Amongst the spectating galleries, Archius snuck past through a crowd of 'people'. Archius wanted to wait a bit until he chased the leads...

If he chases too early, things will be heated, and people's guards will be up. However, give it a few days or a week and... Everything is just going right, Archius thought.

Calling the people below human would be very polite. They all wore masks, of course, it would be a bit strange for all this getup if it wasn't so 'important'. Glancing down at the plaza of people, surrounding a podium stage, Archius hunted for his target.

Of course, it was easy to deduce who was who, even make a few arrests here and there - given the context. The masks were merely a formality, which was why he had his face scrambler one.

Didn't remember what setting it was put on.

But at the end of the day, these 'people' will be released, and all charges dropped. Hard to swallow truth: they were untouchable.

"Hmn," Archius grunted.

His eyes were locked onto Obadiah, amidst the crowd below.

Archius' remark was, of course, metaphorical, bringing Kazuki along with him would prove very quick that the people in this room were not 'untouchable', but very much squishy, soft and very-bullet-attracting individuals.

With what happened with Noah, Archius couldn't help but be interested. Even Kazuki couldn't keep him away for so long. 'So, you really believe it's Obadiah?' Archius asked.

Kazuki responded, 'Without a doubt.'

Archius rolled his eyes. 'Look, there's like a total of fifty thousand people crammed in this station, most of which would prefer you dead than alive, now I'm sure many of them also have egos to match, and with large egos—'

'—Shut up,' Kazuki interjected. 'Just tell me what you find. If anything goes wrong, send for me.'

'I have no doubt you'll come barrelling down the stairs to save me, Kaz,' jeered Archius. 'Just... this time, I need people alive? Preferably with their brains not splattered on the floor, or bones broken. I'd prefer bones over brains.'

Kazuki sarcastically remarked, 'Permission to lobotomise them has been granted.'

Archius chuckled under his breath, hiding a wide grin beneath the face scrambler. He flicked his uplink off, turning his attention back down to the plaza. The air was thick. The lights were dim and dark. The centre stage had a light shining down, with 'merchandise' lifted up and down from an elevator below the stage.

An item was just bought, the rights to some explicit blackmail material on some fuck-off-senator of who-gives-a-shit. Obviously, it was cheap. A new item arose.

"Now, a Mind-snared slave!" shouted a voice, as a man gestured to a... lobotomised creature rising up from the podium. "This one is rather spicy, caught in the wild spaces of the Free Systems Confederacy!"

Archius was witness to everything unfolding, beneath the Marquis' own nose. This place wasn't just a gathering point for the petty aristocracy, it was a place for business to be done. The type of business didn't matter, all just shades of morality were equal.

The purchasing of mere products was cold, harsh and silent. It disgusted Archius, but not enough that he'd ruin the mission just to save... what? A few extra lives? What's that compared to potentially thousands, hmm?

Archius' eyes were, first and foremost, more interested in Obadiah than this boring dark auction. Obadiah was tapping the side of his tailored trousers with one hand. His other hand was hidden beneath a robe of cool colours and patterns. The next item came onboard.

A pack of random information? Probably just some trade secrets and whatever the fuck they could throw in for the sake of it, these packets never have anything useful to begin with—and someone just dropped forty fucking million?!

It riddled him with surprise as murmurs spread through the crowd.

"Forty million!? Going once! Going twice! Sold!" The announcer spoke faster than normal.

No, this was very much organised, because forty million? For unknown information? Riddles him. Must be important, so what fool was it?

He glanced across the plaza, seeing a serving drone approach one of the masked individuals, providing him with a data pad of information. That individual was none other than Obadiah...

Another figure walked up to him, treading through the crowd. Archius watched, as the figure, masked and hooded within the darkness, spoke whispers to Obadiah. The magnate twisted around to them, his face scowling and smiling at the same time.

Archius leaned in against the bannister, focusing on the hooded person. Obviously, he couldn't distinguish many features of them, probably just some messenger, but to make him scowl?

Must not be very happy news, then, Archius thought. Straightening his back, Archius watched Obadiah and the hooded person break off from one another, walking in opposite directions.

Obadiah went right. The other went left. The dark auction was still going on, so it seemed like Obadiah was only ever interested in this one piece of information. Archius walked right, trailing Obadiah from the spectating galleries, pushing and moving past all manner of to-be dead flesh.

Following through the auction, Archius kept trailing Obadiah, watching him leave the dark auction and back out into the red lights district masquerading this farce. Continuing to push his luck with Obadiah might not work, Archius thought. But since he's here, he might as well get as much info as possible.

"Hmm. 'scuse me," Archius murmured, walking towards one of the staff-only doors. He raised his forearm and ignited Krystalink's injection code awake, opening the door and entering the backstages. He closed the door behind him, turning his gaze to the makeshift construction of the backrooms.

