Alden woke up slumped over his desk, his face buried in a drift of papers. But that was more or less as expected. What surprised him was the fact that someone had draped a blanket over his sleeping form, and the rich scent of black tea was in the air. As he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, Alden’s still bleary mind tried to make sense of this turn of events… “Ember?” “Good morning, papa.” Alden sat up in his chair as Ember placed a cup of tea and a handful of savoury biscuits in front of him. The slight chill of the air that hit him as the blanket slid off his shoulders helped him focus just a little bit. “Thank you, Ember.” “It’s fine, papa. You must have been very busy with your work to fall asleep at the desk like that. I think you should try to sleep properly in the bed, though.” “You’re not wrong, I was just so caught up in…” Alden trailed off as he paged through the papers in front of him. Meeting places, equipment stashes, drop-off locations, spots for leaving messages… He’d been putting together a list from both the information the Corkers had provided and the things Mei Jing’s girls had found out, but he couldn’t quite remember what it was he was trying to figure out. As he racked his brain trying to remember, he took a sip of the tea. It was honestly rather oversteeped, but the harsh bitterness of the drink did help him wake up a bit. “How’s the tea, papa?” “It’s a little bitter, Ember.” Alden replied honestly. “You left the leaves in too long. But it was a good attempt, and I’m grateful for it.” “Sorry, papa. I’ve only brewed tea a few times, and I can’t really cook, so I couldn’t bring you anything but biscuits…” “That’s all right, Ember. I’m very happy you did this for me.” Ember didn’t say anything, but Alden could tell they were worried. “Would you like me to teach you how to cook?” Ember’s eyes grew wide. “Really?” “Of course. I’m your papa, right? Teaching you how to do things is part of that. From now on, let’s make the meals together until you’re confident you can cook properly on your own.” “I’d like that a lot, papa.” “Well then, no time like the present! Let’s make a proper breakfast.” Alden spent the next little while basking in the simple joy of cooking and eating together with Ember. The child was a little clingy, but Alden certainly didn’t mind. If anything, being clung to in this manner was strangely satisfying. And the way Ember smiled at any bit of praise from Alden was enough to fill him with energy. When, at Ember’s own insistence, he left the washing up to Ember and returned to the mess of papers at the desk, his memories of last night’s work gradually started growing clearer. He had been looking through all the places the Han loyalists and the people working for the mysterious ‘bastard’ did their work. There was a lot of overlap, which wasn’t strange, but Alden had realized almost all of those places, save those that were in residential buildings, were in or directly adjacent to private businesses. A lot of those businesses were owned and operated by Han men, mostly eateries or shops, but there were some with no obvious connections to Han whatsoever… “Ember, would you like to join your sister at work today? I will probably be busy until evening.” “Of course, papa. But won’t I get in the way?” “Oh, I very much doubt Tiffany would find your presence bothersome. Let’s go and ask, shall we?” And so, after quickly making a list of all the incongruous businesses, Alden took Ember by the hand and led them downstairs to speak to Tiffany. Since it had ended up being a little bit of a late morning, Tiffany was already hard at work getting the newly refurbished workroom ready to use. But the moment she was able to get her hands free she rushed over to give Alden a hug and then picked Ember up off the ground, hugging them tightly and spinning them around. Ember laughed cheerfully at the playful greeting, and Alden politely pretended not to see the obvious strain on Tiffany’s face as she twirled the stick-thin child around. “Good morning dad, Ember.” Tiffany panted, not disguising her exertion particularly well. “Good morning, Tiffany. Excited to get the workroom ready?” “I am! This place has become a proper little marvel, dad! There’s equipment here that they didn’t even have at the Hallowdell Institute.” “All courtesy of my employer, who was only a little sarcastic about the cost of it.” “Well, there’s still a lot that needs to be set up, but I should be able to get back to work properly before the end of the day.” “I’m glad to hear it. Do you think Ember could be of assistance to you?” For a moment, it seemed like Tiffany was going to answer in the affirmative without really thinking about it, but then she stopped herself and gave Ember an appraising look. “I suspect that they could, actually. Would you like to help me get the workroom ready, Ember?” “I’d love to! Just tell me what to do!” Tiffany smiled and ruffled Ember’s hair, causing the child to let out a happy little squeak. Alden smiled at the adorable display, but his face grew serious as he grabbed a piece of scrap paper and quickly wrote down a short list, which he then handed to Tiffany. “Once the workroom is ready for use, could you prepare the tinctures on this list? I feel like one or more of them may come in handy in the near future, so I want to make sure we have a supply of them on hand.” Tiffany accepted the list curiously. As she read it, her curious expression changed first into one of confusion, then one of worry. “Alden… These are all p…” “I know. Just see to it, will you?” Tiffany hesitated for a moment, then she shot Alden a smile that didn’t quite mask her concern. “Of course, dad. I’ll make sure to prepare them as quickly as possible.” Given that he was shown up to her office just the same as usual, Alden was honestly surprised to find Lucille wearing a quite lovely cotton garment of a type that he had only very recently learned was called a yukata, a type of thin summer kimono. The dark blue garment sported an eye-catching