44. Vesper
VESPER
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Svetlana asks as we stare at the entrance to the sewers. “Locke is a formidable partner, dah, but his head isn’t even perfectly round.”
I don’t blame her for her unease. It had taken me about an hour to find someone willing to tell me how to find the Rat Kingdom and another hour after that of walking around the streets until I found one of the manholes they told me would lead down into the sewers.
Now, I’m staring at the metal plate in the ground and wondering if I’d somehow made a mistake.
Not in deciding to rescue Locke, but in doing this alone.
Still, it isn’t like I have a ton of help.
Svetlana and Stevie will have to be enough.
The Ophanim had been waiting for us when we’d rounded the corner, and I’d been equal parts relieved to see him and annoyed that he couldn’t have just lead us to the fucking manhole.
When I’d asked him about it, he’d just spun his rings fast and said, “Girl, I’d been rabbit hole deep in a gay club, and like, I could just stop watching the show.
The drag queens deserved all the hype. You get it? Like, I know you totally get it.”
I didn’t get it. I still don’t know what he’d been talking about.
I glance at the biblically accurate angel behind me now, watching him curiously. I’m still hesitant to piss of the Ophanim, especially since he’s only an ally because he wants to be. “Can you control your glow?”
“Of course, I can, Girl,” he replies. “I am the beacon of light.”
“Good. We’re gonna need it,” I say, reaching down for the manhole cover and lifting.
It doesn’t move at first, the metal plate too heavy for me to lift immediately, but after a second of straining, it moves and then lifts just enough for me to get it over the edge of the concrete.
I shove at it as hard as I can, sliding it out of the way so hard, my muscles start to ache.
It takes me too long to move it, precious minutes that Locke doesn’t have, but I finally get it out of the way enough for me to squeeze through the opening.
I peer into the darkness, searching for any sign of a threat.
Nothing. I look at Stevie. “Would you mind?”
Instead of answering, he drops down through the opening and lights up what looks like a grimy, disgusting tunnel.
“Gross,” Svetlana says as she follows my gaze, “but at least it’s not cold.”
I move over the hole and drop down about three meters before my boots hit concrete.
I crouch, looking around before plucking the Sunlight Medallion from my inventory.
I use ten XP to charge it up and hang it around my neck, but it’s mostly just in case I get separated from Stevie.
He gives off enough glow for us to see in a three-meter radius.
It’s not enough to go far down the tunnel, but at least we’re not going to be stumbling through the dark.
“Alright. Which direction?” I ask.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Svetlana replies helpfully.
“Right it is,” I say and turn that direction.
We start walking, Svetlana on my shoulder, Stevie in the air beside me.
The sewers are large concrete tunnels. While there is concrete where I walk, there’s also a canal to my right with water rushing along it.
It doesn’t look deep, but the things floating in the water make me not want to get anywhere near it.
The tunnel turns, and I follow it, my eyes searching the dark as I listen for any semblance of sound.
“How do we know where to go?” Svetlana asks.
“We don’t,” I admit. “I’m kind of just hoping that we end up somewhere important.”
The first NPC appears from the dark so suddenly, both Svetlana and I scream at the same time. Stevie glows brighter for a second, as if that is his own way to scream, before he fades back to his normal brightness.
“Hello, player,” the NPC says. “I have a quest for you if you’re brave enough to take it.”
I stare at the NPC, growing more and more horrified as details come into focus.
He’s a human man. That much I can tell. But he’s clearly extremely sick.
In Dross, Black Lung is the biggest killer.
Young and old alike die by Black Lung every day, the poisoned air getting to some people more than others.
Because of Black Lung, the chances of survival to adulthood are only about fifty percent.
I never could understand how so many people are willing to risk those terrible odds on having a child, but I suppose humanity will always hunger for connection, even at the risk of death.
Besides Black Lung, there are a handful of other sicknesses.
Rust Throat will make your throat feel like razorblades, the metal dust trapped in your skin making you constantly taste the rust digging in there.
Crowd Rot came around when too many people were living packed tightly together.
It’s typically an issue in the higher towers, where the poorest are forced to share too small apartments.
Wire Bite is an infection caused by cutting yourself on the decaying metal or wiring.
