“Speech is eructation, seated in the stomach – not the mind. The former reacts before the latter reasons. Eupepsy produces fine words, indigestion: foul ones. Breath is always tainted by diet. A man’s speech offends you? Feed him well. Men lend you no ear? Eat better.” – The Metabolic Texts, Akor er-Akash

  The two women were drawn in thick, confident lines on purple paper. They wore high heels and little else, their bodies leaning in a near-symmetry around a few rows of text. One was lanky, narrow-waisted, with straight hair. The other was horned and markedly buxomer. Their faces were sketched only in outline, lips plenty welcoming. Both poses favored display over comfort. Thoracic load – certainly not lightweight. Spinal stress, lumbar compression, calf tension. All Erd-related issues… Lucy could manage them. The name of the video store was unfamiliar to him, but he remembered the address. In the lower corner of the advertisement, someone had drawn a feline face with a childish grin. He folded the card and slipped it into his coat pocket. Veyovis-Akeso’s deathly depiction watched acutely from atop a cupboard containing the collected crimson volumes of the Rasa-Rahasya. And she doesn’t have to know.

  St. Klara–Gavrilov Practice occupied the ground floor of a building bunched between an eatery and perfumery. Two main rooms opened off a central hallway that served as both waiting area and passage. The front door faced the stairs to the private suite. Elias worked out of the room on the right. It was set up for diagnostics and minor Sanguine procedures, clean and spare, with a small office area, an examination table and stocked cabinets. Lucy’s was to the left; larger, dense in equipment, arranged for longer treatments and baubled. The rear opened into a small storage and spaces reserved for specialized treatments. She was still in the front part with a patient.

  Elias waited in the hallway in Sanguine whites; hands folded behind his back. He overheard an older voice with a persisting cadence, accompanied by short sounds of reassurance. At last, the door opened. Lucy stepped out first, smoothing the sleeve of her black blouse, followed by a woman clasping her hands close to her chin. “I understand,” said Lucy to her. “It’s very common at your age. We’ll keep an eye on it. Feel free to come back in two weeks.”

  The woman seemed downhearted but nodded agreeably. Elias retrieved her coat from the rack. “Apprentice,” she said, accepting the heavy woolly thing. She gave Lucy another stern glance and hurried away muttering an indistinct farewell.

  Lucy closed the door behind her and sloughed off all ill-fitting courtesy. She stopped by the mail basket, rifling through the contents and sighing with irritation. “Who is filling these women with choler and ideas, I wonder? Every week it’s something new. Pains, pressures, whispers, omens. They get scrappy when you tell them it’s not terminal. That’s why I’m dying young. Swear to the Saints…”

  Elias smirked and leaned against the doorframe on his side, listening attentively. Her complexion was prune-colored with a brown undertone. Her hair was darker, pulled back, and her lashy eyes a lighter shade. She had a full, almost brawny frame and was only centimeters shorter than him. A Vanaha frame filled out by Kalzanaha stubbornness. “Bills, bills, more bills,” she rambled on. “Unific Temple pamphlets. Promises of healing.” She snorted and waved it at him. “That’s where the hypochondriacs should go. Let them bow and pray it out.”

  “They’d just come back here with bad knees.” Seeing she approved of the comment, he cleared his throat. “Mind if I leave early today?”

  “Huh? Why?”

  “We’re empty. No more patients scheduled.”

  “And?” She narrowed her leery eyes. “What’s so important you need to slip out before five? I know my Apprentice and he doesn’t dabble in avocations. Or acquaintances. What’s going on?”

  “Your Apprentice has other responsibilities.”

  “You’re still mine until five, lief. And you owe me supper.”

  “Beef stew, already taken care of and waiting upstairs. I had time between appointments.”

  Lucy stared at him for a moment, then sighed and leaned back against the wall, suddenly weary. “Ahh,” she conceded, sloughing off the helplessness as well. “To be young, uncultivated and full chym… Grilled fish on Monday again?”

