Kieran felt analyzed as he went through his proposed pitch. And it was fair, too, as he was doing something similar. In Aura’s eyes, other than the clear exhaustion, he felt as if he saw someone more committed to survival than ideology. He had been trying to mentally figure her out all evening, but as he continued to look, the more he could see there was very little difference between the two of them. Two sides of the same coin. The only difference being he had the upper hand here. So how long would it be before she gained it herself? In many ways, she already had it. “Appreciate it,” he managed to mutter, caught off-guard by her movements. She had gone to untie him from the pole. Probably a terrible move, but at this point, the two of them were both exhausted. He doubted she wanted to chase him down any more than he wanted to run. He thought for a moment about leaving in the night. It wouldn’t be too hard to snag his gun and vanish from her life entirely, but the more he played that out, the worse that scenario got. He would be well-known in Atlantic and completely unable to do anything for AA. And getting on their bad side was the last thing he needed at the moment. So, he curled up on the floor and closed his eyes, and was out like a rock not a few seconds later. *** Kieran’s eyes shot open, then closed at the sound of Aura jolting awake. He froze himself; maintaining his breathing and trying his best to appear asleep. More than once had port boys and other local troublemakers broke into his home in the middle of the night. He would always do the same--feign sleep, then launch out of bed--firing a few rounds strategically at the floor and chasing them out with little issue. He doubted he needed to do something similar here. He felt tired--worn out by sleeping on the hard floor and struggling to get any real sleep, feeling the need to stay in attack mode more often than not. But as he listened to Aura intently as she got up and prepared to leave, he didn’t perceive her as much more of a threat than anything else. If anything, they felt more like unwilling associates--two people on either side of a conflict, having to work through a circumstance that came about entirely by chance. He wondered how this all would have played out if she hadn’t run into him last night. But it was too late for that now. He next felt a boot against his arm and opened his eyes. Kieran almost chuckled at the sight of her from this angle, at what seemed like a very intentional way of making him feel insectile. But, he refrained from actually laughing. He didn’t feel like getting kicked in the head this morning. He rose quickly and followed without a word. As they continued to walk, what had initially felt like a long, awkward pause felt more comfortable. This part of the day was very much necessary, and at this point, the worry Aura would do anything other than lead him back home was completely gone. As she led the way, he couldn’t help but continue to watch and analyze. Her gait was heavy and she moved quickly. It seemed she wasn’t as comfortable with the silence as he was. Still, Kieran couldn’t help but watch her long, black hair as it flowed behind her. [i]He really admired the way she--[/i] [b]She turned quickly around, assumedly to assure he was still there. [/b] He blushed just a bit, caught off-guard, and from them on, kept his eyes low and to the ground. Mentally, he chastised himself for staring and tried not to think about it further. She stopped them near a guard tower he was familiar with--the sight of something he had known quickly led him to think of where he probably had spent the night. Still, that information seemed mostly useless in this moment. “9:00PM,” Kieran repeated. In his mind, he made a list of what needed to be done. Who to pay off. How to get there. What to arrange. [i]”Bring food. Meat if you can get any. Ale works too.”[/i] His mind stopped at that sentence. Kieran watched Aura’s eyes as they cast downward at the statement. [i]Was she embarrassed to ask for food?[/i] He wondered how he hadn’t even considered it before. She was thin--sure--but that was no crime, nor much to really think about. His temperament shifted and he was sure it read on his face. He didn’t want to pity her, but asking for something as simple as food had shaken him somewhat. “I’ll have it,” he said simply. “Not a problem.” Next, they took hands. What began as a shake lingered perhaps too long as Kieran’s fingers grazed hers as he let her hand go. [i]”Please don’t fuck me over, Kieran.”[/i] “I won’t,” came his simple reply. He took his things, walked a few steps, then took a small look back before continuing forward into the morning air. *** He should have fucked her over. He [i]really, really[/i] should have. And he still could, too. The thoughts pinged back and forth through Kieran’s exhausted mind as he waited in a long, tight line to talk to the railmaster. Public transportation was exorbitantly expensive to many in the city. Kieran rode free--another perk of his position--but he still had to wait in quite the line to flash a stamp to be let past. It had been a few hours since he and Aura split up, and he had had no rest in the interim. He had gone back to his home to shower and collect a few odds and ends, as well as clothes for himself and Aura (if she needed it) for the night. He had even laid down to rest, but sleep never came. He slipped over to The Square and down into a network of vast, decaying tunnels to access the rail line. His mind raced across his tasks of the day. Bribe workers at the tunnels. Find out who runs Atlantic and get their insight on this fringe group Aura was a part of. And figure out who to pay off to get Aura off any hit list they had. He took a few steps forward to a older woman--the railmaster for the day--and flashed a badge. “You make triple what I do,” she spat out. “Would it kill you to pay?” Kieran stammered through a rough apology and slipped past her, heading onto the train. This morning had completely thrown him for a loop. His plan had been so simple before. How, he wasn’t sure what he really wanted. The train shuttered and shifted to a slow start out of the station. With each warped piece of metal the crowded passengers bumped and shifted into each other. Kieran, with height on his side, held a hand to the ceiling of the train and wasn’t shifting much. But many other tossed and turned like a salad in here. About halfway between Square Station and the entrance to subsection J, a standard AE patrol entered the car. This particular patrol was a larger, fatter man--probably about 60--and a young hotshot who loosely swung a small steel bat just behind him. The man checked off the tickets while the hotshot continued to eye up people, looking for a fight. Kieran rolled his eyes to the whole affair, showing off his stamp and receiving a gruff nod from the older man. The younger hotshot swung his metal bat a little too wide, and Kieran felt a painful smack against his right side. “Fuckin’ watch it, would you?” Kieran popped off without thinking. Immediately, the hotshot stabbed the front end of the metal rod into Kieran, knocking the wind out of him. He doubled over, feeling skewered by the thick polished metal. Over the sound of his own pained gasps he heard others make a similar sound. His stomach churned, and he was barely able to turn from the hotshot before water Aura had given him dumped out onto the floor of the filthy card. [b]”Stop it!”