AgWorld Chapter 7-15
Chapter 7-15
Nine is both the newest and largest of Lost Angels’ districts. Don’t be fooled by either of those accolades, however, as it is nearly two hundred years old and dense with both residents and crime. The population of Nine is at least three-quarters non-human, with the vast majority of the dungeon races living in Lost Angels making their homes there.
Should you desire to visit this particular neighborhood, perhaps out of a desire to step foot in every one of the districts, consider the following first: someone is murdered approximately every other day in Nine. If that shocking reality is still insufficient to dissuade you, keep in mind the following essential safety precautions.
Visit at midday and plan to be out long before sunset.Stick only to the largest and most well-traveled streets. This will reduce, though not eliminate, the chance of fatalities.Buy nothing unless you are seeking the novelty of being scammed.Keep all valuables in Inventory at all times.Consider hiring reputable Bodyguards, if your budget permits. If it does not, ensure you are visibly armed with a well-used weapon.The only thing worse than not carrying a weapon in Nine is carrying one that appears brand-new.- Fodorick’s Lonely Traveler – Guide to Lost Angels
I saw people of every imaginable description in my very first glance around the square. There were a few scattered orcs, a pair of cyborgs, and people with every possible kind of animal parts – horns, ears, tails, even small wings. Some were as tall as the orcs, maybe taller, and others were even shorter than dwarves. Even their colors were all over the place.
I had no idea what races they were. I suspected some of them were actually humans that had experienced significant corruption, or the children of those that had and now mixed and mingled with various dungeon races more easily than with ‘normal’ humans.
The only thing that united them was their clothes. Not that they had anything remotely like a shared style. No, it was that many of them wore faded, patched clothes of the kind I was all-too familiar with. The few that didn’t were dressed in what I was sure were their baselayers, but with few – if any – armor components attached beyond shoes.
It was the same way I’d been dressed back in Sunland, the same as I’d seen only on the town’s poorest residents. For some reason I hadn’t understood, they hated to wear their Class Armor everyday, even if it was comfortable and could be easily repaired with mana and never wear out.
Instead, they insisted on dressing in regular clothes. When I’d eventually asked Hazel, she’d told me that it was about showing they could afford clothes. Living in your Class Armor – whenever you weren’t working, anyway – was considered a sign of poverty.
The difference was that back in Sunland those people usually kept their heads down around everyone else, unless they were drunk at the saloon. Here, even in the first few minutes, I could see the energy in the crowd and the very air around them. It was louder, dirtier, and far more alive than the Inner City.
We drew stares as we emerged from behind the cluster of police stationed by the gate, finding a small open area around the blue-armored guards that was the only open space in the square. For once it was our non-human members that got smiles and nods, while the rest of us got measured stares. Before I could get lost in the sights, sounds, and very noticeable smells, Jayce grabbed Raylan’s arm and marched off with a purpose.
I followed closely behind as we did our best to slip through the crowd. People were gathering around merchants selling food and goods from carts or just from atop a blanket spread on the ground. I saw everything from daggers to shoes to plates and bowls on sale. The sellers were loudly bartering and bargaining with their customers, which made me wonder if they weren’t Merchants or if there just weren’t any rules here.
We made our way out of the square onto a road that led further south. While the street was just as wide as the streets in Central, it was a different world here on the other side of the wall. Outside of the square, the working streetlights were far apart. Many stood dark, while others were visibly damaged.
The buildings were dirty, the shadowed alleys worse. More than a few people around us smelled like they hadn’t bathed recently. I kept my hand on the hilt of my shortsword as I followed the broad backs of the twins for several blocks. Jayce eventually turned onto a smaller street, then another. I was surprised when we stopped in front of a totally nondescript stone building.
Then I stepped out from behind H’ruk and spotted a glowing sign over a staircase that descended from the street down underground. A pair of hulking guards stood by, watching over us as we followed Jayce down the stairs, the Deathdealers trailing along behind Arlo and Zaire. As we entered the poorly-lit staircase, I started to hear the music coming from below.
With each flight of stairs it swelled in volume, until we had to be three or four stories underground and the music was vibrating in my chest. It was like nothing I’d heard before, different even than the song the Delvers had greeted us with at HQ.
“We rise, we fight, we won’t obey
Big Brother’s eyes can’t see our way!
Tear down the towers brick by brick
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Their power’s thin, their rules won’t stick!
Their rules are cages dressed in gold
Stories sold but the truth’s too bold!
We’re the spark they can’t contain
Set the match, watch it all go insane!”
The space was far, far larger than I’d expected. It stretched out at least a couple hundred feet in front and about half that in width. It was absolutely filled with the pounding beat of the song, and illuminated by Illusion Mages apparently gone insane. Lights of all colors flashed everywhere, many in time with the music. Yet overall it was surprisingly dark, except in a few places where beams of intense light shot down from above.
