I laughed quietly to myself. I didn't even need to get close to him, I had
him in my sights. Quickly executing the standard set spell, I locked the bottle's
view to the Lupe himself. Now, no matter where he went or what he did, the bottle
would show him in it as a miniature statue, letting me know exactly where he
was and what he was doing.
I stowed things back into my knapsack, for what should be the last time this
morning, and headed back leisurely to the Terror Mountain tube station. As I
passed through the main capital city, I heard the sounds of a protest. I walked
over a block or two to find a fairly large group of Blumaroos hopping past,
carrying protest signs. More pets upset about the avalanches that were literally
wiping them out of their livelihoods and homes. I slipped away before anyone
could notice me and headed home.
I looked for my younger brother, blchocobo, as I got on the tube heading back
south to central Neopia, but he was nowhere to be seen. Oh well. He was capable
enough, and I trusted him to get the information I'd asked for and come back
safely. I headed home.... to my office.
As I opened the front door, I averted my eyes from the picture of a smiling
golden Uni... the Uni that had been me up until a few days ago. I monotonously
cursed the lab ray under my breath while I let the door close behind me. It
read: "MonoKeras, Private Investigations".
Putting everything back up, and the bottle into safekeeping, I settled down
to my desk and neoterminal, to see what sort of requests I had in my inbox.
There wasn't much, just a couple that I would be able to easily satisfy with
a bit of online research and a few written certificates. I had just finished
it, in fact, when the door opened. I looked up to see blchocobo.
"Hey! Great to see you back!" I grinned. "Sit down and tell me all about it!"
He returned my grin with a small smile before sitting down. "There's a lot
to tell you," he said softly.
"I figured there would be. So tell." As a blue Blumaroo, I'd calculated that
he could get a handle on the political situation facing the Blumaroos and Bruceys
in Terror Mountain as the avalanches continued their destructive toll.
Blchocobo looked thoughtful. "I suppose it starts about a year ago," he replied.
"You know that Blumaroos are not really native to Terror Mountain?" He continued
when I nodded. "Right, then. So, about a year ago, the first Blumaroos moved
up there from Mystery Island. Straight from the tropics to the frozen arctic,
but they loved it and have been recruiting members ever since." He paused as
I muttered under my breath about that. "I know, very active recruiting, maybe
even a bit on the shady side. The point is that the Blumaroo population has
gone from virtually zero to about fifteen or twenty percent of the population
in one year. They're just not being absorbed into the system fast enough."
I hmmmed. "So what sort of problems is that leading to?"
Blchocobo shrugged slightly. "The usual kind. First off, they're not mixing
on any large-scale basis with the native Bruceys. You have Blumaroo areas and
Brucey areas, and they have their own distinctive culture. That might not be
a bad thing, but it's being made worse by the political situation. Simply put,
out of twelve council members, only one is a Blumaroo, and he was elected just
a couple of months ago. There's a lot of feeling among the Blumaroos that the
Bruceys are not playing fair with them when it comes to power, and the current
avalanches are bringing it all to the surface."
"But surely that situation will change, given time," I said. "I mean, one year,
they just haven't had time to get involved in the system yet."
Blchocobo nodded. "You may well be right- but not everyone sees it that way,
right or wrong. Bloriarity is doing what he can to remedy things---"
"Whoa, wait," I said. "That name sounds familiar." I turned to my neoterminal
and looked through my saved files. Sure enough, Councilpet Bloriarity was quoted
in one of the avalanche stories I'd read. I re-read his quotes, with this new
information in mind. "Hmmm.... I'm not sure how much of a peacemaker Bloriarity
is," I murmured.
"Actually, I'm not sure, either," blchocobo replied thoughtfully. "Everything
I saw of him today suggests a calm and reasoned manner, but I must admit he's
in the middle of a stormy situation. He doesn't have an easy time of it, being
the unofficial head of the Blumaroo commUnity, the lone voice in a government
of Bruceys."
I raised an eyebrow. "Lone voice? That sounds rather dramatic."
