FSE

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Location: Old Arpeggio, Outskirts.

Time: 20:05pm.

Year: 2180, March 10th.

It had been a whole day of sailing through the dull and still environment; both me and Elise were both starting to feel a little exhausted. We both took three hour shifts sailing, and when one of us wasn't steering The Cradle, we kept the other company. We had all sorts of conversations, and got to know each other better. It was boring to keep on sailing, but it paid off to get to know each other better.

We were just about to go back inside to rest up for the day; unfortunately, we had arrived at the ruins of Old Arpeggio first. I stopped steering and turned off the boat, eventually coming to a halt; both me and Elise leant against the railings and stared in awe at the fallen city. It was a giant mixture of what looked like twisted steel, large pieces of debris and rocks, and only a couple dozen buildings left that had fallen into each other, leaving only the lower levels. We also spotted a number of bright red veins flowing through the large disc that was used to hold the city back when it was also held up by large pillars.

"Those veins..." Elise muttered, with a hint of shock in her eyes; "They must be the fires that erupted when the city collapsed; they're just dying out, after decades. It must've been awful..."

"We'd better hurry up and find Rosie, then." I muttered, bowing my head so I wouldn't have to look at the city. "Can you see a way inside?"

I brought my head up again, and looked with Elise for any kind of way inside the city ruins. I didn't expect it to be easy; half of the city looked as if it was buried underneath all the natural collapses of rocks over the years. I would have expected to see a sewage line or something, though. I almost bit my tongue at that thought; I could have sworn I saw something glimmer slightly past a small island of rock that littered the part of the ocean that was close to the ruins.

"I think I saw something." I muttered, nudging Elise and pointing past the rocks that surrounded the ocean. "It looked like a tunnel of some sorts."

Elise almost jumped towards the steering pole and started The Cradle up again, steering in the direction that I was pointing in. We slowly snaked around the tiny islands that were in the way, constantly hitting a few of them as we went; though the ship was quite strong, so there was no actual damage inflicted. We came out in a small circular clearing, and faced what looked like a half flooded tunnel that was large enough for The Cradle to fit through.

"Are you sure that leads into Arpeggio?" Elise asked, still steering towards the tunnel.

"How should I know?" I asked rhetorically. "I've never been here. Maybe the A.I of yours knows. It couldn't hurt to ask it."

Elise pulled out the small cube and handed it over to me. It looked as if it needed to be cracked open with the screwdriver again; luckily, I already had one with me. I pulled the thin piece of metal from my inside pockets and prodded the small indentation, thus opening it and revealing the red marble inside. The same grey screen was projected, showing the same black and white Dragon that we saw last time.

"Epitaph." I began, holding the cube up in my left hand; "Do you have any maps or background details on Old Arpeggio?"

"...Of course." The Dragon replied after a long pause. The image disappeared, but the screen grew in size, revealing a large map of what looked like Arpeggio before it was destroyed. "You are currently located around the outskirts of Old Arpeggio; current co-ordinates-."

"That's not it." I interrupted, staring at the map uncertainly. "Can you update this map at all? Look for any sewage or service tunnels."

It took a while for the map to finally edit itself. It was amazing how the A.I was able to update itself without any assistance. It was as if it was looking at the ruins, and editing the map depending on how and where buildings collapsed; though from what I saw, there was no sign of any tunnels below the city what-so-ever; as if someone wanted to keep these tunnels hidden...

"Map updated." The Dragon finally said in a monotone voice. "I apologize; there are still no signs of any service tunnels or sewage pipes that lead from Old Arpeggio."

"Keep going." I said to Elise, who obeyed and steered further towards the large, light grey tunnel. "We'll come out somewhere."

"We've picked up a light current." Elise replied, letting go of the steering pole. "We should be fine with not steering for a while. We'll be preparing to head out in the meantime."

And that's just what we did. We both still needed a shower to get clean and wake ourselves up, so it would be another hour at the most until we were ready. I let Elise be the first to have a shower, whilst headed to the living room to pick up a few things. I slid the small plate of metal aside and had a look at the few guns inside, picking out a couple of magazines containing many small pellets for my small pistol. I also picked up my crowbar incase I ran out of ammunition or needed to pry something open.

Once I was fully satisfied that I was fully armored up, I returned to my room, still holding the small black cube containing Epitaph. I placed it on my bed and began strapping on my belt, and holstering my weapons. My crowbar was tied to my belt on the left side, whilst my pistol was placed in the small holster on the right side. After that, I just sat back and rested my eyes, thinking about how I'd go about killing Rosie.

Elise would be carrying that monster of a gun with her, but that was the only thing that would actually have any impact on Rosie. I could tear off that oxygen tank that it was wearing; it seemed to hurt it before; but before I could think it through any further, Elise slid the door open and walked in, this time wearing a towel that completely covered her body.

"The shower's all yours." Elise sighed, reaching for the black cube. "After you're done and dusted, meet me in the basement."

I knew what Elise meant by 'basement'; she meant that we were going to pick up that huge gun that she used back at the airport, as well as maybe the two headsets just incase we got separated. I sighed and got up, heading for the shower as fast as I could. I was eager to get this mission over and done with, and with as little trouble as possible.

Location: Old Arpeggio, Unknown Service Tunnel.

Time: 21:00pm.

Year: 2180, March 10th.

