Title: Mirror Mirror
Characters: Yan, Email, Wei, Mi-an
Rating: T
Notes: The mirror had come with the house and now belonged to Yan. He could have asked where it came from if he'd cared to listen to a single word Email said after telling him she was flat broke, but he didn't bother because all that mattered to him in life were gols. Which meant he no longer cared or had a use for Email.
The mirror is a thing of beauty. It's made of gold after all, 100% pure gold if Yan isn't wrong, and he isn't ever wrong about expensive things! An artifact of some kind then, because the notoriously soft metal doesn't bend under his prodding fingers. The ornately filigreed frame withstanding even the force of the hammer he uses to try and see if he can pry any of the gems out it. The glass front is crystal clear and no amount of touching or running his hands over it leaves a trace behind. Not even after he's eaten a nice and greasy burger. There's not one single finger print or speck of dust around to mar the surface even Yan had thrown a handful of warm ash at it from the firepit.
There's some old world tech behind this mirror but Yan can't figure out what the trick of it is. It does not matter in the end what the mirror might or might not do though so long as there's no crazy AI installed in it, and Yan's spent a couple hours hurling his best insults at it to make sure it's not sentient. It's definitely a one of a kind artifact that can earn him a lot of money as soon as he spins up a story about acquiring it in some dangerous ruin dive. There's rubes out there who pay premium for any old junk so long as they can tell a yarn that sounds good to their rich friends, and Yan is always ready and willing to cater to their very expensive tastes.
For now, though, it looks best right by the front door where he'd found it in the Commissioner for the Commerce Guild's home. One of the very few things of worth the woman still had left after Yan rung her dry for every gol he could. He'd been a little miffed when he found it here on arrival, right out in the open, after she'd been so very vehement in her letters that she didn't have a single bit of money left to her name to give to help him out. A clear lie because even the stingiest pawn shop would've forked over a hefty hunk of gols for this mirror. Busting it down for parts to be scrapped would've kept Yan afloat in Walnut Groove for at least another month. Just about figures she'd pull something like this on him, Email had always been as cagey as she was clingy in her letters so it's no surprise she managed to find one last way to annoy him even after it's all been said and done, but that was before he'd found himself the next perfect little con job so now he can appreciate having something nice in his possession.
Not like Email had been doing much good with it before he came in to relieve her of everything else she had left. A perfunctory little job that was almost more of a chore than it was worth if he didn't already know how persistent some of those idiotic Civil Corpsmen could be with following him around and asking him, "Where's the gols?" Getting his hands a little more dirty was worth it to avoid any pesky little investigation in the long run. Plus, this time it'd lined him up with a pretty sweet sounding gig that Yan was going to milk for all he was worth. Or all that this backwater city was worth at the least.
"Look at you, handsome devil. Mr. Commerce Guild Commissioner!" Yan winks as he slicks his hair back and considers the title. Commissioner is a rather dull sounding thing for the important work that is going to earn him a lot of gols. "Already top dog and ready to show all these newbies how it's done."
Yan makes a note to say something about leaving the mirror behind along with all the other goodies he found and stashed up in the loft after tossing the place. Miguel's underlings can cart off the junk that isn't worth much. Sure, Yan could make a hefty bag marking up all of Email's things and selling them to the right marks, but he has a more lucrative job waiting on him to get things moving. The money is good when it comes to water schemes apparently so long as Yan gets to approving all the things Email had too much stupid integrity to accept gols for. It isn't worth the lost time for him so he's going to have to suck up the loss of a few gol for the sake of, ugh, charity.
His reflection grimaces in sympathy and Yan finishes the knot of his tie before agreeing. "Yeah, yeah. It pains me to turn free gol down too, but sometimes a guy's got to sacrifice a few things to keep himself comfy."
There's already too many things linking him to Email even without all the sweetheart letters he wrote her burned to ash and her body doing it's best to further scientific studies by finding out if sandpits have a bottom to them. Even with the church officially backing him on the sob story of Email running away like a hack it'll do Yan no good to get caught selling off the old woman's things. Sure, he's confident he can talk his way out of any charges the rednecks call officers around here might try to raise against him, but why bother doing that when he can set up a racket by raising the Guild's prices? Or seeing how much he can skim off the top of the Builders' commissions without them protesting too much?
