Apocalypse Redux

Chapter 53: Shady Deals

Now that he knew about the killer, Isaac had started actively looking for them online. Previously, all there had been were reports of viscous murders, but the fact that they’d happened all over the place had prevented the cops from putting things together for far too long.

But nothing had happened to any member of the team for three weeks, no one had noticed anything and bodies had continued to drop in other places, so it had seemed like they were going to be safe. They were all still taking precautions, but it seemed like any kind of organized and official summonings with all the needed precautions were safe from the killer’s wrath.

Isaac, meanwhile, had just kept going as normal. He had [Hunter’s Gaze] always active as a matter of course, scanning everyone he encountered. If he ran across someone who could somehow block the [Skill] or was actually identified as having the [Serial Killer] or equivalent [Class], then he knew there was about to be trouble and could get ready.

And at this point, he was almost certain that this killer had a [Class] like that, or at the very least, an evolution of [Rogue]. Subduing people like the ones that had fallen to this killer wasn’t easy, especially if one had to do so quietly. Of course, those were also the [Classes] that were the best at blocking [Inspect], so simply trying to scan everyone’s [Class] to find them would be functionally impossible for the police. For him, it would also be difficult, but if he ran across someone he couldn’t identify, the potential for trouble was there, so he’d get ready for a fight as a matter of course.

Right now though, none of that mattered, there were other matters to pay attention to, namely, a business deal.

“You know that list of yours was any Interpol agent’s wet dream, right?” Calise chuckled as he greeted Isaac from his seat in the restaurant’s private room.

“I mean, you asked for a dozen different plant products whose possession and use is … frownedupon, conflict diamonds, endangered animal parts … the list goes on and on, and it’s a good one.”

Isaac shrugged “I need all of that stuff and if were legal, I’d be getting it from a supermarket.”

This was another facet of the [System’s] nastiness. There were essentially two kinds of summoning resources. There was the cheap, abundant kind that pretty much anyone could get their hands on, which made summoning most monsters stupidly easy.

And then you had the rare stuff, the kind that was either hard to get and forced people to fight over what little there was or needed to be created by doing awful things. Some were illegal, others could only be sourced through truly despicable means.

The greatest examples of this were conflict diamonds, or as the [System] referred to them, ‘diamonds bathed in the blood of innocents’. The problems began with the circumstances that were required to create them, but that was quite literally only a small part of that mess. Then there was the small issue that the supply wasn’t that big when conflict diamonds specifically were required, especially if the world ever achieved a largely peaceful state.

At that point, planetary scale powerhouses would have likely come into existence, which was about the level where people would start to run into roadblocks to progression and looking for new ways to advance. These ambitious people would also have the power to manipulate events in such a way as to eventually lead to the creation of more conflict diamonds.

And all of that was ignoring the fact that the [System] never outright listed that it required conflict diamonds, instead describing them with a fanciful term that would make people think simply drenching diamonds in literal, physical, blood harvested from people they deemed innocent. When the first attempt inevitably failed due to the fact that it was flawed from the start, they’d go after other ‘innocent’ types of people. People never convicted of a crime, virgins, children, newborns. Over and over until someone figured out the wordplay, after all, it was blindingly obvious in hindsight.

Isaac would point that out when it was time in order to prevent the senseless slaughter of people who would be considered ‘innocent’ as per any definition of the word, but not before. There was no real ‘right’ solution to this insidious mess, but this was the least bad option, at least the way he saw it.

As for the other stuff, well, a lot of potion ingredients were pretty illegal as it were. For example, mental celerity and mana restoration potions contained cocaine. No knew for certain if the alchemy system had been set up to contain crap like that or it was just a coincidence that the ingredients to such useful potions would inevitably lead to butting heads with the law, but that was indubitably the end result.

“I suppose that’s one way to look at it.” Calise laughed “It wasn’t easy, but I got everything you wanted. Not here, mind you, but in a location that actually has the space for it. Also, I got that file you wanted.”

With that, the mob boss slid a manilla folder across the table, so Isaac stepped up and picked it up, seeing crime scene photos on first few pages. This would be incredibly useful. He hadn’t been able to find out much about the serial killer, sadly, and they’d kept killing all throughout the last three weeks.

“Now, I have no idea why you wanted the file for the ‘Monster Killer’, but here you go.” Calise asked, giving Isaac a questioning look.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Isaac closed the file, pulled out the chair and sat down “That whole mess has a good chance of splattering onto us as well. Unless you stopped levelling?”

