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“Explain this, Captain.”
“Erm.”
This was not how he expected his first meeting with Special Inquisitor Morag to go.
Though, to be fair, he was sure neither of them quite expected today’s events on the whole.
“Well… firstly, I’d like to emphasize that my men tried their best.”
“Duly noted.”
Padraig tugged at his collar, taking a sudden interest in his combat boots-definitely not ignoring the fact that the Special Inquisitor was staring daggers at him. “I’d also like to offer the theory that, based on our current understanding of what occurred, the recent… occurrences at our supply bases have had nothing to do with the Aegis or her companions.”
“What makes you so certain?”
“The fact that they were taken out of our scuffle near-immediately by the actual culprit of those incidents.”
Morag raised an eyebrow. “Your report indicated they escaped after a tense battle, shortly after Brighid arrived.”
Padraig felt the cold sweat drip down his face. “Well… we felt it best to describe it that way, and tell you and you alone the truth directly. Lady Brighid agreed, at least on principle; she will be telling you her experiences herself once she arrives.”
“ ‘Best to describe it that way’ , eh? As opposed to what, exactly?”
“As opposed to telling you something you might find absurd, ma’am.”
Morag frowned. “...define absurd for me, Captain.”
“...very well,” he sighed. “Absurd, in this context, means ‘we were routed by a murderous mathematician, who then proceeded to abscond with the Aegis and her party, vanishing completely into thin air,’ you see.”
Morag’s other eyebrow joined in. “Captain. Is this some sort of joke?”
“If it were, ma’am…” Padraig lowered his head in shame. “I don’t think it would be a very funny one.”
“Oi, the hell do y’think you’re doing?”
“Adding to my rations.”
“That’s theft!”
“Feh. Not like they’ll notice a small subtraction. I’ve equated in what they’ll need to keep afloat.” A crunch of an apple accentuated the tall man’s words, his next words slightly muffled by the food and his face obscured behind his black hood. “Besides, we’ll be transitioning our coordinates soon enough. Not like they’ll notice a fraction like this for another day or two.”
“Seriously, mate, d’you hear yourself talk?” Rex looked around, nervously. “Look, we appreciate the save, but we didn’t sign on to be saved by a thief! And—and what did you do with Gramps?”
“No idea who you’re talking about, radian. If your old man isn’t here, that’s just bad luck.”
“I shoulda figured,” Nia said. “Yer some kind of lousy crook . Yer dressed like you’re best set skulking in the night, not traipsing through the town in daylight. Cannae trust you as far as we could throw you, I’d say.”
“Hrm. So zetta disappointing,” the man sighed. “No Imagination at all. Better hope you have the raw Soul to make up for it.”
“Listen, you, I’ve got plenty of soul, but that doesn’t—” Rex paused, his eyes wide with fear as the shopkeeper approached with fire in his own eyes. “Bloody ‘ell, I’ll talk to ‘im-maybe he’ll understand if I tell ‘im you were ‘ungry?”
“Yeaaaah, I get the feelin’ he’s gonna kick your arse, math man,” Nia muttered. “It’d d’ye some good in the karma department.”
The man rolled his eyes. “He won’t notice a thing.”
“How can he not? ” Pyra pulled Rex back, stepping past her Driver with a quick two-step and snatching the half-eaten apple out of the stranger’s hand. The man glowered, but otherwise betrayed no change in demeanor as the Aegis snapped at him. “You don’t know how hard he might have worked for that apple, or any of his produce!”
The man shrugged, merely reaching for another apple. Pyra’s hand smacked his hand away, which finally seemed to get some kind of reaction—a disdainful glower. “I don’t care what equation led to his result, you binomial. Sometimes, Only Hardship Can Adequately Help To Overwhelm Adversity.”
Pyra’s expression twisted, far more furious than Rex had ever seen her. “I find that hard to believe.”
“Sir,” Dromarch interjected, his fangs beginning to show as a low growl escaped his throat. “I’m afraid I have to agree. Are you insisting that your stealing from an innocent bystander will help them in any capacity?”
The man smirked. “Well, at least one of you has a factoring brain. I didn’t expect the resident genius to be the pet .”
“Excuse you?!” Nia moved to grab the man by the collar, Pyra and Rex both failing to reach her before she pinned him to a nearby brick wall. “Ye don’t talk to Dromarch that way, ever! ” Letting out a cry of frustration, she snarled, “Who the hell do you think ye even are?”
“Nia, calm down!” Rex exclaimed, his hands flailing in the air in a dire panic. “The shopkeeper will—”
“ Oi! ” The shopkeeper bellowed, approaching the stand. “The bleedin’ ‘ell is this?!”
Pyra stepped in front of the produce stand, her hands placed in a placating position in the air. “Sir, I assure you, we have a reasonable—”
The man walked through her.
That wasn’t to say he pushed her, or that he trampled over her.
He physically walked through her , without a care in the world.
“Damned Stetson can’t even be arsed to watch a few apples,” the shopkeeper groused, settling himself behind the counter. “Probably the bloody urchins. When I get my hands on those brats…”
“Pyra?” Rex asked, approaching cautiously. “Is… is that some sort of Aegis power?”
“N-no, not as far as I’m aware…” Pyra pinched her arm—yep, still there, still tangible and warm. She turned around to face the shopkeeper. “Sir?”
No response.
“Oi, dumbass!” Nia shouted, still holding a vice grip on the party’s savior.
Nothing.
“It’s like he can’t hear us!” Rex leaned forward, placing his hands on the counter. “But—but we’re right here! ”
“Heh. These new Player Pins are something else.”
Nia wheeled her head around, coming face to face with a feral grin. “What’s that supposed ta mean?! What pins?”