"Hm, Commissioner Yan," he fusses with his pocket square before giving himself one last look in his mirror. His reflection smiles back at him, youthful and handsome like he needed to be when running sweetheart scams. Now that he's switching gears though the earnest looking young man face won't do him as much good. Rubbing at his chin he thinks about growing out his facial hair. A beard or mustache will make him look like a certifiably dignified business owner. "No. President Yan!"
Triumphant in his decision, Yan gives his reflection a decisive nod before setting out with plans to overhaul his guild, reign in all his new subordinates, and drain as much money from this cesspit of a town as he can before heading off somewhere nicer. Perhaps with a more tropical climate as a reward for all the hard work he is going to make others do for him. He's going to deserve it after this job goes tits up after all.
"Idiot," Yan says as soon as the door closes behind Mason. The man's hunched shoulders and perpetual gloom has been getting on his nerves for ages now, and his most recent declaration is just ridiculous! "Can you believe this? You can't ask for an easier gig and he wants to retire!"
Yan's reflection grimaces back at him from the mirror's new position next to the fireplace. A necessary move to keep any more random beams of light from reflecting off it and almost setting his home on fire. Having to hunt down mysterious burning smells twice in one week has been enough to make Yan suitably wary of the strength of reflected sunbeams. It's also finally gotten him into gear about putting feelers out to see who might be in the market for a potentially deadly old world mirror. Some idiots out there find the possibility of danger a selling point, but Yan is ready to drop that angle if no one with a worthwhile offer pops up in the next few months. His mustache sits oddly on his face with the expression he's making so Yan's quick to smooth it out and adopt the stern look he's been practicing to keep all the grubby builders in line when he's pushing more commissions on them.
Except for Mason who has been so instrumental in the plans so far. Yan had been doing him a favor by foisting off the lion's share of work on the other Builders. Doing the other man a favor in exchange for his willingness to sell out when offered a decent enough chunk of gols to do some mildly, completely unethical things to the city's water supply. "This is the thanks I get for being such a thoughtful buddy to him. Backstabbing little bastard!"
Sure, retiring with the bag he's earned is sounding more and more appealing with every miserable sandstorm that sweeps in through this dying pit, and he's not sure how many more sweltering summers he can make it before going crazy like all the rednecks here. But Yan's not quitting yet! There's just too much left on the table to steal for him to even consider following through on that thought. The dummies left running the place have rocks for brains and are always way too willing to shell out for whatever quote Yan gives them when they turn up on his steps begging for help. He doesn't even have to work very hard to sell all the hazard and overtime fees to them. They just accept it and fork over all the cash he can ask for. He's never worked with so many gullible idiots in his life before.
And then there's the water scam! The closest thing Yan's ever done to legitimate work. Sure, it's fishy as a barrel of two day old sand carp, but he's getting his bribes straight from the church's coffers. That's as good as official as far as he's concerned, and means he can throw them all under the train if things start going sour. The cop types always love going after what they consider bigger players and Yan's very good at wiggling his way out of tight spots when the heat isn't directly on him. All he has to do is toss the little insurance he's collected over the past few years out there and he'll have all the time he needs to run away.
With a fat enough sack of gols that Yan's been giving serious consideration to getting himself another emergency suitcase. Maybe one with wheels because his back hasn't been the same since he had to drag the old Commissioner out of the city.
"Bah, more pie for me is what I say," Yan goes back to admiring the lines of his new suit. It'd cost him way too much even after brow beating the Ataran tailor down, but even Yan can admit that the darker fabric suits him better than the light colors he'd had before. He is the very picture of a ruthless business man now. "Just wait till I get his replacement in and can start pocketing all the pie and the whole dinner before it!"
