Lonely Thieves

Act III, Part XV

The next five minutes were fairly uneventful as the three of them crept slowly and silently through the Morning Star district's sewer system. Having now encountered multiple sweepers in the same area, Huong was doubly vigilant, taking care to watch out for others at nearly every intersection and corner.

"How much longer until we reach our destination?" Daryl groaned.

"Not much farther," Huong replied. "If you want to blame anyone, blame the sweepers."

The three continued on to a rather large intersection, crossing with what appeared to be the main canal where the sewer's various connections met up. A large gate sat at one end, which was clearly meant to control the canal's flow.

"Whoa," Daryl uttered as he crossed the bridge with the others. "Never seen all this before."

"Do you really have time for catching the sights?" Megumi grumbled. "In case you haven't forgotten, we're in a hurry."

"Relax," Huong smirked. "Once we pass this bridge, we'll be in the clear. The area you're heading to won't be that much farther behind."

"Really?" Daryl whistled. "Guess you were right when you said we were almost there."

"Shouldn't doubt me. I'm known in these parts for a reason."

"You're right, Huong. Maybe a bit too well known, don't you think?"

Huong and Megumi whirled around to find a man and a woman carrying pistols behind them. The group turned around to escape the other way, but another man stood between them and freedom.

"Don't move," he declared as he aimed his own pistol at them. "I don't need to bring you back unharmed."

"Good job, David," said the bald man from the other side. "Your plan worked."

The man called David looked at Megumi. "We've been hired to find you by a Norah Albert."

Megumi flinched and stepped backwards nervously. "How did you even find me?"

David tapped his temple coyly. "It was a gamble, but it paid off. Sightings of you with the original Night Hunter were all over the internet. We went to the location where people last saw the guy, but you weren't there."

Daryl swallowed nervously. He had found Megumi that same way, but he hadn't expected others to do the same.

"After that, all I had to do was use my head. I hacked into the surveillance footage in that area and searched the footage. There, I found a strange instance of an obscured figure, one that didn't belong to the original Night Hunter. Sure, lots of people have obscuring implants, but not everyone has it on constantly, and not during the day while walking down the street."

Megumi bit her lip. Her obscuring implant was making things worse for her more often than it was making things easier.

"So you scrubbed the obscuring implant's cover from the footage."

"No. I don't have any software like that."

"We're broke, after all," the female sweeper behind them grinned.

"So you gambled? That blur could have been anyone."

"Anyone? Like I said, how many people keep their obscuring implants on for that long? Besides, I found you, didn't I?"

Megumi clicked her tongue in irritation. The man called David smirked for a moment, then resumed his stoic glare.

"Don't resist. Our only orders were to bring you back."

"Sorry, but I need to be going somewhere."

"No can do. We can do this the hard way, or you can be smart."

Daryl looked around, but there didn't seem to be any way out. The bald man began slowly approaching the group, gun still in hand. "Sorry, Huong. You're gonna have to give these fellas up to us for the time being."

"I don't think so," Huong replied. "I may be a raggedy old bum, but I do have professional pride too."

Suddenly, an electrical wire shot out from under Huong's sleeve, landing onto the bald man's hand. A small shock burst from its end, surprising the sweeper and causing him to drop his gun.
"Didn't I say not to move?!" David yelled as he pointed his gun at Huong.

However, Huong had already made his next move, as a cloud of smoke began to emit from his clothes. The smoke quickly covered the whole bridge, and David's vision was obscured. Suddenly, he felt something heavy strike him and knock him to the ground.

"Go!" Huong roared as Daryl and Megumi tried to regain their bearings.

"What about you?" Daryl shouted back, but Megumi grabbed his arm and pulled him across the bridge.

"Don't worry about him!" Megumi shouted. "Sweepers don't kill, even for a job! He'll be fine!"

Daryl was still worried, but he since he couldn't do much even if he went back, he followed Megumi off the bridge and onto the next section of the sewers. They ran until they saw a ladder leading out of the sewers on their left.

"We'll take that exit and get out of here!" Megumi declared as she pointed at the ladder.

"Is that the right one?"

"Either way, we'll be close!" Megumi replied as she quickly climbed up the ladder. Daryl quickly followed her, worried that the sweepers would be close behind. Soon, they were back on the streets, where the people of the Morning Star district were already going about their day. Down the street, Megumi caught sight of the skyscraper she was looking for and pointed right at it.
"Don't lag around! We need to leave before they catch up with us!"

Daryl didn't need any convincing as he followed Megumi out onto the busy street, pushing past bewildered pedestrians as they made their way to what Huong had called the Florencia building. They were certainly attention-grabbing, but there were no Overman agents in this area of the street, and the few Twilight Police officers who noticed the commotion were too far away to catch up with them.

Eventually, the two of them stood in front of the Florencia building, and only then did they understand the true majesty of the building. It seemed to be a hundred stories tall and was decorated in ornate stone architecture. Even the glass doors at the entrance looked far more luxurious than anything in the Hayasaka mansion.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Daryl asked doubtfully.

"Only one way to find out," Megumi replied as she pulled open the double doors.

The two of them walked into a lavish reception hall with marble floors and pillars and Greek-influenced sculptures. Almost immediately upon entry a distinguished man in a black suit and bowtie walked up to greet them. He clearly looked rushed, but he never quickened his pace nor did he act panicked in any way.

"Do you have any business here, monsieur, mademoisselle?" The man asked pointedly. "I'm afraid we aren't exactly open to all visitors."

Daryl turned around and nervously noted the burly men in body armor standing behind them. Megumi, however, was nonplussed as she handed over a card to the man in the suit.

The man glanced at the card and a wave of shock appeared on his face before immediately disappearing. "My apologies, mademoisselle. You and your friend can follow me."

Still confused as to what exactly was going on, Daryl wordlessly followed Megumi as the man guided them to an elevator down the right side of the hall. The man wordlessly opened the held the door open for them, then took them to the highest floor of the building.

After a very long and silent elevator ride, Daryl and Megumi stepped out onto a penthouse, just as lavish and opulent as the building before it. Clashing against the rich and luxurious decor was a man dressed in a dirty hoodie and jeans, carrying a giant bag of chips in one hand and a bowl of dip in the other.

"Oh, damn!" the man in the hoodie exclaimed when he took notice of Daryl and Megumi. "I thought you were supposed to be coming yesterday."

"Uh... are you the client I'm supposed to be meeting?" Megumi asked incredulously.

"No, no, it's my boss. I'm Trevor. Come on, follow me."

Daryl and Megumi followed the man to the back of the penthouse and into a darkened room filled with computer monitors. Trevor walked over to a bed at the back of the room and pushed apart the translucent veils surrounding it.

"Miss Chisato? The person you're waiting for has arrived."