Kaede... wasn't expecting her not to fight back. So now he's just pinning her against a wall and confused about what to do next.

"Did you not hear the part where I accused her of shooting my mom?" he asks weakly.

"I'll get to that, yeah. Braeden, any guesses what mistake you made?"

"Besides shooting a civilian and not the psychotic criminal I was trying to hit?"

"We've met, I trust your morals. Your most recent mistake was not giving me full information. Makes your interest in helping me with this project less surprisingly altruistic."

She looks at the ground. 

"I'll help you break into the vault. I'll steal anything you need me to steal." 

"What information do you have that I don't, then? Who are you?"

She opens her mouth to speak-

"A former US Marshall, turned mercenary when they wouldn't subsidize her hunt for the Coyote. I use her for information collection and the occasional funding emergency."

"Why did you want to hunt for the Coyote?"

"My job was to investigate some of the strange cases that kept cropping up around her stomping grounds- unusual murders, impossible thefts. I started to find out about Objects, and realized that she was running one of the most bloody criminal enterprises in the country using them. I wanted her to stop."

He lets go of her. "I'm sorry about that."

"Thank you. I think what I should do next is help you how I can. If I can undo the damage I've done..."

"In the future, Braden, I prefer working with more information."

"Right, so you mentioned the vault—will this Coyote not come after us or something? Who else will want to kill us because of this key?"

"There are a lot of organizations after the Objects. Braeden?"

"The Legion wants to destroy all objects, so they'll want to steal it from you. The Order of the Reunification I know less about, but they worship the Objects; I don't know the finer details, but they're a cult wth access to some nasty Objects themselves. There are private individuals who might try to steal it, but the Coyote is the only one I know well. The Legion will try non-fatal means, the Order won't."

"Do they know I have the key?"

"I can try to find out if they do. The more I investigate, the more likely it is they notice me investigating."

"Jun, do you have a list of all Objects known to exist?"

"Sure. Just a minute."

Type, type, type. The computer is more than a little outdated, but the process doesn't take too long.

"Okay, here we go."

He prints out the list. Each Object comes with a brief description of suspected or confirmed power and owner. 

And over half of them have unknown powers, unknown owners, or both. Still, helpful.

"Okay, so, there's the magnifying glass, with the dream thing, and the glass eye, with the flesh manipulation thing, seem like they're promising..."

"Combinations aren't always intuitive. It might be worth trying to combine the Objects you can get your hands on now, before you keep looking."

"They're also dangerous. Use your judgment, or ask someone you trust who hasn't handled any Objects."

"Hasn't handled any Objects? Why? Are combinations more addictive?"

She looks at Darwin.