by Simon Archer
Finally, the hacker reemerged.
“That place is awesome!” he exclaimed. “Wait until you guys see it!”
“Eh, I’m enjoying not being cooped up inside for now,” I said with another glance at the wide-open ocean before us. “What d'you find?”
“Not a thing,” he said with a shrug. “It’s completely clear. I even looking around manually and couldn’t find anything. I noticed some security cameras in the more public areas, but we paid for private.”
“Excellent,” I murmured. “Okay, so let me take a look at those pictures.” I held out my hand for the device Malthe had taken the pictures on, and he handed it over to me.
I began to thumb through them until I found Beaufort’s picture again. And then, right after his entry, was the client who had taken Kinley, the one I’d killed on the spot when I’d freed her from the binding chair.
I scanned over the words under the pictures and then thumbed through the other pages Malthe had scanned just to make sure that I was right. But I was. My original reading of the documents had been correct. It was just really hard to wrap my mind around it all.
“What?” Clem asked excitedly when I raised my eyes from the device. “What is it? Clue us in already, Joch.”
“Okay, okay,” I said quickly. “But it’s kind of crazy.” Everyone burst out laughing at that.
“This is all crazy, Nic,” Cindra said, holding a stitch in her side from all the laughing. “I mean, Jesus Christ, look at this fucking thing.” She held up the stuffed foxgirl we’d bought, and we all laughed some more.
“Seriously, give that to me,” Kinley said, swiping the thing from her and promptly tossing it down into the salty waves. “There. That’s where it belongs.” She swiped her hands against each other to show that her work finished, and we all burst out laughing again.
“Seriously, though, Nic, what’s going on?” Cindra asked, her expression suddenly serious, and everyone else stopped laughing just as abruptly.
“Okay,” I said, holding up the device on the Beaufort page for everyone to see. “Look at this.”
Kira gasped audibly and pressed her hands to her mouth. She’d always hated Beaufort most of all, understandably.
“Is that… who I think it is?” Cindra asked, staring at the picture with a combination of disgust and fascination.
“Yes, it is,” I said. “It’s him. And the next one is the client who took Kinley. And there are all kinds of others in here that I recognize as TelCorp clients over the years.”
“What?” Clem asked, shaking his head. “I don’t understand.”
“I didn’t either, at first,” I said, turning the device back to myself and zooming in on the text beneath Beaufort’s picture. “But then I read this. It says that he’s from the city we’re in no and works for some company here, not Tibor Enterprises, and came to that place we were in today to get a binding.”
“What?” Lin asked, clearly floored. “But that’s insane!”
“You’re telling me,” I said, shaking my head. “But I think it must be true. These clients, the ones who we thought worked for Achilles. There’s a reason we could never find anything out about them. They came from here, lived here, and worked here. There are even some return dates on some of these photos and stuff. Not Beaufort’s, obviously, because I turned him into a vegetable, but some of the others.”
“So… does this mean what I think it means?” Cindra asked, speaking slowly.
“Yes,” I said, nodding to her. “These guys, they were coming to Termina from the outside world just to get bindings through Tibor Enterprises. And then they came back here. With the foxgirls.”
“Oh my god,” Kira cried, gasping and clutching her hands to her mouth again. “That’s why so many of the girls that got snatched were never seen again. I always thought they just disappeared to the night clubs or whatever and were too ashamed to come back, though I still thought it was weird they never once showed up again. But now...”
“Yeah,” I said quietly. “I know. They were taken out here against their will.”
“That would explain the discrepancies in Tibor Enterprises’ budget,” Malthe reasoned, raising his eyebrows. “They could rake in a lot of cash doing bindings for people out here, I’d bet. Especially given that everyone here is so damn obsessed with us.”
“Yeah, I know,” I said. “But what doesn’t quite make sense is that they’re so afraid of us out here, and they see binders and the foxgirls as the root of all the world’s problems.”
“So why take that kind of risk and bring some of us out here?” Cindra asked, finishing my thought for me, as we were always on the same wavelength. “Why submit to a binding themselves?”
“Lust and envy are powerful motivators,” I said with a shrug. “Termina itself is proof enough of that. Why wouldn’t that kind of greed extend to the outside world, as well?”
“And it’s been so long since the Great Binder War, it would make sense if they fell into some sense of complacency,” Lin offered. “It’s why they showed up on Termina with cameras in the first place and started meddling with our affairs in the first place, isn’t it? Over time, people have forgotten more and more about how afraid of us they are, and become more and more interested in us, like we’re zoo animals or something. It would make sense that some of our ‘fans’ would take that to an extreme.” She made air quotes and a disgusted expression on the word ‘fans.’
“Yeah, it’s all pretty nuts,” Malthe agreed.
“But now that they’re actually concerned about how things are going for us, about us encroaching on the outside world, they’re scared as hell,” I said. “Which shows that whatever this is, it’s not widely known about.” I waved the device with the pictures on it in the air for emphasis.
“Okay, then, what now?” Clem asked, throwing his arms up in the air. “What does this all mean?”
