Bad Beat - Chapter 07 - Revelation (Patreon)

“Err, I don’t know what you want me to say…” Gabriel prevaricated as his eyes continued to dart around.

The click of the gun and the solid hum of the energies inside it stopped that movement, bringing his eyes back to Mia. She was glaring at him, eyes narrowed, the muscles in her hand twitching angrily.

“Stop delaying! Talk!”

Gabriel opened his mouth, then closed it with a snap.

He had no idea what to say.

Could he come clean about his power? Sure…

But for some reason, he couldn’t fully bring himself to trust Mia right now. Or, in general, as the young woman had done nothing to endear herself to him with her behavior over the last week. Finally, after a minute of thinking that felt much longer while staring down the gun barrel, he let his shoulders sag and sighed.

“Look, I don’t know what you want to know! I don’t have your laptops with me,” he started explaining, careful not to say anything that was an outright lie. If the woman could have a sci-fi gun that transformed into an ordinary watch, then she could also have a lie detector. “If you want to get them back, then I’m afraid I can’t help you.”

Her eyes narrowed even further – if that was possible – but before she could comment, Gabriel continued talking.

“I’m sensing… that you’re not really in this building for the ambiance,” he said. “Gary mentioned something about the ninth floor. So, I would assume that you’re after whatever they are doing there.”

At the mention of the ninth floor, her eyes widened a little in surprise, while a dark look passed through them.

“Ah… let me guess… organized crime hurt someone close to you? And you’re here for revenge?” he asked after coming to a realization based on her expressions.

Mia’s eyes widened even further.

“Are you reading my mind?”

“No! Why wou–”

But he couldn’t finish the sentence as Mia began to hyperventilate and her already shaking hand squeezed the trigger on the gun.

WHIZZ

Once again, everything went black.

**

He came to with the feeling that his mouth was filled with cotton, his head ringing, and a strange but acute awareness of the soles of his feet. Quite a peculiar feeling.

Slowly opening his eyes, he saw to his relief that he was still in his apartment.

That was the only good news.

The entire apartment looked like a bomb had gone off – or a toddler had been left without supervision – as everything he owned was piled on the floor. Clothes were scattered around, every container overturned, cupboard doors hanging open, and in the middle of it all stood Mia, looking harried with bloodshot eyes.

He wanted to call out to her, telling her to make sure to put everything back in its proper place – he had spent a week putting everything away – but only a painful groan left his mouth.

This garnered instant attention.

Mia stalked over, her watch once again transforming into the futuristic gun, which she held to Gabriel’s cheek, which was enough for him to feel the faint vibration humming through it.

“Listen here, asshole. I had a pretty shitty day, so you either start to sing or we’re going to see if you like the taste of your brain!” she spoke softly, anger simmering below the surface.

‘You had a shitty day? What about me? I’ve been baited by delicious baked goods before being ambushed!’ he complained to himself, but otherwise stayed silent. Speaking hadn’t worked so far, so he was planning to do the opposite.

Gabriel pushed himself upright slowly, making sure every movement was visible.

Mia watched him like a coiled spring, the gun never wavering.

The message was clear.

One wrong move and he was getting stunned again.

His hands slowly moved around next to him until one of them found the comforting shape of his deck – making him quickly run through the items stored there.

Sadly, he didn’t think he could defeat the angry goth with a stack of documents or a bowl of raw rice, so Gabriel just blinked and waited.

“And don’t you dare read my mind again!” she exclaimed, a bit of panic leaking into her voice.

There were many things Gabriel was blessed with. Above-average height. A funky new power that seemed to have limitless potential. A new life in a world full of wonder. A full head of hair. A lack of asthma.

But proper impulse control was not one of them.

“How would you know if I read your mind?” he asked, completely forgetting his internal promise to stay silent.

Mia’s eyes widened, and Gabriel saw in her eyes that she was planning to shoot him again. Not wanting to see if the weapon had other settings aside from stun – or find out how colors tasted – he hurried to continue.

“Wait, wait, wait! Don’t shoot! I’m serious. And also, I’m not reading your mind. I just figured, with the way you were acting and the general environment around here, that was the most logical conclusion.” Gabriel spoke as fast as possible, while staying understandable.

She stilled. “Continue…”

“Look, how about we sit down like adults and talk?” he asked with a hopeful voice. “I’m sure your cause is worthy, so maybe I could help you out…” he offered, just in case she needed more convincing.

Mia stared at him for a long minute that felt like an hour to Gabriel before frowning.

