The Lower Caverns were a series of caves much smaller than Ivossin Cavern, connected by a web of tunnels. The lift that Kayden and Darris took led to the central hub of these caves.
Located here were the mineral refineries and there was a constant stream of steam and smoke. To combat this, there were several huge fans that funneled the pollution through designated tunnels. This resulted in a constant buffeting wind that howled throughout the cavern.
This place would have been even more glum and depressing than the docks except they had taken the lights that lit up much of Cliffside to the next level. Every available surface had some type of colored bulb. It created this festive air to a place that otherwise would have been depressing.
There were taverns and brothels everywhere. It was still relatively early in the morning and yet there were crowds bustling about as if it was the middle of the night. This must have been a result of living so deep underground. Unlike even Ivossin Cavern which had direct access to the outside, there was no way to tell the time here other than by clocks.
Kayden knew she should have expected brothels, she had been able to pick out some in other places Cliffside, but here they were much more flagrant about it. Women and men lounged about in provocative clothing calling out to potential clients.
And there was tech everywhere. It wasn’t like the impressive tech of Ernestine Academy. The tech she saw would have been considered scrap Uptown, held together by nothing but frayed wires and hope. There were even automobiles chugging along the uneven roads.
It seemed as if everyone had some type of body modification. It went beyond simply replacing lost limbs. There were cosmetic modifications, with metal implants that created designs like tattoos. She couldn’t imagine doing something like that to her body for the singular purpose of cosmetics.
There was even a person who had the top of his skull replaced with a metal cap with spikes poking out of it. He glared at her menacingly as he caught her looking and she shrunk away.
“Stop acting so out of place,” Darris said when he caught her looking about in wide eyed wonder. “You’ll bring attention to us.”
She followed his advice and tried not to appear so intimidated by the sights around her. The second she thought Cliffside couldn’t surprise her any further, she uncovered a new hidden layer.
They winded their way through the crowded streets to a tobacco shop called the Yellow Tongue, featuring a large neon sign with a yellow tongue sticking out of a mouth with a cigarette. She couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to smoke when they were most likely already breathing in enough toxic fumes down here, but this wasn’t the first smoke shop she had seen.
Darris pushed open the door. The place was surprisingly comfy with lounging areas where people could light up their purchases and smoke them at their leisure. One area was taken up by a group of people passing around the hose of a hookah and blowing blue smoke into the air.
They glanced in Kayden and Darris’s direction but didn’t see anything of interest so returned to their own conversation. Their faces were painted with a type of glowing makeup that Kayden had seen numerous people wearing down here.
“Welcome,” a man said, coming out from behind a shelf. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and had numerous piercings and metal implants in his chest. His hair was very blonde and sticking in every direction like he had been electrocuted. He stopped when he saw Darris. “What are you doing here?”
“Back to see an old friend,” Darris said casually.
“I wasn’t aware you had any of them around.” The man crossed his arms and gave Darris a glare.
“Come on, Saz, don't be like that.”
“I should punch you in the face for what you did to Sally.”
Darris held up his hands placatingly. “It was all a big misunderstanding.”
“How is running off with the saber she forged for you without paying a misunderstanding.” Saz very meaningfully looked at the sword Darris carried at his side.
“It was an emergency. I didn’t have time to pay her.”
“Oh, so should I send a message to her letting her know you are back in the Lower Caverns. There’s no reason you can’t pay her now.”
Darris chuckled nervously. “No need, I’ll make my way to her…eventually.”
“Sure you will.”
“Listen, Saz I need some information.” He glanced at the group of people smoking in the corner. “Is there anywhere private we can talk?”
“I thought you were here to see an old friend? This sounds more like business to me.”
“Can’t it be both?”
“No, it can’t be either until you pay back Sally. She sunk a lot of time and resources into that weapon for you. All because she thought you two had some special connection. I tried to warn her.”
Kayden decided it was time for her to step in. “I can pay you for the information.”
Saz looked at her suspiciously. “Who are you? Another one of Darris’s young women ensnared by Darris.”
