2 A.L.: IRENE
“This area here is considered downtown,” Sophia explained. “We missed all the suburbs on the way in.”
“Suburbs?” Irene asked.
“Small outlying settlements,” Sophia said. She pointed to little sketches that were scattered around the edges of the map. The map was drawn on top of a wall inscription. Irene was distracted. She wanted to examine the inscription underneath. She forced herself to ignore it for now. She was confident her camera was getting good images of it. Sophia pointed to a small number beside one of the suburbs. “That plus two means this one is two stories up,” she explained.
The large central section of the map showed details of the gridwork of hallways that made up the settlement. Sections were marked residential, commercial and unused.
“There are only three ways into the area. The western gate, which we came in by, the northern stair, which drops down close to a greenspace below us and the southern gallery.” Sophia pointed to the depiction of a long thin room that was located in the southeast. “Everyone I have asked has told me that Darien stays in or near the gallery most of the time. The gallery has a partly functional sanitary facility attached to it. Everyone seems to be very jealous of the guards' access to it.”
“Are there no other sanitary facilities?” Jake asked. “I needed to take a piss and was directed to an empty room where there was a puddle against the wall. I thought it was rather disgusting.”
“No there doesn’t seem to be. Water distribution is the real way the guards keep control here. The gallery sanitation facility has a working sink. All other sources of water are outside the secure area,” Sophia commented.
“That must be why they have the suburbs,” Irene observed. “Spreading people around would reduce the demand on their water source. Meanwhile, keeping the crafters here would draw in materials from the outside.” Sophia shared a look with Jake. Irene wondered what that was about.
“What would keep the crafters here?” Jake asked.
“Safety,” Irene responded. “Or the promise of it.” Sophia was nodding. Irene swung her backpack off her shoulder and dug out a bound notebook and stylus she scavenged from the ruins. Back in Londontown she purchased a map from a trader at the market. After asking her where she wanted it, he drew the route from Londontown to Chicago in her notebook using a stylus he owned. Irene didn't realize the styluses didn’t need ink. She picked up a couple of her own but didn’t try them because she assumed they would need ink. She felt that lesson alone was worth the cost of the map. They followed the route he drew to get here. He promised it didn’t wander into dark space and it didn’t.
That evening she transcribed the map of the route from the ruin entrance to Londontown onto another page. She dedicated more pages to the detailed sketches of how to tell direction at intersections by how the floor tiles or light panels were laid.
Now she turned to a new page and started copying the wall map. She found it hard to decipher parts of it because the inscription was underneath.
“There are a couple hundred people living here in downtown,” Sophia said, continuing with her brief as Irene drew. “The suburbs have an estimated population of a couple thousand.”
“Can you read that?” Irene asked Sophia, indicating a number by one of the suburbs. “This would be easier if they didn’t draw it over the carving.”
“I asked about that,” Sophia responded. “I guess writing on the carvings lasts longer than if it was put on smooth walls.” Sophia leaned in close and inspected the questionable blob. “It might be a four,” she reported, “or maybe a plus one?”
“Great,” Irene said.
“The guards collect a tax from the sellers and occasionally from people using the prize altar, if the sellers come up short. I have caught rumors of another prize altar the guards don’t know about that the crafters are using, but I was unable to find it,” Jake said, as he began his own report of what he found out. Irene thought that meant no one wanted to rob the man in leather with an ax. The metalworker didn’t show any surprise when Irene returned with the hard currency for the bronze vent pins, but Irene still held her suspicions. She purchased eight of the dark iron pins from the woman along with pre-paying for the bronze version.
Elie promised she would have the bronze version ready by afternoon tomorrow. Irene readily agreed, showing no fear that she thought the woman might be planning to cheat her. Irene hoped that her obvious lack of concern would make the woman think twice about any plans she had.
“The doors marked danger are all available for overnight use. If you stay longer the guards will charge you rent,” Jake warned.
“How do they know how long you have been there?” Sophia asked.
“The guards sweep the halls every morning, clearing them of anything that wandered in during the night,” Jake told them. On their trip from Londontown Irene noticed that the hallways were mostly free of animals during the day. It was at night that they became dangerous. The rooms they scavenged around Londontown held plenty of animals in them during the day. Irene wondered if they too got worse at night. “They sweep the empty rooms once a week, on Sunday morning. Most people settle or switch rooms on Sunday because of that.”
“What day is it today?” Sophia asked.
“I have no idea,” Jake responded. He stared off into space, counting in his head. “Tuesday?”
“We should just ask,” Irene said. “If we don’t know, the people that set up this schedule may not have known either. They could've just said, ‘Today is Tuesday’ and started from there.”
“True,” Sophia agreed.
It took Irene about twenty minutes to transcribe what she could of the map. The location of the prize altar was marked. The one in the back of the leather shop was not. When she finished, Sophia suggested they go over to the ‘gallery’ and see if Darien remembered Irene. Irene agreed and they headed out.
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“What did you find while shopping?” Jake asked as they walked along.
“I bought some pins that you can use to hold the wall vents closed,” Irene responded. She asked Elie to demonstrate the use of the dark iron pins before she accepted them. “I was warned they don’t last very long before you have to get new ones. Rooms with floor vents are generally skipped. The only way to keep them closed is to put something heavy on them. Most people don’t want to live in a room with a pile of debris in it.” Irene fell silent.
“Nothing else?” Jake asked.
“I found out everyone is using physical coins. Someone tried to rob me and I learned that their dead spouse could cast some kind of fear spell. That’s about it,” Irene responded.
“It sounds like you had more excitement than we did,” Sophia observed. She glanced over at Jake and mouthed ‘robbed’ with a questioning look. Jake shrugged. Irene caught the interaction but decided to pretend she didn’t see it.
