"No upper structure is going to send their city around on a scavenger hunt just to have fucking fun, Tara."

"I didn't say it was fun, brother; I said it was a game. It's a challenge, a test, to figure out which members of the city have the skills to operate in the business districts, to dig in and make sources, do some research, and show their quality."

"Or it's a challenge to see which people are dumb enough to go blasting around the country risking their lives for nothing."

"Flying is not risking your life, Gavin. It's perfectly safe."

"Safe my ass. I am not getting in one of those things."

"Then I suppose I'll prove myself without you, won't I?"

There were a few moments of silence before Tara spoke again.

"Aren't you just a little curious about seeing these places we've only heard about?"

Based on his quick glance, she had him on the line; it was time to reel him in.

"You could drink a lot before flying, of course. Sleep the whole way. I'll handle the details. I'll need you on the ground, though. A big part of this trip will be us making contacts, you know. I could really use your help, especially with all the women we'll meet."

A faint smile broke out on Gavin's face, matched by Tara's grin. Maybe this is why Jack didn't want her to think about opening a business yet.

It was time to buy some plane tickets.

Detroit - Smoker's Corner

Tara leaned forward on the counter, flashing her friendliest grin. Gavin was in the corner, smoking with a couple new friends he'd made.

"Relax" was the key word. Apparently he repeated it.

The old man working at the establishment stared at Tara for a long time before returning to wiping down the counter. After a few moments of consideration, he spoke.

"Old man like me has been around a long time. A long time. And you don't get to be as old as I am working at places like this by remembering things. Just isn't worth it."

Wordlessly, Tara opened her small pursue and pulled out a wad of bills, watching the man's eyes get wider as more of them fell on the counter. Eventually, she stopped counting and dropped them all. She had a hell of a lot more money in her pocket, but people tended to be more forthcoming when they thought you were giving them everything you had. The old timer picked up the money, shaking his head.

"Not sure why you care so much, lady, but the fella's name was Esau. That wasn't last year like you said, though- was years before that."

Tara flipped open a small notepad and spent a few moments writing. After a while, she looked back to Gavin. Time to catch another flight. 

Chicago

Gavin crossed his arms in front of the boxing gym, staring down his sister.

"I know women can vote. I know you can run a crime family. I'm telling you that some things are still sacred, and a broad is not supposed to go strolling inside a boxing gym."

Fire flashed in her eyes as Tara glared at her brother. 

"Sure, Gavin. A woman could never get information out of a man. Especially not an attractive woman around all those sweaty, half naked-"

"Oh fuck off about all that. I don't care what you do. I'm just saying that it's a gym. Guys don't want a woman in there when they're training. It's distracting."

"I'll tell you what, brother. Let's both walk in. I'll even give you a few minutes of a head start, just in case business grounds to a halt or the walls crumble when I eventually do cross the sacred threshold... first one of us to find out what exercise JohnnyNoName liked the most gets to sit in first class on the next flight, loser's treat."

Gavin nodded, and immediately walked inside to take advantage of his head start. There were a few men training around the gym, spread out through a couple sparring rings, speed bags, heavy bags, and weights. Gavin skipped the younger looking guy at the front desk and headed for the oldest looking guy in the place, figuring he'd been there the longest. The man, an Italian about 50 or so, was watching a man in his twenties work the speed bag. Gavin tugged on his sleeve to get his attention.

"Hey pal, you been here a while? Know someone named JohnnyNoName?"

The older man crossed his shoulders and studied Gavin before tilting his head toward the fighter he was watching.

"I barely know the name, but my boy here was friends with him. Tommy, don't say a word until I tell you to. What's your name, son?"

"Gavin."

"Alright Gavin. Here's the deal. I had someone coming in today to spar with my boy Tommy here, but they bailed on us. You look pretty fit; you step in the ring and give Tommy a good showing, and he'll tell you everything you want to know. Deal's a deal. In our family, we don't break our word for nothing."

Gavin extended his hands and shook with the older man; a couple minutes later he'd changed into a pair of borrowed boxer shorts. Being in the ring felt a little weird, but Gavin had been getting in scraps his entire life and was no novice when it came to using his fists. Or gloves, in this case. He sighed as the bell rang and Tommy sprang away from him. Great. A runner.

The next few minutes were a blur. Tommy had some power, but Gavin was quick enough that so far there had only been glancing blows. On the attack, Gavin had landed several quick hits, but hadn't really been able to string any combinations together. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Gavin noticed Tara walking over to the ring, accompanied by the guy who had been at the counter, who was resting a hand on her shoulder. Tara had her arms folder, grinning up at Gavin, who waved victoriously at his sister- and was then clocked in the side of the head by Tommy.

