Episode 014 Previous Episode	Next Episode
“I have three ideas: two of them are bad, but one of them is good.” Psycho Mantis, Project Snake: Low Budget Espionage “So what’s the plan?” Ledger asked. “Yeah,” Roland agreed. “You’ve got this guy’s number. You know his pattern and all that stuff. So what are we going to do?” “Don’t say ‘we’,” Armand whispered loudly to Roland. “It’ll only encourage him.” Sydney hit his arm. “Well, like I said, I’d like to try and reason with this guy,” Everett said. “I think we can corner him and try to talk it out. If he is a knight, then we should be able to establish some common ground. If he’s not, then, well, I think it’s still likely that we’ll be able to get everyone on the same page about what he’s doing.” Everett pushed the centerpiece of the circular table away and cleared some room. “The Rose seems to focus on three different areas of the city; areas that have both low property value and are highly urban.” “Prime crime areas,” Ledger observed. “Right,” Everett nodded. “The Rose generally won’t go to the same place twice,” he explained as he laid down three napkins. “It’s unclear to me if the Rose has any forewarning about the crimes, but if he doesn’t, then that means he patrols the area. If he patrols the areas, that means he’s around for longer and moving about which will make him easier to catch.” “What I want to do is station four knights at the cardinal locations,” he went on, gesturing with his hand. “Me and Ledger will stay in a central location, waiting for any of you who spot him. When you do, we’ll move in to try and catch him, with the other four remaining to give us some type of cover if we lose him.” “Question,” Ledger asked, holding up his hand. “Why me?” “You’ve got the fastest 40-yard sprint and the highest vertical leap,” Everett answered. “The hell he does,” Sydney protested, hiccupping. “We’ll move to intercept this guy,” Everett summarized. “When we do, you guys will converge on our location, just in case numbers are needed to make our point.” “Or in case this guy gets any ideas,” Armand said. Marilyn came back to Everett’s elbow, placing down the first of the checks. “Now, don’t feel obligated to tip heavy just because I’m a starving college student without any financial aid,” she said during the distribution. “Tipping’s against my religion,” Roland said, pocketing his cash. “So’s a decent haircut apparently,” Marilyn countered, making some of the others smirk quietly. The five male knights rose in unison as Sydney stood up, collecting her coat. Once she had it on, they began to gather their things. Everett turned to Marilyn and smiled. “It was good seeing you,” he said in a friendly tone. “Yeah,” she said with strained sincerity. She started to turn. “You know,” Everett started. “Um, my number’s still the same and I still live at the same apartment.” “I know,” Marilyn answered. “If you ever want to give me a call or just swing by,” he said, leaving the invitation hanging. Marilyn managed a smile. “Maybe,” she said before turning away. Everett watched her head into the back, then headed for the door. Armand waited, the others going on ahead. “Stay and talk to her,” Armand said. “It’s not far; I can walk.” “I don’t know what I’d…” Everett started to say. But as he did, his attention turned to the bar. “What is it?” Armand asked, looking as well. Sitting at the bar was a fit young man in his twenties looking in the mirror behind the bottles at Everett. With a certain gaze, his strong presence matched the red shirt under his black coat. “I think I will stay,” Everett said. He turned to Armand. “Head on. I’ll be on my way in a bit. I’ll probably get home before you do.” “Feel free to give me a ride,” Armand said before heading out. Everett waited until he was gone, then turned back to the knight at the bar. Giving the restaurant a careful look, he began to cautiously approach the man. Coming up behind him, Everett didn’t break stride as he turned around in his barstool, the seats next to him empty. Before him, a plate of fajitas and a beer were half-attended to. “Good evening,” Everett said, holding up his index and middle finger between his eyes like the blade of a sword. “Hey,” the man said, returning the gesture. “This is a coincidence.” “My name’s Everett Kendall,” he said. “Pleasure to meet you.” The knight extended his hand with a friendly smile. “My name is Alan Vick.”
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