Young Writers Society

Servio | Time Doesn't Make the Past Less Filthy

"Alright." Servio dismounted from his horse. "Better say goodbye to these guys, cause we won't be seeing them anymore."

"What?" Kiara said.

"Don't you what me like that," Servio replied, steel in his voice. "We're heading into the Outskirts. If we bring the horses, we'll be a prime target. A bit of walking won't ruin your boots."

"Oh."

Elise jostled him. "C'mon, give the girl a break," she said, trying to sound cheerful. She turned to Kiara. "You'll, uh, get used to him."

"A break? What ya going to do with them anyway, eat 'em?" Servio toyed with his necklaces. "Besides, the factory's not far." He pointed.

Rising above the rickety houses, bursting through the noxious smoke too heavy to be called air like an ulcer, a building loomed over the landscape. It twisted into the air, greedy. Its shadow was lost in the ground.

"That's... large."

Servio nodded. "We'd best get a move on. It's farther than it looks."

They tied the horses to a post by a sad little field. Elise produced an apple from somewhere and fed it to hers. It whinnied, but otherwise seemed unperturbed. Then, the group turned and began to walk.

The mist here existed regardless of time of day, constant. Servio thought it reflected the misery of this place pretty well. Never thought he'd be coming back to it, though. Still, money was money, right?

In the mist he could see dark figures moving, pushing past each other and vanishing, like a hellish carnival. They came at him, far too close, until he could see eyeballs glinting and crooked teeth. When he swatted them away, they retreated with laughter.

Maybe it wasn't worth it this time.

The other two clustered around him. He stared at Kiara, amused, and she stuck her tongue out at him. "I'm not jittery."

"Boo."

She jumped, he laughed. "Don't worry," Servio said. "The denizens here are just a bit lively. Try not to look rich, though. Unless you're a cat. Even then, I've seen some cats go down real fast in the river."

The colossus that was the factory drew nearer. Funny, he thought. It had been around since he was a kid, that much he remembered. His Dad had worked there. Everyone knew nothing legal went on there, but this was the first time, in his knowledge, something was doing about it. They must have screwed up real good with the Council.

The ground was cracked and smoking here. The air smelled of sulfur, but had darker, more ominous undertones. It stuck to his throat, as if condensing into glass. There were fewer houses here, and fewer people.

"The factory has been falling into disrepair recently," Servio said, "The government's been caring less, so no funds. That means it's probably going to be more dangerous... but I like that. We're going to have to take a look around first. This place is big, but pretty deserted. I bet we could sneak in easy, or something. I'm not the planner here, right?"

Servio and Elise looked at Kiara.

Merc, of course had deduced where Centra had gone.

She had cantered off out of sight, while Alex and Merc trudged through the early fog. They had engaged in little conversation other than the odd comment, until they reached the factory.

It was a big brown and grey complex, made of dirty brick and concrete. Laying there sprawled on the dead grass, the vast chimneys that pierced the low clouds occasionally vomited small bursts of brown-black smoke upwards in smoke rings. Pre-shift testing, noted Merc, while Alex looked to be on the verge of saying the same, instead muttering "Smoke" somewhat lamely. A tall stone wall topped with brass spikes surrounded the main block in a rough rectangle, except for at the front, where the worn path in the grass led to a couple of iron gates.

They couldn't see anybody in sight, so the pair advanced to the front, where they observed the gate.

"Can you climb that?" Alex asked, able to squeeze through the narrow iron bars.

"Only way in." Merc then hopped repeatedly to grasp the top of the gate, weight holding him down, his fingertips just slipping. It was only on his eighth attempt that he got a good enough grip to pull himself over the gate, and even then he tore his cloak on a vicious looking spike. He looked in disgust at the torn fabric, and made a mental note to repair it. Alex jumped up to take a small sliver of black fabric from the spike, and then both of them turned to the factory.

They were in.

Keeping their bodies low, they got to the side of the building without detection. Here was a door, which Merc presumed was how Centra got in. She certainly didn't go through the front doors. She most likely wasn't that good. Going over to the door, Alex opened it slowly, and found a dull looking corridor; wooden floor, grey walls.

"From here we go..." Alex had taken a small map out of somewhere and was scanning it to follow the route he had sketched out. "Left. No, right. Yes, yes, right. Then afterwards, we go down, left... yes, this way."

From here, Alex led the way. He was more nimble and able to see any possible dangers quicker than Merc. They slowly followed the route, passing through corridors that led to corridors with rooms on either side, then one long corridor with windows instead of walls that looked out over the grand furnaces and conveyors. Alex had to bend down, while Merc had to crawl. Sure enough, a couple of men in uninspiring waistcoats were checking the furnaces and the belts. Merc knew they weren't doing this for the workers, just in case they lost profit. He had personal experience.

"Boy! Green 1145! Here now!"

"What the fuck do you call this? Brass, is it? It looks more like pig shite- you've bagged yourself overtime!"

"Born to scum, with a girlfriend who looks like my vomit after my pigeon pie? Scum and Pigeon!"

After they got to the other side of the main hall, the route became a lot simpler. Alex led Merc down another corridor, then up flight after flight of stairs. Alex was tired after the fourth flight, and was only kept going by Merc's promises not to catch him if he fell by the tenth. They finally, however got to the top, where they were presented with an oak door with a brass plaque that read, 'James Hamilton- Head of Board'. The lights were off, due to the fact no light bled through the bottom of the door. Dawn was still a good hour away.

It was considerably nicer up here, with a red plush carpet underfoot instead of the rough wooden planks. There were windows that overlooked the area, although with the winter morning fog, visibility was reduced to just outside the factory's gates. Light fittings were made of brass with tiny rubies around the edges.

"Someone's in there, Merc." whispered Alex urgently. "The doorknob hasn't clicked into place, so the door's unlocked."

"And the light's off. Right, well, go in slowly."

Alex nodded, and pushed the door slightly. Sure enough, the door lazily opened, and Alex disappeared inside the gloom. A tense second passed, until a cry of "Owowow!" went up, before a whispered barrage of apologies from none other than Centra. Merc sighed, both from relief and vague annoyance. He looked behind them, down the unending stairs. There was no-one.

"Looks like I got here before you two." Centra lent on the doorframe, whispering.

"Looks like you did." Merc straightened up, talking slightly louder.

"Find anything?" Alex asked.

"This. A journal of disciplinary actions. Completely full. Here." Centra passed a journal to Alex, who gave it to Merc. It was leather, and very thick, about seven-hundred pages in length. Flicking through it, he saw the table filled out almost identically on every entry. Merc read the entries aloud.

"'Josa Hindley. Caught stealing raw brass (type 10). Severity - severe. Action - fined, arrested, four months in jail.' Harsh sentencing. 'Davis Faye. Caught stealing valves (type 7). Severity - very severe. Action - unpaid overtime for three weeks, then one day respite, then all belongings and property forfeited, fined.'"

"One day respite?" Centra wondered aloud, and Merc obliged to answer her.

"So he thought he was off the hook. They let him get his hopes back, then took everything he had, and forced him into debt. Probably still works here to pay off that debt."

They stood there for a moment, all silent.

"Well, we know where to go from here. We can find either Josa or Davis and see if they know anything." Alex voiced his idea, slightly worried of being ignored.

"In fact, we can find almost anyone from that journal, and ask them some questions. Merc, note some down."

Merc had no paper or pen to hand, and so scanned through the later entries for memorable names. He found this Davis cropping up again and again, so made him the priority.

"Good job Centra. Now let us get out of here." Merc turned to leave the corridor. Alex followed after Centra, audibly sighing as he remembered the endless stairs.

Merc chuckled to himself, then remembered where he was, and the memories flew to the front of his mind once more.

