01

As the last moments of the gloaming waned in a slowly-graying atmosphere, a rainbow-hued haze slowly pulsed to life, flowing along the streets like radioactive lifeblood in the city’s circulatory system. Light pollution hovered over the metropolis, a brilliant halo that outlined the skyline’s dark industrial columns.

Though technically not behind schedule, Cal pushed through the growing crowd like a man on a serious timeline. After barging past the herd at the northern entrance to Urigo Sector, he forced his way through a group of sailors who were seeking a night of entertainment. One seaman complained at being shoved aside, only to quickly lose sight of the shabbily-dressed man as Cal disappeared in the burgeoning throng.

A thick mist, illuminated by the prismatic hues of the surrounding street signs, gave the densely-populated avenues a hallucinatory quality; much like inebriation induced one’s senses to dance between dreams and reality. However, Cal knew better. He hadn’t touched an intoxicant in weeks, though not for lack of trying. His sober mind was a sharp as could be, which left him all the more suspicious of his surroundings.

Urigo Sector was a haven for all manner of debaucheries found within the boundaries of Greater Decedistadt and offered anything for a price. In light of his current predicament, what was for sale did not concern him. On a good day, he might have indulged, but he had been summoned.

Cal slipped two wary fingers beneath the hem of the patchwork leather jacket. They settled on the ivory-inlaid revolver barely concealed behind the heavy coat that kept the night’s moisture off his shoulders.

He was mindful of the robbers, pickpockets and the usual hooligans who hid in the crowds, preying on visitors. With what little he had to his name, the last thing he wanted was to be picked over. While they would find nothing of value in his pockets, the matching pair of revolvers that hung off his waist would be a prize more worthy than his own life.

If it came to it, he’d fight his way clear of any trouble, even if it ultimately proved counterproductive. At best, it would cause him to be late. At worst, it would draw the attention of the city’s security forces. Urigo Sector was by and large self-regulating, with the business owners left to police themselves. If a spot of unexpected violence broke out, a legion of Magistrates, Greater Decedistadt’s main source of security, would fall upon the streets like an axe on a dead tree. The result of which would clear the area; most businesses would be forced to close up until the city’s constabulary were gone.

He’d walked the streets many times before and could pick out the people working the crowd by dress and mannerisms alone. Ladies of the night, barely dressed in silk, lined the curbs on his right, occasionally flashing extra skin to seduce patrons from the crowd. The dampness in the air only served to make their outfits all the more stimulating.

At each street corner, garishly-dress barkers filled the air with their enticements, beckoning with the promise of a valuable night’s amusement. An overlapping drone of advertisement floated atop chatter roiling through the watershed courtyard that fed to all corners of the sector.

As he crossed through the horde, his head popped up as he looked for specific signage on the south end of the court. With his free hand, Cal brushed the sogginess from his ash blond hair. It had been some time since it had been cut and the humid air quickly pasted it down over his forehead. The kaleidoscope of colors that glittered throughout the district reflected in the pale gray of his eyes. During the day, hints of blue could be seen in his irises, but now those were muddied in the irradiated haze.

Eventually, he found his exit, an unmarked lane between the exterior walls of rival gambling halls, and peeled away. Between the pair of multistory brick edifices, the crowd’s clamor faded to a dull murmur behind him. A nearby streetlight threw a long shadow that was swallowed a few yards down.

A few paces along the way, he spied the gaudily-neon, rectangle-shaped light at the far end of the alley. The vermillion-hued sign was a hard-light construct that hovered midair only a few inches from the nearby wall. Two lines of text flickered luridly in the murky lane. The glowing sign cast a pale outline on the surrounding brick walls and the thin stream that had collected in the uneven stone path.

As he picked up his pace and jogged along the narrow back alleys, Cal brushed against a man heading in the opposite direction. He was overdressed for the weather and the brim of his hat was pulled down over his face to hide what was not obscured in the darkness. With a grunt, the man continued on, without a look at Cal. Cal ignored the incident; it wasn’t the first time he had encountered someone who desired anonymity.

