Informative Negotiation
Just as suddenly as night came to end the evening, morning came to end the night. As morning arrived, dawn was quick to follow, bringing with it a fresh new day.
Ryixia was personally very aware of the passage of the night, having been witness to the entire process in her sleep. Exactly as sleep had taken her, her spectre had left her, leaving her to drift around the room as her body recovered in sleep. It was clear to her that this was just the way her life worked, that not even sleep would steal her awareness into the night. This left her with another concern with how this whole spectre thing worked, that the hours she spent in sleep would become some of the most boring hours of her life. She had even tried to spend some of the night as a slumbering spectre, but it seemed that her spectre had no need of sleep itself, making such sleep elusive.
This itself rendered dawn as a form of conflict. With dawn came the knowledge that she could just wake up and actually do real things finally, that boredom could be brought to an end. However, her body itself did not seem as excited about the same promises, being very relaxed and comfortable. The whole situation thus left her inwardly torn, impressing on her even more desire to actually have a way to be productive while her body slept. Anything to do was better than sitting there doing nothing. As the need overwhelmed her, she poked her head through the door, looking around. The halls were still quiet at this hour of the morning, but she found the staff were already awake and tending to some of the basic responsibilities. The receptionist was even already at the front counter, at that very moment claiming someone’s keys. It lent her some concern if the girl was even ever allowed to get any sleep. Thinking back, she was pretty certain the girl wasn’t there for a while during the night, possibly during the hours the door remained locked. Even though there might not have been anything stopping her from snooping into all the rooms overnight, she really didn’t want to intrude on people’s privacy.
“Wake up, where did you go?” “Too early, let me sleep more.” “Then where are you?” “I’m just outside, so please, just a bit longer.” Vwyx startled Ryixia awake for a moment, although she was capable of keeping her spectre right where it was. Sleep returned to her soon after that, but she realized that it was at least time for her to return to the room spectrally as well. She got there in time to see Vwyx peeking her head out the door, looking around for her. Seriously, wasn’t she allowed to go out for a short walk at all? Well, more of a drift, she didn’t really walk like this. Walking was still almost as easy of a consideration for her, she learned last night that even though she did technically float a bit off the ground, she couldn’t really fly any more than she could jump. She was fortunate to have also learned that falling through a window hadn’t actually hurt her either, at least not the way falling usually felt, even though it was somehow very uncomfortable in its own way.
“Saw anything interesting? … Right, you can’t actually answer like that, and anyone watching would think I’m talking to myself. We can talk about it after you wake up, then. Oh! Sryine, you’re up too now.” “Yes, I’m up. I’m guessing either the staff is paying us some welcome wishes, or Ryixia is outside.” “Yes, she’s outside, though maybe she should wake up now. As soon as she’s awake, we could get going.” Vwyx pulled her head back inside and went to get ready for the day, Sryine having already taken the lead in the day’s preparation. Ryixia returned to her body, taking note that she probably didn’t want to fall behind in this process. As she brought herself to a complete state of wake, she cleared her actual eyes, the sun blinding them for a moment. It really was too early.
“There isn’t any reason to hurry so much, by the way. It seems that normally we get a complimentary breakfast, some of the staff are already working on it already. There is a breakfast room at the end of the hall where the food can be picked up from, to bring to your room. They have a small lounge too, though they are still working on getting the room ready.” “What? Really? Oh yeah, the brochure does actually say something about that. I guess we kinda didn’t qualify yesterday, which is probably fair. Since I’m already ready, I’ll look into some breakfast then.” Ryixia continued getting ready as Sryine left the room. Vwyx silently took regards of the conversation, taking note on how Ryixia might have been keeping busy last night. Vwyx could only imagine what it might be like to go through the same thing, stepping free of her body to spend the long night just watching, every single day.
Sryine was quick to return with some breakfast, which mostly just included a small assorted fruit selection, some toast, and some morning tea, not the most extravagant thing ever. After finishing, the three girls checked out from their room and stepped out into the fresh air. The girls took a walk towards the cafe, finding it still closed. They did happen to recall that the place seemed to open only in time for lunch, leaving things rather quiet for that early in the morning. As the day shifted instantly to nothing, Ryixia found her boredom returning to haunt her. However, the others still managed to remain exempt, pulling out their cells according to their own interests. Sryine had started a new book, already versed in how to get such material on her instrument, while Vwyx was being entertained by her own instrument’s mapping function as she learned how that worked.
