Looking down at a cheap plastic bag filled with a variety of things, a set of cards, a few clothes...
Nox waited at the agreed-upon location, checking the band that showed how long he had left to stay outside; it read 1:00:03.
He was a bit early, and yet not early enough to do anything of importance or for enjoyment. With little else to occupy his time, Nox let his gaze drift around the area.
He did this quite regularly, distracting his mind from unwanted thoughts, trying to distract himself as well as he could.
So, with nothing pressing to distract him, he simply let his eyes wander, letting the minutes pass. He was careful not to let his guard down; the incident before was a stark reminder.
Tracing the wall with his eyes, Nox was leaning against it when he caught sight of a bunch of posters out of the corner of his eye. Each and every one was showing an individual, the posters slowly withering with time, clearly having hung there for more than a few days. They were missing person posters—many of them—mostly depicting children, with a few adults mixed in. The posters were plastered across the entire wall, covering its true metallic appearance. Older ones being covered by the new, forgotten and washed awey by the waves of time.
Turning his attention away from the wall of posters, a frown creasing his face. Not wanting to dwell on thoughts surrounding this sight, he played with a thread he had conjured, occupying his mind that way.
Nox had always started analyzing things the moment he laid eyes upon them, even when he himself did not want to know about them. His consciousness, not wanting to burden itself with such information. So he developed many small tricks that occupied it until there was something else to do.
The threads he was playing around with were his newest way to do that, the old ways having grown less efficient over time, his mind having grown numb to its effects.
Letting it hang for a second, staring at the thin white thread, a bit of expectation gleamed in his eyes. He thought back to the Curir he had bound with the thread, saving it from being stolen and giving him a clear path to reclaim it.
Sure, he couldn't make the thread durable enough to simply rip it out of the little punk's grasp. The thread would have become too noticeable and inflexible if he had given it greater durability, giving the thieves a chance to pull out a knife and cut through it.
Maybe in the future, when his control will grown, Nox might be able to manipulate their attributes with enough precision to take such a purpose.
Simply letting it wave in the weak wind, artificially generated by machines to maintain a consistent airflow, preventing people from suffocating in the underground market.
"Noctis, is that you?"
Hearing his name being called, a few thoughts simultaneously ran through his mind at lightning speed, confusion settling quickly.
Has Trisha arrived?
Since when does she call me Noctis?
Why is her voice so deep and male, and why does this strict tone sound familiar?
Looking up at a young man in his mid-twenties, the already accumulated confusion deepened before it was quickly replaced by pleasant surprise.
"Stone, nice to see you again. Sorry about the apartment, that was truly out of my control."
Stone looked at Nox for a second, as if in silent contemplation, his appearance revealing the common traits seen so often in Abyssal City, the most eye-catching being the strict, graceful aura he wore like a cloak, paired with his wide chin and composed facial expression.
"I was cleared up about that already, so dont worry about it, it's far more important that you came out of there in one piece. Some had no such privilege. But at the side haven't I always told you to use my last name when talking to me?
We are of different ages, and it is important to respect the older generations; this is a simple show of respect and proper education."
Letting out a mental sigh at Stone's strict and old-fashioned ideals and his acting on them, Noctis waved a hand to the side, long accustomed to how to deal with his weird character flaws, if one could call them that.
"Yes, yes, but to be fair, my education was more than lacking, so blaming me for bad manners isn't really fair. Seriously, what have you been up to, and where have you been living after you know, our apartment is now less than functional?"
"I was compensated by the goverment. Surprisingly, the compensation was quite handsome, far more than I would typically expect."
Stone Darksilver was his roommate for the past few years, simply because they were assigned to the same apartment. He was a conservative man, a strict worker, and most of all, good at heart. His hard work ethic was also the reason he had been gone on the other side of the sector while the Authority fragment descended. It was truly his luck, considering the state the room was in and how the lower part of the double bed had been compressed and melted into a single bed.
Maybe effort truly is rewarded, considering that his strict adherence to his work schedule had saved him from a fate Nox would not even want to imagine.
Falling into a conversation over the happenings of the last few days, Nox's feeling of warmth spread through him. He was not overly fond of Stone, yet meeting one of the few people he was familiar with was a bit relieving, to say the least.