After a few sharp turns, Cal came upon the innocuous-looking building, hidden between two taller ones. Each was topped with a large sloping roof that almost concealed the discreet business entrance. Pink lights that hovered above the lintel stated plainly "D’RIAN OBIX" without further clarification. Cal knew the strange name meant many things to many different people. Some said it was a phrase from a long-dead language. Others claimed it was a lewd expression that originated from Thosa Prathvi to the south, on the other side of the Byrathium Sea.

He trotted down the steps to the front door and gave it a firm rap with his knuckles. As the rattle echoed back into the lonely passage, the dense steel barrier swung wide to reveal an incredibly broad-shouldered man in a suit that stretched tightly across his chest. Lit from behind, the thick shelf of his brow cast shade down his craggy features.

Recognizing the recently-arrived patron through a rose corona, the doorman groaned as if disappointed and stepped aside. With a cockeyed grin, Cal slid inside and bypassed the man.

The rank odor of wet garbage was replaced with the sultry musk of booze, tobacco and unfettered lust. The interior was lushly decorated in dark wood and deep green wallpaper, with a series of brass and colored glass sconces lining the walls. A thick burgundy carpet swished under Cal’s booted feet. Two rows of dense rosewood benches were set facing each other in the entrance hall, one of which was occupied by an older gentleman negotiating over the price of a young lady’s services. From beyond the curtains separating the hall from the main chamber, rumbling promised pleasures that Cal was sad to miss.

As he stepped through the velvet drapes, familiar sights came in view. Dozens of felt-lined tables were spread out across the room. A few dozen men of varying ages and classes were fixated on various card or dice games. Smoke hung like a dense cloud over the proceedings.

A bevy of half-naked women wandered, many carrying trays lined with drinks. They moved luridly, the sway of their hips and unconstrained breasts as lusty advertisements. From time to time, patrons who had no financial stake in the competitions would pull one of the women aside. If the terms of their proposition proved agreeable, the newly-formed pair would disappear to other rooms, including a row above the bar at the back of the main hall.

Cal let the curtain swing closed behind him and carefully stepped around the maze of tables to avoid disturbing the clientele. His view wandered from one barely-dressed woman to another. The acres of flesh were hard to ignore. A few eyed the new arrival, only to turn away once they recognized him. A dealer from a nearby table gave him a sideways glance, warding him off.

To the right of the bar was a set of stairs to the second floor. At the foot of the steps waited two mountains parading as men outfitted in suits who glared at Cal as he arrived. One of the well-dressed bouncers that served as checkpoint for the brass-and-redwood stairs leaned in as he held up a hand.

Cal cleared his throat and raised his voice to be heard. “I’m Cal—”

“We know who ya are, Reeger.” The man on the right stated as his brow furrowed.

“Well, then, you know why I’m here, right?”

“Ya gots Jaefor’s credits?”

“Uh…” Cal sputtered, which caused both men to grin.

“Well, den, ya should heads on up. Boss has sometin’ for ya ta do.”

The bouncer with the crew cut and block-shaped jaw stepped aside as if to let him pass. The second stopped him with a hand on his collar. Cal’s heart jumped as he skidded to a halt, turning to the dark-skinned muscle whose long black hair was tied back behind his head. Icy blue eyes scanned Cal before they paused on the leather jacket draped over his shoulders.

“Dat is not yers,” he announced, punctuating each syllable with a poke at Cal’s chest.

“What isn’t?” Cal’s head turned to the side to avoid the man’s gaze.

“De jacket. I seens it on ole Jecobis nots a week ago. Orange patches on the shoulders an’ elbows. Brass clasp closures.” He pointed to each section of the coat as he spoke. “Ya can’t waltz aroun’ in sometin’ like dat an’ people not notice it.”

“I won it fair and square.”

