Chapter 9: Alleyways

Stupid, the gryzzik said to himself. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Nevertheless, he kept walking toward Umrad Hill, his head down and his hands in his ratty overcoat’s pockets. He knew perfectly well that this was the wrong thing to do, that it went completely against both rationality and instinct, and yet he couldn’t ignore the call. Not a compulsion like before, no… he was fully in control now. He was sure of it… well, almost sure. This was all very new to him.

It’s not here anymore, he thought. You’re free. Why are you doing this? His feet kept plodding along the wet sidewalk, one step after the other. He tried not to think about where he was going, but there was no mistaking it. Was it curiosity? That couldn’t be all. He wasn’t really that curious… after all, he wouldn’t have survived the streets this long if he was. He knew when to leave well enough alone. More

Chapter 8: Across the Night Sky

A stark light illuminated Kasser from below as he looked at the Harmony night, giving the middle-aged man a ghostly pallor. He had an old can of beans full of black coffee in one hand and a cigarette in the other, as he leaned on the railing on the edge of the rooftop. While the sign below (for Hornung brand shoes, well beyond the purchasing power of most of the building’s tenants) glowed a soft blue from the street, the edge of the roof caught that thin band of the ad’s backlight that was unfiltered by its overlay. The inspector tried not to speculate about the mysterious assignment that pulled him out of bed at such an ungodly hour, contenting himself with a generalized annoyance at the prospect of having to work with unfamiliar personnel, while he pulled at his smoke between sips of deeply bitter coffee. That’s what you get for actually working for your salary instead of skating by like everyone else, he pondered. They make you into a celebrity, and then everyone wants to pester you with all sorts of random crap. More