"Just, uh, take a look at this, will you?" You levitate over the very important Documenttm.

Captain Konrad regards it suspiciously, but his curiosity quickly wins over him and he grabs it with a hoof. The only thing that gives away he's registered anything as he reads is a slight widening in his eyes.

"Get inside," he orders calmly.

You scoff. "What happened to, uh, shooting me? Change your mind?"

"Get inside, then you can rant at me. There's too many eyes here." You can't say for sure, but you think Konrad is getting nervous. His eyes flick from side to side and his wings twitch slightly, as if he's ready to leap into the air at any moment.

Or into the ceiling, rather.

You decide to trust and trot into the apartment. Konrad ushers you through the entrance hall into a lounge. There's an attached kitchen, an open closet door, and two doors that lead to what you guess are bedrooms. A dim light bulb shines from the ceiling.

"You have a partner?" you guess.

Konrad glares at you. "Where did you get this?" he asks, ignoring your attempt at pleasantries.

You dust off some cigarette ash from a couch and make yourself comfortable. This is going to take a while and you don't think Konrad is the type to offer you a seat. "That's not important. What I need is-"

"The fuck you mean that's not important? Do you think I'm stupid? How many laws did you break to get your filthy hooves on this?" Konrad remains standing, document in hoof. He almost seems personally offended.

You try to steer the conversation back in a favourable direction. "I just found it. You don't need to know how."

"Damn ponies... fine. Why did you show me this? I could turn you into the authorities right now and get a tidy bonus, you know?"

"You won't, though," you guess. "You don't want to help the gover- to help Chrysalis."

Captain Konrad hits back with a response almost immediately. "Don't gamble, pony. On a good day you would already be in 'Guard custody. Luckily for you, I'm feeling reckless."

"...great. So, uh, what do you know-"

"Oh no, pony, you're not the one asking the questions here. What's your name?" Konrad sits next to you and fishes a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his disorderly uniform.

"I'm- Cold Heart." You almost said Cold Strike, but there's no reason to give away your identity now. You're starting to feel unsettled. You're the one with the information, and yet Konrad is acting like he's in charge of the conversation. He wouldn't really turn you in... right?

Konrad lights a cigarette. He doesn't offer any to you. "And who do you work for?"

"My family, uh, owns a gold mine back in-"

"Bullshit! Who do you work for?" Konrad cuts you off again with a mildly amused tone. "Imperial? Smile? O.H.S? S.S.G.R?"

"None of them! No!" You respond in a panic. Konrad knows you're a spy, and he has your cover name. "I'm just a businessmare."

"You're as much a businessmare as I am a baker. Fine, don't talk. You're only making it harder for yourself." Konrad hoofs over the document, much to your relief. "We can work together. Yeah," he mutters mostly to himself.

"So you'll, uh, help me?" you reply more hopefully.

"Sure, call it that." Konrad leans closer to you. You can see a myriad of tiny cracks across the left side of his face, as if it suffered a blunt injury a long time ago.

"I'll help you. But you have to do exactly as I say."

That's... menacing. "I'm, uh, not sure about-"

Konrad coughs out ash-filled smoke. He inhales with a rasp. "You're going to report everything you find to me. Who you see, where you're going, anything suspicious you spot. Any info you get, it goes through me first. I don't give a shit about your mission and I'm not going to interfere with it. This nation is crumbling anyways."

You rally your courage. You can't let him boss you around like this. "And if I don't?"

Konrad stares at you. "I go to the authorities."

"And you don't get any info," you counter.

"I get a tidy little bonus and a few favours. I can use those to disappear, get out of here before the ponies come knocking. Either way I win."

You can't tell if he's bluffing, but his logic is sound. He has you cornered.

"How about a compromise? I give you any info that doesn't jeopardize my mission- which, by the way, doesn't exist because I'm just looking for a loan- and you help me out with this."

"Sure," Konrad agrees coolly.

That was weirdly easy.

"Right, uh. What do you know about these demonstrations? They seem big, so, uh, surely you've heard something?"

He leans back, suddenly seeming a lot less menacing. "They're testing something, Cold Heart. Or rather, they're done testing it and they want to use it, but they need funds. People. Resources. You're right, it's big. Big enough to win a war."

Your breath catches. "Win a war? But, uh, what kind of technology could just win a war for someone?"

Konrad's hoof shakes slightly as he relights his cigarette. "I don't know."

A weapon that could win a war... is that why the Director chose to personally speak with you? Does S.M.I.L.E know something you don't? Or is this just the scientists creating a fuss over nothing to get the resources they want? You can't think of any single item that could shift a war alone. Weapons need supply chains, distribution routes, and most of all, raw material- material the Changeling Lands sorely lacks.

"I need to get to this 'royal demonstration', Captain. It's important." Now that he's no longer threatening you you feel much more confident. It's your turn to make demands.

"How am I supposed to help with that? I'm a ship captain, not an energy scientist."

You shrug. "I, uh, don't know. Don't you have connections? People you can, uh, get favours from?"

Konrad puts his hoof on his chin thoughtfully. "If we... pony, come back later. Shoo, get out of my apartment."

"What?"

"I need to think. Get out, we can talk later." He stands up and guides you to the door.

