Light.
Loud, snapping sounds.
The smell of rust.
A sound of pain, distorted through a mask.
The cool of metal, the heft of the weapon in my hand heavier for each trigger pull. Bang. Bang. Bang.
Bang.
"You need to wake up at some point today Antimony. If you don't answer in the next two minutes I'm dragging you out of bed," says Ko-lee, her voice muffled by the wood of the door. My eyes look around the room, and for a brief moment, my brain isn't making any connections. The dirt of the dugout replaced with finished lumber, the damp rotted mat replaced with a down stuffed bed. Then, all at once, I remember where I am.
Cetus. The tavern.
I take a breath, and for once, don't feel the tightness of muscles complaining of sleep on a hard packed surface, or the exhaustion of an animal interrupted circadian rhythm. I just feel... refreshed. Like I had a good nights rest. "Although I wouldn't mind another 16 hours, to be honest," I think, but another bang on the door breaks me out of my musing. "Mmmyeahh. Yeah. Yes, I'm up, I'm awake," I mumble, before realizing only half of those words are Origin. "Good enough, I guess. I'm leaving some fresh clothes for you right here. I'll leave it at the door, and you can come meet me downstairs for breakfast." I just give a sound of affirmation, the sunlight streaming through the clear glass window doing its best to pull my eyelids down. Then, as though possessed by the spirit of productivity, I throw my body out of bed, rolling out of the sheets and landing unsteadily on my feet. Once upright though, I can feel my brain and body coming into begrudging agreement on wakefulness, and after taking a moment to make sure that no one is outside, I place my hand on the cool metal of the-
...there's a moment of disassociation, as my brain tries to remind me of the dream it was having less than a minute ago, but like smoke through fingers, I only get hints. "Hmm, I guess some part of me is processing," I think, as a frown crosses my face. "Whatever, whatever, I killed a guy. ...whatever. It's fine. Don't freak about it now, it's been weeks." I take a moment to recenter myself, before quickly turning the door handle and peeking my head out into the hallway. Verifying that the coast is clear, I open it wide enough to snatch the new set of clothes, then quickly close the door. The clothes are definitely more comfortable than what we had been traveling in; they are layered cloth, meant for temperature regulation and freedom of movement more than the hunting attire we had on for most of the trip. There's also color in them, not dissimilar to the warm natural tones decorating much of the city itself. In this case, the outfit was mostly accented with some soft red and yellow, the colors more vibrant than I had first expected. "Nobody give me an arrow tattoo or I'll look like an AU Aang," I thought, before chuckling and throwing on the outfit.
As I head downstairs, I see Ko-lee sitting at a table, two plates stuffed with food on top. Just the sight of it makes my stomach growl, and as I close the gap, the aroma of what appeared to be fried fish makes my mouth water. "This looks so good, but also... fried fish for breakfast?" I say, giving Ko-lee a look even as my hands reach for the chopsticks on the table. "I lied. It's the afternoon. This is lunch," she says, continuing to eat her already half finished meal. "Oh, we have been sleeping for a while then. Good for recovery though," I say, in between bites of the fish. The breading isn't anything immediately recognizable, although it's lighter than the breading on something like a country fried steak. In texture and density, it's closer to a panko, but the taste isn't recognizable as such. It is, however, recognizable as a grain, and along with the spices (none of which I was able to identify), the meal is delicious and fulfilling.
"You've been sleeping a long time. I woke up early to get us some new clothes. Ours were disgusting, and I doubt getting them cleaned would help that much," says Ko-lee, her eyes locked on me as I continue to shovel food into my mouth. "It's already dead, chill out. You're gonna choke, the food ain't going anywhere." I pull the chopsticks away from my mouth, and place them on the plate. "Yea, they were pretty atro- atro-...," my mind scrambles for the word, before shrugging in defeat. "they were pretty bad. But did you get enough sleep? You were on that trip with me." At this, Ko-lee looks back down to her plate, and she picks up another morsel of food. "I was having a hard time sleeping. The bed was too soft, maybe. Anyways, eat. We need to go find Konzu," before stuffing the bite of bread and meat into her mouth. It's clearly deflection, but I know better than to push her on it. "Right, we will go find Konzu. ...or Saya," I say, nodding my head.
