Chapter 72: The [Invisible] Secret

The two [Invisible] people–one had to be a Kremel with that kind of strength–hauled Lus from the hallway and into a nearby room. Two other guards waited there, both completely visible.

The Nemarian man who stood in front stepped forward.

"We need to speak with you, Lus Andrews." His voice was calm, but direct, making it clear that this wasn't meant to be optional.

Lusac glared at the man, still gagged by his captors. He did his best to jerk against those holding him, but it was pointless.

"If you can settle down for a moment, we can handle this like civilized people," the Nemarian said, crossing his arms.

Against his better judgment, Lus forced himself to relax, and as he did so, the people holding him loosened their grip and removed the hand blocking his mouth.

"Better. Now, if you think you can handle it, care to sit?" The Nemarian gestured to two chairs waiting across the room.

There was little other furniture in the space, and based on the boxes pushed up against the walls, it was probably used for storage. The walls were a bland beige, and the floors the regular wood planks as almost everywhere else he'd been in the manor.

"Fine," Lus begrudgingly said. He didn't really have any other options given that he was out-numbered four to one. The hands holding him released him completely, allowing him to move freely.

"We just want to have a brief conversation. If you cooperate, this won't take long," the Nemarian promised as he walked over to the chairs alongside Lus. They both sat down and the two guards who had been holding him turned off their [Invisibility] revealing a Kremel and another Nemarian standing just behind Lusac's chair. The remaining guard was a Human woman who kept her distance from the others, watching the door more than Lus.

"What is this about?" Lusac said, still trying to pretend he didn't know exactly who these people were. It would be very bad for him if people started digging into how a [Chef] managed to get a [Skill] like [Sixth Sense].

"I guess I should have expected this kind of lack of manners from a yokel," the Nemarian sighed. "I'm Juze-Quiv, captain of Fresa-Ersht's personal guard."

"So that's what she meant when she said help was close," Lusac muttered to himself, really trying to sell the story of "stumbling" upon the truth about Fresa-Ersht.

"Yes. At least one of us remains near Fresa in case of an emergency. You see, her mother is a very powerful woman, and we wouldn't want anything to happen to her daughter. Kidnapping, ransom… You get the idea of things that could befall someone in Fresa-Ersht's position," Juze-Quiv said.

"Of course. But that's why she's keeping her identity a secret," he replied.

Juze-Quiv nodded. "And we need to know it's going to stay that way."

"You must have heard the conversation in the hall. I already promised Fresa–"

"I want to hear it from you directly. And I think you should understand that there will be unpleasant consequences if Fresa's identity is revealed," the Nemarian said, his pink fins twitching.

Lusac blinked. These guys took their security seriously if they were threatening him before he'd even done anything wrong. Hopefully they wouldn't be too much of a hindrance to his real mission. Perhaps there was more to learn about them, something that might complete that lingering [Quest].

"Fine. I swear that Fresa-Ersht's secret is safe with me. I won't tell a soul," Lus said after a moment.

Juze-Quiv looked at him and then smiled. "I'm glad we've come to an understanding. As you've already learned, we have the ability to go where we need to and do what has to be done without drawing suspicion. We'll be watching you, Lus Andrews."

"Do you all have systems then?" Lusac asked, remaining in his chair even as Juze-Quiv started to stand.

The Nemarian paused for a moment and then shook his head. "Our methods are our own. Instead of worrying about how we do it, I'd suggest you focus more on keeping your mouth shut, understand?"

"Alright," Lus agreed as he stood from his chair. The Kremel guard placed a hand on his shoulder and "guided" him out of the room, giving him a shove out the door and back into the hallway.

Lus straightened and resisted turning around to punch the guy as the door slammed shut behind him. Taking a deep breath, he straightened his uniform and glanced around to confirm that there was no one around he was going to have to explain himself to.

Seeing that he was alone, Lusac casually resumed his journey to explore the mansion in hopes of gathering intel on the artifact. He hadn't made it very far down the hall when his [Sixth Sense] triggered, and he became aware of someone only a few yards behind him, following him.