[/b] yelped the older man, and the hotshot laughed. Kieran’s eyes rose in hatred as he stared up at the hotshot. “Have anything more to add?” the hotshot asked. Kieran burned but said no more. The hotshot and the old man eventually worked their way towards the end of the train car. Kieran watched as they went, and noticed two younger passengers eyeing each other as the two opened the door between the two cars. As the two passed through the threshold of the doors, Kieran could see past them several similar young men in the next car over--they looked over to the entering AE members, who in turn looked back towards Kieran. Just as Kieran put together what was happening, the two young boys grabbed at the door. The hotshot looked to them, then quickly to Kieran--before the door slammed shut, sealing the old man and the hotshot into the next car. Screams and lots of commotion immediately rang out, before several gunshots shook Kieran and those in this car. Still, no one screamed. Everyone knew what has happening. And just like that, the young boys opened the door, and Kieran looked down and into the next car to see no evidence of the old man or the hotshot. They simply weren’t there. *** Kieran made his way quickly to the entrance of subsection J, and found himself at the Maw. The opening of these five caves, guarded minimally by wire fencing and just three AE members, very easily resembled the mouth of a beast. And with the hill behind the Maw covered in piles and piles of garbage, it seemed like Kieran was entering one of the most dangerous places in all of Apex. It was fairly true, to be fair. “Good morning,” he offered to the three guards, each hardly older than himself. After flashing his stamp, their demeanor softened dramatically. “You’re a long way from Port Apex,” one of the guards said. She scratched at the back of her calf with a similar metal bat that the hotshot had carried. Kieran tried not to stare. “I have a feeling you need a favor.” “So...I’ve got this friend,” he started, which immediately erupted laughter from the three guards. He smiled and played bashful as he described needing a private spot to ‘hang out’ with his friend Aura. It was a gross cover story, but he figured the guards would go easy on him if they thought he needed a secluded place to, well, sleep around. The three guards joked casually with him, before promising to let anyone with the name “Aura” know to go down to tunnel three. They even loaned him the keys to a small outpost in the tunnel the AE wasn’t using--complete with electricity, a bathroom, and of course, a bed. They would also tell Aura which sign to look for and which door to knock. In exchange, Kieran promised booze each time he visited, and more if he could manage. The experience was night and day from that he had had on the train. Apex Enforcement, so it seemed, was certainly a mixed bag from his perspective. *** The rest of the day had been uneventful for Kieran. He had traveled back towards Atlantic--making sure only to use the train to get there and not to leave the transit station. He found a local AE member and made a small bribe--assuring that the two would meet the next day. He also thought of heading back over to the Square to talk with another contact about securing papers, but after nearly two days of no good sleep, he was more than ready to rest. He traveled back into tunnel three and headed for the AE outpost--food, meat, and ale in hand. In here, the walls seemed to leak a sort of black tar, and the air smelt of shit felt as thick as some sort of syrup. Kieran broke out into a sweat almost immediately and continued to sweat until he came upon the faintly glowing sign: [b][u]AE OUTPOST J-12 - AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY[/u][/b] Once he unlocked and opened the door, the blast of cool, thin air was nearly enough to make him cry. The outpost, aside from the deary concrete walls, was immaculate. Soft electric lighting lined the ceilings. The front door led past a small desk but another door led into the living quarters. In here, a living room held several couches and other devices he didn’t even recognize. There was a kitchen, mostly stocked with non-perishable foods, and ready for use. There was a bathroom, a room with a billiard table, and of course, three bedrooms with easily movable single-person mattresses. There was also an armory, but with a door that required a separate key. No surprise there. He moved into the kitchen and placed the food and ale into the refrigerator. He had used a fridge so little and thought of them as such a luxury item, he placed the items in carefully, unsure of how to use it. How strange it was, he thought, that he was here now. Standing in an AE outpost that felt more like a luxury vacation house than a place of arms. How different they lived from him, that they could casually lend him such a place. He next took a long, hot shower and examined his stomach as he did so. From his pelvis to his mid-abdomen was a large, splotchy bruise that still hurt like hell to touch. He washed it carefully and left the shower feeling cleaner than he had in years. He couldn’t remember the last hot shower he had had. He dried himself carefully and sat down in the bed. Worn down and beyond the point of sleep deprivation, his body finally gave out, and he fell asleep on top of the covers of one of the many beds in the bunker-turned-outpost. *** He was awoken by three sharp, loud knocks on the door. His eyes shot up and he pulled himself from the bed. “One moment,” he called out, dressing himself. He looked at the time. [i]Fuck, 9PM already? How long was I asleep?[/i] He straightened out his hair and took a moment to breathe, before setting his demeanor and opening the door. He didn’t say a word until he had closed and locked the door behind her. “I hope you found it alright,” he said. The strangeness of the situation was palpable in the air, so he avoided her gaze and moved straight to the kitchen. “I grabbed some produce and meat. And ale of course. Help yourself, there’s enough for five,” he called back to her. He opened the refrigerator, pulled out a small barrel of ale and poured a healthy amount into a stein, before drinking deeply. He worried he would need it tonight.