Overlord Brawl: Book 1 of the Neon Octopus Ally Series

by L. A. Johnson

  Kirian knew that all the credit cards in her pocket combined didn't even come close to that amount. And if he had been arrested for being Fractal, then the money was probably frozen anyway. "No. As a matter of fact, I don't. Can I at least see him?"

  The clerk leaned forward. "Look, you're a nice, attractive, and aggressive-looking girl. You can do better. This guy's looking at a four hundred- and thirty-six-year sentence, and with his bail that high he's never getting out. You should move on with your life."

  Kirian had to fight the urge to dig the Stingr light sword out of her pocket. She wanted to battle the entire police force to free him if those were the odds he was facing, but her odds of success at this moment were even less. "Yeah, yeah. I'd still like to see him," Kirian answered.

  13

  After lunch and on her way to confront Drexyl, Ari had to admit that as much as she loved Harry, he had a sick sense of humor. The one condition that he talked about turned out to be that he would hire Carpe back to work at Regal as long as he worked in Ari's department. So she could keep an eye on him. She had no idea how Carpe was going to fit into the big picture, given that he was more of an enforcer by nature, but there was no question that he was a handy guy to have around.

  She made her way to the low stakes poker table pictured in the security video. Drexyl. Yup, there he is. Still sitting there at the same table and everything. She went and sat down next to him.

  "Drexyl. How are you?"

  He stopped, frowned, and looked at her. Then he broke into a broad, handsome smile. "Ari! What are you doing here?"

  "Working, believe it or not," Ari answered.

  "You're not security, are you?" The smile faded.

  "Something like that. Look, I'm sorry to tell you, but they're on to you. I'm here with a friendly offer to take your winnings plus ten percent and get out of town. Please take them up on it. Otherwise, I can't begin to tell you what they'll do. You know exactly what they're capable of. Frankly, I can't believe you'd take this kind of a risk. You're a professional. What's going on?"

  "I don't know," Drexyl said. "I just can't seem to help myself. My therapist calls it self-sabotage. Something about surviving a traumatic event I didn't expect to survive and its effect on the psyche."

  "Tell me about it," Ari said, wiping the hair from her eyes to make more solid eye contact. Drexyl was the ultimate pretty boy. He had perfect blond hair, beach ready body, and the confidence and little boy smirk that got him just about anything he wanted nowadays. But not from the Regal guys. Talking about testing your boundaries.

  "And something about Stockholm Syndrome."

  This caught Ari by surprise. "Good god, do you actually miss Soda?"

  "Sometimes. Don't you? I mean, she isn't as bad as everybody makes her out to be."

  "Great," Ari said, with a twinkle in her eye. Then she winked at him. "Then I have the perfect solution. You should get out of here and let the Regal guys cool off. Especially since you can go hang out with two of your favorite people."

  It was Drexyl's turn to look confused. "What are you talking about?"

  "I just got a voicemail. Kirian and Soda are on Arcturis. I haven't had a chance to call Kirian back, though, so I don't know any details. Plus, there was something about Fleek, but it didn't make sense."

  "Kirian and Soda are together on Arcturis?" Drexyl asked, wide-eyed. "Maybe I should go. That sounds like a recipe for disaster."

  Ari smiled at him, feeling like that was way too easy. "And what about your little friend? They're on to him as well."

  Drexyl's face drained of color. "You won't let them hurt him, will you? I don't think I can talk him into leaving."

  "No," Ari said. "I won't let them hurt him. I have something else in mind for him. He'll be fine. But I need you out of town. Now. Do we have a deal?"

  "Deal."

  "Good, because frankly I need you to find out what the hell is going on with Soda and Kirian and," she checked her phone and frowned. "Fleek? What's he doing on Arcturis? And in jail?"

  "Jail? What are you talking about?" Drexyl asked.

  "No idea," said Ari. "That's why I need you to get down there for me. And text me regularly, please. Somebody needs to keep me in the loop before I get a bunch of emergency calls at work and miss everything."

  Drexyl pointed toward a television in the corner of the room. "Speak of the devil."