The end of the stairs were finally in sight, much to Alex's relief. He stumbled down the last few steps and stood at the foot of the staircase for a few moments, his hands on his thighs and his chest heaving up and down. He straightened and turned to Centra.

"How are you not dying?" he puffed.

"Because I actually keep fit instead of just sitting around teaching the kid to fence," Centra replied with obvious amusement.

"Hey, if you think trying to keep up with Kiara is an easy task maybe you should spend less time chasing helpless deer and try and catch her," Alex countered.

Alex glanced at Merc but he was offering no support.

"Will you two please shut up?" he murmured.

Alex nodded guiltily and apologised.

"So we all know who we're looking for?" Centra asked after a few moments, "Davis Faye. Just remember that name. Da-vis Faye. Davis. Faye. Da-"

"We got it," Alex muttered. "David Fair."

"Alex!" Centra hissed.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding." Alex chuckled.

Merc shook his head despairingly and Alex cast his eyes to the ground. He was supposed to be focussed on tracking down whoever was responsible for the giant mechanical spider that had tried to kill Kiara, and Centra, and himself - not letting his tongue run wild. When he raised his gaze back to Merc's eyes, they were sympathetic. Alex took a deep breath and forced all jibes towards Centra out of his mind.

"Shall we split up?" he suggested.

Centra nodded once and pointed to the right. She then followed her arm and disappeared around a corridor off in its direction. Merc shrugged and pointed with a thumb over his shoulder in the opposite direction. Alex chose a corridor almost halfway between them but slightly closer to Merc's.

The corridor was hewn roughly out of stone walls and was murkier than Servio's past. It kept writhing from side to side, suggesting to Alex that whoever built it was more interested in getting dinner in a few hours than using a tri-square properly. After many bumps of his elbows against the uneven walls, he emerged into a perfectly square anteroom with nothing but a crude silver rubbish bin in one corner.

Luckily there were only two doors, greatly limiting Alex's ability to make a mess of the mission. He strode over to one and eased it open about an inch. It opened straight onto the factory floor and he had to shut it immediately for fear of one of the many, many workers spotting him. He crossed with a little more hesitation over to the other door.

It opened to reveal a small balding man crouched over a desk. The man's mouth dropped open and his eyes widened like a frog that's just been given an electric shock. Alex slammed the door shut and hurled himself back across the room to the other door. If the corridor had had a door of its own, he may have chanced hiding in there. As it was there was only a gap in the wall, forcing him to slip as quietly as possible onto the factory floor.

He edged along to his right with his back to the wall. A few metres away rested a towering rack of steel bars. The bars on each side overlapped in such a way that there was no gap visible at all if both sides were full, which, mercifully, they were. Alex darted towards the rack, a relieved grin piercing his features.

He shoved his body behind the rack. It wouldn't go as far as he'd been expecting.

"There must be something in the way," he whispered to himself.

"No," came a hissed reply, "Someone."

Alex whirled around to face the obstruction. Stood before him was a short dark-haired man with an olive complexion and slightly sunken eyes. The man's arms were laden with steel bars and his eyes kept flitting from side to side. A thief? Could Alex really be so lucky as to have found Faye by accident? Probably not. Still, he could probably get some useful information.

"What do you know of the Brass Crown or of Davis Faye?" Alex murmured.

The man's eyes sprang open and advanced menacingly upon Alex.

"Who are you, and how the fucking hell do you know my name?" he snarled.

Before Alex could reply, not that he had any idea what to say, the man dropped the bars and bolted towards a door in the adjacent wall about thirty yards away. Alex cursed and hurled himself after him but by the time he'd slipped through the door, Faye had slipped away.

“What? You two are older than me! You guys should have a better idea of what to do during these situations – especially with those denizens around,” Kiara hissed at the other two members. She then pointed at Servio. “Especially you, since it seems you’re more familiar with the turf.”

Elise scratched her head. She supposed it wouldn’t help if she were to go against anything the youngest one had to say, especially since they weren’t exactly on good relations.

“Okay, okay. I’ll lead,” Elise said as she looked back at Servio and Kiara, who seemed to be on the verge of going at each other’s throat. “Let’s get over to the factory first.”

Honestly, the place unsettled Elise. She didn’t think the people around would seem kind of crazy, but she couldn’t really say that out loud, despite nearly clinging on to Servio earlier. Not only would that not help anyone, but she didn’t want to lose face in front of either the two – not to mention, once they get back, it would make a perfectly good drunken story, and no way is she letting Silvereye think she’s a coward.

They got closer and closer to the destination; what Elise noticed the most was the number of eyes looking at that seemed to grow bigger in number. She casually treaded along the path, but kept her hand secure on her weapon just in case anyone were to jump on them. Luckily, they got to the factory without any nuances.

She whistled. It really was tower-like. She felt tiny just being near it.

“Let’s go check the back,” Elise motioned, keeping herself aware of possible people who would spot them. “Servio, have you ever been inside before?”

He shrugged, then made his voice low. “I knew someone who worked there, but I don’t really remember what the inside looked like.”

Elise nodded her head. At the back of the factory, boxes were stacked, some of them opened. They all contained some sort of brass item. As they were looking at it, from the corner of her eyes, Elise spotted someone coming from the side. The three crunched together behind one wide stack and listened.

“Here’s some metal I found, h-how much would it be?”

The voice seemed tired, like he hasn’t eaten for days.

“Put it in that box. Here’s some coin for your efforts,” the other said, almost menacingly. “You know the drill, get more brass and there’d be more money for you to feed yourself and your family.”

Her heart raced as she heard the nearby thunk of metal hitting against metal. Once she heard the footsteps get distant, Elise peeked. No one was there.

“So much for being deserted.” Kiara rolled her eyes, dusting the dirt that got on her clothes.

Servio scowled, due to Kiara’s comment. He then tried to open the back door. “Locked. Anyone here a lock picker?”

The two girls shook their head. Elise surveyed the structure. “Wouldn’t it be obvious to try a door? Still, I don’t see any other way to get all three of us in if not for that.”

Servio coughed and looked smugly at Kiara. The littler one pouted. A window pretty high caught her attention. Even if she got on the highest stack and scrambled on the wall, she still wouldn’t reach it. Maybe if someone boosted her up…

“Servio, think you can boost me from over there,” She pointed to the highest stack. There was enough room for two. “I might be able to unlock the door from the other side once I get in.”

“Yeah, sure.”

The two readied themselves. Soon, Servio sent Elise sailing through the air and she managed to get herself through the window.

“Now, help me get inside. I’ll scramble and you grab my hand,” Servio said, preparing to follow Elise. She shook her head.

“No, you stay and keep watch over Kiara. I won’t take long.”

“I’m not a baby you need to worry over,” Kiara argued. “I can handle myself just fine!”

“You’re not my baby for sure, but you’re Asia’s. I dread to think of what she would do to us if anything as big as a scratch appears on your face, pretty lady,” Elise chuckled. “Now be a good girl and get along with Servio. If he tries to do anything perverted, just smack him in the jaw.”

Without waiting for any of the two to reply to her, Elise checked the floor below the platform she was standing on. There were a number of people, but there was still enough places for her to safely sneak. There were assembly lines, furnaces, and other things people would figure a factory like this would have – save for the evil owner, she guessed.

Elise stayed low and tried to detect as little attention as possible. Thankfully, the place with the backdoor was covered from the rest. There was only one guard to speak of, but she could handle him.

She went down, hid behind a few machines as people walked by and came closer to the door.

Good. The idiot doesn’t find anything suspicious, but he is peering out a little. We must’ve made some noise back there.

Quickly, she dispatched the guard, letting him lose consciousness, and dragged him away where she figured no one would notice. He’d live, she made sure he would – he’s just going to wake up a little sore and dizzy, wondering how he managed to sleep on such a dirty floor.

