Dr. Thomas Fuller – "With foxes we must play the fox."

Chapter 6, Figuring Things Out

Walking out of Aaron's inn, Clint looked around and seemed to be lost in thought.

"What's our next move Clint?" his friend, Gaze looked at him. "From where I stand, we ain't got much to go on now. Aaron's got all the ties an' no-one is gonna talk to some street rats like us."

Clint snapped out of it and shook his head a bit, "That's right, guess we just gotta wait an' see now. We should probably head back to the comp an' see if Garth an' Scrapper have had better luck."

His friend nodded in agreement and the two started heading back to their pad.

Along the way, a sight stole Gaze's attention and he stopped walking.

A girl kit was walking down the street when she bumped into a stranger. She apologized and continued walking before revealing she had swiped a small, square-shaped pouch. She had swiped his Case (money storage) and she grinned, it was evident by her dress, and dirty, grey fur that she was a streetkit or just very poor. Her crimson stripes were a bit more subdued than the average lombax's and her light-blue eyes shimmered with mischief as she picked up her pace before the guy realized what had happened.

Gaze wasn't just attracted to her for her looks, he was impressed with how she swiped.

"Where ya goin'?" The white-furred lombax asked as his friend started to walk away.

"Uh... just need a moment..." Was all Gaze could muster before he started following the girl.

Clint groaned lightly and followed him.

"Hey!" Gaze waved at her as she turned into a back-alley. "That was some lift ya did there!"

The girl stopped and smirked lightly, "Thanks, what do ya want?"

"Well... uh... heh..." It wasn't too visible, due to his fur, but Gaze was blushing badly and his stammering made that quite obvious. Despite having had a few girls before, and being rather smooth with them without flummoxing. However, he hadn't seen anyone like her before; her eyes shimmered like gemstones, reflecting and refracting light into a myriad of colors.

Seeing his embarrassment, and being a safe distance away from her last lift, the girl chuckled and approached the suddenly-bashful teen. She looked to be around fifteen, slightly younger than Gaze but not by much. "Really? Well... ya seem kinda cute..." She then saw how clean he was compared to her, yet it was obvious he wasn't much wealthier, "Ya gotta place?"

Before Gaze could answer, Clint responded, "Yeah, an' I run the place." He smiled in a friendly manner, "Y'know? I ain't seen Gaze like this before." He gave his embarrassed friend a pat on the back.

"I suppose I can crash for a day or two... would be nice to not freeze at night."

Clint nodded, "The nights are rough..."

"What's yer name?" Gaze blurted out.

The girl chuckled again, "Elizabeth, though I run by Liz."

"Liz... heh..."

Clint shook his head with a smirk, "Ya seem ta have broken my pal's brain."

"Looks like it hehe," She looked around, "Ya heading back to your place now?"

"Yeah, was just runnin' some errands. Ya need anything?"

Liz shook her head, "Just a shower an' somewhere warm... thanks fer this."

"No problem," Clint shook his still-gawking friend a bit, "An' ya need ta come back to yer senses."

The entranced look quickly faded from Gaze's face an twisted into one of heavy embarrassment, if not outright shame. If he didn't have fur, his very heavy blushing would've been evident though the expression on his face was enough. "S-sorry... don't know what... uh.. came over me..."

She shrugged as they started walking, "It's fine, you don't see many girls huh?"

"Huh? No I do... I mean I did... b-but I'm not..." He took a deep breath to collect his thoughts, "what I mean is I've met many girls, just none quite like you..."

Liz raised a brow, "How's that? I'm a mess." She motioned towards her dirty fur and clothes.

"Yer eyes," He said with a much more confident tone. "They're beautiful."

She smiled a bit, genuinely this time. "Aw, now there's the charm." She laughed lightly as they soon approached the comp. "Ain't a palace but better than a crate on the street..."

"Exactly," Clint responded, "We only have one bed an' it's yers if ya want it."

"Sounds good, how many of ya are there?"

"Four, us two included, we share the living-room."

"They the same age as you two?"

