Synopsis

Corroded and rusted, weathered by time, the girder Luce Silverwater used to balance was cold to the touch. What little paint that remained on it crumbled away to flakes as he pulled himself forward. He’d been through many buildings like this before and yet every time he marvelled at the ones that still stood after two centuries of neglect. The ones that didn’t stand had fallen in the culling, just like his ancestors. He didn’t need to be some sort of investigator to see the signs of the bloodshed that had happened here, in this multistorey car park. The scent of death must linger here, for none of the skeletons had been buried after their last stand. He hated traversing through these places, not because of the ghosts that haunted them but because of the mix between human and elphen souls.

 

The Raven Brook car park was a grim reminder, it was the last stand. The place where fighting ended Va Ille Illiberatus, and the place that led to a widespread genocide that’d utterly decimated his species and the country of Azai as a whole. Hundreds of years later, Luce had arrived at this spot where his ancestors lay.
A survivor.

Still, he wasn’t too phased, most of it was hidden under mass vegetation, just like the rest of the city. From their deaths, nature had grown and blossomed and looking out over the broken wall, Luce could see it in all its majesty. The City of Unity, the Urban Jungle, his home.
The early summer sun was bright, but the wind kept him cool, thankful he’d styled his ponytail in the typical Tempest style his mother had taught him, bound and held up by a tight tube of blue cloth whilst the rest of his long dark caramel hair rested behind his long ears, stopping just above his shoulder blades. The two braids he let dangle in the breeze were his own unique take, though Aeon had once commented on how much more similar to his father he looked because of them.
Shaking his head out of his thoughts, Luce focused on the sprawling mass of giant trees that grew between daunting skyscrapers. A plethora of shrubs, vines and branches poked out of and grew atop these buildings like a second attack on the city. But this time, nature had come out the victor, Luce mused. The various tones of green clung to the buildings, prey they would never let escape. He turned to look the North, wary of any eyes that may be watching him from afar. The only pair that met him was the gaze of the city’s guardian. The Statue of Unity, Erindall.

She was (probably) smiling at him. The hundred-metre tall statue held her globe high with reverence as if offering it to Luce. Waterfalls sparkled in the sunlight, falling from its seas, the rainwater finally pouring back down to the rivers below. Luce would have to decline her offer for today though, he knew she’d be watching his back as he carried out his mission anyway.

 

He began scanning once more for what he’d come to Raven Brook car park for.
Ah, there you are. A subtle and well-hidden blink of red light made itself known just in the peripheral of his vision. A war-scarred office block several buildings away, ominous enough to deter any ruin divers but the perfect location for the Scavengers to hide their provisions.
Aeon had said to him that it’d be an easy one to secure. Luce raised an eyebrow at the slanted building, leaning against another and possibly held up by a tree or two. The Old Man really needed to get a proper gauge on the term easy. Luce chuckled and backed away from the wall, behind the girder, all the way to the opposite end of the car park.
‘Easy,’ He muttered to himself before launching into a sprint.

He’d done this a thousand times in the seven years since they’d left the village. He’d already been a natural at traversing through the forest so vaulting over the concrete wall into a ten-foot drop wasn’t jarring. He braced to land, palms first in a triangle shape to roll across his shoulder blade to his hip before springing up back onto his feet and continuing the run across the rooftop. His green sports gloves had prevented any damage that would’ve otherwise peeled back his skin. The next gap he had to cross was a trifle in his experience, leaping off a vent for the extra air, the wind whipping his hair wildly. He looked ahead at the next obstacle and smirked at the easy footholds he could spy that’d allow him to climb higher. In rapid movements, he was up and the red beacon he’d clocked was only one more roof away - and a few floors down he realised slowing down at the edge of his current roof. The office block was even more daunting now at its awkward angle, bullet holes and blast marks that had permanently stained suggested the interior would be just as damaged. But he could still spy the beacon’s flash, reflecting off a mirror Luce realised. He’d have to fall, aim his body like an arrow.
“Easy,” He repeated as he dived.