Elise took the key from the guard’s pocket and quietly unjammed the wood that was on the door.

For a metal factory, I would’ve guessed they’d use some scrap metal for this.

She placed the key in its hole and turned it. Elise opened the door and greeted the other two.

“I told you I’d be quick.” She grinned, but the pair didn’t seemed amused. Instead, they had horrified looks on their faces. Kiara screamed.

“Elise!”

She peeked around the corner. Out stretched a long, narrow stone corridor. It ploughed straight forward, ending in a single door a hundred yards away. How many times had she seen this corridor? How many times had she peeked around this particular corner? How many times had she admitted to herself that she was hopelessly and utterly lost?

She rested against the wall and tried to remember what turns she'd taken. It was useless. Every corridor looked the same: narrow, wobbly and cold. She couldn't exactly call Alex or Merc's name. They were supposed to be keeping quiet. Besides, Alex would doubtless be quick to gloat. She hung her head. She really had screwed this up.

A door at the end of the corridor flew open. Out burst a short, Southern looking man with the sunken eyes of a life soaked in sun. He thundered all along the corridor, running straight past her. A few moments later, Alex tumbled out of the door. He glanced around and spotted Centra.

"Faye!" he cried, pointing in the direction the man had run.

Centra nodded and hurtled off after the man - Faye, apparently. She spotted him just as he heaved open a door on his left and slipped inside. Centra sprinted to the door and let herself through. It opened onto a dark hall, with a few unlit torches hanging along the walls. Centra peered into the gloom and spotted Faye struggling with the lock of a door at the other end of the hall.

She paced softly along the tiled floor, hushing her panting breaths. She didn't think he realised she was there and she wanted to keep it that way. She approached him from behind and grabbed the hand hanging at his side. He gasped and spun around. She twisted his arm behind his back and, as he tried to wrench it free, the key dropped from his spare hand.

It clattered to the floor. The echo teased the tension in the air. Faye's eyes were bright with terror in the darkness.

"What do you want?" he muttered.

She had no idea.

"The key," she hissed. She glanced emphatically at the knife tucked into her belt and added, "Or else."

He kicked the key over to between her feet. She bent down, dragging him with her, and retrieved it. The door through which she'd entered swung open and revealed Alex. He was still running and the thundering rumble of his feet on the flagstones was embarrassing. Still, she was glad he was here. She'd had no clue what her next move was.

Alex stopped short when he saw them, then sprinted forward and closed the gap between them. Centra handed him the key and motioned with her head towards the door Faye had been trying to open. He nodded and slid the key into the lock. He twisted it and the lock clicked first time. Faye had probably just been panicking too much. It was quite helpful, Centra thought, that he was scared of them. It made the job of securing his co-operation a lot easier.

The door creaked open to reveal a jumble of metal, nuts, bolts, levers, mechanisms. A supply cupboard. Why would Faye try to hide in a supply cupboard? He'd have had to come out eventually. Then Centra's eyes drifted down to something silver that glinted brightly silver under a pile of springs. Alex bent and slipped it out. A sword.

"So you had a back-up plan, Mr Faye?" Alex asked.

"Aye." Faye smirked. "What're you going to do about it?"

Alex looked at Centra. She shrugged.

Alex hung his head and muttered, "I'll go get Merc."

He jogged out of the room and took the sword with him. Centra bent Faye's arm back a little further to remind him of her upper hand. Her arm was tiring though. She didn't know if she could hang on for long with just her bare hands. She hoped Alex would come back soon - with Merc.

Servio | Grim Tidings

Elise twisted around and hit her head against the wall. The man behind her stumbled.

"Hey!" He roared. "What do you think you're doing in here?" Then he saw Servio, and his eyes narrowed. He rushed forward, stepping over the fallen Elise. Before Servio had time to react, he was slammed against the wall, the factory worker's face pressed against his.

"H-hey Conrad," Servio said, weakly. "What's going on?"

"You idiot." Conrad hissed. "What do you think you're doing here? Are you trying to pull some kind of crazy stunt? I told you ten years ago we don't need anything like that!"

"Come on, Conrad." Servio was gasping for breath."This place is shit! The top brass are counterfeit! We're trying to --"

"Out!" Conrad yelled, eyes darting around nervously. "Out! Out!"

Servio had received many a kick in his time, but none were quite as strong as that which propelled him out the factory door and onto the streets.

"I feel sixteen again," he muttered, rubbing his backside. The dirt was slippery. Servio cursed. This was his only good set of pants.

He heard footsteps approaching hurriedly.

"Great plan, great plan." It was Kiara's voice.

Servio turned to see the two moving towards him. Kiara was supporting Elise, who rubbed her head as she hopped forward.

"'Least I did something," Elise spat back. "Ow ow ow my head."

There were some moments of gray silence as the three looked at each other blankly. Kiara brushed a raindrop away from her face. Elise rubbed her head. Servio collapsed back down onto the ground -- his pants were as good as done anyway.

"What now?"

"Beats me."

"Godsdammit."

Servio stood. "Godsdammit godsdammit godsdammit." He punched a plank and swore out of pain, then swore again out of anger. His pacing was that of a caged lion.

"Whoa there, Servio," Elise said. "Sure, we failed the first attempt, but we can get back in, no problem."

"Get back in?" Servio turned on her, eyes fire. "Get back in? Yeah, that's a great idea, let's get back in so somebody else will kick us out! Huh, I'd never fucking thought of that. What a tactician we've got here."

Kiara's slap propelled him onto the ground again. Servio laughed. "Gravity likes me today." His laughter came forth in intermittent hiccups. He stared up into the sky and laughed at the rain.

"Get a grip," Kiara said, coldly. "You're not helping things. That guy seemed to know you. You seem to know this place. If you have knowledge use it, instead of swearing like an old, bitter man."

"Helpless others is not just Elise," Servio said. "There are a lot of helpless others here, Kiara. Everyone in this factory -- this town -- is a helpless other. I was still young when the factory people came and built their place here. The people of this place made what little they could off of the scarce fish in these waters, so they saw the factory as an opportunity. For a time maybe it was, but it quickly became nothing more than slavery. I left as soon as I could."

He stood and began walking, as if his feet had the roads memorized.

"Where are you going?" Kiara asked, stumbling to keep up.

"To find Masha," Servio replied, decisively. "I've ran from this place for too long, I can't sit by anymore. We're going to bring this factory to the ground if I die trying."

"More like, until my shirt gets ruined," Elise said. Kiara giggled.

Servio fumed. "Will you take every single epic moment away from me?"

"Most probably. Now come on, lead the way."

Merc's corridor was also incredibly dark, save for the slits of light that beamed from barred windows. Making sure to keep low, he ducked underneath the window and slowly peeked up. Through the sooty glass was a large hangar-like room, large enough to hold two galleons side by side. One end of the room was open to the outside, where several railway tracks that stretched far into the distance were lead in. On the rails were large metal carts made of steel, full to the brim of metal ores - one was entering now, trundling along the furthest track to a buffer a few metres into the hangar. The moment the cart stopped, two humanoid figures with a spherical lower half made of brass wheeled over to it and quickly started taking the ores to a conveyer. The room was partitioned, with different carts going to different sections, where the ores would be loaded onto conveyers that whisked them away into other parts of the factory.

Damn, I thought there would be at least one person here.

Merc surveyed the scene a little longer, before he quickly dived down as one robot looked up to the barred windows. After scalding himself for such ill-timed sightseeing, he carried on down the corridor to a series of rooms, all which were also filled with robots; the pounding of metals, the whirring of machinery blasted from each room.
Once or twice, Merc was sure he was spotted, but nothing occured. The third time, Merc was hiding in a shallow in the wall, inspecting a series of spider-like robots which skuttled along the top of a conveyer, all giving clicks, sometimes lowering down and 'eating' the metal. Noting its likeness to the brass spider that attacked Kiara, he ducked back into the shallow as one of the sphere-man robots rolled out of the workshop.

