The Case of the Second City

[nevegallus]

It’s unlike anything she’s ever seen before. She and Shion had talked about it, putting the pieces together, but to see it, to feel it, is another matter.

It isn’t the Fade, she knows that much. If it were, she would feel it, and she might even understand it. The Fade can show memories of an existing place, but this… This isn’t that, of that Neve is certain. This looks like another Darrow altogether, just like they’d been hearing. But if it’s meant to be a perfect copy, whoever made it got it all wrong. Buildings are crumbling. The ground is warm beneath her foot in some areas, like there’s a fire smouldering beneath the surface. And here and there, creatures skuttle. Her metal foot is dirtied with the remains of crawling bugs she’d stomped. In the distance, she’s seen lumbering, armless creatures who seem to retch and spasm before moving on. She’s kept that distance between them. There’s no reason to be reckless.

It’s been less than an hour since she stepped into the rift that had appeared in front of her. It had felt like tempting fate: She’d told Shion she needs more information, and she still believes that’s true, but… An eluvian that she can’t exactly see, taking her to a place she can’t exactly plan for but needs to investigate all the same.

She’d taken the chance. It might be a way out, or it might lead to one, and she wouldn’t be much of a detective if she didn’t pursue all leads. The Gilded Prison Job continues, and now she realizes she’s stepped into a new case altogether: The Case of the Second City.

Now she needs to find out how deep this goes, and who else is here besides her.

“Well… time to get to work,” she murmurs. Scepter in hand, Neve continues deeper into the crumbling, smouldering second city of Darrow.

Comments

[afeastofthirst]

Whoops. Shion had meant to keep the farce of his having only come down here this once, since he was supposed to keep Neve informed of anything he learned. At least, that was the implicit agreement. To be fair, he supposes, he hasn't found out anything of use. And he hasn't actually said it's his first time down, so he hasn't been caught in a lie. That's helpful.

"Second," he says with a rueful sigh, unfaltering. "I didn't find anything useful before. I just wanted to find a way out." Too panicked, he implies, to linger and investigate, but sheepish about admitting it. Granted, it really did require a lot of searching to find his way out the last couple times. It takes patience. "I hoped I'd be more productive this time."

[nevegallus]

His answer is smooth and seems honest enough, at least, but something sits just wrong about it.

It's the implicit apology. I didn't find anything useful before. Like she might be disappointed he hadn't told her, and he's explaining himself before she can ask. That doesn't make it a lie, but it does mean it could be one, and if it is, then Shion is damn good at lying. And that's something else to keep in mind.

"The important thing is to stay safe," she reminds, keeping her thoughts close to the vest. "'Useful' is secondary. Maybe even to 'getting out'. Did you see any of these creatures last time?"

[afeastofthirst]

Shion pulls a face and nods. "There are several different kinds," he says. That, at least, probably is useful knowledge. "All extremely creepy. I don't know if I would have stayed safe if I weren't fast. Good at climbing, too, that helps. They don't seem so inclined to follow up walls and stuff. But they're very inclined to violence."

He can hold his own, of course. It would be a lie if he said that wasn't part of the appeal of coming here. Finding answers is the most important part as far as he's concerned, but it feels good, really, to stretch his muscles both literally and metaphorically. He's not touching a drop of whatever comes out of these things, though. He doesn't trust it.

[nevegallus]

"What kinds have you seen?" she asks. She needs this sort of data, so she can be better prepared. If she knows what she's going to be fighting, she can fight it more effectively. "And once you've told me that," she adds, "you can tell me how you got out of here the first time." That'll be good to know, too, of course, even if their current objective is Second City Hall for information on who or what these creatures used to be.

[afeastofthirst]

Shion nods, short and firm, though some amusement creeps into his expression, his shoulders relaxing slightly. It is comforting, really, not to be alone in this place. More than that, reporting to her has him feeling oddly nostalgic, like he's bringing intel back to Heli.

"Let's see," he says, "where to start? Uh, I saw a pack of creepy little things that sort of looked like kids if they were made of burning embers, and others that aren't on fire but they have knives. There were a couple — I think it was different ones I saw, not the same guy twice, but it's sort of hard to tell, because they don't have faces. Or arms. But they shoot something weird and dark from their chests, some kind of liquid maybe? There were some I only saw from a distance, so I'm not sure if they were something different or not."