Vol. 4 Chap. 11 One Small Step

Vol. 4 Chap. 11 One Small Step

Truth had his priorities straight. After zipping away from the Embassy of Siphios and the alarming number of recording talismans, watcher spirits and unmarked, windowless delivery wagons' parked up and down the street, he followed the signs to the local supermarket.

He let his eyes go soft, trying to look with his peripheral vision. Taking long, slow breaths through his nose. The right target would have a specific aroma, more spiritual than literal. He would know it when he smelled it.

There!

He turned and quickly walked to the next aisle over. She was perfect. Gray hair verging on blue, gray sweatpants, off white sweatshirt with a picture of a kitten losing a fight to a ball of yarn on it. She was pushing a lightly filled shopping cart. Each and every item in the cart had an orange sticker on it, indicating a brutal, humiliating discount.

The Shopping Granny. Gods most perfect predictor. No near-expired set meal could escape her keen eye. No under ripe melon deceived her hands. The slow squeak of her orthopedic shoes inspired raw, animal terror in the hapless shelf stockers and cashiers. As it should.

Truth pulled on the persona of a slightly thick rural maintenance worker. The universe couldnt have been more eager to support his vision. Swearing mightily but internally, he made his approach.

Scuse me, Granny. Im not from around here. Wheres a good food street?

EEEH?

Im looking for a good food street, Grandma.

OH! Why?

Because Im hungry, Grandma.

You dont look hungry.

I am, though.

Well cook something!

Im not from around here.

She glared at him. And what brings you here, hmmm? Dont you know there is a war on?

I do, yes. Is there a food street near here Grandma?

Oh, why didnt you ask? Yes, right out the door, second left, down about a kilometer, right for two more blocks, then you are there. If you see the building with the giant crab, you have gone too far.

Thank you grandma.

You are very welcome.

Truth walked off. Noticing as he went that the granny had sped off to report the spy to the very patient looking security guard.

He put the odds about fifty fifty between an actual food street and the local headquarters of internal security. And since he was happy with either result, off he went.

The city was odd to his eyes- blandly modern with the same few mass produced buildings dominating the environment, and then, seemingly out of nowhere, some hulking monstrosity would loom. Thi/s chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.co/m

An empty vertical square, with offices on every side. A building shaped like a rubbish heap, but built out of flat, irregular shapes in brushed metal and glass. The result was vaguely menacing. He had no idea what it was for. A big plaza with a big statue erected in the middle of it. It appeared to be a statue of some guy. He wasnt waving a sword or anything. He was just waving. Looked cheerful.

Truth felt a niggling regret that he wasnt spending longer here. He had a sneaking suspicion that this was a city that hid its truly good stuff. Expensive stuff was on display. The good stuff? Strictly for locals and the initiated.

Which, the one who hit that guy with a stool?

Err. No, thats Captain Feng. Zhu is the one slapping the enlisted.

Reminds me of my old lieutenant. Maybe they are related. Well, good time for me to be somewhere else. Thanks for the food.

Sure sure. Ah, should we call the police?

Yes, of course. When there is a crime, a good citizen calls the police at once!

Walking around money secured and the paranoia of the Oisin security services now sharpened to a monomolecular edge, he sat on a bench and enjoyed the skewers.

Some kind of chewy something. Not bread, exactly, or meat, but not a vegetable he recognized either. It was closest to bean curd in non-flavor, but tougher and chewier. They came with a deeply savory, garlicky sauce, however, so he was prepared to cherish them. The fried dough was only okay. Shame.

He quickly sorted through the wallets in case there was something juicy in there. There probably was, but nothing immediately leapt out. An imp of mischief tugged at him to deliver the wallets to the Siphios embassy. It was ignored. Nothing good came of listening to imps.

Instead, he found a hardware store, grabbed some spray paint and a bucket of industrial adhesive. He went back to the square with the statue with the waving man. A few passes with the glue, and the IDs of every snoop and cop on the street was stuck to the pavement. In two meter tall red letters, he sprayed on the ground-

Never Forget The Honorable Dead! Internal Security Stands Guard Against Foreign Murderers, Pays the Ultimate Price!

There. Spontaneous citizens memorial created. Oh! Not quite.

He zipped off and grabbed some flowers from near a subway stop, as well as a pack of cigarettes. The flowers were scattered around the ID cards. Three cigarettes were glued upright behind them, and lit.

There. Now THAT said spontaneous outpouring of civic grief. He gave it only a few minutes until internal security turned up to cover everything up. Naturally his beautiful creation couldnt be hidden behind a security cordon. Back to the subway.

I think its so brave, that memorial for internal security.

Everyone is hunting cops these days. Its open season out there. I dont feel safe.

Oh, they cover it all up, but my cousin was there- blood all over the streets. They are going directly at the internal security service. They say its Jeon but I dont know.

Obviously nobody has any time for rebels! Nobody! I one hundred percent support our brave soldiers on the front. Defeatists should be hung! Even if the rebels are killing all the cops and internal pacification forces! A good citizen doesnt need a cop around to behave properly.

All those broadcasts from bunkers, or with obvious illusions for backgrounds. What do they know that they arent telling us? Are we really winning?

He rode the subway three stops, found an interchange, spread the good word a bit more, then doubled back. He hoped no one ticketed his ride.

Any nation this focused on order would be very touchy about internal security and controlling rumors. Something like this, right under their noses?

Ah, even the pollution haze couldnt hide the perfect blue of the sky. Truth hadnt liked cops ever since he was a kid in the slums. The last few months hadnt improved his opinion. Today was a good day.

Good deeds done, he loaded up on supplies, hopped on his iron horse and started making his way back towards the border. It was a long ride, but he was prepared to enjoy it.

There were barricades across the highway. Serpents snaked through the air, sweeping up and down the kilometers of practically parked carriages. It seemed they really didnt care for his prank.

He sighed. Nothing for it. He could drive past the queue, but even with the sheer number of levels he had over everyone, that would be pushing it. Instead, he found an articulated wagon, popped the doors open, threw his ride inside and hopped in after it.

Onis had its own search spells, but they didnt have those watcher things. He pulled a pillow out of his spatial ring and lay down. Time to get comfy. He set out some snacks and the bottle of tea. Time to act like the newly minted Level Five he was. He would let someone else do the driving. Time to find out how they wrote romance novels in Onis.