Equivalent Exchange

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Xiu almost screamed as Asher rounded the corner, right into her as she was going to poke her head out to check for any soldiers. She covered her mouth the stifle the soind, just letting out a peep of surprise. They had been moving around with greater and greater frequency and were going about as though they were looking for someone. She didn't dare find out more than that. It wasn't enough to definitely say that they were after her but there was also no way she was going to be seen by them. Way too risky. And now this guy was back, the strange man who had stumbled upon her before. She didn't say a word, unsure of whether he was here to turn her over to whoever it was or if he really just had nothing better to do than run into her again.
 
He frowned, down at her. "Are you in some sort of trouble?" he asked, cutting right to the chase, all corrigibility to the wind. It didn't sound like an accusation-- it was more of an offer. His dialect was different from hers-- hailing form the Northern reaches of Xing.

His shoulders were broad enough to block her from view, at least for the moment, if more officers ran by. He hated to admit it, but he was a sucker for a pretty face-- and a damsel in distress sign might as well have been lit up over her head in neon lights. "Why not come inside and calm down? Maybe I can help." he offered.
 
Xiu didn't move for a few seconds, holding her breath as a few soldiers walked by on the other side of the street. Once they passed by, she let out a sigh of relief. She had no idea how much of a help this guy would be but a place indoors was a start.

"Something like that," she said, not earget to spill things out here. If he was after her, he could have brought her in then and there. There would have been no point in delaying it or making a game of it. If she was inside, she could be hidden a lot better till she figured out how to leave Central. He wasn't local either which was good. She probably knew every Xingese person who lived in the city and this guy wasn't one of them. At best, he had come in with her father on business but there was no way she'd have been that lucky. Plus, if her father had been killed, everyone near him was probably either on the run or dead, not peacefully walking about the streets.
 
"Come on, then." he said, slipping his coat off. He handed it to her casually, keeping his hat on as he lead her inside. He didn't pause in the lobby or make a scene of it. He simply smiled as he walked beside her to the room. "So, how has your day been?" he asked, earning them not even a second glance from the lady behind the counter as they passed.

He opened the door to the hotel room, immediately dropping his briefcase on the arm chair by the door and hanging his had on the lamp near by. "Sit down, I'll make some tea." he said, headed to the small kitchenette in the room. He had stayed here once before and enjoyed the simple yet adequate accommodations they offered.

He didn't press her for any sort of answer as he turned his back to her, filling up the kettle.
 
Xiu slipped the coat on despite it being a few sizes too large for her. The guy was staying conveniently close by. Thankfully they made it past the front desk without any notice and even better without anyone getting a good look at her. She didn't know how many people were looking for her or even if they really were but the less anyone knew, the better. She sat down as ordered, thinking about what she was going to tell him. He was almost certainly going to ask at some point down the line and she wasn't sure if answering him would be best or not.

"So why are you helping me? Who are you?" Xiu asked, being a little rude in not introducing herself first but she figured that a little bit of manners wasn't as important as being safe about it. She guessed that he could lie but figured that that wasn't likely. Either he was after her or he wasn't and if he was, he probably didn't know it, leaving him little reason to be secretive about it. If he gave an answer that was dangerous, she could prettymuch just say that she needed to leave town tonight and play it off as a stalker case or something. People tended to not poke around when words like that came up. At the least, she'd be able to leave the room without giving anything away.
 
"Asher Void." He said, busying himself by washing his hands. "I'm an alchemist. By trade, I'm an engineer. I work on trains." he said simply, looking over at her. "As for why I'm helping you, you looked like you needed it. Besides, there's no harm is sharing a cup of tea with a stranger." he said, turning the tap off.

He picked up the kettle as it whistled, turning off the small burner as he walked over to the coffee table, setting down two cups before putting the tea leaves into the pot. "So, what's your name?"
 
Xiu perked up on the mention of him being an alchemist but settled back down a little after the rest. As far as she knew, state alchemists did research and soldier work, not practical jobs like working on trains. Not doing research would prettymuch violate their contract with the military. As odd as it was to just run into an alchemist who wasn't with the military, chances are he was either uninterested, unskilled, or trying to get in. Of those, only uninterested would be safe for any good period of time. She could up that to two of three if she worked quickly.

"Xiu Liao," she answered carefully, studying Asher for a reaction, "I'm running from a few people and am trying to skip town if I can."

She purposely kept it vague and open ended so she could choose later whether to spill the beans or put up a tidy lie to keep the questions off.
 
He seemed amused. "I would say the police force is a few people." he agreed. "Do you have your travel papers? You look too young to really get over any boarders without an escort." he pointed out, pouring himself a cup of the hot liquid, and a cup for her as well. "My friend's the Conductor of the train that's commingling into the city around 3 am. We were planning on meeting for some drinks." He sipped his tea. "If you want, I can see if he can take you with him." He offered.
 