The crowd of people was shouting, laughing, drinking, and dancing. At least I thought it was supposed to be dancing. They were throwing themselves around with abandon, nothing like the line dancing I’d seen in Sunland, which seemed elegant by comparison. There was a stage along the far wall where the band was playing and most of the flashing lights were coming from, and the crowd was absolutely packed.
Along either side were long bars with multiple bartenders at each one. There were what looked like booths and smaller rooms crowding the rest of the walls. I struggled to think under the onslaught of the music as I followed the others to one of the bars. Even the diverse crowd around us parted for the orcs, and we quickly found ourselves holding large metal tankards of E10 beer.
I found myself trying to chat with Venkat, but we had to scream practically in each other’s ears to be heard. The alternative was to use the Comms with my team, but Jayce and Raylan had already disappeared into the crowd in front of the stage and I didn’t want to interrupt them. By the time I was into my second beer, I was starting to adjust to the pounding music and riotous energy around me.
I spotted Raylan and Jayce dancing close to each other on the edge of the crowd. Raylan leaned in for a kiss, and from this side it looked like he was making out with a beautiful white synth girl. Then they whirled around, and it was two human boys kissing passionately. Then they turned again, and now I was looking at Jayce from behind, seeing the bald white metal of their feminine half and the short purple hair of their masculine half both.
Nearby, other members of my team and the Deathdealers were enjoying themselves as well. The only ones still standing away from the dance floor were Zaire and me. I looked over to the grey-skinned manaborn and leaned in close to shout in his ear.
“You’re not dancing either!?”
“Is it not a mating ritual, Gunner Az?!” he responded and I laughed for a moment, then sobered.
“Maybe!” I shouted back. “But I really hope not, because otherwise we’re the only two who’ll be sleeping alone tonight!”
That drew a sly smile from my friend.
“There is at least one person in this city who seemed quite happy to pursue you, Gunner!”
That made me laugh, and after a bit of concentration, I managed to pull the card Maria had given me out of my Inventory. I examined the thin metal curiously. In the dim light it was almost black, like a slice of cold night in my fingers. As I played with it, I felt something odd. It seemed to have a mana channel in it, like my armor did.
Experimentally I pushed some mana at it, but I clearly overdid it as I felt the mana channel burst under the pressure. In my hands the card flared hot for a moment, then cooled.
Shit, I hope that wasn’t expensive!
My musing was interrupted by a flushed Raylan, who grabbed my arm and dragged me off to the dance floor despite my protests. I dropped the card back into my Inventory and gave in to the inevitable.
I found myself attempting to dance in a circle with my team. The only things keeping me from fleeing were my third beer and the fact that one else seemed to know what they were doing either. For a while everything dissolved into a blur of intensely loud music shot through with howling laughter and more than a little spilled beer.
I was moving wildly with the beat when I felt someone press up against me from behind. I laughed, assuming it was one of the girls on the Deathdealers. Then their hands nudged me into a twirl and I found myself staring into purple eyes framed by long, silky purple hair.
My eyes widened in surprise as Maria pressed herself even more tightly against me, arms going around my neck as she pulled my head in close.
“I never thought I’d find camos sexy, but somehow you pull it off!” she yelled into my ear. “Did you miss me?!”
“I, what, how are you here?!” I shouted back in confusion and she gave me a playful smack on the arm.
“Way to make a girl feel appreciated!” she replied, then loosed her grip for a moment and stepped back so I could see her as she twirled.
My jaw dropped as I took in what she was wearing. Her shirt looked like a monster had shredded it, exposing flashes of pale flesh everywhere I looked. Her skirt barely reached midthigh, and she had on a pair of heeled boots that lifted her up to match my height, showing off her legs.
I saw her laugh as I stared, and as I shut my mouth with a flush she danced back into me, arms going around my neck again.
“That’s more like it!” she crowed into my ear, and then her infectious energy swept me away. I definitely didn’t notice the sly looks my Squad was giving me as we danced.
I awoke lying on what felt like a cloud. The silky softness below me contrasted with a pounding in my head and an awful taste in my mouth. I groaned as I pried my eyes open, only to be blinded by sun pouring in through a huge window that I definitely didn’t recognize. Pain stabbed through my skull and I whimpered as I immediately closed my eyes tight again.
“Hehe, for someone so tough you sure can’t hold your booze,” a voice purred from behind me as a soft warm hand slid up my – bare – leg towards my waist.
I yelped, scrambling away from the unexpected touch, and fell out of the bed with a thump. Finding myself naked on the floor, I panicked, summoning my Class Armor. When I poked my head back up above the side of the massive bed, the girl who’d spoken started laughing madly.