The Guards had notified anyone they saw, that if they were feeling ill, they should seek help. The gas had spread very far. The burning extract had helped mitigate symptoms for the moment but long term effects and affects had yet to be seen. The Poison, whatever it was, had been repelled by the cookie. but the cookie wasn't just extract alone.
Titan flew into the lobby and right past the guard. He made his way directly into the kitchen and looked at all the ingredients. "Salt, Beast Butter, Spirit Grass Flour, Sugar, extract." Looking around, he tried his best to determine exactly why they had an affect on the poison.
'The Sugar?' Grabbing a test tube, Titan was sure it had to be the one thing that could be taken from anything. Perhaps the sugar was pulled from some alternative source or distant strain of magical cane plants. As long as the plant was extremely sweet, the sugar it produced would be as well. The test tube was about a quarter full. There wasn't anyone sick in front of him but most of the people who had been in the vicinity had been poisoned, there was no shortage of people willing to take a cookie.
"Honey, Use every Oven, make more cookies, they can be half as big. When you see Vella, have her help you. Keep going till you can't." Titan knew that the City would have great difficulty if a crowd were to die.
"What? Aww.. I wanted to go shopping." Honey pouted.
"Some people outside are hurt real bad, I don't have time to argue with you. Please, make the cookies." Titan grabbed the box and took them away. It was almost full but he didn't care what the loss was, If he were to do nothing when he had the opportunity, he would have been no better than those who simply watched.
Honey cheered herself up, it wasn't a difficult request, Honey loved baking. Her taste was very eclectic, she nodded.
Titan rushed outside of the building, he had the antidote. It might have been the fact that the ingredients did the trick individually, or it might have been because of a combination of their affects. Even if it was just overpowered, the result was enough to have enraged the Poisoner.
Titan split the cookies into two to see if it worked, then, he took the second half and split it again to test the results. If he could cure four people instead of one per cookie, his pantry would be much better off.
A minute later, all three of them got up. The man who had eaten half a cookie sat down and asked for something to drink.
Titan wasn't prepared to be that altruistic, he pulled out a bucket of water and put it on the ground. Water was simple enough to bring out, freshwater was in abundance nearby.
When the effects could be discerned, Titan broke the remaining cookies into quarters and passed them out to those that looked like they had been affected. Most of them recovered almost instantly but there were a few who had been so close that they were on the verge of death. The poison had lingered and crept into many windows or doorways. Alleys and streets within a block had been completely overrun by the spreading fumes.
More than six hundred people had been poisoned and the poison had drifted through a section of the city, so many were unaccounted for.
"Damn.. this is vicious." Titan had seen Chemical weapons used before in the middle east, a group of mercenaries had bought some chemical nerve has to overthrow a standing dictatorship. The results were less than positive, the soldiers released the gas into a populated area, there was no wind, no survivors and a hundred thousand died.
Titan clung to the box as he walked around, he couldn't risk anyone attacking or damaging them. He had considered putting it into storage and pulling out cookies one at a time but there were lines of people and he wanted to be done with it. The whole situation was unfortunate and disheartening. An act of pure terror, not unlike terrorism of earth had just unfolded in front of him, because of something he had done on a whim.
Titan had not been looking for trouble but because he chose to sell something that was an excellent counter for a weapon, there had been a reprisal and a challenge to his life.
"Where is Kink in all of this?" Titan spoke to himself, he wasn't willing to discuss it, it was more or less on his tongue. When he realized that he had said it aloud, he stopped himself and found more people. There was no shortage of dead, and those that were affected were fairly easy to pick out after time.
Back in the Lobby, many people came in after hearing that the poison could be cured with one of the cookies. They all signed the agreement, though, the agreement did not specify what they would do during the twenty four hour worker contract.
Kinky Company didn't really have use for them, but the slave contract was a temporary one that restricted ones actions. If it was written in the contract, they would be bound to it. Thus, Kink had Vella escort the day laborers to pass out cookie portions. Titan had come back a few times to grab more cookies, by the third trip, he was tired of walking around.
"Mister Titan, Councilor Kink is free to meet with you." A fragrant youth that worked at the counter came up and twirled around Titan. She was flirty, even at a time like that.
'Hmmph' Titan scoffed, swung his sleeves and walked inside. "What gives?"
