Karsten put out his cigarette and yawned. He looked even more disheveled than the last time Cass saw him.
"I just wanted to take you down to the station and ask you some questions. Nothing serious."
Cass glanced at Tindra. "Can't you just ask them here? I'll answer whatever I can."
"It's just part of the procedure. Shouldn't take long."
Cass sighed. "Do I at least get a free ride back to the Doxy?"
Not long after, Cass and Karsten pulled up to the station. The effects of his host separation were in full effect.
"I gotta keep it together…" He thought.
Karsten led him into the bedraggled building and showed him to a small interrogation room in the back. What a dismal, dimly lit place: overhead lamps giving off a sickly green light and humming from ancient computers that looked older than Karsten.
"Want something to drink?" Karsten asked.
"Not really. I'd like to get this done as soon as possible."
Karsten grunted indifferently as he placed a large folder on the table in front of them and started rifling through it.
"Can you state your full name, please?"
"Cass."
"That's it?"
"Yep."
"Alright then. Ya from Ebonheart?"
"Nope."
"Me neither, actually. Came from Menavia back in my 20's."
Cass looked around the room as Karsten jotted something down.
"Where were you before Ebonheart?"
"Central lands."
"That's a pretty big area. Anywhere specific?"
"Not really."
"Just wanderin' around?"
"Pretty much."
"I see. How long have you worked at the Doxy?"
"Around 7 months."
He laughed. "Pretty good record there. Tindra changes bodyguards like most people change socks. She's always complaining about it. Not lately though; guess that explains why."
Cass shrugged.
Karsten leaned forward and smirked. "Are you and Tindra…?"
Cass stared blankly.
Karsten smirked. "Ya know?" He did a strange motion with his hands.
Cass's eyes widened. "No!"
"Alright alright. Every bodyguard she's had has tried so…I just thought you mighta pushed the right buttons and twisted the right knobs." He laughed.
"She just seems to really like you. Pretty rare for her. You must be something special."
Cass looked away and wringed his hands. He found Tindra attractive, but in a way he couldn't really describe. He liked seeing her and looking at her…and even her monstrous hugs. But the thought of anything like that…it didn't sit right with him.
Karsten moved the tissue box closer to Cass. "Seems like your sweatin'. You can use these."
"I'm fine."
"Alright. There here if you need 'em."
Cass figured if the interrogation only took an hour, he'd be able to make it back in time. If he lost consciousness though, they'd probably rush him to a hospital which would seal his fate.
"Have you ever been to the docks before?" Karsten's tone was more serious.
Cass looked up.
"You know I have, fool. You were there when Tindra stormed off to interrogate half the inhabitants."
"Yeah." Cass said.
"Rampone Shipping runs outta those docks, but unfortunately, some less upstanding individuals are spotted there pretty frequently too. You ever see anything like that there?"
"Don't remember."
Karsten leaned forward in his chair, sliding a photo over to Cass's side of the table. "That's too bad. We have some footage of you from the other night."
The photo was indeed of Cass. He was running down the dock, being pursued by Dhall's men.
"Yeah, I got jumped. Not at the docks though. I just ran there to try and ditch them."
The factory Cass was at that night bordered the docks and the Old Ward, so he was technically telling the truth.
"Nothing else happened? No fight or anything like that?"
Had Rampone talked to the police? Cass couldn't be sure. He didn't seem like the type, unless he could get something out of it…Cass scowled.
"I was pretty out of it that night. Can't remember."
Karsten moved his chair to the side and closer to Cass. "That's unfortunate, Cass. You see, as far as we can tell, you're the last one to see those guys alive."
Cass's mind started racing.
"Did Rampone kill those guys!? I thought they ran off? I was delirious…Why would he?"
"They died? How?"
"Can't really share the details. Suffice to say, we suspect foul play."
"Should I mention Rampone was there? If he did do it…would they take his word over mine?"
Almost certainly. And what would happen if word got out that Cass implicated him in such things, guilty or not? What would that mean for him? Or Tindra?
"What'd you see that night?"
"Can't remember. I was messed up."
"On what?"
"Drunk."
"Where'd you get it?"
"Took a bottle from the bar."