cherry blossom pattern, and was tied around the waist by a wide silvery sash. However, Lucille’s hair hung loose and messy, looking very much like it had been carelessly pulled free from some sort of elaborate arrangement. Frankly, Alden was at a loss as to what he should comment on first. “Putting aside the fact that you rarely wear anything presentable while working in the office, isn’t the yukata rather unseasonable?” Lucille raised an eyebrow. “What’s this, Alden? Have you suddenly developed an interest in women’s fashion?” “Only in the most tangential possible sense, I assure you.” Lucille smiled. “How very like you, Alden. If you must know, I just returned from a breakfast function at the Nihonese embassy, and they keep the building quite unbearably warm all year round.” “I didn’t realize you were a diplomat on top of everything else, Lucille.” “I’m not, but my wife is. And ‘clinging to the arm of a diplomat’ is a very useful position for a spy to be in, from time to time.” “I doubt you need an excuse to cling to your wife’s arm, Lucille.” “Certainly not, but it’s nice to have one nevertheless.” Alden chuckled. “Well, I’m glad to find you in such high spirits, because I came here to ask you for assistance.” “What do you need, Alden?” Alden handed her the list of businesses he’d written down before leaving his apartment. “Out of all the places of business that seem to be involved with our mysterious adversary and his work, these are the ones that have no obvious links to Han. I would like to know if there’s some sort of connection between them.” Lucille looked the list over thoughtfully. “Nothing immediately apparent. I’ll have to look them up in my records. Give me an hour or so.” Alden gave her a nod, and Lucille left the room to find the information he sought. He wasn’t sure where exactly the records she spoke about were kept, although if he was a betting man he’d put good money on it being in the extremely secure basement area beneath the house. Not that it really mattered. For the moment, all he could do was wait for Lucille to find what answers she could, so he simply leaned back in the rather comfortable armchair in front of Lucille’s desk and allowed himself to relax… For the second time that day, Alden woke up sitting in a chair with a piece of cloth draped over him. In this case, that cloth turned out to be Lucille’s yukata. “Trying to get a rise out of me, Lucille?” Alden grumbled as he stretched. “You were fast asleep when I came back, so I decided to get changed.” Alden looked up, finding Lucille once again dressed in old, worn tweed. “Do you usually get changed in the office?” “Yes, as a matter of fact. Although I will admit I’ve never done it next to a sleeping man before.” “So you were trying to get under my skin, then?” “I feel we’re close enough for a bit of light-hearted teasing.” Alden huffed and tossed the yukata onto the desk. “You wear too much perfume. I’m amazed the smell of this thing didn’t wake me up immediately.” “Part of the job, I’m afraid. People are more likely to underestimate me if I’m wearing really obvious scents, and people who look down on me are less likely to suspect that, for example, I speak fluent Nihonese and am quite capable of making out a mumbled conversation from clear across a room.” Alden considered that for a moment. “It must be exhausting, putting up a front like that all the time.” “Oh, it is. But exhausting or not, I do rather enjoy my job. The feeling of knowing more than everyone else has always rather appealed to me. Speaking of, I looked into those businesses.” “And?” “With two exceptions, they are all wholly or partially owned by Robert Smith.” Alden hummed thoughtfully. “Can’t say the name particularly stands out to me.” “Well, it wouldn’t. It’s a very common name. I’m sure there’s at least a few dozen Robert Smiths in London alone. But this particular Robert Smith is a man who has amassed a shockingly large stake in various businesses across the city and beyond. He inherited a small fortune from his father, who owned a spice trading company. The moment he inherited them, he sold off the entire company and all its assets and used the money to make investments in a large number of new businesses, mostly related to the airship industry.” Alden nodded. “So, he sold his father’s business, which I assume relied on trade ships, and invested all that money in airship-related businesses right around the time when airships began to seriously compete with the sea trade?” “Just so. It has made him very wealthy, although he reinvests most of what he makes. As far as I can tell, his monetary assets aren’t particularly impressive, but he owns a stake in hundreds of businesses across England, Cymru and Alba, and fully owns over twenty businesses in London alone, eleven of which are on the list you gave me.” “That seems unlikely to be a coincidence.” “Rather. I’ll ask our patron to look into matters related to Robert Smith, but it might take some time. He’s an important figure, after all, and our patron would no doubt have to move very carefully when dealing with him.” Alden tapped his foot against the floor as he thought. “I don’t suppose you know where this man lives, Lucille?” “Well, he owns a small manor house in Suffolk. Something he purchased from a disgraced baron, I believe. But he spends most of his time in a townhouse called Shimmer Place on Pennywort Street, just a few minutes walk from the airship port at Heath Row. Alden nodded and stood up. “Thank you, Lucille. Talk to our patron. I will see what I can do on my end.” “Be careful, Alden. This is not a man to be taken lightly. Think twice before crossing him.” Alden smiled grimly. “I do appreciate the warning, Lucille, but I’m afraid it’s a little late to worry about that now.” Alden sat in one of the many partitioned-off little rooms of The Place, waiting for Mei Jing to arrive. He’d honestly have preferred to have the meeting somewhere nicer, but at the moment it seemed imprudent to be seen together with the girl anywhere remotely