Putato looked up to see the lithe girl standing by the window. Elena waved at him, a faint, inscrutable smile playing on her lips.
"Have you been following me this entire time?"
"As if. You scurry around like a rat. I have to eat, you know. Usually, when I lose your trail, I just head back here."
"Haven't you recovered yet?"
"Please. I was practically gutted by those Fixers. If it were that easy to bounce back, I wouldn't be lurking here like a stray cat."
A shame. If he had Elena with him, the battle in K Nest would be a much surer bet.
"Anyway, I wanted to ask if you have any tricks for getting into a Nest. Ideally, something under the radar."
At the mention of this, Putato forced himself to sit up straight. After all, she was a Star of the City who had terrorized The City; infiltrating a Nest should be child's play for her.
Elena, however, turned a deaf ear. She simply stared at him in silence. Her long, slender limbs made her look like an exquisite, limited-edition doll displayed in a high-end storefront.
"You ask too many questions."
"And besides, you make me feel like I'm just being used as a tool. I might be a bit weak right now, but no one has the right to boss me around. I live only by my own whims."
As night fell, Elena switched off the room lights, leaving only the moonlight streaming in behind her.
Putato suddenly felt a bit tense and confused. Is she going to demand money like Mo?
No, wait. This atmosphere definitely meant she wanted to feed again. Putato breathed a sigh of relief; consider it a mandatory blood donation for the peace of The City.
But as Putato looked up, he was startled to see Elena's face mere inches from his own. She was tilting his chin, inspecting him with great interest. Putato, taking the hint, prepared to lift his shirt.
"But you... you have the right. Because we are very good friends."
"But why are you taking your clothes off?"
Without a hint of embarrassment, Putato stopped his movements and offered a polite smile.
"It's a bit hot."
"Come with me."
Before Putato could agree, Elena grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the roof. Trailing behind, Putato was so out of breath he didn't even have a chance to ask where they were going.
...
Putato was shoved by Elena until he stood atop the water tower on the roof.
"What are you doing? I've got a bit of a psychological shadow regarding rooftops lately."
The earlier sniper fire from that suicide squad had nearly blown his head off.
"Taking you to loosen up. Just make sure you keep up with me."
Elena bared her sharp fangs at Putato and instantly vaulted into the air, landing skillfully on an adjacent roof.
Though he didn't quite get the point, Putato had no choice but to follow.
The two of them leaped across the skyscraper summits in quick succession, leaving the densely packed crowds and neon storefronts far beneath their feet.
The territories that once felt so dangerous were now easily bypassed simply by changing altitude. Putato started to understand the joy of a bird's freedom; for them, overcoming a thousand obstacles required only one thing: flapping their wings.
Unfortunately, humans don't have the right to fly.
"Look!"
Putato snapped back to reality and skidded to a halt at the edge of a roof. Looking down, he saw a mob gathered around a large bathtub filled with blood. The leader was busy dissecting a corpse soaking in the tub.
Suddenly, a soft sensation brushed against his right cheek. Elena leaned in close, happily whispering her commentary.
"That's a pack of crazed Rats. They think some messy blood sacrifice ritual will grant them power and luck. They love kidnapping and murdering passersby."
CRASH!
Elena suddenly hurled a flowerpot down, landing it right in the center of the bathtub. Blood splattered all over the ritual leader, who began cursing in a blind rage.
"Your turn. Have some fun."
Putato looked at the flowerpot Elena had grabbed from the terrace and shoved into his hands. He hesitated for a split second before throwing it down with all his might.
SMASH!
The bathtub shattered completely. The corpse rolled out onto the pavement as the blood drained into the cracks of the street.
Below, the Rats clutched their heads and shrieked, scattering as if the world were ending.
Before Putato could look up, Elena grabbed him again, continuing their leap across The City.
WHIZ!
Dried leaves hanging on wooden racks were yanked down by Elena and crushed underfoot. Putato looked around curiously; why was this rooftop covered in them?
"Addictive plants. They like to dry them and mix them with Enkephalin. Slang calls them 'tea leaves.' You see? No shortage of varieties here."
Massive quantities of carefully processed leaves were torn into confetti within seconds, scattered across the ground like toys. Elena punctured the water tower, flushing the debris down the drains, while inside the building, the stairwell was transformed into a cascading waterfall.
Putato kicked an approaching thug back; the man, retreating in terror, tripped and knocked over four of his companions, sending them all tumbling down the stairs in a chorus of groans.
Before more reinforcements could arrive, the two made their escape, leaving behind a scene of absolute chaos.
"See? There's nothing to worry about. Because none of them can reach us."
After just half an hour following Elena, Putato grew to enjoy this carefree experience of causing mayhem for others. No worries could catch up to him now.
"Can you swim?"
