[Alizra Manta]
Watching Kilna leave to go meet with Razor, Alizra sighed and took a drink of her wine as she sat in her chair in front of the fire. This new player could be invaluable to her plans, but it was clear that he was a hardened criminal. A person like that was hard to control, and what made matters worse was the fact that he was a Numerian, a machine, not a human. The one thing that was different from the other Numerian was that he was a champion, meaning, at one point, he was a man.
"Someone like that will want a human body at some point to taste the pleasures of the flesh, but it is clear that was not in his current plans," Alizra said to herself and took another sip of her wine as a knock came from the door. "What is it?"
"Thomas from the Order of Salvation is here to see you," Miss Rain said after opening the door, and Alizra turned with a sigh.
"Send him in," She said and drained the rest of her wine. Of course, things could never go as planned, she thought as one of Ned's prized Tech Hunters walked in. He was sent to hunt all Numerians, so it was clear what the rat was here for.
"Grand Mistress Manta, it is good to see you in the early hours of the morning! I am so happy that you could see me!" Thomas said in his fake and overly happy tone.
"Like I had a choice. Now, get to the point of you coming here," Alizra said, not mincing words.
"Yes, of course! I was sent here to discuss a matter regarding the Numerian that has made your compound his home," Thomas said, and Alizra shook her head.
She knew exactly what he wanted, and what he was going to offer, but none of that was a fair trade for Razor. The man was clearly a threat to Ned, and she had no reason to take the offer.
"He is not my problem, and he is not doing anything illegal that I can see. You may leave now," She dismissed, but Thomas shook his head.
"I am afraid I cannot do that, Grand Mistress Manta. My orders are clear; I am to apprehend the Numerian; you know that his kind is illegal," He said, and Alizra felt anger rising in her chest.
"You had better have a good reason for coming here besides this, or I will turn your brain into a soup and use you for a stool," Alizra growled, and Thomas stepped back as if noticing her anger for the first time.
"I...I mean no disrespect to you, Grand Mistress Manta, but this is an order from Ned himself. I am not asking you to betray him completely, just give us a time and place, and we will take care of the rest. I think that I might be able to get some information about your sister, Milza, in Water City if you would be willing to do this thing for us. You have to know having something like this in our city will only bring outside influences, along with the threat of war," Thomas explained, and Alizra narrowed her eyes at her sister's name.
"What do you know about Milza?" Alizra asked in a dangerous tone, making Thomas put up his hands and back away.
"You know that isn't how this works! Give me a time and location for tomorrow, and I will let you know what you want about your whore of a sis-" Thomas started to say, but then clutched his head mid-sentence, letting out a soundless scream and collapsed on the floor writhing in pain.
Alizra stood up from her seat and walked over to bend down and place two fingers on the man's forehead, making him go entirely still as she looked through the man's mind to find what she was looking for about her sister. During this time, Thomas was stuck in an illusion of a bear pinning him down and slowly eating him one strip of flesh at a time, but he wasn't allowed to die.
When she was done getting what she wanted to know, she released the man, and he scampered back across the floor with a wild look on his face and covered in sweat.
"Remember who you are talking to, vermin. They will be passing Hangman Lane at 11pm tonight, now get out of my sight before I decide to see what else you are hiding in that tiny brain of yours," Alizra threatened as Thomas scrambled to his feet, but he stopped at the door to look back.
"Just remember, I will make you pay for this. If you mess up the deal, and the Numerian isn't where you say tonight, I will be the one that you will be answering to, and you won't be able to stop me!" Thomas growled and looked Alizra up and down before leaving.
Miss Rain walked in right after, closing the door. "Are you okay, my lady?" She asked, and Alizra went back to her chair and then held out her empty wine glass for Miss Rain to take.
"Once Kilna gets back, send her directly to me. She is to talk to no one, and no one is to talk about Razor and anything that we do with him. Ned is clearly scared of him, and it is not because of Aquaking. Whatever that reason is, we will want him on our side if we ever hope to take this city back from that monster," Alizra said, and Miss Rain nodded as she handed the wine glass black.
"It will be done !" She said, and then left the room as Alizra drank her wine. Ned was desperate enough to send one of his prized hunters here to capture Razor, meaning there had to be something big in play here, but what? No matter what it was, Alizra knew that she would need to get whatever allies she could if she was going to take back her home city once and for all.