Interlude: Walking Away

:full_moon: Interlude: Walking Away :full_moon:

*As Jack rounds the corner and leaves the group behind, he comes to a stop. Several thoughts run through his mind as he does, very few of them good.*

*Something's not right here.*

*He glances around the corner and sees that the group has left. Almost instinctively, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone, dialing Isaac's number again. The tone rings on the other end a few times, followed by a voice on the other end.*

"Nash Brothers Taxi." the voice says. The speaker is male, with a distinctly British accent. "This is Isaac speaking. What can I do for you?"

"Isaac, hey." Jack says. "It's Jack again."

"Oh, Jack." the man on the other end sounds slightly surprised. "I was just about to call you. My tracker just led me to those newcomers you wanted me to pick up, but as I was driving by them, I noticed they were walking off with some people I've never seen before. How come you're not there by their side? I thought you were going to stick around and wait for me?"

"Apparently there's been a change of plans." Jack says. "Those guys they're with showed up sometime after I called you. Apparently they're part of some organization who brought the new kids here as recruits."

"That's...strange. Those people don't look like they're aligned with the usual suspects for that sort of thing. I mean, one of the new fellows looked like a Coalition bloke, but--"

"Nah, he's not Coalition, and the suits are no one I recognize either. Whoever these newcomers are running with, they're upstarts, new guys who want to try and change the city for the better. Or so they say..."

The voice on the other line pauses. "Change the city *how*, exactly?"

"If that brunette woman is telling the truth, then they plan on trying to bring order to this place. Her words exact words were that they want to 'bring an end to the Bedlam'."

*The line is silent for a while. The weight of the man's words sinks in.*

"They can't be serious about that." Isaac finally replies. "Trying to carry out something like that would start a war that could tear this whole city apart! Maybe even worse!"

"That's *if* she's telling the truth." Jack responds carefully. "Or if she even knows enough of the truth to tell it right. Some serious shit could be coming this city's way, but something tells me there's more to the story than what I heard."

"Hang on..." Isaac says. "I thought you said those newcomers wanted to go home."

"They did. But now that they've found out what they're here for, a lot of them seem like they wanna stay and do whatever these people want. They're headed with the suits to some 'safe zone' that's supposedly not that far off from here. Going home seems like less a priority to them now."

"I have a feeling that this is leading to me doing you a favor."

"I'm gonna ask around and see if any of my contacts know anything relevant. In the meantime, I want you to watch them. Pay attention to where those newcomers are going and what they're doing for these people. Let me know what you find out."

Isaac lets out a heavy sigh. "I suppose I ought to do that...You'll be keeping *me* updated as well, right?"

"Yeah. Might have to let some other people know too. If that happens, I'll tell you who."

"I should hope so! If there's a chance some fuckoff civil war is coming to this city, I'd like to know as much about it as I can, if only so I can decide which horizon to run for."

"Yeah, yeah, I feel that...Go on and get moving, though. I don't think time is on our side right now."

"Too right...Talk to you soonish..."

*The man on the other end hangs up. Jack takes the phone away from his ear long enough to look around, then dials another number. Another male voice answers, this one drawn and decidedly less English-sounding.*

"Who's this"

"It's Jack."

"Jack? Hmm, it's been a while...What're you trying to find out this time?"

"I caught wind of some new organization that's got itself set up in the city. Wanted to see if you might know something useful about it..."

:full_moon: Interlude: Walking Away - END :full_moon: