Lance led Septum and Raishan along the rather cramped streets of the city. It had originally been designed to allow for vehicles to drive on the streets. But since they couldn't reliably make fuel to power a vehicle, they opted to use the roads space to expand the housing of the city. To allow there to be more lives that needed to be protected.

“It sure is cramped here.” Raishan noted his voice full of interest. “Way different than Mecca.”

“Different how?” Septum questioned out of curiosity of how different Mecca was from Eden.

“We still have our streets, matter of factly we use them mainly to get supplies sent to where they need to be. It's rather efficient actually.” Raishan would say in a way that seemed light hearted. But felt more like a jab.

“How about your buildings?” Lance questioned before making a right turn.

To Raishan this place was a massive maze. It honestly stunned him that they were able to move through the cramped passageways so fluidly.

“Our buildings are roughly the same. If yours were built for efficiency that is.” Raishan answered thoughtfully as they reached a portion of the pathway that seemed to expand by about fifteen feet, becoming much more breathable and a whole lot less cramped. Letting out a sigh of relief he followed as they continued to walk heading deeper into the city.

“So, why did Mecca decide to make Brawlers?” Septum questioned somewhat invasively as he leaned closer to Raishan to clearly hear the words that he spoke.

“Because there are too many people who wish to become Agents, who go through all the training to be as physically fit as they can be, only to find out that we are not fit for the serum at the end of the training process, and were relegated back down to the rank of a Ranger, our training having been for naught. So Mecca posed with Eden, or so I assume. To hold an experiment to see how failed Agents would be effective in combat.” 

“So that's why they sent you here to the city closest to the Wastelands?” Lance spoke low in tone as they eventually reached what seemed like a secondary set of gates which separated this portion of the city from the deeper, much more important regions of the city.

“For the first test, yes, they want to hold it in house within the Trinity Sector. They sent two other Brawlers to Jerusalem and Babel.”

Septum listened as the two spoke, taking in the information that was so openly shared between the two. If he was meant to see Alahakis, then isn’t he supposed to be keeping such information about another Sector City private?

He was sure that Lance was thinking the same thing, and since Raishan didn’t seem to know any better. He happily shared the information with the two of them without a care in the world.

For some odd reason that Septum still hadn’t been able to wrap around his own mind, one of the rules that Agents have to follow much more strictly than your normal citizen. Don’t share information. 

The only exception to that however was when it was absolutely vital for them to share their information with higher ups, or at the minimum with the higher ranking Agents like Juno and Alahakis.

“Should we be probing him for answers on things he should be keeping to himself?” Septum finally spoke up after pushing through the excitement of the moment. He hadn’t realized just how carried away he had gotten himself until then.

Project Machina

“It’s just harmless questions Sep. He isn’t an Agent so he doesn’t have to follow the rules we have to follow as strictly, and are free to share information as he pleases. Plus it gives us an idea of what to expect in the coming months.” Lance explained taking a moment to further collect his thoughts before continuing. “Plus, it is good to have an ace up our sleeves in the case something were to come up.”

“Why would you need an ace up your sleeve?” Raishan questioned with a minor tilt of his head.

“Are you trying to have an ace up your sleeve Agent Lance?” A rough deep voice spoke up from behind the group.

Septum and Raishan jumped while Lance simply turned to see Tatsu standing behind them.

Standing at a staggering 6’7 and a large coat that covered the burgundy suit he wore, but also hiding his build. Just from his broad stature alone, he looked massive and filled to the brim with enough powerful potential energy he could easily take the three of them on. His skin was a toasted brown color and his wavy black hair fell around his head and stopped right as it would meet his shoulders.

He was a prime example of just how terrifying an Elite could be.

“Not at all Tatsu. Just a poor choice of words on my part.” Lance said giving him a respectful nod. “This is Raishan, he is our visitor from Mecca. Here are the forms.” He continued handing over the rolled up paper.

“Our visitor you say?” Tatsu murmured, checking the scroll quickly glancing over the words before handing it to him. “Our visitor indeed.”

“Do you know if Alahakis is available?” Lance inquired.

“No, he is still away attending to his own duties.” he said in his low tone before looking over at Raishan. “You will have to make do with me and Juno. The two Elites of Eden.”

“I don’t see anything wrong with that, as long as I get to fight an Android that’s all I care about.” Raishan said flexing his muscles in anticipation.

“You’re an eager one.” Tatsu noted turning back to Lance. “Has he been cleared by a Physician yet?”

“Not yet no, we were making our way there now. He just arrived not that long ago.”

“Get him cleared and get him rested, you and Septum will be his escorts for the remainder of his stay, lead him through the city if you need to, and allow him access to Agent facilities especially training facilities.” Tatsu instructed before turning away from the group. “I will be by in the afternoon to pick him up for his induction into Eden.”

And without much of another word Tatsu walked off, leaving the group of three behind.

“You would think someone that big would make a lot of noise.” Septum finally took the chance to breathe as he realized he hadn’t breathed much through that entire exchange. Just the air that surrounded Tatsu was enough to make anyone want to fall to their knees and meet their inevitable demise. 

At least to him that was how it felt.

To Lance it was a sickening feeling, one that always left him feeling disgusted whenever Tatsu was near.

“Let’s get going, its not much farther to Yesterday’s” Lance finally spoke up after a moment, continuing down the wider path.

Eventually they made it to the physicians building taking the elevator to the second floor. Before stopping in front of Yesterday’s door and finally knocking on the door.

Authors note

how's the story going so far? Let me know in the comments