Miscommunications

"Hi there..." Judy sweetly yet awkwardly says, leaning down to reach the young boy's eye level. "Erm, can we speak with the person who owns the place?"

The boy shakes his head, "Dad's away right now..."

Ori nudges Judy, "Hey, this looks like a sweatshop. Still want them shoes?" he asks, semi-jokingly.

She scowls and ignores him, "Well, when will 'dad' be back?"

The boy shrugs, "Dunno..."

"You mind if we wait for him?" Ori interjects, "I'll order us pizza." he says, causing a few young faces to light up.

"Really!?"

"Sure, we'll eat while we wait for 'dad' to return, yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"I didn't think places like this still existed, why make children work when automated machines exist? It's cheaper, more reliable, and faster..." Sasha wonders, thoroughly disturbed by this whole thing.

Ori just gives a grave nod, "We'll find out when the owner gets back, see if we like his explanation."

------------------

Ori quietly seethes as he watches the children devour the three pizzas he'd bought. Roy aged eight, Sherry aged seven, Maryana aged ten, and finally Viktor, aged eleven, all seemed to be working here almost every day from what the trio had gathered from talking to them.

While they didn't look starved, he could see some were not all that happy about things. It was hard to think anything other than something was going on here, despite the lack of evidence.

*Click!*

Thankfully, it seems they'd finally get some answers.

"Hey everyone! I'm baaa-ack..." the large bald man trails off as he spots Ori, Sasha, and Judy. "Y-you have some friends over, huh...?" he choked out, quickly spotting the weapons the trio had on them.

"Yeah! They got pizza!"

"Ah, that's... That's great..."

Ori brushes his trousers off and stands, conspicuously shifting Six's revolver in it's holster. "I think we should talk in private, cool?"

The man nods, "Y-yeah. Cool... You guys stay put, watch T.V or make something if you want." he says, walking to the door and gesturing for Ori and the girls to follow.

In the next room Ori observes him like a hawk as he pulls out a bottle of hard liquor and pours himself a glass, turning and leaning against the table with a sigh, "Alright... Do it..."

...

"Do what?" Sasha asks, confused.

The man crooks a brow, "You aren't here to kill and rob me?"

"Rob you? No. Kill you? Depends on how you answer our questions. First is what you're doing running a sweatshop."

"And if all your shoes were made by them..." Judy add with a nod, drawing another weird glance from the others.

"Sweatshop? Is that what it looks like?" he shakes his head, "It's nothing like that, the kid's design and creates the sneakers, and they get almost all of the profit from it, barring what I take to pay for living expenses." he explains.

"Can they refuse?" Sasha probes suspiciously.

Again the man nods, "They can if they want, but none of them wants to be a burden on the others. They all came from the streets, you lot know how it is out there. It's hell for us, it's worse for kids. I'd take more in if I could, but their the most I can take without the authorities stepping in." he admits.

"Wait... So this is some kinda charity?" Ori asks, slowly connecting the dots. He wasn't sure how he should feel, he'd actually been kinda excited to shoot a paedophile in the face... Guess this is better though?

The man smiles, "I do what I can, my name's Charles Juno by the way... So, you guys aren't gonna shoot me?"

Ori shakes his head, "I'd feel like shit afterwards so, no. We do have some questions for you though, you wouldn't happen to remember who bought these?" he opens the screen showing the assassin's shoes.

The man rubs his chin and leans in to get a better look, "Hm, they look like last month's release." he chuckles to himself, "Kids bought some more colourful materials on the net and went mad with 'em. Why're you looking for them, by the way?"

"They're an assassin trying to kill us." Sasha simply says, causing the man's lips to thin.

"And er, I'm guessing you're mercenaries?"

Ori and Sasha nod while Judy shrugs, "I work with the Mox, I don't usually do stuff like this."

"She doesn't usually come outta her dungeon, she means." Ori smirks.

"Mox huh? I like what you guys do, even if it doesn't turn out right some of the times..."

"What do you mean?" Judy inquires.

"What do you think happens if a business in your territory refuses to pay protection fees? You think the Mox just leaves them alone?"

Judy's expression becomes dangerous, "They should."

"Well, they don't burn the place down like the Tyger Claws would, but they don't help either. Threaten people away from the business, makeup stuff like the place being infested with rats... I even saw you guys open an identical-looking food stall next to the original owners..."

Judy lets out an irritated sigh and rubs the bridge of her nose, "Damn it Q... I'll look into it, hadn't thought things were operating like that." she admits.

"Mox being assholes aside, let's talk more about the assassin?" Ori adds from the side.

"I have transaction records, but no way to tell who's is who's..." Charles states.

"Do you have times for them?"

"I do."

"Then we can line up the times of the transaction with the times of your door camera, if you don't mind?" Sasha says.

Charles slowly nods, "I'm not happy about revealing the personal information of a customer, but I guess I owe you for buying the kids pizza..." he smiles humorously.

"Oh, by the way... Could I have some sneakers? Any will do, if you've got any lying around." Judy asks, prompting a laugh from the others.