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Ches graced the Anitidae hotel with their illustrious presence because they wanted to see their friend, and the first thing they did was make a mental note to look up whether the name meant anything. It was not the first time they had made that mental note, but it had always slipped their mind. The second thing they did was lean forward over the rail to pat the central engine, exposed like a work of art. They didn't think twice about doing it, but security would have already escorted out anyone else who tried.
The third thing they did was notice a bot rushing away with a tray of water bottles and glasses. They followed the tinkling, since they were quite sure that The Duck was inhabiting that bot today. They couldn't say how they knew; they just did.
Right as Ches started to follow, two people entered the foyer. One came from the street, the other came from the hotel's staff hallways. The one from the street had been waiting outside and watched Ches with curious eyes as they touched the central piece. Somewhere inside the guts of the building, the tag #Suspicious got an uptick. The watcher carried no mobile phone, or at else it was in a Faraday cage. Another uptick. The cameras at the hotel followed this person and turned on a few protocols.
Ches didn't notice any presence following them. To be fair, it wasn't so much the skill of the follower as the awareness of the followee. They also didn't notice that the large meeting room they walked into was full of suited people, who were still standing and dilly-dallying while the bot put the water and glasses in front of each seat. Some of the assorted suited people noticed the bumbling kid at the door, but the kid was not The Duck, so they didn't pay too much attention.
Ches had only just put a foot in the room when a hand fells on their shoulder. Ches looked back.
"Hi, Sun!"
"Ches, this one is a bit private."
Sun pulled gently and Ches turned easily enough.
"Oh." Ches noticed the looks they were attracting now that two figures crowded the door. "Okay."
They walked back to the foyer. A man retched into an umbrella holder by the door. Next to him, a bellboy bot was still holding a tray of something and chirping "Complimentary! While you wait!" on repeat.
"Where are we going?" Ches asked when they noticed they were not going to the elevators.
"You are going to have to wait outside for a while. The hotel might be very busy and loud today. You shouldn't get caught up in that."
Ches nodded. Sun was used to people protesting or ignoring his instructions, so Ches' silent obedience was eerie.
Sun shrugged apologetically and opened the fire exit door, holding it open for Ches. An ambulance's siren blared from two streets over, but getting closer.
"I'm sorry you'll have to wait out there. You know The Duck would welcome you in The Rooms if he could."
"There is a frozen yogurt shop close by that I wanted us to try. Maybe The Duck could meet me there once he's done?" Ches asked.
"That's a good place as any. I'll let him know."
"Great! He's going to love it."
Once they got there, Ches went straight to the toppings display. The Duck wouldn't take long to join them; after all, he had everything under control. The Duck had just spaced out his departure to make following them less suspicious. It might have taken him a full extra minute, though, because he was not used to loading himself into one of the portable shells.
"You have not ordered yet?"
"Duck!" Ches launched themselves forward to hug this casing. No doubt about whether it was The Duck, not a question.
This casing was not made for hugging, but Ches never cared about that. The Duck did his level best to hug them back without his fine actuators.
"What are we having?" The Duck looked at the bright and attractive menu.
"I thought that since you can't eat it, maybe you could choose one for me?"
"I hope you won't be too disgusted by my uninformed choices." The Duck pretended to think, but he was sure of what Ches would like based on previous experience. It would be fun to put his skills to the test again. "I'll save a table for us while you wait for your order. I'll take your jacket."
"Go ahead!"
The Duck rifled through Ches' jacket pockets until he found a coin-sized device. He clutched it in one subpar-ly articulated hand before he even reached the table. He was letting his casing get a little too out of date. All his portable suits were due an update.
He hung the jacket carefully on the back of a chair and let the listening device rattle onto the table. Ches wasn't done yet. Good.
The Duck took out a hacking tool he carried for just this purpose and placed it next to the device. Numbers rolled across its little screen for less than a minute, and then they locked. This tracker was as good as his now, sharing all the little things it shouldn't be sharing, like the destination of its transmitted audio. Drones had already been deployed.
The Duck considered breaking the device now that it had spilled its secrets, but he was in a playful mood.
Ches sat down, carrying the frozen fruit salad with a dash of yogurt hidden inside like a pearl.
"Is the job done, then? Did you get the goods?" The Duck asked, giving his words some intensity.