“It means that Tibor Enterprises is doing something very illegal,” I said, and Lin perked up at this.
“Which means that we have a leg to stand on when we get to Direfall,” she said excitedly. “I knew it! I knew you would need a diplomat.”
“And you were right,” I said, grinning at her. “Look, odds are we’re going to have a fight on our hands when we find Achilles. But after that, it’s going to come down to way more than that. We don’t have an army. Not with us, anyway. We could try going back to Termina and getting one, but I’d like to try something else first.”
“I’m not following,” Clem said, shaking his head in confusion and looking from Lin to me and back again.
“Right,” I said with a low laugh. “So basically, these people are terrified of us. And they realize just how terrified of us they are now that they have to worry about us being out and about. But what if they knew that we were already out and about? Termina isn’t actually as isolated as everyone here thinks it is. There are people from the outside world coming to Termina to get bindings to foxgirls, and then going back out into the outside world with those foxgirls, because they don’t actually want to live in Termina, they just want to pretend like they do.”
“And it’s not us that are choosing to come out here, perform these bindings, send the foxgirls away from the island,” Lin continued.
“Damn straight, it’s not our choice,” Kinley said with a hollow laugh, crossing her arms.
“Exactly,” I continued. “It’s Tibor Enterprises doing this. And if the people in charge of running the outside world knew about all this, I bet you anything that they wouldn’t be a fan.”
“So the plan is to find Achilles, take him down to make a statement, and then give evidence of what his company’s been doing to the rest of the world?” Malthe asked, nodding slowly.
“Yep,” I said. “That’s the best I can come up with, anyway.”
“Okay,” Malthe said, seeming to take to the idea. “That sounds like a plan to me.”
“It does?” I asked, kind of surprised. “I thought you’d all freak the fuck out.
”
“I mean, we’re already freaking the fuck out,” Clem reasoned. “We just have a plan now which is pretty nice.”
I looked around at the rest of the group, and they all nodded.
“Yeah, I guess so,” I laughed. “That’s something, at least.”
“We have a plan, and for the first time, I feel like we’re not completely out of our depth,” Clem continued. “Almost, but not completely. We’re learning more, and we made it here without getting ourselves killed, anyway.”
“Yeah,” I said, nodding. “We did, didn’t we?” I felt pretty good about myself for the first time that day.
Just then, the ocean liner started to move. I never would’ve noticed it if I wasn’t facing the beach, since the ride was so smooth because of the size of the thing.
I turned to face the ocean again and watched as we slowly moved out into the waves. It was even more beautiful than I ever could’ve imagined.
“They said back there that Direfall is our last stop,” Cindra said after some time of silence as we enjoyed the gentle ocean breeze.
“Yeah,” Lin said. “The Nether is on the opposite side of the world, so we’ll be here for a while. We’ll make stops on other continents, I think.”
“That’s good,” I said, nodding. “That’s really good, actually. We’ll get to check out the other continents and gather more information as we go. That’s good. We’ll be less likely to be going in blind when we actually get to Direfall, then.”
“Agreed,” Lin said. “Though we’ll have to get new faces when we stop. We’re stuck with these here since they have the tickets, so we don’t want to do anything illegal with them on.”
“That can be arranged,” Malthe said.
“When’s the next stop?” I asked, turning back to Lin since she had the ship itinerary.
“A couple of weeks,” she said. “It’s going to be a long journey, unfortunately.”
“Well, at least we’ll get an opportunity to rest,” Kira said. “And to think.”
“And there’s tech galore inside the cabin,” Malthe said, jerking his thumb back in the direction of the door. “I saw it when I checked for surveillance tech. So we can do a ton of research, get as up to date on the world’s history as we can.”
“Well then, we have a lot of work to do,” I said. “And we’ll get to keep up to date on what’s going on in Termina.” Kinley scowled at this.
“I hate gawking at them like all these other people,” she said.
“I know,” I agreed. “Me too. But it’s important to know what’s going on. Because everyone else we run into here will know, too, and they’ll expect us to know. Plus, we could learn something important. How these people view us is just as important as any fact about them personally.”
“Well, let’s just enjoy tonight, okay?” Cindra asked, looking around at everyone. “It’s been a long couple of days. Let’s just relax and not worry about any of it for one night.”
“Agreed,” I said, smiling at her. “I think that’s an excellent idea.”
And with that, we turned back to watching the waves of the ocean.
21
Achilles
“Shit, shit, shit,” I cursed, pacing back and forth in my office in Tibor Enterprises International Headquarters. “I can’t believe you idiots lost them!”
“We’re not certain it was them, Sir,” the Nether’s ambassador to the Barrens reminded me, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. But his expression said otherwise.
“Dammit you imbecile, how d'you even get appointed to this position if you’re dense enough to believe that nonsense!” I cried, nearly spitting in his face. He flinched but didn’t move otherwise.
“I’m just saying that...”
“You’re clinging to wishful thinking,” I said, turning away from him dismissively. “And it’s not helping anyone. That ship is the only one that didn’t make its cargo delivery, and it can’t be found anywhere. Neither can the shippers. It was them. There’s no other option unless they spontaneously combusted in the middle of the ocean! Do you think that was it?” I turned back to him with a sneer.