It rolled forward, past Merc's hiding place, then stopped. The head was a helmet-like face welded to a gyroscopic construct, and it gyrated around repeatedly. As it did this the two forearms flipped around to reveal two small steel blades.

Merc held his breath.

Still spinning around, the head stopped dead on where Merc had pushed himself into the shadows.

It rolled closer.

Merc braced himself for an attack- and then the sphere-bot returned to normal as a bell ringed inside the workshop. It slid back into the room as the door closed.

Before Merc could shuffle forward to open the door a crack, he heard footsteps behind him. Merc knew he would have been spotted already, so he whipped around and sprinted forward- only a couple of steps before the figure whispered, "Merc!" and raised its hands.

"Alex?"

The figure nodded and lowered the hands quickly. "One and only."

Merc sighed audibly. "Don't do that again."

"Sorry- anyway, come quick, we've found Faye."

"Wait, already? And what have you got in your hands?"

"Yeah, found him stealing some metal. When we caught up with him, he was going to pull a sword, so..." Alex toted the sword, " Centra's with him."

"Well, then we're wasting valuble questioning time." Merc advanced forward, keeping low as he followed Alex down the corridor again.

As they passed the barred windows and the two of them ducked underneath, Alex said quietly, "Spooky, isn't it? The robots. Something like that would have to be incredibly advanced control flow- the atlas joints would be massively sophisticated- what about the decision making? They could use- use-"

"Alex."

"Oh, sorry."

After a short time, the pair reached where they had split up.

"It's this one," said Alex, pointing down a gloomy corridor, "Centra's got him in an armlock."

They continued down the corridor, coming to a single door. Alex pushed it open quickly but cautiously. It opened out to a wider area that was almost entirely bare, apart from a raised section around the edges.

Alex then continued to another door, Merc hurriedly following, eyes scanning for anyone else. This door opened onto a long narrow stone corridor. Just when Merc had closed the door relatively quietly behind them, there was a smack of flesh on stone, accompanied by a squeal of pain.

Merc turned, arms wide, and a small specimen of a man ran straight into them. Merc clamped both arms to his chest, entrapping the man in them.

"Get yer dumb meatbag off me, you stuffy-nosed goons!" yelled the squirming man.

"Mr. Faye, considering you ran directly into me when there were other ways to run, I am as dumb as you are pre-emptive."

"Thanks, Merc." said Centra, looking slightly depressed. She was rubbing her shoulder, so Alex went over to see if she was okay, as Merc hauled his catch back into the room he had burst from.

The room was an unlit hall, rather large, but dingy enough to look unused. Seeing an open storeroom, he pushed Faye inside and kept him there with a single, beefy arm. He checked his fob watch. Not long until the factory opened for the (human) workers.

Let's make this quick.

"Mr. Faye."

"What do you three want?"

"Just a few minutes of your time, nothing more, nothing less, then me and my associates will be on our way." Merc made himself sound extra bored, like he'd done this a million times too many, "As long as you co-operate, you'll forget us soon enough."

Over his shoulder, Merc heard Centra speak up. "Oh, I do hope not- idiot cracked my shoulder."

"Get her to shut up, then maybe I'll blab!" Faye, still pinned into the closet, seemed very panicky now- rivulets of sweat was sliding down his face, and he was breathing heavily.

All good signs.

"Centra, my friend, please pipe down. Can't you see we're scaring our... guest?"

He cracked a grin directly at her, and she suppressed her own.

"Now, to business- what do you know of the Brass Crown?"

"Nothing! I-" Faye was cut short by a heavy boot drilling into his knee.

Over Merc's other shoulder, he heard Alex give a mumbled account of the symptoms of Faye's lie.

"Drifting eyes- raised intonation at the end- oh dear."

Merc gestured with his free hand for Faye to continue.

"Okay, okay- they're sort of like the worker's black market, you sell them stuff, and you get coin back. Not much, but still."

Merc was not satisfied.

"Well, our close friends were attacked by a nasty machine made right here from this factory. Any ideas?"

"None."

"I could give you another spark of inspiration..."

"Was it a spider bot?"

"Bingo." exclaimed Centra.

"The closest contact for the Crown was a fella by the name of Quinn, but he got hauled in for 'terrorist activities'. He had a penchant for building spider bots, but yeah, I, I would have, probably contribu-contributed to the constructio..." The rest of the sentance was low whispering.

"Well, that puts us in a sticky situation. We came here to find who did this and exact a little quid pro quo. But-"

There was a loud barrage of clicking and the venting of steam from behind them. Looking around, Merc saw a posse of five of the sphere man robots, blades out, travelling fast towards them. More clicking came from outside the door, as a line of different robots entered the hall- spiders, quadrapeds, all rather annoyed.

In Merc's pocket, his fob watch ticked to opening time.

The red eyes hovered around in the darkness, advancing forward as if to swarm around them. Alex gasped and locked eyes with Merc, who grabbed Faye by the forearm and started to run. Alex looked at Centra and shrugged. They caught up to Merc within moments and barrelled into the doors. The doors swung outwards and Merc was able to shove Faye through before they swung shut again.

Alex glanced to his left. Centra was missing. He whirled around and spotted her about ten metres behind. What was going on? She was much faster than him. She'd never fall behind without a fight. Merc was there too, but heading in the opposite direction. Then Alex realised who was missing from the scene. Who else?

Who bloody else?

Alex sprinted over to Centra, narrowly dodging the robots as they piled along the first corridor they'd run along.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Faye got away from Merc," Centra explained, already starting to jog in the direction Merc had taken. "I think he bit him."

Alex's eyes widened but he continued forward anyway. They caught up with Merc within a few moments but slowed to his pace. They couldn't leave him behind to face those red-eyed robots alone. Any time they got into any sort of scrape, they needed him around anyway. Luckily, there were no decisions to be made, no crossroads to navigate. They wound around wobbly corridors and slipped through creaking wooden doors. Faye had to be down here somewhere. Alex glanced behind him. There were no robots in sight, but they were doubtless just around the corner. They couldn't slow.

A door creaked open in front of them and for a second Alex let himself hope that Faye had come back for them. Out flowed a steady tide of brass humanoids, clicking their joints and snapping metal digits on the ends of long brass arms. Alex gasped and spun around. Before he could let out the breath, the robots that had been chasing them emerged around the corner he'd just turned. They were trapped.

Then Merc yanked open a door Alex hadn't noticed in the left wall of the corridor, precisely opposite from where the robots had emerged. He ushered Alex and Centra through then slammed it closed behind them. He hung onto the doorknob and leaned back, employing every ounce of his weight to keep it closed.

The room was dimly lit by a sconce in the corner, revealing a dusty console in the centre of the room. It was raised on a pedestal and in the centre a sturdy cylindrical column sprang up to the sky. The console was wrapped around its base and covered in levers, gears and a single button directly in front of Alex.

"What the fuck is this?" Centra spluttered.

"I don't know," Alex murmured, "But maybe we can use it to our advantage."

He started twirling dials and shoving levers down. It didn't even make a noise. There was no error report of any kind. It couldn't have been turned on.

"Do you see an 'on' switch anywhere?" Alex asked.

Centra pointed at a gaping hole further round the console. It tunnelled towards the pedestal and had a ridge running along its length. Alex could picture some sort of pseudo-cylindrical key being inserted into it, something that would complete the circuit and start up the console. He couldn't stop himself designing the circuitry in his head. He bet it was beautiful.

"What are we supposed to do?" Centra asked.

