[@Double][@Arty Fox][@Rex][@Ryteb Pymeroce][@ShadowVentus][@supertinyking][@SMS][@Lady Athena][@Nerevarine]

((Collab between Double and Letter))

All through the streets of Nexus Town, a hooded, weizened old man, whose face was covered by a mask of fur and leather, was limping, supported only by a staff. Breathing in and out, his keen, masked eyes observed everything that occured in this cold and damp place, hoping that his guise would disguise his investigations. Sighting an ambulatory suit of armor walking about, trying to help an old woman, the old, thin, reedy man would walk forwards, his staff making a small 'clack' as it hit the cobblestones of the ground. Once he came near, he would ask the moving suit of armor:

"Hello? I am new to this town; I don't know anyone here - can you help?"

The suit of armor might as well have been an animated statue. It turned its helmeted head to look at the hooded old man, but offered only silence in reply. Whoever or whatever was in the suit, they weren't much for conversation. The old man wasn't completely out of luck, for there [i]was[/i] someone watching who proved far more talkative than the suit of armor.

"You can start by not acting so suspicious." a masked young man in a leather suit stepped out of the nearby shadows. His gas mask distorted his voice a little, but he was still perfectly audible in spite of that fact. In another world, in whole other life he answered to the codename Psycho Mantis. But here in Nexus Town, he was known simply as Mantis.

The suit of armor offered no comment, but instead silently continued on his way for the time being. As for Mantis, he stepped closer to the stranger and eyed the old man with a scrutinizing gaze kept hidden underneath his gas mask, "I can't read you... some kind of block is keeping me out. How very clever of you. Or so you think. No amount of mental barriers can protect you from [i]this[/i]" without warning, Mantis gave a quick gesture with his hand that telekinetically picked up a crate from nearby. It would have soared through the air and crashed right into the side of the old man's head had another, more commanding, voice made its presence known.

"Enough, Mantis. Stand down." the voice belonged to a man who looked like a bhuddist monk, or at least a former one. His holy symbol was scratched, having been marked to brand him as a deserter of his faith. Even still, the years of his discipline never left him, and his body still appeared well trained and strong as ever, "Forgive us, strangers have rarely proven trustworthy, so some of us have become overly cautious of them. Mantis, go bring Ms. Megumi here to tend to our visitor's injuries."

Mantis turned his head, likely shooting him a dirty look hidden behind his mask, but complied nonetheless and vanished from the scene.

"Thank you," spoke Hakim the Wise, for that was who the old man really was. "I am new to this world, and not used to the habits of people here." Truth.

"My name is Ganma. We have no true leaders here, but I have always stepped in when needed, so you may think of me as the leader here if you must." spoke the monk, giving a short bow in the style of his former faith.

"The mind-reader is called Mantis. You'll have to forgive his distrusting nature, for his was a difficult and painful life before he found himself here. The walking suit of armor is Alphonse. Forgive his silence, he's hardly spoken a word since arriving here, having lost so much beforehand. You stand in Nexus Town, a connecting point that exists in all worlds, but also none. Those who survive their world's destruction tend to find themselves on our shores. We offer them safety and haven here from outside forces who would do them harm."

Hakim would remember, remember when Nexus Town was smaller, and most of the structures were from [i]his[/i] world, Shining Field. For a brief moment, all pride was forgotten, and nostalgia filled him. He would then say:

"Outside forces? Are not the Heartless enough?"

"Heartless, outlaws, organizations... any who would inflict harm to further their ends is an enemy of Nexus Town. We pride ourselves on being neutral ground, a place that anyone from any walk of life can come to for sanctuary. But enough about us, you appear injured. Dr. Takani will see to you."

"Yes, she will, right after Ganma explains why he saw fit to wake me up in the middle of the night." as if in cue, Mantis had returned, accompanied by a Japanese woman in physician's clothes. She seemed nice enough, if a bit grouchy from having been suddenly awoken.

"My apologies, Ms. Megumi, but we have a visitor who appears to be in need of medical attention."

"Fine, fine. Let's have a look at the damage, then." said the physician, approaching the stranger.

Hakim had used genuine shapeshifting to make himself look like a weizened old man, and while there was nothing in his new form that can be described as an injury, per se, it was clear that his physique was that of someone who, if not for magic - if even that! - would be half-way to the grave already, someone who belonged in a nursing home, not in the streets.

After a passing glance, Megumi's eye twitched before she comically shouted, "You woke me up for NOTHING!" this was directed squarely at Ganma, "Sure, he should probably be spending more time in a bed than traveling, but apart from that there's absolutely nothing wrong with him. And I was having such a lovely dream too.." the lady doctor mumbled as she angrily stomped back toward her residence so she could go back to bed.