Kink put down what looked like a radio from a science fiction story in the fifties. "Oh, nothing. I've been overlooking something, after a display like that, I'm afraid it will be hard not to sell your cookies afterall. So, lets talk shop."
"Shop??" Titan was a little bit bored of the callus attitude that Kink kept up, the mask was one thing but his whole body gave off a vibe.
"Yes, What exactly do you want for a steady supply of cookies?" Kink remembered that Titan had wanted to work with him, not to sell cookies.
When Titan heard this, he frowned. "I don't want to sell cookies, if you want cookies, I can give you the recipe. You can make them yourselves. My capacity for charity only goes so far, those people in the streets.. inadvertantly got poisoned because of the existence of the cookie. If we sell more, aren't more people likely to be hurt in the future. Yeah yeah, I know.. don't let terrorists walk. But it also seemed like there was no coordinated effort by the City to aide in any way. This is a problem."
"Don't lecture me. Besides, I can agree to those terms." Kink crossed his fingers and leaned forward to whisper. "I tried one of the cookies, their fucking fantastic.." Kink gave an okay gesture with his hands and leaned back in his chair.
'He's stoned? That explains a little bit.. ' Titan pulled out a paper with the recipe written on it. "This is my grandmother's recipe, I wrote it down with my own alterations for this world." Sliding it over to Kink, Titan took out a crystal nectar collector and few more items, he took a dab.
"These materials, this is fairly easy to make. The hard part will be getting the sugar and your extract, I presume." Kink knew what the market wanted but to make so many, he would need a constant supply of the extract, which meant, as the only person capable of providing it to him, Titan would inevitably become a business partner by brute force. "You're well calculated. I like that. What are your real terms, I'm listening this time."
Titan moved his hands and a pile of seeds poured into a cup. "I heard your a botanist, and a damned good one. Your herb garden's fame reached me in Lonestar City. I want you to help me cultivate a strain, a super strain."
"You want to use my facilities to grow your plants?" Having finally understood the extent of the request, Kink was a little unsure of what he wanted to do, he frowned, "Does it have to be here?"
A moment passed and he continued, "I only ask because I have much better places to grow. My garden dimension is a bit more private and secured than this facility."
"Dimension? You're telling me you have a pocket space?" Titan was in disbelief but Kink certainly had the resources to accomplish something so large.
Nodding, Kink pulled a black card out. "This has been tuned to my pocket realm, its a clone of the original but it should work for a few hundred uses before it breaks. Mr. Munju is good at reproducing things but he's not one of the ancient masters."
"A few hundred uses?" Titan asked.
"About, give or take." Kink rocked his hand back and forth, "It can even be recharged if you catch it in time but once it's burned up, its toast. I'll have to give you another one at that time."
"What's so special about the Pocket space? Other than the security?" Titan fumbled the card in his hands and stored it away.
"Come on, I'll show you." Kink pulled out a crystal card and held onto Titan's shoulder, whisking them through and to the dimension.
As soon as Titan stepped into it, he stopped. Every fiber in his body pulsed and energy in his body seemed to get stronger, more defined and organized. It was a sweeping feeling, like he was being stripped of negative effects, purified under the pressure in the atmosphere.
Spirit grasses literally made up every inch of unplowed ground, trees looked like they were moving and working the fields in the distance that stretched as far as the eye could see. Several workers were flying around but there were lots of small animals, birds, skyfish and bugs.
"Don't touch anything you don't know completely, there are lots of poisonous plants in region 16B-21D." Kink said it but he didn't think Titan had heard him. "Are you listening? This is life or death stuff."
"16-21 might be poisonous, I get it." Titan rolled his eyes and took off his hat. It was a little hot and humid. Fanning himself, he asked, "So.. What's with the pressure in this place, it feels abnormal. I know this is a pocket space but why does it feel like there is ten times gravity here?"
"Because there is, everywhere around the entry within a kilometer is under ten times gravity. It helps with some plants and keeps me on my toes." Kink punched a few numbers into a keypad on a metal wall.
"This is metal, what is this?" Titan knocked against it and a long tone rang out. "Is this a space ship?"
"Space ship? I mean.. probably, it was crashed and has some hull damage but yeah, I think at one time It might have been space worthy. None of that matters, I can buy a spaceship if I want now. I found this relic a long time ago, its been sitting in my garden for all this time. I like the deck, it lets me see far into the distance." Kink pulled the lever and opened the hatch. "I hope you remembered the access key."