Alex shrugged. "I don't know."

"Well, you had better figure it out soon!" Merc yelled, "I can't hold on much longer."

He cried out and toppled backwards. The door slammed into the wall. Once again, Alex found himself staring into those glaring red eyes.

“So, who is this Masha chick, Servio?” Elise asked, following the lead of their male companion. “Another one of the women you’ve tried to hit on before?”

“Likely,” Kiara whispered, waggling her eyebrows. The two girls chuckled whereas Servio pouted.

“I heard that, pipsqueak. No, she is not someone romantically linked to me,” he sighed, brushing away some invisible dust on his sleeve. “But Masha is pretty important to me, so both of you, be on your best behaviour when we get to her house, got it?”

“Sounds like we’re visiting your grandma or something…”

Elise nudged Kiara, and when the littler one glanced at her, she motioned for her to keep quiet. It was one of those times she knew when Servio was dead serious. If either of them were about to guess much more about who the mystery woman was in a rather jokingly, less sensitive tone of voice, then a verbal fight might ensue. Elise knew that there wasn’t a need for one as of the moment. On a drinking or storytelling night, maybe, but not during a mission.

“Anyway, changing the topic, but who was that man earlier? Conrad, was it? A childhood friend’s dad or someone near the sort?”

“Something like that, yes,” Servio nodded, continuing to walk forward without looking back at his teammates. “Not exactly someone’s dad, but he was a little like mine. Taught me most things I know, really.”

“Including womanizing?” Kiara grinned. Elise and Servio decided to disregard the comment.

“Back when I was a little tyke, he was the one who taught me how to survive my previous kind of lifestyle. It really helped me and my mom get food to prepare on the dinner table,” he said, almost in a fond manner. “We were close, ‘til I left the life I knew to become who I am now. A treasure hunter.”

“Makes a lot of sense now as to why you could get stingy,” Elise chuckled. “Well then, we have a lot of ground to cover. Let’s save our breaths for later when we actually get to where there are homes.”

Under the heat, Elise felt like she was getting tired faster. It was one thing to greet the sun back in the city, where she normally feels like she wants to jump and run around, but in a deserted area such as this, well, it didn’t really work out. She’s almost about to finish the last drop of water in her canteen. Soon enough, she’ll have to look for a cactus and test out the saying that the plant really does hold a lot of water within it. Before she could look around, however, she felt someone tap her arm with something.

“Here,” Kiara held out her water container, looking away from Elise in a haughty manner. “I guess you can have some of mine, so that we’re even for that medicine you bought me.”

Ooh, princess is becoming kinder with me.

“No, it’s alright. We’re probably near anyways,” Elise smiled, shaking her head. “Or I at least hope so.”

“Suit yourself.”

After a few more minutes of walking, the group entered a living area, full of people walking around aimlessly, as if searching for something they don’t have. It made a hair or two of Elise’s stand on end.

“Say, Servio, was this where you were raised?” She asked, wondering how a man like him lived there, considering the booze and happy-go-lucky personality he has going on. The place really seemed opposite of what she imagine would be his hometown.

“Yup, born and raised in these parts.”

After that, they were all quiet. Elise noticed the eyes that looked hungrily upon her belt bag.

Yeesh. I have no food on me much either – some for the horse, but nothing besides that.

“We’re pretty sure that you must have something in that basket, lady. Share it with us, why don’t you?”

All three heads turned to where the source of the argument was. Two frail looking goons stared at a middle aged woman, who was now backed to a wall. Elise wasn’t able to tell the others first what she saw, however, as Servio instantly ran to the group and pushed away the two men.

“Stay away from Masha!”

Masha?

Elise and Kiara gazed at one another and nodded. They then made their way to their friend.

“Hey,” Elise said, placing her hands on the shoulders of both men. “Leave her alone, why don’t you? Find your food elsewhere.”

Instead of having a peaceful encounter, however, one of the goons turned around and was about to tackle Elise to the ground. Elise was fast though, as she moved sidewards, narrowly missing his arm.

“Sorry, but you leave me no choice.”

Quickly, Elise got to her knees and swept them to the ground with a kick. They both tumbled back and fell.

“Servio?” The eldest of the women blinked, touching the wrist of Servio. “It’s really you, isn’t it?”

For the first time, Elise noticed a very warm feeling behind Servio’s eyes as they landed upon who she figured was Masha.

“I’m back, Ma.”

Ma? So could Masha be… Servio’s mother?

Elise stood still, a bit surprised at the possible revelation. Masha then looked at her, then at Kiara.

“You brought your girlfriend?” She pointed at Elise, then next to Kiara. “And a friend?”

G-girlfriend?!

“No, no, no, no!” Elise shook her head vigorously, forming a huge cross with her arms. “We’re both friends of Servio’s. Nice to meet you.”

“Someone looks a little red,” Kiara teased.

“S-shut it, princess.” Elise murmured, embarrassed at the misunderstanding. “You’re just young looking to be mistaken as that.”

Kiara stuck her tongue out at Elise. “Whatever you say.”

“I see. Sorry about that, my dear,” Masha smiled, then motioned for all of them to follow her. “Come, let’s all talk more at my house. We might just run into some more unexpected trouble out here on the streets.”

Alex - Fayeday

Merc reached a muscular forearm up to the height of the bot closest to him and brought it down onto the bot's head. The bot's eyes flickered and it staggered backwards, but the bot it fell into caught it and put it back on it's feet. Merc groaned and Alex watched in horror as a bot snuck up behind him and placed a single brass digit on Merc's shoulder. Centra lunged forward but Alex grabbed her and dragged her back to the console.

Merc had slumped to the floor and the bots, having lost interest, were turning to face Alex and Centra. Alex gulped and Centra wriggled free of his grasp.

"Merc!" she cried. She took a step forward and one of the bots raised its hand, if you could call it that. It was more a collection of assorted blades. She staggered back and grabbed Alex's hand.

Alex raised his eyebrow. The bots were scary, sure, but he'd never known Centra to back down before anything. It was one of her biggest flaws, in fact. He followed her eyes, wondering which robot held her petrified. His eyes widened when he realised that Merc was the focus of her gaze. Merc, the rock they all relied on, was a crumpled heap of muscle on the floor.

Alex understood, but had to yank his hand away. If there was any way they were going to escape, it was hidden somewhere on the console. He scanned the rows of buttons and levers, but hesitated every time his hand hovered over any of the controls. One of the buttons had to switch off the bots, just by the laws of probability. Of course, the same laws also suggested that one of the buttons was likely to blow up the entire factory, and that wouldn't do any of them any good.

The bots had to be closing in. He could hear the ticks of their internal clocks, beating in one like boots marching in a parade. His eyes focussed on one big, shiny golden button. How could anything so sparkly be anything but good? He raised his hand and took a deep breath.

A crash to his left caused Alex to jerk his head up and drop his hand back to his side.

"Centra!" he cried.

When he whirled round, however, Centra was standing right beside him.

The robots dropped like flies around Merc, red lights flickering out like the lives of fruitflies.

"What the...?" he murmured.

"It's Faye," said Centra.

"What?" Alex screwed up his eyes. All he could see was dull metal and red eyes. Merc was still motionless.

Then he spotted him: a tanned figure, dodging under brass arms and kicking at brass legs. His sleeves were rolled up and his black hair was sticking up all over the place, but that was definitely him. He reached an arm up and squeezed the shoulder of one of the bots. It slumped to the floor and landed beside Merc.

"Help!" cried Faye.

Centra sprang into action and had repeated his action on three of the bots before Alex even had the chance to react. He was about to join her when a golden cylinder flew out of the fray and rolled to land at Alex's feet.

"Put it in the slot," cried Faye. A bot came up behind him, but Centra had it on the floor in seconds.

