City 17

They were never supposed to last these cities. Brandon Sills could still remember the day he arrived. The chaos, the panic. He spent months trying to track down any of his family to no avail. Their names didn't even show up on the listing for the other Cities. He was lucky to have been placed in the upper scale apartments and was given a job with security, otherwise he would have ended up down with the Crawlers. The pay was good, and the other members of his squad were friendly, gave him room when he wanted it but were always happy to go out for a drink after their shift. Today he went straight home, the tram was thankfully mostly empty. Allowing him to get a window seat, as much as he hated this place he couldn't deny that there was something majestic about the marble white towers they reached the clouds. It was a bitter sweet feeling however. It was a view that they were blessed to be able to see. Everyone knew it, The poor bastards that lived below the trams and power generators, water filters, and food processors all lived with a different sort of view. A stark contrast to their pristine buildings and dustless halls. Everyone knew that they were down there, and they all knew that they would do anything to have the same view of the sky.



Why did this have to last? Jackson Miles wondered. He still remembered the day him and his stuck up family arrived here. They would sit around and laugh at the misfortune of those forced to live under the city while they dined on the most expensive food money could buy, most of it tasted like shit but they didn't care, it was expensive so they ordered it. It made him sick just thinking about it, people down here starved to death while up there they had a choice on what to eat. Three meals a day was something to be thankful for down here. up there it was expected. Sickness and plague were a daily occurrence while the thought of a cough scared the Nobles shitless. Dirt, grime, vermin and mold were everywhere. A speck of dust could throw the Nobles into a tantrum. He made the right decision coming down here. This was his home, these were his people. The humming of the generators above were a soothing sound to him. But open sky were the people's dream. He joined them of his own accord, he became them. And so their goals were his.

Somewhere below the towering marvels of the Nobles towering paradice in a run down old holowed out shithole of a building, (there are no other words to better describe it) a white haired fair skinned woman sat in front of a derelict looking piece of mechienery, her hands and arms well up to her elbows covered in grease from the now non-functional machiene. Her concentration only being broken every now and then for when she had to grab for tools that lay on the ground on a piece of dirtied tarp that had clearly seen better days. After a while of staring into the machiene she looked up "Shit... dead end." she said as she looked into the myriad of wires before pulling out a burnt out and half melted control chip. she clambered down off of the crate that she had been standing on to get into the device. she wiped her forehead with a clean part of her arm before placing her hands on her hips. "Adaliz!" she shouted, the sound eccoing through the room that was littered with all sorts of run down and ruined machienery. "Ja?" came a voice from above.
The woman known as Lex looked up towards the roof of the room, which, like the floor was a complete mess, and a giant mass of cable, beams and what seemed to be an 'improvised' second level. Lex searched until she found the source of the voice, Adaliz, or 'Fox' as he was more commonly known, sat on one of the beams that jutted from the walls higher up, his one leg hung off the beam while the other rested on the beam itself, his back against a vertical beam that the one he sat on was attatched to.
Lex let out a sigh, "I need a favour."
Adaliz looked over his shoulder and past the beam, "Ohhhhh, was für ein Gefallen tun?" He said, obviously in german.
Lex grinned before sarcasticly cupping her ear with her hand, "Sorry?? what was that??"
Adaliz let out an irritated sigh before he slid off of the beam and landed lightly on the floor. "vat kind of favor?" he said in a slightly irritated tone, the german accent quite evident, however not incredibly strong or speech imparing.
"The Xsox Control chip is fried, i need you to try find me a ... 'new'... one."
Adaliz mimiked her stance, placing his hands on his hips, "Maaaybe.... zey it in german." he said with a grin, knowing full well Lex was very capable of speaking it, as well as a multitude of different langues, due to being exposed to them at a young age.
Lex let out a sigh, cleraly tired, yet quite used to this cherade "Fine...Ich brauche dich, um eine neue Steuerungs-Chip finden...."
Adaliz grinned broadly, "but of course mein Fräulein. Tis tief is at your dispozal" he said initiating a bow before walking out of the room and out into the street. before taking a good look around. "now... were ze hell am I going to get t'hat" he said to no one in perticular before choosing a random direction where he thought he had seen some scavangers trying to sell off things of that calibur.

