Engineer's Empire 2.0

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"S'gone."

"Whaddya mean s'gone?"

"There ain't no glow down in there now. Someone's popped in and knicked it."

"Maybe you just ain't seeing it right. We gotta dig down in there and check."

"You dig down in there and check. I'm going to check with the dung beadle that rents out the orphan kids."

The stocky man with the scar across his face sauntered over to Lumen's office.

"Oy. You," he called out. Lumen stuck his head through the window.

"Pardon, but whom do you think you are addressing?" Lumen asked, looking at the goon with disdain.

"Any of these kids work in the clock tower," the man asked, giving a vague gesture to the working children.

"If you have a request, you can schedule a meeting-" Lumen began in his usual dismissive tone when the goon grabbed Lumen's cravat and tightened it around his neck until his face turned red. Lumen clawed at his neck for breath, but the goon ignored it and gestured back out at the children.

"It's simple. I don't even need ya to talk. Just point. Which ones work in the clock tower?" the goon asked. Lumen flailed around for another couple of moments before pointing at Slade.

"See? That wasn't so hard at all," the goon said, releasing Lumen to fall back inside his office. He turned and walked toward Slade, Tyler and Jeffrey.

"Alright. Which of you was he pointing at?"

"He wasn't pointing at any of us-" Tyler began when the scarred man punched him in the stomach, doubling Tyler over in a fit of coughing.

"See, I'm not really in the mood for guessing games. One of ye has something that I need to retrieve. And you're going to give it to me now, while I'm still being all polite like," the man said, picking at his nails. Slade held up his hands.

"Sir, we don't have anything. Just the shovels to move this gravel around," Slade said. He pulled out the lining of his pockets to show he was not hiding anything. The scarred man tilted his head.

"And you wouldn't be hiding nothing from me, now would you? Cuz ye see, that'd make me quite upset. And I get much less civil when I'm upset," the man warned.

"What is it you're looking for? I could keep an eye out for it," Slade asked. The sneer dropped from the man's mouth. He seemed concerned for a moment, his face full of thought. He looked between the tower and Slade, as if deciding what to say next.

"So you haven't seen it then?" the man asked. Slade shook his head.

"I don't think so sir. Nothing in that tower but gears and rats. But if you tell me what I'm looking for, I can keep an eye out for it," Slade offered. The scarred man shook his head.

"You'll know it if you see it. You see it, you turn it over to that rat over there," the scarred man said, pointing his thumb toward Lumen. "And we'll make sure it gets to us."

"Is there a reward?" Tyler asked. The man turned toward Tyler and Tyler jumped back with his hands up.

"Just kidding. We'd be happy to turn it over," Tyler said. The scarred man looked from Slade to Tyler to Jeffrey, then stormed off. The three grabbed their shovels and hurried to finish smoothing out the gravel. They could see the children gathering near Lumen. With aching backs and hands, they wandered into line, looking over their shoulders for the scarred man.