public. Still, he had taken the time to acquire a large selection of sweet treats, some of which had made it all the way here past the pleading gazes of the rascals. Truly, there was nothing quite so insidiously charming as a child looking to talk an adult into giving them sweets… When Mei Jing did arrive, Alden immediately noticed that her left arm was wrapped in brown bandages that smelled strongly of vaguely familiar herbs. The bandages extended all the way from her elbow down to her hand, including her little finger, though the other fingers weren’t bandaged. Alden shot her a concerned look, but Mei Jing simply sat down in front of him as though nothing was wrong. “I was told you needed me, Alden Stowe.” “You’re hurt, Mei Jing.” “You do not need to worry. On the day of the raid, I got a small burn on the left arm. Wu Bo helped me apply medicated bandages soon after it happened. He says it should only leave faint scars.” “It’s not a small burn if it runs from the elbow down to the little finger.” “Small enough.” Alden frowned. “How did you even get burned? You and the girls shouldn’t have been anywhere near the fire.” “A man managed to get into the sewers from the Sunshine Club during the raid and emerged from a drain some way away from the blockade. I spotted him attempting to flee and tried to catch him, but he was carrying a piece of burning wood and swung it at me.” “I told you to be careful, Mei Jing! Your job was to find people and point them out to others, not to try and catch people yourself.” “There was no time. He would have escaped. But because I was able to slow him down, he was caught.” Alden sighed. The truth was, if a man who had been in the building during the raid managed to escape, that could potentially have compromised some very important information. The fact that Mei Jing managed to apprehend the man was potentially very important. And yet… “I just don’t want you getting hurt, Mei Jing. You mean a lot to me.” Mei Jing smiled. “And you to me, Alden Stowe.” Alden sighed. “Much as it feels awkward to ask this of you right now, I do need you and the girls to help me with another job.” “What do you need?” “There’s a man named Robert Smith. He lives at Shimmer Place on Pennywort Street. I need you to find out as much as you can about him, his home and his connection to Han. The faster I get the information, the better. But be very careful. He’s a very rich and probably quite intelligent man, and that makes him dangerous.” Mei Jing gave Alden a curious look. “You seem… anxious, Alden Stowe. Like you are worried about time running out. Has something changed?” Alden huffed out a laugh. “I suppose it has, at that. I became a father.” Mei Jing looked quite pleasantly surprised. “That is very sudden, but it is a joyful thing. Congratulations.” “Thank you. I think you know both of them. Tiffany and Ember, although you’d know Ember as ‘Em’.” Mei Jing looked thoughtful as she pondered the news. “Tiffany is kind and clever. I have not spoken to her many times, but that is easy to see. I think she will be a meritous addition to the Stowe family. Em is… a strange child. I think it will do very well in your care.” “They are both very important to me…” Alden hesitated for a moment, but after steeling his resolve he continued speaking. “You are also very important to me, Mei Jing. If you wish to join my family, I would be delighted to have you as my daughter.” Mei Jing stiffened, looking genuinely shocked for a moment. Then her face seemed to flicker through a number of different expressions, none of which Alden could read particularly well. But in the end, it settled on a sort of steely determination. “Thank you for the offer, Alden Stowe. It means much to me that you see me that way. But I can not accept. The girls have come to rely on me. They need me to be there for them. But they also need me to be one of them. If I become part of your family, I will no longer be that. Also, I think that I can help you better if we are not family. The life you have offered to give me is a very kind gift, but it is better for all of us that I turn it down.” Alden almost wanted to argue, but the truth was that Mei Jing was probably right. She had been an enormous help to him in the past weeks, in ways that might no longer be possible if she were his daughter. “I understand. Thank you, Mei Jing. I may not be your father, but I am still very proud of you.” Mei Jing smiled, though there was a hint of sadness in her eyes. “That means a lot to me, Alden Stowe.” Alden lay in bed, idly petting Ember’s hair as the child clung to his side. It really was quite peculiar just how comfortable it was to share a space with them. A few weeks ago, Alden hadn’t even known they existed. A few days ago, Alden mostly viewed them with a sort of vague sympathy, maybe even pity. But now, they fit into Alden’s world so perfectly he felt like there would be a gaping hole in his life if they weren’t there… Perhaps it hadn’t really been about Ember, or about Tiffany. Perhaps he’d just been missing this sort of presence in his life. And if things were different, maybe someone else entirely would have ended up filling that gap. But he supposed it didn’t matter. He had them now, and losing either of them was simply not an option. He knew he was taking some risks, but he didn’t feel like he had a choice. Not when his own family was in danger. And now, he had a name. Robert Smith. He might not have conclusive evidence yet, but some part of him felt absolutely certain that this Robert Smith had to be the mysterious ‘bastard’ that employed the Corker brothers. The guiding force behind the burning drug murders. The man whose presence seemed to hang over Alden and everything he held dear like a blade poised to drop. Alden had discovered the name of his enemy. He was sure of it. But how should he… Ember made a sleepy little mumbled noise, and Alden smiled softly. Banishing the dark thoughts swirling through his head, he wrapped his arms around the slumbering child and drifted off to sleep.