I stared at the giant teddy bear ying in the er of the living room, pletely unsure how I felt about the thing. When I started giving out the ID tags to the local stuffie produ team, they were so thrilled they gifted me with one of their prototypes. I didn’t think much of it. I just passed it on to Issi and put it from my mind. Then it happened again. And again. Soon I was receiving the first version of every type of bear being produced.

  When I pio Jane, she just looked at me and told me that ‘you ever have enough bears’. This was when she was mad at me for filling the shelter with extra bears, so I lost my only possible ally in this, and since I was unsure how to reject their generosity, I just let it tinue.

  The test model was a life-sized version of Bob, plete with plush bat armor and piledrivers. It was se and awkward, I could barely carry it. On one hand, I knew Issi would love it; oher, if I didn’t put my foot down soon, the residence would be swimming in more bears than my garage.

  I stared at the thing for a few mirying to decide what to do with it, when I received a call to my augs. It was a familiar number, but not one I ever expected to see again.

  “Helen, what a surprise,” I started. “Did the Family finally reinstate your phone privileges?”

  “Teddy! My favorite uy frenemy! I’ve been in therapy, not prison,” the woman chirped back.

  “Same thing, as far as I’m ed,” I grumbled. “Why, may I ask, are you calling?”

  “Because Mirage has asked for my help iigating something, and you were the first person I thought of when he expihe situation,” Helen said in a far too friendly voice.

  “Bullshit!” I yelled before realizing where I was. Thankfully, the kids weren’t around.

  “It’s true! I take it you haven’t been keeping up with the news. The strikes in the southern industrial zones? I thought you’d have bears everywhere by now,” Helen said.

  “Just because I send them everywhere doesn’t mean I monitor every little thing that happens,” I growled. “Only a select few bears be fully active at oime. The rest ru orders and only update me when there are antithesis or when they’re attacked.”

  “Pity, what about those squirrels of yours then? Do you still have them spread all over the uy?”

  “What the fuck is this about? I feel like you’re iionally dang around something, and I’m already tired of it,” I practically yelled.

  “Why… I’m talking about the safety of our ey, Tedward. I wouldn’t bother you for something minor,” Helen said sweetly.

  “I already have a headache,” I mumbled. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about the iional, systematic breakdown of our city’s systems by some insidious ne’er do well,” Helen expiheatrically.

  “I’m hanging up now,” I said.

  “Hold on a minute!” Helen snapped. “This is a lot less fun if you don’t let me milk it.” She sighed. “Zetta has found evidence of someorying to sabotage the city. They’ve been fug with everything from the bureaucratic systems to corporate bottom lines. Mirage thinks that whoever is behind it all is currently agitating the workers and causing u in the southern industrial ter, and he’s asked me to iigate. As much as I hate to admit it, I could use your support. You’ve got the tech to watch for unusual activity while I talk to the people involved.”

  “Why you? Why not Squiddy ht? Why does it have to be you?” I growled.

  “Because I know the area, and everyone else is currently running around trying to keep the city from falling apart,” Helen expined. “You and I are indepe agents, unknown factors. We iigate without attrag as much attention as a Family agent.”

  “Speak for yourself. I find wandering around with a-foot-tall, teddy-bear-shaped force of destru usually attracts a lot of attention.”

  “Look, I’m trying to be serious here!” Helen snapped. “I know you don’t like me, but I’m not asking for the world. Just a couple days of your time providing surveilnce while I walk around talking to the locals. Once we identify the agitator, we’ll be done.”

  “I still don’t uand how you vinced Mirage to trust you or why helping the corps with their bour issues protects the city. It all sounds pretty suspicious to me,” I said.

  “Like it or not, the corps are the lifeblood of this city. They not only employ the majority of the citizens, but they also handle all the city ma and pay for the PMCs. Look at all the chaos that’s happened since Global Rare-Earth fell,” Helen expined. “If the co down, the city goes with it.”

  “And Mirage let you off your leash just because he was worried?” I asked suspiciously. “That doesn’t sound like him.”

  “It was more that we struck a deal betweewo of us. I was going stir crazy being under stant surveilnce while being forced to attend those fug mandatory therapy sessions, and he needed an outsider to iigate. If I prove I be trusted to perform some simple jobs, he’ll lessen the restris on me,” Helen expined.

  “Now THAT sounds like him,” I admitted.

  “So, will you help me?” Helen asked.

  I thought about it for a while. I didn’t really want to help Helen, but I didn’t like the idea of leaving her alone during the iigation. “Fine,” I said.

  “Wonderful! Thank you for trusting me,” she replied brightly.

  “Oh, I don’t fug trust you. I’m doing this to keep an eye on you, to make sure you don’t try anything while you’re ‘iigating’,” I said.

  “Well then… I guess that’s also fine,” Helen replied. I could tell by her voice that she was surprised by my decration. “As long as you provide me with situatios while you watch, I live with that.”

  “Wonderful!” I said, mog her tone from earlier. “Where and when are we starting this iigation of yours?”

  “I need a day to prepare, so first thing Wednesday. I’ll meet you ihty-Two’s market. We should be far enough from the industrial district to avoid attrag any attention from our quarry,” Helen suggested.

  “That’s fine, I’ll see you then,” I replied before cutting the e.

  I sighed and colpsed onto my couch. The absolute st thing that I wao do was babysit Helen for a few days, but if Mirage was desperate enough to use her in aion, things must have beey dire up top. I’d have to ask Sharron the ime I saw her.

  “Nyx, what do you think? Are things as serious as she cims?”

  The situation iy does seem abnormal right now. I’ve cross-referenced all the major is that have beeed by the news outlets with the situations beforehand, and the data points to someone maniputing these events for their own ends. I don’t have enough data to establish if this person is local or w for aernal source.

  “Great… just when I thought things were gettier around here, someone shows up and wants to burhing down,” I grumbled. “I hope Helen is able to identify the culprit before things get any worse.”

  Doubtful. In previous cases where the authorities were able to arrest the agitator, they found the person was indepe, and there was no trace to a third party.

  “’t you just pretend there's a ce?” I moaned. “I really don’t want this to turn into a thing.”

  There is a ce. It’s exceedingly miniscule, but it exists.

  “You’re terrible at providiional support,” I chuckled as I rolled over.

  But you did ugh, Nyx pointed out.

  “Shut up”