Blchocobo looked a little embarrassed. "Yes, I suppose it is. I listened to
him give a speech to the protestors today, and that was part of what he said.
I must say, they loved him. He had them all chanting their new slogan for the
day. 'no snow, Bruceys go'."
I snorted. "That sounds pretty inane."
"Yes, it does, but it seemed to rally them quite nicely. Anyhow, I left after
it was over and came back here."
Silence reigned in my office for several minutes. Blchocobo stared at me, and
I stared at my desk. It ended when he cleared his throat slightly, and said,
"what now, MonoKeras?"
"I was just thinking about that," I muttered, "and I don't like the cold feeling
I get in the pit of my stomach when I do. This thing is getting big." He nodded
without saying anything.
I sat there thinking for another minute or so before I located what was really
making me feel uneasy. I sighed. "Mind you, it's not just that it's big," I
said. "The main problem is that I have no client."
"No client?"
"Right. I've got no client, and that means no goal. No one has asked me to
do anything, I don't know how to define 'success' in this, and there's no money
on the line."
"But... does the money really matter?"
I nodded firmly. "It sure does! I don't like risking my skin at the best of
times, but I sure don't want to when there's nothing in it for me. I don't run
this place just to make everyone happy, I run it to make a living. That means
I have to make money at it. It also means I usually have a set scenario for
me. Someone comes to me, tells me what their problem is, and I try to solve
it. But with this... I see all sorts of trouble, but no one's defined yet what
success is. All I am getting into is a lot of big trouble, with no backup, no
money, and no goal to aim for. I just don't like it."
Blchocobo let silence descend again for a bit before gently prodding me. "So
are you going to pursue it any further?"
"Hmmm.... maybe. But the next problem is to find a client, someone that would
be interested in solving this and who would... hire me...."
"What about the Terror Mountain Council? They are the ones catching trouble
for this."
"Not a bad idea. The only thing is, I don't know if they really want it solved.
They may well be the villians in this whole mess. But.... they should investigate,
shouldn't they."
"They certain should!" blchocobo proclaimed. "Pets are getting very upset about
this, and the council may not have any power left at all when the next election
rolls around if they don't solve it. Or any peace, either, with riots in the
streets."
"Riots? I didn't know about those."
"Oh, there aren't any... yet. But at the rate it's building, I wouldn't be
surprised if there were some. Another nasty incident or two and it could all
go off."
"Hmm.... and those politicians should know that as well as you. Interesting.
They need to investigate it, but who would trust them to do it right?"
Blchocobo blinked. "I hadn't thought about that," he admitted. "So what will
they do?"
I stared into space, but this time a slight grin was forming on my face. "Ahhhh....
of course. I think, blchocobo, that I'm going to get that client, in the very
near future."
"Why? Who's that?"
I shook my head. "Tell you later. But I'm going to pay a visit to an old friend
of mine. We may not have an answer to all of this, but before long we should
have people asking the right questions!"
And with that he had to be content while I forged ahead with a plan that made
me feel warm inside. It's always nice to find that your bread is buttered on
at least one side, and I could mentally feel my paw reaching for that butter
knife already.
***
The next morning I almost committed the unthinkable, and managed to hold onto
a good mood even while getting zapped with the lab ray. As it was, I at least
felt partially contented with the results, and I managed to get away to tend
to my own business without getting asked any questions. I had delicate negotiations
to perform, and I didn't want anyone inquiring into them before I had a chance
to get them all done.
The tube to Terror Mountain was just as fast as usual. I kept a lookout for
more unrest as I wandered through the area, but didn't see any open riots. The
atmosphere was tense, though, in the areas where there were a lot of Blumaroos,
and I knew that things had only calmed on the surface. Heading to the crack
in the ice near the caves, I pushed through the tunnel it formed and came out
into Tyrannia. The hot, dry air was searing after the wet coolness of the Terror
Mountains.
It was something of a relief to emerge into an area that didn't seem like a
potential war zone. The war here had been fought some time ago, and peace reigned
here. Or as much as it could reign in a country given to earthquakes, huge birdlike
monsters, and their gigantic eggs hitting the ground every morning. I headed
over towards the yellowish lump that was the latest omelette, and ducked into
the office next door to it.