Both men shared a laugh. After a minute, Crew Cut spoke up. “We all know you’re too chicken shit to kill a man for it, so I assume you stole it from him when he was sleeping in the next alley over. ‘m I right?”

This time, Cal was more insistent. “I tell you I won it justly on a bet. On rodent races in Golland Park.”

“Get this,” Crew Cut nudged his coworker in the arm. “Ain’t got two coins to rub together, nowhere to sleep even, so he bets for a leather jacket. What a riot. On rats, no less. Big spender, he is.”

“Indeed,” Black Hair said with a smile before eventually waving him up the stairs. “Get yer ass movin’ along. Ya hang out ‘round here too long, we might catch a bit of yer luck.”

They separated and let him climb the steps. Usually, they would have vigilantly patted down anyone who was to head upstairs; no one was to carry a weapon anywhere near Jaefor. Even though the two revolvers that hung from matching holsters were plain to see, they let him through unmolested.

With a hand on the brass bannister, Cal took the steps two at a time. Once he reached the second floor, he hung a hard left, dashed around a pair of women who turned up their noses at him as if he were spoiled meat, and headed for the last door on the right.

A quick knock elicited a call to enter. After taking deep inhalations to calm himself, he slipped into the room.

Cal came to an immediate halt as the door shut with a click. His breath caught in his throat as his eyes widened.

Framed foremost in Cal’s view was the older man, Jaefor, entirely naked and standing beside his bed, his creaky hips moving back and forth in a constant loop of hungry thrusts. Kneeling on the bed on her hands and knees was a young, busty redhead softly moaning in response. A sickening beat of wet flesh on flesh caused Cal to gulp as a blush colored his cheeks.

The juxtaposition of the aging and wrinkled Jaefor, who had an extra thirty pounds hanging from all the wrong places, and the young woman left Cal a bit confused, puritanical shame warring with voyeuristic arousal. His eyes jumped back and forth between her swaying breasts and Jaefor’s own bloated torso. Eventually, he turned away.

“Uh, s-sorry about the interruption. I-I didn’t know,” Cal sputtered. “I’ll come back once your—”

“No need,” Jaefor raised a hand without turning away from his conquest. The other remained on her hip, fingers digging into the soft flesh. “I’ll be able to pause in a min…” He stopped as his entire body clenched. After a series of grunts and a long breath through his nose, he slapped the girl on the ass and extricated himself with a gooey sound. Any desire that might have remained for Cal was surely gone now.

Still naked, with all of the signs of a life of excess shown on his mottled skin, Jaefor turned and dropped to the edge of the bed. As he reached over and gathered up a green silk bathrobe, the girl slumped forward and fell face-first into the mattress. Her breathing was deep and regular and she made no effort to cover herself. There was a hint of blush on her pale skin, but she remained face down on the top of the mattress.

Jaefor rose unceremoniously as he wrapped himself up and met Cal halfway across the room.

“Is she… okay?” The words left Cal’s mouth before he could remind himself to keep out of Jaefor’s personal business.

“Does it really matter?” Jaefor rubbed at the graying stubble beneath his chin. The pupils of Jaefor’s brown eyes were dilated; Cal scanned the room for the man’s main vice of choice. A mirror covered in tan powder sat atop a nearby bedside table.

Cal’s lips opened and the words began to spill out. “But—”

Fortunately, Jaefor interrupted him. “She knows better than to bother rising from the bed. She’ll only have to return to her original position when our business has concluded. I find that I truly enjoy taking a woman from behind. They can’t see my face and I don’t have to see theirs. It ruins the mood to see what a woman is feeling. They’re awful at keeping the little ticks that show the truth in their expressions. When it comes to the more detestable of their roles in society, they’re horrible liars. In fact, once you and I are done with our transaction, I will return to complete receiving payment for her father’s lost earnings.”

Cal struggled to hide the grimace on his face. He had heard the smallest pained whimper through the pillows. Thank the gods he’s not interested in men. I can’t imagine the kind of payment he would put to me if he did.