“No, Sir,” he muttered, his teeth clenched.
“So, what are we doing to find them?” I asked with a false cheeriness in my voice that seemed to freak the guy out even more. I was usually very professional. Not like that amateur Elias Berg back in Termina. So this little outburst of mine had everyone on edge, I knew that. But that was good. That was what I wanted. A little bit of unpredictability was fitting for such an unpredictable situation, as far as I was concerned.
“Well, Sir,” the man said, gulping audibly as he prepared his answer. “Now that we’re aware of the situation, we’re dispersing all of our available operatives throughout the continent of the Barrens and the city of Firebend in an attempt to find them, but...” His voice trailed off. But I knew as well as he did what he was too afraid to say.
“But by now they could be anywhere, on any ship, em route to any continent,” I finished for him, staring daggers at him.
“We will find them,” the man assured me, though the shaking in his voice told me otherwise. “They can’t hide for long. They’ve got seven of the most recognizable faces in the world. And they don’t know anything about us out here, so...” But I cut him off.
“That’s exactly what I said weeks ago,” I snapped. “And yet here we are. Clearly, they’ve found a way to get around all that.”
We stood in silence for several moments after that, since the ambassador didn’t seem to be able to find a way to respond to this statement. Finally, I spoke again.
“So we need a new tactic,” I said, turning away from him again and resuming my pacing. “We have to stop underestimating these people. That’s been our mistake at every turn, treating them like they’re not worth the time of day like it’s some kind of horrible accident that they’ve made it this far. Clearly, it isn’t, and they’re far more capable and knowledgeable than we ever thought possible.”
“But, Sir, they’re completely shut off from the outside world--” the ambassador began.
But I held up a hand to shut him up again.
“Exactly,” I snapped, realization dawning on me. “And they got that way for good reason. I think we’ve forgotten that, unfortunately. We’re so far removed from why we put them there in the first place that we’ve forgotten how dangerous they are. Started to look at them as just a bunch of idiotic zoo animals who only exist to be gawked at. But they’re more than that. They’re the most dangerous people in the world, and we need to start treating them like it again.”
“Yes, Sir,” the ambassador said, his eyes darting around the room nervously.
“Oh, get out,” I scoffed, waving him away.
I sat down at my desk. It was a sparse room, just a wooden desk, white walls, and speckled gray carpet. There was no decoration, nothing on the desk but a thin laptop and a pen and pad of paper. I hadn’t been here in years. Decades, even. It was my office, it had always been my office, but in a way, it felt completely foreign to me, as if it were an artifact pulled from another lifetime. I supposed that in a way, it was.
Finally, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed the mayor of Direfall. I had him on speed dial.
“Mr. Tibor, I’m glad you’ve finally returned my call,” he said when he answered, his tone cool, but I cut him off.
“We need to prepare all of our defenses,” I said, barking out orders without giving him a chance to respond. “We have to assume that these people are coming here. And we need to lock down the island, all of it. Nothing and no one goes in or out, including our people. And our cameras.”
“Mr. Tibor, you can’t seriously be suggesting that…” the mayor began, but I cut him off again.
“That we shut down that ridiculous television show?” I asked. “Why yes, yes, I am. And I’ll do you one better. We’re going to shut down all of it, and we’re going to take over the island while it’s at its most vulnerable while Joch
is gone. And then, we’re going to be prepared here to fight these people off. Whatever they may bring.”
“Surely, Sir, we will catch them before they even reach...” the mayor began again, incredulous. But I interrupted him. Again.
“Well, we haven’t so far, have we?” I spat. “These people are dangerous. We’d better start acting like it.”
“Mr. Tibor, need I remind you that you, in fact, work for me,” the mayor said pointedly.
“No, you hired me to tell you what to do about Termina,” I reminded him. “And I’m telling you. So do it.”
And then I hung up on him and dialed the President of the Nether to tell him the same thing. I had him on speed dial, too.
22
The first week of our journey was honestly relaxing, just as Kira had hoped. We lounged around in our cabin, ate the literal buffet of amazing food the ocean liner had available, and learned everything that we could about the outside world.
Over time, we became more and more accustomed to these people’s customs and lingo, so that when we docked in port cities, we were better able to converse with the people there.
We would put on new faces whenever we left the ship and go and find whatever Tibor Enterprises outlets were in every port city. We found more and more of the same at each stop. We would ask the clerks if we could get closer to Termina and flash some bills around, and then we would go up to the exact replica of Elias Berg’s office in each building. There, we would find files on all the TelCorp clients that had come from the outside world.
All the while, we continued to watch the TV in our cabin for updates on Termina. And there weren’t really any to be found. I couldn’t decide whether that was a good or bad thing. The people in Termina continued to pontificate on and on, wondering where we were and arguing about what to do next. But Semra managed to keep any unrest at bay. I could tell that the producers of the show were growing more than agitated about the lack of material.