"No I don't," Xiu answered truthfully. Any documentation minus the convenience kind she carried on her was typically left at home and it was probably too dangerous to go back there. There was no telling if soldiers were waiting there or if it had been sealed off as a crime scene. The rest of it all sounded pretty good but her lack of paperwork was a little problematic. Even if she had known she would need it, there hadn't been time. Asher seemed all too aware of the activity of the military and the fact that they were probably after her but she couldn't even really confirm that herself.

"Is smuggling me out an option?" she asked, not afraid of throwing some of the shiftier subjects out onto the table. The chances of getting her papers without trouble were iffy and hard to tell. They couldn't be relied upon. Probably.
 
"It could be." he said, frowning suddenly. "Where are your parents? Would you be the only one being moved?" He asked, moving to lean back. He had forgotten that was there he plunked his briefcase and reached behind him, pushing it down onto the floor.

He thought for a moment of where the checkpoints were that he knew of. "It would also really depend on where you wanted to head to. Down into the country side is easy enough to accomplish by train." He added, thinking aloud. "I can see about getting you on a train and down south-- but past there, you're on your own."
 
"My dad is dead. My mom is back in Xing. That's where I'm going," Xiu answered, leaving the details of her father's death as vague as possible but the general idea could be guessed at easily enough. Going South would be better than staying here but it was a huge detour in the wrong direction and it'd leave her to try to get back with very little money. She had known that touchy questions like these would be popping up when she mentioned the S word but it couldn't have really been avoided. Supposing she went back for her passport, it would have been obvious that she planned to use it, increasing the chances of her getting caught at the border or at the least making it easy to figure out where she was going. Ugh... this kind of thinking was for spies and soldiers, not civilians.
 
"From the south you can always head the long way around to Xing." Asher pointed out. "Heading East right now will be hard with the war-- it'll be much easier and raise less questions if you take the sea rout."

Asher might not have been a state alchemist yet, but he was no idiot. Deductive reasoning told him if the cops were looking for her and her father was dead, she likely needed to leave the country-- post haste. "Why not wait till I speak with my friend tonight. I'll see if i can't find out any more information for you in the mean time. If someone comes to the door, just go into the wash room or closet." he advised. "It's easy enough to hide in plane sight if you know how."
 
Xiu didn't really know about what was the best way to get where, having only done things by legal method before. Hiding was relegated to staying out of plain sight and her skills didn't venture far beyond that. Still, this seemed better than trying to sneak out herself.

"Alright," she agreed, figuring that this would give her plenty of time to think over how much she should or shouldn't trust Asher. It was way too convenient and his suggested method involved him coughing up money or her getting stuck, unable to board the boat. She just hoped that she wouldn't run into the soldiers while he was out. Then whenever she got to Xing, she'd have to find a way to get that note to where it belonged, something she had no idea how to do but that bridge would be crossed when she got there.
 
"Well then, for now it's a wating game." He said simply. "I've got some reading to do, but if you want to listen to the radio feel free." He offered, finishing his drink.

He abandoned his seat to wash his cup, he finally took his hat off. He moved with a mild stiffness as he bent down, picking up his brief case. After dropping his cup of by the sink he sat down at the small desk, pulling out his journal and the tentativ. Contract, ready to dig into a long read.
 
Xiu really didn't care for listening to the radio butturned it on anyway, realizing that it was about her only link to the outside world that didn't put her in danger. It was a bunch of random banter that had no consequence to her so she sat back in her chair, listening while she tried to figure out what to do. It all put her on edge as she was basically listening to find out when she was about to become officially wanted. Or she felt like it anyway. She couldn't really imagine what she would be hearing that would be good. A glance back was spared towards Asher, wondering what drove him to have anything to do with her troubles. She got the idea of being nice but people weren't generally just nice at the cost of their own safety. It wasn't long before sleep took over in an effort to just not think about it for now.
 
She was woken up by someone gently shaking her shoulder. "Have a nice nap?" Asher offered the girl a smile. "I brought you some food." He said, standing back so as not to crowd her. He'd turned off the radio and moved it-- leaving two brown bags on the small table. One for her and the obviously for himself. Outside, the sun had set-- though the sky was still visibly blue. She hadn't been out for too terribly long.

Asher sat down opposite of her and poured himself a drink-- this time something a little stronger than tea. "You know, your name came up on the radio as a missing person." He said. "A runaway they said. That doesn't quite match what you told me earlier." He considered her for a moment. "Means either you or the government is lying."
 
"And what do you think? If I was being chased because I was telling the truth, what makes you think they would be open about it. And why would a runaway be important enough to mention by name rather than as part of a long list?" Xiu asked. She actually didn't know how her name had been mentioned and was just guessing. All she had to go on was to make this argument that they could be lying. Naturally, she was in no position to produce evidence, or at least she didn't want to yet, while the government could produce evidence of whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. If it came to that, she didn't have a chance. She glanced down at the brown bag, hungry but wasn't sure whether something was in it. Not that she thought that he couldn't take her in by force easily if he wanted to. Taking her sweet time, she went about opening it and taking a peek inside, making every possible detour to actually eating it while she waited to see what he was going to say.
 
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