Of course, no one in this room had done so. The human gorillas were the same as last time, solidly above Level 10 with one of them having an Aspect of the Specter while the second held some kind of Rock Golem Aspect. Their [Classes], meanwhile, were something like [Bodyguard], able to lend their boss their Fortitude in case of emergency, allowing him to tank a hell of a lot more damage than he had any right to. Of course, there was a way around that. Namely, attack the person being protected to trigger the defensive [Skill], then murder the bodyguard before the Fortitude could be transferred back.

Calise, meanwhile, felt like some kind of … it was actually kind of hard to describe in words. He had a certain affable warmth to him, like a kindly grandfather, but it was all just a layer over a hard and razor sharp core, one that would poke through the exterior and slice you to ribbons if you decided to push against that warmth and revealed the darkness within. It was times like this when he really lamented his [Class’] inability to get him actual names because knowing the precise phrasing would have been interesting. Then again, likely the only reason he'd been able to get anything was that [Hunter’s Gaze] bypassed [Privacy] and most of its upgrades.

“Hm, I suppose so. But whoever this guy is, they’re tilting at windmills. We have more people use our summoning facilites every day than have been killed by him to date. Sure, some of them were idiots who’d have ended up dead sooner or later, getting a lot of others killed in the process, but the rest, they’re people just like us.” Calise chuckled.

“And if he goes after you?”

“Then I kick his ass. Killing dumbasses is very different than fighting an organized group with considerable Levels of their own.” Calise shrugged dismissively.

“On the other hand, this is a serial killer. Who knows what kinds of anti-human [Class]-[Skills] they have? Besided I find it hard to believe that killing humans gives out no XP and given how many people have already been killed … look out for yourself.” Isaac said seriously. He didn’t really value the relationship with Calise that much, but getting another contact for Black Market goods would be a pain in the ass.

“I’ve had people come after me for reasons a lot more personal me being a part of some vague group that might have roused someone’s ire.” Calise shrugged “Besides, our summoning rooms are well-fortified. Nothing is getting out of there. And you would not believe how much spoiled little rich kids pay for someone to hold down a hydra so they can decapitate it with a red-hot blade.”

“People will pay for the craziest things.” Isaac shrugged “I hope you have a way to deal with the fumes, though. Hydra blood is toxic and I doubt it’s completely safe to inhale.”

“It isn’t, we found that out the hard way. But thank God for healers, eh?” Calise laughed “You’re a quick one, aren’t you, Mr. Holt.”

“You have to be, in our line of work. Finding a need isn’t exactly worth much if someone else did it first and is already fulfilling it.” Isaac shrugged. He seemed to be doing that a lot today. Then, he frowned.

“Earlier, you mentioned my list made me look like a narc. What made you decide I wasn’t?”

It wasn’t an important question, but one he’d very much like to know the answer to.

Calise threw his head back and started laughing, great, booming guffaws echoing off the ceiling.

“You contacted me hours after Initialization. Those pansies who work for all those alphabet soups agencies wouldn’t dare to summon without filling out a request form, in triplicate. And then coming to visit us the next da- …”

Whatever he was going to say next was swallowed by more laughter.

“Looking at it like that, that was a stupid question.” Isaac admitted “Now, back on the topic of business. I’ve brought the Aspects you specifically requested, as well as enough to cover the rest.”

He then moved to heft his metal briefcase onto the table, when Calise shook his head.

“Why don’t we discuss this over lunch?”

“Of course.” Isaac agreed and the moment those words passed his lips, a waiter entered from a door well camouflaged in the wood paneling of the wall.

After finishing his salad, Isaac set down his fork, placed the briefcase on the table and flipped it open. Ten Aspects sat in perfectly smooth holes in the black velvet covered foam that filled the briefcase, the whole thing looking quite impressive and semi-professional. He’d gathered quite a few of them by fighting monsters above his weight class. Some had gone to Bailey, some had gotten sold for some clean cash, others he was saving for when he needed them. This was one of those times.

“What I have here is two Aspects of the Wraith. They function as upgrades to your current Aspect of the Specter, falling into the same slot while upgrading the existing [Skill].” Isaac explained, gesturing to the two dark blue spheres “Next to it, we have two Aspects of the Lesser Hydra and one Aspect of the Hydra, the Tier 5 version, and can upgrade the lesser ones. Then we have one Aspect of each of the Lesser Elementals, Air, Water, Fire and Earth. The last one belongs to a Tier 5 golem by the name of The Crusher. All in all, I believe this suffices?

