Risk It All: Pocket Nines (ch. 10) (Patreon)

Sweat dripped from my brow, and my lungs felt like they were on fire. I had improved my physique a fair bit, but not enough, I found. From forty seconds to ten minutes. It wasn't a bad jump in endurance, but when Kaldur didn't so much as look winded, it felt like it was dreadfully too little.

The guy stood across from me, settled in a battle stance. His expression was blank, waiting for me to make a move. He already had a feel for my fighting style. And he had patiently waited for me to tire myself out. No matter how I looked at it, I was about to lose the bout. Unsurprising, but I had held out a hope that I would eke out a win against all odds. No such luck. Oh well.

Might as well lose in style.

I walked forward, angling my bokken down towards the floor until the tip was nearly dragging across it, both of my hands holding the grip with white knuckles. Despite my burning lungs, I breathed in deeply, feeling my body strengthen in response.

Ten minutes was enough to wear me out. It was also enough for me to notice which parts of my body were dog tired and which swelled with strength. Moon Breathing didn't enhance my entire body. Just parts. Meaning I needed to find ways to utilize the muscle groups that became stronger.

It wouldn't be enough to win. But the stakes were low. Winning or losing didn't matter right now.

Kaldur waited for me to approach, letting me gather myself. I approached slowly, gradually closing the distance between us until I was just outside of striking distance. My foot arched and Kaldur reacted, only to realize a split second too late that I wasn't performing a Flash Step. My bokken swung out in a broad arc, aiming for his ribs. Kuldar was out of position to block, but not to dodge the wide swing that narrowly missed him by an inch.

I pressed forward, shifting my grip to best use the muscles in my arms, shoulders, and back that were enhanced by the breathing technique. Kaldur countered, lashing out with one of his fists, and there was no avoiding the blow. So, I took it on the chin and spun sharply, adopting a technique from my martial arts style to lessen the impact and use the momentum of the blow to counter. I tasted blood in my mouth, but it was well worth it when I slammed the edge of my wooden sword into Kaldur's ribs.

Or, rather, it would have been totally worth it.

I flooded the yew wood with energy from Reinforcement, trying to make sure that it survived the strike. Only instead, the yew wood exploded outward, sending splinters everywhere before contact. The broken hilt of my sword sailed by Kaldur, a good half foot too short to land the blow. And to add insult to injury, Kaldur seized the chance to sweep me off my feet. The breath I was holding exploded out of my lungs upon impact.

"Your sword?" Kaldur asked, offering a hand to pick me up and a smile to show that it was all in the name of good fun.

"I'm not sure?" I said, taking the hand and rising to my feet again. I looked to the broken wood blade, then to the splinters that had once been the length of the weapon. "I tried using my Qi to reinforce the blade, but I guess I put too much into it."

"A good lesson to learn during training rather than out in the field," he remarked. That was true. I had no idea there was a limit to how much I could reinforce an object. That was something I would have to work on by investing more points into the skill. "Regardless -- you performed well, Ren. My biggest concern is about your endurance, but I suspect that is something you're already aware of."

I nodded, "My techniques take a lot out of me, especially if I use a bunch of them in rapid succession. But, I'm working on it. A few weeks ago, I couldn't Flash Step more than a dozen times and less than a minute of action would leave me gasping."

"Good-" Kaldur began, only to cut himself off when Superboy apparently didn't care for what he was seeing, because he pushed himself off of the wall before leaving the room entirely. I guess he had better things to do. Megan lingered for a moment, clearly wanting to follow, but she decided to head in the opposite direction towards the kitchen. Leaving me and Kaldur alone.

Okay. This was a bit different than I imagined, but I was a Gothamite, born and raised. I was used to disappointing realities.

"So… what do we do exactly?" I asked, looking at Kaldur. He seemed to be the unofficial leader of the team from what I've witnessed. "Should we go on patrol or something?" I questioned—I had no clue what superhero teams did. The Justice League just kind of showed up when there was someone that needed to get their ass kicked. Beyond that, I was clueless.

Kaldur shook his head, "It would be best to avoid being seen together out in public." Huh? "And it would seem that more than half of the team has elected to go home. To that end, it would be best to wait until Batman gives us a mission."

"Avoid being seen together? How are we going to manage that?" I questioned, suddenly feeling like I was missing a very important puzzle piece.

