Belle
"Analyzing," said Fairy, her eye-shaped image blinking slowly on Belle's cell phone screen in the middle of the tiny breakroom table. "Analyzing. Please wait."
Belle took a deep breath and resolved to do her best to wait. Fairy was in possession of a collection of new data now: the transmission data of Soldier 11's false orders from Daemon, a few server drives from the in-hollow location investigated by the Cunning Hares, and a flash storage that N.E.P.S. had turned up from Qingyi and Zhu Yuan's efforts elsewhere in the city. There was hope that Fairy could cobble together enough connections to point them in the direction of Daemon.
Lycaon was at the little coffee pot preparing another cup of instant coffee for her. Meanwhile, Qingyi shared the little table with Belle, heating up water for her own tea. Qingyi seemed something of a tea enthusiast- she had a self-heating pot, an assortment of teas, and multiple porcelain cups. It honestly took up a lot of table space and Belle would have preferred to lay her own head down in her arms, but government officials were arriving at Scott Outpost to take possess of Solider 11 and the other captured Obol soldiers. Qingyi seemed eager to make herself scarce.
"Is this Major from Heimdal a problem for you?" asked Belle, wanting to break the silence in the room. It wouldn't hurt to learn more about the interplay of the factions surrounding her and her situation. She still didn't have a firm understanding of Qingyi's role in the government and how that related to PubSec and Scott Outpost.
"I hope not," said Qingyi, her attention focused on her own tea preparations. "And in the effort of avoiding the possibility of a problem, I'm going to let H.A.N.D... handle the return of Obol Squad to the good Major."
"Do they outrank you?" asked Belle. "H.A.N.D.?"
"Not exactly," said Qingyi. "But they are much less… political. And Deputy Chief Yanagi is a superb diplomat. She's good at smoothing over a situation that's awkward for everyone involved."
Belle didn't know who this Yanagi person was, but Qingyi seemed to be mostly talking to herself rather than Belle anyway- it was as if Belle's questions were evoking a verbal reaffirmation of Qingyi's own calculations to herself. Thankfully, Lycaon approached with two more styrofoam cups of coffee, placing one before Belle smoothly and gracefully, the liquid somehow perfectly still in its single-use container. A wrapped biscotti appeared next to it- something from their hotel room. And it was in a single piece? Not broken in the slightest? How was that possible?
"How are you feeling, Lady Belle?" said Lycaon, the tips of his fingers touching her right shoulder and secretly tracing a line across her back to her left shoulder as Lycaon walked behind her- a secret, comforting touch that sent a little thrill through Belle's mind- waking her up far more than the bad coffee was likely to do.
It wasn't a seductive touch, but it had a comforting intimacy to it that was entirely unexpected. Belle's eyes glanced at Qingyi to see if the woman had noticed, but she seemed entirely absorbed with her tea set. Mildly relieved at that, Belle smiled up at Lycaon.
"I'm fine. Just… tired."
Lycaon pointed at his own forehead. "And your… procedure?"
Belle blinked, momentarily confused. Then she remembered the entire reason she was here: the download of data from her brain! Her hand shot to her forehead to feel for the thin band of cool metal that rested on her forehead like an exercise sweatband. She'd forgotten it was there.
"I don't even notice it," said Belle.
"No pain? Or discomfort?" said Lycaon, settling himself into the folding chair to her right.
"No. Nothing."
Lycaon nodded in satisfaction. "I am grateful for that, Lady Belle."
Belle felt warm from that sentiment. Lycaon was more cognizant of her condition than she herself was. A warm drink, a gentle touch, a snack. There really was something about being cared for. It was wonderful.
And perhaps because she was tired, or worried, or something- but the recognition of a good thing in her life suddenly made Belle's mind search for a way to doubt it. It seized upon the recent memory of Lycaon's reaction to Jane Doe's arrival. He had seemed strangely focused on Jane- who was an almost absurdly attractive woman. And a thiren, to boot. Like Lycaon was. Like Belle was not.
"What do you think of Jane Doe?" said Belle before she could stop herself.
Lycaon blinked in surprise at the change in topic. Qingyi suddenly emerged from her reverie and leveled her gaze at them both. Meanwhile, Belle winced inwardly. Why? Why does it matter? What answer do you even want?
"Miss… Doe," said Lycaon, seeming unsure of how exactly to handle Jane's name. "... seemed a thoroughly capable individual."
