Collusion

Chapter 11: A Feeling of Déjà Vu

SUMMARY

Lumine hesitates. Her legs are seemingly glued in place. This is familiar. Too familiar. A feeling of déjà vu washes over her. She’s been here before. A recent memory resurfaces: interview, deception, and murder.

Lumine can’t sleep.

It has been a long day, and quite frankly, all she wishes is to close her eyes and get some rest.

She’s in a hotel near her new office, both funded by her new boss, Yelan. It’s not that the bed is uncomfortable; it is much better than the hospital bed she has been holed up in. But her head is full of thoughts, both welcome and unwelcome.

What to do?

Lumine takes Ajax’s phone from the bedside drawer. She hasn’t looked at it all day; perhaps there’s invaluable intelligence in it. She unlocks it; there’s a text notification from a phone number. Her number. The text reads: “Hey, girlie.” It’s him. That asshole, texting her from her own number. The audacity of this man.

She taps on the message box and types up a reply. But what would she even say? As if it will change anything. Besides, contacting him can potentially compromise the operation. It should be a last resort, if anything else.

Lumine exits from the messaging app and browses the list of other apps. The gallery only has one image, his wallpaper photo—a cute illustration of a narwhal. Everything else in his phone is pretty much barebones. His contact list is password protected, and the other messages are from a person named Ekaterina, and texts from various food deliveries. Nothing else.

No surprise from a burner phone like this.

Useless, Lumine thinks, and turns off the phone. No use replying and giving him any information or attention. Not right now, at least. She can easily find him later with the Phone Finder app. Although, once she uses it, it will also let him find her location. Lumine must use it with discretion.

With the phone turned off, Lumine sets it back on her bedside table. There is a more pressing matter at hand, one that she had been thinking about ever since she witnessed his murder a few weeks ago.

Mr. Zhongli was a witness to the death of Rex Lapis, and they killed him for it. The King’s death was also never reported as a murder or anything less than a simple death by old age. But Lumine knows that isn’t true at all. The King died from a fire. Yelan knows it, too. Mr. Zhongli himself saw it happen. Whoever is responsible for having him killed, is also involved in the King’s murder. But who could it be? And why?

Lumine turns over on her bed. She closes her eyes, visualizing the bulletin board of photos in the office. What is she missing? Kaeya’s face wasn’t included on the board, but that was to be expected, considering only a few people knew about it. Not that it matters that he wasn’t there; even Lumine did not know any details of the attempt on his life.

Well, one person might know.

Lumine glances at her bedside table. The phone lays there, taunting her. He must know something. Perhaps not the why, but who ordered it. Not just with Kaeya’s hit, but Zhongli’s too. Just one message away, and she could be closer to the answers.

She takes the phone again, staring at her reflection on the dark screen. One message away. That’s all it takes.

His words echo in her head. “If you want answers, you will have to do your worst.”

Lumine is not afraid of him. He won’t kill her. She knows this much. But she also knows he won’t give up information unless she works for it. Is she capable of hurting him for answers? Lumine does not know if she can even do such a thing. She remembers her hands trembling as she held the gun to his chest, his hands wrapped around hers as he tried to steady her grip. In the end, she could not even pull the trigger.

She would do anything to find her brother. Endanger her own life for him. But to harm someone else on purpose? It is a question Lumine would rather not find out the answer to.

Instead, Lumine focuses on the questions she needed answering. She sits up on her bed, resigned to a sleepless night, and jots down her observations and suspicions concerning Zhongli’s assassination.

“Excuse me? Ms. Lumine?”

Lumine spurs to a repetitive tapping on her shoulder. She raises her head up from the desk, her neck stiff from falling asleep on one side. Ms. Yanfei sits across her, an apologetic smile on her face.

“Hi.”

Lumine’s eyes widen, then she glances around and realizes she fell asleep in the public library while waiting for Ms. Yanfei. She had agreed to meet Lumine here for a work-related rendezvous.

“Sorry, I didn’t get a good sleep last night.”

“No worries,” Yanfei says. “I should be the one apologizing. I was late for our meeting.”

Yanfei places a cup of coffee and slides it across the table over to Lumine. Lumine mouths a thank you before taking an eager sip of the warm drink.

“So,” Yanfei starts. “Boss tells me you just started working for her.”

Lumine raises an eyebrow. “Boss? Is that what you call her?”

“It’s more of a term of endearment, really. If anything, she needs me more than I need her.”

“Because of the information you have.”

Yanfei nods. “Knowledge is power, after all. So, tell me, how’d you two meet?”

“She didn’t tell you?” When Yanfei stays silent, Lumine continues, “Well, we met when I was still working for Mondstadt as an agent. Then, things happened,” Lumine gestures vaguely, not wanting to elaborate, “and she recruited me. Here I am.”

“And you’ve come to find answers.”

“Is that also why you’re working with her?” Lumine asks.

Yanfei steeples her fingers together. “We all have our own self-interests.”

“Well, you’re right. I wanted to find out what you know about Rex Lapis’s death.”

Yanfei shrugs. “I know what you know. Or rather, what I posted on the bulletin board in the office.”