Clint nodded, opening the front door and they walked into the moderately-run-down complex. The paint was faded due to the harsh sun and lack of care, while some light garbage tarnished the ground outside, along with one or two homeless lombaxes, seeking shelter from said sun as it started to get closer to the middle of the day.

"Not the best shack I've seen," Liz stated as they climbed the stairs, "But not the worst either."

"Ya get used ta it. Besides, you'd be amazed at a meal a hungry kit can make with a few scraps." He chuckled lightly, "Gaze here can turn leather into a near-prime steak."

His comment made Gaze blush and Liz snicker a bit as they entered the comp.

"What happened is troubling..." A rather large lombax in a nice suit said. "We almost lost our product and our customer isn't happy."

Kipper downed a shot of drink and sighed, "I know... though it seems that the two others somewhat redeemed this, got the merchandise back and one of the culprits."

"He's being dealt with, my boss wants the four to be moved onto the next phase."

"They didn't mess up, some morons tried to stiff us and robbed them. They're just kids..."

"Orders are orders Kipper... though I may be able to make it only for the two who got robbed. The other two, having gotten the money and product, and one of the thieves, will be untouched."

Kipper poured another drink, "Since when have they taken kits?"

The bigger suit rubbed his face, "Not my call, just orders, we'll get them soon... sorry kid."

"This is wrong, even by their own standards..." Kipper bemoaned and looked genuinely upset. He knew his hands were tied. "They go to the sellers?"

His company nodded slowly, "Look kid, I ain't thrilled about this either, I ain't one for kits. it's just business..."

"It's not and you know it, I ain't on for this kind of work, besides, ya saw how this one caught the thief."

"Was impressive I admit, but yer just preaching to the choir. Best I can do... is try to ensure they get a good place... and I can't promise that."

Kipper downed the rest of his second drink and looked out of the window of his small office. The lead smuggler's loyalty to his gang and these kits, who he felt an almost familial connection, tore him. Either way, it was pointless to keep talking this guy's ear off as the decision had been final. He was glad that he was close enough to this guy to be able to express himself. Had he acted like this elsewhere with someone else, he would've gotten a round to the head.

"How soon? How soon are they getting grabbed?" Kipper's voice solemn.

"No later than tomorrow."

"This fast? On such a flimsy excuse? You know they must have a reason..." The smuggler stated as he poured a drink for his compatriot.

"I know, again, I don't like this either, and also again, I can't do anything about it. I'll do my best to get them somewhere good and have only the two be taken... that's all I can do.."

"I know the one... you take the two, he's not going to let that happen easily. He's only a kit but smart and willing to do anything."

"His all-white-no-stripes fur pattern is also quite rare; only reason I may be able to not let him be taken is his friend, the all-black-fur-no-stripes one has the most value... That's what they'll say anyways..."

Kipper shoved/threw his pen-holder full of pens against a wall. "Dammit!"

"I know..." the other guy was interrupted as Kipper's InteLink device began to ring.

"Hello? ...yes this is he...who?...yes...if you think I...if they...why should...yes... but how did...fine..." He hung up and looked at his desk for a moment.

"Interesting chat?"

Kipper nodded and looked at the contact ID.

"Unknown Contact" it read and he nodded. "Very much so."

"Oh! Sorry! I almost forgot" Scrapper snickered a bit, "We gotta find yer girl!"

Their new comrade looked at the young, black-furred kit, "You got a girl eh?"

"Yeah..." Garth said sheepishly, "We got separated in the orphanage."

"What's her name kid?"

"Weiss... dunno her last name though, especially since she was adopted. All I know is that her new family likes science."

"Best I can do is give a description to some pals of mine and see if they find anything. Otherwise, we don't have much to go on. This city is too big to just wander around and hope to find her, would take forever. Besides, every other lombax likes science... sorry... looks like it's a wait-and-see kind of game kid..."

Garth sighed and looked down before nodding lightly, "I knew it was a small chance. Figured if I make it big, I can find her that way, or she finds me."

