Tanya and The Six Guns crew talked on the side of this quiet road. The tension in the air built up as the crew didn't know what to think of the situation yet. This familiar face of this person that Alex, Zia and Siran had once been acquainted with now raised alarms in the minds of the crew.
"Traveling with this many people will make you look sketchy, ya know?" Tanya says. "Especially with all of you being on the news as branded criminals now".
"Is that a threat or a heads up?" Siran asks in a low voice.
Giving off a slight, relaxed laugh, Tanya says "You really don't have much of a silver tongue, do you?".
Siran was left standing confused as Tanya continues to talk. "Don't worry about me" she says, "it's not like I'm out here to try and bust your asses or something. I just got done dropping my daughter off with her babysitter. Don't tell me, you need a ride again?".
There was a silence amongst the group as everyone took time to think to themselves. Finally, Alex asks "What?".
"Didn't I tell you?" Tanya says, "I'm not here to bust you".
"But what about being wanted criminals?" Zia asks, "doesn't that usually scare people?".
"Ah" Tanya says, looking up and thinking to herself, "been there, done that. It would be hypocritical of me to think ill of you all when I myself used to be a criminal".
By this time, the entire crew was at a loss for words. Taking the time to think about the situation, Finn eventually says "But you look so... normal".
Tanya shrugs and says "Wolf in sheep's clothing".
"But..." Zia starts to ask, "what about your daughter? Does she know about that?".
"God! Of course not!" Tanya says. "I said I used to be a criminal. There's a reason I quit. I'm a former gang member of Wolf Pack".
Alex raises one eyebrow in disbelief and asks "Wolf Pack? As in the notorious mafia called Wolf Pack?".
Getting irritated, Tanya asks "Look, are you going to accept my offer for another free ride or not?".
"Question..." Rose begins to ask, "not that I can see how big your car is, but can we all even fit in there?".
"You can all fit if a couple of you lay in the trunk with the other bodies" Tanya says.
There was a long silence as everyone stood still in a loss of words again. Finally, Tanya says "I'm kidding, geez... you'll just have to squeeze together".
After plenty of arguing while everyone tries to fit in the car, eventually they were all able to squeeze together in the car. Zia sat in the front as the rest of the crew squeezed together in the back seats, although, they all had a hard time breathing. There wasn't much room to move, even for your chest to expand for breathing. As the crew struggled for comfort, Tanya asked "So where ya heading this time? I don't have much to do today, so I'm down for driving wherever, as long as it's reasonable".
"Pilloa" Zia says.
Confused by the response, Tanya asks "What would you want in Pilloa?".
"If you must know" Holly says, struggling for breath, "we're looking for a man named Demetri Ivanov. He's a cyberneticist and an explosives arms developer on the run and he was last spotted around that area".
Tanya was shocked by the sudden and honest answer. "That's all well and good" she says, "but you know where a man like that would hide, don't you? I mean, being criminals of such a large scale like yourselves, I would assume you know what's out by Pilloa...".
"No, what do you mean?" Siran asks.
"I know" Zia says. "You're referring to Vega, aren't you?". As Zia spoke, she was staring down at her hands, as if she were trying to avoid bringing it up.
"Vega?" Alex asks, while suffocating.
"Vega" Tanya says. "The under water state. Also called the Sea of Thieves. It's an underground, or rather underwater, independent state that is run by and houses all sorts of criminals. Like the purely criminal version of Seeira. Not many people know about it, but if there's any one place that I can think of for a cyberneticist on the run to hide, it'd be Vega".
Thinking for a moment, Alex eventually asks "How'd Zia know about such a place?".
Zia starts blushing in worry, as if anxious that everyone would now think less of her for knowing about such a thing. "I-it's not like I've been there. I just grew up in Pilloa, so I know a lot about the area".
"Don't worry" Tanya says, "I think it's safe to assume that you didn't want to know about that place. But for most people to find out about it, you would have to have known someone from Vega to discover it. It's a well hidden place".
Zia looks Down for a moment, then says "I met someone who said they came from Vega, but back then, I had no idea what that place was".
