“Open up, you piece of crap…”
*Ting!*
“Yes!”
In a random landfill that was located underground, Dream finally pried open a canister after working on it for several hours.
Upon his success, he looked inside to see two nodes that were attached to another, smaller canister that was slightly glowing with energy.
It was a fuel cell now commonly used in vehicles. This one had likely been defective one way or another, but it still contained energy.
“Well, one man’s trash. If only all the electricity in this city wasn’t delivered wirelessly, I could find a socket or something and get energy much more easily. Well, this’ll have to do for now.”
He held up the fuel cell and observed it for a second. Then, he shrugged and brought his two hands to the opposing nodes.
“Here goes nothing.”
*Boom!*
“Ack!”
Dream let out a strained sound as the canister exploded in his hands. There was also a massive bolt of electricity that was sent through his body, causing him to freeze for a long moment.
At the same time though, with that bolt came a surge of magical power. Gray Mist surged around his body and began to accumulate within, growing the core inside of him from the size of a tennis ball to the size of a basketball.
After a few seconds passed though, the surge stopped, and the fuel cell died. Well, the explosion and damage probably killed it, but either way, there was nothing more Dream could get from it.
Dream remained frozen for a while before eventually collecting himself. His hair was now spiked up and his body released a burnt smell. He felt perfectly fine though, so he didn’t mind it much.
Then, he looked around cautiously. When nothing happened though, he sighed.
“Good. Guess security isn’t as tight as I-”
“Halt!”
At that moment, there was a robotic shout. Dream’s head spun around, seeing three oddly familiar robots flying toward him.
He tilted his head.
“Bots?”
“Please do not resist. You have committed three infractions: One, you have broken into private property. Two, you have tampered with dangerous waste. Three, you do not have any form of identification or records of residence. We will now take you to a detention center where you will be held for trial and evaluation.”
“...I’m being arrested?”
“That is correct.”
Dream was stumped as the bots clamped a high tech restraint onto his body that both locked his physical body and suppressed his magic. Then, he was lifted and carried out of the landfill.
The three bots flew him directly to another building that seemed to be in the territory of some company.
Inside that building, he passed by several other people, some of which were similarly being arrested and others that seemed to work there.
Without time to waste, Dream was sat inside an isolated room. After that, the bots left, and he waited alone for a few minutes.
“...Well this is new.”
He looked down at his hands and chest, feeling the restraints and how oddly comfortable they were. He quite enjoyed the decent treatment.
At the same time, he observed the magical portion of the restraints. The magic of the restraints interweaved with the digital and physical locks in an interesting way.
That’s when Dream began streaming gray mist into the system, drawing from that ball of gray mist inside his body. Oddly enough though, the core of gray mist never ran out when he used it.
It seemed infinite as he drew as much as he needed. Like that, he was able to rapidly prod at the restraint’s enchantments and hardware and learn how they worked.
“Oh, I see. The magical portion is just for suppression. All the locks are monitored by the hardware. And the digital passkeys are just basic binary codes. In that case…”
Dream shifted around while fingers or magic poked at the hardware. Finally, when he found the circuits and chips that he wanted, he called upon the gray mist once more.
The mist streamed into the suit, and then with his desire, the gray mist was transformed into a bolt of electricity.
*Zap*
A surge of energy went through the restraints, and with that, the hardware suddenly unlocked.
Several locks twisted in release, and soon enough, the restraints popped open, allowing Dream to move freely.
At that moment though, the door to the room opened.
*Click*
A man walked inside, but stopped when he saw Dream free of the restraints. The man wore red robes that made him seem rather lofty, but his face was deadpan.
He just stared at Dream for a few moments before turning his head.
“Guards… ah, screw it, I don’t wanna yell.”
Shaking his head, the man sighed and walked inside. He then sat opposing to Dream, who just watched curiously.
“So… I was arrested for playing with garbage?”
“Something like that…”
The man responded blandly as he scrolled through the device in front of him.
“Then… can I leave?”
“I can’t say that I’ll put in the effort to stop you.”
“Do you enjoy your job?”
“The only thing I enjoy is spending time with my immortal robot cat that’s programmed to love me, and this job takes me away from that.”
“So that’s a no. Maybe you should start taking your cat to work.”
“Hmm… That’s a good idea.”