  The television was showing Soda being interviewed by a reporter in Arcturis. It was way too loud in the casino to hear what was going on, though. Ari squinted at the crawl on the bottom of the screen, but she couldn’t make it out. As it turned out, it didn't really matter what any of them were saying.

  The reason for the news story became moot when a meteor came in and smashed up the place. Ari didn't have to worry about Soda surviving, though, as she was immortal. And also, she was not concerned about her. She was slightly worried about Kirian, but Kirian was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Still, she couldn't help but wonder what in stars name was going on over there.

  14

  Fleek was brought handcuffed into the prisoner meeting room and sat in the chair across from Kirian in another cubicle with the bullet proof glass and the air holes. He looked okay for now. The guard lingered by the door, seemingly uninterested in the conversation.

  "Fleek! What happened?"

  "They boarded the ship, after you left. Before I could blow it up."

  It took Kirian a second to process what he had just said. "You were going to blow up your own ship?"

  "It had the last of the evidence of the old me onboard. Blowing it up was a good idea. My timing was just slightly off."

  "Hey, why'd you call me instead of your dad? He's the only one who can pay the kind of bail money that they're asking."

  Fleek shook his head. "I don't want any of this to take him down, Kirian. You gotta promise me to leave him out of it."

  Kirian ran a finger through her hair. "You're facing a lot of time, Fleek. We have to do something to figure this out. And why come after you now?"

  Fleek leaned forward. "They got a tip."

  "A tip? Who would do that sort of thing?" Kirian was pretty sure she didn't know any rats. A very small number of people had known his identity for a while now and nothing had ever happened.

  "You said I interrupted you. What were you in the middle of?" Fleek asked.

  Kirian blinked. How could he be worried about what she had been doing earlier in the day with what he was going through? "Oh," replied Kirian, "just killing Mantix. I can always do it later. There has to be something I can do to help."

  Fleek leaned forward again. He whispered so low that Kirian could barely hear him. "There is. Go see my dad. He'll know what to do. Just don't let him do it. Whatever happens, I don't want the dots connected all the way back to him, he doesn't deserve that."

  "See your dad, but don't let him help? What the hell, Fleek? And how can they know about your hacker past but not your real one?" Kirian asked.

  Fleek shook his lime green mohawk. "They just don't care. They have Fractal. Nothing else matters to them, I guess."

  "Yeah, but doesn't that seem odd to you? Why would they not care about the rest of your past?"

  "Isn't it obvious?" He asked. "I'm being framed. Do something."

  "What do you mean you're being framed. You are Fractal, right? Or at least you were."

  "Yeah," he answered, "but it's weird. They're not interested in me. Or Fractal. Or the truth about anything. The evidence they showed me? It's all fake. None of it's real."

  The guard sauntered over to the pair. "Time's up, Fractal."

  Fleek nodded to her and held up a hand, and then the guard led him away and closed the door.

  15

  With Drexyl gone, Ari could concentrate on work. She returned to the Command Center with her new employee, Carpe.

  Carpe followed her up into the restricted area. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the mural outside the office. "What the-". He backtracked seve
ral steps to the beginning of the hallway and then walked forward, slowly.

  Ari frowned. She could have kicked herself. Maybe Carpe was on to something. If the mural did have a story to tell, it was probably best to see it in order.

  "What are you doing, Carpe?"

  "This mural is incredible," he said. "Interesting, violent, filthy at times." He had passed her now and was turning left to continue the mural down the next hallway toward Harry's office.

  Ari ran back to the beginning. Either he was messing with her or she had been looking at the mural the wrong way. She stared at the very beginning of the mural, taking in all the creatures and symbols, and then she started to walk. By the time she made the turn at the end of the hall, not only was she totally absorbed, she was emotionally exhausted. Just those ten feet felt like she had watched several movies. Intense, violent movies. She had no choice but to keep going.