Kaldur gave me a perplexed look, "We would be doing our jobs very poorly if the public or enemy knew of our existence." Okay, I was definitely missing something here.

My eyes narrowed, mulling it over and putting the pieces together myself. Then I realized what the missing piece was. "Kaldur… are… we a black ops team?" I asked, knowing I was right when Kaldur gave me a sharp look. I was on a black ops squad. A hero black ops squad. That… felt like an oxymoron, to be honest.

"Were you not informed?" Kaldur questioned, his eyebrows drawing together in a look of concern.

"No… no, I was not," I replied — this… wasn't good. I had just blown through a chunk of my points because I had assumed I would be making them all back with interest when the team went public. Except the team wouldn't go public. We were black ops. Which was so weird to think about. I guess it just meant that my previous plans wouldn't change — make videos and stuff under pseudonyms, and make Prestige off of them.

I shook my head, "It doesn't matter, I guess. But what should I be doing in the meantime? I don't exactly have a mentor. That's what the team was supposed to be, but everyone else had kinda left."

It was clear that was news to Kaldur, "I… see," he responded, though I got the distinct impression that he didn't. "To start, you should look into picking out a codename. Beyond that, what I typically do is patrol, train, and attend my king." He offered a thin smile, "I will have a more concrete answer for you tomorrow."

Was I getting blown off?

"I was informed that today was merely an introduction, and I have other commitments. I will see you tomorrow, Ren," Kaldur said, offering a curt nod. With that, he walked past me and the Zeta tube began to glow. After that, he vanished in a flash of light.

"I totally just got blown off," I remarked, frowning deeply at the Zeta tube. Okay. That… none of this was what I expected. Or wanted. I… guess heroics was one of those gigs where there was no hand-holding. Which seemed a bit weird considering the danger, but I guess I shouldn't question it too much. I was the least experienced person on the team, so I should just follow along with what they said and learn from my peers.

Who totally blew me off.

Swallowing a sigh, I grabbed my bag and cleaned up the remnants of my sword. I had absolutely no clue where Megan or Superboy were. But, based on the looks that Megan was throwing Superboy's way, I had no interest in being a third wheel. It was tempting to just go home, but the cave had a gym.

Might as well use it.

…

Ren Song

Rank: Named Character

Prestige: 3,000

Strength: 53

Perception: 65

Endurance: 76

Charisma: 52

Intelligence: 60

Agility: 67

Luck: 55

I managed to gain a few points in Strength, Endurance, and Agility after a few hours of working out. After that, it had taken me another hour to try to figure out how to use the Zeta tube. Or, rather, someone on security finally took pity on me and activated it for me. That wasn't really my fault since no one explained the thing to me, but that didn't make it any less embarrassing.

"How was meeting the team?" Mom asked me as I stepped inside, just past twelve in the afternoon.

If I had to summarize in a word?

Disappointing.

"It was cool. I met Robin." Who didn't like me. "Kid Flash," who didn't like me because Robin didn't like me. "Aqualad," who kinda blew me off. "And Megan -- she's a Martian. She's Martain Manhunter's niece, I think," who chased after Superboy like a lost puppy. And Superboy didn't seem to like anyone. "I also met, like, half of the Justice League!" None of which offered me any guidance or advice on what I'm supposed to be doing. Not to mention, I would be black ops, so no Prestige from the team.

So… cool, but disappointing.

"Did Batman tell you about the requirements?" Mom asked, giving me a look.

"Yes. He made a special mention that a 4.0 is by far the most important requirement for being on a superhero team," I replied, giving her a look of my own. Mom smiled, not even trying to hide who that demand came from.

"Good," Mom decided. "Are you hungry? I was just about to start making lunch."

I shook my head as I headed to my room, "No, I think I'm going to go out for a bit." I needed more experience, and Soul Crushing Strike wasn't the only tool in my belt. "I want to make sure the Triad don't get any ideas now that Black Mask is dealt with. Same with the local chapter of Yakuza."

Entering, I turned to my laptop and saw that the video I had posted was doing decently. A few hundred views and about half of them had even watched it to completion, with one or two of them actually subscribing. Taking a moment to log into another account, I saw that another had finished rendering, so I took it off private and published it. While it was going live, I gathered up what I needed to patrol.