“No new info?”

“Sadly, no. I haven’t had time to investigate further. Do you have any leads?”

Lumine shakes her head. “The only lead I had was killed.”

“The groundskeeper, you mean. Mr. Zhongli.”

“Do you know anything about him?”

“I haven’t looked into him yet, but,” Yanfei opens the lid of her laptop and starts typing. “Since he worked for the Crown, his records should be public.” Yanfei pauses and glances at Lumine. “To be honest, everyone’s records are public… if you know where to look. But for government officials, they’re much easier to find.” She hums as she types, then with a loud clack of her keyboard, she says, “There it is.”

Lumine’s grasp on her cup of coffee stiffens. “What did you find?”

“Zhongli, born on December 31st. Forty years of age. Former groundskeeper for the King and before that… Huh.”

“What is it?”

“Weird. He used to be a consultant for the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.”

Lumine’s eyebrows knit together. “Is that relevant?”

“Not quite, but going from funeral consultant to groundskeeper is kind of an abrupt change in career, don’t you think?”

“Maybe so, but a lot of people shift careers all the time. Is there anything else?”

Yanfei goes back to typing and humming. Lumine drinks her coffee, silently thankful for the legal counsel across from her doing less-than-legal work for her willingly. She does not know what Yanfei gets out of this, but at least Lumine does not sense any malicious intent coming from her… unlike her Boss. Their Boss.

“Hmm.”

“You got something?” Lumine asks.

“That’s the thing, I don’t. There’s nothing here.” Yanfei turns the laptop around to Lumine, showing her the results of her search, which indeed was nothing.

“Zhongli has a birth date, but no known parents. No family, either,” Lumine whispers, reading his basic profile. “And no history other than the two jobs listed on public record.”

“That’s right.” Yanfei looks at her intently.

Lumine’s gears turn in her head, slowly putting everything together.

“I’ve done this kind of work before,” Lumine says. “But not like this.”

Yanfei leans in, curious. “What do you mean?”

“In your line of work, I presume you have encountered witnesses who had to undergo protective custody, correct?” When Yanfei nods, Lumine continues, “Certain high-profile refugees from war-torn countries also do the same, if they choose. I have done my fair share of work in creating new identities for them. Educational history, professional history, even a personality profile. Likes and dislikes. I get to pick their new favorite movie, for instance. I include all these things to mimic a real identity.”

Yanfei nods, fascinated with Lumine’s words.

“Mr. Zhongli is one of those fake identities.”

“Okay. That kind of makes sense. But that does not explain why there’s no information about him. Like you said, these identities should be detailed, even going so far as to have a new set of likes and dislikes. So, why doesn’t he have those?”

“You are correct. I was about to say that the work done here is mediocre. This is not the work of a professional. Not to mention, this profile was made before the death of Rex Lapis, since Mr. Zhongli had been working as a legitimate groundskeeper for a year, and a real funeral consultant for several years before that.”

Yanfei sighs. “So, this fake identity might not even be related to Rex Lapis at all, then?”

Lumine tilts her head, deep in thought. “Not necessarily. We’re still missing several puzzle pieces to complete the picture. First, who is Mr. Zhongli? Second, what reason did he have to create a new identity before Rex Lapis died? He was also a witness to the King’s death, which we know there’s most likely foul play involved.”

“Right. The fire.”

“Did they ever find the cause of the fire?” Lumine asks.

“No, no reports of it.”

“But in a typical situation, there would be.” Lumine purses her lips. “I think those reports were scrubbed, somehow. Someone is cleaning up their mess. We just need to figure out who.”

Yanfei grins. “I can’t believe we almost cracked it. No, you almost cracked it. I can see now why Boss recruited you.”

Lumine smiles. It has been a while since she flexed her brain muscles. “Thanks. This… Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. It’s an actual business, right?”

Yanfei quickly types into her laptop, then nods. “It’s real. Owned by a Ms. Hu Tao.”

“Perfect. We can bring her in for questioning.”

Yanfei reaches for Lumine’s hand. “I strongly suggest you don’t do that.”

Lumine frowns. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means don’t tell the Boss about this. Any of this. Not until you have substantial results.”

“Do you not trust her?” Lumine asks.

Yanfei gives a small smile. “I look out for my own self-interests, just as she does. As I’m sure you do, too.”

Yanfei does not acknowledge her question directly, but Lumine gets the idea. “I understand,” Lumine replies.

“Great. Well, look at the time,” Yanfei glances at her wristwatch. “I have to meet a client soon.”

Lumine stands up and shakes her hand. “Thanks for meeting me.”

“It is my pleasure,” Yanfei says, squeezing her hand in hers. “Good luck. You have excellent intuition, Ms. Lumine. You should trust them more.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, thank you.”

The commute back to the office is unremarkable, save for the gears in Lumine’s head that won’t stop spinning. She has a lead. It’s not much, considering the funeral parlor owner might not even know anything about Zhongli’s life at all, but this is the closest she can get.