Yan would've cut Mason out of the deal entirely before this, but his skills are better suited to supervising while others did all the hard labor. Now is actually the perfect time for Mason to call it quits now that he's thinking about it. Nothing left to do with the water than occasional maintenance that Yan can fudge up to make it look like he's doing a whole lot more than he is doing. Even stingy old Miguel can't argue that Yan won't doing the work of two men with Mason out of the picture now. Who would blame him for asking for double the money he's been given before with all this work being put on his poor shoulders?
It's not like Miguel has much of a choice in who he works with around here. Can't just go shopping around for another Builder willing to do some morally dubious work that won't sell him out instantly without going through Yan first. And if the good pastor does look like he's getting ready to double cross his good buddy Yan then he can just casually drop a few incriminating things in the bumbling Sheriff's hands to get some heat pointed the right way. No, it'll be much better for Miguel's operation to keep Yan happy and paid very well for the work he's going to start charging more for. Heck, depending on how gullible the new replacement he hires is, Yan can likely hand off even that small bit of work to an underling too. As long as they prove themselves capable of not asking questions first, of course.
"You're a genius!" Yan straightens his jacket and thinks about getting himself a pocket watch. Something fancy and made of gold that he can take out and admire when things get boring or when one of the yokel locals comes in to complain about his prices. He smiles as he thinks about all the expensive chains he saw in his last trip out to Atara and how easy it will be to drop one of them in his pocket without being seen.
The smile looks like a grimace on his reflection and Yan thinks maybe he needs to move the mirror completely away from the windows to stop it from warping so much.
There's a sharp and distinct click in the silent home.
Yan snorts himself awake and bolts upright in bed. Heart already pounding away as adrenaline rushes through him. Sheets clutched tight to his chest as he looks around wildly for the noise that startled him awake but finding nothing more than his own startled reflection from the mirror near the foot of his bed. Angled just enough that it can also show him his still firmly shut and locked front door without having to actually get out of bed. The visual confirmation is enough to make him breathe through the grip of panic.
It had been worth it to bully little Mi-an into doing all the hard work of lugging it up the stairs for him. Even if she had gotten a little too handsy when admiring the craftsmanship of his mirror. The reminder makes him grimace now. Sure, it's nice having his wealth admired and envied by the fools who will never see half as much success as he has. There's also something to be said about instilling too much envy in the peons directly below him though. Sometimes, they tend to get ideas about talking back and unionizing if he lets them get too complacent. He will have to make sure the newest Builders both get double the amount of work in the morning just to nip that in the bud.
To nip a lot of things in the bud because he's clearly not been keeping them busy enough.
"Geeze, this kind of stress is enough to give a man a heart attack," Yan grouses as he looks around more carefully. In the dark of night nothing looks amiss in his home. Nothing fallen, nothing missing, nothing lurking. It's not until the wind outside picks up again and he hears the tell tale patter of shifting debris that announces an incoming sandstorm that he relaxes. "I need a vacation. I deserve it after all my hard work."
Hard work that went unacknowledged for the first time in years. That uppity newbie had cheated the system to snag first place right out from under his nose, Yan just knows it! It's impossible to get those numbers naturally on the leader board. Yan had studied the point tallying system thoroughly before fixing it so that no one would ever be able to outdo him in rankings. He just has to go back and look at the numbers again to figure out how the new builder managed to out cheat Yan.
Frankly, he'd be impressed with the newbie's gumption if he hadn't had to shell out money for the rewards for the first time in years. The stress of his investigation is playing havoc with his mind though leaving Yan restless and prone to paranoia. More so than usual for his line of work.
"Puts up a decent goody-goody act but then lies and cheats as soon as ol' buddy Yan's back is turned," Yan carefully studies his front door again to make sure the chains are on and the bolts turned. The pale blob of his own reflection peering down with him from the corner of his eye. "Oh, I'm going to remember this betrayal next time they need a favor!"
Either of them, because Yan's got eyes. He sees the way Mi-an's getting all chummy with the temporary number one. Seen the jump her numbers have taken since the new year has started. Whatever the trick is he can see she's using it too. Idiots. That's just going to give Yan even more evidence to find their cheating!
