Even before the fall, the aelixi were cold and distant. Though we worked side by side in every phase of life, you never knew what they were thinking.

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We left the spaceport region of town unhurriedly, a smile lingering on my face the whole time as the ruckus in the background grew distant. After spending so long in limbo, it was incredibly satisfying to finally have a clear direction. To have struck the first blow in what would be an incredibly long campaign.

“Manage to get anything from the others?”

Access permissions. Require main system uplink to utilise.

But there was a… hesitance to Doom’s suggestion, this box flickering, a bit more transparent than usual.

“Not sure you’re ready for full System interface?”

Hardware security upgrades highly advised.

I ran a hand across the cool metal running down the side of my head, unable to argue his point. All my physical upgrades had been done in sub-optimal conditions, by inexperienced or traumatised survivors as they desperately tried to pretend that everything would go back to normal if we just worked hard enough.

Of course it hadn’t, it had gotten worse, and now… here I was. Partially enhanced, partially integrated, and partially bog-standard human.

The city itself was vast. Sprawling both upward and outward. Buildings soared over us in silver and neon, and tunnels plunged downward in shadow and suggestive glints of powerlight.

“Copper sawblades, huh?”

I’m sure it’s possible.

“From your quest descriptions, I was picturing a barren, low-technology sort of place. Maybe an occasional village, a monarch and a castle. This looks like they’ve moved past using copper or sawblades centuries ago.”

I’m… sure it’s possible.

“So, these daily quests, there’s no time limit on them, right?”

Do you want a time limit? I can add one if it will help motivate you.

“I don’t need a time limit. I’m plenty motivated.”

I scanned the area for any signs as we headed back toward the busier streets - well, walkways, now, with railings since we were over a deep subterranean section, countless lights glittering across the walls of the rift like staring down into a galaxy - but it seemed to be a residential area. We got more than a few odd glances, but I kept going and ignored them.

“We’re going the wrong way, aren’t we?”

Area map unavailable. Generated map incomplete.

The minimap zoomed out to show the path we’d taken from the spaceport, through the side alleys, and finally out over the residential rift, but the area around it was blank.

I got more than a few dirty looks, and a few times my core reacted to nearby flares as though readying for battle, but I kept my eyes forward and kept moving.

Once I had abilities again, once my core strength could be channelled usefully, then I’d accept their myriad challenges and show them humanity wasn’t down for the count just yet. For now, I had no choice. Core-duels in which I simply overpowered them with blunt spiritual force would make too much noise and I had to stay incognito until I was strong enough for it not to matter.

"Then keep an eye out. I'm going to fill out this map."

For the next four hours I wandered from alley to street to back path to street again, crossing and recrossing the deep chasms, passing subway tunnel entrances and skyway elevators alike. I walked on polished marble, on worn concrete, on silver moving walkways, and on elegantly painted glass walkways.

We roamed through the residential districts, industrial districts, commercial districts; through bustling sections and ones of dark silence, past crowds of suspicious aelixi going about their alien business and through more than one more set of opportunistic thugs who wanted nothing more than to rob us blind.

Thankfully, we never encountered a group of more than three, or we'd have been in trouble. My lack of physical speed remained a serious detriment, but between core and technological superiority we came out the best in each encounter.

Before the sky began to darken for the night, another two aelixi had joined the count for Earth's Vengeance, bringing the progress up to 5/10. The others got off lighter, either wise enough to run or too strong to be immediately overwhelmed.

Still, we also earned another 348.43 fua, which didn't sound like very much to my earth-born sensibilities, but from the look of the shops we'd passed it was a great deal more in aelixi ports.

We stopped at a local restaurant for a late lunch, spending 1.3 fua on a nine-course spread like nothing I'd tasted in so long. It was worth the delay to finally eat something that wasn't recycled space dust and nutrient goo.

After lunch, I roamed even further into the city as Doom began to label sectors and calculate likely zoning. Throughout the evening his guesses grew better and better, until by nightfall proper we had reached the point where he could accurately predict what we'd find.

Even with the predictive algorithms tuned to perfection, finding someone who could manufacture Copper Sawblades wasn’t easy. Much harder than I'd anticipated.

We did find some nice, unattended chunks of Melurium, though, and I snatched those up while no one was watching. Once safely away I activated the matter uplink function on my arm and slowly absorbing them for Doom. One by one, the counter ticked from ‘collected’ to ‘absorbed’. Once the last piece was absorbed, the quest disappeared in a multicolored rain of sparkles and the counter on Doom’s meta ‘do quests’ quest ticked up by one.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

We also incremented our collection of Shamanleaf, a common weed it seemed.

But despite this side success, the search for sawblades continued to go poorly. While there was a great deal of manufacturing, walking in and asking for a custom order at a factory worked about as badly as you'd expect. Blacksmiths who would create items on demand weren't a thing here any more than they had been back on Earth before the fall.