Aimless in her own objective, Belle had no follow-up question to offer. She stared blankly at Lycaon as he looked expectantly at her. An awkward silence lengthened, and to Belle's relief, Lycaon seemed to take that as her silent request for him to elaborate.
"I have never witnessed such comprehensive disguise," continued Lycaon. "She was attentive to every detail: visage, motion, posture, voice, and even scent."
Well, that sounded like innocent professional admiration to Belle, and she was surprised to feel mild relief. Why was she relieved? Had she been worried? Had she been nurturing some sort of mild jealousy, or something? This had happened to her before. A few days and a lifetime ago. When Captain Zhu Yuan had tried to ask Lycaon to spar with her- privately. Was this the same emotion as then?
"H- her scent?" said Belle, her own self-reflection causing her to almost forget to respond in the conversation.
"Yes," nodded Lycaon. "She masks it in some way. I was unable to pick her out from those gathered."
"Oh," said Belle, lamely. "I see…"
"Jane is one of the best people that PubSec has in-" Qingyi began to say, joining in on the conversation- but Belle's phone lit back up with Fairy's symbol.
Belle's excitement returned and she leaned forward onto the table, nearly toppling her coffee. This was it! Fairy was done!
"Belle," said Fairy from her cellphone speaker. "Analysis is complete. I can plot the origin of Daemon's connections with a margin of error of twenty kilometers."
Qingyi frowned. "Twenty kilometers is a lot of city…"
Belle's heart sank back down. Qingyi was right. Twenty kilometers of New Eridu? That was practically an entire district! It's not like they could go door to door! Hello. Have any rogue A.I.'s around? Any ghosts in your old machines?
Lycaon looked grim but remained silent, his attention on Belle's phone.
"The signal does not originate inside the city," said Fairy. "It originates in the Outer Rim."
"The Outer Rim!" said Belle.
She'd never been outside the city before, but she'd seen some travel shows. It was just a whole lot of nothing out there. Just old, decrepit roads snaking their way through bleak scabland, dotted with tons of entirely unmonitored hollows. How could Daemon be out there?
The answer to that question became obvious as soon as Belle spent a few seconds thinking about it. The Outer Rim had not always been the way it is today. Before Hollow Fall, it had just been… countryside. 'Normal land' of a 'normal nation' with multiple cities rather than just a single big one. Well, normal for then, as far as Belle understood history. So, there were ruins in the Outer Rim, just like there were ruins inside New Eridu- some in-hollow and some out-hollow; Countless forgotten structures of the Old Civilization that could potentially possess OldKnott server blocs- like the one Daemon was theorized to inhabit.
"Have you been to the Outer Rim, Lycaon?" said Belle, immediately curious.
"Twice," said Lycaon without hesitation. "It is a mostly empty place."
"Twenty kilometers of Outer Rim has a lot less things to search," agreed Qingyi with a thoughtful expression.
Lycaon leaned forward slightly, looming over Belle's tiny cellphone. "Where in the Outer Rim? Lady Fairy?"
"The only settlement in the radius is labeled as 'Blazewood," said Fairy.
Lycaon's mouth curled down in a thoughtful frown. He looked at Qingyi. Qingyi also frowned and shook her head, her green pigtails undulating in the air behind her. Belle took that to mean that neither of them had ever heard of an Outer Rim town called Blazewood. Neither had she, but she thought of some people who might. Hadn't Billy spent time in the Outer Rim?
"Fairy, can you get me a secure call with Wise?" said Belle, snatching up her phone.
"Of course, Belle," said Fairy. "Stand by."
Belle looked at the screen eagerly, but then suddenly remembered Lycaon's anger from last night. She looked at him with raised eyebrows, silently asking him: was it all right to call from here? From a security standpoint?
Lycaon seemed gratified and nodded. Belle could tell he was pleased with her, and that made her feel like she'd successful made up for her earlier error. They had not woken up mad at each other, but this felt something like a closure of their brief conflict.
Wise's voice interrupted Belle's thoughts: "Hey, Belle. Fairy found something?! What do we got?"
"Wise. Hey. You ever heard of an Outer Rim town called Blazewood?"
"Outer Rim town? Blazewood?" said Wise, obviously confused and not recognizing the names. "No, I've never heard- Uh- hang on. Nicole and Billy just shared a look… Hey? You guys have heard of a town called Blazewood?... Yeah…. Yeah?!... Huh, alright. Uhh.. yeah, Belle. Billy and Nicole know it, I guess."
Belle felt a surge of triumph. "Tell them we need to go there!"