“Would you care to go a round?” Jaefor offered politely. An evil grin creased his weathered face as watched Cal. “You seem stressed. Maybe a little exercise culminating in an enjoyable release of fluids would loosen you up a bit. Might make you more receptive to your future assignment.”

“Uh, I think I’ll take a rain check.”

“Are you positive? Because getting my man-bits worked over, getting the blood flow moving from one place to another, makes me a far more agreeable businessman to bargain with. In fact, if my dear girl hadn’t been in such a receiving mood, we might be having this discussion with you on your knees and two very large men breaking an assortment of bones.”

Cal gulped. Despite the cheeriness of his mood, Jaefor’s words rang of a ghoulish truth. “No, I’m sure I’m all good.”

“Ah, it’s all for the best, anyway.” Jaefor cast a glance over his shoulder. “If you had defiled her with your miscreant’s seed, I certainly would not have seen it in me to stick my meat back in. And then, how else would she finish paying off dear old father’s obligation? Perhaps with a lengthy stay at the local brothel. Not here, mind you. This is far too upscale for the likes of her family. Down the street, at the Red Wench, perhaps. Fortunately, your gentlemanly declination has kept her single night of indignation from turning into a month of slogging through a hundred cocks, I guess.”

At that comment, the girl placed her hands over her ears. Jaefor frowned.

“Damn it all, don’t soil the sheets with your whoring tears!” Jaefor snapped before turning back to Cal. “Well, Mr. Reeger, let us be formal now and get to the matter of our business before her cunt dries up. I’d hate to have to go through all the effort to warm the child back up again. I only have so many hours in the day to waste. As it is the bedspread will need to be cleaned if not outright thrown in the fire.”

“Yes, sir.” Cal replied sharply, hands behind his back.

“Since you still owe a debt to me, I have a very specific task that I need you to take care of. One of a dubious nature, as you might imagine. Considering the amount in which you are indebted, I’m quite sure you understand the potential for lethality and illegality. I expect you to act accordingly. Keep it hush-hush and all.” At this, Jaefor walked across the room to a liquor cabinet and poured from a decanter of whiskey. His rings clinked against the glass as he gripped it in one hand.

“Of course. And what would be this job?”

“I hear tales that the Archaeology Bureau in Rian Sands has unearthed a rare find in Natx Hollow. How rare is yet to be determined I hear. Something about a Third Era site buried deep, almost a half-mile below the surface. I want whatever of value can be seized from there, no matter what it is. To sell for a profit or to keep for my own. Makes little difference. I want it. I have an empty place in my sitting room that needs something ancient and/or expensive as a conversation starter.”

“Do you even know what it is?”

“Unimportant,” Jaefor flicked a hand in the air as he sipped. “As you would imagine, the excavation site is likely under guard. So, normally, getting you in would cost more coin than it’s worth to me. Having said that, though, it’s been brought to my attention another means of entry. The Athenaeum of the An-Sebban already has a relationship with the Bureau and can gain access to Natx Hollow without too much difficulty. A recently-submitted petition has been approved to allow one of their own to catalog the site and bring the information back for their collection. As you may know, the An-Sebban are not the most… sturdy or world-wise of people, so they have sent out a contract to the Merced League for the services of a bodyguard.”

“And you need me to—”

“Shut the fuck up… is what I need you to do.” Jaefor clenched his teeth. “My resource in the League already has the contract set aside, to be filled at my discretion. As such, I want you to pick up the An-Sebban, escort them to the site and when the time is right, appropriate all of that ancient shit that your filthy hands can hold. Smuggle as much as you think would balance your debt to me. I have little choice but to leave the decision-making to you as to what you would appropriate, but in light of your history, I would consider that you aren’t good with that sort of critical thinking. Assume that anything you acquire is likely worth half of what you think it is.”

Cal nodded quietly. He didn’t care for Jaefor’s tone, but he kept his tongue in check.