The man slowly nodded. As he did so, Dream stood and pat the man on his shoulder while leaving.
“I’ll be going then.”
“Try not to get caught.”
The man looked back after hearing footsteps go through the door.
When he looked into the halfway that Dream left into though, he didn’t see anyone. Dream has disappeared.
After staring for a second, he hummed.
“Weird.”
…………
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“Alright. Time to be a bit sneakier.”
Dream rubbed his hands together while walking to the outskirts of the city. Those places seemed a bit less monitored, and there were plenty of dark alleyways where the ruling class of this city apparently didn’t care to monitor and clean.
This intentional negligence allowed dark businesses to arise and control other forms of society.
Dream walked around for a few days, searching for anything that could clue him into one of these dakr societies. The fact that he needed to go so far though just to get his hands on a free energy source irked him.
“You’d think it’d be so easy to get energy, but no, everything’s gotta be safe and convenient. Not even a single wire to touch. How annoying…”
He mumbled while strolling down a side street. This place was filled with people who looked ot have integrated with several cybernetic enhancements. They looked high tech too, keeping the look of an organic limb yet showing just a hint of the advanced armament underneath.
At some point, Dream stopped and found a mirror, taking a look at himself.
What he saw was a young man in the prime of his life dressed in a button down shirt, a vest, and slacks. Compared to everyone around him with technical clothing and bombastic looks, he seemed to come from the ancient past.
“Hm. Looking groovy.”
He smiled before walking off again.
After that, it thankfully wasn’t long before he spotted a neon alleyway. There stood a few large figures who looked menacing yet sophisticated, like mob bosses.
Dream smiled before approaching, quickly catching their attention.
“Huh?”
“What’s this kid doing…”
“The hell are those clothes?”
They all commented weirdly as Dream stopped in front of them.
“Hey guys. I was hoping you could help me with something.”
“...What?”
The three were silent before deciding to see what this was about.
“I’m looking for a place to get my hands on a decent energy source, preferably one that I can tap directly into myself unlike all the wireless power in this city. Would you happen to know where such a thing is?”
“An energy source?”
The three were a bit confused, though coming from this random man who looked like a naive child, they didn’t exactly have much of an expectation. The situation was just too weird.
They looked between each other before looking back at Dream.
“I suppose we know where an energy source is. How much power are you looking for?”
“Hmm… I guess a level more than a ground vehicle’s fuel cell. So maybe the fuel source of an aircraft?”
“Hm? That’s it?”
“Yea. I guess you could say I’m working my way up to a fusion reactor. But by the time I need it, I could probably get one myself.”
Dream smiled and scratched his head.
Seeing that, the three men weren’t sure what to say.
After a bit of deliberation, one of the men sighed.
“I’ll take him in. You two wait for the contact.”
“Alright.”
“Hey kid, follow me.”
“Oh yay!”
Dream cheered and followed one of the men. Like that, the two wound through a fw more streets before coming upon a small building that was built in the center of a plaza.
The entire place was surprisingly clean, but it still gave off a menacing vibe with dark corners and black roads. The people standing all aroudn the place didn’t help either as they lifted their heads to stare at the newcomers.
The man led Dream straight into the center building. The door opened without any problem, and from there, they saw a large hole inn the ground.
“Jump down it.”
“Secret tunnel?”
“I guess?”
The man glanced at Dream weirdly as he smiled and jumped.
“Secret tunnel!”
His voice echoed on the way down. The man just shook his head and followed.
The two free fell down the hole for a while. At some point though, Dream could feel a repulsive force slow his descent, and at the bottom approached a colorful light.
His stop came when his feet touched the floor. He took in the sight around him.
“The black market! I’ve never been to one of these…”
Dream spun around and observed all the booths, buildings, and neon signs that extended out as far as the eye could see.
It was an entire underground city!
And more than that, Dream could actually see people other than humans!
Dwarves, elves, and beastkin. These three species were scattered throughout this underground city.
Dream felt odd though as he saw all those people.
Suddenly, memories began to resurface.
The transmigration to another world.
His meeting with Luna and Iris.
Their travel through the human empire, and the development of his abilities.
The memories stopped right as he remembered when Luna and Iris were kidnapped and taken, and his subsequent isolation and cybernetic evolution.
For a moment, Dream was still as he processed everything.
