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Chapter 2: The City

Running, it’s the only thing filling my head. My hope of making it alive goes up, as I quickly close the distance toward the gate when I see a variety of security come out in uniforms.

It doesn’t matter if they can stop the monsters, I need to get inside. I barrel down the road faster putting all my effort into throwing at the opening gate. Hope and adrenaline rushed through my body giving me renewed vigor to finish the last stretch.

Guards clearing a path for me, as they turn on huge bright lights shining on the road behind me. In my moment of being distracted, I didn't see the object wiz past my head before it exploded behind me. The warmth and rattle from the explosion made it feel so close.

Panting heavily, I arrived at my goal, and rushed past the guards. I saw some had what looked like guns in their hands, while others did not have anything. I did notice none of the guards looked the same. Each is different and unique in appearance and size. Though maybe for their job they all appeared much bigger and stronger than me.

I pass the gate in full sprint and collapse beyond its safe embrace. Not too much later I heard the sounds of conflict from the otherside of the gate and loud scratchings of pain from monsters or creatures I am not familiar with.

I pick my head up, and look around me. I am not in the city yet, more of a middle area between the front gate, and another gate which would then allow me into the city. So with that, I try to stand up and again the weird feeling of my chest getting compressed and widened, my shoulders rotating out from in front of me, and my lower back adjusting as my muscles move to support me standing up and I get my hands back. I flex my fingers then I stand up fully, catching my breath.

“That is so uncomfortable.” I mumble out loud.

I look at this new gate and someone comes out to greet me. This fellow is a bit shorter than me, I noticed. He has pinkish skin with light fur over it. He has a snoot in which he is breathing out with some small tusks coming out from around his mouth.

“Are you a pig?” I asked.

“No! Why does everyone think that? I am a boar.” He huffs. “I am not a cop either! So are you going to keep insulting me or are you going to come over here and we can get you booked into the system?”

“Oh, well I guess? I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I guess that's what's required to get in.” I sigh.

I follow the poor guy up to a door which he opens and I follow him inside. This place is full of some weird tech magic stuff. Like it's a weird balance between the two. This room he took me into had this weird machine with a lot of adjustable parts that has a platform to stand on, but the rest of the machine is hanging from the ceiling with a lot of arms like a giant spider with the top of it glued to the ceiling and legs hanging in the air.

“What the hell is that?” I asked very concerned about what they plan on doing to me.

“Oh everyone is usually concerned at first, it's not as bad as it looks.” He tried to comfort me.

“Uh-huh.” I mumble.

Following instructions he gives to me, I end up standing inside of the machine center with all the arms around me. He then proceeds to attack some cuff that covers up most of my forearm, starting at the wrist and going toward my elbow. Then he attacks various other parts of me, or positioning it in places around me.

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“Okay you're going to feel a slight pain in your wrist, after that we are going to scan you, for if you have an ability and what it might be classified as.” he states sitting at a console which I assume operates the machine.

I didn't have a chance to mutter a single word in reply, before a sharp hot stabbing pain flared up in my wrist. Following that the machine riled to life and started scanning my body from head to toe.

“What is your name?” He asks without looking at me.

“A, ah, name? I Don't know. I, ah, am lost.” I go to keep speaking, but I cut off from a jolt of pain in my arm again.

“You look like a wolf so your last name will be Wolf.” He does not let me say anything. “Well miss ahh, Lost Wolf. Your ability doesn't seem too useful sadly. I don't know what type of job you might be able to get, or who would want you. Adaption type abilities usually are not too valued.” He says as the machine stops.

“What do you mean?” I grit through my clenched teeth holding myself back from punching this fat pig in the face.

“Well it says your ability is classified as ‘adaptive’ which means you physically change or something about you changes depending on the situation. Last one I saw was this weird lady, her skin would change to blue when it got wet. It's all it did. So most are considered useless.” He says with a small laugh.

“So, what's so impressive about yours? Huh?” I demand from him.

“Well, if you so wish to know. I guess I wont keep it from you. I know when people are lying to me. It's a ‘sensory’ type ability, very valuable. They use me in a lot of interrogations.” He says smugly.

Though as much as I hated it, it did sound valuable. He did get me out of the machine. When he took the cuff off my arm he forced my palm up and pointed to a small device poking out the underside of my wrist.

“Think about this device and showing a display.” He demanded.

I tried my best to do so, and to my surprise it lit up and projected a display in the air. On it was my name, which sadly is Lost Wolf, followed by my age, 24, my height, 183cm, species, wolf. There is more information, but it's all blank like, status, and ground affiliation.

“What is all this?” I asked, surprised by all of this.

“It's the city’s system, keeps track of everything. No one can see your display except you. It shows your status, which is your standing in the city, everyone usually enters on the civilian status which is neutral. There are varying status, like criminal if you commit a lot of crimes, or vigilantly if you hunt them down without a reward, or bounty hunter if you are in for the reward. Guardsmen have a protected status, as long as they remain guardsmen. It allows them to take care of things.” He explains.

“I see, well am I free to go now? Sir.” I huff.

“Ya, go. Dogs always smell bad when wet.” He grumbles after he finished freeing me and takes me back outside to the gate to enter the city and gets me through it, and that is when I take my first steps into the city.