Jaefor downed his drink and dropped the glass on the bedside table, scattering tan dust from the mirrored surface. He crossed the room to a birch hutch desk, opened a drawer and removed a sheaf of papers. “Make no mistake, Reeger: I am sending you on this task because you owe me a grand amount. This is the most important thing you will ever do with the rest of your life. The rabble that scurries to and fro from my establishments may see you as a pathetic roach, doing your best to avoid the boot that will crush the life from you. I, on the other hand, see the raw talent, the once-capable gunman, who squandered a life of promise in the pursuit of wine, women and wealth, only to end up with none of them.”

Jaefor turned back to him. “Understand me when I say this: fail in this endeavor and I will find value from you. I will strip the skin from your body while you still live, have it tanned, and then use it to upholster a new piece of furniture. I will task men to find everyone in your bloodline and do the same to them. And in the end, I will sell this fine collection of furnishings to the highest bidder to at least recoup a portion of my lost capital.”

He reached out his hand, offering the papers to Cal, who quickly snapped them up.

“In the morrow, you’re to arrive at the Athenaeum’s property in Nipir’x Sector and report to the headmistress, Grande Dame Hru-Gatta, to retrieve your ward. These documents will be enough to appease any curiosity she may have. Also, there are the required papers of transit to get through Ilgyngate and on the continental rail to Quartewuste.”

“There, uh, there is a slight matter.” Cal was hesitant to bring up his concern.

“As expected, I assume that you have no spending money to make any arrangements of your own. Speak with Illgosses at the cashier’s window downstairs to get a stipend that will be added to your debt. Pick up a little extra and possibly buy an outfit that doesn’t leave you with all the appearances of vagrancy. You are working for the League. Also, do the An-Sebban a favor and spend a little time to wash the stench from your body.”

Cal clutched the documents tightly against his chest.

“Now get out of here, lest you wish to pay a viewing fee.”

Cal was out the door as quickly as his feet would take him.

#

Cal’s steps had a dancing quality as he approached the cashier window at the back corner of the main hall. Though the bouncers by the stairs heckled him, he offered no retort. He was too relieved to be out of Jaefor’s presence with all of his limbs intact to care what anyone in the building thought of him.

A dour countenance greeted him from behind the metal bars. On the other side of the window reclined the pale-skinned banker, coated in flop-sweat and sporting green-tinted glasses. His thinning hair was brushed out of his face, and a long scar that ran diagonally along the crest of his scalp created an odd part in the oily coif.

Another man entered the cashier’s cage from an adjacent room and closed the steel door. A rattle of metal jingled with every footstep. Draped in a suit of slate-colored armor plating, the sentry was an athletic man, leaner than the bouncers, who waited in the shadows at the back of the room. The outfit under the armor was black fabric that had the appearance of snakeskin. The fingers of his banded gauntlets rested on a belt that hung from his hips. On one end swung a baton and the other a pistol.

In the faint light from a nearby lamp, the features of his face were dark behind his bronze helm. If Cal was not already familiar with Raxus, whom he had seen on prior occasion, he might have been caught off-guard by the glistening faceplate. Even still, he found himself pausing at the window for a breath too long, which caused the cashier to bark at him.

“What brass-plated balls you must have to show your face here. I told you last time you don’t have any more credit with us. Why Jaefor—”

“He’s why I’m here,” Cal interrupted before Illgosses could continue on what would certainly be a spit-spewing tirade.

At this, Illgosses looked to the sentry, who only shrugged.

“Educate me as to how you’ve acquired additional credit.” Illgosses narrowed his eyes and leaned in.

Cal pulled the recently-acquired papers from within his jacket and flashed them at the cashier. Illgosses eyed the top sheet as he ran a jagged finger along the more pertinent parts of the legal documentation. By the time he reached the third page, he appeared convinced and pushed the notes back to Cal.

After counting and recounting the stack of currency, Illgosses slid the funds to Cal and leaned away. “Don’t spend it all in one place,” he said as Cal slipped back with a sarcastic salute.