  Elias nodded and went into the examination room to take off his work-whites. “Do me a favor,” he said from inside. “Lock the doors this time. My keys are getting redundant.”

  “Listen to you,” she laughed, watching him dress. “You’re playing parent now? Going to keep me from having company?”

  “It’s better you’re not alone,” he said, stepping out in a jacket. “Be choicy. Be careful.”

  *

  He took the tram south-west, in time to avoid the rush. As it moved out of the central grid, the city lowered and tightened. The city outside sank into shadowy pockets and rose into blocky knolls. Streets sloped as the pavement plunged where the ground had settled unevenly. Cars were rare and limited to a few maintained roads. Most of the passengers aboard were headed toward the outskirts further on. The ward Elias stepped into was far from reputable, but cleaner and safer than when he had lived there. Stores were open and lit. Power lines ran cleanly overhead. There were no empty lots or shuttered blocks, only smaller businesses and narrower streets. The old graffiti was mostly painted over now, with only a few marks layered on top.

  Buildings stayed low, rarely above three stories, their foundations braced where the ground had shifted. The adult video store was on the ground floor, flanked by neighbors of comparable repute. Its sign was plain, the windows darkened. The smell was predictable. Rows of shelving lined the walls, stocked with cases arranged by category. A few isolated customers browsed prudently. Behind the counter stood a person Elias did not recognize; younger by years, street-mixed but mostly Mudranaha, with silver piercings in his ears and cheeks. He glanced up with an expression that indicated the unfamiliarity was mutual. The code… Pink and shaved, perhaps… Domestic, but exotic-looking…? He wasn’t certain but approached the counter anyway.

  “I’m here to see Cat,” he said instead.

  “Never heard it called that. What kind? If it’s legal, we might have it.”

  Elias exhaled softly through his nose. He lowered his voice and kept his tone steady. “I’m looking for something pale and shaved, I think. Maybe domestic, but exotic-looking. One of those.”

  The adolescent studied him, trying to keep silent before letting out a short laugh. After a moment, he tapped the counter and said, “Sure thing, man. Wait here. I’ll check the back. See if we’ve got anything like that.” He disappeared behind a velvet curtain still giggling. Elias waited with his eyes down, ignoring the concerned looks from the other customers. When he returned, his face was serious, seemingly scolded, and he held the curtain parted. “In my defense, you don’t fit the bill. Go ahead.”

  Elias went behind, into a dimly lit storage and upstairs into the residential part. The floor was filled with even more plywood crates and cardboard boxes. Dividing walls were knocked down, creating a single, irregular space from the adjacent apartments. Electrical lines ran openly along the ceiling, spliced and rerouted with raw practicality. There was little furniture; a few folding tables, plastic chairs, a covered couch pushed into a corner. More people, mostly adolescents and some barely that, were immersed in sorting and repackaging the wares with little interest in him. Among them were a few familiar faces he remembered as street kids.

  At the far end stood the only intact door. Sturdy, unmarked, newer than everything around it. Elias tapped once and waited. A voice answered from within. He stepped into what had once been a bedroom. Cat was seated at a plain table in the center of the room with Tank, the surface covered in Eisenmarks spread into color-coded stacks. A large safe was lodged among more sealed containers, stacked with more precision than those outside.

  Tank turned around in his seat, immediately scowling. “Seriously?” he demanded from Cat. “You called him?” He was Andhanaha-tall and tinted, but too broadly built. His eyes held nearly every hue of the Eisenmarks on the table. They darted disapprovingly between the other two men.

  “Continue the count, Senior Accountant,” responded Cat, rising from his chair. “Be right back.”

  “Yeah…” he muttered and scoffed, pressing a lilac bill into shape. “And pretend like I don’t know some dumb shit’s around the corner?”