Ryixia pulled out her own cell, something she at least could not have done as a spectre. Unlike Sryine, she wasn’t exactly the most inclined to dive into reading material, it not being as capable of capturing her interest as completely as it did Sryine. Unlike Vwyx, it’s complex instrumentation and complicated features didn’t have a natural grip on her either. However, just because she didn’t have as much ambition with the thing as everyone else, didn’t mean she should remain ignorant of it. It was a useful resource, something she would be expected to understand how to use, how to make use of. She started browsing through its functions and utility, not out of interest, but out of a growing feeling of responsibility.
“Hello? Oh, good morning! I’m guessing you’re calling about yesterday’s deal? If you have more money available now, maybe we can work something out. Maybe we should simply meet up at the Riverside Cafe, though you will have to wait until after the lunch hour rush. See you then.” Sryine hung up with a sigh, worried that double booking finances might not be a smart idea. Still, that news reporter being so desperate could make for such a good opportunity, and she wasn’t aware of any place more convenient than this. Whatever happened, they would just have to simply take care of it.
“Sryine’s gotten impressive with all of these wild business deals of late, but I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to make such a scene.” “Well, yeah, actually. We kinda are stirring up things a lot around here with all this stuff. Come to think of it, when did you get to be so good with creating business anyway, was it because of your parents?” “Vwyx, honestly, I’m not even sure where you are both getting this from. She’s marketing business, you’re putting together instruments, both things neither of you exactly lived back in the village. However, here both of you go, fitting in with the city like you were born to be here. It.. just seems like maybe we’re getting carried away here or something. I know you both really wanted to visit the city, but maybe we’re pushing things a bit hard.” Riyxia’s insight made even Vwyx hesitate, pondering the sorts of things Vwyx has been investing her interest in. She was certain she was just being a quick study, it made sense to her, and Sryine was just carrying on her family’s history. Their fitting in with society and such, Vwyx was not certain how that could have been a bad thing. Wouldn’t learning slower make a bigger scene and cause bigger problems?
“I’m not making a scene, I’m just trying to help two people who are struggling.” “While making a profit from it?” “They both profit from it too! I just want to make sure we get something from helping out, that’s all.” “Okay, sure, I mean it’s not like I’m against helping people out too, we just need to be careful how much we get involved, okay? Things could get really rough if we suddenly get into a situation that’s more than we can handle.” “Riyxia, don’t worry about it. Helping out at a small cafe in the outskirts of the city couldn’t draw any real attention, and that reporter guy is just going to get news on how a bunch of brigands trying to push their way into an Inn fainted because of lack of sleep, after trying to threaten the staff in their sleepless stupor. He’ll get his story and go on his merry way, as easy as that.” Sryine already had her script ready for her presentation, leaving Riyxia at a bit of a loss. Even Sryine’s ability to control the conversation was proof of just how much she had everything under control.
Despite Riyxia’s anxiety, time marched on, leading to the opening of the Riverside Cafe for yet another day. The three girls followed the storekeeper inside, setting up their equipment back on the table they had used earlier. However, at this same time, a certain reporter had also shown up discreetly, watching things from a distance. He had seen this same cafe for lunch just before, a place that he had been blackmailed into spending Qeld at just the day before.. simply for the purpose of providing more business to the cafe. However, today he finds out that the same cafe will be simply too busy during lunch.. it made no sense at all. Maybe if he was going to spend his Qeld after lunch paying for some news, he might start with a free sample to make sure it was time well spent. However, it wouldn’t do to be caught in the process, he was already at a disadvantage by the clever elf girl, he needed to make sure he remained hidden.
It was fortunate that he was in his element, being discreet when on the scene of a potential news investigation was something he was very gifted with. Walking within shadows and the passages between, his gift was in his element with all the tall buildings, even if shadows at this time of day were shorter than usual. He dove into the shadow of the building once again and disappeared, appearing faintly from the edge of another shadow of the bench of the nearby bus stop before vanishing once again sitting within the shadows. From here, he could watch unseen, see what he could see, learn what he could learn. He fidgeted slightly, the shadows not being left in the most comfortable location. Just as he finally found a measure of comfort, loud sounds started to play from inside, something he couldn’t clearly see from his chosen location. He sighed, searching for a better location, uncertain at the safest way to proceed.
“Vwyx, Sryine started. Make sure you know the map I made, both of us will be making and serving orders this time.” “I’m still not sure how I’ve fallen to the life of a waitress.. this isn’t exactly the sort of thing I thought I would be doing.” “Don’t look at me, you two had this whole thing started without me, I just gave it some organization. We’re already starting to attract a crowd too.” Riyxia’s spectre withdrew from outside, Vwyx only cluing in on how Riyxia was so informed once the spectre returned. She had been concerned about something outside, but couldn’t figure out what it was. She was probably just still uneasy about this whole situation again.
