The moment the shack's flimsy door was barred, Elara's terror erupted.
[ASSET: ELARA] [EMOTIONAL STATE: HYSTERICAL (90%), FEARFUL (95%), CONFUSED
(85%)]
She rounded on him, her thin frame trembling. "Kaelen, what did you do? You never speak to
men like Mog! You never repeat... what you hear! How did you even... Slack-Jaw? He could kill
us!"
This was a critical moment. His primary asset—his cover, his caregiver, his shield—was
malfunctioning. Her [LOYALTY] was high, but [FEAR] was a more powerful, immediate
motivator. He had to re-assert control.
Kaelen did not flinch. He simply looked up at her, his yellow eyes wide and placid, the perfect
mask of childhood innocence.
He held up the small, hard loaf of bread.
"For you," he said.
The offering was so simple, so disconnected from her hysteria, that it stopped her cold. She
stared at the bread, then at him.
"What?" she stammered.
"Heard them," Kaelen said, his voice a soft, childish murmur. "In the alley. Men talking. About
the brick."
He was, technically, not lying. He had observed them. The System's analysis was a form of
"hearing." It was a perfectly crafted half-truth, plausible for a quiet, unnervingly observant child.
"I... I..." Elara's panic began to subside, replaced by a deep, weary confusion. "Kaelen, you
can't... even if you hear things, you cannot repeat them. Not to Mog. Not to anyone. It's
dangerous. We could be... hurt."
Kaelen's expression remained unchanged, but he pushed the bread into her hand. His copper
was already hidden. The bread was hers. It was the profit-share from her part in the operation
(transport).
[MANIPULATION: REINFORCEMENT (POSITIVE)] [ACTION: PROVIDE ASSET (BREAD)]
[DESIRED OUTCOME: ASSOCIATE 'STRANGE BEHAVIOR' (INFORMATION TRADE) WITH
'POSITIVE RESULT' (RESOURCES)]
Elara's fingers closed around the coarse loaf. The simple, solid weight of it was a more powerful
argument than any words. It was food. Real food, not just scraps. Her [HYSTERICAL (90%)]
state dissolved, [FEARFUL (95%)] dropped to [ANXIOUS (60%)].
"Oh, Kaelen," she whispered, pulling him into a tight, desperate hug. "You are too smart for
these alleys. Too strange. It will get you killed."
[ANALYSIS: ASSET (ELARA) PACIFIED. CONTROL RE-ESTABLISHED.] [LOYALTY: 83 -> 84]
[NOTE: FEAR REMAINS A VOLATILE VARIABLE. MUST BE MANAGED.]
Kaelen submitted to the hug, his mind already on the next phase. He had managed his liability.
Now, he had to manage his client.
Two days passed.
Kaelen operated with renewed purpose. He ate his small portion of the bread and cheese Elara
had bought with the copper he had given her. He was, in effect, laundering his capital through
her, converting his "business" revenue into tangible "survival" resources, all while reinforcing her
role as provider.
He spent his time "playing" in the dirt, but his mind was elsewhere. He was waiting. On the third day, a notification chimed.
[ASSET: 'ONE-EYE' MOG (INFORMANT/CLIENT, LEVEL 1)] [STATUS UPDATE: WARY (70%)
-> CURIOUS (85%)] [STATUS UPDATE: INTRIGUED (90%) -> SATISFIED (95%)]
[RELATIONSHIP LEVEL: 1 -> 2 (PROVEN SOURCE)]
Kaelen permitted himself a brief, internal flicker of confirmation. The data was simple to
interpret:
1. Mog had verified the information.
2. He (or a proxy) had visited the wall.
3. He had likely found the 'junk' items Kaelen had deliberately left, confirming the existence
of the cache.
4. Mog now knew Kaelen was a reliable, proven source of high-grade information.
The client was satisfied. The client was now waiting for more product.
Kaelen couldn't just wander the alleys. He was four. His 'cover' was also his cage. He needed a
way to gather information without raising suspicion.
That night, long after Elara's exhausted breathing had deepened into sleep, Kaelen slipped from
his rags. The shack was pitch black, but to his eyes, it was a landscape of dim, grey shapes.
He crawled to the door and, with infinite, practiced silence, eased the bar loose.
He focused. [ACTIVATING [SHADOW'S VEIL] (LEVEL 1)...] [MANA: 50/50 -> 48]
The shadows in the doorway deepened, wrapping around his small form like a second skin. He
slipped out into the alley.
The Rag Market at night was a different world. It was quieter, but infinitely more dangerous.
[WARNING: MULTIPLE THREATS DETECTED (LOW-LEVEL)]
He ignored the slumbering drunks and the rats. He was not here to explore; he was here to
listen. He crept from his alley, a four-year-old shadow, and moved toward the true center of
power in their district: a dilapidated, three-story ruin known as 'The Sump'.
This was the 'gang-house' for the local crew, the 'Red-Rustlers'.
[TARGET: THE SUMP (RED-RUSTLER HIDEOUT)] [THREAT LEVEL: 800 (CATASTROPHIC -
TO HOST)]
He would not go near it. That was suicide. He was interested in the periphery. He was
interested in the two gangers who always stood 'guard' at the alley entrance 200 feet away from
The Sump.
He found them, two hulking shadows in the dark. [TARGET: JERIC (HUMAN, MALE)]
[PHYSIQUE: 14] [TARGET: BOLE (HUMAN, MALE)] [PHYSIQUE: 16]
They were drunk, sloppy, and complaining. Kaelen nestled into a pile of refuse thirty feet away,
his [SHADOW'S VEIL] making him just another patch of darkness.
"...boss is crazy," Jeric slurred. "Makin' us meet the 'Silk-Man' tomorrow? At the old pier? Why
us?"
"Sh-shut up," Bole growled, his [STATUS: PARANOID (30%)] flaring. "You want 'Gutter-Fang' to
hear you? He likes new jobs. More... coin."
"It's bad coin," Jeric muttered. "The Silk-Man ain't... right. He pays in that blue... stuff. Gives me
the creeps."
The conversation continued, a drunken tapestry of complaints and boasts. Kaelen listened for
twenty minutes. When he finally slipped away, his mana pool [MANA: 20/50] dangerously low
from maintaining the Veil, his internal ledger was flashing.
[NEW INFORMATION ACQUIRED (HIGH-VALUE):] [EVENT: RED-RUSTLER GANG
(SUB-BOSS 'GUTTER-FANG') MEETING 'THE SILK-MAN'] [LOCATION: OLD PIER, DISTRICT
4] [TIME: TOMORROW (ESTIMATED: NIGHT)] [ITEM: 'BLUE STUFF' (DRUG?
MANA-POTION?)] Kaelen returned to his shack and barred the door. Elara hadn't stirred.
He lay down, his mind cold and sharp. Mog had paid one copper for a thief's tiny cache.
Kaelen wondered what he would pay for the time, location, and nature of a secret meeting
between a slum gang and a mysterious off-district supplier.
The business was about to scale.