  Cat tapped Tank’s shoulder reassuringly. “We’ll try not to be too prodigal.” He went out with Elias. The second the door clicked shut, he was around Elias, squeezing breath out of him. With the closeness, came a subtle and sweet scent of fermenting grapes. Purple. Runty compared to Tank, he seized with a strength absent in his silhouette. White and puffy Soshosi hair; pale skin of the Trianaha with a soft pink undertone; and eyes a rich Toranaha gold. Hornless, tailless and furless, with no marks of distinct lineage. Mongrel through and through. A true man of Eisenstadt. He steered Elias into a kitchen half-walled by crates, dismissing and sending away everyone along the way.

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  “I’m so glad you came,” Cat beamed, hardly separating himself from Elias. “You look fed already. Want something?”

  “I ate,” responded Elias, taking a seat at the steel countertop.

  “Mm. The old lady taking care of you? Or back to stabbing you again?”

  “Lucy does her best. No more incidents. I behave.” Elias glanced around the put-together room, noting the remains of thin walls below the carpets and exposed support pillars. “Listen,” he mumbled. “I came because I have bad news. Bureau’s expanding. They have a new headquarters in Findrake’s Street. It sprouted out of nowhere and now their agents are everywhere. More funds, more people…”

  Cat listened carefully, consumed more by the cadence than content of Elias’ words. “More trouble?” he asked, no less jubilant. “Go on.”

  “It’s not all bad, I guess,” Elias continued. “But they’re taking permits and oversight more seriously now. More routine inspections and they’re taking minor stuff seriously. I doubt it will last, but who knows how long… Don’t think they’re too busy to investigate your ongoings now.”

  Cat hummed and tilted his head. “Tank’s been saying something like that. Wants to paper up everything we can and scale down the rest. Maybe sell off the formula.” He shrugged.

  “Tank’s no fool. You’re clearly doing well. The whole place is. Why risk it?”

  “Why do you do it?” asked Cat, shaking Elias’ knee. “Well? Don’t tell me your sorcerous ass is fully compliant.”

  “It’s different. I don’t have a choice. Not like I’m profiting from it.”

  “Oh? You’re no longer into obscure and outlawed arcana? Not for profit, not for a friend? Interesting…” Cat turned, walked to a massive, industrial icebox and laid a palm against the flat lid. He began tapping the heavy metal and wobbled playfully. His tone oscillated as well. “But if you’re here to help, I’ve been saving something for you.” He hooked his fingers under the lid. “You’re dying to know, aren’t you?”

  Elias slumped against the countertop and hid his face behind his hands. Don’t let him do this. And if he needs my help? He has other people. And if it’s unique? What if it’s dangerous? You know him well enough. I won’t… He nodded. Then quickly corrected himself, “Wait… Explain it to me first. Then I’ll tell you if I’m on board – and my hourly rate. I won’t let you rope me into anything ugly. Not for free.”

  Cat smiled and opened the icebox fully. “Good. No reason to be dumb or prodigal. I’ll explain it to you.” He leaned into it and began to rummage through the frosted clutter. “You remember the Tetsu-gumi?”

  Fuck. “The Naranaha gang?” What did you do?

  “Ay, one of our first post-War cultural imports. Used to control the whole grid down by the old flood sectors. Big deal for a long while. Terrorized a lot of industrial workers out of their unions.”

  “You were obsessed with them, if I remember correctly.” Good thing they never let you join up.

  “Yeah, well, it was just a phase. Cruel, opinionated bastards… Now look at them. Those swords were cool, though.” He found what he was looking for with an exultant grunt and brought it over to Elias, hands frost-blushed. It was on a metal tray, wrapped haphazardly under thick plastic foil. The lumpy mound underneath all the layers was indistinct, but sizable. Cat set it down gently, as if afraid it might wake up. Despite being frosted and sealed, the stench seeped through. “Know what this is already?”

  “A well-preserved pile of animal dung,” Elias answered suspiciously. “Sanguimancy, Cat. Not scatomancy. You’ll have to find a real quack if you want it divined.”