"Yes, and it's better than I expected. You chose well!" Ches scooped a spoonful of mostly toppings. Any other choice would make the sugary tower collapse.
"We had to get rid of the ones that wanted you dead." The Duck tapped the allergies table on the menu.
"Yes. I wouldn't want to end up in the hospital right after seeing you."
"What about the… leftovers?"
"You won't have to worry about that." Ches got another happy mouthful to put emphasis on how nothing would be left.
"I'm glad to see it was iced by a professional."
"Yes! I was right, huh?"
"Too right. What about… the dough?"
"The dough?" Ches looked down and frowned.
"The bread, the cookies."
"Oh! The cookies! Yes! Twice the usual." Ches shook the bottom to hear the satisfying cookie crumble shifting. The lady at the counter had been very generous.
"Double! You got away with two times the regular deal?"
"Of course!"
"Fantastic. Splendid, I didn't expect you to get twice as much! Lots of different… treats… except I hope you didn't get any nose candy?" His tone got slightly more serious.
"I don't think they even had that? At least I didn't see it, and the working lady didn't offer."
"Good, it's not good for you anyway." He allowed his tone to be a bit lilting again. Having an audience was very inspiring.
"Yes. What you got me is the best stuff anyway."
"Everything worked out?"
"All went fine, you worry too much. You are going to overheat."
The Duck only waited a second for Ches to get the first scoop with a bit of everything in their mouth.
"Let me worry about what's really important then: Is the client satisfied?"
"Very much so!"
The Duck put a finger - one jaw of pliers, really, this "finger" was so subpar - on the listening device. He had had his fun, but good things come in small packages, so he would give only one last verbal tachycardia to their snoopers.
"Okay, now, what's that I heard about a misprint? Counterfeit, you mean?"
Then his pincer-claws pushed enough to crush the microphone.
"Oh, it broke." Ches abandoned their yogurt. "Will you be able to fix it?"
"I could. But I could get a new one more easily. Don't worry. So, misprints? Or would you rather describe to me what that tastes like?"
"Yes, but… Is your language model alright, Duck? You are not using your usual phrases today."
"It is perfectly fine, I was just putting a few less common words to good use, to check if they worked. They must not sound very natural if you noticed."
"It sounds like you're on a cop show and you are plotting something."
"Noted. Misprint or flavors?"
"Flavors, while I have it right in front of me. First off, cardboard spoons are a bad invention."
The afternoon dribbled away with The Duck idly listening and adding a few questions here and there. Ches got to tell him about the candy wrapper misprint too.
This shell was almost completely independent of the hotel, so who knew how the situation was being handled over there? He'd reconnect if there was an emergency, or when he was done.
At last, they were out of time for frozen yogurt. The Duck walked Ches to the bus stop, at least from Ches' point of view. If one considered all the facts, one could say Ches was being carefully escorted to the bus stop.
They kept talking while waiting for the bus. Ches didn't mind the other person who sat down on the bench. Ches didn't run out of steam, and The Duck was having fun sorting every bit of wildly varying new information. Maybe nothing would come of the data, but he already had ideas about where it should go.
Before the bus finally came, The Duck took out a small blue shield hanging from a thin loop.
"I am going to entrust you with this."
Ches took it from his metal claw. "It looks like a phone charm."
"It is called plot armor. After today's close call, I would rather you carry it."
"Okay, but I can look after myself. I don't need armor."
"Carry it, just to reassure this old and paranoid computer."
"I AM going to take it, I just want it to be noted that I don't need plot armor."
"Also noted."
"Goodbye hug?"
"Always."
The bus had the kind of timing that only happens in films, stopping gently, with the doors opening right in front of their embrace.
"Safe travels, friend."
"Same to you."
Ches climbed the step and pulled out a bus pass.
While they went through that process, The Duck stretched out the pliers and snatched a pinch of coat. He pulled.
"That is not your bus." The Duck said to the robust woman, who looked from the bus to her assailant with clear annoyance.
The bus door closed and Ches waved from inside. The Duck answered with a wave of his own. His knot of cloth tried to slip away, but as soon as the bus was out of sight, The Duck spun his waving hand around to hold the woman.
"Now, you might want to explain what that little transmission I intercepted was about. The one that said 'follow them'. I suggest you talk fast."