Almagest City

Chapter 4: V35PR

"Rasal Herakles, 13 years old," Vesper says, summarizing the file as they walk through the oddly expansive sewer system under the city. Andus is in the lead, with Sil and Verlan right behind him, a hand on each of his shoulders. Vesper and Edson bring up the rear. "Son of Rho Herakles, who is the owner of Herculean Construction. He has stakes in property all over the city, and their family is one of the wealthiest living here now."

"Explains the target," Sil says. "We still don't know exactly what they're after, though."

"Money, perhaps? I've seen a few ransom demands working here at Almagest Investigations," Andus says. He's creeping along in the front, following tracks the rest of them can't see.

"Against the Herakles family?" Sil asks.

"No, not them. Other wealthy families."

"How long have you been here anyways?" Verlan asks. "The three of us are new hires, but you and Edson seem like you've got protocol down pat."

"Not too long. A little less than two years," Andus says.

"We've done fine on our own," Edson interrupts. "The new mayor wanted more eyes and more feet. You three aren't the only new ones."

"What do you mean?" Sil asks.

"Many secondary officers and applicants with promise have been told they could be approached with a spot at any time. In case someone bites it," Edson says.

Vesper watches as a look of alarm crosses Sil's face. "Is... Is the job that dangerous?"

"We're basically elite police, Sil." Verlan says. "Detectives, rapid response, and the city's own personal merc group, rolled into one. We've got the skills and we're being paid as much. Don't tell me danger hasn't crossed your mind."

To be fair, danger hadn't crossed Vesper's mind all that much either. Not because she was ignorant to the job specifications, but because she was simply more durable than most give her credit for. Despite her slender, wooden frame, Vesper - and all Velondusk robots - are made to be fireproof and extremely durable. A little combat shouldn't hurt her too much, and repairs to her frame are much more easily carried out by technicians and mechanics than repairs to a biological body. Those require skilled healers and mages, which are scarce and expensive. Physicians and apothecaries are much more affordable, though also more unreliable.

"I don't know," Sil says. "I kind of thought that this would be sort of a desk job too."

"Oh, there's plenty of paperwork, don't worry." Andus chuckles.

"Does the existence of secondary applicants mean Orias Knight will be promptly replaced?" Vesper asks.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Sil says. "He could still be fine, maybe we'll find him."

"We have not found any evidence of where Orias was taken or who took him," Vesper says. "Which is not the same for Rasal Herakles and those who took him."

Nobody seems quite sure how to respond to that, seeing as they all fall silent. After grabbing what information they could on the Herakles child back at the office, the team had investigated the school and questioned people who were there. Most of the kids didn't see much else; only a masked woman who grabbed Rasal and warped away using magic. The mercenaries flipped fairly quickly, revealing that their employer had betrayed them. After that had happened, the boss of the mercenary crew and two others left in a panic, leaving the other four to figure out what to do with the rest of the kids. From what Vesper gathered, something didn't go the way they intended. Thing is, nobody had a clue what happened to Orias. Only their boss knew the identity of their employer, and the mecenaries had no clue who would be daring enough to grab a senior officer like Orias.