The one window that had survived shattered as Luce flew through it, catching his balance before he could stumble. He was certain the Scavengers had found their own more mundane means of entry, but time was of the essence and Luce had mouths to feed.
He sniffed and instantly scrunched up his nose in disgust. The city had its various scents, sometimes he rolled luckily and got the musk of death or pleasant plant life, this, however, was closer to mould with the scent of a fresh corpse. It wasn’t close but Luce would proceed with caution regardless. Aeon would scold him for running into a trap without taking careful observation of his surroundings.

 

Though there wasn’t any immediate threat, Luce was able to ascertain the previous purpose of this particular office room. It was probably managerial considering it was enclosed. A book cabinet lay on its side, lights and wires dangled from the ceiling and pictures, certificates and other wall décor were also strewn across the floor. A caster charging station was dangling by its cable but seemed to still be in good condition and Luce generously helped himself to it, storing it in his one-strap backpack. Most unprotected paperwork had dissolved into mulch but from the few words he could discern, it seemed this person’s job had been dedicated to managing a team of workers that oversaw the means to power within the city. Evidently, it didn’t have a direct connection to Illiberatus’ main power supply but Luce was more than grateful for their implementation of solar panels, wind turbines etc that managed to power his stuff even today.

Growing bored of the inspection, he proceeded into the tilted corridor. The sensation of the wall nearly being the floor was disgruntling, having to keep his feet slanted it was easier to run than jog but as he always had, Luce would adapt. Soon he found his stride and chasing after the growing glow of red from the further end of the dark corridor, littered with office wares, he made progress relatively quickly and most importantly, quietly. Some portions of the building, Luce spied in his flight, were completely open to the elements, showing that the upper floors had almost torn away completely from its base. He leapt over a portion of the floor that had completely crumbled away, revealing the scattered desk chairs below and a massive gaping hole. On the other side, however, the floor was level once more and ahead of him was what he’d spied from Raven Brook car park.

 

The mirror had probably been a means to avoid employees bumping into each other going around corners, Luce realised and silently applauded the Scavengers for their use of it. When Luce turned the corner, the beacon was clear to see, hanging from the entry to a lift shaft. It seemed he’d be going further down.

The elevator itself was absent, clearly having absconded the premises fearing for its own inanimate life in the prospect of war. The shaft, on the other hand, hadn’t quite escaped, riddled with stray bullet holes and even an undetonated shell at one point. It was a very dangerous descent and Luce had to plan his route down carefully to avoid piercing himself with some stray rusted and torn metal. Sliding down the remaining cable could only get him so far but with each floor, he slowly eased his way down, he could make out more details below. The dripping and splashing that passed by him indicated water had collected below and had given life to some crawlers that reached up to about the fourth floor. A little light reflected from the outside onto the puddle and the small ripples suggested it was flowing water. He didn’t want to test its depth though, opting to swing his way gingerly onto a staircase parallel to the lift shaft, suspended by clawing vines. Tiptoeing down to the first floor, for fear the vines would give way, he finally spied a matching albeit much dimmer red flashing light. This time it was attached to his target.

 

He braved the height having fallen from greater on his way and landed with a small splash. Instinctively Luce cringed, cursing at the dirt that was flung onto the twin tails of his grey running pullover. It was a BASTILLE designer exclusive, a Rougan urban style flexarmour that had cost Luce some very valuable monster parts that he’d had to trade with the Scavengers. BASTILLE’s tagline was high function, high defence, all style, and he had to admit, he felt like a hundred libra. So, Luce hated it when his clothes were ever under threat of getting dirty. Though as much as he cared about his image, he cared more about the mouths he needed to feed.
His eyesight was good enough but having the aid of a torch would prevent unfortunate accidents in this dark and unstable ground floor. The well-hidden grey duffle bag was nestled tightly underneath a reception counter that had crumbled in the centre. Luce had to pull it out quickly and with force to avoid the whole thing collapsing on his head but fortunately, his dexterity had only improved over the past seven years. The counter didn’t even move whilst the provisions bag was safely within his grasp. Still, he couldn’t relax his caution yet, not when he detected the scent of fresh death once more as a rogue wind blew in from the outside. Luce span, tracing the scent as though it were a visible set of footprints in the air. He couldn’t help baring his fangs as he stalked towards the source. Blood had been sprayed across a large leaf of a Blasarin plant and as the plant hid so many smaller animals, so too did it hide the corpse of a nasty-looking goblin. Its head had been smashed in with a blunt object but its claws were coated with blood that Luce deduced wasn’t it's own.
He hoped the Scavengers that had left the supplies had also left in one piece.
With a sigh he stowed some of the contents of the duffle in his forest green backpack, hoping to distribute the weight more evenly as he ascended and looked for an alternative exit.

