Chương 170: B3. 15.1 - Matt, The Friendly BID Agent

I walked past Four Arms, patted his arm, and pointed behind him. I planned to lead him to the PCM base. The chance was low that Dario was still there, especially with the death of Trigger Happy. I imagined Dario doing that movie trope where he'd call Trigger Happy but would get only static as an answer. There'd be the slow realization that his ally was dead. He'd run for his life after that. Even if Dario was no longer around, the PCM base would occupy Four Arms.

I'd talk with Four Arms a bit, try to learn about more stuff, before removing my mask and disappearing. His choice would either be to look for the Corebrings or investigate the PCM base while calling for backup. I doubted he'd pick the first option. As for the Adumbrae Four Arms detected, he'd assume we Corebrings had taken care of it. And so, the 4Bs could freely leave. There was the slim third possibility that Four Arms would continue hunting for the Adumbrae.

Make sure that the Corebrings did kill it, or try to find its body for research purposes. I had a plan for it.

"Back that way?" Four Arms asked, though he followed me. He also didn't react to my touch. If he suspected I was an Adumbrae and was just playing a bit to get information from me, he'd still avoid contact. This meant that Four Arms really thought that I was a Corebring. Surer than sugar in a marshmallow that he didn't buy everything I said, but I didn't need him to. In fact, I wanted him to come up with his version of the 'truth' because it'd be more compelling and complicated than any lie I could tell.

"I'll show you something that might interest you, Matt, the BID agent. You passed another tunnel on your way here, did you not?"

"Ah, I had this feeling that Agent Blue was leading me away from it. What's down that way? More Adumbrae? Did the PCM keep them at the end of that tunnel?"

"I'm not sure about Adumbrae, but it's supposed to be a base of the PCM. Maybe you'll find something interesting there." A lot of interesting things. He'd noticed that the tunnel had collapsed in the past, blocking off the passage. Not sure if he could tell that the excavations were super recent—his sensors probably—but if not him, the forensics people they'd bring in later would know. I wanted to throw in a bunch of lies to explain what had happened here to push the BID's noses away from my real life.

"Mind telling me what's really going on, Pino the Corebring?" Four Arms asked, his heavy footsteps punctuating his words.

"You're allowed to do that, aren't you? Helping humans. I'm a human."

"I'm not even supposed to be here…" I said, buying time. (Deen, change of plans. I managed to distract the robot man instead of fighting him. I'll lead him to the PCM base.) Being this proactive was part of the hero's journey of timid Erind. Too bad that Deen seemed to think that her timid best friend couldn't transform this way after experiencing a bunch of traumatizing stuff. I couldn't control worrywart Deen's reaction to that. Actually, I should be offended that she was belittling me.

(Are you sure that's fine?) Deen asked. (Is your Guardian Angel saying something against it?) (Gabe's silent for some time now. The future has changed. We're safe, apparently.) The bad ending was fighting Four Arms. Being buddies with him before I poof away was the correct choice. (So, it's fine to do this.) I switched to talking to the other 4Bs. (Myra, Kelsey. Go on your way and escape. Deen will stay behind with my original body so that I can continue distracting this metal man. We'll escape on our own later.) (Aw, I was prepared to fight,) Myra said. She was probably just trying to sound tough. She did know we'd all die if we fought Four Arms. (I guess safety is the priority.) (Thanks so much for the help, Erind,) said Kelsey. (Just follow the plan for exit C.) I hoped that the maps from Auron were still accurate, including which paths would likely have guards. Deen was such a dictator during the 4Bs' planning montage, forcing us to have several alternative plans.

It turned out that being prudent was a good thing. How could I have ever known that? (Deen, you're fine staying with me, right?) I asked, directing my thought-message only to her. (We'll distract the metal man long enough for Myra and Kelsey to escape, and then we'll also leave.) I didn't particularly care about the Fletchers' safety. But having them escape first was beneficial to me. Recalling the first time I saw Four Arms, he didn't detect that I was an Adumbrae.