--

A noble by no other name than Aletha hemmings leant over a clean table-top counter with a myriad of electronic looking gizmo's and gadgets. "So, what all do we have here?" she turnd to look at an assistant who was laying out evem more bit and pieces, "The new prototypes Ms Hemmings." the quiet assistant answered, her movements were passive, calm, almost like she was always in a daze.
Aletha flicked a lock of hair from her face, "This is it? I thought there would be... well... more, more improvements, more new breakthrougs. You know?! All this is is fixing the adaptation with the neural pathways and increasing adaptation and cognitive responce rates."
The assistant finished unpacking and went about her work, "Well, Theres not much they can do at this current point in time Ms hemmings so unfortunately we'll just have to deal with it. Oh and before i forget Ms hemmings, you have a scheduled meeting later today with Mr Sills and Marks at the estate."
"Yes yes, Sam, thank you. Wait," she said she she removed her hand from the desk and lifted it up at teh assistant, "Time?"
"Three o clock Ms Hemmings." "Thank you sam, that will be all." before the assistant took the cue to leave.

Brandon got off the tram a short way away from his own apartment. As much as he'd rather go home and crash on the couch he had an appointment to keep. He grabbed himself a coffee to keep from passing out and sullenly trudged on to his destination. He soon found himself waiting outside the home of an old acquaintance of his. So with cigarette in mouth and dark circles under his eyes he knocked on the door hoping that she wasn't home so he could get some sleep.



Jacks soon found himself in need of stretching his legs and some company. Anyone that knew him would also know where he would go. within a few minutes he stood in front of the door to his home away from home and banged on the door. "Hey Lex! Open up! Pleeeeeease tell me you that sound board fixed, I'm chomping at the bit out here!"

Aletha took another glance over at the implants before letting out a sigh and pushed herself away from the table wearily. she walked down towards te door before she took off her white lab coat and hung it up on a hook that was affixed to the wall just beside the door. As she wakled out of her office she passed through the waiting room of her clinic, which had already been emptied by Sam. Aletha took one last look around to make sure everything was in place before she turned off the lights and turned on the security system before leaving the complex and hopping onto a tram to her home. She had just enough time to fix herself something quick to eat and freshen up before the first guest had arrived.
Aletha quickly placed the plate in the sink and crossed over to the door before opening it, only to be met with the tired face of Brandon Sills. She opned the door further, allowing him inside, "Wow was this a bad time? you look terrible." she said as she closed the door behind him and wandered into the lounge before she sat herself down. "You want some tea or something to eat maybe?" she said, passing the time before the other person arrived.

--

Lex had decided to tinker with a small piece of tech she had 'aquired' some time ago while she waited for Adaliz. She hadn't been tinkering for long before an odd buzzing, screeching sound eccoed through the room. she chuckled to herself before she placed the little gizmo on the floor, "Either someone gave up, or thats Jacks." she said to herself with a grin before going to the door and letting it open. She chuckled, "Somehow, i just knew you'd decide to pay me a visit today." she said with a smile before letting him in. "Well, as usual, just make yourself at home" she said before going further inside and moving behind some creates where she had made an improvised sink out of old metal scraps and an odd looking tap. "Just tapped into the waterboard the other day, so we've finally got some sort of running water down here." she said so he could hear before she took an old rag and quickly washed off the thick layer of grease on her arms. Being mostly successful with this endevour she side-stepped her way back out from the crates and into the main area of the room. "Aside from that, the backup generator for the place gave out a few days ago, and by the looks of it its given up the ghost for good this time. So if i can't get that fixed i'll have to siphon out power from the main generators." she chuckled, "Or just have Fox act as the generator." she said, all of this was merely idle chatter, but it gave her something to do, that and mostly Adaliz would never understand what she was on about. "So, how's life been treating ya?" she said as she sat down on a crate and picked up the gizmo that she had been tinkering with a small while before.