Kids, these days. Both of them were too young to realize that when you found an exploit you never share it with anyone. Ever! That just makes it easier to get shut down and thrown in jail when one of them inevitably turns into a snitch. It's much better to keep any con angle you can find to yourself and go it alone. Other people are only ever a burden and a weakness to exploit. Yan's been around long enough to know all of this, and he's looking forward to watching his newest lackey's learn that lesson the hard way.
"Just when I was thinking about offering them the deal of a lifetime," Yan turns back to his reflection, barely visible in the darkness when he lays back down. "A little extra gols for some off the record work. Hush-hush like, just to see if they could handle it."
Which they obviously can going by their cheating, but Yan isn't going to give either of them a single gol of bribe money now. Not when they're so clearly ready and willing to bite the hand of the best supervisor either of them has ever had the pleasure to work under. Though maybe he can start sliding them both some iffy blueprints now that will make the authorities raise their eyebrow if someone were to drop a few anonymous tips around. Nothing too obviously illegal, not yet at least, just something dubious enough to get the suspicion going. Something to do with the water tower, maybe with all the water filters the annoying church man kept putting in as Miguel siphoned money to Yan.
"Oh, now there's an idea," Yan laughs to himself as he starts to turn the idea over in his mind. His gig in Sandrock is coming to an end. Yan can feel it in his bones, his instinct telling him to cut his loses and get while the going is good. The money's still coming in though, and if he times things right he can probably get the newbies to take the fall long enough for him to milk those last few drops. "I amaze myself sometimes!"
Yan laughs and the reflection stares back at him through the shadows. A pale face swimming in and out of shadows to peek at him like a ghost. Silent and judging in a way it never is when the lights are on.
"Ah, what do you know, you're just some lame do-gooder aren't you?" Yan shifts to his side under the sheets so he doesn't have to look at the mirror and falls asleep thinking about how he can pin all the blame on his newest subordinates.
Yan doesn't get the opportunity to put any of his really and unquestionably genius good plans into motion.
"Go, go, go, go!" Yan chants as he dashes into his house and tears straight up to his emergency suitcases. He yanks out the perpetually good train ticket he'd gone through a lot of trouble to get before sealing up the suitcase filled with the bare essentials he's going to need to get started on his next job. It's light and easy to swing around like a weapon if needed, has in fact saved his face from more than a few punches while running before. His second suitcase stands next to the mirror on the floor, handle up and ready to grab. It's heavier and not as easy to swing around like a weapon but packed with more than enough money to set him up for life as long as he makes the train before things in Martle's Square settle down.
Whichever way it settles, Yan knows it's past time he quit this con.
He shifts the bag back on two squeaky wheels and frowns at the mirror that's been with him for so long now. Uncharacteristically hesitant when his freedom's on the line. He's going to miss its ostentatious elegance, and the nights wondering how much he could get someone to fork over for it. There's no time or room for him to steal it away though. Not without leaving one of the two very important bags behind.
Ah, well, the sacrifices he makes are steep and unavoidable. That's the price he pays when he has to work with complete and utter imbeciles who can't stick to a simple plan. See if Yan ever trusts anything some church member says ever again after this mess.
"So long President Yan!" He drops the heavy case to give his reflection a salute and final grin. Saying goodbye to only other person in this crappy town who'd been worth talking to. "Onward to bigger and better things now that the pot has gotten too hot."
Yan laughs and reaches back down for the wheeled suitcase. Ready to leave this absolute pit behind in the dust, and freezes when his reflection doesn't move to copy him. Unease trickles like cold rain down his spine as he stops to really look at the mirror.
"W-what?" Yan stares back into the reflection with eyes that feel wide enough to fall out, but the image in the mirror only narrows its eyes as it frowns back at him. Neither hand holding a suitcase anymore. In fact, both hands are reaching up and out to press flat. Like they're meeting an invisible pane of glass.
Or the very real pane of glass that makes up the mirror that starts to crack under the palms as Yan watches. A fine line of spiderweb cracks that sound like a distant chime appears before common sense kicks back in and tells him to run.