Tucker gave the disappointed kit a pat on the back, "I'm sure you'll find her, just might take a bit."

He nodded in response and the three headed to their comp.

Near the end of the tour of the R&D Center, Weiss' eyes fell upon a department that instantly got her attention.

Biological And Genetic R&D

"Can we look there?" She eagerly asked the guide, pointing to the locked doors.

The guide chuckled lightly and shook his head. "Not through there anyways, though there are some windows we can look through. Though, due to the nature of the facility, it won't be quite as easy to see as some other sections.

While a bit disappointed upon hearing how restrictive the area was, she understood why. Even at her relatively young age, she knew that some secrets needed to be guarded. She had found out the hard way of what happens when secrets are entrusted to people that shouldn't have them.

Still, she'd be able to see just a bit of her favorite subject being carried-out by professionals!

The group walked up a ramp and Weiss was too excited to notice that many of the other kits were starting to get tired and/or bored as they neared the first window.

She looked in, like a kit at a candy store, her eyes went wide.

Vials of colorful chemicals, robots moving materials around, lombaxes in lab coats walked around and were hunched over various biological experiments. A large, cylindrical mechanism with monitors and holographic interfaces all over it. The screens displayed various microscopic organisms and the scientists working on them.

Weiss felt a tap on her shoulder and looked up to her dad. "That's where you work?"

"Yep! I work on that," He pointed to the huge cylindrical device, "The Litho-Nanoscope Microview, allows us to see all the way down to photons in great detail. We also can manipulate and do many other things that I can't say." He said with a wink and a grin.

Gaze, Clint, and Liz had been making various small-talk, while Gaze made lunch; when Garth, Scrapper, and Tucker arrived.

"Quite the little group you have here," the older musician stated with a dry wit. "Oh hey Liz."

She nodded back, "Hey Tucker, these guys pulled you in I see."

"I get to teach em a few things about music and in return, I'm off the streets."

"Not like we have much to steal or anything," Scrapper added as he plopped his bigger frame into a chair.

"Speaking of which," Tucker said as he looked over at Clint, "How can you kids afford this place? What's yer income?"

"Yeah, I'm kinda curious about that too." Liz added and looked over at him.

Clint was chewing on a piece of jerky, swallowing the bite before walking into the small living-room. "We do courier runs for a few businesses around that don't wanna use... official channels to move certain info." While not a total lie, it was more of an odd side-job they did on occasion. He knew if they mentioned the Cevians, it'd spook the two guests.

"We know the back alleys and shortcuts many don't." Gaze added, trying to reaffirm and was also very nervous about Liz finding out about their real source of income.

"So yer Carriers eh?" Liz piped up, using the popular slang term and she grinned a bit, plopping down on the slightly-worn couch. "Think ya could hook me up with some work sometime? I know my way around and am pretty quick."

"Heh sure, it can be a bit intense though."

The young girl gave a mischievous grin and winked, "Think I can handle it. Been on the street long enough to see nearly everything."

Tucker snickered lightly as he laid claim to the chair Scrapper had slept in the night before. "Yer still kid, ya ain't seen everything, heck neither have I and I've seen a lot."

"Like what?" Garth asked with a curious and eager expression.

The jovial and slightly-tipsy expression on Tucker's face dropped and he looked at the ground as though he were looking at some far-away sight. "The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not needed... People alone are quite capable of great evil... anyways... that's for another time."

"So yer gonna teach us to sing huh?" Gaze asked. "How?"

"I'll give you a quick warm-up, this will also help me judge what kind of voice you have. First, can I have some water?" Tucker asked and coughed a bit.

Scrapper nodded and got a glass and filled it from the tap before handing it to him.

After drinking it, Tucker stood up and took a breath. "Doh Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Doh!" His pitch got higher as he sang the Scale. His rough and gruff voice transformed into a smooth, deep but not too deep, crooning tone that echoed a bit. He took a breath and nodded, "Now each of you line up and give it a go."

The four kits all looked at each other and shrugged before getting into a row and Liz watched.

