"How you feeling, big guy?" Itzel asked Gurk as she patted him on the back. The crocodile grumbled as he slung his only back over his shoulder. His entire body shivered for a short moment. 

"Tired. Scared."

"Aww. Why are you scared?" Itzel stopped walking and so did Gurk and Janus. They all stood in front of the steps leading up to the platform in front of main building. The sun was on its way up across the horizon, giving the area a faint orange glow. The building seemed to go on forever with the long glass windows that lined up for infinity underneath a long and dilapidated awning that stretched along with it. A tinted color to the glass made it impossible to see what was going on inside. 

"Leaving," Gurk said. 

"You're upset about leaving? Labrisson?" Itzel replied.

Gurk answered with a short nod of his head. 

"I forgot that this is the only city you've ever been in. But it's not like it's all that great of a place, big guy. You hear everyone complain about it all the time, don't you?"

"It's home," Gurk said. 

"Yeah, I get it. It is home. Whether we like it or not." Itzel and Gurk both turned around. They could see the exhaust from the Refinery Sector rise in the distance, obscuring the sunset. In front of it was a jagged city line of Labrisson's numerous buildings and skyscrapers. "But we'll be back. Think of it as a vacation, Gurk. Don't you think us of all people deserve one?" Itzel looked up at the crocodile. He remained still, staring into the horizon.

"Yeah."

"We're going to call Galo every day. It's not like we'll be cutting all contact from this place forever."

"True." Gurk stretched his arms to his side and tilted his head back. He inhaled and let the air out in a frigid fog in the form of a yawn.

"Come on. I know it's hard saying bye, but we need to get to our station," Itzel tugged on Gurk's hand and led him the steps to the front of the building. “These High-Velocity Transporters don't wait for anyone. And these tickets cost a decent chunk of Tokens."

"Fine."

All three entered through the first entrance of the building. The inside was sparse for its size. The vast majority of seats were empty. Scattered throughout the sea of vacant chairs were the heads of tired customers waiting for their Transporter to arrive. Itzel led the group, walking through the maze-like series of ropes that ran in between the wall and the last row of chairs. Gurk followed behind her and Janus in the very back. To Janus' relief, the few customers within the building were too tired or too focused on fiddling with their projections to notice Gurk brushing against the rope that formed the perimeter of the line.

"Is this place usually so... empty?" Janus asked Itzel from the back of the line. 

"People are too broke to leave Labrisson. And you know nobody wants to come here if they don't have to," Itzel replied. "The Labrisson Terminal is rarely busy. That's why tickets are so sparse."

"Got it."

Together they reached the end of the line. In front of them was a series of electronic screens attached to tall metal panels. In between each metal panel was a glass door that gave a view of a long and empty track. Itzel approached the closet screen and activated her projection, bringing up a pixelated bit of code in the process. The device attached to wall scanned the bit of data she presented. 

"Ticket Accepted," a robotic and feminine voice. "Please head to Exit 1SM."

"Make it quick you two!" Itzel waved and walked in a straight line down the long wall of panels and doors. Gurk and Janus both did the same, one after the other, and made their way to meet up with Itzel in front of their designated exit.

"High-Velocity Transporter, huh?" Janus said. He peered through the window of the door to get a better glimpse into the tracks. There was a boarding platform lined with dingy black and white checkered tiles. Each exit was separated by a pair of ropes that led from sides of the door to a pillar that at the edge of the platform. With a tweak of his glasses, Janus got a better look at the track itself. It was in a deep recess, but the lights in the ceiling made the long metal beam glisten. "I'd love to see how it achieves the high speeds it advertises."

"Lots of complicated stuff," Itzel said. She tapped her foot, staring at the door. "It'll take a lot of studying just to understand the core aspects of it."

"That's right up my alley."

"Too bad you didn't wake up in Scholburn. You would have fit right in there."

Janus turned his head from the window to look at Itzel. His face formed a tiny smile. "But then I never would have met you and Gurk."

"You're a sweetheart Janus. Really," Itzel shot back.

"I'm being honest!"

"Scholburn barely gets Essencima. Who knows who you would have met there? Maybe you could have found some other physicist to talk about... physics with."

