“...so what did you come to Dragon Fall City for?” Mathias eventually asked after a few minutes of small talk that included anecdotes from his home country. Not much of what he spoke of about this city felt real to Yuriko, except for the fact that small details in her surroundings had been nagging at the back of her mind. She’d begun some subtle experiments with her Anima, just to be certain of what she felt. That wrongness that stopped her from hooking on to the canvas of reality, which allowed her to fly…well, to float in the air, had been the most uncanny thing.
The fact that the buildings she saw outside were all at least a couple of longstrides tall, and most of the ways to get from one such building to another involved going across thin ribbons that stretched and wove across the airscape only made things more dangerous. If she fell off, she wouldn’t be able to stop her fall easily. She could grab on to the buildings nearby, but the gap between the acropoli—acropolis being the singular term that Mathias introduced to her—was at least a couple of longstrides wide. Maybe a league for some of them. Considering that an acropolis was at least a longstride in each of their dimensions, her perspective had been fooled back when she was at the Gateway Spire.
That little tidbit had been the least of what she picked up, and Gwendith’s mental commentary had also pointed out a few things, including the fact that the good prince was likely enamored of her, even if she’d been forcing her Mien not to Charm him. Since he wasn’t doing anything other than being helpful, it was fine.
‘He’s not bad looking, certainly in a slim, boyish kind of way, even if he’s probably older than us.’ Gwendith’s commentary wasn’t helping as much as she thought. And while she thought Heron would have started disparaging the guy, he’d been amazingly silent. And from their emotional connections, there had only been a little bit of jealousy there, before it got stomped on. Huh.
Aside from Gwendith’s willingness to encourage Yuriko to find more partners to sate her lust with, the other thing that puzzled her from Mathias’ commentary was his talk about how he wanted to leave his nation behind for good and live right here in Dragon Fall City. Not in so many words, but because he’d created a minor thread between the two of them, by mere dint of chatting with her and being quite helpful, a bit of his background emotions had seeped through.
“Dragon Fall City is so amazing, you know? Everything is at the tip of your fingers: food, entertainment…” He’d trailed off with a dreamy look in his eyes. “Ah, as long as the AC’s topped up, anyway.”
“AC?”
“Ah, you’ll find out. Once we get to the head of the line, since it’s your group’s first time here, you’ll be diverted to First Time Immigrant briefing. Ah, that would take far longer than a returning tourist,” he said regretfully, “but you’ll find out most of the things you’ll need to know not to step on the Lawbringers’ toes, or the rest of the scum that’s lingering underneath the Green Zone.”
“Green Zone? This area?”
“Oh, no. Here’s Central and it’s all Violet, which is why we can’t stay here longer than it's necessary for our business to be concluded. Then we’ll have to go to the zone that our WL will let us go to. Ah, wealth level.” He coughed as his face reddened a bit, “I’m bungling a few things, I’m sorry. Better to hear it from the people in charge rather than from an outsider’s perspective.”
Afterwards, the small talk continued until he asked for their purpose in the city. The moment he asked, Yuriko felt Gwendith’s sudden suspicion, and caution. She’d always been careful, especially after what she endured in the North.
‘Don’t say anything about the token, especially not to whoever rules this place, or their representative. The Ancients we were with said how rare and precious the tokens are, and they can only be used when we delve or climb. We’re just at the starting point.’
‘Agreed.’
“We’re looking for an easier way home—and to get away from some persistent people,” Yuriko admitted.
“I see.” Mathias hummed, “Well, I believe the last census puts Dragon Fall’s population at several hundred million. It’s easy to lose yourself here, though if you aren’t careful, it's just as easy to be found.”
Yuriko blinked, “Really?”
“Ah, well.” He scratched the back of his head, “I’m really not this bad normally, hahaha. But it’s been a pleasant chat.” He nodded towards the dividing counter. They were only a couple of places behind the front. “You’ll find out soon, and, well…” He put a hand in his pocket, withdrew a small rectangular thing that was barely a quarter of an inch long, and about as thick as his fingernail. “Seeing as you’re new here and don’t have com devices, this chip has my contact details. I would love to meet with you somewhere that isn’t so…utilitarian. In a better place to show the city’s and Edrium’s hospitality.”
Puzzled, Yuriko still took the offered chip, then asked, “Could we not use a Message or Sending spell?”
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“Ah, yes. We could. If we’re on the same floor. Such spells are blocked by the acropolis’ walls.”
“Oh. Well, alright.”
Mathias gave her a lopsided grin as he and his group stepped ahead to the immigration officer, “I look forward to hearing from you soon.”
Mathias’ group was processed quickly, less than a minute later, they were through. The prince turned around and gave her a cheerful wave, then they moved towards the open wall half a longstride away, along with everyone else who’d already been through immigration. Yuriko sighed and walked up to the counter, just as she was about to greet the officer, she froze with her mouth open.
