As Claire and I began to head out of the limousine the Baron said one last thing before closing the door.
"Nearby is a registry building that will make both of you identification numbers, tell the receptionist at the from that 'The baron desires two-morning suns'. One more thing, your tongues are already attuned with this world's language so do not fret about communicating with anyone here. Best of wishes to you both!"
After that, he closed the door as the limousine drove off into the distance. Our only guide leaving us with a few words to point at the right step for our journey. I began to take in the atmosphere a bit more as Claire looked around with me. I noticed the pitch-black night sky with the neon lights piercing it in a similar fashion of spotlights, no stars were there at all, without the inclusion of neon lights, the sky would've looked like an abyss. Lowering my head back down, I began to notice bulges mostly around people's backs and chests. I'm sure it wasn't just a case of bad back problems, but rather everyone else concealing their weapons just like us. I tapped on Claire's hand to motion that we should start walking. Giving a nod we began to walk around the main streets of the city in search of the registry building.
Claire began speaking in whispers that only I'd be able to hear as we walked shoulder to shoulder.
"Say, Faust. This world reminds me slightly of Starlight Online, except in the game everything was even more advanced, do you think any of the mechanics in the game exist in this world?"
I gave a tiny giggle as I looked towards her slightly.
"I don't think so, maybe a few things exist. I do remember that in Starlight Online that psychics were a class, but other than that and futuristic technology nothing else really exists. Maybe people's desire to attack other players with all these weapons equipped, and missions like bounty hunting, however, I wouldn't consider those mechanics, mostly just lifestyles developed from a deprived world."
She gave a solemn nod as we continued to look around the city. By the sidewalks, were primarily restaurants, stores, theaters, and activity centers. It seemed we were dropped at a commercial district of the city first, which was for the best. No one would want to cause a scene here in a highly guarded and congested area. Every storefront had cameras and civil protection officers pathing around the streets.
Taking a closer look at the officers, they all had metal-plated armor that covered the larger parts of their body while having less protection around the joints of their limbs and neck, a design that'd give them a good amount of flexibility and mobility. I was curious about what could the armor deflect, but in due time I feel I would figure out. Their weapon of choice seemed to be a wide assault rifle with a very sleek design on it. Where a clip would normally be was a canister of glowing blue energy.
Half an hour passed as Claire and I continued to look for the registry building. The winding roads and the same colored neon storefronts only helped to confuse us. Soon after we saw a glaring red holographic sign on top of a building entrance that read 'Registration Office' on the other side of the road. I lightly grabbed Claire's hand as we walked across the road, drivers continued to quickly zoom past us as we got a bit anxious midway and scurried a bit faster. Somehow we weren't hit by a car, although I had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't humans driving those vehicles. Before entering, Claire stopped in front of the building.
"Faust, before we go inside, I think we should establish some of the problems we have in this world."
I tilted my head slightly, a little confused about why she was asking this now.
"I feel that a lot of these questions will be answered when we head inside and talk to the receptionist, why ask them now?"
"Because Faust, we need to know all of these things before leaving and it's better to establish what questions we should as before going in."
I motioned for her to list her concerns as I kept a gaze on our surroundings. The only suspicious thing I noticed was a frail and impoverished looking male, glaring in our direction.
"We need to ask about the currency around here, how to get it, where we will be staying, and where to go next."
I gave a nod as I motioned her to quickly inside as I led and entered first. Upon entering, the interior design was almost all white, little floating drones flew around and cleaned up any dirt or residue on any of the furniture or walls. On the other side of the room was a small lady with blonde hair and green eyes, typing on a holograph in a similar fashion of a keyboard. We walked closer towards her as she gave a light smile towards us.
"Good afternoon to you both, how may I help you today?"
I glanced at Claire as she motioned for me to speak up for her. I cleared my throat a bit, covering my cough with a clenched fist.
"Good day, Uhm... The baron said he desires two-morning suns."
I gave a pensive look towards the receptionist. She got out of her chair as she walked around her desk towards us.
"Please follow me. I did not expect the Baron to acquire more hunters to join his ranks."
Claire and I looked at one another, there was going to be more than just us from our world? Anyways, the receptionist led us through a few doors and hallways. We stopped right in front of her office I presumed to be. Miss Rina was the name on her plaque. She placed her hand on a sensory pad as the door became open, she motioned for us to head in first before closing the door after she entered.
