If you ever leave Red Letter, Prism's door is open

Jin'en kept practicing with the black rod in the hills behind the estate until the fourth day before stopping.

When the dark light withdrew into his palm, his palm was perfectly clean, without a single mark.

Broken Rainbow squatted on a rock nearby, eating sunflower seeds and tossing shells all over the ground. Porsette sat on a stump a little farther away, her cloak's hood folded down over the back of her head. It was hard to tell whether she was sunbathing or dozing.

"That thorn called Wastebasket should be acting up by now," Jin'en said.

Broken Rainbow finished cracking the last few sunflower seeds in her hand and dusted off her palms.

"While you were practicing with your rod these past few days, I had Unica make a couple of rounds through the Bridge District.

"After Wastebasket pulled out of the Miguel District, he didn't return to the Old Port District or head toward New Hethereau.

"He stayed for two days in an old hotel near the Bridge District docks. Yesterday, he checked out and bought a long-distance bus ticket out of the city, but he didn't make it."

"Why not?"

"The bus hadn't even made it halfway to the next stop before someone stopped it. Three people got on and took him off." Broken Rainbow jumped down from the rock, her bare feet landing on the gravel. "Unica followed them partway, but didn't dare go any farther. She recognized what those three were wearing, though. Dark gray jackets, with something pinned to the left side of their chests. Reflective, like metal."

Jin'en drew the black rod back into his palm and stood. "Prism took Wastebasket away."

"Whether they took him in or silenced him is hard to say." Broken Rainbow unwound the braided cord from her wrist and looped it twice around her fingers. "Wastebasket is a perception type. He saw you use the dark attribute. Once that thorn reached the people at the top of Prism, they couldn't sit still.

"They took Wastebasket away either to hide him or to find out exactly what he saw.

"He'll be alive until they've finished questioning him. After that, not necessarily."

Porsette rose from the stump, her hood slipping onto her shoulders.

"Then are we going to find Wastebasket now?"

"We won't find him." Jin'en headed toward the mansion.

"Prism wouldn't put him anywhere we could reach after taking him away.

"But the fact that Wastebasket was taken away is a signal in itself."

Broken Rainbow followed, winding the cord back around her wrist. "What signal?"

"Prism has lost so many lines in the Bridge District and the Miguel District that the people at the top won't come down personally to clean up the mess.

"They'll send someone with authority to gather the remaining people back together.

"The fact that Wastebasket was taken away means that person is already here."

Jin'en reached the concealed door in the side corridor and pushed it open. "Someone in charge wouldn't come just for Wastebasket.

"He'll meet everyone on the lines who's still alive and reassign their tasks.

"The meeting place won't be in the Bridge District or the Miguel District."

"Where will it be?" Porsette asked.

"The Old Port District." Jin'en walked into the corridor.

"Old Zheng ran, and the person on the dock withdrew. The Old Port District's line was the most thoroughly severed.

"If someone from Prism's upper ranks wants an inconspicuous place to stay, that row of sheet-metal shacks in the Old Port District is ready-made.

"And Old Zheng said that before the person on the dock withdrew to the Miguel District, they took the copies off the boat and put them in the shacks. Prism's own people know that place."

That afternoon, Jin'en took Broken Rainbow and Porsette to the Old Port District.

They avoided the main route, slipping in through the drainage channel behind the port, climbing two low walls, and crouching behind a scrap heap opposite the row of sheet-metal shacks on the inner side of the berths.

There were six shacks in all. Old Zheng's was near the middle, its door closed.

A new bucket stood outside the third shack beside it. There was no rust on the bucket, and it looked far too clean against all the rotten sheet metal around it.

"Newly placed," Broken Rainbow said quietly.

"Someone's moved in."

Jin'en spread out his Spatial Perception and swept the row of shacks.

Of the six shacks, Old Zheng's was empty, the third held two living signatures, and the fourth held one.

No one was on the dock by the berths. Two people were moving along the outer port access road at an unhurried pace, patrolling.

"Three in the rooms, two on the perimeter." Jin'en withdrew his perception. "Of the three inside, one is sitting near the door and hasn't moved.

"The other two are rummaging through things. The two outside are walking at the same pace. It's a fixed patrol route."

"The perimeter first, or the people inside?" Broken Rainbow shifted the blade behind her waist into easier reach.

"Those two outside are patrolling, not standing guard. A fixed route means the people above them think this place is safe for now and doesn't need extra hands."

Jin'en crouched and drew the fishing rod from inside his coat. "Porsette, wait behind the old guard booth at the end of the outer port access road.

"If those two on the perimeter head back, open a door in front of them. You don't need to come out. Just open it a crack. Broken Rainbow will know they're coming when she sees the gap."

Porsette nodded, pulled up her hood, and slipped toward the outer port access road.