"Where'd you get jumped at?"
"I don't remember, okay?" Cass sounded angrier than he intended.
Karsten leaned back. "Let me be honest, Cass. I don't think you're being truthful about a lot of things so It's hard for me to trust you."
"I don't know what you want me to say."
"The truth. You see, I don't believe you've been wandering around for years living on the streets. Frankly, you're too healthy lookin' for that."
Cass hunched over slightly and folded his arms.
Karsten continued. "No signs of mana poisoning, so you can't be from city slums. The wilds are full of beasts so one of them woulda killed ya unless you were part of an enclave. If you were Blessed, it'd make sense, but we can tell you aren't."
Cass chuckled to himself.
"I guess he hasn't figured everything out. And the sensors for Blessed energy at police stations can't detect me either. Good to know. Granted, they're probably pretty primitive, given the state of this station."
Karsten leaned forward with a half-hearted smile. "Let's put all that behind us and start being honest with each other. What did you see that night?"
Cass paused for a moment. "I think a Blessed saved me. One of those punks jumped on my back and knocked me down. Next thing I knew, they were off and I was up and running away again."
Karsten began writing. "Alright, did this Blessed say anything? Did you see them at all?"
"No."
He stopped writing. "Was it Tindra?"
"No!"
There was a long silence.
"It was a guy. I heard his voice, but not what he said."
Karsten began writing again. After 30 minutes or so of running around in circles, he wasn't able to coax much more info out of Cass. He wasn't under arrest…so far; he knew he could leave anytime. However, he wasn't in a rush anymore. Halfway through the interview, he felt his entire body breathe a sigh of relief, like the weight of the world was lifted off his shoulders. He did start to get a little nervous that Tindra might try to break him out, but so far she'd behaved herself. After what seemed like hours, Cass was finally allowed to leave.
"Don't go too far now. We might have some follow up questions for you."
Cass didn't respond. Karsten looked startled when he saw Tindra waiting out front. He glanced over at Cass then back at Tindra.
Karsten raised a hand. "Took a little longer than I thought. Don't make me regret not calling in an Enforcement Unit."
She stood there with her arms crossed for a moment, then walked up and guided Cass back to the Doxy. They were silent the whole way back. Cass could feel a pressure around Tindra; one similar to when she was storming into a battle.
"…Not good."
Once they were inside the Doxy, Tundra spun around and grabbed Cass's shoulders. "Did you kill those guys!?"
"No!"
She stared at him for a moment and sighed. "What the hell were you doing down by the docks at that hour!?"
"Nothing. I went out to get some stuff and got jumped. I ran to the docks to get away from them."
"The docks are in the opposite direction of any place you'd go! What were ya doin' down there!?"
Cass felt a surge of anger. "I wasn't on the clock, so it doesn't really concern you, does it?"
He regretted saying that the instant it left his lips. Tindra tensed up and her eyes zeroed in on Cass.
He ran his hand through his hair and looked away. "Sorry."
There was an awkward silence.
"I think Dhall might be up to something, so I went down to the docks to look into it. The part about getting jumped is true."
"Cass…"
Her exasperated sigh caused him to recoil slightly. She did a double take. "You're the one who saw that demon, aren't you!?"
Selectively keeping things from Tindra was tougher than Karsten.
"God damn it, Cass."
"What's the problem? Isn't it better to know about it than to be surprised if Dhall shows up here with a demon it tow?"
She grabbed his arms. "It's a big fuckin' problem, Cass! Have you ever met a demon!?"
Cass looked away.
"I fought them for over a decade. You were close enough to see one? Don't ever do-"
He cringed and shouted. "I got it! Loud and clear."
"Damn it, Tindra! Careful with what you say!"
She let him go and started pacing. He didn't need her to warn him about that particular demon; he was well acquainted with how cruel and callous it was, even to its own kind. If not for Stanev, Cass would've likely been killed by that demon in his trial.
"How did Dhall manage to get one?"
While Tindra was occupied with her thoughts, Cass decided to sneak off to the back and give her time to cool off. As he opened the door to leave, a wall of wide-eyed girls were hunched over, right next to the threshold.
"W-what the hell!?"