July 26, 4021 01:00 [Matriarch 03 AB Side- Deployment Bay 03]

The Bloodhounds traveled down the winding hallways of Matriarch 03, closely following Dot as he eagerly led them, deftly navigating the way without so much as a glance at his Nerve Cord. Mirai walked next to Aisha adjusting his gait to match hers.

“How’re you holding up?” he asked her.

“Better,” she replied.

The two had been slowly coming to speaking terms since Indra’s disappearance. However, sensing that the situation was still delicate, Mirai felt it best not to prod further. Surprisingly, it was Aisha who decided to continue the conversation.

“I didn’t even get to say goodbye to him,” she said, looking up at Mirai with a miserable expression.

He returned a sad smile. “I know, we weren’t able to say goodbye either. I’m sure—” He caught himself, refraining from giving out false reassurances. “Right now we need to focus on working together and surviving this ordeal. Once it’s all over, we can figure out what to do next.”

Aisha shook her head. “There’s no end in sight, remember? You said it yourself.”

Mirai bit his tongue, silently cursing himself. Aisha looked at him with disappointment, turning away and picking up her pace. Mirai let her go, watching as she caught up with Ghost and struck up a conversation with her. Shit. If only Indra were here right now. He’d know what to say.

They finally reached Deployment Bay 03, an enormous set of titanium doors guarding the entrance. A solenoid was engraved in-between the doors, glowing lines of Virya coursing through the symbol, pulsating as if alive. A catwalk led to the entrance, situated precariously over a dam-like structure, torrents of water rushing in from all sides. Dot stepped forward, scanning his Nerve Cord on a small sphere embedded within a pedestal situated next to the doors. Each member followed suit, mirroring his actions. The sphere pulsed green each time a wristband was scanned. Once all of their IDs were verified, a deafening whir of gears drowned out the turbulent sound of the water flow as the doors were pulled asunder, sliding forcefully into the adjacent walls.

Mirai gasped as they stepped into the Deployment Bay. The Bloodhounds found themselves on a balcony overlooking a sprawling metropolis, the nightlife lively and bustling.

“There’s a whole city down there!” he exclaimed, leaning over the railing, peering down at the endless sea of buildings below.

Dot chuckled. “If you’re impressed by the city now, wait until you get a closer look,” he said, motioning them to follow further.

He led the group to a dubious-looking elevator, patterns of rust and moss coating the doors to the rickety contraption.

Skadi shook her head. “I am not going in that thing. How have we not fixed this hunk of junk yet? Or better still, why not build a new elevator? This thing’s got to be at least a decade old!”

“Try three.”

“Not helping,” Skadi scowled.

“C’mon, you guys! It’ll be safe. I promise,” Dot reassured the group.

Akula shrugged. “We don’t really have another way of getting down to the city. Plus, if we fall, Ghost can just heal us, right?”

Ghost pursed her lips. “I can’t heal you if I’m dead.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s true.”

"I swear this elevator is safe. Trust me," Dot implored.

Skadi acquiesced, sighing deeply before motioning for Dot to resume their journey. Dot beamed giddily, pulling off a steel panel by the elevator. He hovered his palm over the exposed wire, as he muttered under his breath, his eyes darting back and forth.

“What’s he doing?” Aisha asked curiously.

“It’s his Trait, ‘Digitize’. He can interact with any digital database and manipulate the coding, software, and functionality of programs,” Ghost explained.

“Don’t go giving away all my secrets now,” Dot smirked. “There! That should do it.”

The elevator came to life, rattling as the lift ascended to their location.

“How come this elevator’s out of commission? Don’t people need to access the city?” Mirai wondered out loud.

“Oh, that's because most people fly in and out of this place with cars or public transportation,” Dot answered, pointing at an opening located further up the ceiling, leading back to the Matriarch.

“Wow.”

“Wow, indeed. Now, c’mon, we’ve got places to be!” Dot exclaimed, shuffling everyone into the elevator.

The lift creaked and groaned, rattling as it shuttled the group to the city below. The questionable rigging didn’t give Mirai much comfort. The view, however, made up for the nerve-wracking journey tenfold. Looking out of the glass at the sprawling cityscape, Mirai witnessed a seemingly endless array of brightly lit buildings towering over the busy streets below. Flying cars bustled between landing pads, whizzing through the crowded airspace as people went about their night, bathed in the neon glow of a million signs.

The elevator finally screeched to a halt as the old brakes slowed down the contraption with great effort. Mirai exited first, hastily running out and bending down to kiss the earth, thanking the heavens for putting him on solid ground once again. Dot laughed, grabbing Mirai by the collar and dragging him along as the group made their way to the outskirts of the city.

“Alright, we made it. Just past this gate is Khar Khot, the Black City. Keep in mind that this entire area is under Temujin’s jurisdiction. He’s extremely strict regarding crime, so we need to ensure that we’re on our best behavior while we’re here. A word of advice, don’t draw attention to yourselves,” Dot explained.

“That sounds like a fantastic plan to me,” Mirai said, looking elated. Finally, some rules we can follow.

“Sounds a bit boring, to be honest,” Akula remarked.

Mirai shot him a dirty look. “Nobody asked you.”

Akula shrugged. “I was thinking we could hit the town, y’know. Experience the nightlife. Maybe explore the club scene. See what that’s like.”

Ghost snickered. “Good luck with that. We’re banned from most establishments in the city.”

“What!? Why?”

Ghost looked past Akula. The rest of the Bloodhounds followed her eyeline, settling on two individuals.

