100

"I mean, like, maybe," the man says, scratching his chin. "But the aliens seem awfully interested in you." The last remaining patron moves away from your table noisily. The messenger doesn't seem to notice.

"The message?" you prompt.

"Right. B wants me to tell you that your success has been noted. I've never actually seen B's face, but I've also never heard him sound this happy. Whatever you did for him really turned his crank the right way. He'd like to see you at the same place you last met. Tonight. As soon as possible." He grins. "Sounds like good news to me! It's always good when they give you rewards!"

"Thank you," you say, already planning the quickest way to get to the Greyhound station and the sewers beneath it. "I don't think I caught your name."

"Alex." He sticks his hand out and you shake it. "Pleased to meet you. I've gotta go, though. One more message to deliver."

He stands up, nearly knocking the table behind him over in the process—it seems like a nervous patron had been quietly building a small barricade of tables. "Maybe I'll be seeing you, maybe I won't," Alex says as he runs out the door. A concerned mother with three young children gives you an angry look. You shrug. Not much you can do about it now.

Next

Before rushing off to meet with Bouchard, you consider whether you should bring him your dispatched foe's weapon. It's proof of the deed, but then again, the Sewer Rat never actually requested it.

It takes you less than an hour to reach the entrance to the sewers beneath the Greyhound Station. You're still not sure why Bouchard insists on meeting here—you'd swear that the smell of urine and filth is worse than the last time you met the old Sewer Rat. One might think that you'd be used to the comforts of a sewer system by now—you technically stay in one, after all—but you and Gerard keep your haven fresh and livable. Not at all like this rank pit of sewage. Fortunately for you, you don't need to breathe, so you can block it out at will. If only the stains on the walls, floor, and ladder were as easy to avoid.

"Mekuztli!" Bouchard's voice booms through the muck-carpeted passage. "I asked you for a token of goodwill, and you delivered in spades!" The old man slinks around a nearby corner into the dim light afforded by the ceiling gratings to the world above. "I'm impressed—you've proven yourself a useful ally! Tell me about his death. How did Ichiro die?"