Power Play

Chapter 26: Simon

Chapter 26: Simon

    Simon sat at a table inside a house belonging to Ray Siren, a house that the freaks of the city tended to use as a bar, with Ray's permission. He was sipping a beer, even though Simon didn't tend to drink much, and with the speed at which freak systems metabolized things beer wasn't even enough to get him buzzed. Yet in a way it reminded him of a time when he'd been human once, an old feeling of comfort, when the world hadn't been so terrible a place. Earlier that night, just before coming here, he'd deposited the hundred thousand dollars that Jack of the Rippers gang had given him. The man had paid up, as Simon had figured he would. Luckily the bank didn't mind receiving large deposits in cash. Now, with the assault on Vanning looming in the future, Simon just wanted to relax for awhile while he still could.

    Lost in thought, Simon was surprised when someone dropped into the chair across from him at the table. He looked up from his beer to find Vryce Colvin watching him. "Vryce," Simon greeted the man. "When'd you get back into town?"

    "Just earlier today, actually," Vryce answered, holding a greenish drink Simon couldn't readily identify.

    "You conveniently missed a very big battle that just happened to occur during the time you chose to take a vacation," Simon informed the man.

    "What can I say? I have impeccable timing," Vryce said with a grin.

    "So, how was your vacation, anyways?" Simon prompted.

    "Very wet, very dark. A lot of pressure," Vryce commented.

    Simon simply arched one eyebrow at him. "Where did you go exactly?"

    "Nowhere important," Vryce answered evasively, still grinning. "I hear you outdid yourself in the battle, lost a hand but really impressed. My protégé received glowing praise as well."

    "Is that what you're calling Ryan these days?" Simon asked him. "Your protégé?"

    "Alright, we're not quite that close, but he wouldn't make a bad one. And my protégé wouldn't be such a bad thing to be," Vryce remarked. "I don't think he'll ever have my political savvy, but in terms of raw fighting ability, he might get close to being my equal, one day."

    "Still, you're helping him despite the fact that he killed Blaze. In fact, one must assume that you were helping him well before he took Blaze out," Simon prompted.

    "Most people wouldn't find that so strange," Vryce murmured.

    "Most people don't know that you had a fling with Blaze, shortly after he became a freak and arrived in the city," Simon responded, pitching his voice low enough that no one else in the room would hear.

    "He was cute, and there was no way for me to know that he'd turn into a complete psycho," Vryce replied with a shrug, pitching his voice equally low, before suddenly looking thoughtful. "Well, more of a psycho than the rest of us, anyways. He had potential, but I couldn't break him of his spoiled nature. He was convinced that when he didn't want them to, our law somehow didn't apply to him, and when I couldn't convince him otherwise, well, that was that."