There was a set of guards at the entrance to the gallery. Irene was in the lead, for once she would have to do the talking here. Surprisingly one of the guards was a woman Irene recognized.
“Hello, Jenna,” Irene said in greeting. Jenna was wearing an outfit in green cloth. The man beside her was in leathers, but they were unmarked by any color.
“Irene!” Jenna called, like they were best friends. She stepped out of her position on guard duty and gave Irene a hug. “When did you arrive?”
“Just today,” Irene responded. “Let me introduce Sophia and Jake. We came together from the Speedwell.” Jenna barely acknowledged them before she started rambling about where everyone from the stick fighting training ended up. Irene didn’t recognize most of the names. Irene made appropriate noises and kept a smile on her face.
“How about you?” Jenna asked. “How are your stick fighting skills now?”
“Just as poor as before, I am afraid,” Irene responded. “I took Charles' advice instead.” Jenna frowned in distress. “What’s wrong?” Irene asked.
“Charles didn’t make it,” Jenna replied quietly. “I still miss the big lug.”
“I am so sorry, Jenna,” Irene responded. “I didn’t know.”
“Darien’s in a meeting with the leaders from the northern suburbs, but he should be done soon. Give me a second to grab someone to take the watch here and I will take you over,” Jenna explained.
“Sure,” Irene responded. “We’ll wait for you here.” Jenna turned and went into the gallery doorway she was guarding. Irene, Sophia and Jake took a couple steps away from the remaining guard. They leaned against the opposite wall to wait.
“Where do you know Jenna from?” Sophia asked.
“Oh, the stick fighting lessons on the Speedwell,” Irene explained.
“How did we miss these lessons?” Jake asked Sophia quietly.
“Jenna was nice. When I got matched with her for the sparring sessions she didn’t wipe the floor with me too badly,” Irene explained. Sophia shared a look with Jake. When she first met Irene she thought her stick was a kind of joke. Before they left Londontown she confessed to Jake that Irene's use of it to crush the skulls of rats and badgers alike actually impressed her. If Irene wasn’t very good at stick fighting, what did that say about the rest of these guards.
Jenna returned with another woman whom Irene recognized, but wasn’t certain of her name. This was one of Irene’s sparring partners that did not cut her any breaks.
“Hey, Irene,” the woman said in greeting. “Glad to see you made it.”
“Thanks,” Irene responded. She followed Jenna down the hallway, thankful the second woman didn’t give her a hug. Jenna led them through the open door to the first room of a suite. Michael sat at a desk in front of a closed door. For some reason Irene was surprised to find Michael here. She wondered where that surprise came from. Michael was Darien’s right hand man back at the Speedwell. Really the desk should have surprised her more. It was the most solid piece of furniture she had seen in the structure.
“Is he free?” Jenna asked.
“They broke up for refreshments a while ago. If you really need to see him, you can probably slip in,” Michael replied.
“I’ll just peek to see if he is still busy,” Jenna said. She moved past the desk to just crack the door open.
“Irene,” Michael said, like he was proving he knew who she was.
“Michael,” Irene acknowledged. She didn’t have a reason to dislike the man, but she sensed he was not happy to see her here.
“All clear,” Jenna said, waving Irene’s group forward. “You can leave your weapons and packs here, Michael will watch them for you.” Irene set down her pack next to the wall, but kept her staff in her hand.
Jenna pushed the door the rest of the way open and stepped inside. The room beyond the second door was huge. A desk easily double the size of Michael’s dominated the far end. Actual furniture, chairs, tables and even stuffed sofas were spread around the room. The sofas were covered in a plain cloth in different shades of tan. The room was occupied by about ten people, mostly men, but Irene did spot at least two women. The group was milling around the room carrying drinks and eating snacks from a row of tables pushed against one of the side walls.
Irene stumbled a little overwhelmed by this display. Jenna already crossed the room and was saying something to Darien. Getting her feet under control, Irene continued on to join them.
“Irene!” Darien exclaimed. He engulfed her in a one handed hug, still holding a beer tankard in the other hand.
“Darien,” Irene replied. “I see you are doing well.”
“I can’t deny it,” Darien replied. “Introduce me to your companions.”
“This is Sophia and Jake. We traveled together from the Speedwell,” Irene explained. Darien greeted them both warmly and invited them to get refreshments. Jenna went off with Sophia and Jake, while Darien kept by Irene’s side. Irene lost track of everyone’s names. She did keep track of their titles. They were all leaders of this or that suburb in the north. Irene quickly realized the map they found in the halls did not cover even a fraction of all the suburbs out there.
Most of the suburbs were north of downtown, scattered around a greenspace north of here. Londontown was to the south. Irene thought that helped to explain how they missed all the suburbs on the way up from Londontown.
“Where did Jake get the leather armor?” Darien asked casually.
“Londontown,” Irene responded before she thought about why Darien might ask. She experienced second thoughts almost instantly. “We went there first since it was closer to the first green. I have a brother there and he warned me that it wasn’t a good place for me,” Irene explained. Her brother did no such thing, although what he did say convinced Irene to move on, so maybe it was the same thing.
“Did you see the healer?” Darien asked.
“Yes,” Irene responded, trying not to give away that the healer was her mother. “I was surprised to find out she was part of the flight crew. Her age might explain her mental state.” Darien gave her a startled look.
“No one mentioned that she is elderly. What do you mean about her mental state?” he asked.
“She is full on crazy,” Irene responded. “I think her son really runs the square. He seemed to have her tightly controlled.”
One of the leaders called to Darien from across the room. Darien excused himself from Irene’s side after telling her to enjoy the refreshments.