“Wha—Well, I never!” Skadi said indignantly, appearing slighted by the accusation.

Slump hung his head.

“What did you two do?” Mirai asked the burning question.

“I set fire to an industrial workshop.”

Mirai put a hand on his forehead. “Of course, you did. Why wouldn’t you?”

“It was an accident.”

“You seem to be prone to these types of accidents.”

Dot laughed, clutching his side. “It gets even better. Skadi sent thirty people to the emergency room when she visited the Roulette Lounge.”

Skadi floundered over her words. “T-they were asking for it! What was I supposed to do?”

Mirai looked at the two in disbelief, struggling to understand why he continued to be grouped in with these insane individuals. Will I ever escape this nightmare?

“The point of remaining inconspicuous is to refrain from activities that will garner attention. Yet, you both consistently find yourselves in the midst of conflict. Maybe ask yourself why that is,” Ghost scolded them.

Skadi’s face flushed red. “I’ll try not to cause trouble this time.”

“And I won’t intentionally burn anything,” Slump swore, pressing a hand to his heart.

“That gives me zero reassurance,” Mirai groaned. He turned to Dot. “So how exactly did they get away with this stuff? I thought you said Khar Khot was strict on crimes?”

“It is. The incarceration rate is almost 600 here.”

“Are you serious?!” Mirai exclaimed clutching his head.

“Yeah. I said the city was strict on crime, not devoid of it. It’s a fucking hellhole in the lower districts. The only reason everyone’s not dead yet is because Temujin keeps everything in order. This city would be on the brink of collapse if he hadn’t taken over. The higher up you go, the less crime you’ll encounter. The upper districts are where all the aristocrats and socialites live,” Dot said pointing up at the towering buildings.

“We’re going to the top then, right?” Mirai said, apprehensively.

Dot grinned. “Of course not! We’ll be going to the basement level. To a quaint little place called Dead Haven, in fact.”

“May I ask why we’re going there of all places?” Skadi interjected, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Kefka. It’ll be nice to—”

“Cut it out, Dot. Who’s waiting at Dead Haven?”

Dot chuckled nervously. “Um, Gauss is.”

Skadi’s eyes flared. “What is he doing here?!”

“Kǔ Shén sent him here to see how progress on the Lancers was coming along.”

“I thought I already told that bastard that I would take care of it!” Skadi burst.

Dot flinched. “Hey! Don’t yell at me. I’m only the messenger. His exact words were, ‘She represents her father and their company, not Lunar Gate.’ Kǔ Shén ordered Temujin to allow Gauss to stay in Khar Khot while he oversees the Lancer Project.”

“To make sure I don’t hide any data and give it to my father, is that right?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“I know you didn’t, but that’s what Kǔ Shén’s implying, isn’t he?”

Dot nodded apologetically. “Most likely.”

Skadi closed her eyes to think for a moment. “Why didn’t he just get Temujin to oversee the project then? He’s a Hyena too, and he already lives here.”

Dot shook his head. “Temujin actually advocated for you. Kǔ Shén didn’t like that so he sent Gauss to act as a proxy to keep a close eye on you and Temujin as well.”

“And Gauss told you all of this?”

“Why would that prick tell me anything? I hacked into their HoloPads and read their messages. The encryption level was weak at best.”

“Okay, that explains why Gauss is here, but why are we meeting with him?”

Dot sighed. “Well, to enter the Lancer Docks we need access keys, and since our servers were fried, and the access keys embedded within them melted, the only other person with another copy right now is Gauss. So, I messaged him asking for the keys. And he told me to meet him at Dead Haven.”

Skadi groaned. “I recant my statement from earlier. I can’t promise that I won’t cause trouble.”

“That’s understandable. We’ll back you if things get out of hand,” Ghost said.

“If? Whenever Gauss is involved, things always go to shit,” Dot laughed.

Slump nodded in agreement.

“Is this Gauss guy really that bad?” Mirai asked them.

“The worst,” Skadi replied tersely.

“Now this sounds like it’s going to be fun,” Akula grinned.

“You’re always itching for a fight. You sound just as problematic as this guy!” Mirai exclaimed.

Dot interrupted their chatter. “Alright, we need to stop delaying, or we’ll be here all night. Let’s just go to Dead Haven, grab the keys, and leave. Don’t respond to any of Gauss’ provocations and we should be fine. Understand?”

The group nodded.

“Wait, you didn’t answer Mirai’s question, though. How did Skadi and Slump manage to avoid jail time?” Aisha chimed in.

“We do jobs for Temujin on occasion. Skadi was investigating a report about organized criminal activity in the eleventh district. Members of the organization caught wind of her presence and cornered her at the Roulette Lounge. And, well, you probably know how that went,” Dot said staring at Akula.

Akula grimaced at the mention of his recent beatdown.

“And Slump?”

“Temujin asked Slump to look into some narcotics shipments that had been missing. He managed to track down the shipments which had been stored in an industrial workshop. Turns out the business was just a front for drug trafficking. He was able to apprehend the suspects, but set the building ablaze in the process, evidence and all.”

Slump’s head hung lower as Skadi patted him on the back.

“We should get going. It’s late and I don’t want to be up all night. C’mon.” Dot motioned for them to follow.

The Bloodhounds reached the checkpoint leading into civilization. They scanned their Nerve Cords to gain clearance, shuffling through security as they were patted down and searched for weapons. As they crossed the threshold of the territory, they took one last glance at the outskirts and the decrepit elevator in the distance before entering the Black City.