Batman still hadn't returned my laptop, or the controller, so I was stuck patrolling around without a bird's eye view unless I was willing to drop the points on another drone. Which, I probably would. Even if I wasn't going to post videos, it was still useful.

Stripping down from my workout clothes, I got dressed in my suit. I really should have gone with something that breathed a bit more. Or had some kind of internal cooling system. Didn't help that I was already running hot from the workout. I would just have to deal with the heat. Once I was properly dressed, then covered in a second later to hide my point of origin, I stepped out from my room.

Mom was waiting in the living room -- her eyes roamed me for a moment, failing to keep the worry off of her face for a split second. "I never thought that the day would come where a sentence like that would come out your mouth. The Triad and the Yakuza?" She remarked with a small shake of her head. I could see her swallow some words down, choosing to instead give a slight smile. "Just… be careful. If you ever feel like you're in over your head, I want you to run away, Ren. Or call for help. There's no shame in it. Being a hero doesn’t mean you have to kill yourself saving someone."

"I'll be careful," I told her, offering what reassurances I could. "I won't take unnecessary risks. I'll just patrol around Little Asia," I could have offered some empty white lies, but there wasn't a point. She wouldn't believe them. Being a hero was dangerous.

Mom searched my eyes for a moment, stepping forward to give me a quick hug. "Be careful," she repeated the request. "And I already made you lunch. Take it with you."

"Okay. Love you," I said, taking the lunchbox and stuffing it in my backpack before I headed for the door.

"Love you too. And be careful, Ren!" Mom repeated a third time as I closed the door. I took in a deep breath before I headed out. I would be. In theory, things should be a little less exciting than my previous patrols when I was hunting down the Black Mask mob. Now it was more about keeping the peace.

Leaving the building, I headed to a random alley to get changed in. Once I was in my suit, and not dying of heatstroke, I took a moment to consider my equipment. I had three thousand points to spend, no free rolls, but I still had a few paid rolls for the rank. I might as well try to make some extra prestige to help cover costs.

A few minutes later, after a game of air hockey, I managed to double my points on a Tier 2.

Tsubame Gaeshi

T2R5

Three separate sword strikes from three different angles in a single swing. A technique fit to be called the pinnacle of swordsmanship. Spiritual Enlightenment used to create the technique is sold separately.

Uhhh… that was pretty good, wasn't it? And I got it for a game of air hockey? That really didn't seem right, but I wasn't going to complain about landing an excellent technique. It was another sword skill, so I guess I was becoming a bit of a swordsman. That being said, I think I was reaching a point that I should start looking to upgrade skills instead of buying more of them. I had a solid base to build on, so it was time I start building on it.

Using the three thousand points, I made some purchases. Three bird drones, two bug spy cameras, as well as a wood bokken for a cheap fifty points. Then I dumped a thousand points into Endurance, bringing it to 113. The huge spike to Endurance knocked the breath from me, but I didn't black out. And when I leaned off of an overfilled dumpster, I felt fresh. Better than ever.

And in possession of a new ironwood bokken. I could Reinforce it to be stronger, and it was safer than a real sword. I didn't want to chop anything off of anyone by accident. I also bought a sleeve to help conceal it from view.

With my bugs in my pocket, and the birds in the sky, I began my patrol of little Asia. I walked along the busy streets, most people not batting an eye as I walked by them. My outfit looked normal enough. The looks I did get were likely because of how I was dressed -- layers in the heat were brutal. Especially when there wasn't a single cloud in the sky for once.

My destination was the old fronts for the Black Mask mob. That seemed to be the natural location that the Triad and Yakuza would try to move in on. The Snake Flower Triad had taken a few blows, especially with the arrest of their leader, but they were hardly the only triad or Chinese gang. The Yakuza in Gotham, overall, was fairly weak. At least, that's what everyone said. I had no way of verifying that, so I should assume that they were some kind of sleeping dragon.

Using the drones, I looked ahead and found no obvious signs of trouble. The fronts looked like they always did. The restaurant that I saved from being shot up was in fine form, as if nothing had ever happened. Slipping in a fly camera, however, revealed a different story.

In the back room were a half dozen gangsters. Each marked with tattoos — primarily snakes and flowers with the occasional dragon sprinkled in. They smoked and drank, clearly in a good mood. For what reason, I wasn't certain. Regardless, I had a half dozen people to follow to find out how the snake flower triad was going to move on Black Mask's territory. I left the camera there and chose to move on to another front I knew about.

