I got your message, Zachary.

Jose passed it along just like he promised.

You know I love you, Zachary, but even so, here's my response.

Fuck you.

This is Spines.

This is Spines. I'm I'm I know what Grove means. I mean, not exactly, but I have an informant now. Turns out this invitation

to meet was the real deal. She told me what she knows, and that's a whole lot more than I had before.

I'm going to call her Winry because I was watching Full Metal Alchemist when I got her email.

We sat down and we talked, and

she told me what little she knows about who's looking for me and what they want. Before

I get into the stuff with the Seekers and the Grove, though, let me tell you what happened

with Jose. Finding Jose was a lot simpler than with the others, because he just sent me an email asking to meet.

And this time, unlike when I got that email from Belal, it was actually him.

Sort of.

Of course, given the trap I walked into when I went to meet Belal, I staked the place out before I went in.

At first I thought I had the wrong address. I assumed it would

be a house or maybe a cafe. Instead, it was a strip club. After I spent the whole afternoon out on the

street watching the place, I decided it would be worth the risk to go in. So in I went. Of course, the first person I encountered was the bouncer.

He was, in most respects, very bouncer-ish.

Tall, muscular, surly, with his black hair and a buzz cut.

The only thing that didn't fit about this guy's appearance was his eyes.

They were bright green with thick, dark lashes that most women would kill for.

...