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Silence arrived, and Hector was left to observe the curving hallway and the throngs of people walking past him, all bathed in the silvery white light from the long, rectangular lamps that were embedded in the ceiling. It was still a ways to the edge of the climate-controlled zone, but Hector was already thinking about what would happen when they reached it. He would need to remake his armor into the cooling variant, but if Leo noticed him do so... that might be a little difficult to explain.

‘Garovel, c’mon,’ he said. ‘Kind of a pressing situation here.’

‘Ah--yeah, I’m talking to Voreese. Roman has tons of safe houses we can use.’

‘You really think we should bring him back to Atreya?’

‘Roman has some in other countries, too, but I don’t know. What do you make of the guy?’

‘He’s... all over the place. But I think he mainly just needs... a sense of purpose, I guess. I mean, that’s why he wants a job, I’m pretty sure.’

‘Hmm.’

Hector tried to keep an eye on Leo. The guy seemed to be keeping a fairly close eye on him as well.

‘It should be a good job, too. Like, good for the soul, I mean. I don’t think he cares too much about money.’ That seemed like a safe bet, considering how simple the guy’s wardrobe appeared to be, as well as how he’d apparently turned down a job offer from Roman, according to what Voreese told them earlier.

Which, if actually true, was particularly baffling to Hector. Roman must’ve been able to offer this guy absurd amounts of money and probably all sorts of other shit. And yet here he was, asking Hector for work instead.

‘How do you intend to get away from him?’ said Garovel.

‘Uh... I think he’ll listen if I tell him to go somewhere,’ said Hector.

‘Are you serious?’

‘Yeah. You got an address for me?’

‘Hold on.’

Hector waited. He noticed that Leo wasn’t looking back at him now. Instead, the man’s attention was on a narrow side street to their right. A man and a woman were standing in an open doorway and having a rather loud conversation with one another.

Leo slowed and stopped to watch, and Hector couldn’t help doing the same. They weren’t the only onlookers, either. Nobody else was stopping, but there were certainly a few turned heads and craned necks.

The audience didn’t seem to deter the couple at all, however.

‘Okay, I got one,’ said Garovel. ‘You ready?’

‘One sec.’ Hector couldn’t tell what language the couple was speaking--possibly Hunese even though they weren’t Hun’Kui--but it seemed obvious enough that they were in disagreement. Judging from the elaborate black-and-white attire, Hector figured they were either wealthy or dressed up for a special occasion. From what Hector had seen during his brief time in Capaporo, those colors seemed to be popular among the upper class.