“Seeing as I couldn’t get into your laptop or phone and you had nothing in the apartment, I’m inclined to allow that to happen…” she said, removing the weapon from his face, before jabbing it forward into his jugular. “But if you even think about trying anything, I’m shooting you.”

She removed the weapon once again, transforming it back into a regular wristwatch.

“And no mind reading.”

Rubbing his neck, Gabriel got up from the couch and stretched a little, feeling his spine pop after lying there for who knows how long.

A glance at the window told him it was late afternoon, even though the curtains were closed.

Mia stalked away with a huff, pulled one of his kitchen chairs into position, and plopped down onto it, crossing her arms in front of her.

Gabriel simply sat back onto the couch, leaned back, one hand holding his deck – hopefully ready to intercept any shots – and looked at her.

“I can’t read your mind,” he repeated.

“Prove it,” she hissed, looking at him suspiciously.

“How can I prove a negative?”

“Well, what am I thinking right now?”

“How stupid I look?” Gabriel said, deadpan.

She gasped.

“You are reading my mind!”

“No. I just know people,” he replied dryly. “Anyway – not to change the subject, but let’s change the subject. Why do you need those laptops, and why are you interested in the ninth floor?”

He eyed her carefully.

“By the way, a small explanation about the ninth floor would also be nice, as I have no idea what’s going on here…”

Mia looked at him, seemingly contemplating changing her mind and shooting him again, before letting out an enormous sigh. She slouched down in the chair, looking like she had just given up.

“You really don’t know?” she asked softly.

Gabriel just shook his head.

“This is the territory of the Electric Jackals. They have an operation on the ninth floor and up,” she explained in a whisper, as if worried they would be overheard. “Processware is one of their money-laundering companies.”

“Oh…”

“Oh, indeed,” she replied in a sarcastic tone. “People around here pretend they don’t know anything, and in exchange, the Jackals don’t ask for protection money. All you have to do is avoid the ninth floor.”

“And you’re after them? Did they kill someone from your family?” he asked in an equally soft voice.

There was no point in angering her when he had finally managed to get her to talk.

She glared at him, but it lost most of its previous venom.

“You know, asking these kinds of questions will not make me believe less that you can’t read minds.”

“So, the answer is yes?”

“Yes. Fucking hell… yeah.” Mia looked away, jaw tightening. My sister worked for one of their companies, and they killed her.”

Her fingers clenched against her arms.

“One day she just… didn’t come home.”

She swallowed hard.

“Two weeks later, the police told us it was an accident.”

She looked back at him, eyes burning.

“Except the Jackals cleaned out her apartment the same night she died.”

“Why?”

“How the fuck should I know?” she retorted immediately. “That’s why I am here. That’s why I arranged for all of those laptops to be dumped. To see if I could get some information out of them.”

“You know they wipe those, right? And then drill holes into them just to make sure…”

“I know, but I have… other options.”

“Ah. Superpowers. Fancy.”

“Says the mind reader.”

“I don’t have mind-reading powers! How many times do I have to tell you?” he exclaimed in frustration.

“Well, if you’re not a mind reader, then what are you?” she asked with a provocative tone of voice while looking at him challengingly. “The encryption on your phone and laptop is something I’ve never seen.”

Gabriel opened his mouth to explain, then closed it again, as he didn’t exactly know how to do that without also talking about the Deck of Infinity.

“Do you work for one of the agencies? Helix? Atlas? CIA? Or maybe someone down in Mexico?” came the rapid-fire questioning when he didn’t answer immediately.

Gabriel put up his hands in a placating gesture.

“Stop. Please, stop. Just give me a second to organize my thoughts after somebody scrambled them twice…”

He gave her a pointed look.

For a moment, she looked slightly guilty, but in the end, she just huffed and stayed silent.

“Alright. Alright. So, hypothetically, ifI had found those laptops, they were all wiped. No data on them. Hypothetically.”

“Hypothetically. Right.”

“I don’t know what your ‘method’ would have done to them, but as of now, they are unreachable. Hypothetically, of course.”

“Unreachable?”

“Completely.”

“Bummer.”

“Sorry about that, but I think finders keepers applies in this case,” he commented with a small smirk.

“Keep talking like that, and I’m going to shoot you again,” Mia replied while tapping her watch as a reminder.

“Fine,” Gabriel replied while holding up both hands, palms facing her.

The conversation stopped there, both lapsing into silence and just staring at each other, waiting for the other person to speak first.