The faint echoes of the auction could be heard through the thin walls, with shouts of prices and all that sort. Walking backstage, Archius glanced at various serving drones tending to the merchandise, be it illegal gear, virus grenades, juicy blackmail, hacked drones or even people.

Archius glanced at a few.

They were mind-snared, put in coffins with their faces showing.

Who's idea was it for that?

Not a word was uttered by any of them. He never understood why these people found a particular need for slaves, after all a drone would do the work much better - but even Archius didn't want to pry into whatever the fuck these deprived shits would do.

The unease struck Archius hard, his hands clenched to fists, eyes glancing off the half-dead, metal protruding out from their heads. There was nothing he could do to save them. Even if he barely bothered to show it on his face, a spark of pity fell upon his eyes.

A few rodents scampered by, squealing loudly. Archius glanced over at them, simple Mor-rats. Was there an infestation on the Ball Palace, Archius asked himself, fuck's sake. He hoped not.

Rolling his eyes, he continued to walk.

Anyways, back to actually doing something productive.

Archius continued to walk around, activating Krystalink and downloading a map of the place. The voices from the auction were getting lower and quieter, till not even an echo vibrated against the walls.

It was a long and twisting path, but Archius kept walking through the spirals of darkness that lay ahead of him.

Eventually, he reached the stairs, carpeted as well, so it must mean he was close. Climbing them, he got out onto the final floor of the auction complex, His ICAPAD told him that it was the final hall, leading to an office.

It had two guards on either side. Absolutely wonderful, he was starting to think that this place had no hired goons.

Archius rolled his eyes, his face scrambler fixing itself with a quivering ripple. There won't be any cameras, so he wasn't worried about people finding out. After all, cameras would practically indite everyone here to a firing squad at best, airlocks at worst.

The hall was different, filled with grandeur, carpeted floor and even engraved steel plate walls, though holographic arts, hovering chandeliers and cleaning drones deactivated against the wall.

Turning the corner, Archius stood firm and tall. Perhaps air-locking them would be a clever idea, Archius mused. A cold death for cold people, in the most literal sense of the word.

He strode forward, attracting the attention of the two guards, tough and burly men. Though he was taller, they were obviously stronger, but neither had exospines. They were missing the glint from their backs that came with one.

Or maybe they're like Kazuki, hiding the glint.

"Business or pleasure?" asked one of the guards.

Archius responded, his voice scrambled, "Why not both?"

The other guard chuckled. "Ugh, no... Klaint is very busy, you'll have to take his appointment another time."

Wait... What did Archius even look like? He glanced at his face scrambling beneath the visage. The scrambler was set to female, showing a strawberry blonde, short-haired Anagoran woman. Well damn. He kept walking forward, might as well use this to his advantage.

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The first guard placed a hand up. "Hey, you heard us, we don't want trouble and we really can't hand you over to station security if you… do wrong, understood?"

"Oh? But the only trouble is the one that you're willing to bring." Archius was cringing beneath the scrambler. His acting skills were refined, yes, but not necessarily his female acting skills, though his trainers did force the whole class through a lot of them…

Wait a minute! Archius thought to himself, thinking that the trainer might have actually been, as Elizabeth might put it: a nonce.

He stood up to the guards, standing just an inch above the two. Placing his hands in his pockets, Archius looked around for some of his tools. His penknife was with him.

The first guard raised an eyebrow, leaning forward. "Look, we're willing to, you know, make room for you, at a later hour," he said.

"Ah, perfect!" Archius remarked, attracting a small grin from the first. Archius injected the knife into his skull.

The last remaining guard grunted in confusion. When they understood what happened, they immediately barged Archius to the wall. The first guard fell dead on the floor. Archius' knife slid across the floor, dripping with fresh blood. Archius tried to recover, but the guard slammed his fist down on his sides, pinning him down.

OW! That was fucking painful! Archius scrambled as the guard started to choke him. "Fucking... whore!" he shouted.

Archius' ICAPAD activated, sending out a distress signal by itself. It glowed red, as Archius looked for some other tool within his pockets. COME on! He has to have some gadget to vaporise his ass.

Try as he might, gasping for air, Archius was unable to throw the man off. Conserving his energy, he allowed the chokehold to increase. FUUUCK…

With both desperation and might, he thrust his leg up. His boot slammed into the guard, kicking him off.

With this chance, Archius lunged forward, punching away at the guard. It was a brutal exchange, amidst the pool of blood leaking out from the already dead guard. Within the chaos, the guard landed a hit on Archius' nose, sending him reeling back. The guard drew a pistol, aiming it at Archius. In one slick motion, Archius threw his suit forward, the bulletproof fibres withstanding the muffled bolts.

