Chapter Fifteen

Square One

 

Ella had come from a vastly different world from most of the other students. To make matters worse, the Host Protection Program meant she would never be able to speak freely of her past. This isolated her even more from her peers.

In hindsight, Cameron Tan made a mistake. He should have constructed her background in such a way that the Academy would have been more supportive of her situation. Instead, neither the Academy nor Ella were prepared for each other.

 

As expected, Asao threw a complete fit when he saw the state of the World-Famous Bar & Udon. He staggered through the wreckage of his establishment in a daze, soft moans escaping his lips every few steps as he fondled this broken frame, touched that shattered mirror, or stared at the cracked bottles slowly bleeding liquor.

Ella tried to look on the bright side. “We’ll help clean it up. You’ll be back up and running in no time.”

“Clean. It. Up?” Asao’s grief turned into rage, which he channeled at the Burglar Alarms, Ella specifically. He shook his fist in her face, spittle shooting from his lips as they curled into a misshapen snarl. “This is all your fault, Beektoria! You punks have ruined me. You’ll pay for this!”

Ella instinctively reached for her dagger, but then she gave Asao the benefit of the doubt. He really wasn’t threatening her, because that would be foolish.

Be patient with the itchy finger. Just in case, he has a bad leg and cannot turn quickly. Take out his other leg and he will become a beached whale.

“He better get his hand out of my face before he becomes a beached whale missing a flipper.”

“Why are you mad at us?” she protested. “We’re the ones who chased off those yakuza gangsters while you were eating a snow cone.” Ella tried to sound more conciliatory. “Look, you’re upset. I get it. We can work this out.”

He pointed toward the street. “Get out. Get out. You and your stupid kids. I never want to see any of you here again.”

Ella considered arguing, and then shrugged. “Fine. We’ll just get the rest of our loot and leave. Have fun cleaning up yourself.”

“No,” he raged. “Whatever is left stays. Hand over whatever money you’ve made so far. That pays for repairs.” She didn’t realize he was being literal.

“What?” Ella’s voice went up several octaves. Her dagger slid halfway out of its sheath. “Over your dead body.”

Fortunately, the other Burglar Alarms were there to separate them. There were more shouts and threats. Words like “police” and “idiotic foreigner” and “lousy udon” were hurled back and forth. In the end, it didn’t matter. Asao wanted them out, so they were out.

The two sat opposite each other at the only table still upright and haggled. How were they going to divvy up the business the Burglar Alarms had done so far? Ella was willing to pay him what he was owed and not a yen more. Asao wanted all of it to pay for his repairs.

What about the remaining goods, and all those promises she had extracted for the bar? She was the one who had arranged for the World-Famous to stay out of the Bakka’s crosshairs. She was the one who had found a steady supply of American bourbon embezzled by the dockworkers, and she was the one who had found the super-cheap Indian handyman who Asao used daily. Ella felt she should be compensated for all of that. Asao couldn’t care less.

“I’m serious,” he yelled. “If you don’t give me my share, pay for the damages, and then get out, I will call the police. That’s my final offer – it’s more than fair, considering how much business I’ve lost.”

“How about I stab you in the gullet and dump your body into the Arakawa River, Asshole?” Ella’s eyes shot lasers at the bar owner. The fact that he wanted her share and to kick her out too was downright greedy. It felt very much like a bad divorce.

I would not know. I have never been married.

“How is that possible? You have been around for billions of years, and none of your hosts have ever gotten married? That does not bode well for me.”

Emily’s parents were together for decades but were too busy working for the Prophus to bother. The life of a host is difficult, not usually conducive to marriage.

“That or you just pick a lot of unlikable hosts.”

That appears to be true.

It took Ella a second to realize she had just owned herself, which she got over quickly. She never wanted to get married anyway. The only guy she had ever really liked wanted to change everything about her the second they got serious. ‘Stop breaking rules, Ella.’ ‘Don’t commit any more crimes, Ella.’ ‘Stabbing someone with a dinner fork is not a good way to resolve arguments, Ella.’ She crossed her arms and slouched in her chair, her glare at Asao intensifying even though her anger was now actually aimed at someone else.

It became a battle of attrition and a very long night. At dawn, they were still sitting there arguing out of sheer stubbornness. It wasn’t until Io did the math and explained to her that the difference the two of them were quibbling over was the price of a nice dinner, that Ella finally relented.

By breakfast, the Burglar Alarms were out of the World-Famous Bar & Udon. Ella’s mind was numb as she glanced back one last time. Asao, standing in the doorway with his fists on his hips, kept his glare on her all the way until she turned off the block.

What would they do next? Where would she go? Most of the money the Burglar Alarms earned over the past few months had been wiped out. She barely had enough to pay the team, let alone cover her rent and food. They were also homeless now. There was no way the Burglar Alarms could operate without a base. They needed a place to meet, negotiate their business and store their loot. Her tiny apartment couldn’t even fit everyone, let alone store any goods.

You are working yourself up. Worry about it tomorrow. Go home and get some sleep for now.

“But Io. It took us months–”

Go home. Sleep.

“Fine.”

That was probably the best advice Io had ever given her. Ella was so tired, she barely made it to the train station. She dragged her feet into the first train car heading home and plopped down in a corner seat, falling into a deep slumber by the time it began to rumble down the tracks.

 

Io didn’t bother waking Ella when the train pulled into Nishi Kasai Station. When it came to a complete stop and the doors hissed open, she decided to do the girl a favor and let her get some much-needed sleep. She had been running pretty hard lately. Io took control of the body and walked her out of the station. It was a bold move for her, who usually could barely walk a host upright for more than a few steps before falling over. Most of her experiences in mammals prior to humans were of the aquatic variety.

The short trip to Ella’s building felt like a marathon, and the walk up the five flights of stairs to her apartment climbing a mountain. By the time Io finally walked through the door, she was exhausted and vowed never to do the girl a favor again. She was tempted to park the girl in bed and just let her sleep for the next Earth day cycle. However, that would mean Ella would wake up the next morning refreshed and probably with nothing to do. Without direction, she would mope, then get bored and get into trouble. The girl needed goals.

Io grudgingly moved her to the table and pulled out the laptop. She began combing the latest Prophus reports in the region, looking for something, anything, that could earn them a little breathing room. They needed to land a quick job, preferably an easy score, and lucrative enough to make it worth their while. It also had to be a job that did not require the use of a storage room. Most importantly, it had to be close by. Io wasn’t confident she could find something like this, especially on short notice.

Easy, fast, and good. Just two of the three would do.

To Io’s surprise, a very promising opportunity presented itself in just a few minutes of searching. Io looked the report over and double-checked the corroborating data. She ran an online background check and then mapped out the location. Everything matched up.

“This girl is lucky to have me,” smirked the Quasing. At least she tried to smirk. The symmetry necessary for a proper human smile was difficult to pull off. The best Io could manage was make Ella’s face contort with a lopsided upward curve of the lips, as if she were suffering a stroke.

She gave up after a few attempts. There were more important things to worry about than stupid smiling. It was time to plan their next move.