"What?"
Just as he regained his footing, Putato was yanked forward by Elena. He lost his balance and plunged into a transparent, outdoor swimming pool. The moment he submerged, the world went silent, replaced only by the soothing rumble of water against his eardrums.
His reflexes kicked in and he tried to surface, but Elena, who had dove in after him, dragged him down to the bottom. Caught off guard, he felt a sharp pang of oxygen deprivation.
Before Putato could push her away, she pulled him close. Putato's eyes widened as he looked at her.
The moonlight was dim.
He could only vaguely make out her flowing black hair; the curling tips looked like water sprites clinging to her, though paired with Elena's unnervingly crimson eyes, it felt more like Medusa's nest of snakes.
For a moment, Putato even forgot he couldn't breathe.
As bubbles began to escape his mouth, Putato noticed Elena's lips moving. She seemed to be saying something.
"What?"
The second Putato opened his mouth, he swallowed a lungful of pool water. Choking, he frantically scrambled to the surface, retching by the poolside until he finally caught his breath.
Elena rested her elbows on the edge of the pool, staring down at the rippling surface.
"I believe in you. You definitely have what it takes to reach the Pinnacle of The City."
"Is that so? You seem more confident about that than I am."
Washing his face with the pool water, Putato followed Elena's gaze. The water gradually stilled, once again reflecting the starlight of The City. Their eyes met in the reflection, silently dissolving into the water.
"Qualifications are just weights used to measure trust. Fixer grades, professional certifications, and transit passes are only reasons for others to believe in you."
"That's why I feel you have the qualification to do anything, because I trust you."
Putato remained silent for a long moment before letting out a sneeze.
"I feel a bit cold now."
Elena couldn't help but burst into laughter.
...
"Entering K Nest? Aren't you a Fixer now? Just have your Office vouch for you and get a tourist visa."
"Is it really that simple?"
The two stood on the building's terrace, cooling off in the wind.
Putato frowned at her words, immediately recalling his conversation with Gaze Office. That guy Alloc insisted he had to grind through half a year of missions. He relayed this to Elena.
Elena just scoffed, playfully pinching Putato's red earlobe.
"For normal Backstreets residents or Rats, getting in is definitely a nightmare. But you're a legitimate, Association-registered Fixer. If trouble starts, they can find you directly, so there's no need for them to make it that complicated."
"Hmph, those guys just want to exploit the information gap to use you as a labor tool."
"If crossing a border was that hard, I would've just ducked into a Nest back then. Wouldn't those Fixers have had to wait obediently at the checkpoints for identity verification?"
"Plus, if you get hired by an Office inside a Nest, you can get a temporary residency permit. You can go in and out as you please."
Dammit!
Putato now realized the truth of the saying "an elder in the house is like a treasure." If he had been stupid enough to listen to the others, he might still be led by the nose six months from now.
He didn't have time to waste on those people.
"So this is where you're hiding!"
"Mo? Didn't I tell you to leave? Even if I handled those Blue Square guys, The Ring will still find out about this place."
"Since when do I have to report my movements to you? You have no right to control me!"
"And you—how did you turn from a cat into a human? I haven't even settled the score with you for earlier. Get out of my house right now!"
Elena, standing with her arms crossed, completely ignored Mo's words. She gave Putato a light pat on the shoulder, stepped back to the edge of the roof, and fell backward, vanishing instantly into the darkness.
Seeing this, Consta quickly pulled back the fuming Mo.
"We might not win a fight against that Bloodfiend, and she's a friend of Senior Putato. There's no need for a confrontation."
"Move aside!"
"Mo, all of you get over to the adjacent rooftop and hide for a bit. It looks like someone's coming."
"I won't!"
Just as he was about to soothe Mo, Putato caught a glimpse of someone approaching the main iron gate out of the corner of his eye. He immediately turned and crouched down to observe.
To his surprise, the visitor was from the Smiling Faces. Putato hurried downstairs, pulling out his communicator to see if he'd missed any messages.
[Lesti: Aaaaaagh, this damn Corporation actually made me sign a voluntary suicide waiver. It seems even the Wings of the World are all cut from the same cloth. I'm literally nauseous from reading all these trap-filled rules and regulations!]
[Olivia: Big brother Putato, I have a communicator too!]
[Parui: Thanks, Bro. Even though I ended up separated from my little sister again, she's got a better future than me now. I mean, it's the Five Fingers after all.]
[Pangolin: What's with these Hana Association psychos stirring things up? I can't meet you anytime soon. I'm starving for a fix.]
[Katae: Self-Care for the Psychologically Disturbed in The City.txt]
[Gyeong-mi: You son of a bitch, you just left? You couldn't even bother to come back and say goodbye? I'm punching you the next time I see you.]