It had been at least an hour of smooth sailing through this tunnel, by which time both me and Elise were fully armored up. I was wearing my usual Seeker outfit, equipped with my small pistol and a crowbar; unfortunately, I was in charge of carrying the tools, which were packed in a large, oval, metal case that I wore like a backpack; tools such as a blowtorch, a few coils of wire so we could back-track our steps, and an odd shoveling device that looked more like a large metal claw.

Elise and I were standing on the stern, looking over the edge and keeping an eye out for any kind of opening. Elise was holding her large rifle, which was slung under her right arm; she was also wearing what looked like a small suit of dark green body armor under her black and red robes, with her hood pulled all the way over; her muzzle being the only thing visible.

"Are you sure you don't want the body armor?" Elise asked, not turning to me.

"It won't serve as much use against that drill." I replied, not looking at her either. "So what's the plan? Or shouldn't I ask?"

"The plan is to search through the remains until we find Rosie." Elise muttered; "But we need to use the environment as a weapon as well. Things like cover, good places to shoot from; we can't just charge in."

I nodded quickly and stayed silent; the silence had droned on for what seemed like forever until it was finally broken. Elise held the black cube up and activated Epitaph again. It seemed like a good idea to ask it a few questions; what was it? How was it created? I took this opportunity and decided that it was best to get a few answers from it.

"Epitaph; open up the updated map of Old Arpeggio." Elise commanded, holding the cube in her right hand. "Go as deep as you can."

I noticed that the map started to change shape and size. The lower levels of the city were larger than the upper levels; not surprising considering what happened to the city. We both looked at the map for a long time, trying to spot any kind of entrances that were remotely near our location.

"Hey, Epitaph." I began, still looking at the map; "How were you made? What are you, really?"

"...It is a long story." Epitaph began, whilst Elise looked at me curiously. "I was originally an A.I interface that protected a compound known as Epitaph."

"So it was a building." I accused, tapping my fingers impatiently. "What happened to it; and who is The Director?"

"The Director is the person who made me." Epitaph continued; "He was born in 1977, and later went under the name of Odin in 2030, and built the compound along with two dozen other workers. He then framed his death in 2040, said to be subject to radiation poisoning."

"So he's still alive?" I asked uncertainly. Dragons were known to live up to two-hundred or more years on average. "What is this hunt for, then?"

"This hunt was organized during the twenty-second century, in 2105, to be exact." Epitaph continued; "He modified me to conduct this hunt, and kept two keys for himself, separating the other eight throughout the cities."

This information was a lot to take in. I saw Elise start to blink slowly, as if she was still pondering on all this. I summed up all the information I had heard so far; Epitaph was a compound and A.I constructed by someone called The Director, who is probably still alive; he also modified the A.I in 2105 to conduct this hunt; but why was he doing this?

"So why is he doing this?" I asked out loud; "Why didn't he just keep the money for himself? Is the money Enforcer property?"

"The money is owned by The Assassin's Bureau and Enforcers, constructed in the wake of the nuclear disaster." Epitaph replied; I thought that he must have known all the answers to what I asked. It seemed that way. "In the twentieth century, the Bureau made a contract with the Enforcers and Commander Elle; this contract meant that the Assassins worked as personal law enforcement, meaning that the Bureau became part of the Enforcers."

"So the money does belong to the Enforcers." I muttered, cursing under my breath. "So taking it would be illegal..."

"Technically, it isn't." Elise said, turning to me slowly, and smiling playfully. "Guess whose part of the Bureau?"

"You?" I asked, completely shocked; "I thought you were just a simple treasure hunter; but it explains your skills with guns, I guess."

"Trust me, I'm not an Assassin." Elise said, almost mocking me. "I'm a descendant of one of the women from the Bureau, who actually had a baby with The Director. I'm half-Dragon, half-Wolf."

I took a small step back in astonishment; everything was piling on now. It explained Elise's strength to handle that large rifle she carried, but I didn't notice any physical traits at all; no wings, no scales, her tail was still as puffy as a Wolf's tail should be. It was hard for me to take her seriously, but I still trusted her none-the-less

"That's a surprise, then. You could have announced it better, though" I said slowly, still facing her. "It explains a bit. So you're just after what you rightfully own."

"Just enough to live off." Elise said, still smiling. "Don't worry, I had a talk with Epitaph whilst you were sleeping; he says that I own a quarter of the money, which is all I intended to take anyway. You can have the rest."

"So Epitaph knows you." I said uncertainly; "And since it was created by your father that means it has to protect you right?"

"Yes and no." Elise explained, wiping away her smile; "It's all fair game at first, but since I now have Epitaph with me, it has to protect and serve me. Those are the rules of the hunt. Anyone who finds Epitaph owns Epitaph."

I nodded uncertainly and turned back to the map, which was now starting to flash red in one corner. It looked like there was an entrance in the tunnels; it looked as if a building of some sort had crashed into the tunnel, breaking it open to make an entrance into the ruins of the city.

"Well that's our door." Elise said, picking up her rifle. "Let's go!"

"Hey, hold on!" I called to her as she started the ship up again, trying to get us there as quickly as possible. "That's it? No more talking?"

"Oh, get a hold of the situation." Elise said, laughing; "It doesn't bother you or anything, right?"

"Well no, but..." I started to drift off mid-sentence; Elise had a point, and it was no use arguing with such a...active person. She wanted action, and I would have no choice but to let myself get dragged along with her.

I sighed and loaded a magazine into my pistol, muttering under my breath:

"It's that simple, isn't it?"