Kayden ignored the implication. “I don’t know anything about what happened between you and Darris and this Sally person. I am just looking for some information, and I can pay for it.”
She pulled out her stack of scripts and counted out one hundred then handed it over. Saz took it quickly and it vanished into a pocket. His hostile attitude melted away and turned to one of calculation.
“Two hundred.”
Kayden handed over fifty. “I’ll give you fifty more if the information you give proves worthwhile.”
Saz nodded then glared at Darris. “This doesn’t change anything between us. I am telling Sally you came here. Follow me.”
Saz spun on his heel and led them to a back room. It didn’t have any chairs but instead the floor was covered in cushions with a hookah in the center. Saz took some powder out of his pocket and poured it into the hookah. He brought the hose to his mouth and inhaled then exalted a pink smoke.
When they got themselves situated he offered it to Kayden but she shook her head. After a moment's consideration he handed it over to Darris without looking at him. Darris bowed his head humbly and took a deep drag from it. The smoke filled the room and smelled vaguely like cinnamon.
Saz sat cross legged. “What is it you wanted to know?”
Darris took the lead, handing back the hose to Saz “What can you tell us about what happened to Mistech?”
Saz took a drag as he thought. “It’s dangerous business talking about them.”
“I thought they were gone? How much danger can they still pose?”
“They are, but that new police force, adoc, is still sniffing around after them. Mistech made quite the enemy out of them, and adoc wants to make an example. Why is it you are hunting for information about terrorists?” His question was directed toward Kayden, but he kept his gaze on Darris.
“That’s not important,” Darris said on Kayden’s behalf. “We just want to know whatever you can tell us about what remains of Mistech and where they are hiding.”
“Hmm. You might want to keep those fifty scripts. There isn’t much I can tell you.”
“Not anything. Come on, you must have heard something about them or know someone who has.”
“After they turned the Lower Caverns into a warzone, and once the dust settled, all that remained were a few stragglers who vanished into the cracks. They could be anywhere, laying low or absorbed into other gangs. Your guess is as good as mine.”
“These guys were zealots. Do you expect me to believe they would give up even after such a loss. What about the miner unions? Have you heard any whispers from them? Any of them acting more…revolutionary?”
“The unions are always stirring up trouble. But none of them would want to risk their political capital with Uptown taking in terrorists.”
“Not on the surface, no. But you and I both know they outsource their more nefarious jobs to the gangs. Mistech is exactly the type of group they would want to use to take the heat. It wouldn’t surprise me to find out that one of the unions was funding them to begin with.”
“That is hearsay that could get you killed. A lot of people around here rely heavily on the unions. If they heard you talking ill about them like that, they would be quick to send you on a one way ticket down one of the mine shafts.”
“Good thing we’re friends.”
“Riiight. Even if I did know about one of the unions acting a little out of place, what’s to stop this from coming back to bite me. If it somehow got out that I was the one who gave you this information then I would be hunted down with the two of you.”
“We won’t say anything, isn’t that right?”
Kayden nodded vigorously.
“That’s easy to say now, but what happens if they capture you and start pulling out fingernails? I know you Darris, and you would be singing my name before they even got to that stage.”
“True, but we aren’t going to be causing trouble for the unions, only Mistech.”
“And only a single member of Mistech,” Kayden added. “A man wielding a gun.”
Darris glared at her as if to say to let him do all the talking, but at the mention of a gun Saz raised his almost invisible, blonde eyebrows. “You mean the weapons that adoc is using?”
Both Kayden and Darris looked at Saz. “Adoc has guns.”
Saz nodded. “That’s right. That’s how they were able to make such quick work of Mistech. Mistech had their augmented limbs but they didn’t stand a chance when faced with these new weapons. From what I hear they don’t rely on magic so anyone can use them.”
If what he said was true then that meant that the police could have been behind her father’s death. Immediately coming to mind was the face of Griff grinning at her after he had stolen her money. She felt an overwhelming rush of anger that caused her hands to start shaking. She had to mentally restrain herself from summoning her dagger. This new information didn’t guarantee anything. She still had to hunt down every lead, and right now that had brought her here to the Lower Caverns and Mistech.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
“Could any of these guns have found their way into the hands of Mistech?” she asked.