Adaliz walked for quite some time before he found who he was looking for, a crooked, bent over old man who was able to, on occation, procure certain items of interest. Adaliz waited by the corner, pressing his back up against the wall he peered round, watching for a gap. A small crowd had formed around the old man, marveling at the components he had nabbed topside. Adaliz slid through the crowd easily and stood a few feet away from the table. Above all things he hated about going it, it was the smell, teh smell of the dead and dying, the deseased and stale air, the thought made him cringe. While he thought, the opening he had been waiting for presented itself, no one was looking or paying attention to the object he had been eyeing, with a quick movement he flicked the component into his pocket and casually walked away. "a little too easy" he thought to himself before he began his slow walk back to the shop.

--

Meanwhile a cartain member of the Marks family had finally decided to drag himself away from whatever he was doing and go to meeting on his fathers behalf. he looked at a piece of note paper that he held in his hands and up at the adress on the door, confident he had the right place he knocked casually on the door with his knuckles.
Aletha looked up and shook her head, "Well, late as always" she said before pushing hserself up from the chair and walking casually over to the door before opening it, "Glad you could finally jo-" she stopped as she had the door open enough to see who was on the other side, "I'm afraid this is a private residence, i'm waiting for someone so you'll have to leave" she said as she looked up at the person who looked nothing like the one she had been waiting for.
"I'm afraid Claton had an... accident. I am here on his behalf." he said as he walked inside, ignoring her protest.
"Look i don't know who the hell you are but-"
"The name you are looking for Ms Hemmings is Layton Marks. And seeing that my father just kicked the bucket i regret to inform you that you'll just have to deal with me in the future."
Aletha glared at him a moment before closing the door, "And here i thought Claton was an asshole..." she thought to herself "Right... this way then." she said before leading him towards the lounge. Without provocation Marks found himself a seat and sat himself down, Aletha rolled her eyes, "yeah, this is going to be a long day." Following suit she sat dowin in her previous chair, "What kind of... accident... if i may ask?" she said, eyeing the new heir of the Marks namesake.
"Elevator collapsed. Everyone inside regretably died, was quite a mess." he said casually, without even showing any remorse or pitty for the people that he spoke of.
Aletha had heard about it on the news, but diddn't know there was a Marks family member involved as they had left out that detail. "Sounds tragic" she said, hiding her suspisions that this new person was in some way involved. When, contrary to popular belief the accident was due to a structural fault, however Marks diddn't feel like pointing out the details at this time and allowed them to come to their own conclusion.

"Yes this was a bad time." Said Brandon irritably as he walked inside after dropping the cigarette and stomping it out. He never really cared for the larger houses, found them to be too much of a waste of precious space more than anything. He declined any food or tea and merely sank into the couch and closing his eyes for a bit until the next guest arrived.
He had just started to doze off when Narks arrived. He stretched and yawned once they finished speaking "Okay. So just what hell do you want anyways. I just got off a twelve hour shift and i'm not in the mood to have my time wasted."



Jacks couldn't help but laugh to himself. "Ya know it's a good thing you're so cute covered in grease and oil otherwise i wouldn't bother dropping by all the time, All you ever give me is bad news!" He said as he sat on a crate opposite of her. He stared at her for a small while enjoying the sight of her fiddling with some random object. "Reaver's calling in a meeting later tonight. Say's he's planning a hit on the Nobles. They need a hacker for this one... Three guesses who they came to.' He said in a somber tone. Crawler hackers had a horrendous life expectancy on missions as they were usually the ones that were targeted by Enforcers first.