"So you don't know how to get in then?" Tanya asks.
Zia shakes her head no, then Tanya says "Then it looks like you'll need an escort".
The whole crew froze in surprise as Siran asks "Are you sure you can do something like that?".
"I don't see why not" Tanya says.
"I can think of a few reasons" Alex says. "Like what about your daughter, The Ly'Lum, the danger you'll be in if you stick around us?".
Tanya grips the steering wheel of the car harder as she says "Look, The Ly'Lum is my enemy too. I just live here for the sake of my daughter. As long as she's okay, I don't care about danger. Besides, the closer to danger, the farther from harm, right?".
"I'm pretty sure that figure of speech is a complete lie" Rose says.
"Oh yeah?" Tanya says, "name one time where being closer to danger didn't save people from harm".
"A fire..." Rose immediately responds.
Tanya was silent for about three seconds before saying "Fair enough".
Zia suddenly asks for a request after all the arguing. "Can we stop in the Mahina Village in Pilloa before we go to Vega?" She asks.
"Something you wanna see?" Tanya asks.
"Something I want to retrieve if it's still there, actually" Zia replies.
"No problem" Tanya says with a smile, "We'll stop there first then".
Zia sighs in relief, then says "Thank you".
"Why are you helping us so much anyways?" Siran asks.
Tanya thinks to herself for a moment and then says "I guess I'm just tired of living the life I've been living. I didn't want to stay a gang member, and I'm not good at living the quiet life as a mother, but at the same time there's people out here trying to change the way the world is. Six dumb kids all fighting against The Ly'Lum".
"Rude" Holly says.
Tanya laughs a little then says "But honestly, I'm glad to see at least some people know how to stand up for themselves, unlike this dumb, almost middle aged asshole that I am".
After the group arrived in Pilloa, Zia walks up to her old, war torn house. The rubble still as saddening as it were when Siran and Zia first met. The three graves still remained there, but the flowers left there had long since been withered and blown away by the passing wind. Zia digs through some of the rubble that was previously her home, and after a long time, she pulls out a dusty and beaten metal box. The box was large. Not quite as big as a human torso, but larger than the rest of the crew expected. She blows the dust off of the top and opens the box. Zia pulls out what looked like an old leather cowboy hat. For a cowboy hat, the hat was rather short on the top, but the visor had a cut on the left side. The leather was a dark blue, almost a black color and around the top of the hat, there rest some dusty goggles with sunglass lenses. Under the bottom of the hat, there was a leather lace hanging from the hat, with obsidian beads. The lace served as a way to hang the hat either around the neck or on a rack. Zia tries dusting the hat off a bit and then says "I'm glad this is still in one piece". Zia then hands the hat over to Siran and says "I wanted to get this before someone else found it and stole it. This is a memento our clan had held onto until as of late. My parents once told me that it belonged to the hero from those stories, but I'm not so sure. Anyways, I want you to take this, Syr".
Siran panicked and said "W-w-wait a moment, I can't take this! This is important to you, you should keep it!".
Zia shakes her head and says "I want you to have it".
"Hold on a sec" Siran says, "I can't accept this".
Zia's eyes light up with a fire as she raises her voice in anger. "Just take the stupid hat!" She yells.
"Y-yeah, Okay..." Siran says as he finally gives in. As Siran puts on the hat, Zia says "See? It fits you perfectly".
"I'm getting some major deja vu right now" Siran complains.
"You two done flirting yet?" Tanya complains, "I realize I have all day, but I'm an impatient person...".
After everyone leaves the village in Pilloa, they come across a plateau near the edge of the continent side. The plateau created a high border between the land and the ocean. Tanya leads them to this indent on the side of the plateau, then pulls out her phone and talks to someone on the phone. "Hey, is this Gregg?" Tanya says over the phone. "Hey! Long time no see!... yeah... Oh just taking care of myself... You still by the gate in Vega? Really!? OPEN THE DAMN DOOR THEN!". Tanya then aggressively hangs up her phone and then turns around and politely says "It'll just be a minute".
