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Hector could see it on the Salesman’s face. He’d piqued the man’s interest. This was good. Now he just had to... do... what, exactly?

“I’ll tell you,” said Hector. And, as he didn’t actually know how to finish that thought, he instead followed up with, “...But only if we take this conversation somewhere else.”

“Ugh!” Ivan groaned. It had enough force behind it to make the room tremble again. “You’re still going on about that?” The Salesman sighed and looked around the room another time. He tossed his phone back into his briefcase. “You really will just let them all die unless I do as you ask, won’t you? That is pretty heartless, you know. I think that’s heartless, and I’m me.”

Hector just maintained his composure.

“Agh, fine. Such a hassle. Where do you want to go, then?”

Hector required a silent moment. He’d actually agreed?! This was actually working?! No, shut up. Focus. Poker face. The Salesman could still be fucking with him, even now. “...Just take us a few kilometers past the city limits.”

“Excuse me? ‘Take us’? You expect me to carry you?”

“I told you. If I use my power, then it would kill everyone that I--”

“Yeah, yeah, alright. C’mere, then.”

Blue enveloped him, and he shot through the ceiling with such force that he thought his body might tear apart. But it held. And he could see the Salesman following closely behind as they soared through the clear mid-morning sky together.

The sandy horizon stretched endlessly around the forested oasis of Moaban. But those golden yellow dunes were fast approaching. Soon, this small reprieve would be gone, so Hector decided to make use of it while he could.