Morning came with a characteristically CD crash, sending me out of my bed and right to the floor. His hologram stood there, smirking, a full-on white-plated mech knight clashing his sword against a large shield.

“What the?” I asked groggily, torn fully out of dreams that deserved their own play at the local theater.

“In the hunt, the first to fight, claim the prize by right,” he said smugly. “Apes rise at dawn. Warriors rise at the sun’s first inkling.”

I shook my head, not at all liking this new martial take on things. Sure, it didn’t seem wrong; but from what he just said, I could have gotten at least another half hour of shut-eye.

“What time is it, CD?” I asked, not bothering to even try to hide the annoyance in my voice.

“Does it matter? I’ve scanned the city. Few have digital clocks, and all of those exist in homes of tremendous design. Some more water clocks and pendulum-based clocks, which makes me assume they are of this mid-tech variety. The new tech clocks are also rare and seem to be of the rock-in-circle variety that requires the sun to even be readable. And the majority have no devices at all! Like yourself, I might add.”

I groaned. He wasn’t wrong, but his whole big speech missed the point of the phrase completely.

“Alright. Yeah. So what are you waking me up for?”

“You have to be there at dawn, ape. And I would like to be sure that you are properly prepared.”

I sighed and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

“Alright, alright. Give me a moment to get dressed, you slavedriver. Sheesh, you’re even worse than the nobles.”

“Hah! I pity you if I’m the bane of your existence, little monkey. Get.”

I stood, suddenly self-conscious of the fact that I was wearing nothing at all. My hand flew to cover my privacy, and CD cocked his flickering head.

“Is this a protective measure? Are you preparing for combat against a being that is literally a flickering avatar of light?”

I laughed.

“No. Just, I dunno. Seems weird to have you looking at my balls. Could you maybe turn around or something?”

CD nodded, his hologram flickering slightly as he turned away. I ran through my meager supply of clothing, picking out the largest tunic I had since my body had expanded quite a bit, and pulling on breeches that I'd once considered roomy. Pausing briefly, I grabbed some cloth wraps for my feet and added a tool bit to the ensemble.

After all, the last “quest” I'd been on would probably have been a lot easier if I'd had my gear.

As I dressed, CD’s voice droned on, echoing through the room.

“You do realize that despite appearing to face the wall, I can still perceive your actions quite clearly? This primitive modesty is illogical. It is beyond me why you monkeys like to lick each--”

“Enough, CD.”

“No, it is not enough. Furthermore, your methods of clothing yourself are highly inefficient. A Toran would have—”

“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, fastening my belt. “Spare me the lecture, CD. We humans do things differently.”

“Indeed,” he continued, ignoring my attempt to silence him. “Your reliance on such archaic textiles and lack of automated dressing mechanisms is quite telling. A Toran would have had a fully integrated—”

I rolled my eyes, tuning out his ramblings as I adjusted my gear.

“I'm up and dressed CD. What's next on the agenda?”

“Strong apes eat before the hunt. Forage some bugs and litter.”

I laughed hard before heading to the pantry. There was plenty for a big hard breakfast, and his advice was sound. After all, who knew what we'd be eating once we set out? I grabbed bread, cheese, and some cured meat, devouring it quickly.

I rummaged through the shop, ensuring that I had everything that might be useful and stuffing it into a rucksack. The pack was soon filled with essentials: several loaves of bread, a wedge of cheese, and some more cured meat for sustenance. I added a small clay jar of dried fruit, a flask of water, and an extra set of basic tools—a hammer, chisel, a small saw, and a set of screwdrivers. A coil of sturdy rope found its place alongside a small pouch of coins, a piece of flint and steel for starting fires, and an extra set of cloth wraps for my feet. A compact first-aid kit with bandages and herbal salves went in next, followed by the saber I’d found in the last quest. This one I extra-wrapped in cloth to ensure it wouldn’t tear through my pack.

“You know,” I said as I was putting all my goods into my ruck, “This quest sounds like it is well supplied already. Is there a reason I need to be over-prepare?”

CD cocked his head, giving me a condescending look.

“This society of yours doesn’t seem to be very meritocratic. I suggest that these many supplies won’t often be open to you or your compatriot.”

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I nodded. He was right. It was a good idea to look after myself as I never knew what the trip would bring. Besides, even though the knight escort wasn’t a total asshole, he could be a three-quarter asshole, and that would be enough to make our lives miserable.

Once ready, I strapped on my pack.

“Alright, let's get moving. Metaphorically of course, since you'll be holding down the fort. Is the TUNI going to reach far enough?”

CD projected a globe on the wall, our planet as seen from the moon, I guessed. It was a beautiful blue and green, streaked through with pale tan and dark browns. As I watched, we soared down through the clouds, stopping at a point still well above the ground.

A red dot appeared, with the words ALNDA popping up in caps beside it. I squinted, trying to make out the formidable walls that protected us, but from this height, our entire city was nothing more than an ant on the pavement. A dotted line, also in red, snaked out from our destination, moving through hills and forest, across a great and mighty river, to head into a much larger red dot that CD erroneously labeled CHICAGO. I marveled at how much larger and thicker it was, a vast forest of ruined buildings.

I had a moment of tremendous awe roll through me as I looked on. The ancients, everything about them was simply unbelievable. It was no wonder that CD and his ilk had been defeated. That begged the question: what kind of treasures were there hidden in this vast world?