This one was in Koreatown and one of Black Mask's. I don't know if he had been planning to move in on the korean gangs, or if he was just a racist that didn't know the difference between Chinese and Korean gangs. It was probably both, now that I think about it.

However, as I walked by the food market that was in full swing, I was struck by a sense of deja vu.

A girl sprinted away from the market, jumping over a bench as someone raced to catch her while shouting, "Thief!" In Korean. I watched her go, this time walking in the exact opposite direction as me.

Okay. My stance on people stealing food hadn't changed at all. If you were stealing food to eat, then I'd rather you steal than go hungry. However, it was the same girl as before. I could tell because of the same scrawny build. Meaning that this was something she did on the regular, and that made things dangerous. People would forgive a thief if they never saw them again, but if she kept hitting the same market again and again?

I Flash Stepped in front of the guy, making him flinch back at my sudden appearance. Pulling out my wallet, I handed him over a twenty. It was the smallest bill that I had. "For the girl," I said in Korean, jabbing a thumb at the girl fleeing the scene back to Chinatown. Learning Korean was easier, I found, thanks to Multilingual. I wasn't fluent, but I was already better than before I gained the skill.

The guy took the twenty and offered a bow before I Flash Stepped away. I had a drone watch the kid flee from the scene of the crime. I let her get some distance and duck into an alley to feast on the rewards of her labor.

I Flash Stepped at the opening of the alley, my sudden appearance catching her off guard. For a split second, I thought she was going to choke, only for her to go so still that you could have mistaken her for a statue. "D-Don't break my arms!" She sputtered out, and that was a real gut punch.

I guess the Flash Step was easy to recognize.

"I'm not going to be breaking anyone's arms, or legs, or bones in general," I reassured, squatting down so that I was on her level. "I'm here about the stealing. You know, that's the second time I had to pay for you? I'm not exactly made out of money." My savings from my gambling days were dwindling after the purchases from the video equipment. I only had about a thousand bucks left. I couldn't wait to become monetized on Metube.

The girl flinched back, an expression of fear deeply etched onto her face. It twisted my guts into knots. How badly did I fuck up that a kid looked like she was about to piss herself the moment she saw me?

"So, what's up?" I asked her, looking her over. She was skinny, but that wasn't exactly unusual for Asians. Her face didn't look gaunt, and her face was too clean even if her baggy clothing was a bit dirty. She didn't look like a street kid. Little Asia was typically pretty good at keeping kids off the streets.

The girl shifted, "I was hungry?" She said, though it came out like a question. "There's no food at my house. There's never any food!" The distress in her voice couldn't be faked unless she was a child-acting prodigy.

Okay. So, she stole because she was hungry. Based on the clothing, I'm betting she was on the lower-income side of things. Her caretakers possibly couldn't afford to provide enough food for a growing girl. I wasn't sure if I would call that child abuse, but it was something that shouldn't be happening at all.

"How about this then -- I'll buy you some groceries on the condition that you stop stealing. It's dangerous. Some people on the streets won't care if you're a kid or not," I told her, standing up.

The girl frowned at me, "Why would a Supervillain help me?" She questioned, sounding suspicious. Good on her for having good instincts. I guess.

Just… ow. My feelings.

"Not a Supervillain. I'm a hero. In training. Sorta," I added, not exactly helping my case.

The girl squinted her eyes at me, "What's your name, then?" She questioned as if that would be some kind of incriminating evidence to decide if I was a hero or a villain. Though… some villain names were pretty on the nose, so maybe she had a point.

I shrugged, "Haven't decided yet."

"You don't have a name?" The girl questioned, not buying it.

"I was born without a name. It's some kind of weird birth defect," I deflected on my lack of a hero name. I would come up with something. "So, do you want me to buy some food or not?"

Her lips thinned, heavily considering it before her head dipped in a slow nod. "Okay… but if you try something, I'll stab you." She gave me fair warning. "And can we get some candy? Like tootsie rolls?"

I scoffed, "No way. We're going to get candy that's actually good."

…

This wasn't so bad, I decided, taking the currently unnamed girl to a market. My drones did their work, gathering evidence. This, I decided, grabbing about fifty pounds of rice and dumping it into the cart, was the part of being a hero I enjoyed the most. More than meeting other heroes, and way more than the fighting.

