The aircraft slowed down, approximating in its horizons a circle-shaped city, full of skyscrapers. Kana could see from the window a pristine blue river peacefully flowing through the middle of the metropolis, dividing it in two equal halves. It was surrounded by a circumference of reddish flowers that extended through the borders of the river, drawing a curious figure from a zenithal view.

  Slowly, the ship started to descend vertically, minimizing the possible turbulences. Kana was really impressed at the smoothness it displayed in maintaining stability, not perceiving any kind of unbalance or disequilibrium. She compared it with that time she took a plane to London, when she got truly scared during the landing. In a matter of seconds, the ship stopped completely its motion, followed by Airis’ end of journey announcement.

  She was accompanied by Paul and Celine to the outsides, followed shortly after by Elizabeth and Lena. They had landed open field, only blessed with the far sight of the city’s tall skyscrapers.

  “Finally, some fresh air.” Kana stretched her hands and took a deep breath. The sweet scent of the nearby grass combined with the soft breeze that tickle her legs reminded her of the old village.

  “Are we walking to the city on foot?” Lena asked, looking at her mud-stained boots.

  Every crew member wide-eyed stared her, realizing the long distance they would have to travel. From the ship, the city could be clearly seen, but now on ground only the far half-vanished shadow of the tallest skyscrapers blessed the empty wasteland.

  “24 kilometres” Even the usual reactionless Celine used her fingers to run up some type of inexact calculation.

  “Bunch of kids…” Elizabeth exhaled with her nerves on the edge “A car is coming to pick us up”.

  Around twenty minutes later, a black limousine arrived and parked in front of them. The door hissed opened, from where a man in a black suit emerged. Paul noticed that the man’s skin was exceptionally white, approaching an unnatural dead grey colour, which combined with some remarkable drooping eyelids, made Paul think of him as a mummy.

  “My most sincere apologies, miss Hopkins, it seems I’ve made you wait” The man bowed politely, taking off his hat with a raspy voice. “I’m the secretary of the Ministry of Defence and Internal Affairs. I’ll escort you to Vermillion City”.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr…” Elizabeth careless replied as she internally complained about formal etiquette.

  “You can just call me Poe”.

  The team got into the limousine shortly after greeting the man as they entered, except for Celine, who stayed staring at his peculiar face until Elizabeth urged her to enter. Once they were all inside, Elizabeth took the co-driver seat, next to the secretary. The car had the air turned on, creating an excessive cold atmosphere, especially in Paul’s opinion. Still, it was spacious and comfy, which made the trip quite pleasant. Apparently, to be able to get the full team, which was considered a military force by international laws, into the city, Elizabeth had to contact with the Ministry of Defence of Vermillion City and explained that the city was in huge danger. Although she never shared the details of the operation with them, they had arranged a hearing to discuss the next actions.

  “Miss Hopkins, I’ve heard of the exceptional and numerous achievements the Anti-Corruption Rescue team has accomplished, but I didn’t expect them to look so young.” Mid-travel, the man tried to break the ice, interested in the back passengers.

  Elizabeth looked at the rearview, watching closely how her crew argued. Lena had tilted her seat towards Paul, who heavily complained from behind. “Sometimes I wish they weren’t so young”. She replied, turning her eyes to the road view. The man laughed cordially. Then, he frowned.

  “Doctor, if you let me a question, is the situation so serious that it requires your presence?” He asked in a sudden change of topic.

  Elizabeth sharpened her eyes, surprised by that man’s interest.

  “We still must confirm the situation. It may be nothing important.” Doctor’s grip tightened on the seat, but she looked away disinterested.

  Ten minutes later, they entered a tunnel, darkening the interiors of the limousine. Instants later, they were inside the city. Kana looked through the window supporting her hands on the glass, speechless. She hadn’t travelled many times out of his village, so it was natural to her to be impressed at the magnificent urban views but even comparing it to the few cities she had been, it was something out of this world. The buildings were taller than any other she had ever seen, covered in screens, posters or ads. She could see big, long roads, surrounded by majestic trees intertwining at chaotic roundabouts. Once they reached a more urban area, they got stuck in the traffic, slowed down by huge crowds crossing avenues.