Lumine mulls over Yanfei’s words. It is true that everyone has their own self-interests. She wonders what could be Yelan’s. There is something she is hiding, that’s for sure. But Lumine’s desperation for answers about her brother has her in Yelan’s grip, anyway. She hopes it is not worse than being in Ajax’s literal chokehold. Lumine closes her eyes and traces her neck, reminiscing. Her hand is too small to fit around her throat, unlike his. His that wrapped around so perfectly, like it was sculpted for her. She recalls his scent and the way he held his breath right before he stabs her—

Ding!

The train announcer interrupts her thoughts. Thankfully.

Lumine stands up abruptly and walks to her office. She blends into the endless stream of businessmen brisk walking in the district. Her thoughts fly away again, this time drifting to Yelan’s actual motives behind all this. Yelan maintains her distance just far away enough to not be directly involved, using Lumine and Yanfei as her chess pawns. Whatever her plans are, Lumine knows she cannot trust Yelan. She did not need Yanfei to caution her about it, but her confirmation pretty much reaffirmed her suspicions. Perhaps Lumine can stick her curious nose in, find out what’s going on—

Lumine opens the door to the office to find a woman she has never seen before. Yelan stands beside her and notices Lumine.

“You’re late,” Yelan remarks.

The woman glances at Yelan and frowns at her. “Yelan, darling, don’t be so rude to your agents.” She turns back to Lumine, the sanguine color of her eyes piercing hers. Chills run down her spine. “Hello there, dear, I’m Ningguang, future president of Liyue.” She reaches out a hand, to which Lumine shakes. Instantly, Lumine is taken aback at how cold Ningguang’s hand is. Ningguang smiles, but it is as cold as her skin.

Yelan scoffs. “You’re getting ahead of yourself there, darling.”

“Not unless I win. Which I will. Isn’t that right…?” Ningguang looks at her expectantly.

“Lumine. My name’s Lumine,” she says, stepping inside the office and closing the door behind her.

“Nice to finally meet you, dear. Yelan here has been telling me all about you.”

“Is that so?”

Ningguang nods. “She tells me you are searching for your brother. I am so sorry to hear that he is missing.”

“Um, thanks,” Lumine replies. “You’re running for president? Isn’t Liyue a monarchy?”

“You are right,” says Ningguang. “But we do not have a King, and there has been no word about a successor inheriting the throne, if there even is an heir.” She flips her hair—her unnaturally white blonde hair—and smiles again. “Besides, the monarchy is a very archaic system of government. Bloodline should not dictate a person’s right to rule. I believe a country should be run by its own people and their interests, and I intend to be representative of that.”

“I see,” says Lumine. “To what do we owe the visit?”

“I was just about to leave, actually. But this wasn’t a business visit,” Ningguang answers, shooting a glance and a smirk toward Yelan’s way.

Yelan’s cheeks flush. “Don’t you have a press conference to attend?”

“Eager to get rid of me?” Ningguang says as she is pushed out into the hallway by Yelan and closes the door.

Lumine presses her ear to the door, straining to hear their conversation. She only hears muffled sounds, and—oh. They’re kissing. Lumine steps away from the door and heads toward her desk.

When Yelan heads back inside, Lumine stands up.

“So, why are you late?” Yelan asks.

Shit. “I—I had a meeting. With a potential lead.”

“Find out anything useful?”

“No, it was a dead end.”

“Any other leads besides dead ends?” The way Yelan narrows her eyes at her tells Lumine she is not going to take no for an answer.

“Um, yeah.” Lumine has backed herself into a corner and there is no way out.

“Are you going to tell me, or are you going to make me guess?”

“I, uh, found another witness to Rex Lapis’s death,” she says, swallowing the lump in her throat. She is a terrible, terrible liar.

Yelan raises an eyebrow. “You did? Splendid. Who is this witness?”

“Um, I can’t disclose that information.”

Yelan takes measured strides towards her, towering over her. “And you are certain that the King’s death has something to do with the crime organization you are supposed to be investigating?”

“I—I believe so. I believe they’re the ones responsible for his and Mr. Zhongli’s death.” Lumine takes a small step away from Yelan and feels the solid wall behind her.

“And how come this so-called witness of yours wasn’t found until now?”

She can’t. She can’t lie. But she can’t tell her the truth, either.

“Can’t disclose,” is all Lumine says.

“Of course.” Yelan steps away and walks towards the door. Lumine exhales a breath of relief. Yelan looks back at her and tilts her head. “Well?”

Lumine furrows her brow. “Well, what?”

“You are going to interview this witness, aren’t you?”

Lumine nods imperceptibly.

“How are you going to interview them if you don’t speak a lick of Liyuen?”

“I—I’ve used a translator app before—”

“Not this time, dear. You should know by now that human translators are better than these so-called intelligent applications. They just don’t get the nuance and context that native speakers do. Come on, then.”

Lumine hesitates. Her legs are seemingly glued in place. This is familiar. Too familiar. A feeling of déjà vu washes over her. She’s been here before. A recent memory resurfaces: interview, deception, and murder. Yelan approaches her, extending a hand with a cold, supercilious smile. Nothing good will come of this, Lumine knows, but she takes her hand, anyway.

“Excellent. We’ve got an interview to do,” says Yelan, guiding Lumine out the door.

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