There's a brief pause in Ko-lee's movements, and I see her eyes flick up from her plate to meet mine. The subtlest furrow in her brows appears, before she says, "yyyyess. Saya is part of the conclave. How do you know that?" I feel a shock of panic shoot through me, but outwardly, I just keep munching on the meal. "Oh shit, have we not done Saya's Vigil yet? When do you get access to that quest? That's def before Second Dream... right? You can do it when you get to Cetus I think! So... uh, or... wait, is it a side quest? Or... no, because you need to do it before talking to Onkko, and that's main story content I'm pretty sure. Cause you pass through the Quill room during New War. Damn it, this is a million times harder without being able to just look it up!" "Long story, I guess," I say between bites, before giving a non committal shrug. "Are we pre everything? Has the player Tenno not even been woken up yet? Or... Mara, maybe? The one from the cinematics?" I think, my mind continuing to try to determine from scant information where we are on the timeline.
"Is this a different long story? Or the same long story you keep referencing but refusing to tell me?" says Ko-lee, her face a passable facsimile of marble. "It is... the same one. But, we are not at that step... right now. I promise I will tell you though, Ko-lee. Just not right now," I say, holding her gaze and trying to impress upon her my intent. There's the briefest moment of tension, before Ko-lee's expression softens. "Alright," she says, before her eyes once again gain the familiar look of driven determination I had been seeing for the past couple weeks. "Well. I asked the bartender this morning, and he said that Konzu makes a monthly round to a number of local businesses. Lucky for us, this bar is one of those places, and even more lucky, he'll be swinging by tomorrow. However, I still think we should wander around town today. We may get lucky and run into him. Other than that, we should reach out to the skinners. Talk to them about getting some work." I just nod my head as she rattles off our schedule for the day. "Sounds like a plan, Stan," I say, using the English name Stan since I didn't know any rhyming Ostron names to swap in. "I don't know who that is," Ko-lee says, one eyebrow quirked.
"Rhymes better in English," I say, with a shrug. I stand up from the table, my plate of food having been polished off in record time, and give a wave to the bartender as we exit the building. The afternoon sun is directly overhead; the sky an endless blue without a single cloud in sight. As we start off towards the beach where the skinners are stationed, I can't help but look at the various stalls as we pass; the sunlight changing color as it shines through the various cloth coverings that cover the walkway, illuminating the goods laid out on tables. There's gems and ores, trinkets and baubles, ranged and melee weapons of all varieties, and of course, food. "Less food than last night though. I wonder how often the stalls change," I think, my eyes soaking up the seemingly infinite information around me. "I could probably stand in one spot and see four different people end up selling just from one stall. And the stalls are jam packed." I want nothing more than to hang out on a corner, just to get a 'feel' for the city and it's people, but I know we have a plan and so I make sure to keep close to Ko-lee as she deftly navigates the crowds. "Plus, once we're skinners, we get access to the Unum, and it's supposed to be even busier in there. Probably actually New York density, I bet. Hype." A smile crosses my face at the thought.
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After about 30 or so minutes of walking, we had found ourselves on the beach. I look around at the various workers, and there's a moment of indecision on who to approach. I catch Ko-lee's gaze, but I can tell she's in the same boat as me. "Fuck it we ball," I think, as I pick a person at random, and begin to approach them. They are focused on the veritable wall of meat in front of them, using a giant knife as they cut the 500+ pounds of meat into much more reasonable 50 pound slabs. "Hey. You." I half shout, as I approach the man. He startles, his attention breaking, as he pulls his eyes away from the meat and cast them towards me. His shoulders tense slightly, and I feel a moment of awkwardness as I come to a stop in front of him. "Just starting out with a "Hey you" and nothing else? Smooth, very neurotypical," I think sardonically. The couple weeks of survival mode, coupled with my obvious accent meant that my approach had come across a lot more confrontational then I had originally intended. "Sorry, did not mean to scare you," I say with an awkward grin, doing my best to salvage the mangled first impression. "I was looking to be a skinner. I do not want to be homeless. I was not sure how to start doing that."
The man just looks at me, the suspicion still apparent in his tensed muscles. "Not really an offworlder job," he says, speaking in Ostron. "Not really an offworlder," I snap back in Ostron. The brief exchange causes him to straighten a little more, as he gives me another look over. Before he gets a chance to call me on it though, Ko-lee steps up. "We're both looking for a job. Me and her." The worker's suspicion drops a hair as Ko-lee's much more recognizable ethnicity sets him at ease, and he looks at me briefly, before looking back at Ko-lee. "Well... you'd need a badge," says the bald man. "What sort of badge?" I ask, and the man reaches for a metal trinket around his neck. As he pulls it out and wiggles it back and forth in his hand, it's clear that there's some sort of technology it the oblong object, as a sort of holographic display pops up with a date, as well as what I presumed the man's name was. "Neat badge, Othlak," I think, watching him move it back and forth. The second he stops, the badge's display goes dark, and he lifts it up and places it back underneath his shirt. "If you don't have a badge, you'll get dropped," says Othlak, his attention turning to the meat in front of him. "If you work with one of the companies, then a rofmnae can help you get one, but they'll usually take some cut of the pay so that everyone's wages are steady. Most are independent." His motions are rhythmic as he tells us this, his cuts precise and quick.
