I squinted at the small crystals in the pan.
"Cracked? Well, they most certainly are," I slurred.
Will plucked one from the tray and held it in the air. Satisfied, he placed it back and smiled.
"Good shit, Q. Good shit."
"What's the difference in the recipe this time?" asked Rod.
"A little temperature work. Wanted to see what I would get when I–"
"Q, my companion" I interrupted, "May I?"
He looked at Rod and Will.
Rod shook his head.
Will shrugged.
Q carefully placed a crystal onto my hand.
I took it and held it up to the light. The hazy interior prevented me from seeing through it. I let it roll back into my palm and rolled it around. The texture of the rock felt smooth on the face yet jagged on the edges.
"Interesting. And what does this rock do? Is it an enhancer?"
"Kinda," he chuckled, "Makes you feel real good."
"Oh. May I?"
Rod snatched it from my hands and placed it back on Q's tray.
"The fuck? No. Never get high on your own supply. You're gonna make us have another Charles–"
"Hey."
Will glared at Rod and made a gesture around his neck. Rod leaned back and continued smoking, eyes closed.
"Rod's right," Will continued. "This here? This is for the customer. And the customer only."
I nodded in agreement.
"Right. The customer. And who are the customers?"
"You'll meet 'em soon. That reminds me, Will," Q said, turning around, "We not selling to Aaron anymore. One of his boys jacked my car and took a couple keys from me."
"We shoulda been handled that nigga," sighed Rod.
"That' what I said! I was gonna lace the next batch and have that nigga OD–"
"Too much heat, Q. OD's draw the cop's attention. If you wanna backdoor that nigga, do it on your own time," said Will, "But you gotta watch the drug shit."
"If I may interject," I said, sitting up, "I quite like the trap idea. If you want Q, I could lend my services?"
"I said no. That's the end of it," stated Will, "Who's coming by today, Q?"
He sighed and placed the tray down before grabbing his phone.
"Got like…three…four today?" he said scrolling, "De'Andre is stopping by. Wanted my new strain."
The three men continued their conversation about their various patrons. The entire time I reclined in the chair I was staring at those crystals. How was it possible that they were manmade? That would only be possible if Q were…
An alchemist.
[STATUS: HIGH - 66%]
Why was I hungrier than I was before?
No matter. What did Q have to do in order to get to this level? Since I was affiliated with Three-Six, I wondered if I was able to see their stats now. I squinted at Q–
[TARGET: Q]
[GATHERING STATS]
Oh.
Now this was–
[FLOW:???]
[FADE:???]
[ATHLETICS:???]
[INGENUITY:???]
[PRESENCE:???]
Of course.
Why did I expect anything else?
My best guess at the time was that there was some sort of perk that denied being read, even by those in the same organization. At first, I took this as a sign of distrust. Then I realized, with all of the gangs in Stanlowe, espionage must be common–nay–essential to deal with the others. Whatever perk it was, I could not blame him.
I quickly scanned Will and Rod only to find the same thing. All three of them were right in front of me and yet I knew nothing about them.
"–and that's when I saw that bitch cheat on me from a nigga from TC. Fuck no, I'm not paying child support. Go find that nigga and let him be the daddy since you wanna fuck around."
I blinked my eyes. It was Rod who just said those words.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"My baby momma, Trisha," he responded, "Fuck that bitch."
A melody from Rod's pocket began to play. He pulled out his phone and smacked his teeth.
"This bitch–what Trish?"
…
"BITCH! If you touch my clothes–"
Rod got up and exited the room with purpose in his steps. Q, Will and I glanced at each other. Q broke first, followed by Will as they shared a chuckle.
"I guess Rod's gonna be busy today," Q sighed, "What do you got, Will?"
"No idea but first I'm gonna take a shit."
It was now Q and I. Before organizing the crystals he put on a pair of light blue gloves. He then organized the crystals into miniature bags and placed them on a metal plate. A number appeared. He would either remove or add more crystals depending on the number. When he was satisfied, he would tie the bag up and move it to the side.
"Q," I started, "Would you be willing to take on…an apprentice?"
"Uh…no. Not really."
"You don't need an assistant? Someone to watch your cauldrons for you while you're away?"
"Rod and Will."
"Besides them–"
"I'm not teaching you shit. You've been with us for less than a day."
Fair.
"What would I need to do to earn your trust?"
"Stop being suspicious. All you have to do is watch and not do anything stupid."
Once again, I could find no flaw in his logic. However, time was not a commodity I had in abundance. Every day I was not making progress toward Xay was a day wasted.
Will came back from the bathroom and sat down on the opposite side of Q. After putting on the same light blue gloves, he started to do the same.
"You gonna join in or what?" he asked.
I glanced to my right.
[STATUS: HIGH - 32%]
I can work with that.
I moved to an empty piece of floor next to them. I took a pair of the light blue gloves. They were much harder to put on than Q and Will had made it look.
Too loose.
I tried adjusting them.
Now the bottom was ripped.
Q and Will were staring now.
The next pair of gloves went on without a hitch. I glanced at the box.