Scrapper was first and he cleared his throat. His deeper voice started out relatively fine, rough but it was to be expected since it was his first time. However, he stumbled and skipped more and more the higher he went. When he finished, his voice was a bit shrill and he coughed a bit.

The slightly-ragged musician nodded, "Need practice of course, but you could be a good Bass singer." He moved onto Garth and nodded, "Your turn Musician," he said with a light smirk.

The kit gulped lightly as he was nervous, wanting to impress someone he knew used to be a big celebrity.

While higher than Scrapper's voice, his voice wasn't too deep so he did rather well in the middle of the scale, but faltered a bit at the start and end. He didn't get quite as shrill as the one that went before him. Though, Scrapper was a bit more smooth at the start.

Garth looked up to see what Tucker would say.

The retired musician stroked his chin and slightly nodded, "With practice and time, you could be a pretty good Baritone."

Garth smiled a bit and nodded, happy that Tucker seemed pleased and moved onto Clint.

The snow-furred kit looked up and looked the most confident of the four. He took a medium breath and did the scale.

The expression on Tucker's face looked lightly impressed, "Crude, but have potential to be a good lead, even tone." Clint smirked lightly and nodded as Tucker moved onto Gaze. "Let's see what you got."

Gaze took a deep breath and, besides Garth, looked the most nervous (mainly because Liz was there and he wanted to impress) as he performed the scale. His voice was the highest among the gang and faltered pretty roughly on the start. However, as he went up the scale, he did better and better and his voice got more smooth. On the last note, he hit it really well and everyone in the room looked impressed.

"Wow kid, that was really rough at the start but the end... that was one of the best first-tries I've seen! You need to work on going lower but you have the potential to be a great tenor." He gave Gaze a pat on the back and stepped in front of the the kids. "You all could be a good vocal group, just need a LOT of practice."

The four kits grinned at each other in an excited manner before Garth spoke up. "When can we start?"

"Tomorrow," Tucker chuckled, "Let's all get settled."

Liz smiled a bit and nodded towards Gaze. "That was really cool!"

The kid blushed a bit and scratched the back of his neck, "Thanks heh... never really tried it before..."

"That's awesome! Hehe" She looked up at Tucker, "Think I can learn an instrument or something? Not much into singing."

"Sure thing kid, you sticking around?"

She shrugged, "Not like I have anywhere else to be."

"Know the feeling, and if you all practice and work hard, you all could be really good, great even."

"We ain't gonna stop till we're the best!" Garth exclaimed, excited that he was going to live his dream.

Kipper looked around as he entered the upscale restaurant that resided on the 24th floor of a tower. He had no idea what his contact looked like or where they were. A strong sense of nervousness, the feeling like what he was doing was really, really dumb, pulsed through him. Going to meet this person without telling his higher-ups, even though it's most likely the one behind the bad deal and had nearly taken their money and product. Still, what his gang was about to do, to kids no less, didn't sit very well with him; what chilled him even more, however, was knowing they could do the same to him. He had some rank, but was pretty low on the totem pole, and their methods made a person vanish without killing them. That was the last thing he wanted, yet, he was meeting this stranger. This meet was both his best chance to get away from such a fate possibly happening, but also increased the odds of it happening.

Kipper took a breath, the young mobster had thrown on his best attire and scanned the area. It was full of giddy socialites and chit chat enjoying over-priced, gourmet foods as a live band played. He looked at his comm unit as a light beeping came from it. The text read:

Balcony

A balcony wrapped around most of the outside of the establishment and his eyes locked with a thirty-something lombax in equally-impressive clothes nodded lightly towards him. He had silver fur with black stripes. His pale-green/blue eyes shimmered a bit as Kipper approached his table. Kipper saw a black brace on his right hand and wrist as he motioned for him to sit opposite.

"You ever have the Iridue Casevas?" The older lombax held a glass of wine, the golden liquid shimmered from the light coming from inside the restaurant.

Kipper shook his head as he took his seat. "Have not... so... you're the one that tried to steal my employer's money and product."