“Can I trade it in for another quest?” I asked, as we neared local midnight. “Copper Sawblades are turning out to be a bit of an endangered species around here.”

There will be a new daily quest available in four hours.

“Cancel the sawblades one. Let me know if you see any Morrowcats.”

All quest items are automatically flagged as important.

“Except that shamanleaf over there.” I pointed and started toward the familiar-looking plant.

Shamanleaf has only a single notch in its leaves. That is Vorenin. You can tell because, while it has long wide blades similar to Shamanleaf, it has three smaller notches at its tip.

I frowned at it, but it looked like Doom was right. Not that I’d ever admit it aloud. Shrugging, I rose from the half-crouch and set off toward the residential district. Since our manufacturer quest was a non-starter, best to find a source for Ansiel Stalks and more Shamanleaf.

“Could you list off those other quest items for me again?”

All quest items will be highlighted.

“Thanks. I’d like to see the list anyway.”

Doom complied this time, bringing the list back into view.

8/19 ounces of Shamanleaf (0/19 dried)

0/11 Morrowcat tails

0/1 vial of Gleamveil sap

0/39 fresh Anseil stalks

“Gleamveil sap? Is gleamveil a kind of tree?”

Gleamveil: A carnivorous vine, commonly found on most planets within aelixi territories.

I looked around at the highly developed city. “I don’t see much in the way of carnivorous vines. Or cats of any description.”

Morrowcats can be found at night, in subterranean areas, or stalking mushroom forests.

"Mushroom forests, huh? Well, I haven't seen those either. But subterranean areas at night..."

I walked over to the nearest ravine into the planet's depths, moonlight and citylight combining to illuminate the upper levels while the depths remained dark and obscured. Pinpricks of light, some energy-blue, some artificial-white, others fire-orange dotted the depths, but none were bright enough to illuminate more than occasional glimpses of the tiers upon tiers of housing and walkways below.

Eighty-seven levels, in this location.

I nodded in agreement, keeping a tight grip on the railing. "Long way down."

Feral Morrowcats are likely to be found in the lower areas.

"And we'll need to find a mountain or something for the gleam vines?"

That matches my estimations.

"And someone who can provide hardware upgrades for security, before we can pay for them to start upgrades to the ship."

Correct.

I took another look down the yawning abyss, sighed, and squared my shoulders. "Guess we're heading undercity, then."

Descending into the residential undercity was trivial. Elevators and stairs were provided every few streets, and there was a luxury subway tram that glided diagonally up and down the side of the rift on a schedule. Since Doom wanted us to avoid direct contact with the main System until later, we stuck with the elevator. There was no charge to use it, unlike the tram.

The first few levels were little different from above - largely bland and gleaming, with dirt and grime accumulating only in back streets and side alleys. The further down we went, the less true this became. It seemed even other aelixi weren't beneath the exploitative gazes of those in power.

I began seeing people with trackers flickering just beneath the skin, tiny red blips that would have gone unnoticed in full daylight, but showed plainly in the dark of the depths here. There was no particular physical characteristic that marked those who walked free with confidence from those whose necks were hunched as though trying to conceal the telltale flashes that marked their true status. I'd never studied aelixi culture but I assumed it must be more a caste thing than a race thing.

It made me hate them all the more. It's one thing to exploit and betray aliens, but your own people?

The quiet fury within me reignited. It had been banked much of the day as the mundane necessities of daily existence wore away at my flash of resolve, but the more I saw of this place the more I knew I could not let it stand.

We continued to prowl the streets as we descended layer by layer, searching for morrowcats or any relevant plants.

Before we could find anything, a high rising whine pierced through the night. A sound I knew well.

Dragon alarm.

I was able to see firsthand how the aelixi reacted. Some grabbed weapons and started running upward, jumping in personal vehicles, crowding into the tram or elevators, or even sprinting up the stairs. Others shrank away, backing from the rift into the dark streets that recessed underground and away, cowering from the threat of draconic destruction.

I was surprised by how fast it happened. The streets went from slightly busy to completely empty in the space of a minute. I'd seen dragon alarm responses back on Earth, but they were far more casual things. If you were on rotation, you grabbed your gun and ran to the response point, if not you carried on about your day, trusting the shields and guards to cover you. Until the System left, we'd never once had a dragon attack reach past the military layer to the actual surface of the planet.

Seemed the aelixi weren't as completely superior as they liked to think. The way they reacted with uncharacteristic fear to even a hint of danger painted a stark difference between our species. Humans were predators. Aelixi.... weren't. They were scavengers, building on the innovations of others, taking what they could with no regard for who they hurt.

They'd made a mistake, taking Earth lightly. They may have come within a hair's breadth of finishing the job, but they had left one stone unturned and it would be the stone that would be their undoing.

"We're going to find a way to burn this whole place to the ground," I promised, cold and low. "And I'm starting to have an idea of how."

After all, an enemy of an enemy was just a tool waiting to be put to use.