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"Where do we get the badge from?" Ko-lee asks, her attention on the man's chest, as though she could see through his shirt to the badge resting on flesh beneath. "Within the Unum. You can hire someone to give you a lift in. If you work in a company, they usually provide transportation to the tower." He looks up briefly at this, and the hand with the knife gestures towards a section of the beach where a cluster of the hot air balloon looking vehicles are sat. "Uh, those things have no floor," I briefly think, before my eyes spot one taking off. As it lifts into the air, a man, who I assumed was simply sat near by, rises up in the air along with it. From what I could tell at a distance, a chair was suspended underneath the wireframe structure, sort of like a paraglider. "Alright, questions for later, then," I think, as my attention shifts back to Othlak. "Thank you for your help Othlak," I say, gently pulling Ko-lee away from the man and towards an unoccupied section of the beach. Ko-lee has a focused look in her eyes, and the second we are out of earshot, she speaks up. "We don't have any money. We're covered for some things, like with the tavern, but that's just off my name. That won't work to get us into the Unum." I can see the gears turning in her head as she tries to puzzle out the catch-22 of our situation.
"We will just do an odd job or two then. We only need enough money to get in and out of the tower a few times. Then we will be able to afford it from working as skinners," I say, as I watch the hot air balloons drift in the air. "We will be a sign spinner or something." At this, Ko-lee just stares at me, confusion clear on her face. "You know, draw attention." Ko-lee just continues to look at me, her expression unchanging. "Why would we need to draw attention?" she asks, clearly out of her depth. "To bring crowds in? You say, 'hey, do not shop there, shop here! Our goods are the best!' That sort of thing. It is not skilled work, but more people means more money, so it is worth doing, if you have the people for it. We could probably make a handful of credits," I say, doing my best to explain to her the basics of customer service. "I don't know," Ko-lee says hesitantly. "I've not heard of anything like that before." A sardonic smiles breaks out on my face. "That is because you have never had the pleasure of working customer service," I say, reverting to English for the final two words.
Ko-lee just rolls her eyes at me, before quickly following up, "do you know of any traders who'd be willing to work with us?" I open my mouth to say 'yes', before thinking for a moment. "I don't actually... know anyone. I just know about them, and I think it'd be a huge mistake to assume that the video game versions of characters are going to be identical to the real life people. It's not like we get to shoot the shit when trading with them." "I only know of a few traders. I do not know them personally. ...maybe we could talk to Nakak," I say, as I rack my brains on which of the traders would be the most affable. Ko-lee just scoffs at the recommendation. "You want to work with a kid?", Ko-lee says, the disdain clear on her face. "No, I want to work FOR a kid," I say giving her a cheeky smile. "From all of the traders I know, she is the most... uh... friendly." "Most friendly? Friendliest? Dear Wally, please pass this on to any non native English speakers; language is hard and I'm sorry if I ever meme'd on you," I think to myself. While I was able to form grammatically correct sentences in 90% of cases, I often found my mouth moving faster than my mind, and I would end up reaching for a word that I only knew in English instead of Origin.
Ko-lee paid no mind though, familiar with my occasional misuse of language, and she was clearly against the idea of working for Nakak. "At least try. She is on the main path, she probably makes good money. She will be able to afford us for a day or two," I say, trying to convince her of the validity of the plan. There is a moment of silence between us; the sound of wind and waves the backdrop, as the voices of thousands of people echo along the thoroughfare. "Fine," she agrees, and I can feel the rush of excitement hit me. While I know that Nakak is a child, assuming that the lines from the game hold any weight, her cheery demeanor gave me confidence that we'd have no issues getting her to hire us for a few days. "Plus, meeting a person from the game. That'll be sick." We put our backs to the water, and immediately start marching up into Cetus proper, but only a minute or two later, I'm confronted with a serious problem. "I have no idea where Nakak actually is."
