The House Is Found

Yesterday, Rome figured out a way to turn her mind-reading ability into a kind of human GPS. They would bump into people, flash pictures of Troutman and Steele and Rome would detect whether the person had ever seen them before, maybe even how long before. As the "signal" got stronger, they would know they were getting closer to the would-be assassins' lair. It was a brilliant plan:

     They wandered through the western side of the marketplace with Rei and Bonnie pretending to bump into people. Rei carried a picture of Troutman. Bonnie carried a picture of Steele. Even as they were excusing themselves, Rome was able to get flashes of recognition. No one had seen Steele but Troutman stood out because of his height. Rome had Bonnie switch pictures. They quickly discovered that if they moved in one direction, fewer people showed any recognition. If they turned another way, more people showed flashes of recognition. Rei’s description of Rome as a human GPS device turned out to be more accurate than any of them realized.
     They soon found themselves on the far western side of the city, well out from beneath the shadow of The Hand. Even though the streets were built the same as on the eastern side, the construction technique for the residences here quickly degraded. In fact, while there were many residences here, they steadily decreased in attractiveness as they got closer to the edge of town. Unerringly, their technique took them closer and closer until they got to one of the last streets, right on the outskirts of Ur. Most of the people here hadn’t even bothered to use aerogel to construct their dwellings. They were more like sophisticated shacks. The one or two properly built homes stood out like sore thumbs.
     Rome pulled a Vuduri gentleman aside and even though no words were spoken, mentally, she had a conversation with him. He pointed to the third house on the left. Rome thanked him and returned to Rei and Bonnie.
     “He saw Troutman enter that house this morning,” Rome said. “To his knowledge, he is still in there.”
     “How do we grab him?” Bonnie asked. “If we go right up to his door, he’ll see us and take off.”
     “Yeah,” Rei said. “Let me think about this for a minute.” He surveyed his surroundings. “You ladies stay here,” he said. “Let me scout around.” He drew the Deucadon cloak over his head, drew his hand down the front and promptly disappeared.

Nothing like being invisible for going under cover. Rei will try and sneek a peek inside the shack, hoping he will find Troutman. Let's see what happens.