The office itself looked pretty similar to what you would see in a more affluent business, but much of the furniture felt modern to Earth's standards. We both sat down as the receptionist moved to sit behind her desk.
"I'm an affiliate of the Baron you see, feel free to call me Rina, I'll be your counselor for this world, I'll be able to provide you with a few answers and items to help you guys set off on the right foot, however, most of this will be on you. First off, we need to establish your identification."
She looked at both of us before summoning a holographic keyboard and screen and began typing.
"I'm guessing you two are together, so this will make the process a little bit easier, we'll just assign you both to legal partners with the same surname."
We both shot up from our seat a bit flustered.
"Claire and I are not married, we're just in a relationship! We have different last names!"
"Yeah! What Faust said, we've only been in a relationship for a few months!"
Rina gave a light giggle before typing in both of our names. Shortly after she took out two black bracelets and scanned them. She then offered a bracelet to both of us.
"These bracelets serve as your identification card and bank card. Each comes with a holographic display. You can pay for whatever by scanning this, there are some things I will tell you about. Your occupation is visible through your identification and people can see your identification similar to social profiles. Another thing, if you are to kill someone, all their credits are sent to your ID."
I looked a bit confused, was this system incentivizing murder?
"If all their credits get sent to our account, wouldn't they know who did the murder and we could get arrested?"
She waved our question off and gave a smile.
"In this world, due to overpopulation and scarcity of materials and occupations, murder is legal in nonsanctioned zones. Those mostly being commercial districts like the one you are currently in. Anyways, I listed your occupations both as bounty hunters, which will be your main line of work and income. Because of this role on your identification, you can access these bulletin boards around the commercial district of job listings, all occupations access the same job boards, but you'll have special access to hits, escorts, and other types of missions of that sort. Consider it a way to make some easy money."
I began to see Claire become a bit frightened as she had a slight tremor with her arms, I took a deep breath and looked right at Rina with a confidant composure to myself.
"Two questions. Where is our place to sleep and what is our first operation?"
She motioned towards the bracelets again.
"I've added all the information for you to privately access your apartment address that I set up, and a direct messenger application to contact me, your first objective is to gain influence in this world and establish yourself as some sort of authoritative figure. How you do that is not a question I can answer, nor one that really matters, you choose if you'd take your time running as a politician or establish some sort of cult."
She shrugged and then pushed the bracelets more towards us. I took mine and wrapped it around my left wrist, the material was something I had never seen before. It fit directly to my size, nice and snug without being too tight. Claire did the same thing with her own. I glanced at my identification card to see the details on it.
Name: Faust Nocturne
Sex: Male
Age: 18
Height: 6'1"
Occupation: Bounty Hunter
Seeing my height gave me a cathartic feeling, the worrying of my height when I was 15 was pointless. However, looking again I saw my last name as Nocturne. I then went to glance at Claire's identification as she pulled it up.
Name: Claire Nocturne
Sex: Female
Age: 18
Height: 5'8"
Occupation: Bounty Hunter
I blinked as I looked at Rina who gave a smug look and then a shrug.
"It was an easy way instead of thinking of two surnames that you need in this world, plus I felt it'd be cute to see you two lovebirds with the same last name."
I rolled my eyes as I then looked at Claire who had a sheepish look at the identification, focused on the surname.
"Seems you aren't the most professional counselor then."
Rina gave another giggle hidden behind her hand.
"Well let's just say the Baron likes his affiliates to all have a little personality to them. Either way, you guys are all set, I'll forward you the details about your apartment and you should see credits appear in your account within the next hour."
She got up from her chair and began to open the door and walk out, we soon quickly exited after her.
"I wish you two the best of luck, and take my advice and don't trust anyone too willingly."
For some reason, I felt it was a bit oxymoronic as we trusted her to create our IDs, but it was too late anyway. We both left the building as Claire began to check her bracelet again.
"Seems she already forwarded the details. Says here that we live in the Stargrove Apartment Complex, which is about a 15-minute walk down to the right. Apartment number 531. You ready Faust?"
She then booped my nose as we traded smiles and began walking towards our new apartment.