"Broken Rainbow, come with me to the side of the shacks.

"The one sitting in the third shack should be the one in charge.

"The other two rummaging around are probably looking for what Wastebasket brought.

"I'll go in and subdue the one in charge. You handle the two searching.

"Don't use an illusion. There are still night-shift cargo handlers outside the port. If you open an illusion, everyone within dozens of meters will go down."

Broken Rainbow drew her blade half an inch, then pushed it back.

"No illusion. The blade will do."

Jin'en and Broken Rainbow hugged the scrap heap as they crept to the side of the third shack.

The new bucket stood beside the door. It held no water, and a folded sheet of paper lay weighted down at the bottom.

Jin'en left the paper alone. He formed the black rod and set its tip against a welded seam in the shack's side.

Dark light seeped in, silently dissolving an opening in the sheet metal. He turned sideways and squeezed through.

There were three people inside.

The one sitting near the door was in his forties, with a thin face and a dark gray jacket washed almost white. A numbered Prism badge was pinned to his chest.

The other two crouched in a corner, rummaging through a canvas bag. Its contents lay scattered across the floor: several sheets of paper, two rolls of film, and a kraft-paper envelope.

Jin'en's black rod moved first.

Its tip touched the floor, and dark light spread over the concrete. The concrete beneath the two crouching men suddenly collapsed, making them sink at the same time and drop what they were holding.

Before they could stand, Jin'en turned the rod's tip toward the thin-faced man by the door. Light raced along the floor beneath his chair. Its legs sank half an inch into the concrete, pitching him backward.

"Don't move."

The thin-faced man didn't move.

Both hands rested on his knees as he watched Jin'en walk in from the side, his expression barely changing.

"Mandrake," he said. "Wastebasket said you had a dark-attribute rod. He wasn't wrong."

"Where's Wastebasket?"

"We finished questioning him and sent him away." The thin-faced man leaned back against his chair, but with its legs sunk into the concrete, he couldn't settle securely. "Don't worry. We didn't kill him. Prism doesn't kill its own. We just moved him somewhere quieter so he'd stop looking and talking out of turn."

"You're the one in charge of Prism's operations around the Bridge District."

"I wouldn't say in charge." The thin-faced man tilted his head.

"The higher-ups sent me to tie up loose ends. The Bridge District and Miguel District lines broke too quickly, and they wanted to know how. Wastebasket said you had a dark rod. I didn't believe him at first. Dual-attribute abilities have never appeared in Hethereau City."

Jin'en didn't respond to that.

The two men in the corner had climbed out of the holes in the concrete. Broken Rainbow held her blade across their necks, its tip against their throats. Both had their hands up, not daring to move.

"How many days have you been here?" Jin'en asked.

"Three," the thin-faced man said.

"I was planning to stay another two days before leaving. Once Wastebasket's intelligence went up, the higher-ups asked me to confirm something."

"What?"

"Whether your dark attribute awakened by chance, or Red Letter gave it to you." The thin-faced man lifted his hands from his knees and slowly set them on the armrests. "If it was chance, Prism wants to talk to you. If Red Letter produced it, Prism wants the method."

Jin'en watched him without speaking.

"You don't need to answer now." The thin-faced man rose from his chair. Its legs pulled up some concrete fragments, and he brushed dust off his trousers.

"I came to tie up loose ends, not fight. The Bridge District and Miguel District lines are broken, so be it. Prism's coordinate files for these areas needed clearing out anyway. You did it for us and saved me quite a bit of trouble.

"But the higher-ups want a definite answer. Can Prism touch your dark attribute?"

"No."

The thin-faced man gave a slight smile.

"Fine. That's what I'll report when I return. But let me remind you of something. I'm not the only one under Prism's higher-ups who handles loose ends.

"Just because I report that it's off-limits doesn't mean someone else won't try."

"You brought two people to patrol," Jin'en said. "When they go back, they'll say someone with a dark rod came to the Old Port District and cornered the man in charge in a sheet-metal shack."

"That's why I don't plan to take them back." The thin-faced man took something small from inside his jacket and placed it on the table: a numbered Prism badge, a little older than the one on his chest, its edges worn shiny.

"This one's Wastebasket's. He didn't have time to take it when he left, so I kept it for him.

"Take it. If you ever want to talk to Prism, bring this badge to the Bridge District docks and find a boat captain surnamed Chen. He can pass on a message."

Jin'en didn't take the badge.

"Where is Wastebasket?"

"On a fishing boat offshore from Unheard-of Bay." The thin-faced man pushed the badge forward an inch. "Someone on board is watching him, but they won't hurt him. Prism has always treated its intelligence sources well. Wastebasket just saw the wrong thing. He didn't commit some grave offense.

"Once things die down, he'll be let go."

