Seekers: Chapter Three: The Deal
#18 of Seekers
Location: New Vega, Club Phymn, Manager's Office.
Time: 18:15pm.
Year: 2180, March 6th.
I staggered breathless into the Administrator's office. I hadn't even bothered to stop running across the buildings for a quick rest. I was certain that this was urgent; and the Administrator was rarely like this. He was pacing up and down the room slowly; he didn't look impatient, but deep in thought, almost as if he was planning something. And I just knew that if he had a plan of sorts, it would definitely involve me. The worst part was that I was right.
"Good, you're here." The Administrator said quickly, suddenly turning around to face me. "Take a seat; we have a lot to discuss."
"I already figured that out, sir." I panted, falling down into the seat. "If you say that you need me back immediately, then it must be urgent."
"And you'd be right." Strate sighed, looking out of the window behind his desk. "This may be just what we need to get some leverage in the city; and there is only one person who I can trust to get the job done."
I knew that the Administrator was indicating me. I was confused, but more shocked. I was currently the youngest Seeker in the club; and a Fox at that. I'm surprised that he wouldn't think of me as hot headed, or irrational. I decided to query as to why I was being selected, and what I would have to do.
"Why me?" I asked bluntly. "Isn't there anyone else suited to the task?"
"If there was, I wouldn't have called you in." Strate retorted. "You're the best that I could find out of all the other Seekers."
That wasn't saying much. There was only around thirty to forty Seekers left. Most had been killed or met a fatal accident. They only lasted five to ten years; and I had stayed around for the longest out of all the Seekers. That was one good reason that Strate chose me for this mission.
"We've been sent a short message." Strate continued; "Not very clear. The message kept repeating over and over."
Strate had reached over his desk, and pulled out a small phone. I waited as he pressed a few buttons and laid the phone face up on the desk.
"This is Rover Sixty." A monotone voice said. "New Vega, Rover Sixty. Respond, respond. Package secure...one million packed and ready...under sixty...Rover...Rover Sixty...This is Rover Sixty."
The message repeated from there until Strate finally turned it off. We both stayed silent and were deep in thought. The recording didn't make much sense; even ramblings from an insane asylum would make more sense than the recording. Strate looked at me, as if he was expecting me to say something or guess what the recording was saying. At last, after an awkward silence, he sighed and leant back in his seat.
"I had to do a fair amount of work to come up with something." The Dragon continued. "Rover Sixty must be a reference to the abandoned industrial area near the south-east edge of the city. There were sixty buildings there, and most of them were offices for the Enforcer's Rover factory there."
"That...is leverage? 'That' sounds like a bunch of crap, sir." I blurted out; "One million what? It sounds too...stupid. Are you sure that something is actually there?"
"I'm not sure." Strate confessed. "I know it sounds like a charade, and I don't expect you to believe me; but I just have a feeling that something is there; just check the place out tomorrow, after a good nights sleep. You'll be of no use today."
With that, I got up and walked out of the room. I knew that the conversation had ended, and that I had to get some sleep before I headed out. Though there was one thing that was bothering me overnight. None of the industrial areas were made up of tall buildings; they were all based on solid ground. I was never used to walking on the ground. There were too many Enforcers; too much noise, and hardly any fresh air.
It was like suffocating; suffocating in plain sight.
Location: New Vega, Club Phymn, Room 172.
Time: 18:40pm.
Year: 2180, March 6th.
I staggered into my room, still damp from the rain. I fully undressed, and left my jumpsuit on the floor in a small heap. I walked forwards and fell back first and naked onto my bed, trying to get as comfortable as possible. This wasn't much of a problem since my bed was so soft, and I was desperate to get warm. I simply wrapped myself in the thick, large bed-sheet and kept rubbing my head against the large pillow.
It didn't take too long for me to fall asleep. I was like that; I fell asleep too easily, even when I was with someone, though it didn't stop them from having fun with me. By the mornings my body would be sore and roughened up. Luckily for me, I was left alone for the night, and I'd finally have a good nights sleep without anyone disturbing me or roughing me up in my sleep.
I never really dreamt about anything. I couldn't see anything; it was like looking through blackness. But when I did have dreams, I couldn't really remember them. There was only ever one kind of dream that I could ever remember, and even then I couldn't make any sense of it.
