Purple Iris was located in a five-storey building on Sunset Plaza near the eastern end of Altalon, a few blocks west of the Santana River and about a hundred paces from the Altalon-Winderfield Avenue that led to the eponymously named suspension bridge into the island. Thankfully, there was a parking lot nearby that catered to the chocolatier along with the other offices and buildings in the vicinity, Yuriko guessed. The lot was almost full, despite it being an odd hour. Then again, considering this is an office area, the lot being full was just normal.

Yuriko took the ticket, prepaid her time, and walked to Purple Iris Chocolatiers. The ground floor was the cafe, a quaint place that was warm and inviting. And smelled of true Ambrosia. The scent of warm chocolate, the sight of varied pasties and candies made her mouth water. And in a trance, she drifted over to the counter and ordered half a dozen dishes, a mug of signature hot chocolate, a glass of chocolate shake with glazed cherries, a dish of eclairs, and a bulk order form.

It was a bit pricey, but comparatively, it was cheap. Unbelievably cheap. So much so that she struggled not to buy an entire MiJin of assorted chocolate bars, powders, and candies. That would be too excessive, and she'd probably pass out in an orgasmic bliss if she ate it all at once.

"Huh, that's not actually an argument against buying that much," she muttered to herself. But no, self-control. She'd only eat a single Jin every meal, so the MiJin should last her a year instead of a day. Yeah, that works. Better to buy a weekly supply instead of a year's anyway. That way, she could choose new varieties now and then! How often did the cafe make new treats anyway?

She hummed happily as she ate. She noticed her mood had infected other diners, and everyone wore wide smiles. Not all of them looked at her, though. Curious.

She still had an hour before the official meeting, but it turned out that Alexis preferred being early to being on time. He showed up half an hour early and spotted her as soon as he came through the doors. He waved at her but proceeded to the counter first. There was a bit of a line, so it was another couple of minutes before he managed to take a seat across from her, glancing at the stack of empty plates at the side. Yuriko slowly sipped her fresh cup of hot chocolate and nodded in greeting.

"Good morning, Miss Lawson. I guess you enjoyed the offerings."

"It was wonderful," Yuriko moaned, still in post-chocolate bliss.

"O-oh. That's nice." Alexis coughed, then fiddled with something in his messenger bag. He pulled out a manila envelope and placed it in front of her, then he did something with Altered power as the air around them buzzed with static. She arced a questioning eyebrow.

"Privacy screen."

"Ah. How does it work?"

"It's a static field that puts out a not-my-problem effect." He shrugged. "Works for anyone looking towards us, and makes it harder for sound to travel past it."

She didn't notice any difference with her perceptive aura, but since she was on the other side of the effect, she supposed it wouldn't affect her anyway. Instead, she opened the envelope and read the files within. It wasn't details on Glimmer or the Unfettered, but rather a series of reports, pictures, and a list of locations. There was one address highlighted, and a location map, as well as building blueprints attached.

"Human trafficking?" Yuriko muttered, her thoughts mulling over words, not quite knowing what the two put together meant.

"Kidnapping and moving them elsewhere." Alexis supplied. "RuiNation is noted for their disgusting eugenics program. They're trying to breed more useful Altered Humans."

"Ah. By abducting people and using them." Yuriko nodded, feeling a flare of annoyance within. "This location is?"

"One of their transfer depots," he answered with a scowl. "The other locations will be attacked later, probably tonight. You're free to act when you want, but preferably before the day is over." He shuffled through the papers and pulled one out. "Parameters."

Yuriko read it out loud. "Rescue any captives, capture or kill any operative. Destroy the safe house, secure any resources inside." She hummed. "It seems straightforward enough. Where will I bring the rescues?"

"You can call the police afterwards."

"Alright. When will I receive the information I want?"

"Background information on Glimmer will be emailed to you tomorrow. As for the Unfettered…their basic dossiers are there."

"Oh."

It was at the bottom of the pile. She scanned the document, but other than names and suspected powers, there was little information that might lead her to find them. It was also unfortunate that there was no thread connecting them to her, or if one had developed, it was too thin or obscure. There was a multitude crowding her dreamscape domain. That would have made things so much simpler.

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But the first thing she needed to do was find out how they slipped into interstitial space. Rifts happened haphazardly and often released daemons.

Wait…daemons. She tapped her lips while she ruminated. One of the few clues she had of Kato's fate was from daemonfyre whiskey, which had the same feel as the smouldering ends of his threads. While not all daemons gave off the exact same feel, she couldn't deny the connection. Plus, it's in the name, though it was just as likely to be a coincidence or a marketing ploy. But perhaps the source of daemonfyre and actual daemons might be the same or close enough to each other to be the same. The random daemon incursion rifts didn't connect to the Bridge, so it must connect to where they came from. So, if she jumped into a rift, would she find herself closer to Kato or would she be lost in the Void? Something to think about anyway.

