???; Liron Pier
âDonât kill the messenger, eh?â the young woman scoffed as she nudged the limp body with her foot â red shoes, no heels, practical. After all, she was a very practical person. Donât kill the messenger because, after all, heâs only delivering a message. Thatâs what heâd told her after their brief little exchange. Well, it seemed that for once, sheâd actually listened â she hadnât killed him, at least. However, the drying brown hue at her heel was a testimony to what she had done.
A note of trivia: she might not kill, but she didnât have anything against a bit of blood.
Really though, in the end, she was sure no one would have minded if sheâd chosen to off this particular messenger⊠especially when he didnât seem to have a damn clue who he was supposed to be delivering to. After all, the young woman now possessed the âdeliveryâ, a plain little package, right in her hands, and she certainly wasnât the recipient. Well, she wasnât unless her name had changed to âItex Pawnsâ overnight. âAll I had tâdo was flash a smile and give a nod,â the woman chuckled under her breath, tossing her prize into the air.
Finally, it something interesting was brewing in Throme at last.
This seemed worth observing.
The pier was dreadfully calm as the second half hour ticked past. So far, all the young woman had seen from her high off little perch was the occasional sailor trudging by with rods, reels, and who knows what else â hardly âsuspicious recipientâ material.
Boooooring.
Hell, was that messenger so incompetent that heâd been on a rendezvous at the wrong place? Pff. She wouldnât have put it past the gap-toothed creep. Or⊠perhaps he was⊠a decoy? A red herring sent out in the world to confuse any â hell no, if he was a member, this shady Itex organization couldnât possibly be so cunning. Besides, the package was waaaaaay too much of a disappointment to even be a decoy â a decoy wouldâve been⊠what, like a bomb or something.
Hm? How did she know it wasnât a bomb?
Well, she had long since carefully opened and its contents thoroughly examined for her curiosity, but⊠well⊠there hadnât been much to examine.
Packing peanuts.
Packing peanuts.
More packing peanuts.
Siamese twin packing peanuts.
And then just a small drawstring bag with an even smaller little sliver of⊠some kind of rock?... inside it. It wasnât even anything significant â dull grey, not stronger than the concrete, not pretty to look at, nothing. Really. Way too boring to even be a decoy. The young woman creased her brow at that, her mouth twisting into a pout. What, that was it?! This was what that shifty incompetent was so suspiciously trying to deliver?
BooooringâŠ
⊠or maybe, just maybe⊠it was important?
She couldnât exactly rule out that possibility either. Hell, what did she know about geology? She hadnât even finished high school. Maybe it was something important. Yeah.
And in that case, she was going to hang onto it⊠oh, but sheâd be delivering the package alright⊠just with a little switcheroo.
***
The true package is hidden in the yet unopened exhibit of the MTAH. Good luck finding it.
With this, she could see how big a deal these Itex people were. If they called her out, then no big deal. If they took the message seriously and actually paid a âvisitâ to the museum⊠wellâŠ
âStop right there! If you do not, Iâm calling the police!â a womanâs voice rang out. Startled, the observer flipped her position, again staring down by the riverside. Oh? How had she missed such an interesting development?... But all the sameâŠ
Throme just got a lot more fun.