Follow Esme's cleanup instructions, take the bag and its contents, make a few final observations of our surroundings, then get back to the library, making sure to remain unobserved.
+1
+1
Yeah, +1.
You take the clothing in the bag and replace it with your own, zipping it shut once you're done. The clothing she provided is mundane to the extreme, all gray and brown, the sort of clothing that blends into the background by being perfectly, unimaginably boring. You stow the slightly less boring pistol into an inner jacket pocket. As you change, you look around. The building looks as though it might be abandoned. Maybe a warehouse? Maybe a gutted manufacturing building. Small, cold, quiet and abandoned. There's no sign of who it belongs to or any hint of who is using it. A dead drop location and probably nothing more. You search around a bit but still find nothing of any interest. The only thing to note is that there is a thin layer of dust on the floor that has been disturbed by several pairs of shoes.
You pick up the bag and head back towards the library, walking with the same slumped, eyes on the pavement, minding your own business gait that the very few other pedestrians have. Its raining gently, a light patter against the concrete that quickly becomes a dull white noise. It makes the world somehow seem small. You pass a storefront that has apparently been looted and burnt; its windows are shattered and the brickwork charred. There are posters pasted there, warning about traitors to the state lurking everywhere. The encourage you to report your neighbors if they are acting suspiciously and to do your best for the good of the war. A woman representing the state is surrounded by vicious and ugly men wielding daggers, each labeled something different, some sin against the State. You recognize Bruce's art and now, looking at it anew, recognize the similarity of the woman to his daughter. Its in the eyes, you think.
You reach the library and go around to the back, knocking on the small metal door set into the rear of the building. After a few minutes and two more knocks the door opens to reveal Nick, with Esme behind him. His hand is on the hilt of his saber and it stays there for several seconds has his squinting eyes sweep up and down you like search lights. Finally a snorts and walks back into the library without a word, leaving you and Esme together. She stands on the threshold and you stand a few feet back, in the rain. Her breath steams the air in front of her and she looks cold. Its just above freezing and even her flannel pajamas would do little to blunt the chill. She stands there, staring at you with a strange look on her face. Happiness? Nostalgia? Sadness? Worry? Her breathing is the only sound.
"I thought you were just going there to scout things out?"
You tell her that you thought you had a good chance.
"Going in alone with limited intel was dangerous. You could have been caught. Maybe killed. Maybe worse."
You tell her that it all went fine.
"This time, sure. But what about next time? What happens when they catch you? Because if you keep doing things like that, they will."
You feel as though she has had conversations like this before. Was Alexander reckless? Had they stood together like this in the dark before? Had he told her that everything would be fine as well? You see her face, much younger, in the light of a farmhouse doorway, the same worried and disapproving frown, though framed by childish pigtails at the time. You hear yourself speak, words from the past bleeding into the present.
"You worry too much Es."
For a moment the breathing stops and emotions flicker in rapid succession across her face. Surprise, hope, desperate longing, and then sadness before a long exhale and the frown returns. She just looks at you for what seems like a long time before she steps back into the building and gestures for you to follow.
"Come on, we're going down stairs."
She takes the bag and hands it off to Nick before You follow her down to the records room and then through the hidden pillar door, down to the secret levels beneath the library. She leads you through whitewashed concrete rooms to an individual chamber where you both sit, you on a metal chair and her on a folding cot.
"We're going to keep you down here for a while, just until we're sure no one is watching you or looking for you. Your clothing is getting stashed on a ship this evening so if they go looking for it, it will be somewhere at sea."
She rests her elbows on her knees and leans in.
"So, what did you find?"
Author
Topic: The Left-Hand Path (Read 119166 times)