  “Glad you’re taking this lightly,” he jibed before revealing a more serious face. “But your answer is only cursory. Incomplete. I thought you were a man of cultivation? Here. Take a good, long whiff.” Cat peeled back a corner of the plastic. The smell worsened. Wet, earthy, with notes of acid and rotten eggs. Elias stared without having to get closer. “I’ll give you a hint: the Tetsu-gumi’s last attempt at avoiding extinction through irrelevance.”

  After weighing Cat’s words, Elias closed his eyes and breathed in, repressing suspicion and disgust alike. Beneath the sour and sharp strata, something struggled to stir. Living? A deep, spiritual core seeped an aura drenched in digestive secretions. “There’s a daimon in it,” he concluded. “Biorefined… through arcofauna? You’re a lucky man, having your old idols copy you.”

  “Us, you mean. Give credit where its due.”

  “Sure… So, you wanted me to help somehow. To locate the animal?”

  “We have the animal. That’s how we have this,” he said, tightening the plastic around the spirit-excreta. He returned it to the icebox and washed his hands, warming and drying his fingers with a towel. All the while, Elias followed his leisurely movements with great focus. “Here’s the backdrop,” he continued, smirking at the renewed interest. “Around five months ago, I get a tail that some of the older folks are trying to parrot us. The Tetsu-gumi. To be expected. We’re doing well. Who wouldn’t? It’s useless, I know. They don’t have our skills and network. And we’re not sitting on any bodies or under any heat. However, they really seemed to have sank a lot of their dough into it. Even borrowed some significant funds from Mother.”

  “Why would the Dollmaster help them?” It could have been her idea to begin with. Kainomancy as solution.

  “Freak-deals, covert stuff. Maybe for material. No clue. Important thing is this: Tetsu-gumi are desperate and in bed with her. I listen, watch and let them. Might be something interesting, eh? Turns out their mutant-child plan is to use arcane animals to dig up and retrieve spirits from the outskirts and deserted districts – Tetsu-gumi have plenty in their territory. They sent the blueprints and cash to some foreign place I’ve never heard about to do the hard part. Apparently, Momma can’t cook up anything except cheap humans.

  “The finished products reached our very own port almost two months ago. We were there, waiting, not sure exactly what to expect. Plan was to torch them, since they’re no use to us, and let the old-folk panic and scatter as their bedfellow bleeds them for collateral. That does seem to be happening already. Slowly.”

  “What happened to the arcofauna?” asked Elias. “Did you really destroy it?”

  “When Gett and Peddy got the container opened, all we saw inside was dirt and stale air. They were buried inside of it, hibernating or something. Long story short, we got one but three escaped. We kept the fourth one at a quiet stash house near the mountains. People in charge couldn’t handle it, but I wasn’t going to put it down yet. One day, it bites Peddy, destroys two doors and gorges on a bunch of the stash. Now it’s over, I thought, A damned dog high on eudaimonia! Good thing it ran away then and there. Came back a day later, right where we had kept it, squatted, grunted and voila!” Cat gestured at the icebox. “A little demonstration for us.”

  “Impressive… Combined retrieval and refinement. Is it more potent than the method you use?”

  “Wouldn’t know. Don’t care to find out.”

  “So why am I here? You seem to have everything wrapped up.”

  “I want you to return the animal to the Tetsu-gumi.”

  “They offered you something? You shouldn’t accept just because–”

  “Because I thought they were cool as a kid? No, Elias. They didn’t offer me anything. They don’t know that we wrecked their shipment. I care more about what partner will think, what she’ll do, once it turns out they had at least one of the animals all along. I need their lab to look like it’s been used to make product resembling ours. Bureau’s fired up and snooping? Good, maybe they’ll be there to identify what the Tetsu-fucks have been up to. That should surprise all sides.

  “Their org’s already dry and crumbling. They can’t afford to keep the authorities at bay. Uniforms start remembering their oaths and duties once their pockets are empty. It’s just a matter of time before they get busted and their little scheme gets unearthed. Then let Mother sort them out. You can’t bribe a monster like that. What do you think? Can you stick the stink to them?”

