Thinking for a second Rick nodded and replied "The other gangs besides the Scorpion Kings, are the Creamers, Gallery of Fools and Finally the Wounded Falcon Tribe. As you may have guessed the Scorpion Kings run this area of town."

"I know gangs adopt some odd names, but these are quite the selection of names. I mean what gang calls themselves Creamers?" Jessica said.

"Be careful not to allow anyone to hear you make fun of their names. That's just asking for death. When the Creamers first came to power, Keith down the road made a crack about the creamers while he was receiving a haircut. Next day he was discovered outside of town on an oiled spike."

Rick shook his head "That's how I knew the guards were already corrupt. They said they didn't see Keith getting impaled mere feet from the entrance, yeah fucking right. The Creamers gained the name from the base they hold, plus it's their primary source of income. It's an old Ice Cream Factory."

Leaning against the counter, Lisa asked "That old place? Before I left I heard rumour they had found some mutants that produced drinkable milk. City council was looking to reopen the place after that."

"The mutants didn't work out. Didn't produce enough milk to make a difference. So the place was abandoned, until the Creamers took over and found another source of milk." Rick said in disgust.

"What do you mean Uncle Rick?" Lisa asked.

"They apparently obtained some drug that causes women to develop enormous breasts. It also makes them produce milk like crazy. They've been taking women slaves they get and milking them to get the milk for the Ice Cream. It's now one of the most popular products in the city."

"Sadly it's tough on those women, and the Creamers are always on the hunt for more women. I recommend not going into their area of control. Women there have a tendency to disappear, only to reappear working in the creamery. When the Creamery are done with the woman, they dispose of them to the other gangs as human cows." 

"That is sick. They are allowed to do that?" Jessica asked.

"Like I said the corruption runs deep in the city. I'm not sure if the city council is run by the gangs or runs the gangs. As long as the Creamers don't kill the woman the other gangs don't care."

"What about the other gangs? What can you tell us about them?" Melissa asked.

"The Gallery of Fools gets its name from them taking over the Museum. They are the more affluent gang around the city. They run the bank and several other facilities of the city. They apparently have access to the city councils purse. While they may not have as much power as some of the others, they certainly have more then enough Arcs. I've also heard they have dealings with some Sky Cities."

"What about the Wounded Falcon Tribe and Scorpion Kings?" Melissa asked.

"Wounded Falcon has taken over a ruined airbase. They don't have any planes of course, but they do have some old military weaponry making them the most powerful in terms of combat, of the gangs in the area. As for Scorpion Kings they maintain an old hospital as a base. Fortunately for me, they are also the easiest to deal with. They are willing to make deals and don't like to kill indiscriminately. I just need to pay my dues on time."

Jessica nodded and said "Thank you for the information."

Shrugging Rick said "It's no problem, if you two are going to stay here, it's a good idea to know what you are getting yourself into. I wouldn't want you to walk into the wrong area and get yourselves in trouble." Rolling over in his wheelchair, he went behind the counter and looked around and pulled out a set of keys.

"For you, here is my best room. I haven't rented it out in years so you don't have to worry about catching something. I haven't cleaned it but it's the best room we have available." He handed the keys over to Jessica.

"Much obliged, have a good night you three." Jessica said and left Lisa and Sam to talk with Rick. Melissa and the blobs followed behind her.

Exiting the lobby, she looked at the set of keys seeing that they were to a room on the second floor, Jessica climbed the patched-up stairs. They went all the way to the last room on the second floor. The key slid into the door handle and Jessica twisted and found the door clicked open.

Opening the door, she found a room covered in dust and a moldy smell told her it might have been years since the last time anyone had been inside. Flipping on the lights, Jessica sighed and looked down "I know I've been asking a lot of you guys lately, but do you think you could help clean this room? It so dusty in here I worry it be hard to breathe otherwise."

Skye waved a tentacle in agreement and waved at the other blobs to get them into action. They rolled all over the place and began to clean the place. As they rolled over the carpet Jessica could see a literal trail of cleanliness as they went. Dusting off the table, Melissa took a seat and said "So what do you think of this city so far?"

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Looks like it has seen some better days. Not at all like the Old Rail City. We might have a hard time getting the Arcs necessary from this place."

Melissa looked at Jessica and stated "If we want to do it by the book yeah, but if we do it another way, we could make a killing of Arcs. I'm getting the sense we will have the opportunity to get a great deal of Arc's real fast. But we need more information before I settle on a plan."

"Can you let me know what kind of plans you are thinking of?"

“Tell me what kind of city has four gangs with no conflict among themselves? We might be able to play them off each other and reap some cash."

"That is possible. Of course for all we know they are all run by the city council and it won't work."