"Don't even think about blaming me..." Mantis muttered, "...getting the Doctor was [i]your[/i] idea, not mine."

"Well, forgetting all of that, if you didn't need medical attention then what brought you here to us, then?"

"What I said was," some of the old testiness returned to Hakim's voice, "'Hello? I am new to this town; I don't know anyone here - can you help?' Nowhere did I say I needed medical attention, rather, what I wanted were directions to the centre of the town; to where, it is rumored, the Dar-al-Hikma still stands." This was a partial giveaway to his real identity, but not [i]that[/i] powerful an indicator. "I wanted to see that place before I die for real, just like my world has..." Also the truth.

"For someone who claims to be new, you sure know a lot about the place." Mantis, unsurprisingly, was not too keen on trusting this stranger. Of course, he didn't like anyone he couldn't read, it made him uneasy.

"It's a ruin now, but yes, the place you speak of still stands. But I can't help but agree with Mantis this time, how is it you know of that place? You [i]are[/i] new to here, are you not?" just because Ganma kept his suspicions hidden behind his politeness didn't mean they weren't there. He was simply better at hiding them than Mantis was.

Hakim gazed at Gamna through his mask, then said:

"I am new to this [i]town[/i], yes. But not this place; no, I was here when this was a place of hopelessness, of despair, of fighting over old rivalries and scraps of land and resources. Aka, when this place wasn't a town at all." A frown. "Back when 'Salted Earth' was still known as 'Shining Field'..." Truth, and a revelation that might cause more mistrust, but also an indication of ancientry and veterancy, basically, Hakim was now implying: 'You may be suspicious of me, you may even distrust me openly because of my revelations. But the fact remains, my world provided the bones for where you live; you cannot contest that.'

"Shining... what's he talking about?" for the first time this night, Mantis was caught off guard, "I don't suppose you have any idea?" clearly the psychic soldier knew nothing of what this land was before the town was built on it.

"I've seen the name before, but in ancient tomes and texts. This fellow is more than he shows us to be. All indications pointed to this being the remains of an old world, but beyond that I couldn't discover much information." with a gesture he pointed to a path leading through a distant mountain pass, "That is the direction you seek. Whether or not you once lived in this world is irrelevant. This is [i]our[/i] home now, and I will tolerate no treachery, not even from you." Ganma was making an implication of his own. He acknowledged this was once another's home, but also asserted that such a fact would not stop him from doing what needed to be done to protect his town and its residents from any and all threats.

A nod of acknowledgement, and Hakim would limp to the ruins of the old library...

Within the depths of the ancient, ruined library, Hakim the Wise faintly smiled; thanks to Genghis Khan and the Mongols not rampaging through Eurasia in his timeline, [i]his[/i] version of the Dar-al-Hikma was able to contain modern facilities, modern facilities much advanced by his and...his students' research into the forbiden arts. In the basement of the structure lay a giant, stainless steel globe of the Earth, wonderfully made by the best craftsmen of Modern Baghdad. On the surface of that globe lay a secret keyboard, a keyboard that, when he typed a complicated mathematical code inside, would reveal and activate his greatest creation; the Magitech AI, Asma Al-Jazari. This AI was made as a recorder, defender, and even as an elaborate security/traffic camera for Baghdad's roads.

Once he typed the code, the globe would shine with white light, projecting a hologram of a young woman who wore only the loosest, most transparent, and most colorful of headscarves, who would then say:

"My name is Asma Al-Jazari; what can I do for you today, Master Hakim?" Hakim would smile, then, still in his old-man form, would then say:

"Tell me, do you have magical surviellance of all that happened in this town since the founding?" The female hologram nodded.

"Good," Hakim said. "Now, bring me up all surveilance recordings of...this person." He would then pull out a photograph of Seth and hand it over to Asma, who replied.

"Very well, showing recordings of Seth's life in Nexus Town, his training under Ganma, and his coming and going to this world during his journeys to find his homeworld. At the end of it all, Hakim was...impressed.

"He may not have a Heart, but he has drive," said the old man. "And to be honest, seeing him as someone who didn't have any moorings, like I once had..." Then he sighed.

"Secondary duty, Asma; I am leaving you activated, as well as asking you to do something of your own free will. Guard this town; help the residents as best as you could. You have full permission to teach them the advanced magical, scientific, and engineering knowledge to improve their infrastructure and resources. Will you do it?"

"Of course," the AI said. "But why this new burst of compassion?"

"They deserve it," was all Hakim can say before disappearing into a Corridor of Darkness. "Besides, I think I found out enough about Seth for my purposes..." his voice trailed off even after he had vanished.