"Work with a criminal? Hardly, and you seem to think you know more than you do, but that is no worry. You are Champion of the cast down Goddess of Tech, and all of your kind are nothing more than property," Ned said, and then his face shifted into a smirk. "Did you know?! None of the others are even dead! I keep them alive! Your body makes excellent metal to be poured into magical items and even artifacts! The best part is that when I tear off your arms and legs to melt them down, they just rebuild if I give them normal metal of any kind!" Ned laughed and then stopped but still smirked as he stared at the bug in the air that started to crackle. "Isn't that wonderful?"
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning came from above as Ned tried to fry the metal bug, but Caleb was already detonating the bug, and it exploded as the bolt hit it. The blast was nothing like the first, but it was only to destroy the bug, not to cause any damage.
"Where is he hiding?" Ned asked, looking at Thomas, but he shook his head.
"He has taken up residence with Miles, the owner of Kilmer Shipping. Even going in with a full team would be hard right now, and he has already talked with the other three families. I don't know what was discussed, but I do know that Alizra Manta stayed longer than the other two. I will have to assume that they struck some sort of a deal," Thomas explained, and Orion nodded.
"I have reports of her moving some restricted documents tomorrow evening, so there is a good chance that she is going to hire this thing for protection. This could be a good chance to get him in the open," Orion suggested, and Ned nodded thoughtfully.
"Very true. I am sure that there is something that we can offer Alizra to get her to leave him to us. The information that she has is less important compared to this... what is he calling himself?" Ned asked, looking at Orion, who in turn looked at Thomas.
"Razor is the only name he has given out loud so far, so I assume that will be his family name," Thomas said, and Ned smiled, making Thomas uneasy.
"Let's hope that he isn't around long enough to make the name a problem. You all know what will happen if Aquaking finds out about this, so I want tighter guards on the gates and harbor with stricter searches of the cargo coming in and out of the city. Arrest anyone that is not from Wister. There is a good chance that this has already spread to the others that Numera's Champion has landed here, so we must snuff him out. The gods are all weak-minded children that care nothing more than to get down to our world to take over things, but I will not be a party to that. That means that we have to keep the other gods and their champions from contacting him," Ned explained, looking around the room at all the gathered members of his Order of Salvation, and Orion stepped forward.
"It will be done!" he said, and all the Order dropped to one knee and bowed their heads.
"You are all dismissed," Ned said, and everyone got up immediately and left the room.
"What do you think about the goddess? Is it really true that Ned has forsaken Wisteria?" Thomas asked curiously, feeling much more relaxed now that he was away from Ned's smile. The man made his skin crawl.
"That is worrisome, but we all vowed to follow him when we joined. I can see his point of not wanting someone like Aquaking to come down since the Champion has basically just become his personal aid. Still, Wisteria is a fine goddess, and I do not think that she would be like that, but I am not the one that decides that" Orion said as they walked back to his office, not speaking again till they were inside.
"So you want me to go give Manta a pass for her shipment in exchange for a location where we can set an ambush?" Thomas asked, but Orion shook his head.
"If you are right about this, then it will take more than a pass. she could easily refuse and change the date and time. Instead, we will feed the fire and give her a reason to leave Razor where he is. Give her something of value so that she will feel like she is getting enough for the deal," Orion explained, and Thomas nodded in understanding before heading off to start his preparations.
[Razor]
After detonating the bug, I sat for a while, mulling things over. The information that I had got told me a lot about this city and then the world, but even more about the people that I was up against.
'Caleb? How are you doing?' Numera's voice called in my head, so I closed my eyes and then opened them back in the place where I had first met the mechanical goddess.
"This is a pretty fucked up world you got here," I said as I took a seat on the table, I had awoken on.
"I am impressed that you are already able to construct a place in your mind for us to talk like this. As for the world, you seem to fit right in," Numera said with a smile as she walked over to take a seat beside me. The two of us were a stark contrast in our size difference, but she was a machine like me, so it almost felt comforting to talk to her.
"I didn't say I didn't like the place, but the magic thing is a steep learning curve. I suppose that there is no way for me to use the stuff myself, right? How the hell was that Ned guy able to slow down time? That was some comic book shit right there," I said, and Numera laughed.
"You are very strange, but magic is something that most people are born with, and they control it with their emotions. Some use words, others draw them out, and some even can use them without doing either, but that is because it is all just a matter of understanding how it works," Numera explained, and I scratched my head.
"So I can't use it, right? Because I am all metal and no soul?" I asked curiously, and Numera wiggled her hand.