“By the divine, this line got so big already. This was the place, right?” “Yeah, it was like this yesterday too.” “Is this really worth it?” “Well, the food is ordinary, but you hear that racket? That’s some kind of entertainment instrument, some really high end stuff I have no idea how such a place managed to afford. Sitting back and watching stuff happen from some kind of projection that seems so real.. it’s way better than a day of staring upon a river.” The shadows listened to the discussion of a pair of Hunters lined up for the cafe, having found no better option for gathering information. The girls were doing this for the Hunters, but it didn’t even sound hunter sponsored. The subtle reference to expensive equipment was also surprising, leading to the idea that the three girls had even another financial backer supporting them beyond just the Hunters, one with a fiscal potential, probably a big company. However, none of the major corporations invested much concern into the Hunters, so this was an unheard concept. Was this then some kind of governmental project? Just how much influence did the three girls have?
The reporter was really worried just how deep this story might actually get. He could hear the realistic sounds of some well-scripted adventure play out faintly behind the bustle of the crowds, being far too authentic for any cheap equipment. He glanced up at the window of the Cafe, knowing that such a view would give him plenty more answers, but would leave him exposed from the shadows. The sheer immensity of the growing crowd gave plenty of answers as it stood, as if most of the Irongate Bridge had simply shown up for the occasion. This wasn’t the matter of someone being influential along with the Hunters, this was someone who had a lot of influence over the Hunters. Just who were these girls, and what made them so important? The reporter was wracked with such a baffling question, haunting him in endless iterations. What bothered him more was how he actually knew nothing about them, even though they might be so important. He was quickly starting to change his mind, he didn’t need to hear whatever story he was being asked to pay for, this story playing out for him at no charge was far better. Surrendering the need to ensure a quality deal, he found a way free of the shadows and joined the line for himself.
“Hey, just walking through here, do you know what all the commotion is about?” “Oh, aren’t you that guy from the mall yesterday, the same elf with the girls? I really don’t know how they did it, but they got together some kind of cool instrument, something that does these high quality and super realistic plays. Seems it’s some kind of illusion, but I don’t know illusions to leave you hearing something so real. If you’re there, you can even feel the wind of the illusion when it blows through the illusionary halls. My friend wanted me to save him a spot in the line so he could check it out again for lunch.” “So they do this all the time?” “Oh, no, this would be like the second time ever. We didn’t even know it would happen again, which is why we weren’t ready for it. No idea how long it lasts, so there is quite a hurry before they stop the presentation.” “Really? I didn’t know the girls there were so well sponsored. Just who is backing this whole thing anyway?” “Sponsored? Well, I guess they would have to be, wouldn’t they.. with all this fancy instrumentation. They never spoke of it even once, though.” The reporter paused in his investigation, having discovered Nuiqhyx in the line. He was less impressed to have faced someone who could recognize him, but had hoped in turn he might discover more information. And yet, the hunter knew nothing. Such was even more suspicious, running such a huge endeavour involving the hunters, without the hunters having any knowledge about it. This was starting to seem less like the girls had any affiliation with the hunters, and more that they were part of a project greater than the hunters. That would mean all their involvement with the hunters were only for the ambitions of their greater goals.
This was starting to feel like the sort of mess his sister would get into all the time, with some serious backing behind it. This could suddenly put his life at risk, as powerful people in the city who did not want to be known had ways to silence people who learned too much. Then again, if that was the problem, he was already doomed. Their leader had his contact information, he could be located at any time, and dealt with accordingly. This would mean he couldn’t run either, the girls had him right where they wanted him, almost the same way as his sister and her friends did. Certainly though, knowing what he knew so far would be safe, and he could even get a lot of profit from it. It might be a good opportunity to cut further losses, and just try to make a safe profit, before things started to get ugly.
Left torn between figuring how much more he could learn, and figuring how he could ensure his own safety in the scent of blackmarket information, he was suddenly distracted by a massive crash resounding from the Irongate bridge. Bringing reality back to the scene, the Hunters made an urgent departure all at once, as a series of loud roars echoed from the direction of the bridge. Almost by impulse, the reporter dove into the shadows again, returning to simply watching. The whole area cleared up quickly after as well, people not wanting to stick around so close to such an emergency. The storekeeper stopped, realizing that all of his customers had suddenly been lost. Sryine stopped her projection and took a moment to relax, even though she felt she could easily keep going. Vwyx looked irritated as she started to suddenly start cleaning up.
Riyxia however was more concerned about the big picture, more than just suddenly having lost their customers like that. If everyone else was worried about the incident at the bridge, then shouldn’t they be worried too?
Luminaeris 