“...I know they’re fine. But why can’t I remember what’s become of them? Odd. Still, it’s only a small portion of the memories. I guess I have a long ways to go. I need that energy source.”
With that thought, Dream turned around.
The man who led him here finally landed, walking out with a wave.
“Follow.”
And Dream followed.
The two wound through this dark undercity. While walking, Dream was able to see tons of interesting things. From magical beasts for sale, to cool cybernetic augmentations. It seemed like this place had everything.
And it wasn’t long before the mna arrived at his destination. Dream looked at the booth they walked up to, seeing how it was more subtle with its run down construction and old man behind the counter.
“This man sells power sources. Talk to him.”
“Oh. Thank you. And hello old man.”
Dream smiled and walked up to the booth. The old man looked at Dream before looking at the man behind him.
*Ting*
With the flick of a finger, the old man tossed a coin to the other man. With that, the man left, leaving Dream to his business.
“What kind of power source do you need, young boy?”
The old man’s raspy voice caused Dream to look around.
There were plenty of devices that glowed with power, some blue and others red. They were mostly cylindrical in shape.
Dream pondered for a moment.
“Do you have anything matching the power of a ground vehicle fuel cell?”
“Fuel cell? I do.”
The man bent down for a moment and grabbed and item, placing it on the counter.
It was an exposed fuel cell, but this one wasn’t defective. It looked like a raw product just before it was encased.
Dream smiled and reached out, grabbing the fuel cell. The old man didn’t seem to care, until Dream exposed the nodes for power connection and touched them.
“Wai-!”
*Zap!*
Dream’s hair spiked up again as electricity surged through his body. And with all that power coursing through him, Dream noticed great changes within.
The core of gray mist rapidly grew, more and more accumulating until it doubled in size several times. Likewise, the energy from the fuel cell drained like water down a bottomless pit, emptying in just several seconds.
By the time the old man snatched the fuel cell away, it was already dead. Dream took a moment to collect himself before smiling widely.
“Yes! This is what I need! Hey, old man, give me something with more power.”
“No! You thief, what did you do?! Get the hell away from my shop! Unless you plan on paying me for the fuel cel!”
“Oh… I don’t have money.”
“What?!”
The old man’s eyes bulged before narrowing.
“Impossible. Take out your identification and give me all the money you have.”
“No, I really don’t have money. I don’t have an identification either. But enough of that, I just need more energy. Let me borrow those sources.”
Dream walked around and entered the booth, disregarding the old man who was trying to keep him out.
Reaching down, Dream grabbed a cell that glowed blue. Then, he exposed the power nodes.
Before he could grab them though, the old man suddenly took out a gun and placed it against Dream’s head.
“Put that down, right now! Or I’ll blow your sorry brains out!”
“...”
Dream stopped moving, but he didn’t put down the cell.
“...I need this cell, old man.”
“I don’t care. Pay for it, or I’ll kill you.”
“You know, I’m not sure you can do that.”
“Oh yea? Watch me.”
*BANG*
An explosion rang out as a beam exited the old man’s gun. That beam tore through Dream’s head, reducing him to gore and sending him to the ground.
Then, the old man kicked his body, snatching the blue cell away. The surroundings also became quiet for a short moment before resuming their normal activity.
“Hmph. You’re the worst thief I’ve ever had to deal with. Think I can’t protect my property?!”
“Hey old man.”
“Huh?”
The old man suddenly froze as he heard a voice. He turned his head.
Dream was standing to the side, looking perfectly fine. There was no trace of the blood that had splattered on the wall. It was as if he was never shot.
He was smiling.
“Thanks for that. I’ve now learned that I can’t die. At least not by something like a gun. Oh, but I do still need that cell. Don’t worry, I just need to charge up. I’ll hand it back when I’m done.”
“You…”
“I know. Crazy right? To think I can get more powerful by charging like a damn phone.”
Dream grabbed the blue cell from the old man while saying that. Then, he sat down in the corner of the booth, grabbing the nodes of the cell and feeling the power surge through his body.
The old man remained stupefied for a long while, looking at his gun and wondering if he had actually shot Dream or ust imagined it. When he saw the missing bullet though, he didn’t have much room for doubt.
Becoming quite a bit more fearful of what was going on, the old man rushed out of the booth and ran away. Dream didn’t mind him, just focusing on gaining power.