The officer, a humanoid man, looked up at her from behind his desk, his eyes meeting hers. Except those eyes weren’t flesh and blood. They were of metal, lightning, and oil. At least, those were the Elemental energies she saw swirling around the pupils. The eyes were made of some shiny, silvery alloy, as were the eyelids, and probably the eye sockets. The metal did not cross the bridge of his nose, but covered the upper part of his cheeks too. It extended all the way to his ears, though those were completely flesh. She saw silvery lines running down his neck, and then two narrow slots that would fit the chip Mathias gave her easily. Her perception aura spread out reflexively, answering her burgeoning curiosity, but the edge was stopped a fraction of an inch from the officer, just as it did with Mathias.
The officer’s eyes narrowed. She noticed his pupils were backlit by slightly reddish light, then he said, “Please withdraw whatever sensory spell of technique you used. As the earlier party has warned me that you and your group are first timers here, I will let slide this flagrant abuse of privacy.”
“Oh! I’m so sorry!” Yuriko gasped as her cheeks flushed.
“Ahem, yes, I said, I forgive you.” There was a slight reddening of his pale complexion, too. “Please come with me, I will orient you so that your stay in Dragon Fall City will be pleasant and free of trouble.” His voice became monotone at the latter half, as if it was something he’d said thousands of times to thousands of different people, and he no longer meant his words.
He opened the barrier and walked out of his booth. He jerked his head to indicate the direction and Yuriko and her group followed closely behind. The immigration officer was clad in the same style suit as the others around them, which was a silver colored coat with copper lines going down the left side, and shoulder pads. He was also wearing dark brown pants, tight enough to display every curve of his legs, until the white boots that reached halfway up his calves anyway. He also had a belt fastened over his coat, black leather, and a pistol on a holster by his right hip.
He led them over to one of the divided blocks behind the immigration line, and opened the door to a small conference room that would barely fit all of them. “Please enter.”
Yuriko sat down on one of the armchairs. It was a strange piece of furniture considering that underneath the seat was a single leg, a lever, and the five spokes that were tipped with one inch wide wheels. The seat creaked a bit under her weight, which was deceptively higher than what her frame would suggest. She spread her Anima over the seat and attempted to secure herself by hooking into the canvas of reality, only for the hooks to slip off without purchase. Cursing silently to herself, she extended the stabilized area underneath herself to anchor directly to the floor. The chair tilted back a bit, and when she shifted, it rotated too.
Fluffington simply curled up in a corner, his thoughts and emotions slightly bored. Gwendith and Heron discovered the same thing with the chairs, while her handmaidens remained still. Devotee was staring around the conference room walls, which viewscreens similar to the ones in the lift.
The images were of aerial views of the city, close up views of the big buildings, and moving pictures… videos of people in a marketplace that had a fountain that blasted water up in elaborate and coordinated patterns.
“Welcome to Dragon Fall City,” the officer said. “I am Immigration Officer Aldous Helspike.” He gave a little bow, then continued, “The very first thing I should let you know is that all metal currency, gold, silver, copper, iron, bronze, and any other metal coins, are strictly prohibited within Dragon Fall. You have the option of selling it to a bank, or placing it within a security deposit box from which it can act as collateral for an Autochredit loan. Autochredits or AC are the city’s unit of currency that is held within your Profile within REI-space, which you can connect to using an Autowatch, an Autotab, or an Autovisor.” It didn’t seem like he even took a breath in the middle of his spiel.
Yuriko’s threads of consciousness worked furiously at the information packed monologue, which basically only told her that she had to give all of her gold coins, Imperial or otherwise, to the city, and get their version of coinage in return. Except she wouldn’t hold it directly but through something called an Auto-whatever? And what in the Abyss was a REI-space?
“Our detectors confirmed that you are holding somewhere between seven million to nine million Autochredit worth of coinage. The upper bound if you sell, and the lower bound if you deposit and borrow from its worth. We will get to that later, since the first step in Dragon Fall City for any new visitor, whether on business, touring, or immigrating, is to create your Profile.”
Yuriko pushed the cowl off her head, and watched as the immigration officer touched the conference table in front of his hand. A moment later, a rectangle opened up on the surface and out popped several rectangles made out of silvery alloy with what was probably a viewscreen on the other side.
He handed over the viewscreens over and said, “These are Autotabs, one of the ways to link into REI-space.” He touched the viewscreen part of the Autotab and it lit up with light. It darkened a moment afterwards, then in the middle of it was a moving picture, the image of a clockwork gear turning slowly as it revealed itself, then halfway through, a stroke of lightning illuminated the rest. The words ‘Omega Corporation’ appeared under the gearworks for a long moment before the entire thing turned black. Afterwards, the viewscreen flickered then a form appeared, one that was practically universal to every bureaucracy that Yuriko’s ever seen.
“Please fill out the form and answer every field with an asterisk…”
Yuriko met Gwendith’s exasperated look. Oh, Ancestors, back to paperwork.