"Yes, which is why we need more information on the gangs. Plus we require more information on the city council. It is possible we can discover an informant. Do you think the blobs would be able to do some scouting work?"

Jessica glanced at the blobs that were cleaning the room. "Maybe, but if they get caught, it's going to be very obvious that they are connected to me."

"It's just an option to consider. I don't think it's a good idea for us to go into the ice cream factory looking for information. So a blob might be a better choice."

"If we are going to do this, is staying here a good idea?"

"As long as we're careful, I think we will be good." Melissa said. Then looked over at the twin beds the blobs had finished cleaning. "So which bed do you want?"

"I'll take the first one. Wonder if the bathroom works." Jessica said and walked over and took one look into the bathroom before saying, "Don't go in there until they clean that up." She had sworn she could see mushrooms growing on the walls before she quickly closed the bathroom door.

"That bad?"

"Worse then you can imagine. If it's too much for you to clean, don't over exert yourselves okay?" Jessica said looking down at the blobs. Blaze waved a hand and returned to cleaning the room.

"Maybe the blobs can get a job as maids." Melissa joked.

"Yeah, they are good at cleaning. You didn't see it, but I don't like the way this Mark asshole looked at me. It's probably good he didn't get a look at you as well. If we head out, we will have to be careful. He might try to recruit us to pimp us out. I got the feeling he wouldn't take no for an answer"

"Yeah, we have to be on guard with him. Still checking out that bar would be a good way to get the lay of the land. We might be able to get an inside look at the Scorpion Kings."

Jessica nodded and undressed down to her underwear, and laid down on the bed. To be safe she kept her gun next to her head. Melissa laid down fully clothed, and said "Is it alright if I turn off the lights?"

"Go ahead."

When Melissa flicked off the lights, the room went dark. Jessica could hear the blobs moving about making their usual squicky noises as they moved around. Closing her eyes she was about to go to sleep, when she heard thumping on the wall behind her and moans letting her know what was going on right behind the wall.

Eventually, after the sounds died down, Jessica fell asleep. Once more she suffered from nightmares only to be woken up when Melissa clicked on the light and said "It's morning. Time to get up. Oh and the blobs cleaned the bathroom. The shower works somewhat. I've already taken mine. When you are done with yours, let's see if we can't go outside and get something to eat. I'm tired of eating these ration bars."

Opening her eyes, she said "Yes let's do that.", and sat up and looked around. To her surprise the room looked almost brand new, that was how clean the slimes had gotten the room. Even the minor damage had been repaired. Looking about she said "I wonder if Rick would be willing to pay us to clean the inn."

"This place does need a deep cleaning, though I don't know if his clientele will even appreciate it."

"Maybe not, but it might allow us to use this place as a base for free."

"Perhaps, though I would like to get a more secure location. I'm unconfident this window would block a rock" Melissa said pointing at the front window that was blocked by curtains.

"That's where we can rely on the blobs. Right Guys?" Daisy looked up and waved a tendril in agreement.

Jessica stood up and walked to the bathroom and admitted the bathroom looked absolutely clean. Though she didn't have soap, she still took a shower and rinsed off grime. While she could have asked the blobs to clean her off, she liked the feel of running water across her skin.

When she was done, she shut off the water and found a set of clean towels nearby. Wiping herself down, she got dressed and walked out. Feeling her stomach rumble she said "I am hungry and it's about time they got some real food. Let's go down and see if we can't get any breakfast."

Exiting the room, making sure to lock it behind them, they walked down to the lobby and found Lisa behind the counter. "Already got a job?" Jessica said after greeting her.

"Yeah, I offered to take the morning shift, though to be honest not many guests have come through so far. How was your night? Did you sleep well? I saw some of the rooms, and they are not the cleanest to be honest."

Melissa shrugged and said "Some loud neighbors but not too bad. Is your Uncle Rick sleeping?"

"Yeah, he is resting at the moment. He was running himself ragged so I got him to agree to sleep. He said he would be in to take over the afternoon."

"Where is Sam?" Jessica asked looking around.

"He's taking a look around town, seeing if he can get some supplies to help fix up the inn."

"Speaking of fixing up the place, we have an offer to help clean up the place. My friends are good at cleaning." Jessica said pointing at the blobs.

"I'm not quite sure my Uncle has enough money to hire you."

"We were thinking we could just take a room and use this place as a base while we are in town."

Lisa thought about it and nodded. "That might work. As it is Uncle Rick, basically only will clean one room a month. I will have to speak with my Uncle, so nothing is set in stone, therefore don't expect anything."

"That's fine. Do you happen to know where we can pick up some breakfast around here?"

"Yeah, there are still some places that sell food around here. There is one down the street, look for the Bowl sign. Not sure what they sell."