  “How are we going to find Alice here…” Lena whispered on Paul’s ear, making sure the driver wouldn’t hear them. Elizabeth had instructed them to not let anyone know Alice had infiltrated the city long ago “There is just too many people”.

  “Can’t Airis search for her or something?” He asked without a hint of concern.

  “Negative. Too much Corruption noise, I can’t search Alicia’s Stigma.” The electronic entity communicated directly to their head but extended the message to all the team.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Airis can still work outside of the ship?” Kana na?vely asked.

  “I’m always working, but direct mental communication is only possible at limited distance. aside from Corruption interferences” The childish robotic voice replied too cheerfully for an artificial intelligence.

  Kana, as a tech illiterate, wondered what the Corruption had to do with communications. Couldn’t they just use mobile phones anyway? That doubt would round her head until the car finally reached its destination.

  They got out of the car one by one, Kana being the last. She gazed at the building that rested just in front of them, a majestic construction out of another age, with round arches and Victorian sculptures. The windows were adorned with inscriptions embedded in blue and white strips of some language she did not recognise but deduced it to be similar to Latin, while at the top laid a sign reading ‘Hotel Carbayon’.

  “Carbayon is the most luxurious and traditional hotel in all of Vermillion City. I hope you deeply enjoy your stay until we meet again on tomorrow’s audience”. The enigmatic black suited Poe guided the team through the hotel, retrieving himself the keys of the rooms. He handed them to Elizabeth and bid farewell, leaving the crew alone.

  Elizabeth handed out the keys. Lena and Kana would share room, and she himself would with Celine. Paul, as the only boy, had the luck or misfortune of having a room for himself.

  “Can we explore the city until night?” Kana asked eyes sparkling.

  “Sure, but Lena must bodyguard you, just in case” Elizabeth replied while stepped out to her room. “I will be trying to adjust Airis settings to these conditions meanwhile in my room”.

  “Thanks doctor!” Kana joyfully small jumped bending her elbows.

  In the end, the three girls of the young group decided to explore the city, while a somewhat downcast Paul opted to stay, allegedly in his room.

  “Well, where do you want to go first?” Lena crossed her arms and looked away, but her shy quick glances revealed she was actually a bit excited by it.

  “Celine wants to go to the main square. Celine saw lots of the people from the car” Celine sudden suggestion surprised both girls.

  “Let it be the main square then —we can’t reject Celine’s few proposals!” Kana warmly smiled at her.

  They started to walk through the wide vast streets, slowly, admiring the elegance of the big towers that surrounded the pavement. The screens that hung from them showed all type of ads — cosmetic products, restaurants, clothes stores… Kana felt overwhelmed by the amount of stimulus the city offered, while Celine started to ask basic questions about those things. Although the square wasn’t really far, they quickly got lost in the maze of corners, roads and signs.

  “Excuse me, do you know how to reach Vetusta Square?” Kana gently asked a passerby. It was an old guy, walking helped by a cane. The man stopped for some seconds, blankly staring at Kana and then reacted.

  “Ah yes…” He showed explained them what they had to do in order to reach the desired destination. Nevertheless, Kana was strangely weirded at the old man slow reaction.

  Following the directions, they arrived at the place. It was a fairly large square. It was surrounded by older buildings with similar architecture and decoration as the Hotel, except for a road exit in one of the entrances.

  “It’s much emptier than I remembered” Lena pointed, tickling her chin.

  “Celine wants to go to ice cream store” The little girl was today surprisingly childish, showing her appearance matched her inner thoughts.

  The other girls accepted, and they headed to a small ice cream stand. There, a young man dressed in a ridiculous uniform was standing behind. Kana approached the stand.

