173 Riptide (2/2)
It was this slimy fucker again. I shook my head,
”Yeah, not hungry. Just saw someone bleed out.”
He raised his palms, ”If you aren't hungry, perhaps we could meet in a place where you could clear your mind? I know a spot two blocks away that should serve as a quiet place to rest and unwind after such a brutal bout.”
He waved his arms, ”After all, I'm certain you'd like to collect yourself after an experience like that. As always, you're more than welcome to walk away. I don't hold hostages when I'm conversating.”
I weighed my options. On the one hand, I wanted to talk to my friends back in the hotel room. On the other, Thisbey was giving me an opportunity. Even if he was piece of garbage, he was a knowledgeable piece of garbage. If I played my cards right, I could learn a lot from him, like maybe who to make ties with on Giess.
I sighed, ”Alright, fine.” I pointed at him, ”Understand this. I don't like you, and I sure as hell don't like how you do things.”
He gave me a warm grin, walking ahead of me, ”Well perhaps you can think it over. I know just the place for you to ponder.”
We walked past the group of silent onlookers. I stared down, finding myself wearing armor that looked like a crushed aluminum can. I glanced back up, ”Yeah, I need another suit of armor.”
Thisbey waved a hand, ”I'm not one to judge a man on his appearance. I stick strictly to their character. That be'in said, where I'm taking you has somewhere for you to change at if you feel so obliged.”
We paced out of the stadium and onto Giess's streets. Aliens and espens alike gawked at me, blood covering my crushed armor. I couldn't blame them. Some aliens even called the police, giving them my description.
Thisbey raised his eyebrows, ”I'll handle the law enforcement, don't you worry. I'm sure you have plenty to worry about already.”
Thisbey picked up the pace, weaving between crowds of people. He turned into an alleyway, pacing through the dark, dirty street. In the middle of the alley was a reinforced, steel doorway. Thisbey walked up to it, leaning towards the side of the door.
A sensor scanned his eyes. He talked as it happened,
”This is one of my many warehouses spread throughout the city. I figured you'd take kindly to the peace and quiet here.”
The door swung open, air hissing out of the building. We walked inside, finding a cozy room with several bookshelves lining it. A warm fire burned from a pit of orange opals at the center of the room. Several leather lounging chairs spread out beside it. I took a deep breath.
Yup, gialgathen leather as usual. The guy was psychotic.
The door closed behind us as I followed Thisbey inside. I glanced around, finding several desks covered in notebooks. Thisbey pointed at them,
”Those contain some of my business dealings. I enjoy spending quite a bit of time here whenever I need somewhere to focus. You're welcome here anytime you please.”
I breathed in, the smell of stone and fire letting me relax. As I walked further in, books and leather mixed with those scents. Crisp, fresh air flowed past me. As slimy as Thisbey was, he had a good taste. I couldn't deny it. His choice in fabrics was fucked though.
With a hearty laugh, Thisbey grabbed the collar of his gialgathen skin suit,
”I'm glad to see you're taken by it.”
I nodded, ”Yeah, it is a nice place to just sit and think.”
He gave me a signature Thisbey grin, walking over to his desk. He pulled out two glasses and a bottle. I rolled my eyes,
”Trying to worm information out of me?”
He nodded, ”If I may be so frank, yes. Of course I am. You're the talk of the town, and everyone is curious as to who you are. I aim to keep them guessing.”
I raised an eyebrow, ”Why?”
He poured me a glass, ”You're no espen. I know that. You're far too tall and broad. Your armor lacks a humidifier as well, meaning dry air doesn't bother you. However, if they don't see your face, the masses assume you're espen. I'm quite all right with that, as you may imagine.”
He brought over the glasses to a set of chairs overlooking the fire. He set the glasses on a table between the chairs. Thisbey sat down onto the chair, sighing with relief. He pointed at the other chair. I frowned at him,
”It's not exactly smart to tell me that kind of thing. I can expose my identity any second.”
He tapped the chair, ”It's quite comfortable if you'd to take a seat.”
I walked over, sitting down. He smirked at me, ”You won't expose who you are. Your identity means a lot to you. I could tell in the fight you were protecting your gray disguise. It's obviously not as tough as you are, so why else would you wear it?”
I glared down at him. I towered over Thisbey, a head taller than him even sitting down. It didn't phase him one bit as he leaned back in his chair. He glanced back at the fire, crossing his fingers. He waited, giving me time to think.
I took a deep breath, remembering the fight with the Skyburners. I needed to flush my mind of all the bullshit going through it and perform. I fucked up in the tournament. I couldn't afford to do the same against the Skyburners.