"No, but some friends of mine did. This is really good, you want a glass?"

"I'm good, thanks though."

"Shame, I'm Dean Catenary by the way..." He took a sip of the expensive drink, and said with an upbeat tone, "hello."

Kipper raised a brow slightly, "So why do this?"

"It's silly really, I just enjoy poking at them."

"You've done this before?"

"Oh yes, though, it's not me."

Kipper tilted his head a bit, "How do you mean?"

"Let's just say, I give disgruntled people the means to... do as they please."

"So... those thieves... they don't work for you?"

The ash-furred lombax chuckled as he set his glass down. "Aw no, don't be obvious. No, they were just some thieves that got the bad end of a deal the Cevian's gave them. Now, the people I work with, you'll never see them."

"They sure talked awful fast."

"Outside my name though, they know nothing about me, not even what I look like. Isn't it great?"

"But why did..."

"How's your brother doing? Marindo Syndrome is quite awful..." Dean picked up his glass and sipped it nonchalantly.

Kipper looked down for a moment before looking up, "Leave him out of this, he's got nothing to do with this business."

"Well he is a big part of why you're here, the other being your other siblings and your parents barely able to make enough to survive. Mining is a tough job huh?"

"What... do you want?"

"It's simple, you will receive a message tomorrow that I need you to pass onto your superiors. I'm betting they don't know much about your little crew, helps keep their liability low."

"In exchange for what?"

Dean pulled out a piece of paper and slid it to Kipper. "You do this for me and deliver, I will make you and your family rich."

The young mobster looked at the paper and he managed to keep himself from looking too surprised and excited. He took a deep breath and set aside his bewilderment to realize the situation's severity. "Why pay so much to deliver a message? And what if I say no?"

"Ah well, both good questions, consider this as... a gift, sure you're doing something for me but I mean, you know you're just as expendable as the kits you use. You mess up, or some hotshot wants your job or a myriad of other reasons, and you'll disappear as well. Then, your family is left flailing on its own..."

"If I refuse?" He asked tentatively, careful to sound strong but not aggressive.

"Like I said, you do it, I'll make you rich. And I really don't want to see you end up as a rug, either by the Cevians or someone else. Besides, this is an opportunity for you isn't it? To get out with some protection? You've been wanting out since they took the last crew haven't you?"

Kipper bit his lip slightly and sighed, he was right. Dean bringing it up forced the memories to the forefront of his mind.

He had been forced to hide the fate of the last crew he used from Clint and his gang... He saw them be taken away, kicking and screaming and begging for help. Knowing they wouldn't be seen or heard from again, that they would be even more dead to the world than if they had actually died.

Yet... he couldn't stop it, not unless he wanted a combustor round to the head or to join them. So, he stayed quiet as the yelling and cries got more distant until all was silent. The silence after was nearly as haunting as the screaming and pleading. When he was alone, and was sure of it, he couldn't help but break down.

That was two years ago, and he had been wanting to leave ever since. They had taken another crew after them, and they were aiming to do the same to Clint's gang.

"What is your plan?"

The other lombax chuckled lightly and waved his finger a bit, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, too early to ask that. But rest assured that if all goes well, and there's a very good chance it will, you and your family will come out well, you will be free from the mob, and your little friends will be safe. A bit roughed-up but fine and free."

"Why are you doing this? Obviously you're not a saint, so why go through the trouble of poking the biggest and most dangerous mob on Fastoon?"

Dean took the last sip of his drink down and lightly licked his lips, savoring the taste. "Because it's time for a change of pace, and we as a species deserve better than the Cevians. Besides the fact they constantly, and gleefully, destroy lives, they're also very... dull."

"Excuse me, dull? How's that?"

"The Cevians excel at ruining lives in various ways, and love it. While quite brutal, they aren't smart and are kind of... dull."

"How's that?"

Dean sighed and lit a smoke, "Normal people are so... boring... anyways, I have somewhere to be and things to do." He said standing up and buttoning his jacket. "So, yes or no?"

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