Saz shrugged. “Sure. They could have scavenged them off the officers they managed to kill before they were all wiped out.”
So Mistech could still be behind the murder. They had motive and access to the weaponry. For now she tried not to think about the fact that the police also had motive and access to the weaponry. It was just too much to take on at once. Mistech was her priority right now.
“Which union was involved with Mistech?” she asked.
“I told you, I’m not willing to get myself involved in this business.”
She pulled out another hundred scripts.
His eyes narrowed. “Do you really think I would risk my life for a measly hundred scripts?”
“There is no chance of this coming back to you. I don’t even know if the person I am looking for is among them.” She added two hundred more to the pile.
“Come on, Saz, I don’t remember you being so afraid of taking a little risk.”
“This is hardly a little risk, no matter what you say.” But his eyes betrayed him as they flickered to the pile of scripts in Kayden’s hands. He sighed and took them. “Fine, but once I tell you this, I won’t answer any more questions and I want you out of my shop.”
Kayden and Darris nodded solemnly.
“You’ll want to look around the Sorty Union. Now get out of my shop.”
As much as Kayden wanted to immediately ask another stream of questions, she stayed true to her word and stood to leave.
“Thank you, Saz,” Darris said when they reached the door.
“This wasn’t a favor. I only did it for the money. I’m still telling Sally you came here, so I’d watch your back if I were you. If she finds you, she’ll raise more destruction than even Mistech.”
Darris swallowed nervously. “I don’t suppose there's anyway to dissuade you.”
“Unlike you, Sally is my friend. I’m telling her. You're just lucky I’m giving you a head start.”
“I’m going to pay her. I’m not a thief. I just haven’t gotten around to it yet.”
“Explain that to her when she finds you. But I don’t think she’ll give you the time to talk your way out of it.” Saz opened the door and gestured for them to exit.
Back out on the streets, Kayden immediately turned to Darris. “So do you know where to find this Sorty Union?”
“Of course,” he answered distractedly, obviously still shaken over what Saz had said.
Who exactly was this Sally woman that could inspire such fear in Darris? But Kayden didn’t really care. It didn’t concern her one way or the other what this Sally person did to Darris in retribution for his past offenses as long as he was able to fulfill their contract.
“Well, let’s go find out if that is where Mistech is hiding out.”
“Right,” Darris said, shaking off his worry and they began walking. “The unions keep their offices around whatever mining operations they are in charge of. The Sortys handle all of the branches of the Rim. The Rim would be a good spot for Mistech to go underground.”
“Why.”
“It’s this huge abyss with a mazework of tunnels that haven’t been fully explored. It would be next to impossible for anyone to find them down there unless they knew exactly where to go.”
“So we’ll have to find someone who knows exactly where they are hiding.”
“That’s right, and considering the heat surrounding Mistech, I don’t think just anyone will have that information. And remember there is no guarantee that Sorty is sheltering them.”
“But Saz said--”
“Saz doesn’t know everything. He catches whatever rumors find their way through his shop. And rumors aren’t known to be the most accurate source of knowledge.”
This mellowed Kayden’s anticipation somewhat. Several hours had passed since they first set out on this journey, so they stopped at a street vendor to eat a strange meat that Kayden couldn’t place. She probably didn’t want to know.
“Why are the unions such a big deal?” she asked, curious about why Saz was so scared to get tangled with them.
“They’re the strongest official political force Cliffside. Everyone who lives here answers to them in some facet. They control all of the jobs and negotiate with Uptown. Without them, Cliffsiders would be at the complete whim of Uptown. That type of power attracts all sorts of dangerous people you wouldn’t want to tangle with. Not to mention that the workforce is extremely loyal to them.”
“So they act as a mediator of Cliffside and Uptown.”
“That’s correct, it’s a fine balancing act of ensuring the needs of both Cliffside and Uptown are met.”
“Why would any of the unions get involved with people like Mistech then?”
