The Next Move
A muttered incantation and an invisibility spell later, the men are shouting in panic about magic. One of them brings out a small, pink gem. Magnatite? You do not stay around to find out what it does. Grabbing the woman by her hood, you make your escape. You reach the top of a nearby wall with a single jump, and from there you bounce off to an adjacent rooftop.
“I see, I see. Those limbs pack some impressive force, to leap so high while carrying another person. The explosive power is tremendous, beyond that of most humans. With a big enough wingspan, you might even be able to propel yourself into the air and fly,” she observes as you drag her across the roof. “What kind of non-human are you, by the way?”
“What kind do you think I am?”
“I can’t tell from the scent. It is a really interesting one. It isn’t human, but it is unlike anything I have ever encountered, and I have had samples from every non-human race known to exist. Harpies, demons, dragons, even the rare angel.”
“Angel, huh.” You lean over the edge of the roof, looking at the quiet streets below. You should return to the inn quickly, while they have lost your trail.
***
Back at the inn, you find that Rin has swiftly gathered up the twins and Runde, and is even now perched on the bed with a haughty look. “I suppose you cannot walk down the street without getting into trouble of any sort, eh?”
“What you call trouble, I call opportunity. Anyway, good job bringing them back before I even asked you to,” you say.
“Of course. It’s only natural for one with my level of competence,” brags Rin.
“Says the one who got into a bar fight over an overly handsy old man,” mutters Aria, scowling.
“Oh, I wouldn’t even call it a fight.” Rin shakes her finger in a dismissive gesture.
“D-Don’t worry,” Arlin says quickly. “No one died, Master Erdrick.”
“Probably,” shrugs Rin. “So, who’s the woman that you picked up?”
The woman speaks without waiting for you to introduce her. “Zayan Matroube Reshia XIII. I am the genius that you have been searching for,” she says confidently.
“How do we know that you’re the real Zayan?” you ask.
“After taking me all the way home? That is so very cruel! Ah, suspicions of my identity. That will be hard to disprove without demonstrating my ability, I take it? Very well. Can I borrow that mug?”
It is the inn’s mug, but you see no harm in letting her do so.
The woman grabs the mug and places it on the floor. Crouching down, she brings out a small bag of tools from under her cloak and begins tinkering with the mug, giggling ominously. You hear whirring and cracking noises coming from her work.
“Are you sure about this?” whispers Rin, sidling up next to you.
The woman is done a few minutes later, and the mug has been reshaped slightly to add a strange lid on top, with a tube poking out of it.
“Here, girl, catch.” She tosses the mug to Aria, who snatches it out of the air expertly. “Look at the side of the mug, under the handle. Do you see three buttons?”
“Yeah. Do you want me to press them?”
“Aria, wait.”
Before Aria can do anything rash, you take the mug from her and place several protective spells around everyone in the room, except for the woman.
“Aha, you don’t trust me, do you? How disappointing,” she sighs. “But I understand, safety is paramount in an experiment.”
Turning around, you hand the mug to Runde. “Exactly. That is why you should do it.”
“M-Me? Why, Shining One?” groans the goblin.
“Hm? Is that a complaint I hear?” you chuckle.
“Of course not! This life is yours!” bows the loyal goblin.
Well, if anything is about to go wrong, Runde has a better magical instinct and control over his powers to stop it from happening, compared to Aria.
“If we are done picking test subjects, then you, goblin! Press the top-most button.”
“Do as she says, Runde,” you nod.
Whimpering, Runde presses the button. A jet of flame shoots up into the air, scorching the ceiling. He almost drops the mug in surprise.
“Keep holding on to it. Press the next button.”
He does so. The flame comes under control, burning and wavering as it takes the form of a blade.
“S-Should I press the third button?” asks Runde.
“Only if you want the mug to explode and destroy the inn with it. If not, you can let go of all the buttons.”
His cat-eyes still wide from the shock, he carefully releases the buttons and sets down the mug, inching away from it carefully. Meanwhile, the ceiling of the room is on fire. You let out an irritable sigh and freeze the flames with a wave of your hand.
“If I have more time and better tools, I could construct an exponentially better prototype, obviously. Now, I believe that I should have proved that beyond the name of Zayan, I am obviously an extraordinary inventor in my own right. Is that not so?”
You pick up the mug yourself, looking at its construction. It is strange, and you are unable to make sense of it at first glance – how does it even do what it did? Perhaps this is what makes her a genius.
“Alright then. So… Zayan.”
“Yes,” she grins.
“Before we decide what to do, I need to know what you were doing. Why were you on the run from the governor’s men incognito?”
“That’s simple. They were going to deport me back to Dijeh, obviously.”
“And that is a fate worse than death? Did you run afoul of royalty? Turn one of them into a frog?”
“Oh, I wish that were so! That would certainly be a lot more interesting than what they are trying to do. Can you believe it? They said my experiments were unethical! They were trying to unreasonably restrict what I could and couldn’t do!”
“And… w-what were those restrictions?” asks Arlin, a frightened expression fixed on his face.
“No more tests on prisoners. Unbelievable, isn’t it? They were scheduled to die anyway, whether it was a fast or slow death. I could have made so much more of their lives than anything they had accomplished so far, not to mention the years they are going to waste rotting in some Dijehnese sand-hole!”
“What manner of experiments were you conducting?” you ask.
“I am trying to create the ultimate life-form,” grins Zayan proudly. “A task fitting for my intellect.”
At that, Rin appears to perk up, her eyes narrowing. She asks, “Zayan, have you made any progress there? Give me the details.”
“What are you asking that for? What would you know? You look like a vapid airhead, all looks and no brains,” snorts Zayan dismissively.
“Rin.” You quickly interject before another argument breaks out. “Now’s really not the time. You can pick her brains later. Zayan, continue your tale.”
“Aye aye,” shrugs the woman, pushing up her slipping lenses. “Now, this, uh, Crown Prince of Methuss, I think, offered me a place to work as much as I wanted if I would join his side. All I had to do for unlimited funding and freedom was to make a mining machine for him. It’s not being built yet, but the blueprints are already complete. I planned to take advantage of this visit to defect, but it looks like he didn’t manage to get the governor on his side.”
“So the governor is trying to return you to Dijeh, and avoid an international incident…”
“Yes, that much is obvious. If I defect, Dijeh will be very unhappy. So will my family, but I never liked those doddering fools anyway. They have no foresight, I tell you.”
“What of the rumours about the mining machine? You say that it is not yet built, but on the streets people are saying that it is near completion.”
“Ah… that. To be honest, I know nothing about that,” says Zayan seriously. “I can only assume someone with knowledge of the blueprints leaked it for some purpose and are fanning the rumours, but it is not me. Why would I make my presence in this town any more difficult than it already is?”
“Could it be the governor?” Aria speaks up. “He would know of the machine, wouldn’t he?”
“Possible, if he wants to play himself up as a hero for chasing out Zayan,” you reply. “Well spotted, Aria.”
She beams in pride.
“Now, what should we do?” you wonder. You have the initiative at the moment, with Zayan in your hands. To avoid losing it, you will need to act swiftly.
***
A. You flee Ontoglia. It is quite well-defended, but there are a few ways by which you can leave the place, and it should be easy to vanish even if they are searching for you. Best not to risk staying here any longer than you have to.
B. You approach the governor before he finds you. If he is betraying the Crown Prince’s orders, that sounds like a mighty fine reason for blackmail to work. You aren’t leaving Ontoglia before extracting whatever you need from it.
