Chapter 47: IDs

Chapter 47: IDs

Location: Estriduros Republic; Estriduros System; Estriduros; Duros; Diving Tiger

We enter the bar and are immediately assaulted by the loud noise. Patrons are shouting through the room and loud electric music is playing from the speakers. Ugh, not that I didn’t expect it, but it’s still quite a change compared to the outside. I lead the way and head for the counter in the back of the room.

I pass a few tables and look at the people sitting and drinking there. The general vibe from the lower levels continues, and I conclude, that we have indeed come to the right place. About half of the people look like they are currently planning something illegal, and the other half looks like they’ve just done something illegal as well.

We arrive at the counter and sit down on three empty stools. Jack finds his voice first and orders a drink for each of us. I didn’t hear what exactly over the noise, but the drinks arrive soon after. It’s a beer for Jack and a fancy-looking cocktail for Alex and me. I raise a questioning eyebrow, and Alex leans over to talk directly into my ear.

“It’s called a Freezer. Hits extremely hard in the beginning, then gets very cold once you swallow it. Try it, it’s my favorite!”

I shrug and take a sip. She was right! It tastes like pure alcohol and burns in my mouth, but once I swallow, it cools everything down. Nice! I kinda like it and give the others a thumbs-up. We continue drinking our drinks, while I look around the room and try to find someone to talk to about getting some IDs.

There, back in a dark corner is a man with a black hat. Every few minutes different people walk up to him, give him something, or simply talk to him. Then they leave again, and the man wears a slight smile. Suddenly, our gazes lock, and after a short time holding my gaze, he winks and waves me over.

I look back at the others. “Uhh, guys? I think I have a lead.”

They share a look, then Alex nods. “Go for it. We stay here and keep watch. Do not leave the bar without us.”

Alright, I can do this. I slide off the stool, put on a confident expression, and walk toward the man in the back corner. As I get closer, I notice several heavy-set men sitting at the tables around the man. They cast suspicious looks at me, but after getting a nod from the hat-wearing man, they ignore me. I reach the table and he beckons me to sit down on the opposite side.

A deep, slightly scratchy voice greets me. “Welcome, what brings me the honor of meeting someone obviously from the higher levels?”

I look up surprised, straight into his piercing blue eyes. He looks younger than his voice indicates. Maybe forty? “How do you know that?”

He chuckles a bit. “Well, I do know the people trafficking my bar. You are not one of them. You and your friends don’t have the look.”

Huh, his bar? Before I can respond, he continues. “So what can I do for you?”

I take a deep breath. This is it. I hope he can help us. “I need something that can’t be acquired through legal channels, and something tells me, you are the right man to talk to.”

He laughs and doesn’t stop for a while. When he finally calmed down, he looks back at me with a big smirk on his face. “Either you are the worst cop I’ve ever seen, or you are so new to this that it hurts.”

I cross my arms defensively and scowl at him. “Not everyone’s a born criminal!”

“True enough, but you still can’t walk up to people and ask them about something illegal. Trying to be ominous won’t help you here at all. You lack the reputation. So what is it that you need? I might still be willing to help you. It’s an amusing change of the routine.”

My scowl deepens, and I exhale loudly. “Fine, I need IDs, best would be a stack of blank ones, but I’m also happy with three personalized ones.”

He barks another short laugh. “Hah, see, it wasn’t that hard. Now IDs, that’s a strange request for a young woman like you. You don’t look like a criminal on the run, so what do you need a new ID for?”

I open my mouth to tell him that’s none of his business, but he interrupts me before I can start. “No, don’t tell me. I want to guess… Let’s say three tries and If I’m right, you get a small box filled with blank IDs, and I get a small favor from you?”

I don’t think my scowl could get deeper, but I think I still manage. “What’s the price for them? I don’t want to play your stupid games.”

He shakes his head, chuckling. “Oh no, you misunderstand. That’s the deal. Take it or leave. Three tries for me. If I’m wrong, we can talk about a suitable price, and you still owe me that favor. Now ready?”

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I sigh. “Fine, get on with it… It’s not that you’ll guess right anyway. How will you ensure that I don’t lie?”

“Uhh, we’ll see about that!” He shoots a predatory grin at me. “In case no one told you before… Your face is Very telling.”

I grimace.

He laughs. “See, that’s what I’m talking about. Now, my first guess… You are fleeing from an arranged marriage.” My snort is answer enough and he laughs even more. “Hah, no that’s not it at all. Fine, I won’t joke around anymore.”

His expression turns serious, and he leans closer while giving his goons a hand signal. Suddenly the noise cuts off, and I look around in confusion. “What’s happening?”

“I’ve made our conversation private. My next guess is for our ears only.”

He weirdly stretches the word guess… I wonder what’s this about. There is no way he can guess that I’m an uncollared Mage. “Okaaayy, go on then.”

“You want to smuggle a bunch of uncollared Mages out of the republic, and therefore need IDs without the Mage marker on them.”

He drops that bomb with a completely serious face, and I can’t stop myself from blurting out, while completely forgetting about my no-swear principles. “What the fuck?!”

I almost fall out of my seat. There’s no way that he could have guessed right. “How?”

He leans back, now wearing an innocent expression. “So I’m right?”