"I've been doing that for years already. Fighting? Now that's something new to me. And I'm getting the hang of it, too."

"Glad you managed to find a new hobby, Janus. I really am. Gives you something to focus on instead of just trying to survive on the streets of Labrisson."

"Yeah. It's a nice change of pace." Janus kept his focus on the track, angling his head to the side to finagle his view so he could see the vehicle that was going to whisk them away. He felt a tremble in the ground, accompanied by a deep rumbling that came from his left. He immediately stepped back from the door and darted back to the others. 

"Hope you don't get motion sickness, Janus," Itzel shouted. The roar coming from the other side of the exits had gotten louder, drowning out Itzel's words. There was a sharp screech followed by a soft hum of various mechanicals working. The doors adjacent to Exit 1SM lifted upwards. A small swarm of people funneled through the narrow passageways. Passengers of various sizes with a wide assortment of outfits begrudgingly left their ride to step foot inside Labrisson once more. Janus could see looks of disappointment of various individuals as the trudged through the rope towards the station's exit. A few passing glances were given to Gurk, only to have their attention return to the ground as they hung their head low. 

It wasn't long before all of the passengers had left the platform and were either heading towards the front of the station or had left altogether. Once the adjacent doors shut, the entrance to Exit 1SM opened. In the open space, Janus could see the sleek white exterior of the High-Velocity Transporter. A long red streak broke up the shiny finish.

"Passengers heading to Sano Mosado may now board," the same robotic voice as before echoed throughout the station.

"You go ahead and get on first, Janus," Itzel said, gesturing with her hand for him to take the lead. "You seemed really excited about it."

Janus took the offer. He inched his way through the opened passage. As he stepped on the platform, he turned his head to the right. The front of the Transport was curved like a bullet. The long red stripe divided it along the center horizontally. Just above the stripe were windows that gave view to the contents inside; he could see cushioned booth seats line along the inside. All of the hatches along the Transporter's side lifted upwards simultaneously.

"Is that our section?" Janus asked with awe. Itzel walked beside him. 

"Has to be. 1SM is the only section for people going to Sano Mosado."

With a gentle nudge to the back, Itzel managed to push Janus to step inside the Transporter, making him the first one in. He let out a gasp as he took in the ambience of their section of the vehicle. He plopped himself on one of the cushioned seats along the wall. There were tables spread out intermittently between seats. Ornate curtains were covered the windows behind him, obscuring the presumably bland interior of the tunnel. Towards the top of the cabin was a large projector angled downwards, showing off a match of Cyber Rivals. 

"Nice!" Gurk said as he stepped inside last. He dropped his bag to the floor and sat down behind it. His eyes turned to the projection, becoming fixated almost immediately at the match going on.

"Already enjoying the trip, huh big guy?" Itzel asked. She took a seat next to Janus. She let her bag fall to the ground next to her feet. "Ahh, didn't know these HVTs could be so... luxurious!" she said as she closed her eyes. Itzel angled her head back and let it rest on the cushion. 

"That's why this ride cost so many Tokens," Janus replied. 

"Well, I did choose to take the higher-end option. This trip is courtesy of DuRoix, after all."

"You think she won't mind us taking the more expensive option?"

"Told you she's loaded. She won't notice the few extra Tokens it'll take to get us to Sano Mosado."

"Do we get this section all to ourselves, too? Looks fairly spacious for just three people."

"Someone else can join in, yeah. Don't know how many people are heading to Sano Mosado, though. Not like everyone gets an invite from DuMoix to participate in a Team Battle Exhibition."

Janus eyes looked around the room and noticed some luggage stashed away in leather trunks underneath a table in the corner. "Looks like I spoke too soon," Janus said. He pointed towards his findings. Itzel turned her head. 

"Guess someone else is here," she said. "Looks like they might be wealthy too. Those are some quality bags they're lugging around." Both Janus and Itzel looked at Gurk. "Let's just hope they make good friends with crocodiles."

Rumble Circuit is back! 

And if you haven't already, check out my new Magical Girl LitRPG Hidden Beacons if you're interested!