Alex picked up the cylinder and noticed a slim ridge running all the way along it. He gasped. He knew exactly where it went. The slot only took him a moment to locate and he shoved it into the hole with as much accuracy as he could manage under the pressure.

As he turned round, the last of the bots thudded to the ground. Faye collapsed to his knees and slipped something into Merc's mouth.

"That should have him up in a few minutes." Faye glanced at the console. "Alex, press the button."

Alex nodded and located the big gold button on the console. He pushed it in and jumped back as the console juddered and hissed.

"What was that?" he shouted.

"The mechanism starting up," Faye shouted, "Come on, we have to go!"

He lifted up Merc's feet and gestured for Centra to take his shoulders. Alex, filled with dread about what he'd just activated, hoisted up Merc's midsection. Faye angled them toward the console and they shuffled over to the other end of the room. He kicked a door Alex hadn't even noticed and sighed as it swung open, revealing an incongruously bright sky with the sun shining down.

"Thought it would be locked," he explained.

They bundled Merc out the door and dragged him as far as they could before Alex buckled and dropped to the ground. Faye and Centra gave way moments later. He glanced round to see the factory, which stood about a hundred yards from them.

"Is that far enough?" he asked Faye.

"I don't know." Faye shook his head. "Obviously nobody's tested this before."

"Tested what?" Centra asked.

Faye nodded toward Alex, turning to cough up some phlegm.

"I think I just activated a factory-wide detonation," he said.

Centra's eyes widened. "Come on, then! There's no way this is far enough!"

She grabbed at Merc's shoulders and tried to drag him across the dusty ground.

"I can crawl," Merc groaned.

Alex clapped him on the shoulder. "Good to have you back."

Merc said nothing and wriggled along the ground. He was never going to get very far, Alex could tell. Merc seemed to realise too, as he rolled onto his back and lay like a starfish.

"This is as far as we're getting," he muttered.

"Shouldn't be much longer," Faye said.

Alex felt a rumble in the ground and glanced at Centra. Her muscles were tensed and she focussed all her energy on staring at Merc. Faye gazed at the factory, which seemed to be held in suspended animation. Alex waited for the blast, his fingernails digging into the ground.

The cloud of smoke ballooned outwards, claiming first the middle of the factory, then toppling the top. Shards of glass flew past Alex and grains of sandstone jagged at his face, like sand on the wind at the beach. Something metal grazed his head and he cried out as his vision was blurred by a haze of red.

When the barrage had subsided, Alex tore off his sleeve and wrapped it around his head. Hopefully Elise could redo it later. The pressure dulled the throbbing and freed up his attention.

"Merc?" he called.

"I'm okay," Merc replied, from somewhere behind Alex.

"Me too," Centra said.

"I could be better," Faye muttered.

His dark shirt was soaked with a reddish tinge at the stomach. His blood dripped onto the ground and onto his legs, his hands, all over him. Alex crawled over to him and lay him on his back. His buttons were mangled; there was no way Alex could undo them.

"Centra," he called, "Do you have a knife?"

"Aye."

Alex started. She was kneeling right beside him, with it already in her hand. She slipped the blade under the shirt and cut it down the middle, revealing a shard of brass poking out of Faye's stomach. Alex pinched the edge and tried to wiggle it out but Faye's shattering scream stopped him.

Faye looked him straight in the eye and did his best to nod. Alex nodded in reply, in salute, and closed his shirt back over. He gripped Faye's hand, ignoring Centra's protests.

"Thank you," Faye whispered.

Alex nodded again and grimaced as Faye squeezed his hand. The pressure got tighter and tighter to the point where Alex was sure his bones would break, then all of a sudden Faye's hand dropped to the ground. Alex glanced at Faye's dull eyes and closed the eyelids over. Centra glared at him and stomped over to Merc.

At least the Brass Crown couldn't get him now.

Servio | A Dark Oracle

"Servio," Masha said, warmly. "It has been so long. You haven't been back home once since you left. Everybody was worried."

Servio sat at the rickety chair and clasped his cup of tea firmly, looking straight down into the murky liquid. He hadn't taken a sip yet. It was Masha's tea. He was sure it would be bitter. Servio didn't like bitter.

"Nobody missed me," he muttered. "Everybody was glad when I left."

Her eyes grew distant. "It is true, you left us at a difficult time, but things are different now. We have become used to our condition. We would accept you now. I know this."

"Used?" Servio scoffed. "You mean defeated. You've all given up."

Servio was painfully aware of how that last sentence came out high-pitched, and that Elise and Kiara's eyes were on him. He didn't like it. Why had he even agreed to this stupid mission. Damn that Silvereye. He should have known what he was getting himself into.

There was sullen silence. Servio was still looking down at his tea. He could hear Masha tapping her chin. How that sound reminded him of his childhood. He could still sometimes hear her bones rattling at night, when it was windy.

Kiara coughed. "We're actually, um, here on a mission," she said. "We were attacked by a spider bot yesterday. We heard the maker was involved with the Brass Crown, and we know the factory here belongs to them, and now we're here..." she trailed off.

"So this is what this is about." Masha exhaled. "I told you, many years ago, you couldn't escape your past, Servio. It seems it has caught up with you at last."

Servio said nothing.

"Alright," Elise said, "what's going on, Servio? I hate being in the dark."

Servio still said nothing. His frown deepened.

Masha sighed. "We were fishermen, in the past. All of us in this area. About ten or so years --"

"Twelve," Servio cut in.

"Twelve," she continued, "they built a factory here. It was good money, so many of us decided to work there. The factory started contaminating our oceans and rivers, but nobody seemed to care. We did not need to risk our lives at sea any longer. We split into two groups. Those who welcomed the factory and our industrialization, like Servio's father, and those who thought the factory would bring us nothing but misery, and yearned for their roots."

Servio gripped the cup tightly. His eyes were dull.

"The former prevailed, and within a few years, practically nobody was fishing. Then, management changed. Wages started growing smaller and hours longer. Servio was twelve at this time --"

"Thirteen," Servio muttere.

"Thirteen, but already he could see things were not right. He spoke out against the situation, but he was ignored. His father would often chastise him, saying how the factory had brought comfort to their lives and so on. It was around this time Servio ran away."

"You shouldn't be saying this," Servio said.

"I should not be the one recounting your past, Servio, no." Masha's tone was strong.

"This has nothing to do with the mission, Masha!"

"You are not a child any longer," she snapped. "You know that if you take action against the Brass Crown, it will have repercussions on us. This is inextricably tied to your predicament, and ours."

"Maybe that's better. Everyone here was too weak to do anything at the time, and they still are."

"Perhaps. That is your decision to make. Think carefully. Once you embark on your chosen course, there will not be any going back."

Servio stood abruptly. His chair crashed to the ground. He stormed away, turning a corner and flinging himself into the room.

It was dusty, but untouched. Oh the memories. He sat down, cross-legged. Damn Silvereye. Damn bounties. Damn Masha. He didn't have the patience to deal with this. There really wasn't any thinking about it, was there. He had a bounty to collect. Nothing more, nothing less.

Too easy, Masha would say. Too easy his ass. Silvereye would skin him. He didn't belong to these people anyway. What did he care about repercussions. They would probably be better off with his help anyway. They were too blind to see the factory had reduced them to nothing but slaves. Modernization. Bullshit. His dad had been stupid, like everybody else. They'd been duped. When he was a child he had considered it injustice. Now he knew it was simply the way of the city.

Welcome to the city, he thought. It's time you took things into your own hands.

Elise | Team

Elise whistled and kept her sight focused at the direction Servio turned to.

Well, that wasn’t what I expected to happen in a mother and son reunion.

