rone | e&tg 33

(¡Peligro! ¡Hay infodump!)

Kohasadi squawked, cawed, and chirped his way through the story again. When he was done, Néfilo shook his head.

"They don't work?" i said.

"Oh, they work fine. It's yer friend's head that don't work." He pulled the ear arches off. "Romantic nonsense. I guess that's what being young does t'yez. Babies have soft heads, but the young are soft in the head."

I gave him a half-smile and said, "So..."

"Yer impatient babbling is really irritating me." He held the devices up. "What's these worth t'yez?"

"I, uh." I looked down. "I have no money."

"Did i asks yez for money?" He shook his head. "Big ears yez got but they don't hear a damn thing."

"Look, what do you need?" I racked my brain. "You want me to take care of those Mafia guys?"

"Ha. That does sound desirable, but no, they'll just send more."

I shrugged. "I guess you're right. What did they want, anyway?"

"Curious, eh?" He pulled a stool to him and sat down. "They wanted me t'rig the city's agricultural infrastructure t'minimize output for the bigguns."

"The city has an agricultural infrastructure?" i asked incredulously.

"A course it does! You think the food comes out a the air or something?"

"Well, i figured it came from farms outside the city." I waved my arm. "I see the crops out there in the park, but i doubt they're enough to sustain the whole city."

"We have rooftop plots all over the city, biggun. We have caves where we manage t'grow some crops with magical light and a minimum a water. We have fungus farms that exist just off the sewer lines." He put his index fingers together. "Those idiots tried t'appeal t'my ‘sense a racial pride.’ Bigots make poor criminals, yez know? Too much effort spent hating and ostracizing people yez should instead be making money from." He rapped his knuckles against his temple. "Never put the ideologues in charge, that's what i say."

I stood there silently and thought for a few seconds. Then i said, "It's worth a lot to me. I don't understand why Kohasadi and i have grown so close, but it's all i have now. I won't do anything you ask, but i'll do almost anything."