Wondering what the girl had been up to, Alan began to think about the day so far. In the end, Alan felt a bit disappointed. Khersath was simply a city. A humongous, futuristic city, yes, but like any other city it was basically a collection of buildings Alan would never see the insides of, people he would never meet. A hive of activity and experience that simply was. Everything felt chaotic, too many new variables being thrown after him one after the other. Alan shook his head, such thoughts were irrelevant now, he had a task to complete.
We should arrive soon, Eve sent. I advise entering into stealth mode, which is just sneaking about rather than an activated ability or mode, in case you were wondering. Prepare to activate the armor’s invisibility and run, depending upon what awaits us at the bottom.
Alan nodded, and hid in the corner opposite the entrance. Of course, it was the wall that he had his back to that opened a minute later.
Alan turned around, but all he saw was a dark tunnel, like the guide had said there would be. As he stepped into the tunnel, the door to the lift closed behind him and a new message appeared:
You have entered into the lower levels of Khersath. Once you exit this tunnel, you have left the safe zone. Death penalties will once again apply, along with all the risks typically associated with the Game. An unsafe zone does not equate with a lawless zone, and all players are reminded that local rules should still be adhered to. That includes theft, murder and unwanted soliciting.
Shortly thereafter, Alan emerged from the tunnel into the Undercity, and froze. He’d expected maybe a seedy looking downtown area, or a ghetto slum. Instead, it was a fairly well lit, clean space, looking similar to the top level, with hundreds of people going about their business. The “sky” was a ceiling, about 100 stories upwards, providing artificial light similar to sunlight.
In front of Alan was a city gate, accompanied by numerous armed guards guiding people in and out, inspecting them carefully. Everything seemed quite neat, even orderly, with shops and compounds lined up along streets like city blocks within the Undercity’s walls. The first immediate, noticeable difference was the presence of armed guards everywhere, guarding merchants, stores, and lining the walls. Most of the guards above ground in the plaza had been carrying nonlethal weapons, stun batons and constraining weaponry. Everyone here carried weapons that were capable of deadly force. The second thing Alan noticed was the way most people were carrying themselves. Everyone was seemingly alert, constantly scanning their surroundings. Alan began to relax a little; there didn’t appear to be any immediate danger. Then, numerous red marks started to fill his vision.
Eve constantly scanned for possible threats, and right now everyone was turning up dangerous.
I advise walking steadily towards the location indicated by the quest, acting as though you are on official business, Eve sent. Answer no one unless they are important or an official working for the Undercity. Street smarts, as we’ve gone over.
Taking a deep breath, which hopefully no one noticed as his face was completely behind his helmet, Alan began walking with purpose towards the city gate. One of Eve’s initial lessons had been on posture, and how to carry himself. Additionally, Eve had taught him different simple methods to avoid confrontation in case someone approached him, such as simply holding out his arm, bent at the elbow, to stop people that tried to get too close. Of course, these were lessons from Earth, but the general principle should still apply. Most of the “spotters” that Eve had pointed out seemed to ignore him, either assuming he wasn’t worth the trouble or he wasn’t among the list of targets they were looking for. Bounty hunting was, after all, a remarkably lucrative job in the Game.
The guards standing at the city gates had simple, uncolored metal power armor with an emblem of a single metal cube, which Alan assumed to be a platinum mark. They generally carried a laser rifle on their back, a laser sword in a holster to their side and an assortment of what looked to be grenades.
As Alan was about to enter the city, a guard turned to look at him.
“Halt. Please state your business in this city and reveal your identity.”
Quick, hand over a gold mark, but make sure to not reveal any other marks. Deflect.
Alan slid his hand to a compartment that held the remaining gold marks Alan had, and then quickly flicked one into the guard’s outstretched hand stopping him.
“I’m here to perform a simple business transaction, and would like to keep my identity to myself,” Alan said with more confidence than he felt.
The guard quickly glanced down to see what Alan had tossed him, and, upon seeing gold, quickly shoved the mark into a pocket compartment of his own.
“Of course, sir, please have a pleasant visit.”
Alan, having learned it was better to keep his mouth shut, simply nodded, and continued on his way. Neither he nor Eve noticed a watcher, hidden in the shadows.
Chapter 15
Alan looked at the buildings he passed as he made his way to the location indicated by the quest. Most were shops, with guards stationed outside. Interestingly, the majority of stores had messages saying that they didn’t allow walk-ins, and required some sort of identifying symbol or authorization to enter. There were probably some black market stores he could get into with the coin he’d gotten from the shady merchant back on Earth.
Rather than specific emblems, most players seemed to wear specific colors, probably representing gangs of some sort. The most common colors were a dark purple and a tarnished gold, almost bronze. Some article of clothing or weapon would be painted in one of these colors, but never both. Alan was worried he was sticking out too much, as he had no such identification, until he noticed a few other similarly unmarked players.
They were apparently meeting up as a group, heading into the ruins of an old building. Alan noted that there were a surprisingly large number of guards around the building, despite its dilapidated state. All the guards wore a purple tabard with a silver crown etched into it over their power armor.
Hey, Eve, what’s that?
It is likely an entrance to the Abyss Labyrinth.
The Abyss Labyrinth?
Yes, the Undercity is the lowest inhabited region of Khersath. The remnants of an even older civilization lie further below. This area is named the Abyss Labyrinth, as even after countless years and exploration parties no one has ever managed to reach the bottom. There are rumors that there isn’t even a bottom, that it simply continues down into a black abyss.
Of course, that is likely superstitious nonsense. There are numerous Capture Points that have been taken and briefly held, even smaller dungeons within the greater labyrinth. This has caused many players to believe there is a major capture point, likely located in the center of the planet, which would give one control over the Undercity and lower levels of Khersath. This power could easily rival the control of any of the four main districts.
Scouting parties are often sent in to the dungeon, paid to map it out. No one has made it too far down, or at least they aren’t revealing that information to the public. Still, new entrances into the Abyss Labyrinth are often found, and lead to dungeons with decent treasure and enemies. That is likely one such entrance.
Ah, got it.
Alan walked by the ruins, continuing onwards. The buildings around him turned into large, steel warehouses, generally with only one or two bored looking guards. There were fewer and fewer people walking down the streets, as Alan was leaving the main market district.