"I'll need more than this if I want to track them down," Yuriko said after she finished reviewing the file.

"There's not much more. There's a reason they're called Unfettered, after all." He sighed. "But once in a while, they screw up, and when they do, the chance to catch them happens. Otherwise, the only time they ever turn up is when they play their games."

"Their affront will be paid in blood," Yuriko said calmly.

Alexis gave a tiny shiver that would have been undetectable had her perception aura not been extended. He shook his head and finished the mug of hot chocolate the waitress delivered to him. "So, will you take care of the safe house?"

"I'm not all that fond of slavers, especially those who aren't backed by law." Yuriko shook her head. There have been a few nations that allowed slavery, the Xotha Matriarchy for one, and unless she intended to uproot and destroy them, she could do little other than accept it. Here, 'twas thugs and gangsters doing it, so she wouldn't run afoul of the law. Well, not unless she summarily executed them.

With most of their business done, she chatted with Alexis for the next hour or so before she left. She was full of chocolates, so she skipped lunch. She drove back towards Oakmont to leave her car and to put on her costume. Unsurprisingly, the safehouse wasn't in Altalon, but further south, in Jackstone. Of Neo Prism's five districts, the border between Jackstone and Altalon, as well as Burmington and Brookshield, wasn't that distinct, especially compared to Winderfield and everywhere else. It was more the feel of the place than a physical landmark. The southern districts were more down-to-earth, less wealthy, and more industrial as opposed to the more commercial and residential feel of the northern ones. The river bisected the city, but the docks and quays were more concentrated on the southern half. The northern places had parks along the riverside as opposed to factories.

Should she be surprised at the location? In truth, most of the recent cape violence was located in either Jackstone or Brookshield. The other districts didn't have open fighting on the streets. Perhaps the shadows and rooftops? She didn't actively look for trouble anyway, and she didn't spend too much time flying over Burmington.

Once she got home, she carefully reviewed all the documents Alexis gave her, committed them to memory and locked them in place with her mind palace. Her reading limitations meant it took longer than it normally would, and it was late afternoon by the time she was done. Desire had been sent off to hunt for the Unfettered, and she expected better results from her Chaos Lord than from mortal intelligence. It just didn't hurt to have multiple avenues of investigation, though it might tip off her quarry.

Hmmm. That shouldn't be a problem unless it drives them further into hiding. She couldn't see the arrogant rotter doing that, though. So let them see her coming. They would die either way.

Scarlett was training with her combat batons, and Yuriko spent some time helping the smol girl. Basic sword stances and baton stances were easy enough to adapt to each other, and she reckoned baton forms didn't care about edge alignment anyway. More force was needed, probably, which meant a sliding cut wouldn't work with a blunt instrument. That meant she had to modify at least half of the stances she used to train with, but the beauty of having multiple strands of consciousness was that it took her a lot less time adjusting than if she only had one strand of thought.

By five in the afternoon, she was ready to fulfil her end of the bargain.

"I'll be out this evening," Yuriko said.

"Caping?" Scarlett asked, but before she could ask to come along, Yuriko interjected.

"Sort of, but more of an errand. From family."

Scarlett's brow creased. "But I thought you cut ties?"

"I did, but that old man decided to keep contact." Yuriko paused for a moment, then added, "Apparently, they've been greasing the wheels in my career without us noticing."

"That's slimy," Scarlett growled.

"Either way, we benefited. So it is still a debt owed." Yuriko shrugged. Her Anima Pride prodded at her to answer debts, both good and bad, though it was by no means a compulsion. Just a healthy balance.

"Is it dangerous?"

Yuriko smirked, "Nope."

"Oh, well, good luck then."

"Thanks, Scar." Yuriko grinned, then pulled the smaller woman into a hug and kissed her forehead, which promptly turned as red as her hair.

"You…!" Scarlett groused, then shrugged, and kissed Yuriko's cheek. "Stay safe, alright?"

"Sure."

Flying out of the window when it wasn't dark meant that she was likely to give away her cape identity to anyone who looked the wrong way, so she had to bring her costume with her. She changed into her work clothes inside an alley after she made sure she wouldn't be observed, physically or digitally, then stuffed her everyday wear into her hip satchel.

She followed the directions given to her and flew towards Jackstone, though she ascended all the way to the clouds first. By the time she arrived in Jackstone, twilight had fallen. Which was good, she supposed, since she didn't want too many people on the street when she struck.

There was little to distinguish the safehouse from the other houses, and it wasn't a house, actually. It was a small apartment building with about four storeys. She didn't quite land on the roof, but floated above it as she spread her perception into the place. She wasn't about to start a fight on someone else's say-so.

The top two floors were mostly normal apartments. There were a couple of men inside each one, some resting, others watching television or preparing dinner. In fact, all of the upper storeys were normal, though overpopulated by men. It was the basement levels that revealed the ugly truth: a bunch of cells stuffed with half a dozen miserable people each.

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