It was at this point that a door in an alcove swung open, and Casus stepped out. Only, the moment he fell into Krahe’s line of sight, his clothes flickered and ged, adapting to her mental image of how he would look in the fashion of Sector 9 — more specifically, a stereotypical Sector 9 street-samurai. A great big armored coat, retro-techants, ballistic vest, the whole lot. The Baook a step towards her and opened his mouth, but froze in pce when he realized what had happeo him, looking himself over. He immediately turowards one of the dispys to see his own refle.
“This is hoear to you?” he questioaken aback.
“How you would look if you were from here,” Krahe corrected, approag. She looked at Casus’ refle for a few moments, then gnced up at him. “Let me make two guesses. Guess one: I am being operated on, and this is somehow a sequence of total ahesia, simir to the halluations induced during my spine rept. Guess two: This is the real side effect of the Molting Tonid I’m stuck like this for the time being, presumably while my atose body is held in a church facility.”
He did a double-take, briefly meeting her gaze, looking back at his refle for a moment, then finally meeting her gaze properly.
“Both are… Somewhat correct. High Grafter Fidelia has taken it upon herself to dis the extent a nature of the damage, and to rectify it in a minimal manner so that you choose how to proceed when you wake up. As for…” Casus gestured vaguely at his surroundings. “...this, it is a sequence of the Molting Tonic’s side effects. You likely noticed that the tonic teracts funally the analgesic effects of nearly all substances, including those produced by your own body. This is an alternative.”
“Care to eborate on the sequence of events sihe raid? As I recall, you were unscious when I dragged you out of there.”
“I am afraid I do not know much more than you. Our inquisitor friend, Yazata Heptaxia, retrieved the both of us, and High Grafter Fidelia took over from there. It seems, before you fell unscious, you used the Liminal Coil to send Fidelia a locational ping. Presently, we are located in a subterraemple-pound.”
Casus raised his right arm, looking it over. The ge of fashion had also entailed a new right arm — a hard-shelled full-syic, covered in decals that described every joint and access panel. For a time, a certain subset of Sector 9’s paramilitary sector had been overrun with this trend of imitating the design nguage of objects inteo be readable to automatic-reition cameras found on maintenance drones and smart-gsses. A snapshot from the sector’s zeitgeist.
“Iing. I half-expected to appear without a right arm, sidering I am devoid of it at the moment,” said the Banisher. He stopped, looking Krahe up and down, furrowing his brow. Before he could say any more, Krahe gnced into the dispy once again. It took a few moments for what she saw to cli her head — her appearance had shifted to match how she had looked during the time from which this street and Casus’ clothes were drawn. She now wore an armored jacket over a full upper-body skinsuit, embzoned with the manufacturing code above the left cvicle. These were joined by dangerously short shorts, thigh-highs of the same material as the skinsuit, and knee-high boots ripped off of a unian Dawn Street er Mk. XXVIII bat armor. It achieved otal ce, while evoking an appearance of the opposite, in no small part due to the skinsuit living up to its name — not in colour, but in fit. Perhaps only the biosuit matched this specific article in how closely it ed to her body.
Despite her clothes going ba time, she remained devoid of cyberics.
“Haven’t seen myself like this. The outfit, but no grafts,” she remarked, thinking no more of it as she turo Casus. “Alright, what now? Just wait?”
The Banisher shook his head.
“You must tinue onward until the exit presents itself. That is the only instru the High Grafter has giveo pass onto you. It’s funny, I was in fact sent in to make you aware of the situatio you bee lost in the struct, but you were already on your way out when I made my entry,” he said.
“Nothing to do but go deeper, then,” Krahe shrugged as she began to walk. Casus followed without a word, his attentioen-up by the sery. Tangled, narrow alleys tinued for some time, before abruptly opening up to a truly sprawling vista — it was a subterranean hollow taining aire city within its fines. A forest of moal pilrs stretched out into the distance, seemingly supp the cave ceiling. They were dotted with tiny lights. Krahe khat most of them were fake, near pletely solid, with only an outermost yer of habitable space, but that didn’t lessen the impact of this vista. Not back then, and not now. The space was vast enough to have its own miniature weather system, clouds lingerihe cave ceiling and diffusing the light of monstrously powerful mps into a dreary approximation of eternal moonlit night.
The spot they emerged was a hovercraft nding and service area, and the spot where the corridor ected had been, iy, the entrae tuhey both took in the sight for some time, both for their own reasons. Krahe interrupted Casus’ sightseeing by approag one of the parked hovercars. She simply opehe door, and a small voiside her groaned in disappoihat she wouldn’t get to flex her extensive knowledge on the security fws of these vehicles.
“I must ask… How close is this to reality?” Casus questioned when he caught up to her.
“Close enough,” Krahe shrugged. “The real Sectht wasn’t deserted, for ohe air and ground were both swarming at all times. The city was smaller, too. This one looks to go on forever, hell it probably will if I let it. e o in.”
“Do you have a particur destination in mind?” Casus asked.
“Of course. Not every day I get to take a literal walk down memory ne. Might as well make the most of this.”
Akaso