Masha shook her head and stood, placing her cup of tea down on the worn out wooden table. Elise moved from where she was, held her hand up at Masha, and picked up the fallen chair. “I’ll do it. Please, sit.”

“Is this how he normally is during his work times?” Masha inquired, squinting as she alternated her view between Elise and Kiara as she sat down again. “If this is how he is, I’m sorry. My son probably just has some –“

“No, no. He’s lively and fun to be with. We just got a boot earlier at the factory, so that’s probably why he’s acting the way he is, right, Kiara?”

Kiara blinked and stared at Elise. When the latter secretly winked at her, she opened her mouth to reply. “Y-yes, that’s right. He just doesn’t like getting his clothes all dirty. Less chance with his women, haha.”

…not the save I was hoping for.

“Uh, see? Servio’s all fine and dandy,” Elise let out an awkward laugh. The meeting wasn’t going as how she expected it to be. “If ever we do stop the factory, what will everyone here in the city do for a living? Can you all move to where we reside?”

“Will your city have enough space to accommodate all of us?” Masha asked, smiling.

“Well, I’m not sure how much there is at the moment, but… I can try to help find a place for everyone. It will take a while, and maybe some have to sleep out at the streets as I look. It’ll be tough, but don’t you think it will be better for everyone in the long run?”

Masha chuckled. “You’re a kind-hearted young lady, but it won’t that easy to just gather the residents and tell them to move. Some of us lived in this city all our lives – other’s ancestors lived here too. It’s a city of memories.”

She was right, Elise realized. It’s not that easy to leave behind everything for something new. She then found herself sigh.

“I understand my son’s views, however, I also know what the people here are going through. It not that easy to change. We’ve gotten used to it. Servio’s right: we’ve given up. This is the life we live now, and it’ll be hard to learn new trades.”

“You can learn and achieve anything if you try hard enough. At least, that’s what I think,” Elise grinned. “I didn’t go through what all of you have, but I definitely know what it’s to work hard to attain something.”

Kiara joined in, eyeing her teammate. “Elise worked hard to be where she is now – a bounty hunter, like Servio and I. That’s how she came to that belief, I suppose, and she’s utterly stubborn, so it might be hard to change her views. Trust me. Not even inedible salty food would work.”

All three women stared at one another, as if they came to some sort of understanding. Masha smiled.

“Whatever your mission calls you to do, I shall support it – for my son and us. I’ll have to take your offer of finding a place in your city for me, my dear.”

Elise nodded, then gazed at the route Servio took earlier.

“Will you mind if my friend and I talk to your son for a while? He just needs someone to hit him in the head and he’ll be all better.”

“Please do.”

Elise motioned for Kiara to follow her, and so the latter did. When they opened the bedroom door, they saw a frustrated Servio sitting cross-legged on a dusty bed.

“You could do with a little clean up,” Elise coughed, swatting away some dust collecting in the air. She then leaned on the wall opposite her male friend. “What do you plan on doing now, Servio?”

“Why are you giving me the shots? I should be the last one you’re asking,” he sighed.

“Don’t play games. You know why I’m asking you this. You know the people so you probably know the best course of action. Kiara and I are strangers to this place but you aren’t. We don’t understand enough to be the heroes this area needs.”

“And you think I’m that hero, is that it?” Servio raised his voice, slamming his head into his palms.

“Stop being such a whiny baby,” Kiara snapped, rolling her eyes as she sat atop an old drawer. “If you’re only going to snap at us, then I’m dragging Elise with me and tell you on Masha and Silvereye. More money for us when we do finish this mission, lover boy.”

Settle down, children.

“Well, even if you aren’t, its one step closer to regaining everyone’s trust, right? Surely you must still miss the people you grew up with. And knowing you, Servio, you already have something in mind, only that you’re too stubborn to admit that you want to help out,” Elise waggled her brow.

“Says the most stubborn of them all.”

“Exactly why I know you’re stubborn too,” she said, refusing to let him get to her. “If you don’t want to do this, then fine, but Masha may become extremely disappointed once we tell her.”

Servio turned his gaze to Elise who was about to leave the room. “What do you mean my mother will be disappointed? She’s against this whole thing, isn’t she?”

“Hen over here talked to your mother. She’s willing to support whatever decision we make,” Kiara replied, checking herself at the cracked mirror. “When it’s all over, Masha plans to come live with us in the city.”

Servio’s eyes grew wide. “You actually managed to let Ma agree to this?”

“It’ll be one big family reunion,” Elise grinned, taking her hand off the knob. “Maybe a drink night for a welcome party?”

He smiled and stood up, shaking his head in the process. “You guys…”

“Are amazing? We know that well, don’t worry,” Elise smirked.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, missy,” Servio rolled his eyes. “But you could be the best teammates a man could ever ask for.”

“Stop with the sap talk. You know you want to hug us so just do so.”

Servio stepped closer to Elise, and ironically, she ended up wrapping her arms around him first. He replied with a hug of his own and noticed Elise patting his back repeatedly.

“You, princess, come over here. Rare group hug. Don’t miss out on the opportunity,” she said.

“Fine,” Kiara shrugged jumping off the drawer. Soon enough, the two women ended up sandwiching Servio.

“Okay, group hug over. Now let’s go out there and talk to Ma about an upcoming insurgence,” he chimed, opening the door. Elise chuckled.

He’s back to the energetic guy we both know. We can’t have him any other way, can we?

Un-archived at the request of the owner - have fun!

Servio strode into the living room. Masha smiled at him, still sitting, face unreadable.

"Did your friends manage to knock some sense into you, Servio?" she asked.

Servio nodded. "I can't stand seeing this place reduced to nothing. I don't understand why nobody else has thought of this, but if I have to be the one to free you all, I will. We're going to get rid of the factory."

"Do you remember where the workers meet after their shifts?"

Servio nodded again, more decisively. He would help them, no matter the cost. "When this is done, I'll come find you," he said.

He turned towards his teammates. "Alright. Let's go."

The streets were the same as Servio remembered them so many years ago. The layer of filth was above his ankles now, and the smog closer to his head. He didn't even want to try to imagine the state of his clothes. Silvereye had better pay him extra for this.

His missions always ended up more unpleasant than what they had to be. If it wasn't for his ability to navigate the messes he put them through, who knew what state the Tower would be in right now. Catch a lampshade thief one day, free a town from slavery the next. All in a day's work. Tomorrow, they'd be saving the entire city, no doubt.

The others were so thick-headed. What would he say to them? He couldn't be the only one that realized they were slowly poisoning themselves. There had to be a way, something to get them to take life into their own hands. He would stay if it was necessary, help them rebuild.

Before he realized it, Servio had reached the plaza the workers went to hang out after their shifts. The muck here was spread around evenly, shaped by the countless treading of boots. Cheap alcohol colored the air foul. There was always plenty of that after work, oh yes.

"Hey," a voice grunted. "Look who's back!"

Servio blinked and returned to the real world. Formless contours of people gathered around. He'd probably known most of them, but they were unrecognizable. Their eyes were dead and their faces lined. Their smiles had nothing alive in them.

"It's Servio!"

"Feeling nostalgic?"

"Servio, what are you doing here?"

"Who are your lady friends over there?"

There was a roar as somebody pushed through the masses crowding around the three hunters. Conrad stormed towards him. He raised his arm, fist closed. Elise stepped forward and bent him double. She wasn't going to be fooled by the same thing twice in a row.

"Servio!" Conrad bellowed. "I told you to get out of here!" He glared up at him from his position. "I don't want you here! We don't need you!"

"Just hear me out!" Servio screamed back. He started towards him, but Kiara grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Hear me out!" Servio repeated.

Conrad was the only one in this gods-forsaken slum that had a spark left in him. His eyes still bore that distinctive stormy color. His movements were defined, not the purposeless sliding from one place to another of the others.

