he took out a guardian by himself, and several of our men after dragging an entire horde of Sludgecrawlers upon them."

  Veigan rolled his eyes, and dismissed the massive part he played in why I was able to get this far with a flick of his hand. "OK, I skimmed it. So what? Do you have any idea how many reports I read through, all day and all night? You're dismissed. Go get Tenflay and take the day off."

  Sylwen smiled. "A day off, you say? I don't know what you're scheming, but if you truly believe I'm dumb enough to abandon my post then you deserve to have your ass beat. I don't care if Barret favors you, that over-active mouth of yours needs to learn to be quiet."

  Veigan palmed his forehead. "A mouth can't learn, that doesn't make any sense. Anyway, if you want to be the one responsible for waking up Barret, be my guest. Go take Tenflay, jog upstairs and knock on his chambers. Then he'll not only confirm what I've just told you, but also flay your hide for another page in one of his flesh journals."

  The pajama wearing captain strolled up to the counter, arms crossed, exuding a swagger that almost made me believe his lies.

  "Remember Alcaridias?" Veigan asked, placing his palms down on the counter, gazing up at Sylwen.

  With a solemn nod, Sylwen said, "Yes. Who could forget what happens when someone betrays the organization?"

  His thin lips twisted into a grin, then he chuckled and in a heartbeat he retrieved a hammer from his bag and smashed Veigan's left hand with it.

  The little mage recoiled back. I was about to teleport in and end Sylwen when Veigan glanced my way and shook his head, tears in the corner of his eye.

  Why?

  I couldn't fathom the reason someone with -6505 karma cared about saving their enemy's life. If anything, Veigan should've been using my power to murder his bullies.

  "That's for lying you smarmy shit," Sylwen said.

  Wincing in pain, Veigan mustered a commanding voice. "You dare defy Barret's order?"

  "No, it's really odd. Barret didn't mention anything to me about this order when he walked into the vault before the shift change."

  I sighed. "You tried."

  "Wait."

  Sylwen threw a hammer, I ducked and it flew by my head as he reached for another. By the time he grabbed it, I had cleared the counter and cracked him across his face with an open palm.

  +200 XP

  +75 Karma

  His head snapped to the side, hanging limp as he collapsed. Before his corpse hit the ground, a face appeared, partially sticking out of the solid iron vault door.

  Strangely, Karma's Gaze didn't display a status as the figure drifted through the impenetrable vault. He was a tall, weathered man, his pallid features set in quiet resolve. A short, grizzled beard framed his harsh expression. Intricate violet robes draped over his form, the fabric rippling as he hovered into the chamber carrying a tightly rolled parchment in one hand.

  "Grand Overseer Barret." Veigan bowed, clearing his throat. "As you can see, I've brought you the intruders."