This was not his craving for familiarity, but more of a form of reassurance. Since meeting the man in robes, he had been meeting new people and seeing things he had never seen before, which he was enjoying thoroughly, and yet there was a certain sense of surrealism nagging at the back of his mind, maybe caused by that guy's ability or the oversaturation of his adventurous nature.
Now that he was seeing something he knew, something escaping that sense of sureality, a warmth of relief was enveloping him, enjoying every second of their conversation, fusing the surreal with the real.
"You two, enjoying yourselves without me?"
Hearing a teasing female voice from behind, a shudder ran down Nox's spine.
Weren't these two like ice and fire personality-wise, that could only go badly, right?
Stone's conservative nature, which placed value on strict adherence to rules and regulations, was very rigid, while Trisha, who was very adventurous and loved exploring people's bottom lines, was in stark contrast to him.
On the other hand, in all honesty, Nox himself wasn't a very compatible character-wise with Stone, only growing close because of their shared apartment. So maybe it would go well.
Turning around, Nox explained quickly.
"This is my ex-roommate Stone Darksilver, we met by chance and were just about to—..."
Interrupting mid-sentence in a relaxed, overexaggerated tone.
"Oh, you had me at the ex part, but the rest of your story is quite the letdown. I am heartbroken to have to break up this long-lost reunion."
Hearing her casual, ridiculous tone and the words it encompassed, Stone frowned slightly, obviously disliking her mannerless ways.
Not being one to stay silent and endure, he promptly replied.
"Little miss, would you please abstain from such terminology.
As my companion here so impolitely said, my name is Stone Darksilver; you may call me Mr. Darksilver or simply Darksilver. Nice to meet you, and you are?"
Being a bit stumped by his attitude, Trisha stayed silent for a moment, obviously still stumped by his words. Her entire body shuddered slightly, almost unnoticeable to oeople unfamiliar with her, as if she were restarting her brain, having met something inexplicable.
"Ahm, Trisha Shashire, is the name. A pleasure, I guess."
Watching the clumsy attempts of Trisha to compose herself from the side, a snicker escaped Nox's lips.
Hearing the snicker, an ominous light erupted in Trisha's eyes as she said, in an honest and naive tone.
"I'm a good friend of Noxy here, you could even say that he'd isolate himself just for me, not having anybody else by his side."
Hearing this, Noxs' snicker disappeared, replaced by annoyance, as he heard a truth so twisted and disfigured that it almost could be called a lie, sadly, only almost.
Before he could correct, however, Stone answered.
"Then I'll be happy for you two. I had always worried that he'd die alone with his antisocial behavior and his habit of throwing out all his money playing cards.
Well then, I'll no longer disrupt your date. Sorry for the inconvenience."
Taking a step back, Stone bowed slightly before politely excusing himself as he left with steady steps.
Watching this from the side, dumbfounded and utterly bewildered, with an unreadable poker face worn like a mask. Nox was at a loss. How did she figure Stone out so fast, leading him to retreat in seconds no less?
Well, he was a strict yet simple man, following the code of conduct to the letter. So it wasn't impossible, but still!! Is she trying to keep me a loner?!
And what kind of image did Stone have of him to say such things, antisocial, die alone, and most of all on a date with that witch!?
I-I didn't even have time to clear up the misunderstanding.
Looking towards Trisha, murder in his eyes, while she simply looked back with a self-satisfied grin on her face, seemingly not noticing his stare, putting on a front of an embaresed girl even.
"Let's head back, time is getting meager. Oh, and I have to say, my little boyfriend, you have quite good friends."
Staying silent, Nox simply started walking towards the surface, his steps a bit hurried, Trisha's teasing in his ears, echoing throughout his mind.
Never! I swear solemnly that that is never going to happen!
Ignoring Trisha's complaints coming from the back—Beeeeep—Beeeeep—Beeeeep, a siren, a sound he had heard not for the first time, a sound that he might get to hear more often in the future, working for the government.
