[center][h3]Sector 06 Hublink[/h3]
Level 4 Goldlewis (64/40)
Midna’s [@DracoLunaris], Karin and Sakura’s [@Zoey Boey], Blazermate and Susi’s [@Archmage MC], Geralt and Zenkichi’s [@Multi_Media_Man], Pit’s [@Yankee], Raz’s [@Truthhurts22], Roxas’ [@Double], Benedict and Partitio’s [@Dark Cloud], Tora, Giovanna
[b]Word Count:[/b] 2507[/center]

More or less as expected, the Seekers’ reunion was a terse one. Pretty much nobody had much of anything friendly to say, even in greeting. Goldlewis was no stranger to nonchalant professionalism -the curt nod he exchanged with Giovanna was proof enough- but this reception seemed almost frosty. No doubt the loss of two of the group’s longest-serving members was a factor, and the veteran couldn’t blame them, but at the same time he hoped that wasn’t the extent of it. Considering the stakes at play here, it would be a miracle if there weren’t more losses before this campaign was through. Goldlewis hated it as much as anyone, but he understood it–such was the nature of war. More likely, the reason lay with the time spent apart. It had only been about half a day since the two subgroups first parted, even if everything that transpired during that time made it feel like three months. Still, a team was only as good as its communication.

Once the Seekers got down to the task at hand, though a solid suggestion came from an unlikely source. “That’s a mighty fine idea,” Goldlewis told Blazermate. While the team had gone over to a small lounge area after seeing the checkpoint and the sight of such a large group casually deterred passers-by, he still kept his voice down to make sure none of the security bots could listen in. “In fact, I’d go so far as to call that idea a hole in one. You’ve got my vote. Let’s work together to find a good spot for both ends on both sides.” He surrendered one of the press passes to her gladly. Unlike Susie, who’d foisted the responsibility of solving this conundrum on everyone else while offering nothing in return by taking a pass, this Medabot was earning her keep.

Midna offered a suggestion of her own once Blazermate and Goldlewis finished talking, and though prudent in its own right her idea ended up being a little redundant. Remembering the portal she placed in the hideout, he stroked his whiskers, thinking. “I reckon tech stands out less than magic,” he mused. “Let’s save ‘em for now. I betcha six ways to Sunday they’ll come in handy later on.” The Twilight Princess then brought something else up that the veteran hadn’t considered. Suddenly a little self-conscious, he looked down at his apparel with a frown. “My suit fits the bill, but after bustin’ my butt all mornin’ it’s sure seen better days. If we see an outfitter I oughta pay ‘em a visit.” He looked around at the others, examining their own appearances. Partitio’s garb might’ve been fine if he hadn’t rolled up his sleeves and gotten his hands dirty outside the city. Sakura and Raz still wore their Psych-OSF uniforms. Even those like Benedict and Karin who were well-dressed didn’t exactly ‘look the part’, Midna said. At least Giovanna looked presentable, having gotten the chance to change after the battle at HQ. [i]Wait…that’s it![/i] Goldlewis snapped his fingers. “The spare button-ups back at the office! They ain’t fancy or nothin’, but any metropolis worth a damn is drownin’ in white-collar workers. Y’all can blend right in.” Normally returning to the SOU headquarters would be an impossible detour at this juncture, but with Midna on the team, nothing was impossible.

Zenkichi recommended that Goldlewis take a pass, and he nodded in agreement. “I’m with ya on that one. I was thinkin’ ‘bout it anyhow so I could help Blazermate hunt down a good spot for her teleporter. Folks may recognize my face, but no-one’s got a reason to be lookin’ for me. Unlike you, Mr. Hasegawa…” He narrowed his eyes at Zenkichi, not accusatory, but concerned. “If I were you, I’d lean towards keepin’ a low profile.” Benedict echoed the same sentiment.

When Sakura gave vent to her annoyance, Goldlewis almost let out a wry, humorless laugh. Giovanna actually smiled. “You’ve got a lot to learn about the world, kid,” she chuckled. Even if it turned out she wasn’t much older than Sakura, the girl’s naivete made her feel positively mature in comparison. Her companion was right to focus on the matter at hand; the teleporter should wrap this obstacle up in a nice neat package. [i]A grappling hook, huh?[/i] That, Giovanna hadn’t expected from Karin. Sounded like a nice thing to have.

Goldlewis found himself wearing a genuine smile, though, when Partitio introduced himself. Though he positively dwarfed the other man, and their backgrounds could scarcely be more different, the veteran felt like he’d happened upon a kindred spirit. “Howdy. And that’s Dickinson,” he corrected, reaching out his hand to shake. “Goldlewis Dickinson. And likewise. You joined up just a couple hours ago, right? Glad to have ya along for the ride, partner.”