He may not have bothered to scan me, but I assumed that he continuously ran sensors for Adumbrae's otherworldly energy, some kind of shifts in reality. My guess was that I didn't give off those tell-tale signs of an Adumbrae because I kept my human form, not having completely Manifested. In contrast, Kelsey was a monster from head to toe. Deen said that Four Arms could somehow track us wherever we'd go.

If Four Arms was indeed following Kelsey's energy or something, I'd want to follow our planned route C while Deen and I take the hero wannabe's alternative exit, which was our route B. Of course, the Fletcher sisters would be long gone by the time Four Arms would decide to follow them, if ever. Though I still thought Four Arms would hang out at the PCM base. (You'll have to bring my original body closer so I can maintain Pino,) I told Deen. (We're already heading to the PCM base.) (I'll take care of your body, don't worry. It's by my side.) I internally squirmed at the thought of Deen hugging my body. A small consolation was that my consciousness wasn't in my original body to feel Deen's warmth and the disgusting contact of our skin. And when compared to Reo or anybody else, I'd prefer Deen to touch me. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. That… sounded a bit wrong. Just get it out of my mind.

"If it'll cause any trouble for you," said Four Arms, "I'll keep your presence a secret. Consider me as Sgt. Hall's proxy. I'm here to witness the truth of what's happening to La Esperanza. That's your intention for him, isn't it?"

"Yes." I walked faster since Deen was moving my original body.

"But I don't understand much," Four Arms went on.

"I'm man enough to admit that. I'll be more grateful than grated cheese if you can enlighten me. We'll do your job, and you can relax like it's your vacation. I'll even give you coupons for Phoenix Wings to sweeten the deal." This BID agent was a true yapper. It must be annoying working with him. I'd pay twenty bucks to see how the stoic Tower Cop interacted with Four Arms on their way here.

"Thanks for the offer of discount coupons, but I don't eat in the normal way," I said.

"I'll still tell you some things, though. I have this feeling that… you can be trusted."

"I have that on my resume when I applied to be a BID agent—Totally Trustworthy Guy. It's a warming feeling to have a Corebring confirm it. So, Pino the Corebring, what's really going on here?"

"You already know about most of it. Mark and Big Marcy run a criminal organization that turns people into Adumbrae."

"Holy shit! I didn't know that!"

"Ah… I assumed you did," I casually said, trying to hide the smugness in my voice. This was the first time that Four Arms broke his air of eccentric nonchalance. It really was a big revelation.

"Is that true? Swear to the Mother Core? Oh, sorry. Was that offensive to invoke the name of your, uh, mother?"

"It's not offensive." Four Arms sped up so he'd be next to me. He was so huge that I had to move to the side, almost next to the wall. He bent down and looked at me as we walked.

"Are you saying that they're turning people into wretched monsters? Induced-seeding, is it?"

"You're referring to cases where people are put through traumatic experiences to hopefully seed them. Many Adumbrae-worshipping cults have done it that way." Dad had told me about this. I had also watched true crime documentaries with Mom about those weirdo cults. It had been her favorite pastime after Dad's disappearance.

"But it's not that. This is different. Very different. Do you think that the wealthy clients of Mark and Big Marcy would agree to induced-seeding?"

"Some might. Rich people do questionable things. Money can turn the brain cuckoo. But I see your point, Pino the Corebring. How do they turn—? I know. The machines hidden in these tunnels are for making Adumbrae. Our technicians are having difficulties figuring them out. The people we've kindly interrogated claimed that they were for reversing seeding. Can you believe that? They assert that they were saving humanity. A pile of baloney." Baloney. Bologna. Stupid spelling with a weird pronunciation.

But I shouldn't get distracted by random thoughts.

"The machines…" I said with a dramatic pause.