His words sounded like they had thought behind them, meaning, even though they were fundamentally incorrect. Why was the only true man around his most feirce opponent? What could he say to convince him?

"Please," Servio said. "Please hear me out."

Something in his tone must have gotten through Conrad. His body went limp. He exhaled.

"Fine."

Elise let him go. Conrad let himself fall to the ground, cross-legged. He stared up at Servio. His mouth a was downwards slash, his eyes sullen.

"You need to rid yourself of this stupid factory!" Servio said.

There was a collective murmur of surprise and distress from the blobs pressing against him. Kiara swung nervously from foot to foot. Elise twitched, as if sensing imminent violence. Part of Servio winced, crying out for a medidated speech. Another part exulted. Cut to the chase.

"If you think the way you're living now is worth anything, step right up, so I can punch your brain back into working!"

There was silence. The people around him hesitated. Then the murmuring returned, pointed.

"You've reduced your lives to nothing," Servio continued. "Everything you do revolves around that damn building." His index finger rose skywards, accusing.

"You're all just alive enough it keeps you away from doing anything about your obvious misery. And why? It's because you're afraid of changing things, taking a risk!"

Servio's throat was full of glass. His words were raspy. He leaned towards Conrad, his body daring him to challenge his words.

"Tell me why you're back all of a sudden," Conrad said. "Acting like a hero after you vanished for ten years. You ran away from our 'obvious misery', Servio, and now you think you know what's best for us?"

Servio fell silent. Did he know what was best for them? Of course he did, it was in plain sight. Was he not seeing something?

"I'll tell you why we're here." It was Kiara.

She took a step forward, standing by Servio. "We were attacked by a machine yesterday. Made of Brass Crown steel. Have you ever wondered where all your hard work goes?"

She pulled up her shirt slightly, revealing the gashes the spider had inflicted on her. "You shouldn't blindly accept life around you. Servio's right."

The crowd gasped on cue. It broke up in huddles. Words overlapped like in water hit by a stone. Conrad's eyebrows arched.

"Hold on now," a drawling voice said. "That's a heavy accusation to make, considering the lack of evidence you have."

Another figure moved forward. Short, potbellied, slightly balding. He had a cigarette in his mouth, and the other was holding a bottle.

"Leroy," Servio said. His eyes narrowed. "You're looking well."

He was practically identical ten years ago. This man had been one of the strongest advocates of the factory. Said it paid better, that people wouldn't have to work there long to earn enough to move away, that it was a better investment than fishing -- anything, to whomever's ears it pleased.

When they built the factory he had acted as a supervisor, making sure everything ran smoothly. Servio recalled Leroy had been an excellent friend of the health inspector. Each time he came for his rounds, why the man would spend less than two minutes in the factory, and then off the two were, away for drinks.

"These people are clearly crazy," Leroy said. "Servio, the city smog must have gone to your head. I think we can't do without the factory. It's perfectly good where it is."

"You'd say that," Servio snarled. "The factory's been very generous to your pocket all these years, hasn't it been, Leroy? Taking the city bribes? A champion of the people, that you are. A cog in society's well-being, is that what you had said?"

"Impudent." Leroy rushed towards Servio, raising his bottle.

Servio raised his arm to defend himself. The glass shattered over his flesh, he didn't even feel it. Servio headbutted him. Leroy collapsed.

"This is what happens," Servio said, "when you extort good people for ten long years! Fight with me! We can change our future yet!"

The plaza became chaos. The crowd split roughly into two, one side shouldering Servio, the other fighting back. They stood little chance. Servio fought like a demon, uncaring of his wounds. Elise broke anyone who approached her. Kiara was crafty, sneaking in blows while the person was distracted.

"To the factory!" Servio bellowed.

A triumphant roar met him. "To the factory!"

Servio didn't know where Conrad was, he'd lost him in the confusion. He hoped he was with them, somewhere, as they tramped up the road towards the black building. Most of the supply lines to the factory were automated. People were used for drafting, supervision and maintenance. Once they reached it, they wouldn't face much opposition.

Servio hoped the others were on their way. Even as he stormed through the gates and charged towards the control rooms, his mind was on what would happen next. A touch of violence lit the fuse, but it wouldn't carry them through the explosion. Masha had made him understand that much.

The workers tore through the guardian automatons and smashed consoles after consoles. The sound of ripping metal was distant to Servio, as if he was hearing it through another room. The factory had quickly destroyed any alternative source of income they had here. They'd have to move to the city, but do what? He could ask Silvereye about it.

Servio halted abruptly in the frothing torrent of people. Elise and Kiara bumped into him.

"Are you concerned?" Kiara asked.

Servio shook his head. "We've done a good thing. I know it. The future is terrifying, but the past is sure death."

"Remember what Masha told you," Elise said. "Once you've made up your mind, follow through with your actions. Be coherent."

"Let's go find Masha," Servio said.

Alex -- The Triumphant Return

The pounding of horses' hooves shook Alex's scrawny frame as he, Merc and Centra galloped along the gravel track. His ears were overwhelmed by the howling of the air that rushed past them and his eyes stung. Still, he couldn't help but grin as the blood rushed through his veins. He never got to ride this fast in the city.

He wiped the grin from his mouth. A man had just died. He frowned and tilted his head forward, urging his horse forward yet faster. He was impressed by the horse's speed. The man at the stable's had charged a surprisingly low fee for the animal. Alex cursed. It was probably a rental, which would mean he had to find a way of returning the horses at some point. And that would mean he had to head back towards the outskirts.

"Alex!"

Alex had missed the enthusiasm in that voice. He whirled round to face its source.

"Kiara!" he greeted, "Good to see you."

She, Servio and Elise had stopped their horses and were trotting over to greet the other half of their team. When everyone had shaken hands and related stories of the past day to each other, they set off again towards the Tower, everyone splitting off into pairs so they could travel as a three by two pack.

As soon as the city came into view, Kiara let out a little whoop and everyone sped up the pace of their horse. They hurtled towards the town, glad to be near the Tower, so close to free of the responsibilities their latest mission had brought them. When they got back to the Tower, Alex planned to make sure that everyone understood what Faye had done for them. He couldn't wait to tell Silvereye all about it.

Then, as they neared the gates of the city, the guards glanced at each other but nodded and let them through. Alex frowned. Was their presence in the town questionable? He shared a glance with Servio, who shrugged and led them on. Alex shook off his doubts as they passed between the towering city walls.

Soon the Tower loomed above them, casting a shadow over the road. They left all six horses in the stables round the back, then marched up to the door and slipped through.

"What the fuck?" Merc spluttered.

Alex gulped. Before them every single occupant of the Tavern turned to stare at them. Four bulky men in Lucia's police guard uniform weaved through the stools and tables towards them, their arms reaching up from their sides with shiny brass handcuffs dangling from their fingers.

Why did it have to be brass?

"What's going on?" Centra snapped, "Silvereye, what's happening!"

Behind the bar their leader stopped cleaning a glass but did not move to help them. One of the police guards turned to face him and he nodded. The police guard returned his gaze to the party and he and his companions started clipping the cuffs around the party's wrists.

"Think we should run?" Servio whispered.

Alex shook his head. The police guard were fitter than any of them, and they had colleagues all over the city. It would be at best a drawn out game of cat and mouse.

"I am arresting the six of you on charges of plotting and executing the destruction of two metalwork factories," another of the police guards muttered, "You have the right to remain silent. You don't have to say anything, but anything you do say may be used as evidence against you in court."

Alex suppressed a giggle. He was being read his rights. He was under arrest. He had done something important enough to be a arrested. He supposed he was supposed to show submission at this point, but as the police guards jostled them out into the street, he could not wipe the smug, satisfied grin off his face.