With the meeting over with a plan of action decided upon, there wasn’t anything else to it but to do it. First, the team found a secluded spot in the parking garage nearby to build the teleporter entrance, which everyone without a pass would hang around. If Midna created a portal back to SOU headquarters, they could do whatever they needed there as well. Then Goldlewis, Giovanna, Susie, Blazermate, Karin, and Partitio would end up taking the six press passes and head back into the Hublink, though they weren’t the only ones queuing up at the security checkpoint. Midna tagged along in the group’s collective shadow, while a very glum Tora waddled along at Giovanna’s side, his hammer and toolkit stashed safely within the extradimensional space in the veteran’s coffin. After taking off their shoes -if they had them- and putting their things on the conveyor through the X-ray machine, they proceeded through the metal detector. Laden with metal accessories from cow skulls to horseshoes, Goldlewis had to take off his jacket, both belts, his gloves, and even his tie, and he still got subjected to a pat-down by a somewhat nervous-looking SBR unit. Grumbling, he put everything back on and collected his coffin as fast as he could. Giovanna, meanwhile, got stopped as she tried to go through security with Tora.

“Hey,” the SBR unit said as it stood in front of her, narrowing his optics at the Nopon. “What’s this?”

Giovanna maintained a completely straight face. “This…is my emotional support Nopon. You know, like a service dog?”

“Irony of statement have profound sting for Tora,” the morose engineer muttered beneath his breath.

The SBR unit looked down. “Did it just talk?”

“Uh, no. Are you stupid?” Giovanna nudged Tora with her foot, then patted him on the head.

The SBR unit crossed its arms, an annoyed look on its face. “Emotional support, huh? What’s it for?”

“You’re not legally allowed to ask that question,” Giovanna told him sharply. “And I’m not legally obligated to answer. Patient confidentiality.”

After a moment, the SBR’s composure broke, and it stepped aside looking sheepish. “Uh…right. Sorry ma’am. Carry on.”

One look at the group’s press passes seemed to be enough to convince the robots here that they were approved for entry, even without a fully-functioning GridLink. Once on the other side of the checkpoint, the Seekers moved quickly through the rest of the Hublink. As Goldlewis pointed out, there was no rush to find a spot for the teleporter exit that might get compromised, so together the eight boarded an outbound monorail. Soon the doors slid shut and the train began to pick up speed, quickly leaving the Hublink station behind and zooming out into the City of Glass.

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/THlshrz.png[/img][/center]

The moment the view opened up in front of the train, Goldlewis couldn’t help but be impressed. In the wake of the rainstorms of that morning, the rays of sunlight piercing the clouds had opened up into whole swathes of radiant sunshine, and all of Sector 06 glittered beneath it. For starters, it boasted a unique feature no other plate had: a body of water, running all the way from the tip of the pizza slice to the ‘crust’. In fact the Hublink hung out over it, so the minute the trail left the station it was flying along a tall, single-rail bridge above the blue. This was made possible, in turn, by the defining feature of the Sector 06 undercity, Deep-Paris, it being a solid block of earth all the way from ground level to the plate with the underground slums inside it. Taking up about a third of the plate’s total surface area, the body of water wound around as a huge river as the plate itself expanded, culminating in a bay near the plate’s far end.

Occupying the lion’s share of Sector 06’s solid ground seemed to be the City of Glass proper. The view of it from here, witnessed by countless newcomers over Midgar’s lifetime, was no less striking for the Seekers than it had been for their predecessors. It was a metropolis of towering buildings, quite possibly the tallest in Midgar save the skyline-dominating Shinra Building itself, and every one of them stood proud in spotless, marble-white majesty, clothed and crowned with vast arrays of reflective crystalline glass. Tastefully sparse, geometric splotches of primary color could be glimpsed here and there in its different districts, but on the whole the place radiated an atmosphere of unadulterated ‘purity’. 

On the flipside, across the water lay the other one-third of the City of Glass, a vast and colorful [url=https://hardcore-gamer.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2023/01/Hi-Fi_Rush_5.jpg]campus[/url] of sprawling factories and offices beneath the watchful dominion of the second-biggest skyscraper in Midgar, shaped like a colossal ‘V’ rising out of an enormous glass globe. Those who had spotted it on the helicopter ride to Sector 07 or any of the car rides since -and it was hard to miss- could finally see it in all its glory.