Rushing forward, Archius grabbed his suit and wrapped it around the muzzle. The force of his charge sent both to the ground. The guard grunted and groaned in pain from falling. Thank fuck these guys didn't have exoskeletons.

He pinned the guard down, slamming his hand down on his gun, still wrapped in his suit.

Each slam loosened his grip ever tighter.

Both knew that the gun was the decider on who died. And that just so happened to be Archius. He felt the guard lose grip of the gun. Rushing to pick it up, Archius slammed his suit into the guard's face.

Aiming, Archius knee-capped them. The guard cried in pain, falling to the floor… Fuck, strong fuckers… Archius should have hit the gym more often, he'll see what Quinn and Amyé's routines are after this…

The man looked to Archius before Archius placed a bolt in their head. And then… silence. But the ruffling of sound behind him twisted his mind to life. Guards! An extra four!? They immediately rose to open fire, but Archius countermanded their muzzles with bullets of his own.

He took out three in quick succession. The last guard rushed forward, activating a shield and weathering his fusillade of bolts. SHIT. Archius stuck himself with an injector from his pockets…

Adrenaline crackled through his bloodstream, and he ran forward. Guns blazing, Archius barely weaved beneath bolts and bullets… HOW THE FUCK DOES KAZ DO THIS CONSISTENTLY!?

Within striking range, the guard pushed against Archius, tackling him with his shield. This time, Archius rammed a device into the man's arm. Something exploded within the device…

And nanobots swarmed out onto the guard's arm. The goon started to shout in pain, screaming in terror as his flesh was eaten in front of him.

Alright… Time to end this. Archius closed one eye and placed his tongue out, aiming down the sights… Ugh… the guard was moving too much, he couldn't get a clean shot.

Just then, the guard swiped Archius' legs. He slammed his arm into the floor, destroying most of the nanobots before most of his arm could be eaten…

Archius scrambled for his pistol, but the guard crawled up and dragged him into a chokehold. Fuck… Fuck… Can't breathe. Archius was beginning to tear the arm off before the guard reapplied more pressure….

It was tightening. Archius placed one hand into his pocket, dragging out a small spray can and showering the torso behind him with its contents.

The guard released his grip, as Archius scurried a few steps away. Turning, he saw that the guard was covered with some freezing liquid. Fucking hell… Archius closed in and started to choke the guard out…

"You think you can choke me?" Archius asked. "How does it fucking feel, huh?!"

The guard was shivering in pain… but through the frost, he steadied himself, and then regained his posturing.

Closing his eyes, the guard headbutted Archius.

Archius tumbled to the ground behind him, as the guard staggered up. Archius' scrambler started to flicker on and off, with entire portions of his mask all but gone.

The guard raised his muzzle, then stopped. His eyes weren't on Archius. It was looking behind Archius.

Huh?

"Oh—"

The guard had his head removed, falling still to the side. Arm half mauled, frost over his torso… now half his head missing. That guy would have made a good operative… Oh well…

At least he was polite and didn't clog up the hall, Archius jested. He looked behind him, seeing Kazuki, who had his formal wear on. Ah, a rather fast response. "Took you… what, too long?" Archius chuckled.

"If it was just two people, you could have told me," Kazuki snapped, placing his pistol in his holster. "Well. What is it?"

Walking forward, Kazuki extended a hand to Archius. He took it, dragging himself from the floor. "Well, I was looking for some leads, you know how it is! Things got a bit heated, but we're in the good!" Archius walked over to his suit and put it back on. "And how long were you standing there for!?"

"Just arrived..."

Archius wasn't going to believe that.

"And what's with the get-up?" asked Kazuki.

Hmm? Archius raised an eyebrow, then remembered. "Oh!" He disabled his flickering face scrambler. "Scrambler broke."

Kazuki grunted. "If it didn't I might have shot you."

Oh wow. "How flattering," Archius muttered, walking to the door. Kazuki followed on after him, stepping over a dead guard.

Funnily enough, one of the cleaning drones activated, and tried to clean the mess up. Archius sighed. It wasn't made for body disposal.

Alright, so the locked door… Archius knelt down by the scanner reader, readying Krystalink. Then, he saw that it was irregularly placed… "Huh, they still make clothes scanners?"

He turned back to the guards. Their suit cuffs had small devices interwoven with their fabric. Oh so—

"—Yeah." Kazuki cut in, kicking down the door.

Its phase interlocks broke and snapped the door both out of place, all in tatters along the floor.

Archius looked at Kazuki, who shrugged. "So melodramatic! Did Eliza piss you off or something?" Archius laughed.

Kazuki merely walked in without a word, and Archius followed in as well. The two were in an opulent office. There was even a collection of Crusader-Era armour by one of the walls. Thick, and heavy, they were unwieldy. Kazuki's eyes, however, were latched onto the man seated at the desk, Klaint.