The girl, upon seeing that I wasn't blowing smoke, let her guard down when I paid for everything. I ended up buying about three hundred worth in groceries -- rice, canned foods, dried meats, pickled vegetables… the girl would eat like a queen for the next year. Though, she was burning through the peanut butter cups like there was no tomorrow.

"Why don't you have a hero name?" She questioned as we walked down the street, still pushing the cart that I would have to return to the store.

"Can't come up with anything good. I want something that sounds cool, you know? But something short. And has some meaning behind it," I explained. I was probably wrecking this girl's view of what heroes were by talking like an idiot, but I just dropped three hundred dollars in food on her. She could deal.

The girl nodded to herself, "All the ones you came you with were super lame?"

She had me there. I also really didn't want to go by 'The Breaker.' "Yeah," I admitted.

She gave me a sideways look as she popped another Reese’s cup into her mouth. "Are you Chinese like me?" She questioned, and I offered a small nod after a moment of consideration. What kind of Asain I wasn’t a very big secret, but the fewer clues that could connect me to my heroics the better. But she wasn't going to start shouting the information from the rooftops.

"What about… Koi?" She offered, earning a cocked eyebrow from me.

"Koi?" I echoed. As in the Koi fish? That was a lot less awesome than any of the names I thought of.

She nodded, "My Dad was told about old legends from China and one of them was about the Koi fish. You know, the one that tried really hard and swam up a waterfall, and impressed a bunch of gods so it became a dragon?"

I knew the legend. It was one of those fairytales that every kid knew about. Like the turtle and the hare. It was about dedication and hard work being rewarded with godlike power. That being said, I'm pretty sure that was a Japanese myth. Or one they had imported or based on a Chinese Myth. Or had it been the other way around? I honestly had no clue. It was one of those legends that went back so far that identifying the origin became next to impossible.

"Huh… why Koi, though? Why not Lung?" Dragons were cool. Being named after them was also cool. And it would be a nice nod to my heritage.

"Because you just started being a hero, right? You didn't even have a name picked out. But you're pretty nice, so…" she trailed off, shrugging her shoulders and letting the topic drop. I took a moment to consider the point.

"Koi, huh?" I said, feeling the name out. The carp fish that started out as a normal fish, but through effort and dedication, it reached the dragon-gate and became a dragon.

Yeah… I think I liked it.

…

"Are you sure about this, Batman?" Diana asked him, approaching from behind as he looked down at the earth from the Watchtower that hovered in orbit. It was simple to guess what she meant. She wasn't the only member of the League to have grievances, but she was one of the few willing to question him to his face. To put it simply, they had concerns with bringing in an unknown element into their black ops team.

It was a concern he shared, but he had hoped the fact that he brought Ren forward would quell the worst of their concerns. After all, no one was more concerned with security than he was.

"I am," Batman responded, taking in a moment to appreciate the view. It was a good reminder that the world was far larger than just Gotham City. "Ren has the capacity to be a hero."

"He's crippled a dozen men and put one in a vegetative state," Diana remarked, standing next to him. He glanced at her, finding her looking right back at him. Her dark blue eyes were narrowed in a silent demand for an explanation.

That wasn't the tactic that he expected her to use. Her stance on combat was well known -- she obeyed the no-killing rule because it's what the law demanded. She had no such qualms with brutality and death from a moralistic standpoint. But, she likely thought herself clever by taking an approach she thought he wasn't prepared for her to use.

"He has," Batman agreed. Black Mask wouldn't ever wake from his coma. Even if he did, his spine was shattered in a half dozen places. He would never be able to move under his own power. He would never be able to breathe under his own power. Even his heart was operated by a machine. Couple that with the fact that between Ren's evidence and his own, the Black Mask Mob had been dismantled in its entirety. "But he doesn't have a taste for brutality. He's not cruel. He used what he had available to him in a situation where he believed the lives of his parents were on the line."

Parents that Ren loved. Completely and wholeheartedly, without shame or reservation. He loved them enough that it made it very clear that Ren wasn’t cruel by nature. If he was, then there would be more bodies in the streets rather than crippled men.

"He should have gone to the police. You would have protected him," Diana continued.

