Chapter 604 - 604 New Deal with a Witch

Avery was more than satisfied with how the meeting with Liesel's great grandfather had gone.

He had obviously managed to make a good impression on Matthias and had walked away with a bunch of new tech to integrate into his Mercenary Company's ships.

There was also the new knowledge he had gained about the awakened, though he was a bit unhappy with how his secrets had been forced out into the open. Still, a small price to pay for all that he had gained.

Even the disorientation and pain caused by the light frequencies meant to muddle his senses had been an enlightening experience.

While his powers did give him immense advantages, they came with weaknesses he had not known about.

This was the second time he had been subjected to attacks meant specifically to harm people like him.

Had Matthias truly been an enemy that had malicious intentions, there would not have been much Avery could have done to stop the man.

Fortunately, things had ended well, and Avery now knew that sound was not the only thing he would need to watch out for in the future.

So long as he knew what the potential problems could be, he could come up with countermeasures against them.

Still, there were other things on his mind now that he and Liesel were flying back to the Intrepid, so he merely added a reminder on his terminal to speak with Grito about some ideas he had.

'The most pressing matter is how to deal with her.' Avery thought as he pulled the Dauntless into the Intrepid's hangar.

Once his vessel was secure in its spot, Avery sent a message to the Jasmine, who was currently in charge of the bridge, that they could depart.

They were getting closer to the next warzone between the Dramid Alliance and Zatis Consortium, and Avery had no intention of getting caught up in the war and further.

He and his crew had played their part already. It was time for them to collect their rewards and take some much-needed time to recuperate.

However, there was one last loose end that Avery had not dealt with yet.

As he had told Cerise, once Doctor Layton Sarelett had been interrogated, Avery had executed the mad researcher.

He was far too dangerous to be left alive.

Delilah on the other hand, had desperately been trying to kill herself for some reason, so Avery had kept her imprisoned.

His intuition told him not to allow her to end her own life.

Perhaps this was just some ploy on her part, but Avery did not feel that was quite right.

She had been far too casual about dying and had looked happy to do so when she was about to suicide bomb them.

There were also the hints she had dropped about coming back for retribution if Avery did kill her that he remembered from their earlier meetings.

Something told Avery that these were not just empty threats.

'Could she have some psionic ability that activates upon her death? Or is it something else?' Avery mused as he headed towards the brig to deal with his "guest".

For the same reason that Cerise had not insisted on taking the woman into Alliance Police custody, Avery wanted to be finished with Delilah before reaching the central area of the Dramid Alliance.

She had powerful connections that she could leverage.

They knew that from the fact that she had seamlessly broken Doctor Sarelett out of custody and it took weeks for anyone to notice the discrepancy.

If she had been arrested by the Alliance Police, it was likely she would have escaped.

Which was why she was still on the Intrepid and Cerise had not left any records of her involvement or apprehension.

Was this a very dark gray area legally, yes.

Except their opponent was not going to play by the rules, so it was necessary to do things that might not be considered exactly ethical or lawful.

Once he reached the brig, Avery found that Kaiden was the one in charge of guarding the place today.

To make sure that no hidden collaborator tried to free Delilah, Avery always had one of his trusted lieutenants posted.

He trusted them wholly, so there was no chance of them betraying him.

"Any notable changes I should know about?" Avery asked.

"Well, she hasn't tried to kill herself for a little over two days now. I guess she finally gave up, realizing that nothing she did was going to work. She's also been periodically asking to meet with you every hour she's awake. Says she wants to negotiate. It's a bit uncanny how her facial expressions and tone are the same every time." Kaiden replied, seemingly slightly unnerved by Delilah's actions.

Not that Avery could blame him.

"Got it. I'll skim through the recordings before going in."

Avery pulled up the surveillance footage from the brig and watched highlighted parts.

The first thing he saw was Deliah's last suicide attempt fifty-six hours ago.

To prevent her from taking her own life, they had put all manner of restraints on her. Things like a brace inside of her mouth that prevents her from biting her own tongue off. Something she had attempted to do.

'I don't know if her new attitude is a good thing or not. Guess I'll need to go fine out.'

After he was satisfied that there was nothing more he could learn from watching recordings, Avery headed inside and made his way to Deliah's cell.

It was currently the only one in use, with a forcefield and bars blocking the entrance so no one would be able to escape.

Avery saw that Deliah was sitting on the bed inside the cell with her eyes closed. Honestly it was a bit creepy how still she was, and he nearly flinched when she suddenly opened her eyes.

"Finally. I was wondering how long it would take before you arrived. I'd like to make a deal with you. One that will be more to your benefit than mine."