Aletha folded her arms and casuslly crossed her right leg over her left, "Then i'll get streight to the point then won't I?" she said in a calm and hardly phazed tone. "The reason i called you both here today is because i have been recieving increased reports of crawler activity, not only down below. It would seem that they are getting perticularly active as of late." she sad allowing for a pause. Normally a person of her current career would know less of what went on around them than most, however due to her previous militarry career she had been able to aquire said information as it happned. Aletha also had certain 'lackeys' which she would never care to name that continually gave her first-hand information as she needed it. "I believe theyre planning something on a larger scale of what has been occuring. That and a number of my own contacts have gone silent, meaning they have either been found out or went rogue, either way it dosn't bode too well."
Marks folded his arms, "And you diddn't believe a simple message would have sufficed to inform us?" He said with a slightly irritrable tone.
Aletha however raised an eyebrow, "What kind of idiot do you take me for? Tgis was arranged for my own protection as well as that of others. If one of my messages were intercepted we would loose the potential element of surprise, i thought you of all people would have known this." she said before turning her attention back to Brandon, "What i am requesting is permission to delve deeper into the creeper networks and find out exactly what theyre plotting. I know it's risky and i know that is the reason why i have been declined before, however i believe that the plauseable information waiting to be found could help us end this dilema, perhaps only temoprarily granted, but it will give us a potential foothold in the situation, that i don't know about you, seems to be deteriorating."
Marks closed his eyes for a moment before responding, "Well, what ever the situation the Marks owe you a favor, as we are constantly reminded, plus the situation with the crawlers are causing us some.... issues... in our line of work. Say the word and i'll see what can be done." he said before getting up from his chair, "I assume my part of this is over. Good evening." he said in his usual tone with the usual blank and unreadable expression before making for the door and letting himself out.
Aletha let out a sigh. "I always regret having to talk to a Marks... makes me feel like i need a shower afterwards, you know what i mean?" she said with a chuckle, before noting Bradons irritability yet again. She let out a sigh and got up from her seat before wandering over to him. "If i had known about the shift i would have rescheduled." she said quietly before moving to the back of the chair, "Its a long way back for such a short meeting, feel free to stay here and rest up. Just, make yourself at home." she said as she leant on the back of the chair for a bit before moving off, as she stood in the corridoor she looked back for a moment, "You know where everything is so help yourself." she said with a smile before wandering back further into the apartment.

--

Lex chuckled at his remark, "Such a charmer you are." before she continued with her tinkering. Only to stop after ahwile and put it down on an improvised work-slash-dining table. She got up from where she had been sitting and moved over to another area before bringing back two handle-less mugs, offering one to Jacks before she sat herself back down. "Its not half as good as what the nobles have, yet its not half as bad as what the others here have." she chuckled as she sipped from her own mug. Only to stop halfway at the mention of Reaver needing a hacker. She closed her eyes and lowered the mug before letting out a sigh, "I'm guessing they chose you for the job..." she said more as a statement than a question. She played the mug around in her hands slightly, "And you say i always come with bad news" she said it in a slight joking tone, but her own solemn tone played through as she spoke. " I don't like it." she said plain and simple she said before opening her eyes again.

Meanwhile Aladiz had found his way back to the shop and used a quick zap of electricity to overload (and yet not destroy) the door so he was able to get it open. "Here." he said befoer flicking the component out from his pocket and onto the table before noting Jacks. "Hallo." he said in a nonchelant tone before noting the atmosphere was exceedingly grim. "Hat jemand sterben, oder etwas?" he said glancing at Lex before moving on past the two.
Lex shook her head, "Nein. Danke." she said the first to answer his question, and the second to thank for his help. To which Adaliz answered with a nod before he clambered up the vertical beam to rest there as he had before, not really paying attention to the conversation down below mainly because it was none of his business.
"Theres no way i'm letting you go alone yaknow." she said before sencing his inevitable protest. "If not me then at least someone who can cover you, Fox even"
At the mention of his nickname Adaliz looked over his shoulder at the two, "Ja?"
"I'm talking about you, not to you." Lex said glancing in his direction for only a split second. "I'm not losing another person to those damned monsters up there." she said edging her crate closer to his.

"Don't mind if i do." Brandon mumbled while laying with his back on the couch cushions. His eyes were closed for maybe twenty seconds before he dozed off. In truth he already knew most everything Aletha had just told them. With a few exceptions. truth was they knew exactly what the Crawlers were planning, but to keep the civilians from a panic they had been sworn to secrecy.