“The unions’ first and foremost duty is to the people they employ. If they feel like they are being taken advantage of by Uptown, attitudes can turn violent. Usually the other unions watch over one another so that nobody steps too out of line and brings trouble for the rest of them. That’s why they use gangs to keep attention from themselves. But the unions are also corrupt just like any political force. They could just as easily be using Mistech and the chaos they provide to drive up prices for their labor as for any revolutionary zeal.”
“Would they really let people get killed for something like that?”
Darris gave her an incredulous look like he couldn’t believe she was asking such a naive question and didn’t bother to answer.
“What would people do if they found out?” she went on to ask.
“I’m sure they could spin it in their favor somehow. These elected officials are always getting out of tight spots. They could say they were doing it for the good of Cliffside and place all the blame on Uptown. It would be easy enough to sell that story when Uptown is already seen as the enemy.”
Kayden was starting to understand that this was a lot more complicated than she could easily wrap her head around in a single sitting. Why hadn’t she learned about any of this in the Academy. It was important considering that this was how the city where she lived functioned. But would they really teach young students that corruption was so rampant throughout Mitros.
“What do you know about the Sorty Union? Do they seem like the type to pull something like this off?”
“To be honest, I don’t know. It has been a while since I’ve been to the Lower Caverns, and things can change quickly down here. I’ve never been that interested in the dealings of the unions. It’s best to stay out of all of that mess. Are you sure you want to continue down this path?”
“Yes. I need to find the person I’m looking for, no matter where he is hiding.”
“What about your father and Nikiphero? I’m sure they wouldn’t want this to blow back on them. Nikiphero probably has a lot of dealings with the unions and it could harm their relationship if they found out a member of Nikiphero was meddling in their business.”
“I’m not a member of Nikiphero.”
“Still, you are connected to them and the unions probably won’t accept that excuse.”
“I don’t care.”
“You really want to find this person, huh?”
“I’m the only one that can, and I’m not going to let him get away.”
There was a lull in the conversation in which they both concentrated on finishing their lunch. When they were finished, Darris turned to her.
“I know I said I didn’t want to know why you were hunting this person down, but I’ve got an idea kid, and whatever he did to you, it isn’t worth throwing your life away to get revenge.”
“You don’t know what you're talking about.” Kayden tried to keep her anger at bay, but it was becoming harder for her to contain. It kept calling to her, barley beneath the surface, ready to lash out in an instant.
“Maybe not, but I’ve seen what people do when they are angry, and almost every time they regret the actions it caused them to take.”
“This is about bringing someone to justice. I’m not turning away.”
There was another long silence that was broken by Darris. “Okay, but if by some miracle you do find the person you are looking for, you can’t hesitate, you understand. Get it over with quickly then get out.”
Kayden met his eyes in surprise and he wore a serious expression. She knew that trying to deny her intentions wouldn’t do anything to misdirect him. With how he acted it was easy to overlook how perceptive he was. Maybe that was the point. She nodded then looked away unable to bear that gaze.
“Alright, let's head over to the union hall.”
She was glad he didn’t try to dissuade her from her course of actions anymore. It was clear he saw no point in it. Kayden’s resolve has hardened and honed to a deadly point just like the dagger connected to her aura.
The union hall didn’t stand out in any way from the other buildings. It was the same simple design that was more about function than form, four walls and a roof. If anything it was a little more drab than the rest of the city because it didn’t have the same amount of lights covering its surface.
“How do we get the information we need?” Kayden asked as they stood outside the building and studied it.
“I’m not about to break into a union hall--not that we would find anything if we did, they wouldn’t be stupid enough to keep records of any of their dealings with Mistech for anyone to find. The only option we have is to wait and watch, see if we can spot anything of interest that will lead us to them.”
“That’s it? That’s all you’ve got?”
“I don’t know what you expected. It’s not that easy to find someone Cliffside that doesn’t want to be found, even if those people have a lot of heat on them. It’s not like I can just walk in there and ask for directions to an illicit gang.”
Kayden couldn’t think of a counter argument so she had no choice but to concede. They settled down into a side street that retained a view of the union hall without them being easily noticeable.