A moderately old person, for the time, probably barely in his hundreds. Klaint had a hint of silver highlighting his dark purple hair, with a thin moustache with it. "So, what is it? No point asking for help, is there?" He didn't even bother looking up from his desk, continuing at some sketching hobby.

Kazuki looked to Archius. Oh! Yeah, he was going to take the lead. Stepping forward, Archius cleared his throat. "The purchase manifesto, I want it."

The man snickered. "You think I'll give it to you? I've been serving the Board for eighty long years. I won't betray them now, not to you... criminals."

"Oh please, we're all criminals here. If you don't mind me saying—"

"—Say it!" Klaint shouted. What is it with poor manners today?

Well, if they won't take the high crytera, best give them the low conaxis. Archius gave an amused look to Kazuki, then back at the fool. "You won't take it from me. But maybe you'll take it from my friend."

Pointing with his thumb at Kazuki, the man looked up, staring directly into the Contract-Breaker's gaze. However, before Klaint could take in the full fear that Kazuki exuded, he slammed his head onto the table.

And silence...

Kazuki took a step back, confused at first. Archius let off an audible groan. Kazuki and Archius exchanged awkward looks, blood was seeping from the man's head.

By the Eclipse, Archius reminded himself once again to not arm wrestle Kazuki.

Archius facepalmed.

"Kazuki... you were only supposed to scare him," Archius groaned. "I would have preferred him alive."

"We were going to kill him in the end," Kazuki stated.

"SO?!" Archius rolled his eyes. "I wanted to Mind-snare him, make him into a useful asset, after that we… you can cave his head in with a propane tank for all I care."

He walked around the table and took a data-pad from beside the dead man. Kazuki grumbled, "Oh."

"One less slaver, I guess," Archius commented. Kazuki and Archius exchanged anxious glares as if they were siblings seeing who'd take the fall for breaking mom's vase. "We… he committed suicide, correct?"

"Without a shadow of a doubt," Kazuki sarcastically replied. "Along with his security detail. Sad thing. We could all see it coming, in his line of work, after all."

Searching through it, Archius found what he needed. "A medal of journalism, yes."

"For all your talk of keeping things clean, things tend to turn into a bloodbath," Kazuki noted.

Archius scoffed. "Clean is controlled, clean isn't clean. In this line of work, do you think anything's clean? The bloodbaths are your thing, uncontrolled with too many variables. I like things simple, manipulation, espionage, torture, the good things in life!"

It was a shipping manifesto of concurrent purchases. Everything was classified with all so many codenames and stupid fucking codewords, but Archius could see that the most recent purchase was for information... About the P-1 Incident?

Green eyes stabbed into all angles of attack. His eyes stared at the possibilities before he slid the data-pad into his suit's inside pocket.

"What was that?" Kazuki asked.

"Shipping manifesto," Archius remarked. It wasn't a lie, it was just that he was withholding some information, that's all! "Let's get the fuck out of here."

Walking around the table, Archius made for the door. Kazuki stood in place, taking a glance through a small window behind the desk, down at the auction. "And the rest of them?"

Archius shrugged. "We can't go killing all of them, yet. Patience, Kaz, we'll airlock them soon enough."

Kazuki grumbled. "Fine." He followed Archius out, the two snuck out through some of the maintenance passageways, and back out onto the finely decorated halls of the Ball Palace proper.

Finally, some fresh air! Archius thought. Then, someone's presence was made known to the duo. Kazuki turned first, then Archius. Senator Iana Nimitz-Delia, followed by her second: the Imperial Knight of the Kiapra Ball Palace, Lady Antiar Kelebori.

The Knight wore her typical uniform, but the Senator wore a luxurious and silky dress, with a dark green fabric that matched her equally dark hair. A thin figure, someone who probably had some hidden weapon in her elbow-length gloves… Or her heels. Perhaps a hidden holster attached to her fishnet stockings? No… She would probably swagger ever so slightly…

Delia doesn't look strong enough to fully burden the weight of even a small pistol.

Archius' threat analysis showed nothing out of the ordinary, just a surprisingly smoking hot woman?

"My, my, Kazuki, you are a hard one to find, even with Lady Antiar's tracking abilities," Delia announced. "Well then, what are you doing? Do you know what time it is!?"

"None of your business," remarked Kazuki. Oh dammit, Archius thought, Kazuki just had to run ahead all the time.

Delia rolled her eyes and looked to Archius, then Kazuki, then back to Archius. "Look, to be honest: what you two do in your free time is of no concern of mine! But Kazuki, you are expected!"

To Archius; surprise, Kazuki gave a long sigh. "I know I am," he said, slowly glancing away.

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