 

***

 

‘Hey, Aeon, can you hear me?’ Luce spoke into the caster once he was out on the street, away from the office block.
The older elph cleared his throat pointedly on the other end of the call. ‘Hay is what-’
‘Really?’ Luce cut him off before his mentor could repeat the tired line.
‘Oh Luce, you may be older but have some respect. I was only joking.’ Aeon sighed in defeat. If his caster wasn’t a scavenged item, it’d probably be able to show a 3D hologram of Aeon’s bemused expression, so Luce was for once glad of its shortcomings. ‘You certainly took your time. I was starting to wonder whether we’d have anything for lunch today.’ Aeon grumbled. It was Luce’s turn to sigh.
‘You said it was an easy pickup, Old Man. You never mentioned going into a half-toppled skyscraper. Not sharp, not sharp at all.’ There was a beat of silence before both of them chuckled, an understanding exchanged despite the conversation being kept through a small glass panel.
‘Clearly, you still need more training then, Felaris, I could’ve been in and out within minutes.’ Aeon taunted, allowing himself a rare bout of arrogance that Luce was glad to hear.
‘I was only doing what you taught me. Exercising caution, saving my own life and those that depend on mine. Isn’t that what you’ve been drilling into me since the accident?” It was rhetorical but Luce couldn’t help the sequence of being chased by a herd of monsters outside the city play out in his head. He’d almost led them within the city’s walls by accident after disturbing their peace.
‘Mhm, and don’t you forget it. Glad to know you were listening after all. I assume the Scavengers delivered everything we agreed upon?’ Aeon asked. Luce had grown bored of standing still quickly and began walking the memorised path to his next objective. He’d checked the contents when he’d moved items into his backpack and relayed this to his mentor. The caster crackled and Luce had to give it a gentle bump, hoping not to spread any more cracks across its screen before Aeon’s voice came through clearly again. ‘Well, I assume you’re already on the move to the Hedwins, yes? It’s good that we can rely on them to distribute the rations to their neighbours, doing it ourselves used to take up so much time in our day.’ Aeon mused.
‘So much time out of my day you mean. Why did we have to set up shop so far away from the city centre again?’ Luce retorted, though he already knew the answer.
‘The whole agreement was that we protected the humans from the monsters that wandered by near the edge of town and in the dead zones whilst they worked on agriculture in the centre. It’s a good deal so stop whining and get on with it, I’m hungry.’ Aeon said matter of factly.
‘Yessir,’ He muttered through a clenched jaw and was about to hit the end call button when Aeon’s voice crackled through one more time.
‘Oh and Luce? One of the Scavengers mentioned something you might be interested in. Activity at the old radio station. My stomach can wait if you did want to look into it, I won’t complain. I’ve personally never had time to check out the area myself and I doubt it's anything serious… But, if you could look into it, it’d put my mind at ease.’
‘I don’t really have a choice, do I, Old Man?’ At that, Aeon laughed making Luce pull the caster away from his ear. Neither of them had ever been there, not when it was on the edge of a dead zone. He had to admit to himself. He was curious.
‘No, not really. It’s something to keep you occupied whilst I gather the other packages and distribute them to the area the Hedwins don’t cover. I’ll place the waypoint to the radio station on your caster’s map. Be back latest by sundown Luce, I shouldn’t have to tell you why.’
‘Yes sir! I’ve got plenty of time anyway. I’ll see you later.’ This time Luce didn’t give his mentor a chance to add another task to his to-do list. He loved being one of the guardians of Illiberatus but he also loved downtime. Flicking across the pages on the caster’s screen, he opened the map. Unlike the face calls, it could be projected into a distorted 3D projection and just like Aeon had said, glowing purple diamonds laid the path going to the Hedwins’ place in the mostly charted Diversity Ward, just outside of Central Illiberatus. Then the large green diamond hovered about the radio station’s location which was highlighted in red. That meant that the pair hadn’t quite explored that area yet, it was unknown territory – save for the dead zone on the edge of it.

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