  Elias scratched an ear, considering everything that was said to him. A design like that, the Dollmaster’s own, and work done overseas – Trnaxa perhaps… Even for a few moments, studying it would be useful. If I could preserve it… Maybe an enthralling occludent? But keep it where? Still, even just a part. Cat was resting his chin on his fist, waiting for an answer.

  “Well?”

  “I’ll need time to prepare,” he mumbled to himself before turning to Cat. “How exactly do we get the animal there quietly? Are Gett and Peddy available to assist? I’m guessing you have someone from the Tetsu-gumi cooperating, who are they? Is the lab…”

  *

  The rundown concluded smoothly. The details were agreed on. “Be ready,” said Cat. “And don’t wait for an invitation to drop by. This,” he stopped to swirl his index finger, “is yours as well. You helped make it. Remember that sometimes.” He squeezed Elias’ arm tightly and returned to the makeshift office. The floor had emptied and dimmed. How long did we talk?

  Elias had just turned toward the exit when a familiar but female voice found him from an odd, sheltered corner. “Did he manage to convince you?” He stopped mid-step and looked back. She was resting leisurely on a covered seating behind a stack of crates he had passed, fingers crossed on her stomach. All the while, she followed him with a lazy, recognizable smile. In her smart blouse and black skirt, stilettos discarded on the carpet below, she seemed to be recovering from a busy day of clerical work. Her black hair was loose but clearly styled to separate and spotlight the two Naranaha strands of stark white.

  “Plink?” asked Elias hesitatingly.

  “Who else wears lipstick around here?” Plink straightened, smoothing her blouse. “Hardly a way to greet old friends, I know. I just got in.”

  Elias hesitated, taking in the transformation: the new lines of her figure, the curve of her chest, the ease and confidence she exuded now. “I don’t mind,” he said, lifting his gaze. “Good to see you as you are.”

  “Gentleman. So, you’re helping us?”

  “Yes. Despite the Senior Accountant’s objections.”

  Plink chuckled with approval. “Tank is a penny-pinching prick. Title suits him. Guess mine, would you?”

  “Was this all your idea?” he asked instead.

  “Partially,” she admitted, waving a hand and relaxing again. “Cat has his own ambitions and aspirations. I only try to encourage the smarter ones.”

  “Trying to exempt yourself? This whole thing sounds like you: a reprisal by an estranged son. I’m guessing you got all the info on the Tetsu-gumi.”

  Plink watched him intently, exhaling after a while. “Perhaps I planted a seed or two in that noble skull of his.” She stood up fully now, her silhouette complete. “You and I have always understood each other, isn’t that right? More than Cat would care to admit. Don’t you also want to return to where you came from?” Elias stared blankly. She accepted his silence and stepped closer. “You saw me before anyone else did,” she continued, her tone fully feminine. “Recognition can do a lot to help a person along their path. Let me thank you properly. Now I can.”

  “Kind of you,” Elias swallowed, pulling back from her sudden closeness. “I’m glad for you, Plinky. Cat also thinks he owes me. But none of you are in my debt. I’m doing this for myself.”

  A faint sadness rippled across her softened face. “Hardly anyone calls me that anymore.” She reached to the side, into the blazer she had tossed onto the couch, and withdrew a small white card. “I’m a bit disappointed you didn’t try to guess, but here.”

  Elias took the card and scanned it. Airi Matsuo, Legal Consultant. The seal and signature looked legitimate. She was registered within the Eisenring.

  “It’s not some front,” she added. “I actually passed the tests. Municipal and state-level.”

  “I don’t know what to say,” Elias mumbled, comparing the person to the name.

  “You can eat your tongue for all I care,” she mocked amiably. “Debt or not, LC Matsuo will be there for you.”

  “Thanks, Plink,” he replied, storing the card into his jacket. “I have to go now.”

  “Work carefully, Elias.” She stepped back, arms behind her, almost shy now. As he went down the stairs, he heard her lie back down and stretch her stiff legs.