  She turned the corner, pausing for a moment. Then she caught sight of it again and became re-absorbed. By the time she came to the end of the mural down the next hallway, she found Carpe sitting in a heap on the floor. She threw herself down and joined him, sucking in deep, cleansing breaths. They sat there for several minutes in silence.

  "How did you know?" Ari asked at last. "How did you know the mural was some kind of weird, um… Movie? What is it, anyway?"

  Carpe pulled himself out of his trance and looked at her. "What is it? Oh yeah, I forget, you aren't from Vega. Everybody here knows about the Technocrevasse."

  "Technocrevasse?"

  "Yeah. It's sort of like a technology hole. What happens is if you pay attention to it, you fall or get drawn into it. If you get too close, then it sucks you in, like it or not. That's not the official name for it, of course. We don't know what the people who drew it called it, but they were the natives. They were here first."

  "They?"

  "They. The first inhabitants of Vega. Our history of the place began when we found it abandoned. The mythology states that these are timeless, roaming beings, and that they will eventually come back to claim what was theirs."

  "And then what?" Ari asked. "We give them a few comped rooms?" Ari had to admit she was worried. Why would beings who were so far advanced choose to depict such violence? And to what purpose? Luckily, that was a long time ago, and nobody else seemed concerned.

  Carpe shook his head. "I hope it's just mythology. If you saw what I saw, then you know for sure that they're not coming back to get along."

  Ari's phone buzzed. She glanced at it. "Not again." The sensors had picked up another person made up of unauthorized organic materials. Ari slumped back against the wall. It was probably another wild goose chase, but she was going to have to see this through until the equipment could be recalibrated to specifications.

  "What is it?" Carpe asked.

  "Work," Ari answered. "Time to introduce you to the Vega Security Command Center."

  "Thanks, Ari. For getting me back in with Regal. And legit this time. It gets very boring in between touring and recording with Chemical Zombies and to tell you the truth, I kinda miss my old life."

  Ari got back up to her feet. "I'm sure that life as a rock star is very rough. And don't thank me yet. Right now, the equipment that we're using seems to be malfunctioning. Or at least not working the way I had hoped."

  Carpe got up as well and followed her. She had to admit, she had missed him along with Fleek and Kirian. Her time with them felt like another life, not just a few months ago. It was nice to see a familiar face again. And it was strange seeing Soda on the news. The messages from Kirian and Fleek were worrying her. As soon as things settled down a little, she was going to call them back. If she didn't know better, she'd think they were all moving toward some kind of emergency reunion. That made her laugh out loud. But now it was time to get back to work.

  She threw the door open to the usual chorus of "Hey, boss," or "S'up, boss," as her employees were decidedly tech savvy and young. The chorus stopped when they saw the large figure with the fin on top of his head. Whether it was because they were shocked, scared, or impressed by being in the presence of a famous rock star, she wasn't sure.

  "Oh, hey everybody. This is Carpe. He's joining the team. You guys play nice."

  Chip stood. "Chemical Zombies bassist Carpe?"

  "That's me, mate," Carpe answered.

  "Can I have your autograph?" Chip asked, grabbing a designer vinyl out of the top drawer of his desk.

  Ari narrowed her eyes at him. "Chip! The alarm?"

  "Oh yeah." Chip sat back down at his computer and started typing. He signaled to her that she'd want to see it.

  Ari crossed the room to look at his computer. "I fully know that the last one was a false alarm, people, but until we get all of the bugs worked out we're going to have to track all of these. What have we got?"

  "This guy is off the charts with illegal biomatter." He pointed at the screen.

  "Where? Another high roller in a casino?"

  "Don't think so. Not this one. He's laying low. At the Dizzy Dragon."

  The place sounded familiar. "Hey, Carpe. Isn't that where Kracken hangs out?"

  "When he's in town, yeah. It's a lowlife bar full of illegal contraband. You can get anything there. For a price. It's basically the Vega wild west."

  "Well, what's he doing there?" A thought struck Ari. If he wasn't a protected high roller it would be easier to bring him in and see why he's tripping the sensors. It might help them get the system to work better.

  Chip shrugged. "Beats me."