"Couldn't trust me for even five minutes," Lus breathed to himself. There went any plans of scouting out the house for the mission. His only option now was to go to lunch like a good little employee.

Thanks to his memorization of the manor, it was a simple task to escape the grandiose structure and find his way to the back lawn where the others were already mostly finished with their meals. A few trees dotted the landscape, and the pool was completely blocked off. The garden beds were bare and the deck devoid of furniture, all of which was likely due to the absence of those who would actually be living in the mansion.

Lus went up to the serving area in the center of the grassy field which contained only a small amount of each thing now that everyone had gone through. There were even a few people going back through the line for seconds. The [Invisible] guard remained somewhere in the vicinity but not too close.

While he didn't envy his coworkers who were still in the kitchen and might not make it out in time for any kind of lunch break, he did regret that he had accidentally become the golden boy, which would make it harder to befriend the others. Standing out was the exact opposite of what Lus wanted.

He grabbed a plate and served himself a minimal helping in hopes that it meant Fresa and the others might get something to eat once Chef Savannah was done with them, and then he went to find a place to sit down. They hadn't bothered putting chairs or tables out, so everyone was just sitting on the grass in groups.

Lus noticed two of his roommates, Frpl and Hwwnvl sitting together with some others, but they hadn't seen him yet, and he didn't have the mental strength to deal with them again already so he quickly stepped out of view and continued scanning the area. His [Sixth Sense] lowered its warning, informing him that the guard had finally given up stalking him for the time being.

After another few seconds of surveying the scene, Lusac noticed Vlqtrn sitting by himself in the shade–almost everyone else was in the sun due to the cool weather. Smiling, Lus walked up to his friend and sat down.

"Hey Flq," he said. "How's your training going?"

"Lus, right?" Vlqtrn replied, keeping their cover up even if there was no one nearby to listen. As far as Lus's [Sixth Sense] could tell, there was no [Invisible] person waiting around either, but obviously Vlqtrn had no such way of telling that for himself. "Training is good. How is yours going?"

"Good," Lus responded as he took a bite of food. While a little cold, it was actually pretty good. Definitely better than what he expected from the chaos of this morning. "So, uh, any word about… Prwls?" He couldn't remember the Argo's botanist's fake name at the moment.

Vlqtrn shook his head with a sigh. "She didn't make it in. It's just us, Lus."

"Blast it. It's a big manor. We could have used the help," he said.

"You're telling me. I'll see what I can figure out this afternoon, but let's plan to meet in a couple of days to solidify plans. For now, just be casual and do nothing to draw attention to yourself," the Kremel said.

Remembering his run-in with the Fresa's bodyguards, Lusac winced a little, a gesture that somehow went unnoticed by his companion. "Yeah. Good idea. I might scout around the manor a bit today just to see what I can find."

"Be careful. We can't afford for you to draw suspicion to us."

"I will. Have a little faith. My stealth skills are 'adept,' remember?" Lusac quoted Captain Tave from when they had the mission briefing for the museum heist.

"Fine. Just don't be stupid," Vlqtrn reiterated.

"How are your roommates?" Lus asked to get the conversation to something besides Vlqtrn trying to take charge of a mission where they shared equal responsibility. Obviously Lus was going to be careful. He'd been on more stealth missions than the tech nerd even if he had only been part of the Argo for a couple of years.

"Fine. They're roommates," Vlqtrn said. "Reminds me of when I was in college."

"I didn't know you attended a university. Where at?"

"Yeah. I got a degree in advanced computer design from the University of Technology on Anettol," his friend replied.

"A Gemini school even? Impressive. How'd you end up with the Runners?"

"On a dare, I hacked into a government top secret facility and spread some of the files to CinderX. Luckily one of the Gemini Runner crews found me before the COPS, and they offered me an escape from life in prison," he explained. "I worked with Dre-Shawiv there, and he convinced me to come along when he joined the Argo."

Lus whistled. "Hacking government facilities? Suns, that's reckless. Are you sure I'm the one who needs to be careful around here?"