The rest of the group was once again at a loss for words. A few moments pass and the rock of the plateau starts to crack open. Everyone walks in one by one, and when they get in, the rocks behind them close again. Lights come on, revealing a tunnel with a large metal gate at the end. As they approach the gate, there's a man coming outside to meet them as they approach. "Welcome, may I see some identification please?" He asks.
Tanya looks up at the man and says "Gregg, let us inside, before I make my foot a permanent part of your ass!".
This man, Gregg, lets out an irritated sigh and the gate slowly opens. As the crew walks inside the metal gate, they find themselves in a large city full of people. Although the city was partially underground and the rest of the city built under the surface of the ocean, the sky was somehow visible. Trees and plants grew between streets of cobblestone and asphalt. At a first glance, this seemed like the most peaceful place in the world.
"Not quite what you expected, is it?" Tanya asks. "This city is mostly built under the surface of the ocean, but you can see the what looks like the sky because of combination solar powered and hydro powered display panels. It's just a simulation of the sky, but it's peaceful nonetheless. Crops and other plant life is supported through irrigation lines of water taken from the ocean and filtered into freshwater. If you lived here your whole life, you wouldn't even know that you were under the ocean the whole time".
Everyone was simply amazed. Fascinated by this scene, the crew simply just looked around, taking it all in. "But how?" Alex asks, while still staring at the scenery.
"How?" Tanya asks, "Well that's the question of the century, isn't it? I don't know the specifics on how this place was made, but it certainly is something".
"Why didn't you choose a place like this to raise your daughter?" Finn asks.
"Because I don't want her to be raised around criminals like myself" Tanya says. "I want her to live a normal life and find her own place in the world. Anyways, you guys are looking for a Russian, right?".
"That's correct" Holly replies.
"Then we'll go looking around" Tanya says. "It shouldn't be too hard to spot any Russians amongst the rest of the people, but at the same time, we also can't ask around for him. That'll stand out too much, and this is the last place you'd want to start trouble in. Also, it shouldn't matter too much if people know you're The Six Guns around here, but for god's sake, don't go bragging about it like a child".
"That..." Siran says, "was never the plan to begin with...".
"As long as we're clear on that" Tanya says to assure herself.
"You're one strange woman" Alex says.
Tanya laughs a little then says "I'll take that as a compliment".
"So..." Rose begins to ask, "where do you think we can find a Russian in this city?".
"A bar maybe?" Siran asks. "Then again, our friend who is another arms developer of different sorts drinks a lot of coffee, so maybe a cafe?".
"That's pretty stereotypical" Tanya says, "but it's a start".
The team checks multiple bars first, with no luck. They then check all the nearest cafes but find no one by the name of Demetri. After a while of searching, the team goes back to one of the bars to get a drink and relax. They didn't find Demetri still, but while there, they heard about a doctor who can make cybernetic enhancements for humans. Most people around here didn't seem to agree with the idea of cybernetic enhancements on humans, but nonetheless, this sounded like the man they were looking for.
Siran leans in to talk to the rest of the crew. "Well, at least we know he's here after all" he says. "Now we just have to find out how and where we can find him".
"One step at a time, Siran" Tanya says, "Remember, we're trying to not raise any cause for alarm. People here are quick to the trigger".
"Don't worry" Siran says, "we're taking this one step at a time".
"We're actually going to get my vision back" Rose says to herself in awe.
"I did make a promise" Siran says to Rose.
"Oh, you're looking for his help?" Tanya asks. "I thought you were looking to kill him at first".
"And you were somehow comfortable with that?" Alex asks. Tanya simply shrugs her shoulders in response.
Siran eventually says "For now, lets just worry about finding a place to stay for the night. We're going to need some rest".
Finn stretches his arms out and says "Couldn't agree more!".
As the team checks into a nearby inn, they all start going to sleep one by one. Before Siran goes to sleep, he takes off his hat and holds it in front of him, inspecting it. Siran whispers the name "Angela" to himself, then let's out a sorrowful sigh. He ties the lace of the hat around his neck and lets the hat sit on top of his chest as he lays down and eventually falls asleep.