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Bouchard's face undergoes a subtle change. "You're barking up a dangerous tree here, Mekuztli," he says. "I don't know if this is some kind of test from Corliss to see if I'm trustworthy or not, but I'm not having any of it. There, see? I passed your idiotic inspection."

Bouchard narrows his eyes. "An exchange is only possible if you have something that I wish to know. Why don't you drop the bullshit and give me something. Or get out of my office." He gestures to the door.

You're going to have to offer him some information, but you won't let him know everything just yet. He may have info that you can use to your own advantage. "I can confirm the rumors that have been floating around Elysium: Arundel is missing. Does that pique your interest?"

"It does indeed," Bouchard says, hands clasped before him, pointed ears perked like a jackal's. "And if Corliss is coming to me for information, that means she's got nothing. Either that or…" He trails off, eyes squinted as though deep in thought.

Bouchard chuckles deep in his throat. "Oh, young one, it has been so long since I've seen a neonate this hungry to meet final death. But say I humored you—where are you going with this?"

"You'd have me take you as an ally?" Bouchard grins daggers as he stalks around the desk to look you over.

You nod, unflappable.

"You, with all the subtlety of an atom bomb. The age and experience of a child! The cunning of a worm. You believe I would have you as an ally?"

"I do."

He laughs then, a full-throated belly-laugh. Rolls of fat under his chin wiggle grotesquely as he wipes tears away from his eyes. "This," he says, catching his wind. "This is delightful." He composes himself and sits back in his seat. "It's unbelievable that I would ever accept such an alliance."

"That's why it will work," you say.

He arches forward over the desk, beady eyes staring into your soul. "My thoughts exactly."

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