"Yes, I saw.. not like you were trying to show me either." Titan crossed his arms, ducked and entered the ship.
"Aww, don't be like that. We're partners, right? Mi Casa, Su Casa." Kink opened a cabinet and grabbed a liqueur bottle. "Want a shot?" Lining several out, Kink poured them in succession.
"Yeah, but afterward..." Titan was about to keep speaking but Kink interrupted him.
"Afterwards.. Psssh. That's after. For now, lets talk." Kink was a little high but he didn't mince his words or slosh his drink.
"Alright." Titan raised his glass and swallowed the shot. When he was done, he slammed it on the counter upside down.
"One more." Kink smiled and passed another shot glass over.
"How do you even have shot glasses?" Titan grabbed the tiny cup and swallowed the shot once again.
Kink laughed, "You think people didn't want tiny cups just for this purpose.. but yeah, you're right. I had to have them made." He laughed again and held out the bottle. "It's good to drink with a soldier! OMG, I've been dealing with civilians, no one can take my attitude. Its been killin' me."
"Well, you certainly lightened up a little. Me and the girls thought maybe you had a stick up your ass or something. Still, I wasn't going to judge. Nah, you're alright.. a bit eccentric but who wouldn't be with your resources." Titan grabbed another shot and started walking down a hallway. "Show me this place, If I'm gonna spend time here. Bring the bottle. Oh, Where's my room?"
"It's over here. I suspect you'll need at least a few rooms, but you're also responsible for anything that happens here.. don't bring the untrustworthy." Kink gave a drunken tour, by the end of it, they were both standing on the Decking of the Ship looking out.
"There's no sun here.. where's all the light coming from?" Titan's question was a good one.
Kink laughed again, "Its Magic!" 'Ha, Haha, ha ha.'
They both laughed.
"Wait wait, Look for it.." pointing to the distance, a slight shimmer could be seen on the horizon. "Did you see that? Lets go take a look."
"Dude you can barely walk, you want to go that far away?" Titan stood up. "I got this." Titan spread his wings and felt for the wind. He didn't feel any. "What gives? No wind?"
"Yeah, its easier this way too. Why? Did you really think you were gonna fly us over there without at least flapping your wings?" Kink made a chicken gesture.
Titan's grin turned into a resentful smirk. "Alright, If you don't want me to carry you.. then you can walk." Forcing his wing's down, he hurled himself into the air and started to fly slowly toward the glimmer.
"Hah.." Kink jumped down from the ship's decking and caught himself with the chains. Everywhere he stepped, the plants grew wildly. Soon, he caught up to Titan in a rather fashionable way. He was throwing himself with the chains repeatedly.
"How much further do you think it is?" Titan wondered.
"The shimmer is the boundary between the ether void and the spacial dimension. But, occasionally, it will gather so much power that it creates a pellet. Those pellets are what I make the dimensional key cards from." Titan felt confused but Kink hadn't stopped talking. "I think that the pellets are the condensation of the spacial node, at least.. this is what I'm thinking." He took another swig from the bottle and put it away.
"and.. Mr. Munju helped you with this?" Titan kept walking while asking.
"Exactly." Kink flipped up his mask. "Boo!" Laughing, he tried to cut the conversation to something else. "Uah? Did I scare you?"
"No, but why do you bother to hide your face. You're not scarred or hideous, so why bother?" Titan had never seen Kink's face before than but he had been wondering about the Mask for some time.
"Its for the Mask, it's a very.. special piece of hardware." Kink took it off and passed it over, "take a look."
Titan didn't have any problems accepting the offer, he took off his hat and stored it. "What's this thing made of?" Smelling it, Titan almost handed it back.
"Didn't ask, they didn't tell me either. It was a gift, Looks like it's made form several creatures and their eyes, then enchanted with something. Munju also took a look at it but he couldn't tell anything just by looking. He wanted to take it apart but I couldn't risk it." Kink gave a brief story while Titan put the Mask on.
"What is it..Whoa.. Okay." Titan started playing with the masks features, before he got too involved, he stopped himself and gave it back. "That's cool." Pulling his hat out, he put it back on.