“Of course you are… But still, how do you know?”

“I’ve learned to look for details over the years… It’s important if you are in my position.” His gaze sharpens again, then he laughs. “You don’t even know who I am, do you? You just walked in here, being none the wiser. Oh my, it’s always the little things that make my day. Before I tell you how I found out, I should probably introduce myself, don’t you think?”

I nod, and an ominous feeling starts emanating from my chest. Where did I just walk into?

“You can call me Don Fernando…”

The Mafia! Oh shit, I walked right into the Don of the local Mafia. Even worse, I owe him a favor now. What do I do now?

“Ahh, no need to be afraid. I’m a reasonable man and I won’t go back on my word. You’ll get your IDs, and I don’t even require a big favor from you. As for how I know? Well, your friend over there,” He points at Jack, “he’s got a healthy tan, but not around his neck. Combining this with your need for new IDs and your general nervousness, there is only one solution. Your friend is a Mage!”

Ohh, he doesn’t even know about me. But now that I look at Jack, it’s blindingly obvious. Holy smokes, why didn’t we notice? “Fine, you got us…” I gulp. “Now, what do you want from me?” Please let it be something easy.

He makes another hand sign to his goons and two of them get up and start walking over toward Jack and Alex. “I’m going to split the favor into two parts. Don’t worry, they are small ones. First, I’d like to know how you managed to remove his collar. For the second part, let’s wait till your friends have joined us.”

He looks at me expectantly and I somehow manage to stay composed. Actually, this man is nothing like the ruthless Mafia bosses out of the movies. He’s quite nice? “I can agree to your second request. For your first, you need to wait. My computer specialist was responsible for the removal of the collar, and they are not here right now.”

He frowns. Now that I know a bit more context, that frown looks way more dangerous. “Disappointing.”

The word hangs in the air, and I gulp. “I’m sorry, but I actually don’t know the slightest thing about the process besides needing a modified UC-Cable to connect to a port in the collar.”

His expression softens a bit, and he shows me a slight smile again. “See, that’s more than I knew before.”

In the meantime, the goons have reached Jack and Alex, and are currently guiding them to our table. They are talking to each other, but still, no sound reaches me. Then they cross some invisible barrier, and I can finally hear them again. They wonder what’s going on and are discussing that intensely. Don Fernando points his hand at the empty space next to me. “Welcome, sit down please, we’ve got a bit to discuss.”

They sit and look at me. “What’s going on?” Jack decides to ask me directly and I’m about to start to reply when Don Fernando starts speaking again.

“This fine young woman here,” he points at me. “Owes me a favor. As you are both part of her crew, I’m going to extend the favor to both of you. Especially you,” he looks Jack right in the eyes. “A Mage comes in very handy!”

Jack's eyes go wide, then he shoots me an accusing glare. “Why did you?”

“I didn’t, he found out on his own… Your neck is completely white, there is no tan. We should have thought of that…” I shake my head. I hope Jack is smart enough to guess, that Fernando doesn’t know that I’m a Mage too. Who would have guessed, that being almost unable to get a tan comes out as an advantage?

Fernando chuckles and tilts his hat. “Indeed, it’s quite obvious if you know what to look for. Now, may I ask what kind of Mage you are? Depending on that, I’ll find something you three can do for me.”

Jack looks at both me and Alex and we shrug in response. “It doesn’t matter. The secret is out anyway.”

Jack sighs. “I guess you’re right… Fine, I’m a Utility Mage.”

“Splendid, I take, you know the Telekinesis spell then?” Jack nods and the Don continues. “Good, then here’s what you are going to do for me.”

He waves his hand with another hand signal and one of his people walks over and hands over a rolled-up tablet. He pulls it open and taps a few times until it shows a map of the level we are currently on. Then he taps at a building in the western part of the level, and it starts glowing green.

“We are here, in the Diving Tiger.” He then points at another building halfway across the level. It’s way bigger, a warehouse? “This is one of my competitor’s establishments. It’s where he stores his merchandise before his guys distribute it. I want what’s inside that warehouse. That’s where your Telekinesis comes in. The crates are quite heavy, and I don’t have the men to spare to dedicate enough to liberating the goods. So you three are going to sneak into the warehouse and float out the crates, while my men are causing a distraction.”

I frown. That’s still quite vague. “If we agree to this, we need more information. How do we get in? What are you doing for distraction? And most importantly, what do we get besides those IDs? Exposing free magic right here on the capital planet is a big risk. That’s worth more than ten blank IDs I’d say.”

He stares at me, and his mouth moves into a sly grin. “Do you think I let you walk away just like this? No, no, there is no if you agree to this. You asked, you’ll do your part. Then I deliver the payment. There’s no backing out now. We can discuss further payment after the job is done. Do you understand now?”

As he goes on, I go even paler, I think. Where did I get us into? I can’t forget just what kind of man he is. Even if he’s acting nice, there’s still a ruthless Mafia boss behind his façade. Sorry Jack and Alex for pulling you into this. I look at them apologetically. I sigh and lower my head. “I understand.”

“Aww, cheer up, there shouldn’t be any risk for you. You got a tablet? I’ll send you all you need to know. We meet up at midnight tomorrow night, don’t be late, the location is in the information package.”