Jacks looked down at his hands as he spoke. "I know i know. But you know it's up to Reaver if he comes. He doesn't really care for tag alongs. Doesn't like to run the risk of someone that doesn't need to be there screwing things up." He looked up at Lex and gave her a smile. "But don't worry about me. You know i can take care of myself." He said more to himself than anyone.

Aletha meanwhile had watched from the hallway as Brandon fell asleep, she turned her head to the side slightly so her head was in line with the doorframe. She couldn't help but let a small smile cross her face "You havn't changed one bit." She said quietly to herself before she let her hand slip down the doorframe to rest at her side before moving further in to her apartment and heading towards the bathroom, to which she proceeded to have a quick shower and change into her nightware before moving over to her room. Not realising how long the day had actually dragged on. She placed her clothes carefully in the cupboard before standing in front of her bead. After a moment she looked over to the window and took note that the sun had set and the usual movements of the city moved over to their more usual laxed pace after dark. With a careful hand she picked up the remote at her nightsnad before she causually lifted it to be in line with her large windows before pushing the button. the room responded with a slight humm and the curtains began to close themselves, letting the light white fabric be pulled across the large window, dimming the lights from the outside city. Aletha streatched before walking over to the foot of her bed and promptly flopped onto it before edging herself up so her head rest on the soft pilliow. She diddn't even bother to pull the sheets over her as her room was already a comfortable temperature as it was. Without having to wait too long Aletha turned over to her side and fell asleep.

--

Lex frowned, the look on her face looked oddly cute while she stared at him intently. "Be that as it may." she said, still staring streight into his eyes, "I don't like it..." she was innteruppted by a voice above, "stare mehr und du wirst in seine Schoß fallen"
Lex Jerked back abruptly as her companion in the rafters cockily voiced his mind. Her face reddned slightly before glaring back over her shoulder, "geschlossen Ihre mund!" she said before looking back at Jacks, trying to ignore the snikkering laughter that came from above.
"Childlike son of a..." she said before regaining her composure and clearing her throat, "I know you can take care of yourself, i am well aweare of it." she said before letting a smirk ease its way onto her face. "You just tell 'ol Reaver that i'll be mighty pissed should i'll fate befall your mission"
Adaliz had heard enough before he stood from the crossbeam and launched himself into the air, aiming at the improvised second landing. The jump was quite impossible as the landing was some way away, instead at the last moment Adaliz grabbed out for another beam and used the momentum to fling him onto the second floor. He stretched and clicked his back before flopping down on his own area of the landing, an area of which, was quite devoid of usueless gatdgets and was kept in relitave order.

Jacks sighed. "Yeah i don't like it either. Word around the grapevine is that Enforcers are taking a shoot first ask questions later mind-set now. Speaking of which i had better get going." He said as he stood up and walked to the door. I'll just have to make sure that i'm wearing extra body armor ya know?" He said trying his best to smile. "The other guys will have my back don't worry." He said trying to keep both of them from worrying. "Sooo... I guess i'll see you when i get back. Hopefully." He said as he opened the shed door and walked out.

Lex watched as he went. "Better make that double armor!!" She shouted after him as a slight joke, in an attempt to lighten the mood. She watched him go, not able to shake a nagging feeling at the back of her mind. "You better damn well come back." She said more to herself.
"You going to keep moaping or are you going to go t bed ja?" Adaliz commented from where he lay on his bed on the second landing.
"Are you not concerned?? Not even the slightest, you know the enforcers have been up in arms since that last raid."
Adaliz rolled over so his back faced Lex. "Nein. Not at all. He's togher zahn he looks Lex." He said, recalling upon an incident where the two had gotten into a brawl over some or other thing that had been long since forgotten. "Don't vory yourselv Lexaz." He glanced back anticipating a reluctant responce. "Now get yourselv to bed. You avent sleeped zinse two dayz ago."
Lex let out a reluctant sigh before walking up to the second landing. "Fine. But try lecture me again like 'zaht'" she said lightly joking at his accent, "and I'll pummel you." She said before crawling over to her own bunk and throwing herself onto it.
Her comment made adaliz laugh. "You koud only try prinzez." He said to himself before both attempted to get some sleep