"What the FUCK?! Dirty shot, you fucking asshole!"

"Hey man you weren't paying attention! You-"

Tommy's reply was lost as Gavin sprang at him like a panther, cursing and delivering a flurry of body shots, even as his anger allowed him to shrug off Tommy's unfocused counterstrikes. Finally, after multiple shots the kidneys forced Tommy to drop his guard, Gavin threw a furious uppercut into Tommy's chin. Everyone in the gym heard Tommy's jaw crack shut- and everyone turned to see him drop to the canvas.

After some initial shouting, the only audible sound was Tara's sarcastic clapping.

"Congratulations, Gavin. You just knocked out our only source of information. I don't suppose anyone around here has some smelling salts?"

Philadelphia - The Irish's Tavern

Tara looked down at the last two clues and crumpled them up in rare show of emotion, spiking them down on the table with her head in her hands. Gavin sat down on the chair across from her, placing two beers on the table.

"What's wrong, sister? Did someone mess up your master plan?"

Her voice was slightly muffled within her hands.

"Yes."

"Awww. Poor Tara. Hopes of mastery dashed once again. What happened?"

"We lost the fourth clue."

"To?"

"@Rubix! How does a dog even-? I mean it's like three thousand miles of- how the hell does..."

Gavin reached out and condescendingly patted his sister on the top of her head.

"Not only did you lose... but you lost to a dog. Too perfect."

He grinned.

"Gavin, this isn't funny. This whole competition is about displaying initiative, skill, and a willingness to go the extra mile. I wanted to sweep the whole first round. Think of the impression that would make on Jack. Think of the impression it would make on Spaceman. We've never even met the man, and I want to make sure he knows that we are winners."

"Uh, the dog only has one clue. We have two. Three if this works out. Besides, you are way too fucking hung up on what @JackMezzo thinks of you."

"He's our sponsor, Gavin. We work for him, he works directly for the boss. Showing him what we can do is of the utmost importance."

Gavin shrugged as he reached for the second beer.

"We'll see."

Suddenly, he gasped and pointed at the window.

"Look! It's @JackMezzo!"

"WHERE?!"

Tara's head darted around as she checked the tables, the door, the windows. It was only when she heard her brother's laughter that she snapped her head back to him and tried to punch his beer over to spill onto him. Fortunately for Gavin, he was anticipating an outburst and managed to slide it back out of her range, chuckling as he did so.

"Not funny. Why am I the only one that takes our career seriously? Don't you want to make something of yourself?

"Uh, we already jetted around the country showing off how good we are. Introduced ourselves. And we've brought in a lot of money with the dock thing."

"Yes, because I've been doing all the work."

For a moment, real anger flashed in his eyes.

"I pulled the fucking trigger, Tara. You just stood there looking pretty. I'm the one willing to get my hands dirty, while you sit around drinking coffee and making fucking smalltalk."

She'd been hit by the statements, but she still steadily returned his glare. Finally, they both turned in the direction of someone clearing their throat. A waitress stood in front of them with a large box full of tiny slips of paper.

"Uh... sorry to interrupt. Think this is what you were asking for? We usually write down a customer's name, who orders what, just to make sure they pay up. When we're done, we usually just toss them in here?"

Tara took the box and handed the woman a small stack of bills from her purse.

"Thanks. This will definitely help us. And let me give you another piece of advice. If people knew you were recording who comes in here and when... well, that info- this info- could be very dangerous to you, considering the occasional type of person who comes in here. So when I'm done digging through this, I'd tell your boss to just destroy it."

Looking a little scared, the waitress just nodded. Tara upended the box, spilling thousands of tiny papers out on the table. Sighing, she looked at her brother. 

"One of these with a whiskey drink and a cake on it is our target. Will you help me look?"

Gavin angrily chugged his beer, perhaps intending to storm out when he'd started. But, by the end, he softened slightly. Wordlessly, he started digging through the tiny papers, tossing them back in the box as he ruled some of them out.

Seattle - Discovery Park

The second day of the competition had been both more frantic and more boring than the first. Gavin had seen his sister go for days without sleep, so he didn't ascribe the change in her behavior to a lack of energy. In a word she seemed... lonely. It was a strange word to apply to her, since she made it a point to be fiercely independent. 

Could someone be free and lonely at the same time? Or did increasing one inherently decrease the other?

Gavin sighed before gently raising the bottle in his right hand to his lips. His sister shifted slightly from where she was sleeping on his shoulder. She, no doubt, would protest that she was only in a very deep state of thought. In his experience, most people didn't do their pondering lightly snoring while drooling... but then again, he wasn't much as a philosopher. 

He gently worked his arm around his sister, giving her something to lean on his he scanned the park, wondering what tomorrow would bring.