Another thought hit me. How powerful must the Torans have been to destroy most of this world? It sure would have been a wondrous time to be alive, that’s for sure.

“I will boost my signal,” CD said, interrupting my thoughts. “Using the still-functioning satellites in orbit around your planet, I should stay in range for most of your travel. There will almost undoubtedly be times that the material of the buildings you enter will block our signal. But in those instances, I suspect you will be able to ape-bash anything you find without my help. At least for long enough to find a place to reestablish contact.”

I nodded, not understanding much of what he meant, but knew it didn't matter.

“Sure thing, oh mighty overlord. Got it.”

I stepped to the door and reached out to open it. CD called out, stopping and surprising me.

“Alaric, be safe.”

I turned, surprise overwhelming me and even showing on my face.

“Yeah?”

CD's hologram shifted awkwardly.

“I would hate to be trapped here in the dark, without any sun to charge my batteries. It would suck having to go into standby mode because you and Elli did something stupid.”

I snorted, waved goodbye, and stepped out of the shop into the crisp and cool air of predawn morning. He was changing, little by little, so I figured there was still hope for him.

“Heya Al!” Elli called out, already coming up the path to meet me. “I was 95% sure I was going to tear those covers off of you and get you moving. What gives?”

I smiled.

“CD. He's way too much of a morning person.”

She cocked a half-smile back at me.

“I bet. More monkey drum stuff?”

“A white knight this time. Sword-on-shield. But it wasn't a big waste, he got me extra-prepped in case the nobles decide to screw with us.”

Elli nodded, adjusting the straps on her own pack as if to draw attention to the fact that she'd prepped extra as well.

“Glad everything's set. Ready to go? Or do you want to…go back inside and make out or something? I made sure to be extra fresh this morning.”

“Yeah, if there wasn’t a sword hanging over our heads, I would probably take you up on that offer. Come on, let’s go. I don’t want the knight to give us crap for being late.”

The sky began to brighten as we wound our way through the city streets of Alnda, avoiding the occasional pothole in the mid-and-new-tech cobble. Elli and I walked side by side, our breaths wisping out clouds as we walked. The city was still asleep, and I was glad it was. There was something perfect about just being alone and away from all the noise and bustle for a while. It had its charms, sure, but I preferred the peace.

Even if we were possibly marching to our doom.

“Bet you wish you were still in bed,” Elli teased, nudging me with her elbow.

I yawned.

“No way. I hate sleep. Sleeping is for suckers.”

She giggled.

“Well, I wish I was in bed. Not the one I have now, though. A big one, with a canopy and columns on the corners. Set in a big old mansion. You could work there and bring me breakfast around noon. Maybe even join me sometimes?”

I blew a raspberry.

“I bet I'd be tending your private gardens too.”

“You'd be tending something alright,” she winked.

“The two of you make me sick,” CD said through our TUNI. “I will stop listening for a while so keep on…keeping on, apelings.”

“He sure is a handful, huh?” Elli chuckled.

As we walked and talked, we passed through the city. The market district smelled like rising bread, I was surprised to realize, while many of the streetways smelled of freshly dumped urine and offal. Here and there echoed the clatter of wooden crates and barrels being moved, or the soft cursing of manual laborers up way before they wished to be. Once a dog barked, only to whimper away from whatever it'd been antagonizing. But as we progressed, the city began to wake, and more people took to the streets.

“You nervous?” Elli asked, her voice softening as she glanced at me.

“Yeah,” I admitted. “That quest I did with Techlock had some big surprises. I can't even imagine what this Chic-A-Go is all about. I hope those knights do their jobs well and don't just spend the whole time kicking us around.”

“I'm a free woman,” Elli scoffed. “They'd be in for a lot of hurt if they disrespected me.”

“They'd knife you and leave you, El. Me too. So, let's just hope they aren't dicks.”

Elli quieted after that, realizing that I was unfortunately right. We made the rest of our way in silence through the now ironically loud city. Things felt awkward, and I opened my mouth a few times to try to ease the tension, or maybe reword what I'd said. But there wasn't anything I could put into its place without lying.

I cast a look at her and saw her chewing her lip. I reached out my hand, taking hers.

“We'll be fine. Even if they are dicks. No worries. Just profit. Everyone loves profit, right?”

She swallowed hard and nodded.

“Credits, mansions, and gardeners,” she whispered, that familiar twinkle making its way back into her eyes.

We passed a Guild collection station, its stone facade adorned with the logo of the Scavengers, and came into sight of the gate just as the very lightest edge of the sun began to peek over the horizon. Standing there, silhouetted by the red-orange orb, were the knights, their Cataphract and Toxotais facing out and away from the city. I drew in a deep breath seeing them standing there, and Elli did the same. The way they were framed, it almost looked like a painting.

“This is exactly how I imagined adventures are supposed to start,” I said, feeling the corners of my mouth rise in a smile.

I caught Elli's eyes as she caught mine, and we burst out laughing, realizing our shared thoughts on the matter.

“I might suggest that your demeanor with these warriors be more serious, simians,” CD advised us through the light crackle of TUNI.

“I thought you were going to give us some privacy?” I whispered.

“And let you get yourself killed because of that loud mouth of yours? Monkeys need a caretaker or they’ll just run in circles and ask for a banana.”

We both laughed even harder, stumbling a little as we walked to the gate guards. They looked at us, faces curious, but no words were exchanged as they waved us through and onto our mission. Another hundred feet and we were face to face with our adventuring group.