The small house sandwiched between two dock warehouses was just as squalid as the rest of the docks. The rooms were small and there was poor ventition. Even if they opened a window, it’d just be to concrete walls. The girl who answered the door at least looked a bit embarrassed. As Caleb and I entered, her lips tightened while gncing at the two other men.

  “Stay in front. Keep a lookout.” Caleb ordered, and the two henchmen stopped at the entrance.

  This seemed to satisfy her, and she continued to guide us through the narrow hallways of these tight quarters. It appeared that she had done her best to keep the pce together, but some issues couldn’t be cleaned away. Mold grew from the corners of the ceiling, the paint was peeling, and the carpet was worn through. It was the kind of stuff that could only be resolved with money.

  “You said you were away at private school?” I asked.

  The girl blushed. “I hadn’t realized grandfather let things get so bad. If I had known he was making so many sacrifices for me…”

  She left the thought unfinished, leading us to a small stairway. Went walked up a steep flight of stairs to the only bedroom on the second floor. It was just as stuffy here as it was in the rest of the house, and in the center was a rge bed covered with as many bnkets as the house likely contained. The was an old Chinese man lying in the center of the bed, pale and looking like he was on the verge of death.

  The man’s eyes opened when we appeared. He looked confused at first, but when he saw his daughter next to us, his eyes narrowed.

  “Mei xing, t?men shì shéi?” I immediately realized he was speaking in a nguage that I didn’t understand.

  His daughter replied in kind, and I could only give a side look at Caleb. “This is the man you cut a deal with?”

  “Ah… I mean, he does speak some English… enough… he can read it better than speak it.”

  “Father says he has already spoken to this one, and he will no longer be threatened by gangs like you.” The girl’s short conversation with her father had ended and she immediately told us what he had said.

  “Tsk… that’s not what he said.” A slightly indignant voice came through my earpiece.

  “You understand him?” I asked in surprise.

  “Of course, I understand him.” His daughter gave me an incredulous look.

  It was impossible to speak to Cecelia in such cramped quarters without revealing my Perco or looking suspicious, so I just spoke the words out loud. The earpiece allowed Cecelia to hear me, but I still looked crazy whenever I tried to respond.

  “Hmph… I understand every nguage. Are you impressed?” Cecelia asked.

  “Yes…” I coughed. “I was hoping you could talk on my behalf.”

  “Why should I?” the girl lifted her chin defiantly.

  “You’d be better off injecting transtion microbes. From what I’ve been able to tell, your world and my world share the same nguages. You could learn just about any nguage you wanted.”

  “I can do that?” I asked in surprise, and when the girl rose her eyebrow, I continued. “I mean, I can do all kinds of things to help… financially.”

  “Money.” She spoke like it was a dirty word. “I don’t care about money! My grandfather is almost dead chasing after money. I’ve only let you in here so I can see the people who have done this to grandpa firsthand. You threaten him and you bully him. I’m putting my foot down and stopping it.”

  Caleb let out a ugh, causing us both to gnce in his direction. “I’m sorry, dy, but you think they’ll stop just because you say so? You’re really an idiot.”

  “Is that a threat?” She demanded. “I’ll call the police!”

  “I could use some help here,” I muttered under my breath to Cecelia while the two were gring at each other.

  “Very well… from their conversation earlier, I’ve gathered she’s not aware of how much trouble she’s in. Grandpa is currently very ill and is incoherent. He thought when you guys arrived, that you were his estranged son, the girl Mei Xing’s father. It’s no wonder her information is off. Regrettably, she doesn’t have the money to help her grandpa get better. You can use that.”

  “You think the police will do anything on the docks? What did they teach you in that fancy school, 'cause you don’t know shit.” Caleb scoffed.

  “Your five minutes are up, get out!” the girl exploded.

  “I can help your grandfather get better,” I spoke hastily.

  Internally, I was thanking Cecelia for her quick insight and understanding. She had given me exactly what I needed.

  “That’s low…” Her eyes darkened.

  “We’re not your enemies. We aren’t the ones threatening your grandfather. Those people are dangerous, far more dangerous than you realize. If you want any hope of protecting your father, and yourself, then you’ll want to listen to me.”

  She looked at me angrily, but she hesitated for a moment. “How do I know if I can trust you?”

  “Give me two minutes with him.”

  I nodded at the elderly man on the bed.

  She bit her lip, clearly resistant to the idea, but she finally gave a small nod. “If you do any funny business, I won’t hesitate to call the cops.”

  She wagged the phone at me as if it was a threat. I walked over to the grandpa. As he saw me approach, he spoke excitedly in Chinese.

  “I’m sorry, sir,” I responded. “I’m not your son. However, I hope we might be able to be friends.”

  Mei Xing moved uncomfortably when she heard me speak. Of course, I had Cecelia transte his words for me, although she spoke it in a bored and unconcerned manner since nothing he was saying truly mattered toward the situation. It was enough to make Mei Xing think twice, although I really couldn’t wait to get some transtion bots if that was a thing.

  I carefully pyed with my cuff, pulling out the need and bringing it to the old man. I immediately injected him with RegenX and Painall. Painall was a pain killer, and I figured an old man his age living in a building like this could use all the pain suppressants he could get. As for the RegenX, it wouldn’t reverse aging, but it would help deal with whatever illnesses he was experiencing at the moment. I didn’t know how well it would work. I had only ever used it to heal physical damage from assaults and trauma. I never considered how it would work when it came to more natural causes.

  However, I wasn’t disappointed when his body started to rex. His knitted eyebrows eased a bit, and the color of his skin started to grow a bit pinker. As Mei Xing noticed the immediate changes, she lunged forward and shoved me to the side as she knelt next to her grandfather. I took a step back, realizing that Caleb was staring at me in wide-eyed wonder like he was looking at some miracle worker. I coughed, readjusting my sleeve to make sure my Perco was hidden.

  “What did you do to him?” She demanded with her back to me as she checked on his condition. “Grandfather… Grandfather…”

  “S?nn??” His eyes opened much wider and he gave a small smile.

  “Yéyé!” She gave her grandpa a hug, and they remained like that for a long while.

  She started sniffling too as she cried into her grandfather’s arms. It started to become a bit uncomfortable as the silence continued. I was just thinking about saying something when she finally sat up and turned to me.

  “You gave him something?”

  “It won’t harm him,” I responded defensively. “He’ll be fine- oof!”

  She threw her arms around me and hugged me unexpectedly. I hadn’t expected her enthusiasm. She only let go after her grandfather cleared his throat.

  “S-sorry…” she pulled back, her cheeks pink. “Grandpa hasn’t been this lucid in a week.”

  “I’m more than lucid.” The man himself said, working his way up to a sitting position.

  Mei Xing cried out and then bent down to help him up. Her grandfather had spoken with a very heavy accent. I managed to understand it with a bit of effort.

  “Grandfather, please don’t push yourself.”

  “I have guests… it is rude to not greet them.” The old man spoke stubbornly.

  “It’s not necessary.” I held up my hands. “I only helped because it seemed like you were in need.”

  The old man gave me a knowing look, and I felt slightly embarrassed. That had been a lie for the most part. I had healed him because it suited me. I had wanted to win their trust, and it seemed to easiest way based on what I had avaible.

  Just as I was about to speak more, I heard a commotion downstairs. Caleb went to the foot of the stairway and yelled down.

  “What’s going on?”

  “They’ve arrived!” We heard a yell back. “Those guys have arrived.”

  My expression turned serious. Agreeing with them was only secondary. First, I needed to deal with the people who were in my way. I was wondering how quickly it’d be before they crawled out of their hole.

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