Jin'en watched him for two seconds, then picked up the badge and pocketed it.

"How are you planning to wrap up the Old Port District line?" Jin'en asked.

"Once I return and make my report, no one will be left in the Old Port District."

The thin-faced man headed for the door. Passing the two men in the corner at Broken Rainbow's blade, he paused. "I'll take these two.

"They'll keep their mouths shut when they get back. They won't talk out of turn about the Old Port District. If you come here in the future, the shacks will be empty. Use them however you like."

Broken Rainbow withdrew her blade and stepped back. The two men rubbed their necks, rose from the corner, and followed the thin-faced man out of the shack.

Jin'en and Broken Rainbow followed them out. Porsette peeked half her head out from behind the old guard booth on the outer port access road. Seeing Jin'en gesture, she ducked back.

The thin-faced man and his two companions climbed into an old pickup outside the port. Two sheet-metal boxes sat in its bed.

As the pickup started, the thin-faced man leaned half his face out of the window and glanced at Jin'en.

"Mandrake. The higher-ups asked me to deliver a message."

"Go ahead."

"Prism doesn't compete with Red Letter for people. But if you ever leave Red Letter, Prism's door is open."

The pickup drove away, turning onto the road outside the port, its taillights shrinking in the evening light.

Broken Rainbow hung her blade behind her waist and tilted her head toward Jin'en.

"He said Prism wouldn't kill Wastebasket."

"Believe half of it." Jin'en took Wastebasket's badge from his pocket and glanced at it. Its edges were worn shiny, and the number engraved on the back was different from Old Zheng's, smaller and finer. "Wastebasket is alive, but Prism decides when he's released and where he goes afterward.

"Once this man returns and reports, Prism's higher-ups will weigh up whether to lay their lines through the Bridge District again."

"Then are we still looking into where Wastebasket is?"

"Yes, but there's no rush." Jin'en put the badge away. "The thin-faced man said a fishing boat offshore from Unheard-of Bay. That isn't too large an area.

"Broken Rainbow, have Unica pass a message to Daffodil. Ask her to keep an eye on the Unheard-of Bay docks for a fishing boat that spends most of the year at sea and doesn't come ashore too often.

"Daffodil knows the people at the docks. She can find out."

Broken Rainbow nodded without asking anything else.

The three withdrew through the back of the port, got into the car, and returned to the mansion.

Porsette sat in the back seat, her hood off and resting on her knees, and hadn't said a word.

She only spoke when the car turned onto the mountainside.

"Brother, was that thin-faced man serious about 'Prism's door is open'?"

"He was." Jin'en turned the steering wheel onto the gravel road. "Prism wants coordinates and intelligence, not to kill people.

"If I ever leave Red Letter, I'll be someone they can negotiate with. But those words were meant for Mother as well as me."

"What will Mother think?"

"She'll wonder how I answered him." Jin'en parked in the concealed space in the back courtyard and switched off the engine. "How I answered will determine what she has me do next."

That evening, Jin'en went to the study.

Inanna sat in an armchair, the Miguel District list recovered from Wu Xun's pawnshop before her, her fingers pressing against the edge of the paper.

"Broken Rainbow told me about the Old Port District." Inanna didn't look up. "Prism sent someone to tie up loose ends, and he talked business with you."

"He left one of Wastebasket's badges. He said that if I wanted to talk, I should take it to the docks and find a boat captain surnamed Chen."

"How did you answer?"

"I said it was off-limits."

Inanna closed the list and looked up at him. "He said Prism's door was open."

"He did."

"What do you think?"

Jin'en stood across the low table without sitting.

"I'm not thinking about that now. Wastebasket is still in their hands, and we won't find out anytime soon whether Prism has other lines around the Bridge District. We'll get Wastebasket out first and talk about the rest afterward."

Inanna watched him for two seconds, then pushed the list to the corner of the table.

"Let Daffodil investigate Wastebasket. She knows the Unheard-of Bay docks. What will you do next?"

"Practice with the rod," Jin'en said. "The thin-faced man said Wastebasket passed on the information about my dark attribute. Prism's higher-ups already know.

"Whoever comes next won't be as easy to talk to as him. I need to train the black rod until it can eat through people, not just walls."

Inanna didn't respond. Several seconds passed before she spoke.

"I won't stop you from practicing with the rod. But one thing: don't go out alone the next time you leave the mansion."

"Who should I take?"

"Broken Rainbow or Porsette. Pick one." Inanna leaned back in her chair, her voice level. "The thin-faced man leaving doesn't mean Prism has no one else watching the Bridge District. If you go out alone and someone tracks you down, Red Letter won't even have anyone to bring back word."

Jin'en didn't argue further.

When he left the study, Broken Rainbow was waiting at the bend in the corridor, barefoot, winding the braided cord around her fingers.