"Sector four inner layer breach detected—Sector four inner layer breach detected—Sector four inner layer breach detected—"
Stopping in his tracks, Nox turned his head to Trisha, her expression, growing serious. Signaling her with a wave of the hand to get out of here, which Trisha promptly agreed to. Sector four was the sector they were in; however, they were not in the inner layer but in the middle layer, which was still too close to a breach for comfort as far as Nox was concerned.
The city was split into five sectors, with one to four forming a ring around the abyss, divided into four pie slices, with the layers arranged from inner to outer by proximity to the abyss. The fifth sector was simply the abyss, or, to be more precise, the small island in the middle of the abyss, where the layer system was applied differently: it was built around the steepness, with the outer layer being the highest.
In the lively market, a few changes were ongoing, as the crowd visibly thinned, while some stayed, not caring about the announcement. This was not too unusual, as the breach happened a full layer away, and the breach level had yet to be determined; however it was not the smartest thing to simply stay in the market, hoping for the best.
The breaches were, as the name suggested, the appearance of beasts from the outside breaching the city's barrier and making their way into it, tempted by the buffet of easy prey. The breaches were classified into 10 levels, with each additional level offering friendly advice to stay an additional layer away from the contaminated area.
Breaches from level one to five were fairly common, occurring every once in a while, while those above were very rare, as they neared the existential crisis for a city.
Nox had heard of a fair share of level 1-3 breaches, yet in his lifetime, the highest he had ever heard of was a level 6 breach, which was when he was quite little, making it hard to remember; he only knew it had been a time of upheaval, leaving scars on his father.
Leaving with the rest of the crowd quickly nearing the surface, Nox and Trisha did not stint; they might not have been extremely afraid of the breach happening nearby, however, staying down there with only the most depraved or mad people, with no one to stop whatever they might do to essentially lone children, wasn't the wisest act by any means.
Quickly reaching the surface, a cold winter breeze met them as they started walking back to the academic facility which they both were living at at the moment, looking back one last time tword the tunnel they had just exited, long and steep as it was, a last thought about the breach flying past before it was extinguished by the cold temperature, trying to bite through theyr clothes.
***
Sector four innerlayer
"Chomp"
Blood dripping down long, sharp, yellowed teeth, as it took another bite of the pale white flesh held between six long, thin, bony fingers attached to which were unnaturally long nails.
"Please s-s-stop, m-mersy"
A slight twitch of its pale, almost ingrown ear revealed it was hearing something, a weak, almost extinguished voice of a woman. Stopping for a second, the creature looked down with two emotionless gray eyes, revealing its visage fully, as it tilted its head, before taking another bite, this time out of its captive's throat, blood spraying across its similarly pale white face.
"Chomp"
"Goble Goble"
"Chompe Chompe"
"Chuip"
Trying to take another piece this time out of the shoulder, of the now motionless wommen, drowned by her own blood. Flinching once it stopped in its tracks all of a sudden. Extending out of its widely razor-filled open mouth, there was a long, sharp metal rod piercing through its head, exiting the mouth, hitting the floor below, and piercing into the woman that lay liflessly below, not distinguishing between the two.
Black blood, mixed with traces of red, now flowed down the spear, mingling with the woman's vibrant red blood, tainting it.
Walking to the four-armed beast with pale hairless skin and a few other deformities, yet still mirroring a human in a certain twisted way, lying liflessly above the just as lifless woman.
"What's it this time?"
A female, mature voice asked, as she pulled out the black blood-covered spear, disgust written across her face, the filth smearing her beautiful weapon.
A man with brown hair and a serious demeanor answered, his thin, dark blue jacket hanging motionless holding a phone, dialing a number.
"Seems to be a level one or maybe barely a level two breach at most. How it got in, is unknown and they seem to not have any spacial abilatys."
Unbeknownst to both, the lifeless woman's body beneath the fiend began twitching and convulsing first a few fingers then an arm then the chest begen to fall and rise more and more, life returning to her bit by bit.
Noticing something, the brown-haired, a bit older gentleman corrected himself as he walked over and crushed the woman's skull into a meat paste, revealing a red bloody sight with some of the blood coming from the woman visibly blackening, mixing with the pink brain matter, the dark blood similar to what ran through the fiends vains.
"This is a level 2 at the very least or more likely a level 3 breach. Get an incineration team here; water and food supplies have to be checked, if nececary even disgarded."