The skin turns black and stiff, and it could sometimes cause muscle spasms you can’t control.
Pulse Shakes are from prolonged exposure to chemicals, usually suffered by those who recycle their food or water supplies.
People with the Pulse Shakes tremble, have an irregular heartbeat and twitching muscles, and grow manic before collapsing.
Pulse Shakes is, at least, a quick death.
The man in front of me has none of those things. Instead, it’s gotta be something far worse.
His skin is peppered with open wounds that weep something milky and pink.
Around the pustules, small mushrooms grow, tiny and infectious looking.
There’s a particularly large one on his shoulder, growing right through his shirt.
One of his eyes is cloudy and dead. The other stares at me with crystal clear lucidity.
“Hello, player,” the NPC repeats. “I have a quest for you if you’re brave enough to take it.”
I want to ask, but that seems rude, and I don’t know how this NPC will react. If the Ice Hotel taught me anything, it’s that NPCs are capable of terrible things. There’s no way to know if this one is as well.
“Oh, uh,” I reply, glancing at Svetlana. “Sorry. We can’t.”
“Fare thee well, player.” And then he settles back against the wall, his eyes staring blankly back into the darkness.
As it turns out, he’s not even the creepiest NPC we run into.
Strange creature after strange creature appears from the darkness, making me jump every time at their sudden appearance. After the second NPC, I slip my Fang from my inventory and keep it in my hand.
“Beware the sewers,” a particularly grotesque NPC says as we round another corner. This one isn’t human. It’s just a really big cockroach wearing clothing. His long antennae dance around as he warns us against the darkness. “For there are threats afoot. Would you like to trade?”
I grimace at the sight of him, stopping far enough away that I don’t have to touch him. I’m tempted to tell him I don’t want to trade, but fuck it. He might have something I need. “What do you have?”
He gestures to the ground with one spiney leg and I look down to see a variety of items. “A jar of leeches, Spider Brew, a handful of killer candy, and a Bag of Tricks.”
I’d been about to decline but the Bag of Tricks catches my attention. It’s a small leather bag, relatively inconspicuous. Inside it appears to be a bunch of fuzzy balls. “What does the Bag of Tricks do?”
The Roach Trader holds his leg over the bag and a description menu pops up on my interface.
BAG OF TRICKS
Wonderous item, uncommon
You can pull an object from the bag and toss it in front of you.
The object will then transform into an animal.
You will have a one in eight chance for each animal that may spawn.
The creature will be friendly to you and your companions and will remain at your side for twenty-four hours.
You will be able to command the creature, or give it general orders, such as to attack your enemies.
It may or may not listen depending on your affinity with animal handling.
In the absence of such orders, the creature will act in a fashion appropriate to its nature.
Only one animal may be spawned at a time.
NOTE: Every Bag of Tricks spawns different creatures. Please tread carefully.
“Svetlana,” I murmur. “Can you see this?”
“Yes,” she replies. “It is a good item. I recommend trading with the roach to secure it.”
Nodding, I point to the bag. “How much for the Bag of Tricks?”
“What do you offer, player?” the roach coos.
I check my inventory. “I have a mysterious liquor bottle.”
“Declined,” the roach says. He leans closer and it takes everything in me not to shrink away as his antennae touch me. They trace over my head, down my shoulders, and across my chest. “How about that medallion around your neck? That would be a fair trade.”
I touch my hand to the medallion around my neck.
I’ve carried it with me since the Verdant Nexus, but it’s not particularly bright, not compared to Stevie.
Still, I hesitate. The Sun Amulet is valuable and I’m not certain Stevie will be with us forever.
Giving it away seems foolish, but the Bag of Tricks seems like a good item for a Beast Bound to have.
I don’t know what animals it may spawn, but having something else near me to attack enemies would be handy in these tunnels.
“What do you think, Svetlana?”
“I think anything that makes you formidable like a bear in the woods is a good decision,” she declares. “And you are a Beast Bound. Animal sidekicks are a boon.”
“I already have you,” I point out.
She turns those large eyes to me. “I am not an animal, Umnitsa. You are my familiar, not my sidekick.”
I turn to Stevie. “You’re not going to leave us any time soon, are you?”