act32side

There are two days until his opening ceremony. With this little time...

Looks like I'll have to take the cruelest, riskiest route for this.

Weird... This is too weird...

Ernesto, I saw the garage lights on. You haven't gone to bed?

Arleta? Come in.

Still working on the community stuff? Everyone's been so busy the last couple days.

*sigh*... If only. I'd be so much more passionate... I'm working on repaying a favor.

The favor from finding the medicine last time? Anything I can help with?

What are you talking about? No, it's a personal thing.

Brother, don't try to do everything on your own. If you need me for anything, let me know before it's too late.

Relax. It's nothing big at all. You should go get some rest.

Whatever... You've always been like this, keeping just about everything to yourself and never showing even a hint of what you're thinking. Nobody can help you at all.

You're overthinking it, Arleta.

How's this overthinking it? You keep acting like that, of course this is what I'm gonna think. I'm going. You get some rest soon.

(Deep breath)

Letting you help out isn't the same as letting you get involved in this mess. Don't blame me for this one.

Weird. How did such a large shipment of explosives disappear without a trace as soon as it entered the city?

There's another shipment on the 28th... and another one on the 3rd of next month...

There were also a few shipments of brewing ingredients around the same time. Is that how they made it in? No, the routes don't match up. There were four inspection checkpoints. There's no way they could've gotten through without being discovered.

Unless... the shipments were never going to be inspected in the first place.

So precious that no one dared to check them?

Luxuries... Fine wine?

That's... not precious enough. Probably something that could easily fetch hundreds of millions of dollars?

(Gulps)

No... I have to go check out this Galería Krysztauowa.

Ugh...

Oh, what's going on? You've been holed up here, crying the whole time?

Luck hasn't been on my side today... I came across all these weird transpositions. What's the bass clef? I'm a trumpeter! What the hell was the composer thinking?

It only occurred to me when the rehearsal began that my score has a long multirest with only a couple notes in between here and there.

Was there a grace note above the rest?

No... It's just a bunch of whole rests over a hundred measures in a row. I counted all the way up, and I realized I must've miscounted because I entered too soon.

It was a very loud note. Everyone stopped and looked at me... Does whoever wrote the music know what a trumpet is?

*sigh*... Get some rest. Tomorrow will be better...

You sure...?

Our arts festival is tomorrow... Gah... I'm so nervous.

If you can't sleep, mind helping me work on my draft?

I thought you finished your draft a long time ago.

Yeah, I did, but the app froze on me when I was wrapping up yesterday. I went out for dinner while waiting for it to unfreeze, and by the time I got back...

Ahhh—! Stop it. That's enough. Say no more!

Stop!

Wait, stop—! Stop moving around so much when you're clutching your head! My tablet's over there!

It's gone... It's all gone... How come I'm so unlucky today...?

Report. The crossbowmen have the high ground. No one has spotted us.

Standing by for orders.

Haah... What a busy day this has been... What time is it? Good, still got time. I'll head to the city for a drink.

Yow!

Who would leave such a big rock out in the middle of the road? So inconsiderate.

Urgh... What's with everything today? Nothing's going right. I gotta find a fortune teller tomorrow and do something about my rotten luck.

Sorry about this, señor, but you'll have to go back. No one is allowed outside.

Who are you? What gives you the right to stop me?

Turn around, señor.

Hey, who are you people? Who sent you?

That's close enough, señor.

Soon, more soldiers in uniforms, all with stern expressions and armaments, emerge from all the streets and alleys around them and surround the neighborhood.

A few black trucks drive between them, churning a flurry of dust.

The men start unloading the trucks' contents masterfully. The sky may already be getting dark, but the objects they unload are shiningly bright.

They start to unfurl rolls of barbed wire in front of everyone, enveloping the whole community.

What are you doing...?

Señor, this is just a routine fire inspection. No need to be alarmed.

We will... greatly appreciate your cooperation.

Tecno, Papá, there are soldiers putting up barbed wire downstairs.

Soldiers? What are they doing here?

They showed us warrants. They say they're here to investigate fire hazards.

What?!

Uh... Is that something the military handles? Isn't this a job for those dumb civil servants?

Tecno, take the elderly and children away from here. Go to the Rhodes Island office and get Ernesto.

Everyone else, come with me, and bring weapons. Don't count on getting a good night's sleep.

I-I'm staying!

You have the best Arts of us all. You're the only one I can trust to get them out of here.

But...

Tecno, I'm giving you an important mission. Protect them, at all costs.

Okay... Papá.

May I ask your purpose here?

Diaz González, I remember you. You came to Dossoles and became a firefighter after you left the Singas army.

You fought fires for five years, putting yourself in danger countless times, and earning just as many commendations.

How did you fall so far as to end up in this stinking place?

I'm a firefighter. It doesn't matter where I am. I'm always fighting fires. A fire in a luxury hotel is still a fire, and so is a fire in a back alley.

If there's a fire, I can and will fight it.

Hah... The way I see it, you're one of us, Diaz. I'm sure you'll cooperate, right?

Enough. I know what it is you're scheming. You call this a fire safety inspection, but you're just trying to chase us away.

This is all in the interest of safety. You don't want a repeat of that disaster a couple years ago, do you?

Get out of here. I have things under control. You don't get to tell us what to do.

Oh, that simply won't do, Diaz. This puppet show has drawn the eyes of the entire city. What happens here is about more than just you now.

We'll make sure that your show doesn't have an adverse effect on the public at large.

I told you to get lost!

Oh, you don't get it, do you? We're here to conduct an inspection. We came prepared.

Alright boys, make sure you check every last one of them. Don't let any potential danger slip through your fingers.

Anyone who gets in the way of our inspection is endangering public safety. Show them no mercy.

Yes, sir!

Coño... These thugs.

Tecno, I'm scared... Where are we going?

Some bad guys forced their way into our neighborhood. It's not safe here. I'm taking you to Ernesto.

What about the others...? Are we just going to leave them here?

Papá told me to look after you... He said... he'd stay and take care of the rest.

They're coming this way. We need to hurry.

What's this about?!

Inspect all of the puppets' power lines. If you find anything risky, tear them all out.

Hey, it took me forever to put all this together. Leave those alone!

Out of the way, public nuisance.

Come on, man. Don't do this. Be reasonable. You're looking at half a year's worth of blood, sweat, and tears... Don't ruin it. Please, don't...