In the game, there was really one path that split around a big central object (a suspended platform with nothing on it) the purpose of which I never really deduced. However, as me and Ko-lee continued to wander around, I found that it was not nearly as straight forward. While the multi story pavilion ...thing... did exist, it was bigger than in game, was filled with even more stalls, and there was more than just one. So Ko-lee and I just found ourselves wandering from point to point, doing our best to pick through the overwhelming sensory input to find the four foot tall carpet salesman. My eyes kept roaming over the various technology and weapons and food and toys and decorative objects and tourist kitsch and every iota of my body wanted to just take a moment to inspect 'everything', but I knew that if dared to stop, it would be impossible to get moving again. So we continued wandering, and luckily within the hour, I was able to spot a very familiar high pitched voice.
"Heyyy, friend! You look like a traveler of distinction and taste! Behold! A fine array of masks, curiosities, and masterfully woven carpets!" My head swings around, as I do my best to track down the one voice competing among many. "Swazdo-lah! How about a rug or carpet for your fine star vessel?" I find myself walking in an arbitrary direction, my entire focus on my aural senses, and I nearly end up walking right past the stall itself, nestled next to a three way intersection, if not for Nakak calling me out directly. "Offworlder! Looking to decorate? I have adornments that would catch the starlight beeaaautifully above a command console!" My eyes settle on the young girl, whose eyes lock with mine, a smile stretched wide across her face. "I guess the '5 layers of brown gauze' outfit she has in the game never really made sense," I think to myself, looking at the green eyed girls outfit. It's some sort of waist cloth thing on top of a pretty rugged looking skirt that goes down to her shins. Her shoes are simple sandals, and her top is pretty similar to mine and Ko-lee's, but with a different color and pattern across it. "Guess we all shopped at the same stall."
I can see Ko-lee beginning to step in front, but I put a hand on her shoulder, taking up the forward position instead. "Ahh, hello surrah! What a fantastic top you are wearing! Looking to decorate a ship as well as your body?" says the young mask seller. "Or maybe you are looking for a carpet to being some warmth to the cold of space!" I just nod my head, a smile on my face. "Yea, your carpets are pretty fantastic. I would have hated to miss this stall. I almost did," I say, watching her expression closely. At this, Nakak's smile shrinks a fraction. "Ahh, but you were drawn in anyways! That is the power of local craftsmanship!" she continues, doing her best to put product in our hands and credits in hers. "Actually, it is because I was looking for you. I think we could help draw eyes to your carpets and masks. I could help you sell, hawk your wares. I think I stand out quite a bit, do not you?" I say, doing my best not to flinch at the awkward phrasing at the end of the sentence. "Wait, do not you? Don't you? God damn it, what is words even," I think, as I hold my smile. Nakak, for her part, loses the customer service stance she is holding, and I can see a level of calculation in her eyes.
"You do... but that's not worth a whole carpet," she says, her voice lower than before. "Wait, does she lean into the whole young thing on purpose? IS SHE EVEN A KID," my thoughts spin, but I do my best to avoid focusing on them. "You are probably right. But it is worth something. More traffic means more sales," I state, gesturing at the crowds passing by the stall. Nakak just chews her lip, a mercantile gleam in her eye. "You do draw the eye, offworlder. You're very tall, and you're voice is very deep. Will your friend help too?" "Oof, hit me with the dysphoria beam why don't you," I think, but I don't let it show on my face, as I throw my left arm around Ko-lee's shoulder. "Ko-lee? Of course she will help! She will stand on the other corner. You will have three intersections covered, like a glowing sign pointing right your shop!" I can feel Ko-lee tense underneath my arm; likely her pride warring with her pragmatism. Still, she doesn't say anything, and there is a moment of silence as Nakak looks between the two of us. "How much?"
With the arm around Ko-lee's shoulder, I give her a gentle squeeze, and she picks up on the signal immediately. "Three bronze an hour. For each of us," Ko-lee said, her expression focused and intense. Nakak, for her part, just laughs; a short, high pitched bark, before she she stops. "Wait, are you serious?" she says, before scoffing. "You want three stack for the day? For each of you? All you're doing is standing on the corner and telling people to come over. That's barely worth a bronze an hour. I can do 1 stack for the day, total." Ko-lee just shakes her head, with an immediate rebuttal on her lips. "We'll be on our feet just the same as you. The only difference is we're not finalizing the sale. Two and half bronze." Nakak just looks at the older woman, her eyes squinting. "I still need to make a profit. Two an hour. That's a stamp for each of you at the end of the day. Deal?" At her declaration, the young girl stuck out her hand. Without hesitation, Ko-lee takes it and pumps up and down once. "Deal."