Megan paused for a moment. “It sounds like a great way to keep things going. But you’re not suggesting,” she said, her face changing suddenly, “that these bounces — are themselves some kind of ‘nudge’? You don’t think that Rodrigues — that Rod…”
Leif looked at her, nodding slowly. “I was wondering,” he said, “if that conclusion would be one you would reach, too.”
Megan sat and thought. “You know,” she said, “paranoia is a terrible thing. It starts creeping in everywhere.”
“Yeah,” Leif said. “But the question remains: Is this just paranoia, or not? If the Argath connection is actually a cover for something, for someone’s revenge for some grudge, or something else more obscure, then, from the way things look to me, they first sat down and did a most careful analysis on the game — on the structure of the game and the way it’s set up to run — looking to see where they could most effectively interfere, and how they could interfere so that it could best be blamed on somebody else. If you’re saying that one person in a good position to do that would be the game designer himself, the one who runs the place…”
Megan shook her head, troubled. “A lot of other people would be in that position, too.”
“Yeah, I know. But it’s a possibility we’ve got to consider.”
Megan started turning her teacup around and around. “A gamesmaster can run his game however he likes…but why would he start bouncing his paying customers? Without motivation, the theory won’t hold water.”
“It’s not a theory yet. Just a possibility.”
“Sherlock Holmes wouldn’t dignify it with even that term, I don’t think.” But then Megan shrugged. There was no point in running this into the ground right now. “So let’s get less specific. You sound pretty sure now that someone else besides Argath is responsible for the bounces. You think that it’s somebody who has been defeated by all the same people that Argath has been defeated by. Fine. How many people is that?”
“Six,” Leif said. “Generals or commanders named Hunsal, Orieta, Walse, Rutin, Lateran, and Balk the Screw.”
“What a name,” Megan said.
“Yeah. Well, when you analyze the data this way, you get a little help, because all these players are ‘based’ in the northeastern North Continent area. Either their cities, realms, or armies are there, or the battles took place in that ‘league area.’”
“Sounds like this analysis increases the chances of the real ‘bouncer’ being one of those six people. If not Argath.”
“That’s right. At least, that’s how it looks to me. Can you think of any other way to read it?”
Megan shook her head. “Not instantly. I’d still want to look at the hard data for myself…but it would be second-guessing. This is your specialty, and if this is the way you see it, I’m willing to buy in.”
“Great. So that would seem to be our next line of investigation, then,” Leif said. “Oh — you did get your report ready for Winters, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. He should be getting it. Wait a minute. Game intervention,” Megan said to the air.
“Waiting.”
“Time check, home base.”
“Nine forty-three P.M.”
“Finished. Fifteen minutes ago,” Megan said to Leif. “And how about you?”
“Oh, yeah, mine’s on timed release — he’ll have it in an hour or so.”
“And this line of investigation?” Megan said, looking at him with a sly expression. “Did you tell him about this new information you’ve dug up?”
“Um, well…”
“We’re holding out on him to see what we can do first, huh?” Megan said.
“Well, that seems consonant with what we discussed earlier…doesn’t it?”
Megan felt just slightly inclined to squirm. At the same time, she also felt that they might really be onto something here. “Look, let’s just run with this for a day or two more,” Leif said. “We’re so close, I know it. And with no new battles really imminent…”
“I agree with you about following up on this for another day or so,” Megan said, “but not on the false premise that there are no battles coming right away. We can’t assume that those are going to have anything to do with our ‘bouncer’ attacking anyone or refraining from attacking them. I think he’s going to bounce anybody he likes, now, whenever he’s good and ready, and I’d like to do as much work on this as I can tonight. After we talk to Wayland, we should get right in touch with Fettick, and then our next time in here, with Duchess Morn. We’ve got to make sure they’re warned, and that they believe the warning.”
“Yeah. Then we need to start talking to those six generals,” said Leif, “or talking to people about them. It’s going to use a lot of transit, but…” He shrugged.
“Yeah, well, you can split some of the footwork with me,” Megan said. “I’ve got some transit — not as much as you have, maybe, but this is important. But we need to get our butts in gear. It may take time to gather enough information about these six to find out which of them is the most likely to be the bouncer.”
“And then what do we do? If we’re sure we’ve found the right person, that is?”
“Call Net Force,” Megan said. “Hand them everything we’ve got, and tell them to go get that bouncer.”
“I would very much want to insist on being in at the ‘kill’,” Leif said.
“Insist? To whom? Winters?” Megan gave him a skeptical look. “You want an estimate of your chances at getting away with that?”
“Uh. Well…I’d real strongly suggest it, anyway. Just for satisfaction’s sake.”
“It would be nice to be there, or here, when it happens,” Megan said. “I wouldn’t count on it myself. I think the ‘grownups’ may want us safely out of the way. But satisfaction? There’ll be plenty of that when they throw the ‘bouncer’ in the can.” The image of Elblai’s face as she was taken into the hospital, her violet eyes closed, her face covered with bruising, was very much with Megan. “And either way, we’ll get the glory. Net Force’ll know who did the legwork.”
“Fair enough. Come on,” Leif said, and got up, stretching. “Let’s get out of here and go see Wayland.”
They made their way to the Scrag End slowly and carefully. The streets were very dark, and the moon, though already up, had not yet risen high enough to shed much light over the walls. Leif and Megan walked cautiously over the cobblestones, listening as they went. It was not that Errint was an unsafe city, as Sarxos went. But any town might have its occasional footpad hiding in the shadows, someone who might like to relieve you of your purse or any goods you were carrying. In fact, there was a substantial thieves’ guild in Sarxos, people who led utterly respectable lives in the real world, but who spent their recreational time skulking in alleys, dressing in rags, gibbering to each other in thievish cant, and generally doing things that, in their normal lives, would be terribly unsocial, but in Sarxos were just plain fun, and considered part of the landscape, like dog droppings on a New York sidewalk.