The powerful Tyrannian Lupe behind the desk looked up as I came in. Those eyes
gave me chills. Sabre-X isn't a pet to cross at any time by anyone, but when
you're a cybunny facing a natural predator, well... I was glad he was nice about
things.
"Ah. Good morning. Was there something you needed?"
I took a deep breath, annoyed with my twitching nose for its rebellion. After
all, this was a friend and colleague, even if he didn't know it yet. "Actually,
yeah, there was." I stuck out a paw, inviting a handshake. "MonoKeras is the
name. Perhaps you've heard of me?"
Sabre-X's eyes bulged slightly before he burst into scornful laughter. "Quit
wasting my time, cybunny. I know MonoKeras, and he's a golden Uni, not some
little runt like you."
My temper managed to overcome this new body's natural fear of those long sharp
tusks. Screwing up my eyes in concentration, I raised my voice to a high, chittering
sound, and proclaimed, "Orders for the day! Tremaine, you sweep northeast. Dalret,
you clean out North and Northwest. Yerpa, you've got the east, Yerpi, west...
and MonoKeras, box the compass!" I snorted through my nose as Sabre-X's jaw
dropped slightly. "Don't tell me you didn't hear that last phrase a hundred
times!" I added in a normal tone.
"Huh. Ermmm... Ok. I'll believe it. Yeah, we always knew where Myncha would
assign... you? But what happened?"
"The lab ray and an ambitious owner. Need I say more?"
Sabre-X chuckled softly even as he shook his head in sympathy. "Poor MonoKeras.
It must have hit you harder than most, to lose your old form. So what are you
doing now that you've join the ranks of the dispossessed?"
I sat down on a stone chair and gave what I hoped was a nonchalant shrug. "Pretty
much the usual. New problems always crop up, and pets don't care what your species
is if they need help bad enough."
"Still detecting, then," Sabre-X replied as he fought back a last small grin
at my predicament.
"Right, and..."
"...and you need my help. As usual."
I closed my mouth and just nodded, a bit taken aback at his directness. I shouldn't
have been, I suppose. Sabre-X had the kind of mind that would analyze every
piece of a situation simultaneously, and a corresponding disdain for pretense
about anything. I cast about in my mind for some way to start off the conversation,
now that we could really get down to business instead of this stupid establishing
identity thing.
"So tell me about it," he prompted. "Who is in trouble this time?"
I hesitated. "Well, it's not started out like an ordinary case. Have you been
reading the news from Terror Mountain?"
He shrugged. "Some, not much. I have all I can handle here."
"Then you know about the avalanches."
"Of course! Anything that affects them in a geological sense is something I
note... if your next door neighbour is about to slide into the sea or something,
you want to know about it."
"Yes, you would. And that's what is about to happen... sort of." I raised a
paw to stop his next words. "Not in a physical sense, but a political one. They've
got a powder keg building, and I don't like the way it looks."
A lip curled back from one of Sabre-X's tusks, revealing even more of that
overgrown piece of ivory. "Politics. I have enough of that here. More than enough.
You want to talk about politics, go talking to Kyruggi, not me."
"No, I'm thinking you might be ideal, although I agree about Kyruggi. She's
going to have to support this."
"Support what? For light's sake, Uni- er, bunny- out with it!"
"The avalanches are deliberate." That rocked him. "Mind you, I know that for
sure only about the last one, but I suspect it's true for all of them."
"That's a criminal matter," he breathed. "Why don't you go to the police there?"
"Because it's also become a political matter. The victims of these crimes are
all Blumaroos--Blumaroos who have been feeling left out of the power structure
all along, and who are getting angry at what they're calling 'apathy' from a
government composed almost entirely of Bruceys."
I sat back and watched the wheels spinning in Sabre-X's mind. He might not
like politics, but he could add sums up as well as I when it came to mass neopet
psychology. I didn't have to fill in any more details for him, he could see
the situation for himself. "They're in a fix, all right," he grunted.
To be continued... | 