“It means my plan worked .” The stranger’s grin grew. “Really, don’t tell me you never noticed?”
“Y’talkin’ about this thing?” Rex pulled at the right side of his diving suit. A red and black pin, adorned with some kind of skull, greeted the party. Pyra checked her cloak, and Dromarch checked his armor.
Pins.
Nia gasped, pulling up at her collar. “How—how in the hell did you—”
“During the fight,” Pyra realized. “When you attacked us…”
“Precisely. I knew you’d be useful, so when I saw your little punch-out taking a turn, I took a few… calculations into my own hands.” The man gripped Nia’s arm, pulling it off of him. As she tried to lash out with her other hand, he slipped under her, stepping to the side. “I knew this place had a UG, and you zeptograms had overflowing Soul. I wasn’t going to give that up so easily.”
“UG?”
“What’s this about soul again?”
“The hell does any of that mean ?! ”
“Nothing to you zeroes, but everything to me.” The man reached into his cloak, retrieving a strange-looking device. It looked like an open cone with some sort of handle. Rex had seen something similar before, in the hands of the Ardanian soldiers. Ugh, what was it…
The crackling noise clued him in rather quickly, as did the loud screech that followed.
“Ow!”
“Bugger—”
“My ears!”
“How dare you!”
“Listen up, you factoring hectopascals!” The man shouted, paying no heed to the passersby as his amplified voice echoed through the air (passerby whom, as few as there were in the alley, still didn’t seem to notice the growing chaos). “If you want to survive, follow my lead. Otherwise, you’re prime for erasure.” Lowering the device, the man’s vicious grin grew. “Got that?”
“Got what?! ” Nia threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. “I dunno what the hell you’re on about—and you haven’t answered my bloody question!”
“Heh. Fair enough. I’ll solve for x.” The man raised his hood slightly, and Rex could finally get a halfway-decent look at him. A strange hat adorned his head, covered mostly by the hood but with a brim that stuck out ever-so-slightly. His face had some slightly feline features; was he a Gormotti, perhaps? He certainly didn’t dress like a local, with his black jacket covering a black shirt with a white zig-zag pattern, his grey pants, and dark black boots. He looked more dressed for a day in Tantal than anything else.
“Listen good, cause I’m only gonna say this once.” The man leaned forward, pinching his hat with his pointer finger and thumb. “The name’s Sho Minamimoto. Soon enough, though?” A chuckle escaped his lips as he glanced back up. “You’ll be calling me Composer of this whole UG.”
A pall of silence fell over the group.
Rex turned to Pyra. “Y’get any of that?”
“Not a bit.”
“He’s a whackjob ,” Nia growled, “And one we’d be better off tossin’ the Ardanians’ way.”
“You saw his skill, Miss Nia,” Dromarch argued, “And, for all his… eccentricities , he’s not moved to harm us in any way.”
“Y’can’t be serious, Dromarch.”
Pyra put a finger to her chin. “Mr… Minamimoto?”
“Hm?” Minamimoto raised an eyebrow. “What is it, binomial?”
Pyra stiffened a little, but pushed onward. “You rescued us because we were… useful to your plans, I presume?”
“You got a problem with that?”
She shook her head. “Not exactly. I believe that we could be useful to each other, however. I… I have an important task that I must complete. We need as much help as we can get. Would you care to join us? We can help you with… whatever it is you’re looking for along the way, perhaps.”
“Okay, did all of you get one too many hits to the noggin from those jackbooted bastards?!” Nia looked ready to throttle Pyra, soon turning her attention to Rex with just as much fervor. “ Please tell me you don’t agree with her.”
Rex shrugged. “Salvager Code #2.”
“Don’t you dare. ”
“ Always help others that help you. ”
“Rex!”
Rex chuckled. “Sure, I don’t know heads from tails with what he’s yammerin’ about, but diving into the unknown is what salvagers do. Plus, if it helps Pyra out, I don’t see why not.”
“Idiots.” Nia gripped at her hair, grinding her teeth as she hissed “You’re all bloody idiots! He hasn’t even agreed to anything yet—nor, I’ll remind you, have I! ”
“The multiplicand has a point.” Stepping ahead, Minamimoto glanced at Nia, his eyes locking with her own for a brief moment, before he returned his attention to Pyra. “I’m sure in a place like this, I can find plenty of people that fit my parameters.”
“Like whom?”
“The blue-haired element from before. Her Soul is powerful, even if it’s by whatever integer is tied to her formula.” Minamimoto glared at Pyra. “You saw that firsthand. I don’t think I need any more proof than that. Quod erat demonstrandum. ”
Pyra blinked. “ Quod… ”
“... erat demonstrandum? What does that mean, exactly?”
“My child, it simply means that the argument has been proven. It’s… an antiquated phrase, I’ll admit, from a time long before you and your siblings were born into the world, but one I used quite often. Sadly, I’m afraid only death has the ability to let me escape from that old thing…”
“No,” Pyra whispered. “It can’t be. He can’t be from…”
“Can’t be from what?” Rex asked. Pyra didn’t answer, lost in some kind of contemplation.
“I’m waiting, binomial.”
Pyra took a breath. “Much like you seem to be the only one here able to take us into this… plane of existence,” Pyra replied, warily, “We’re the only ones who can take you into the plane we intend to find. The only one that can give you the kind of power I presume you seek, if the person we hope to find there still lives.”
The mathematician grinned, leaning in close as he scrutinized her expression. “Is. That. So.”
Resolutely, Pyra replied, “It is indeed.”
The stare lasted for a solid five seconds before Minamimoto’s twisted smile returned. “Then, by all means…
… lead the way.”