"I would have tried," Batman corrected. He didn't always succeed. More than once, he saved someone from a mob, or a villain, or a gang, and they died anyway. Sometimes in his protection. Other times years after they left it. In some circles, murdering someone that he had once protected was seen as a way to 'get one up over the Bat.’ They hadn’t succeeded many times, but the few they had was still too many. Batman wasn’t perfect. Not even close. "Ren had reason to not trust the police. Black Mask was acquitted twice, Diana. Ren was nearly killed twice."

Then he narrowed his eyes, "Would you mind making your point now?" He requested, earning a smile from Diana.

"I agree with you. Ren seems like an earnest young man," She remarked. "I merely find it surprising that you would volunteer him for the Team." It was difficult to discern what she meant by that for a multitude of reasons.

The Team was their black ops squad. As such, it directly countered the supposed core of Ren's powers. It would limit his growth, but that was a good thing. It let him gain more experience as a hero before being placed in the public eye. It would force him to utilize his abilities in creative ways. Above all else, it would protect him. As Bruce Wayne, he had grown up in the public eye. He understood better than most what growing up in the public’s eye did to a person. Every action judged and scrutinized, every opinion condemned by one party or another.

It was difficult. It was in no small part why he had fled the country to go on his training trip. That made him one of the lucky ones. Some handled it better than others…

But there was a very good reason why so many public figures turned to drugs and alcohol.

Ren was clever enough to find loopholes to abuse his power. He had already started with a dozen Metube accounts. Between them, a hero identity, and a public one? Ren would be in the eye of society from every angle, every move he made would be judged and criticized. Sometimes fairly, sometimes unfairly.

Perhaps Ren could handle it. Perhaps he couldn't. Regardless, Batman wasn't going to risk his mental health on a possibility. Or his life that no one making the connection between Ren’s hero identity and his public one.

Though, that wasn't the reason he gave. With a wave of his hand, a security feed came up of Ren and Kaldur fighting. Ren darted back and forth, attacking and retreating in rapid fashion. Kaldur was on the defensive, taking the time to analyze Ren's strategy before countering. Yet, despite his inexperience, Ren avoided his counterattack by jumping and lashing out with his bokken. The strike failed to land, and the bout continued.

"He's never held a sword before. He has no formal training either. Less than a month ago, he was in a coma for half a year… in addition, his mental defenses went from that of an infant to better than that of an average person's," Batman explained, watching Ren fight. He knew he was going to lose. His endurance was already flagging. Yet, he was drawing it out as long as possible in an attempt to prove himself. "The ability to learn skills instantly alone is impressive. To create items as well?" Possibly magical in origin. He would run that by Zatara.

Diana didn't seem impressed, though Batman suspected that had more to do with his answer than Ren. "That's not impressive enough for you to do this."

She was right. "We don't know Ren's limits," Batman admitted to her. "It may be too soon to tell, but I believe Ren has the potential to surpass Superman. You as well. Placing him on the team establishes him with the next generation of the Justice League." At the moment, there was simply too much they didn't know about Ren's power. What he did know was that Ren went from emaciated to above-average physical fitness in weeks.

Where would he be from a year from now? Five? Ten?

If he didn't have a physical limit, then he could grow more powerful than Superman. Several times over.

"I've done the math, Diana. If Ren becomes well known by everyone on Earth? That's billions of 'Prestige' for him to invest into himself. However, the universe is a lot larger than Earth." That is where Ren, in theory, left Superman's weight class and entered something beyond it. Something far, far beyond it. He'd already come that far with a few thousand points.

Ren's potential was possibly limitless.

Which is why he had to be protected. All that potential added onto a mental break? Or a substance abuse problem?

"He has the potential to be the best out of all of us. He deserves that chance," Batman concluded before he sharply turned away and headed to a Zeta Tube to end the conversation. Though, Diana had other thoughts.

"Even if it comes at personal cost?" She asked and Batman didn't hesitate to answer.

"Even then." What Ren did to Black Mask had to have consequences. There were a great many fates worse than death and Ren had inflicted one of them on Black Mask. The public was furious at the brutality. Their enemies in the UN and US Senate were using it to attack the Justice League. Consequences were unavoidable, but Batman had chosen who they would fall on.

Batman entered the Zeta Tube, but turned around as the flash began to grow brighter.

"If the Justice League wants my resignation, you know where to find me."