“Now, I’m aware that that would make these Aspects considerably more expensive than the one’s from last time, but I’m afraid my luck getting them the last time made them appear to be considerably more common than they actually are.”

“That’s still cheaper than some of the other offers I’ve gotten. Your prices are quite good, which begs one question: why?” Calise asked, the seriousness of the question somewhat undercut by the fact that he was wiping some salad dressing from his mouth as he said this. That had clearly been deliberate, making the question seem more innocent.

“While I value money and the things I can get with them, I value relationships more. I can get money easily enough, I can get goods too, but gaining relationships or regaining integrity is neither fast or easy. Showing up here, cheaply selling Aspects and then jacking up the prices the next time we meet … perhaps a smart business decision, but less so from a personal point of view.”

As Isaac said this, Calise started laughing again.

“Business over relationships, hah, you’d fit in pretty well here.” he chuckled “Some people will tell you to always get as much money as you can, but those people are idiots. Can’t put a price on good will, after all. You know what, I’ve got a few bottles of nice wine in the cellar, the kind you can’t really buy without obscene wealth or the right connections. Why don’t we crack open one of those and toast to this, Mr. Holt? Or do you still need to drive home?”

“I do, but alcohol can’t really affect me anymore.” Isaac nodded and Calise called the waiter over and ordered a bottle that Isaac didn’t know anything about, but it sounded fancy.

“So, to good relationships, and may this whole mess with the serial killer blow over.” Calise toasted.

“To good relationships, and may people start using their heads when the summon.” Isaac altered the toast slightly, then their glasses clinked together and they drank. He didn’t know much about wine, but he had to admit this one was pretty good.

“Would you like to take a bottle or two home with you?” Calise suggested.

“I’d like that, thank you. This is an excellent vintage, perfect for celebrating milestones like this one, everyone should have a few of those in their wine cellar.” Isaac nodded.

The rest of the meal passed quickly with a bunch of inane chatter. As Isaac sat down his spoon after scarfing down a plate of tiramisu, Calise got to his feet.

“I believe we’ve kept you waiting long enough, shall we go see your new belongings?”

One short car ride later, they were strolling through a largely empty industrial area and for a brief moment, Isaac feared an ambush. But he couldn’t hear anyone around and Calise was completely relaxed, making him relax in turn. Besides, he was incredibly good at surviving ambushed with his [Skill]set.

“And here we are. If you brought a truck, we’ll gladly help you load it up. Otherwise, feel free to keep this stuff here until you figure out how to transport it.” Calise said as he opened up the door to a storage locker utterly crammed with stuff. The diamonds didn’t take up much space, and the same thing went for the drugs. He only needed a few for potions, but when he later released potion recipes or someone else figured them out, him having bought only the ones needed for potions would look suspicious, so he’d bought some of basically all of the ones he’d ever heard about.

No, it was the rare animal parts that were taking up vast amounts of space. They might have been good resources to summon rare creatures, but Isaac actually wanted them for different reasons. Amongst the ‘Reward’ type summons, there were several wildlife sanctuary types that could serve to preserve living species in their proper ecosystem … but only if someone had preserved the necessary bits beforehand. People didn’t know enough to hunt them down yet, so this was the best possible time to make sure he could generate those spaces in the future, before anyone else could drive up the price beyond what he could pay.

“Thank you for the offer, but thankfully, I have something for that.”

Isaac drew a small, fist sized, metal plated ball out of his coat pocket, held it out to the storage locker and suddenly, it vanished … along with everything in the storage locker. The orb had, of course, been an engraved Lesser Space Elemental Core, used to remotely access his storage space, covered in embellishments to hide its true nature that had been sucked into the storage as well.

“Huh. How much for that?” Calise asked, seemingly struggling to keep the hunger out of his voice.

“Proprietary technology, I’m afraid, single use and dangerous to create.” Isaac shook his head “Once we’re in a position to safely and consistently create these, they’re probably going to go for maybe ten thousand each.”

And he really didn’t want to encourage anyone to summon any kind of Space Elemental.

“I see.” Calise looked like he’d bitten into a lemon.

“Now, I’m afraid I have another meeting later today.” Isaac began cautiously and Calise nodded.

“Ah well, the world stops for no man. I wish you good luck with that, and may our next meeting be just as fruitful as this one.”

They shook hands and Isaac walked off, doing his usual ‘disappear the moment I’m out of sight’ shtick. Then he changed clothes before going to the train station and boarding the train back home. He was planning on taking a brief catnap to take care of all his sleep needs, then review the case file.