"They're not for making Adumbrae. They're for maintenance purposes. The artificial Adumbrae are Adumbrae, after all. They could completely Manifest and lose their personality, with entities from beyond the veil taking over. What use is gaining a superhuman body if you lose control of it?"

"Makes sense. I'll tell my technicians about this. Perhaps we'll be able to figure out how those machines work now that we know what they were for." Your technicians are going to be so confused. Then again, the PCM's machines didn't work as intended, so knowing what they were really for wouldn't help.

"That makes me wonder…" said Four Arms.

"I'm a very wonderful guy, so please excuse my wondering. I wonder… how does Mark and Big Marcy turn people into Adumbrae?"

"We don't know yet, but it's connected to a place called the Red Island." If the BID took care of the 2Ms and the PCM, then it'd be great. Not sure if I should try to sic the BID on the Professor.

"Red Island. We've heard that name a couple of times."

"It's where rich clients are brought by Mark and Big Marcy to be turned into Adumbrae. Very likely, the criminal brothers are middlemen working for someone higher up the food chain. They don't seem to have the resources to hire a bunch of scientists for this endeavor." I enjoyed exposition scenes, especially if I was the one expositing.

"Where—?"

"We don't have any lead on the location of Red Island. If you catch some of the clients of Mark and Big Marcy, the Adumbrae ones, you can interrogate them instead of killing them outright."

"I'll keep that in mind," Four Arms replied with a strained voice.

"What about the Adumbrae attacks? Their purpose? To start a seeding event?"

"Correct. To sow panic, opening up more people to seeding. It's a precursor to the ultimate goal of creating a Purple Bloom in your country."

"I knew it. Get money from the rich to fund a Purple Bloom that will just eat all the rich-turned-Adumbrae as fuel for its growth. Release Adumbrae in the city to frighten people into becoming Adumbrae themselves. That's why the PCM has these Adumbrae prisons under the city, strategically placed to release them when the time came to execute the plan."

"Indeed." Every wrong assumption believed to be true was a point on my part. I should've kept score. No one was really making any Purple Blooms, making me wonder what the actual goal of the 2Ms was. Something beyond making money. Surely, selling drugs was much easier than turning rich people into monsters? And what were the Adumbrae attacks on the trains for? Field tests like what the Professor was doing with the artificial Cores? Those just attracted the attention of the BID, and maybe the Corebrings as well.

How did the PCMs figure into this situation, with their goal opposing the 2Ms?

"But the bad guys didn't get to execute their plan," said Four Arms.

"No thanks to the BID or police. A little birdy told me that a group led by an Adumbrae called Red Hood fought the fuckers trying to make a Purple Bloom on our great American soil. Red Hood. Ring any bells, Pino the Corebring?"

"Yes, we've heard of the Adumbrae called Red Hood." I almost jumped up in celebration. Red Hood was now so famous that even the BID knew about that name! Which was, of course, super bad. But! I was pleased with my increasing notoriety. This was also an opportunity to mislead the BID.

"Adumbrae… or Corebring?" Four Arms asked. Great that Four Arm's mind went this way. Made my work so much easier.

"Corebring? What are you implying?" It was difficult to pull off subtle tones with my robotic voice, but I think the way hinted at secrets.

"Red Hood appeared out of nowhere and attacked the base of the M brothers at the docks. People say she's an Adumbrae, but we couldn't detect energy residues that should've been left behind by an Adumbrae of her power level at the site. There's this teensy-weensy other thing—we found traces of Core energy there, too."

"Are you saying that Red Hood is a Corebring masquerading as an Adumbrae?" I thought Four Arms was crazy with his assumption, but he actually had evidence to back it up. Too bad for him that the evidence would lead him to the wrong conclusion. The Core energy must've been from using my artificial Core when I turned into Golden Blanchette.

"I'm not saying it. Wait a moment. I think Red Hood is a Corebring masquerading as an Adumbrae—there I said it."