"Nitrile Gloves".
Stupid.
Q took the lead, teaching me how much was to be in each bag. Whenever we would run out he would disappear for minutes and come back with another pan of whatever needed to be bagged.
In the hours of weighing and sealing, I saw a myriad of items.
Sometimes it was more crystals.
Weird looking brussel sprouts.
Fine grounded white powder, I believe Q called it "fent".
Somewhere in between the packaging, I took several more hits of Q's strain.
[STATUS: HIGH - 89%]
Despite the feeling, I did my best to remain focused in front of Q and Will. If this was anything like drinking, he who throws up first is an embarrassment to their party.
I lost count of how many portions of each we made. Every so often Will would step out of the room with a couple of bags and speak to someone outside. The exchanges were no longer than a couple of minutes. Each time he came back, he would stuff money into a bag.
I wonder what my cut would be.
Time seemed to move slower the longer I worked.
Bag after bag.
Measure, adjust, tie, repeat.
After a while, all the music and conversations seemed to bleed away. I no longer kept count as my fingers seemed to work on their own. I took a second to look up realized–
What.
I was no longer with Will and Q. I sat at a table with other figures with the same ears. We were all sitting down at an ornate table of elvish origin. My hands felt heavier. I glanced down to see what rested in them.
Jewels.
Brightly colored and reflective of the warm light within the room I sat in.
"[ ]...are you sure about this? This isn't a setup, right? You would give all the loot you've amassed over the years for this?"
I glanced down at the table again. The speckles of indigo, violet, and emerald nearly blinded me.
"All of it," the voice continued, "Just to hunt down Arch Dragon Retrius?"
…
I clenched my fists. Coins and gems rattled to the ground as they fled from my grip.
"Without hesitation."
I did not consciously speak those words, but they found me anyway. Yet, I could not agree with them more. The shrouded figures removed their hoods. I was staring at the face of elves, just as I. The speaker extended a hand from across the table and smiled.
"Then we won't either. Welcome to the Vermillion Tau."
I warmly took their hand.
"A word of advice," they said, "Just understand that we're only in it for the money. We are not your men, they are mine. As long as the cash keeps flowing, you'll have an ally with us."
I blinked.
A small bag of fent was all that rested in my palm.
"That's the last of it."
Q took the clear bag from my hand and put it with the others.
"Alright, I'm gonna get cooking," he sighed.
"What other alchemical concoctions do you have brewing, Q?"
Q and Will looked at each other before he answered.
"Food, nigga."
Ah.
"Bet. Gas Station, you're with me."
Will and I stood up, both stretching our legs.
"Let's get this bread," he sneered.
"Good call, I'm famished. A trip to the bakery would do me good–"
I felt Q and Will staring at me. When I looked back at them, my fears were confirmed.
"You…mean something else, don't you."
"No shit," they said in unison.
Q started putting away the rest of the bags and measuring tools as we left. Before we headed out the door, Will pulled me aside. He led me to a black duffel bag underneath a stash of coats in the closet.
"Here."
A gun.
The weight of which I still had not gotten used to, despite the one I stole from Julian.
"You're probably not going to have to use it, but shit happens. If anyone starts testing you just remind them you keep that shit on you."
"Right," I nodded, "I keep that shit on me."
"Damn straight, nigga."
Will took one for himself and stowed it in the front of his pants. I worried about the placement, being nearest to…that.
I took a moment to decide the best placement for mine.
I would not be emulating Will's example.
The side?
I had not practiced my draw. With a bow, it's as simple as taking it off your back and aiming. With this, as little space as it took, the angle it bent at made it awkward for me to decide.
"Yo, this shit ain't the wild west, nigga," snapped Will, "Pick a spot and let's go."
I opted to stow the gun on my left hand side and moved out. Will put on a backpack and stepped outside, scanning his surroundings. The moment my foot left the doorframe, a pane of text surprised me.
[NEW MAIN QUEST: FRESH ON THE BLOCK]
[OBJECTIVE: GROW REPUTATION WITH CURRENT ORGANIZATION (THREE-SIX)]
Main quest?
Was time frozen again? I peered out the corner of my eye to see a bird stuck in motion. When was the last time my choice rendered the world inert?
I swiped it out of the way and placed a hand over [GET YOUR GET BACK].
[GET YOUR GET BACK]
[OBJECTIVE: LOCATE XAY THOMAS]
There we–
It hit me.
I had no feasible way of doing that.
Not without progressing with Three-Six.
I had the rough location, but that was not alone by itself.
I had the firepower to enact vengeance, but to reach him?
Even as skilled as I was, unlikely.
And the help? The coordination? I would need to earn the trust of Three-Six.
…
Somewhere, Xay would be walking free whereas I would be getting bread–and not from a bakery.
I swiped back onto [FRESH ON THE BLOCK].
[ARE YOU SURE?]
…
[QUEST SUSPENDED: GET YOUR GET BACK]
[NEW MAIN QUEST SELECTED]
[MAIN QUEST: FRESH ON THE BLOCK]