I was just stuck in a room. There were no doors, no windows, nothing; not even any lights, but I could still see. All of the walls were a dull shade of grey, and there was no one else in the room but me. This was the kind of dream where I was in control; I could move, hear, see and feel everything. I ran my left hand across a wall to see if there was any kind indentation or door that I could push open. Unfortunately, there was nothing there.
I collapsed to the ground in the centre of the room and crossed my knees, constantly bringing my legs up to my chin and back down to cross legged every five minutes, repeating the process. I wasn't losing patience, but just kept sitting there, absent minded and just listening to the silence. Beyond all of the walls, I could feel something. It sounded like a quiet knocking, as if someone was trying to get in.
After a few minutes of listening to the noise, I got up and inspected it. I found the right wall, and pressed my head up against it so that my ear was planted on the wall. I felt a short rhythmic tapping coming from the wall, which I was partly singing to.
"One-Two-Three-Four." I repeated. "One-Two-Three-Four One-Two-Three-Four. One-Two-."
I suddenly stopped. The rhythm had stopped. There was no tapping, no knocking. Just more silence again. I backed away from the wall and raised my left hand, clenching it into a fist. I was just about to drive it into the wall as fast and as hard as I could. When I did, it felt like I was pushing my fist through water, and not air. This made it harder for me to push forward
And when I was just about to hit the wall, I woke up.
Location: New Vega, Club Phymn, Room 172.
Time: 08:20am.
Year: 2180, March 7th.
I jerked up from my bed, but didn't make a sound. It was always like that when I had a dream like that. My fur was damp with sweat, but I felt wide awake; I decided that I'd had enough sleep for the day. Besides, I had to leave as early as possible if I wanted to beat all of the crowds in the city. I wouldn't have blended in with all the average citizens.
I got up from my bed and staggered into the shower. Even though my mind was awake, my body wasn't; though it didn't take me long to have a quick shower, get all the sweat off of my fur and get dressed. Luckily I had two changes of jumpsuits; the first was my leather one with the silk inside. The second jumpsuit was an older version, from when the Seekers were first introduced. This second type wasn't made of leather, but purely flexible nylon, which made it perfect for jumping across buildings. It was also white, and was lined all over with thin black stripes. The legs and arms were also made with zips to loosen and tighten up the jumpsuit.
I wore a shirt and a pair of briefs underneath the jumpsuit; nylon always irritated my fur. I also loosened up the sleeves and legs to make the jumpsuit look like a cloak. With any luck, the enforcers would take me for someone from one of the many religions that surrounded the city. I also wore a black and white armband to make the disguise more convincing.
I just had to be careful not to attract any unwanted attention.
Location: New Vega, Club Phymn, Rooftops.
Time: 08:50am.
Year: 2180, March 7th.
I forced the rooftop door open and stepped out into the cool morning air. I just stood there for five or so minutes, listening to the wind brush past my body, the buildings, and almost every surface that it came into contact with. It was if the wind was turning and curling around every corner of the buildings, and formed ribbons of air that almost no one could enjoy since they were on the surface. I thought; we had returned to the surface, but at the cost that we can't feel the wind anymore.
"Are you going to stand there all day?" A voice asked from behind me. I jerked around to see who it was. The figure was dressed in a white jumpsuit, and only showed his head-fur, which was jet black. It was Enhime!
"You're out early." I muttered to him. "Or are you just following me?"
"The Administrator thought that you could use some help on this...mission." The Wolf replied, circling me. "So let's go. You'll take the ground, I'll take the buildings."
I simply nodded, and watched Enhime jump off of the edge and onto another building. I wondered why I had come up to the rooftops in the first place if I was going to take the surface route. It was like a gut reaction, or instinct. Either way, I was where I was, and I had to get down as soon as possible. In this case, I would have to take the route that all Seekers eventually had to use.
There was a single pipe that ran along one side of the club. Seekers regularly used it to get down to the surface in only a few seconds. I had used it two times before; both times had just been recently. I walked forwards and grabbed onto the pipe, drawing my hood all the way over so that only my muzzle was poking out. I jumped over the edge, still gripping onto the pipe, and planted my feet against the side of the building, beginning to slide down slowly down.
I slowly descended faster and faster until I let my feet fall looser so that I was only sliding down with my hands gripping onto the pipe. The wind was rushing upwards, making my hood lift up with the bottom half of my cloak. I stayed as calm and focused as I could.
If I could jump across buildings and keep my head, I could definitely do so when falling down one.