You comply hesitantly. You were getting tired of inhaling cigarette ash anyways. "How are we going to talk? I can't come to the Complex every time, it looks suspicious-"

"Handing someling you know nothing about a document you're not supposed to have was the definition of suspicious. Anyways, you won't have to do that. Just come to the State Bank."

You both reach the door. Having nothing else to say, you turn to leave.

"Oh, and Cold Heart?"

You stop and look back.

Captain Konrad grins sardonically. "I don't have a partner."

He slams the door shut.

Getting back into the Tower is much easier than the stress-filled entry you had yesterday. You just flash your entry card at the entrance and wait patiently as your saddlebags are searched. The guard gives the thin folder containing the intelligence you've gathered only a quick look-over from the outside.

You wonder if the Eisenwagen could have received your message already and sent a reply. You find that highly unlikely given it's only been a few hours, but you don't have anything better to do. Well, you could eat lunch, but the stairwell is on the way anyhow.

Ignoring the usual stares and pointing- do changelings have any manners?- you trot over to the stairwell and push the doors open.

An annoyed-looking, uniformed Ella sits next to a pair of freshly installed, heavy metal doors where the entrance to the underground area once was. The doors look like something out of a bank rather than a maintenance closet.

"You!"

"Ella," you greet her warily. Even though she helped you last time you met, you did try to kill each other.

"Hey, I stuck my neck out for you. No need to be such a jackass," she grumbles. "I'm your 'customer support agent', remember?"

Damn, Eisenwagen works fast.

"Uh, is there anywhere safe we can talk...?" Standing around and chatting at the bottom of a stairwell doesn't feel very spy-ish.

Ella looks around. "Honestly? This place seems pretty chill. If anyling comes by we can pretend we were just passing through."

"Right..." You don't want to admit it, but Ella seems a lot younger than you, yet got the upper hand in combat in seconds when you two fought. Your time in the police and in S.M.I.L.E training meant nothing. "So, uh, what do you know about the stuff you gave me? There was a reason behind it, right?"

Ella blinks. "Oh... I thought you could tell us. I knew it was important, and you seemed like you were looking for it..."

You facehoof. "You don't know anything about it? What the dates mean, what they're, uh, testing down there?"

"They're testing something!?"

A veritable goldmine of information, this one.

"Ok, let's back up. What were you, uh, doing there?"

"I'm a fucking guard, aren't I?" Ella motions to her uniform in an annoyed fashion.

She goes from confused to annoyed faster than someone who's just been hit on the muzzle.

"Yeah, I uh, guessed that part, but what do you really do? Who are these Eisenwagen?"

"They manufacture buttons for the teddy polar bear factory," Ella answers seriously.

"What?"

"We're a resistance organization, you daft- We fight the government. Wasn't that obvious?"

Your eye twitches. "I, uh, guessed that. But what do you do? What are your numbers? Where do you, uh, operate?"

Ella stands up aggressively. "Sounds like questions a monarchist would want to know the answer to."

"Or an ally," you counter, trotting forward so you're muzzle to muzzle with Ella. She's slightly shorter than you.

"An ally who has given me zero reason to trust her, has provided nothing of value, and-"

The doors to the lobby swing open, startling both of you. You and Ella stare as a changeling in a business suit trots past, going up the stairs.

You wait till his hoofsteps fade away. "Ok, uh, let's calm down. I want to help you guys if you're, uh, really fighting the government. But we, uh, need to trust each other first. How do I prove that to you?"

Ella takes a deep breath and pouts. "I didn't mean to- I mean I don't- gah, words. You're right. We need to trust each other. I'm pretty sure you can trust me after I y'know, gave you that secret stuff, helped you escape, et cetera, et cetera, but I need to trust you.

"We're doing a... I guess you'd call it a mission? We're planting bombs in a nearby ammunition depot day after tomorrow, in preparation for a future mission. You wanna come?"

Planting bombs. That sounds serious. If the Eisenwagen is bold enough to sabotage the military, they must be able to help you...

"What would you want me to, uh, do specifically?" You need to be cautious.

Ella shrugs. "I dunno if I can tell you the details and shit, but we need an extra set of hooves on the bait team."

"The bait team," you repeat, unamused.

"You'll just be running around, drawing the guards to one side of the depot while we plant the bombs. Don't worry, our best 'lings will be with you. It'll be fun!" Ella seems almost excited.

You're a bit more skeptical. 'Run away from changelings with guns' is not really your preferred pastime. There must be a better way to get the Eisenwagen on your side.

Still, this could give you an insight into the Eisenwagen and help build up your trust with them...

You might want to ask for a safer role but that could end up backfiring and making you look untrustworthy or weak.

It's time to choose...

What will you do about Ella's offer?

A - Agree to join her on the mission with the role of 'bait'.
B - Ask for a safer role but still agree to join her.
C - Turn down her offer.

Option A wins the vote with 75% of 4 total votes.

Author's Note

Hey all! Thank you for reading once again.

Here's some random thoughts- skip over it if you want to. I've realized that splitting things into chapters is very difficult in this format, what with having to end each chapter in a choice. It means the climax of a chapter is at its end and the next chapter's start weirdly enough, and places where a chapter would conventionally be ending are instead in the middle of the actual chapters.

Another thing. Writing in second person has become strangely natural, though it felt weird at first. I hope y'all have gotten used to reading it too.

Random thoughts over. As always, feedback and votes in the comments.