Finally – having had a terrible day – Gabriel had had enough.

He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, staring at Mia.

“Look. We could sit here for ages debating who is at fault – you for shooting me, by the way – but that doesn’t solve anything. Please, tell what you want from me, then either help me tidy up or leave my apartment.”

Mia scanned the apartment and took in the chaos she had caused. She winced slightly, then nodded.

“Well, I think things should balance each other out. You set my plan back, so you need to help with it.”

The look in her eyes dared him to say no.

“If you do that, I might forget what you did.”

“Really? You’re faulting me for something I had no idea about?” he asked incredulously.

“Yes!” she yelled, standing up, breathing heavily. “Yes! I’m here to figure out what happened to my sister, and you just set me back months!”

It was obvious that talking about her sister was like opening a wound.

However, instead of blood, raw emotions emerged.

Gabriel stared at the heaving young woman and thought about it.

On one hand, he could help her superficially – maybe put together some kind of advanced hacking tool – then wash his hands of the whole situation.

Or go all in and gain a loyal teammate.

No man is an island.

Sooner or later, he would need teammates – people he could trust – and if he helped her to solve the mystery of her sister’s death, then she would definitely be thankful.

However, there was the fact that he could be wrong.

She could be a plant by the Electric Jackals (whoever they were) or maybe one of the companies sniffing out new supers. She could also sell him out the moment he had helped her accomplish her goal.

‘Or I could just ignore her…’ he mused inwardly as Mia tried to get her breathing under control.

She clearly had some kind of technology-related power – maybe crafting or control – which would synergize insanely well with his own.

In the end what decided for him was his own directionless existence.

Yes, he was in a new world.

Sure, he had a sparkly new power with untold potential.

But he had no goals besides a nebulous ‘live through whatever the world throws at him’.

He could hunker down and, over the coming years, gather enough resources to eke out a luxurious life for himself.

Honestly, while it sounded nice, that didn’t appeal to him at all.

After all, that’s what he did in his last life.

Took the most efficient route to his goal. Made sure everything was squared away before doing anything. Had plans within plans.

It always felt nice.

Comfortable and safe.

Yet, looking back, there was always something missing.

The aversion to spontaneity had always been obvious – friends always complained about making plans with him. He needed at least a week of preparation and warning for any get-together.

Just going out after a call?

Perish the thought.

Now here he was, being offered the chance to jump both feet into the deep end of the pool without any safety nets – or even the shore anywhere in sight.

Dare he take it?

Looking at the distressed young woman in front of him – who, despite the thick makeup and black clothing obscuring most of her body, clearly looked close to a breakdown – he realized that while the idea of going against a full-fledged gang was not his idea of having a good time, helping another person sounded more promising.

‘I just have to make sure she doesn’t doublecross me… Should be easy, right?’

After who knows how long he had been thinking, he finally let out a sigh and stood up.

Mia flinched as if expecting violence or an outburst, but he simply stepped closer, making sure not to move too fast, and held out a hand.

“Deal.”

Mia looked back at him with wide eyes, glancing between his hand and his face.

“I’ll help you figure out what happened to your sister.”

“What? Really?” she asked, surprised.

Gabriel shrugged.

“Yeah. You look like you could use some help.”

“Well, fuck you too,” she retorted with a frown.

But instead of turning away, she reached out with her own hand and grabbed his.

She had soft hands.

One pump.

Up and down.

Then she let go and once again crossed her arms in front of her.

They stared at each other, neither of them having an idea what the next step would be.

Gabriel once again took in the untidy mess his apartment had become and let out another sigh.

“How about we both go and take a breather and circle back tomorrow – maybe for lunch? Then we can start planning…” he suggested, motioning the disaster around them. “I really need to clean up.”

Mia opened her mouth, then seemingly thought better of it and simply nodded.

She walked to the door without saying anything, but stopped before opening it. Turning around, she stared at Gabriel intently.

He let out one more tired sigh.

“I still can’t read minds, but even without that, I know you’re flipping me off mentally.”

Her eyes widened.

She turned around, opened the door – practically wrenching it open – and hurried away toward her own apartment.

Gabriel waited until he heard her door close before shutting his own.

Then he turned toward the living room.

“What a mess…”

Procrastinating a little longer, he walked over to the kitchen table, sitting askew in the middle of his usual path, and picked up another lemon shortbread before biting into it.

“Still so good…” he munched on it. “She may be crazy, but damn, she can bake.”