Thisbey took a sip of the herbal tonic, interrupting my thoughts,
”Would it bother you if I asked a tentative question?”
I shrugged, ”I thought you were here to give me some peace and quiet?”
He shrugged, ”Well, I aim to give you food for thought. That should help ease your transition.”
I scoffed, ”Sure, why not.”
He raised a hand, ”As I understand it, you've been rather busy as of late with the tournament and all. I sympathize if you've been preoccupied with other matters, but have you given my proposition any thought?”
I shook my head, ”Eh, not really. Don't know if it's worth giving thought.”
He laughed, ”Good. When a man thinks too hard, it muddles his mind. Best to keep it clear and follow your gut. It's worked for me. It'll likely work for you as well.”
He turned to me, ”Excuse me if this feels like an interrogation, but there are reports of someone clearing out the silvers nearby. Would that happen to be you perchance?”
I nodded. Thisbey picked up his glass again,
”You saved several of my boys when you did that. I'll let the media know about your deeds. It should help smooth over today's...incident.”
I shrugged, ”I don't care too much about fame to be honest with you. If anything, it just gets in the way.”
Thisbey raised an eyebrow, ”Now Daniel, fame is simply a tool, and like any other tool, it can be misused.” He raised a hand, accentuating his next point,
”It's much like a hammer. It can be used to both build and destroy depending on where you swing it. Your fame is much the same way.”
He swung his hand one way, ”On the one hand, you built the confidence of the espen people.” He swung his hand in the other direction, ”On the other, you've destroyed some of the gialgathen's arrogance.”
He accentuated his next point, grasping his fingers together, ”I consider both tremendous feats in their own right.” He gestured a palm to me, ”All I ask is you swing that hammer of yours one last time.”
I rolled my eyes, ”Really now? Sounds like you want me to swing a hammer through a gialgathen's skull. If you ask me, you're a damn lunatic.”
He shook his head, turning back to the fire, ”You've seen and felt what they can do. They're more than merely powerful. They feed on the natural mana that saturates Giess. Think of it. Trillions of creatures thrive on mana. Predators eat those creatures, and mana collects in their flesh and blood.”
He raised a fist, ”The gialgathens are the densest collections of mana on this planet. That's why they defy a normal planet's biological limits. I've never seen a non-eldritch match their might. Their overwhelming capacities come at a cost, however.”
I raised an eyebrow, ”Alright. Sureeee. Let's hear your pitch.”
He kept on going, ignoring my sarcasm, ”Mana pollution.” Thisbey shook his head,
”Scientists still don't quite understand the mechanism behind it. Signs of it lie everywhere around us, however, even beneath our very feet.”
He took a sip of his drink, ”You may not be aware, but there's a vast ocean of pollution beneath the surface of giess. The silver's feed on that mana pollution. That's why they came here. That's why they've spread out.”
I knew this part of his bullshit was true. I dove miles beneath the surface of Giess early on after coming here. He turned to me,
”The animals here, they evolved around the mana. They use it like water or air. The difference is that mana is a resource with consequences. You can use internal mana all you want. It's the will of your own mind. It regenerates if you give your mind some time to rest.”
He shook his head, ”Drawing from nature is different. It's like sapping the will of the world, and it leaves a toxic, inhospitable mush behind.”
I frowned, ”Wait, you're telling me all that muck is from animals?”
He nodded, ”And the espens, our technology, even our entertainment. It all draws from a well that's about to dry up. Very few people understand this. A few select individuals are even combating it.”
I remembered Thisbey's silver mining business. He looked at my facemask, a smirk growing on his,
”You guessed right. I'm leading the charge, funding the farming of the silvers. We can't eliminate them. We need them even more than they need us.”
He looked back at the fire, his brow creasing, ”But the mana pollution has run its course already. We've walled in vast seas of the sludge, but our time is running out. If it weren't for the silvers, we'd already be done for.”
I cupped my chin, diving deep into thought. Thisbey calculated his every word. Taking it at face value was foolish. At the same time, not all of it was lies. When I first arrived on Giess, I carried my friends and I over one of those seas of walled in sludge. I even explored one of the oceans, finding a follower of Eonoth. That scientist was trying to create espens that lived off the muck.
This was why.
Thisbey frowned, ”Now that you understand a few of the intricacies of Giess's climate let's present a question. If you guessed who contributed the most to mana pollution, who would it be?”
I sighed, ”The creatures that used the most mana.”
Thisbey's gaze turned hard like iron, ”Let me divulge another deduction from you. What species do you believe does this the most?”
I frowned,
”The gialgathens.”