Then they waited. And waited.
Darris pulled out a notebook and began making notations of everyone who entered and exited the building. Kayden glanced over his shoulder occasionally to get a look at what he was writing down. He was taking general descriptions and times at which people left or entered. At one point he handed over the notebook to her.
“If we are going to do this, I need you to carry your own weight. It will be easier if I can trust you to keep track of things here while I go in and get a closer look.”
Kayden nodded and Darris proceeded to coach her in what to look for. It was pretty basic--hair color, height, clothing. It became somewhat of a game to see how much she could pick out before the person got too far away.
The hard part arrived when trying to retain enough of this knowledge so that she could remember if she saw the same person again. This was extremely important because depending on how long they were gone would rule out whether they had visited the Rim.
What Kayden found was that it was helpful to remember one specific distinguishing mark about a person. For instance, there was a man with a monichal, a woman with platinum hair, an old man missing a hand, and so on. It was much easier to remember this than every little detail.
Once Darris was satisfied that she could handle it, he headed out. He went up to the union hall, looked around, then disappeared around the side.
It was getting late, but the only reason Kayden knew this was because of the watch Darris left her to keep track of the comings and goings. Just because it was getting to the point where Uptown people would be heading home from work, that didn’t seem to concern anyone here. They ran by their own internal rhythm.
After a few hours Darris returned and Kayden took a break from her meticulous note keeping to question him.
“Did you find anything?”
He shook his head. “This was just a preliminary recon mission to get my bearings of the place. I came back to relieve you so that you could get something to eat.”
She was getting hungry and was grateful to hand over responsibility. It was giving her a slight headache trying to retain all of the faces she had seen. She had underestimated how difficult this seemingly simple task could get over time.
She didn’t waste much time eating. She didn’t want to miss anything, but when she got back there were no new details. She was beginning to realize the task before them wouldn’t be taken care of quickly.
Darris once again left her to follow up on some of the potential people they had marked as more suspicious such as the one handed old man. Anyone with a missing limb could be a potential connection to Mistech.
After hours later Darris returned. Kayden perked up but he shook his head before she could even ask whether he had found anything.
Eventually business around the union hall began to slow, but Darris still didn’t want to risk missing anything. One of them had to stay here at all times. He took charge while Kayden left to rent a room in a nearby inn and get some rest.
The inn wasn’t very nice, and the common room was noisy, but Kayden didn’t want to look for anything further away. She slept restlessly for a few hours then went and relieved Darris.
Several days passed in this manner. Kayden had to pay Darris more money because he started to complain that this was a much more serious undertaking than he had first predicted. She thought about pointing out that he had already agreed to a price with no timeline, but it was pointless to argue when paying him a little more was hardly a problem with her amount of resources.
Kayden offered to do some of her own reconnaissance so that Darris didn’t have to take on so much himself, but he snorted at her. “If I let you go off and follow someone on your own, you would get yourself caught immediately.”
She tried to argue but he wouldn’t hear it. He didn’t want to risk their mission just because Kayden felt like she could do more. In the end, keeping track of the comings and goings around the union hall was far more important than anything else. Eventually they would catch some small detail that could lead them to Mistech.
That detail came on the fourth day while Kayden was watching the union hall while Darris was resting.
The platinum haired woman which Kayden had seen several times before, came out of the union hall. She had never raised much suspicion before, but something about her attitude seemed off. She looked nervous, licking her lips and glancing around. She also carried a brown sack over her shoulder that looked out of place with the rest of her attire which Kayden had never seen her with before. The woman then proceeded to hurry off at a brisk pace.
In a split second decision, Kayden decided to follow her. She could hear Darris’s voice in her head, “If you see something suspicious, mark it down and I will follow up on it. Do not do anything yourself. Do you understand?”
At the time Kayden had agreed, and she had every intention of keeping that promise, but now that the time came, she didn’t want to let a possible lead slip by. This was obviously an irregular occurrence and who knew if this opportunity would present itself again. She had to trust her instincts, and right now they were screaming that the platinum haired woman was up to no good.