  Ari tapped her finger on his desk. "Okay, let's go get him. Find out what he's up to. Maybe if we can figure out why these people are tripping the sensors we can figure out how to get it recalibrated." She was mostly talking to herself, but decided she'd better specifically address her team. "Easy, now, people. Nobody gets hurt. First, we locate and observe. Then we calmly approach him and ask him to talk."

  "Yeah, because that always works at the Dizzy Dragon," Carpe chimed in. "And if he refuses?"

  "Let's get there first," Ari answered. "There's no reason for this to get out of hand. Just give me a chance to talk to him. Okay, gear up everybody."

  Carpe looked at Ari and raised an eyebrow.

  "Weapons are in the back, Carpe. Knock yourself out. You're one of the team, now."

  "Now you're talking," Carpe said. "What do we do if something goes wrong?"

  Ari hadn't thought of that. It hadn't come up. "I guess in that case we'd meet back here." She couldn't help but consider what a strange day it was turning out to be. And then she was out the door again with her team. On her way past, she couldn't help but glance at the mural. She was going to have to talk to Harry. If there were more murals, she wanted to see them.

  "Are you coming with, boss?" It was Chip's voice.

  "Right behind you."

  16

  The Dizzy Dragon wasn't very busy. With the day that she was having, Ari half expected Kracken to walk right by or to be inside. With Carpe on board now, she was thinking about old friends. Or in this case, old enemies.

  She had met Kracken on a doomed planet, when Kirian was still a Celestial. She thought the two of them were hitting it off okay, right up until the point where Kracken knocked her unconscious and tried to kidnap her. It had all gone downhill from there. Carpe had saved her then, and here he was right now, back on her team. It had to be a good sign.

  She paused outside. There was a menu taped to the door. Normal, café stuff. Burgers, fries, sandwiches, beer. She looked at the menu for a moment and then glanced around her. Nothing seemed amiss. At least not from the outside. She went in.

  The inside was mostly made of distressed wood and there were cool dragon paintings everywhere. Heavy metal music was playing in the background. The room itself was dirtier and smaller than most of the eateries she had grown accustomed to on the Vega strip, but the dragon decorations were cool. She found an empty table in the middle with a view of the front and back door.

  With a
quick glance around, she made a mental note of the patrons around her and where they were sitting. It was easy, there were only a half dozen people scattered around four different tables. Nothing about any of it stood out to her so far.

  With no waiters in sight, and off to herself, she muttered to Chip into her hidden communicator. "I don't see anything odd so far. Are you sure the suspect is in here?"

  "Oh yeah," said Chip. "He's in there. And it looks like he's on the move."

  On the move? Ari looked around and all the patrons were sitting quietly at their tables. Nobody seemed to be moving at all. She looked up as her waiter approached. At least, she assumed he was her waiter. He looked about as un-waiter-like as any person Ari had ever seen. He was huge, ripped, and surly with a shaggy head of hair and two tentacles hanging from his back and dragging the ground. He looked like he'd rather rip both of her arms off than take her order, but the words out of his mouth contradicted all her instincts.

  "What'll it be?" he snarled.

  Ari was taken aback. "Um, a cheeseburger, please? With a beer." She couldn't really drink an entire beer while on duty, but she wanted to look like she fit in here. For a moment, she forgot that she had an armed backup crew and considered complaining to management about his demeanor. Without another word, he turned to go.

  "Where'd he go?" Chip whispered into her earpiece. "You had him."

  "Had who?" Ari whispered back.

  "Him. Illegal biomass guy lighting up our instruments like Christmas lights, remember? Who do you think I'm talking about?"

  Ari looked around. The other patrons around her continued to sit quietly at their tables. Who could he be talking about? "You mean the waiter?"

  "If the waiter was the guy who just approached you and left, then yes. The waiter," Chip answered.

  Ari whispered back, as casually as she could muster under the circumstance. "Okay, if that's the guy, then we come in hot and heavy. All personnel. All weapons. He's a big, surly guy, Chip. If I'm going to confront him, you guys have to have my back."