  “Excuse me… “. Kana tried to get the attention of the clerk, but it seemed like the man was distracted, since he wouldn’t even look at her. “Excuse me…?” Kana tried softly hitting the stand, still ignored. “Heyyyy?” She then waved in front of him, no reaction, to finally shake her arm.

  “Oh, oh, I'm sorry, miss. What are you looking for?”

  The clerk finally reacted, noticing the girl. Kana ordered ice creams for all the girls and once she got them, they sat on one of the benches in the square.

  “Aren’t people here weird? Like, too distracted?” Kana wondered shortly after.

  “Hum…” Lena pondered, remembering all the odd interactions they had had in just a short span of time. “When I was a kid living in the Legion Capital, adult people were always boring and distracted, so it is probably the same”.

  “If you say so…” A not so sure Kana leaned back, playing down what had happened just before.

  They finished their meal and went for a walk. The girls browsed some near touristic places but got easily bored. Having spent the afternoon outside, they came back to the hotel and went straight into Celine’s room, which she shared with Elizabeth, and knocked on the door. They heard no news from the doctor, so Lena and Kana left Celine in the room and went back to theirs.

  “Have you seen Paul lately?” Kana asked during their return walk.

  “Of course not, I’ve been with you the entire day” Lena answered sharply.

  “But Doctor hadn’t seen him either, I wonder what he is up to”.

  “Probably hallucinating things in the sky”.

  Some hours passed and the two girls were both in their room. The sun had already set, and the room got enveloped with the cold darkness of the room. It was a typical hotel room, with two beds attached to each wall and a big, wide window through where the Moonlight managed to faintly light the place.

  “I’m so tired!” Lena stretched her arms. She was standing in front of the window, contemplating the spectacle of lights the concrete giants formed during the night. “Today has been so strange. I had never had a mission before where I would bodyguard girls eating ice cream” She let out a brief, soft laugh, followed by Kana’s own.

  “At least we will be able to sleep well tonight. Listen, not a single peep, unlike the ship”. She said pointing at her ear.

  “Really? I’ll try, be quiet…” She closed her eyes and concentrated in the surroundings, getting warped into an odyssey of calm and silence. She could hear the noise of the air echoing in the cracks of the wall, caressing her ears. She stayed like that for little more, in harmony with the melody of nature. But the, she heard something different. It was a sharp sound, rumbling in the floor, looping at far.

  “What?”

  Lena tried to concentrate even further. She imagined the map of the building, and traced all the corridors, merging so far as the entrance of said place. She then heard again the same monotonous sound, lurking in her head. It was fast and disorganized, ruining the mesmerizing atmosphere. And then she noticed. It was getting higher. It was getting closer, and she could slightly discern what it was.

  “Footsteps?” She whispered into the silence.

  “Lena? What happens?” Kana, startled by the sudden change in mood, glanced nervously at her

  “Can’t you hear it?” Lena asked as the squeaky sound invaded the room.

  “Wait… Now that you say it…?” Kana finally noticed, close enough for the trembling to affect her legs.

  “What are all these people doing, running at this hour?” Lena said bluntly, pissed by this break of immersion.

  But then, something came around her head. A cold sweat poured down her back while she recalled the events of the day in a matter of seconds: The secretary called Poe, the weird reactions of the people around the city, Airis missing to find Alicia. She connected the leads, a shockwave activating her eyes. The noise got stronger and stronger.

  One second. She made her rapier appear in an intense light and suddenly slashed the air in front of the window, followed by a release of razor-cutting burst of Corruption, violently impacting a now shattered jumble of glass. One second was all she needed to perform that sequence.

  “Kana, jump through the window!” Lena screamed so rasply it felt like knives were pouring through her throat.

  “What? Why?” A petrified Kana couldn’t do anything other than watch the crystal shards navigating through the floor.

  “JUMP!”