"Nope, no way, no how! See you later sucker!" Yan grabs his suitcases and jogs down the stairs away from that old world nonsense. Figures Email was the kind of crazy to keep a dangerous relic around her home that could just spontaneously spawn an evil twin to jump out and try to kill a man! Yan isn't going to be the idiot to stick around and deal with the fallout of it. He'll leave that to whoever wins the showdown in the square. He's got a train to catch!
The heavy suitcase bangs on each step down, its sharp edge catching his ankle and shin on every other one. The last step hits hard enough that he stumbles with a cry of pain. The suitcase sliding away towards the fireplace as Yan falls hard onto one knee. The weight of gols in it jingle when it thumps to a stop against the wood frame. There's a grating crack from upstairs that sends Yan's pounding heart spiraling faster than a pensky racing down a dune.
"Yan," a voice comes from above him along with the sound of hard soled shoes crunching over glass and the first creak of the top step. The voice sounds strange and off, as off as looking back up and seeing his own reflection glaring down the stairs at him.
Yan stumbles to his feet and takes a step to the fireplace but there's a warning twinge in his knee as it starts to buckle. The footsteps of the doppelganger pick up and Yan makes a choice even before he realizes he only has two options. It's easier to run when he's not weighed down by much and Yan has always prioritized his own life over everything else. Even gols.
"Thank you for stopping by," Wei says as Mi-an steps into his home. "And I'm sorry again for all that Yan put you through."
"It's ok Pre- Commissioner Wei," Mi-an is quick to correct herself and Wei feels like she might drop even the occasional slip up by the end of the month. A good bit earlier than some of the other Builders who still ask him where his ring is at the start of a Guild meeting. "Well, I mean, it's not ok what Yan did to me. O-or to anyone else either! Just, I meant that it's no problem stopping by."
"I get what you mean," Wei assures the young woman before she can work herself up into a fit. She's a rather self-conscious thing for someone who can be so very kind and giving. He's only known her for a short time, but Wei has decided he quite likes this Builder.
He quite likes a lot of the people he's meeting for the first time as more than just a passingly mentioned name.
"Here," Wei picks up the battered suitcase that's been waiting near the fireplace. It's lighter than it was before now that Wei has split all the gols in it up to distribute back to their rightful owners. "Your portion was simply much bigger than any pouch I had could carry."
Mi-an laughs, a nervous little titter as she stares at the suitcase in disbelief. Still in shock over just how badly she's been treated, and Wei feels for her. It's always been clear to him that she only ever saw the best in people. Even people as despicable as Yan. She doesn't take the bag immediately, eyes darting around as she slowly steps forward, and Wei sees the moment she spots the frame leaning against the wall at the bottom of the loft stairs.
The gold frame is twisted and sagging now, barely hanging on to its original shape, and there isn't a single shard of glass to be found anywhere.
"Oh, I remember that mirror! It was such a lovely thing, how could Yan let it break? I can fix that for you," Mi-an immediately offers because that is where her mind will always go when presented with a problem. How she can fix it and help someone else out before even wondering how they might pay her back for that aid. "I have the materials on hand and I've always loved working with glass."
"Thank you for the offer," Wei laughs at her eagerness as he reaches out to drag her hand onto the lightly stained handle of the suitcase. He squeezes once, gently, because she's a genuine delight to talk with and a refreshing personality after years of being with Yan. "But I think I'll pass. I don't have much use for mirrors these days."
Nor the desire to find out what may or may not be reflected back at him.
"Ok," Mi-an says almost sadly, but Wei knows she'll perk back up as soon as she remembers the commissions she picked up before following him to get her backpay. "But if you ever change your mind-"
"You will be the first person I turn to," Wei assures her with a smile. One that he's practiced in the dark and when Yan's back was turned. Something wide and sincere that will never, ever remind anyone of Yan at all. "Now, please, take your money and do something nice for yourself with it, alright? You deserve it, Mi-an."
Wei watches his employee leave with a smile that doesn't fade when the door shuts. It sticks around as he looks at his home, one he can finally move about in freely. He still has a lot of work to do. Both in the house and in the city, but soon enough there will be no trace at all of Yan left in the world. There will only be Wei.
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