[Finn: Putato, you there? Olivia's commission is done but she hasn't come to pick it up.]
[Yun: What the hell are you doing? Promoting to Grade 5 already? You didn't bribe the Hana Association Fixers, did you? You better top up my bribe too.]
[Olga: Hana Association sent the notice to the Office—your audit passed. You owe me a round at the bar.]
[Kokochi: Putato, let's make a deal.]
How is there so much junk mail? And all of it unread.
Putato scrolled through the flood of messages until his finger finally stopped on the one from the Smiling Faces.
[Wang: Putato, the Hana Association Section 2 and Section 3 have been breathing down the neck of District 23 lately, making things too hot here. The Smiling Faces are going into dormancy for a bit. I've sent someone with your share.]
The iron gate creaked open. A member of the Smiling Faces, clad in dark crimson, respectfully handed a body bag to Putato.
"Respected Priest, please check the contents."
"Also, if we can track you down this easily, it means The Ring can too. You should find a different spot to wait out the storm, brother."
"No matter how flashy The Ring acts, they aren't going to flip the entire Backstreets upside down for one person, right? Wang asked if you have a reliable hideout. If not, you can crash at our place for a while."
"Can you guys get into K Nest?"
"Haha, actually, most of the Smiling Faces are planning a trip to J Nest. We can score gambling visas; it's a piece of cake."
Putato felt a wave of disappointment. While traveling between Nests was relatively easier, he had zero desire to set foot on a W Corp WARP Train.
They marketed it as a ten-second trip to any destination, but the reality was a thousand-year prison sentence in a sub-space dimension. Only the "Restoration of a Previous Status" technology made it feel like an instant to the passengers.
Just thinking about being stuck on a cramped train for a millennium made Putato's skin crawl. He'd probably turn into a Distortion before the first century was up.
"No thanks, I've got my own plans. Also, this comm number might go dead soon, you know how it is with The Ring on my tail. I'll reach out to the organization through Yixin when the time comes."
"Understood, brother. I'll take my leave then."
Putato immediately contacted Olga to ask about the K Nest travel visa, pacing anxiously in front of the iron gate.
Despite his bravado earlier about The Ring being no big deal, they were a massive organization with roots spread across the entire Backstreets of The City. They were a Star of the City that had stood firm in this brutal world for ages.
He had managed to solo Wym because of the element of surprise, the guy hadn't been prepared. If The Ring sent a professional hit squad now, Putato's only move would be to run.
"What's the sudden interest in a Nest? Well, it's good to go see it. Maybe you'll settle down in one someday."
"You have a way in?!"
"If you really want to settle down there, don't ask me. I'm still trying to find a way to move into a Nest myself! But if you just want to visit, it's no problem at all. Nests are always welcoming to Fixers, you guys spend money like water."
"I'll buy you a drink tomorrow. Just... this really needs to get done."
"Tch, now you remember to treat me. But visas have to be applied for during their working hours, you can't rush them. I'll go check it out personally tomorrow."
Putato was stunned that the step he thought would be the hardest turned out to be so simple. He hung up and began strategizing how to capture Obana alive. That guy was bound to have a heavy security detail.
It wasn't that he was being overconfident, but if he just punched the guy to death, he'd likely leave behind some annoying loose ends. This needed to end once and for all!
Putato suddenly recalled that Wym and the Maestro from the auction had both used a specific tool: Stasis Preservation Packaging. It was a powerful container that could keep even a severed head viable, if you found a doctor in time, they could even perfectly transplant the head onto a Prosthetic body.
He had to get his hands on one. Preferably through a route that wouldn't leave a Fixer paper trail.
Putato immediately issued a Prescript, curious to see if he could save some credits.
[Obtain Stasis Preservation Packaging for free.]
"Putato, it's been a long time."
The sudden voice made Putato snap his head up. Standing before him was a woman with long, curly orange hair, wearing an incredibly form-fitting, high-slit cheongsam.
Wait, no.
Putato looked closer. The cheongsam was too tight, tracing the lines of her body with unnatural precision. He looked at her shoulder where the streetlamp hit, the texture wasn't fabric. There weren't even any seams.
It was body paint!
Putato had only ever met one person with such an exposed and eccentric taste. He gripped Honesuki at his waist and retreated several steps, scanning for an ambush. There was no one else.
It was Kokochi from the art exhibition!
She stood there with her hands folded, looking tense and poised, but the last time he'd seen this person, they were clearly a man!
Before he could process the gender swap, Putato was struck dumb by the words that came out of her mouth next.
"Grey Haze."
No other words could have made Putato's hair stand on end like those. Even though it referred to him, it was a title that drew Grade 1 Fixers together for suppression.
If he was exposed, his life as a "working man" would instantly turn into that of a fugitive.