The World We Live In: Chapter 38
#38 of The World We Live In
Unistad
Unistad, the walled city, was not actually a 'walled' city, in many senses. The place was not as big on the inside than on the outside, but it was clear that the place had been used in many ways possible when the town was growing. It was once a ball stadium, possibly a human pastime called baseball, judging from the size, the shape, and the guards, who were wearing padded armor and armed with metallic and wooden bats, modified to be deadlier than a mere batting game.
The people living in it were normal at best, and it seemed that, due to it not being a free-town, they had no criminals roaming about. That was soon dashed, however, when a feline burglar snatched a woman's purse, to which she shouted and the guards surrounded him. Realizing that he was just a child, they let him go with a final warning. Apparently, the feline, a house cat model, was a repeat offender, and the guards knew about it. There were also a group of children, some human, some beast, plotted to steal fruits from a vendor, yet one of them, a goat boy, was reluctant to do so.
For Karkas, who had seen many kinds of towns, knew that, even without Chaos race, a town was still a town, and their segregation did not change a thing. Even so, he knew that free-towns were a lot worse than this...slum, with slavery everywhere and houses ready to be destroyed any seconds, waiting for a fire to come out. Like the free-town that was burned to the ground because of an arsonist, it was worse when a place like Unistad would happen to suffer the same fate.
"You from around here?" asked the robed figure. The figure was quite high for a humanoid, and his tail gave out a hint that he was a beast race. Which beast race, however, was still determined.
"No. I'm from the north," said Karkas short, lying about where Diamondback's Nest was (which was to the east).
"Northerner, eh? Is there even a town up there?"
"Some. It's not all desert and aether up there, right? And besides, you have one hell of a gut to wear that robe around here."
There was a slight pause before he said, "I have a slight...discomfort when I'm unrobed, that's all."
"So, you're naked under that?"
"Something like that, yes."
The male figure took Karkas to a house made of metallic junks, with pipes, presumably the pump, made to take a man-made lake near the house. It did not look like a mage's house at all, as it was littered with make-shift technology. Karkas could understand that it was the house of a mechanical gizmo or a mad tech wizard. He also assumed that it was Narati's house if he was a stereotypical steampunk tech wizard, complete with a top hat, goggles with mechanical contraptions, and automaton weapons, which was something that looked good on a Fa'ar, somehow.
Upon entering the house, however, he realized something wrong inside. It was dark and unfurnished. Realizing his mistake, he tried to get out, but the door behind him was slammed shut by its own. He was trapped.
"Fuck. I should've known," said Karkas. "That comment's gonna kill me one way or another."
"Before I kill you, tell me...are you an Agent?"
"Agent? I'm a fucking mercenary! Do I look like I'm wearing a bulky machine armor?"
"Some Agents are not as zealous, and some are not that stupid."
"Well. Someone's been studying. Look, man, I'm not an Agent. If you'd like a proof, I have a magic sword."
"Magic sword?" The small figure walked to Karkas's back, where an ornate sword was sheathed by his back. He touched it, feeling a magical reserve in it. However, it was almost empty.
"At least that's one way to say that you're not those anti-magic bastards," said the figure. He then made a gesture, then the whole place lit up. Mage-light filled a basin where it was supposed to be, and the place, covered in darkness, was a humble place with partially rusted wall, a bed, a bookshelf, some alchemic stuffs, and a mat.
The last thing that made Karkas surprised was when the figure pulled down his hood. He was a feline, but a hairless kind. The croc saw many of his kind. They were originally feline of house cat model, but due to being captured as slaves, especially those with weird fixation on hairless beast races, shaved them and prevented their hair to grow. While they would eventually grow their hair back, they could not forget the times when they were once slaves, especially those who were liberated by raiders or benevolent Fa'ars like Tarta.
"So, you don't mind if I change here, do you?" said the cat mage while disrobing. He was wearing nothing underneath except a clean loincloth wrapped around his privates. "I don't really have muns to buy a better apartment."
"Go ahead. It's not like you're the first shaved I've ever met."
"I'm not a shaved," said the feline person. "People assumed I am, but I was born hairless, along with my mother and my father."
"How so?"
"Mutations can make things change in you, and that happened to my ancestors, and my feral cousins. You may not have seen it, but there are many of them, just not around here. I'm a feline person, a Sphynx model."
"Sphynx?"
