Otrov's Influence

"Fine."

+1 M32 Grenade Launcher
+6 Grenades

Unfortunately, Robyn and Eddie only gave John enough ammo for the gun to load it up once. He tried to argue with them about the amount, but Robyn cut him off quite quickly. She told him that he was lucky enough to get as much as he did and then said that if he wanted more he would need to go and get it from a place that she called 'the auction.' When he made it clear that he didn't know how to find the Abyssal Auction, Eddie showed him how to access it. Most of what finding the auction entailed was simply just typing in a long and complex web address into his computer or phone and then holding his thumb or hand over the screen long enough for the website to detect the unique signature his Mana made. There was no exchange of information or verifying who he was through an email.

His account was made as soon as he touched it; he merely needed to add a username for him to go by, and for that he picked the alias he used to write all of his stories with. The website knew how much money he had, it already knew where he was and where to send the things he ordered, he just had to find them.

Strangely, the site looked fairly normal... at least for a place that could be used to buy magical weapons of mass destruction and broken slaves for personal or work purposes. It was littered with links to take you to suggestions that the auction had made for you to buy, it had an area for popular purchases where all kinds of ammunition sat front and center above everything else, and it even had a search bar and options to customize the way the website looked for you. The items and the prices for them on the site were the only things that were abnormal. Everything on the site was expensive.

Even with sixty grand to his name, the prices that were required on the website made John look poor... Honestly, it reminded him a lot of the auctions that he might find in an actual video game, specifically one that offered free content but, if you wanted to actually do anything fun or good in it, you had to pay to play. Anything that was new or rare was so pricey that it seemed impossible to afford.

"...Great,” he grunted as Eddie handed his phone back to him. Even just buying new grenades for his new weapon seemed like it would cost too much for it to be worth it.

"If that is all, then please leave," Robyn snapped once Eddie moved back behind the table, safely out of reach of John. "We have work to do." Her voice was curt and left no room for arguing... but John didn't feel like arguing. He still remembered what Otrov had said to him. He was on a time limit, this had to be done now... and not a single person in the Flame looked like they were gearing up for an attack. It looked like the most they had was just a picture and some written information about Daniel, the target, on the screen. His bald head seemed oddly shiny from John's perspective.

"Wha-What's your plan?" he asked and watched as both Robyn and Eddie stiffened. They turned to look up at John while he glanced over at Daniel's picture again and then back at them, but neither of them answered him. They were staring at him... like he had said something that he shouldn't have, so he tried to explain himself, "I mean... I just... Otrov came and talked to me at school today. She was painfully insistent upon seeing this guy get killed soon, so... I-I'm just wondering. How are you going to do it?"

There was a pause as both women looked back at each other... and then Robyn's shoulders seemed to drop slightly. She undid the top half of her jacket, freeing up her chest and letting her breathe a little easier before she answered him.

"We aren't planning on killing him," she grunted, and John's eyes widened. Otrov had shoved him against a wall in public just because he hadn't killed Daniel overnight. He didn't want to know what she would do if Daniel wasn't killed at all.

"What?! Why not?!" he snapped and watched as Robyn crossed her arms and frowned at him.

"As far as we can tell, Mr. Salvador hasn't been in the business of breaking any laws, Abyssal or otherwise. Everything he has obtained, even the slaves that he gathers in the depths of certain... barbaric kingdoms, has been 'retrieved' legally according to the places that he gets them from and goes to. The people his group owns were all criminals and have since been taken into his custody. As far as I can tell, he doesn't actually try to fight anybody," Robyn explained.

"Which is good... because he attracts followers to him like he's started a cult," Eddie piped in and then shrunk back out of sight when Robyn glared at him.

"Unfortunately, expanding his own personal group does not warrant a **** penalty. The best we can do is try to capture him when night comes and hand him over to the Order. They should be able to hold on to him and keep him off the map until Otrov has released all the prisoners," she said. "This way we don't accidentally end up doing work for the Cabal either."

"That's..." John paused. Their solution didn't fix anything. What was to stop Otrov from finding out about their plan? If she did, would she back out of the deal completely? If that happened... then would she try to kidnap him again. "... a stupid fucking plan," he grunted and watched as both women took a step back from him at the sound of his voice. "You have a chance to save thousands of people and you're risking it all just... just... for what, exactly?"

"John, don't tell me-" Robyn didn't get very far into her rebuttal before John interrupted her.

"You can't wait!" he barked and watched as they both took a step back away from him again. "That's why she was at the school today! She wanted to tell me that there is not enough time for th-this... bullshit. We only have one week and then the factory moves and he gets here. You can't waste this chance! You have t-"

"He?" Both Robyn and Eddie asked the question simultaneously, their brows furrowing with confusion. John stopped, like they might have some kind of answer for the same question that Otrov had left unanswered in his head.

"Y-yeah. That's what she said. Nothing more than that, just... he," he said, and then the room went silent. Both women stared at him... and then at each other... and then looked towards the ground as they racked their minds for answers. Neither of them came up with a name for anyone specifically, but they did hypothesize on who or, rather, what it could be.

"You don't think it's an Ipssimus, do you?" Eddie asked and looked over at Robyn hopefully. Her eyes were watering, John realized and the two women turned away from him before he could ask what that meant. Thankfully, Robyn's next comment practically explained it for him.

"No. The council of Elders for the Cabal wouldn't bother trying to risk themselves in that way. They'd stay hidden and out of sight... like the rats they are," she grunted, and John watched as Eddie lowered her head again. Something... hopeful in her features disappeared and she swallowed softly.

"A Magus, then..." the redhead mumbled softly, and Robyn nodded.

"Better to send someone who is second in command than for them to try and stick the head of the snake out where the Order could see it," she replied and then lifted her real hand up to squeeze Eddie's shoulder reassuringly. "Whoever he is, he's probably the man that Otrov answers to." She turned to John when she started talking again, and John straightened up under Robyn's gaze. "Keep your eyes out to see if you can find him. We..." Her jaw clenched slowly as Robyn gradually **** herself to mutter out the next sentence for him, "We'll pay you for that information too."

They didn't say much more than that. Once John nodded his understanding at Robyn, they just started ignoring him, choosing instead to whisper back and forth to one another while Robyn gingerly rubbed her friend’s back and John tried to urge them to hurry and finish the job. After about ten minutes passed with John standing awkwardly in the background, he left. The stairs back up from Eddie's basement were even more difficult to climb back up as he made his way through the Frozen's Flame headquarters. If a step was too high, he kept stubbing his toes against it. If it was too low, it felt like he was walking on air.

The women on the main floor of the warehouse silently watched John as he passed. He waved awkwardly to the few that he had seen before and recognized, mainly the one that had been there in the police station when Robyn broke him out. He wasn't supposed to know her name, but it hadn't been hard for him to put it together after Robyn had accidentally muttered part of it. Charlotte didn't even blink as John walked past, she just held onto her food and stared at him through her green-tipped bangs.

When he left, his phone went off in his pocket, alerting to a new message that he got from Mary.

<Need to talk to you.> A couple seconds later, his phone beeped again before he could try to reply to her.

<Face to face.>