Vlqtrn chuckled. "I'm only passing on advice from my own experiences. Anyway, I've got to go. Let's meet up in the first common room tomorrow evening to make some plans."

"Okay. But Vlqtrn, do be careful," Lus reminded him. He lowered his voice to barely a whisper. "My [Sixth Sense] has gone off a couple of times, so you really never know if someone is watching."

The Kremel's orange eyes went wide as he cautiously nodded. "Thanks for letting me know. I guess this might not be as easy as we thought."

"You're telling me."

Vlqtrn stood up with his empty dishes and walked away to drop them off before joining some other group of employees. Lus returned to his mostly eaten meal to finish the last few bites. It was a lot less appetizing now that it was completely cold, but he was hungry enough to eat it anyway.

He'd completely cleaned off his plate by the time he caught sight of the other kitchen workers exiting the manor. All three of them looked absolutely livid, and Lus wasn't sure he wanted to brave talking to them so soon after their punishment.

Standing up, he went to drop off his dirty dishes, and Fresa-Ersht noticed him and called out.

"Hey, Lus," she said. He turned to see her motioning him over to the group.

Groaning internally, he placed his plate and fork in the overflowing bin with the other used dishes and heeded her summons.

"Hey guys. How's it going?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Great. I just rubbed half my scales off cleaning an already clean counter," Fresa said. "And missing out on lunch while Mr. Duty here got to eat what was supposed to be our meal."

"That's not my fault. I'd have preferred to have finished cleaning with you guys," Lusac promised them. Majo, Pltr, and Fresa all continued to glare at him, clearly not buying it.

"Whatever. Now we get scraps while you get to go buddy up with Chef Savannah," Pltr muttered.

"I'm not headed back to the kitchen yet. I want to enjoy being free for a while. I was going to just take a walk," Lus argued. "Don't hate me because you made a bad decision and got caught."

"Self-righteous yokel," Majo murmured as he roughly shoved past Lusac. Pltr followed his lead, and her much larger frame nearly knocked Lus to the ground. Fresa-Ersht gave him one last sad glance as she went after them.

Lusac watched them go, standing outside in the cold breeze until he was sure they weren't paying any more attention to him, and then he made his way back to the manor. He hadn't lied. He had no intention of going back to the kitchen, but this was the perfect opportunity to check out a few more wings of the mansion to see what he could discover about the artifact he was after. Most, if not all, of the security guards would still be out enjoying their lunch break, and if he got caught, it would be easy to claim he just got lost.

Back in the grandiose hallways of the house, Lus started towards some of the upper wings he had yet to see any part of. The stairs leading up were wide and grand, with intricately carved railings that Lus didn't dare touch with unclean hands. They were so delicate that he couldn't believe they would actually be of any use as handholds, but he supposed style outweighed function once a person had as much money as Senator Grwtln.

The second floor was somehow even more extravagant than the first floor. More artwork decorated the walls and the floor held some of the most elaborately weaved rugs Lusac had ever seen. Walking on them with his shoes seemed like a crime. They should have been displayed somewhere, not used in a home as an everyday object.

Lus trode carefully as he made his way down the first of many hallways leading off the main landing area. With all the displays, it was going to take days, maybe even weeks, to track down the one specific piece they wanted. And that was going to be the easy part. Then he and Vlqtrn would have to find a way to get the piece out without getting caught by the dozen of security officers.

Even 14 [Luck] wasn't high enough for him to pull off some kind of miraculous discovery of their target early on. Lusac found plenty of fancy paintings, colorful tapestries, and several pieces that were similar to the artifact, but what he needed continued to elude him.

Checking his watch, he realized that he didn't have much time until he needed to get back to the kitchen, and he really didn't want to be late and piss Chef Savannah off more than she already was.

As he quietly returned to the landing with the stairs, Lusac heard voices up ahead, signaling trouble. Changing his walk into a full on sneak, Lus slunk up against the wall and continued towards the sounds. When he got close enough to see, his heart sank.

Ten security guards were waiting at the landing, trapping him on the second floor.