Goldlewis whistled. “Boggles the doggone mind,” he said, describing the view succinctly. Tora stared at the scenery, unmoved. Sure, it was pretty, but to him it just felt like a waste. This was an experience he should have shared with Poppi. After a few seconds, Goldlewis continued. “Dendenmille Showcase Theater oughta be somewhere ‘round the base of that big ol’ V, so that’s where we’re headed.”

Well before getting there, however, the monorail pulled into and stopped at another [url=https://i.imgur.com/cePDkxx.png]station[/url]. After making their way out, the Seekers found themselves at the waterfront overlooking [url=https://i.imgur.com/YjEq7nx.png]Regatta Bay[/url]. Even one of the most remote parts of the City of Glass, well removed from its beating heart, was the richest-looking part of Midgar any of the newcomers had seen so far. State-of-the-art luxury sailboats and multi-level yachts -some with onboard pools- were moored at the piers by the dozens, all pure white except for the stripes and stripes of singular colors, and many more were already sailing around the bay to make the most of the afternoon sunshine. All menial tasks, from emptying trash cans to sweeping and polishing the ghost-white walkways, were accomplished by androids. There were a lot of security robots scattered around, too.

Plenty of fancy-looking people could be found milling around or attending to some manner of business, all buried in their phones and laptops as they sat in open-air cafes and restaurants. As Tora watched, four dwarves -evidently drunk already- in fine if somewhat disheveled suits skipped by, arm in arm, chanting, “We’re rich! We’re rich!” It wasn’t just formal or office wear around here, though; there was also elaborate, futuristic techwear. That produced a whole host of different looks: [url=https://cdn.playdislyte.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Dhalia-Calypso.png]lady[/url] in an iridescent parka sort of thing that looked too fancy to be a raincoat, a [url=https://i.imgur.com/LBTMsUK.png]beanie-wearer[/url] with a transparent plastic jacket, a [url=https://i.imgur.com/vEzyXi3.png]man with green shades[/url] and even greener lipstick, and a [url=https://cdn.playdislyte.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/David-Jason.png]pink-haired fellow[/url] who happened to be casting a judgmental look toward the Seekers, and [url=https://i.imgur.com/YCjygRK.png]more[/url]. Suddenly, Goldlewis didn’t feel quite so confident about the quality of his suit. He could only imagine what Pit, Roxas, and the others felt like. Luckily, there were plenty of boutiques around, too. The only obstacle to obtaining anything that anyone might want would be the price–which Goldlewis could only guess would be egregious.

Tora approached the railing at the water’s edge and laid his wings on it. He listened to the lap of the water against the piers, and the whisper of the wind. His eyes drifted across the bay, all the way down to the other side of the plate where Vandelay Campus lay. Among its its vast and varied edifices loomed one building in particular, not anywhere near as tall as that V but noticeable nonetheless: the [url=https://i.imgur.com/ukWvLg5.png]Cyberlife Tower[/url]. Detroit might be the home of industry, and Night City the home of cybernetics, but this was doubtless the home of robotics. If there was anywhere he could achieve his goals, it had to be here.

“Alright, enough gawking,” Giovanna piped up after a few moments. “Let’s hurry up and find somewhere to put the teleporter already.”

This task was easier said than done. In terms of surveillance cameras, the City of Glass gave Suoh a run for its money; there were clusters of them everywhere. But Giovanna, pragmatic as ever, soon found a place where even their gaze couldn’t reach: a public restroom. She and Blazermate went inside to wait for the occupants to leave, while Goldlewis and anyone else remained outside to discourage others from entering, though luckily this area wasn’t experiencing a glut of pedestrians anyway. In short order the teleporter was constructed, and everyone else could warp through and then file out of the restroom one at a time. Before too long, Geralt, Zenkichi, Benedict, Pit, and Roxas had all joined the others to marvel at the breathtaking City of Glass.

“Alright!” Goldlewis echoed Giovanna from earlier. “Now we’re all back together, there's just two problems. Gettin’ to Vandelay Campus over there, and not raisin’ any kind o’ ruckus while we’re at it.” At this point, it was almost four o’ clock. That meant five hours to cross the City of Glass, and accomplish whatever else the Seekers wanted or needed along the way.

Tora had wandered back over to the water’s edge. He could think of no better way for the team to reach their destination than by boat. “...Maybe friends convince boatypon to give ride,” he offered sullenly. With all the people around the piers, there had to be at least one well-to-do waverider the team could solicit help from. Whether or not there’d be a price to pay, though, was anyone’s guess.