"My race is hairless from the start. But let's not talk about that. You may have questions. Why did I trust you? Why didn't I make a second attempt to be sure? From that comment before, I suppose you know that I'm a 'Collective'. Right?"
"Everyone knows that only them wears purple robes like that. You don't have a reason to loot it from a dead Collective, and yours look as pristine as if it was recently tailored."
"Our robes are laced with magical threads so it won't break or tear under any circumstances except direct magical attacks," said the feline person, now changed into more comfortable clothes that showed most of his tattoos. "Other than defense, it's a great way to facilitate magical flow and help with our magical attacks. But, well...it's not good with swords, so people using blades can still cut it."
"There's always a weakness in anything, right? But that's not why I'm here."
"Strange. People who do know me were either the Agents, who would comment on my robe, or my colleagues, who are still in town. So, what's your question?"
"My informant told me about a shaved former slave who killed his master and ran here. He was one of the victims of a Fa'ar who tricked him into slavery."
"Damn. That's low."
"Right? Now, I am also one of his victims, and I want to know if you know that person. I thought you're the man, but then you told me that you're not a shaved, so..."
"You must be more specific about which shaved are you talking about. There's a lot of them here, most of them were runaways. I can take you to their shelter."
"Thank you. And...how much do you need?"
"I'm sorry?"
"This is a service, right? Do you need muns?"
"I don't need those things, but I have an alternative. In exchange of me helping you, you will fulfill mine."
"Name your term."
"I will travel with you for my own goals. What do you say?"
"Depends on the goal. I don't want you taking us to a sacrificial cult."
"Who in the right mind would do that? Well...for the job, it's secret. But don't worry. It's not something that can kill you, or getting you tricked. I'm not a fraudster, and I will bet my life on that."
"Bet on your life, huh? That's one big gambit you have there. Guess I'll take it. When do we start."
"As soon as I pack and leave this wretched place."
"Wretched? I know this place is full of petty thieves and bullies, but wretched? You know something that you shouldn't, right?"
"Something like that. I need you to do something for me. I want you to take the orphans in the orphanage out of this place before things get worse for them."
"One more job?"
"That's one of the things I want you to do in exchange for that slave's information." The feline person then lighted a cigarette. After puffing a smoke upward, he said, "So, what are you going to do?"
"I need to find that slave."
"Come with me."
The feline person walked out through the door, without his robe. Karkas noticed this, but assuming that he was okay with it, he left it alone.
Their walk to the shelter was not far, yet Karkas became suspicious when he took them_outside_ the walls of Unistad, to a ruined city block almost devoid of life. They silently walked through the area, and it was apparent to the croc that the former slaves were not treated as nice as they thought.
The place, nicknamed the 'ghetto' by the feline person, was a mix of degenerates, not in a sense of criminality, but in a sense of race. The Chaos races lived there, along with former slaves who clearly had marks on them that indicated that they were a slave once. Some still had collars on them, while some were waiting for a technician to release the collar. Due to it being magic-based, however, they were unable to do it without any assistance. Some were still manacled, and others, especially the shaved, were naked and neglected, exposing them to the harsh nature. Others, who had expired, were simply put aside. It looked almost like a free-town if the people were not living like normal. They traded things on the streets, talking to each other as if without burden.
That was when Karkas met his companion, Narati, who was helping to unshackle a slave's collar, which he easily did so, impressing the old Fa'ar who was opening a workshop. The old Fa'ar tried to offer Narati muns, but he refused. Upon noticing Karkas, he walked towards him and the feline person.
"Any luck in there?"
"How about you?"
Narati sighed. "No one seemed to know about a Fa'ar who tricked people into slavery, except maybe some of them, except they were either rendered mute or too traumatized by their ordeal to talk about it. In the end, I felt some of them needed to get out of their bondage, so I help old Karti here to unshackle them."
"I have one of them willing to talk about it," said the feline person. "He's a shaved who killed his master and ran away. He talked about that Fa'ar all the time."
"How? No one knows or even direct me to him."
The feline person did not immediately answer, but asked Narati to walk him. The Fa'ar quickly realized his reason not to talk about it. There was a reason why no one's talking about it: they simply did not know, and that feline person was the only who knew about it.
"There's something wrong with your informant, isn't it, cat?" asked Karkas.
The feline person looked towards the ground with a solemn expression, then turned towards them and said something that surprised them.
"He's one of the victims of a failed experiment," said the feline person. "And the master he killed...was one of the Collectives."