Asher walked along the streets, absentmindedly checking his pockets for money. Conveniently, he remembered to transfer the cash from his onesie to his hoodie pocket before he showered. Otherwise, it would've been embarrassing to go back to grab it.
He wondered why Mei never went to the Neon District before, before realizing that she was an ordinary person, not a Grade 7 Fixer like him. It would've been dangerous for her to be there.
'Anyway, why can't L Corp install new lights?'
And it wasn't like they were rare; the Hana Association building was literally filled with lights, to the point that his eyes hurt when he recalled its bright, artificial interior.
Neither of the two extremes were good; having no lights meant he had to carry a flashlight everywhere, and with too much light... he had already explained that.
He passed by Pierre's shop again. Taking a peek inside, he found it completely stripped of everything, from furniture to paint, straight to its wooden foundation. Must've been the work of the 'cleaners' that Yun called before they left.
Shops began to line the streets. Neon greens, yellows, and reds pulled at his attention towards their merchandise.
Using his newfound wealth as reassurance, he bounced from store to store, window shopping to his heart's content.
"Hello little boy~ Want to join me in some fun?" A slender mahogany-skinned woman wrapped her arm around him, her breath tickling her ear.
Asher turned and glared at her.
"Lady, can't I have some peace in my life?" Almost the exact same situation happened to 'Sophie', and on this same street, too. The genders had merely swapped, and there was one less harasser.
The woman ignored him, giggling seductively before trying to pull him away.
Asher subconsciously compared her to Mei and Yan.
He was not impressed.
'[Fairy Queen]!'
"Doing this to a Grade 7 Fixer doesn't seem like the brightest idea, no?" Wingbeat's wings fluttered on the woman's neck, its razor sharp crystal wings scratching her skin.
She gave up all pretenses, her eyes filled with hate.
"Don't give me that look, find something else to do with your life." She stalked away from him, seething in rage.
Asher looked at her back, confused.
'Why is she the one mad at me? Some people sure are strange...'
And so he kept on window shopping.
The Neon District had much more variety in their shops. On the main streets were mostly either grocery stores or shops displaying harmless Wing items. For example, there were no weapon shops in the main streets. Even Yun's Office was in the Neon District, which was odd.
'Well, not really odd,' he thought as he bumped into a muscular old man. The streets here were much more crowded than the main ones, which could only be good for the businesses.
He pressed his hand on the window of a mechanic shop, admiring the sleek design of one of their bionic arm replacements. A diagram beside the display explained how the arm could withstand heat up to one thousand degrees, and how it was leagues above the strength of a regular arm.
'7000 Ahn... Surprisingly cheap, actually.' If he did about twenty more Urban Myth cases, then he could replace his own arm with a mechanical one. However, he didn't plan on doing so. The idea of installing a mechanical thing like that on his body creeped him out. And would it stay on him after missions?
Suddenly, he whipped his around, sensing a gaze on his back.
It was Pete, who was staring at him intensely.
Seeing Asher notice him so quickly, Pete snapped his head away, back toward his friends.
"Guys, that's the kid who saved us from the Sweeper two days ago! What should I-"
Pete looked back at where the boy was, but he had disappeared without their notice. Asher coughed politely behind them.
"It's you three again. Here to do something bad?" Asher chuckled as the three of them quickly shook their heads.
Aiko bowed deeply, flustered.
"Um, we've never thanked you before, so... Thank you for saving us!"
He didn't know how to react. The woman glanced up at him pensively as he stared at her.
Their expressions didn't match with the first time he met them, the first time he died.
Asher decided to tease them a bit more after seeing their innocent expressions. None of them were truly innocent, but that was still only a matter of their circumstances, their path to survival. Even so, he would not allow them to kill more people after he was done with them.
"I'm not the same person who saved you, this is merely a disguise. But the boy did say how you wanted to kill him in the alley a few days ago..."
Pete stuttered at the boy's strange speech pattern.
"D-Disguise? Then w-who are you?"
Asher smirked devilishly.
"You all haven't been doing crimes, have you? Cheers from Sophie~" His skin turned pale, as his black hair turned long and golden. He activated his [Bystander] ability, slowly fading away from their astounded gazes.
The only thing left visible was the girl's hollow smile.
"I did say I would be tracking you~" Then even the smile vanished, and the girl was gone.
It was a complete bluff, a mere coincidental meeting, but Asher took the opportunity to cement fear into Pete, Aiko, and Mangchi's minds.
He watched in silence as the three of them panicked. Aiko was the first to react, bawling her eyes out.
"Wahhh, that was so scary-" Pete tried to comfort her as Mangchi stood silently in thought.
As the pensive man opened his mouth, his eyes were filled with worry.
"What do we do now? Obviously not organ harvesting, but no one will hire us. We're homeless, after all..."
"Don't worry, I might have an idea." Pete pulled the two back toward the main streets, his voice determined.
A white obelisk loomed in the distance.
The Hana Association.
...
Asher emerged from a nearby alley, sneaking in with his invisibility to transform back to normal with no one noticing. Dusting his hands at the good work he did, he imagined that none of them should be doing crimes anytime soon.
But he did not forget about his original purpose. He had wasted too much time window shopping and dealing with Pete, the streets were noticeably less crowded than when he first arrived.
He approached a woman wearing an exquisite maid's outfit, intending to ask for directions.
She stood in the middle of the road, sneaking glances down her arms occasionally.
"Excuse me ma'am, do you know where-" He froze as he felt the cold muzzle of a gun on his forehead.
He shivered. The speed she drew the gun with was the same as with Sayako's slash, if not faster.
'Who's this person?? From a Finger or something? I'm probably gonna die here aren't I-'
A small bundle of rags wiggled in the woman's arms.
"Shh, don't disturb the baby. There there, mommy's here~" She whispered lightly, taking the gun off his head. As the baby burped sleepily, she rocked her arms back and forth, coaxing it back to sleep.
"O-Oh, right... Where can you find places that sell lights around here?" He whispered back, and the woman kindly pointed him toward a shop down the street. She smiled as Asher turned to leave.
"Sorry about that, hon. I was distracted by my little baby~ Isn't he just the cutest??" Asher absentmindedly agreed as she pushed the baby closer for him to see. It was indeed cute, and it matched its mother's appearance, but the phantom sensation of the gun muzzle on his head distracted him from the 'cuteness'.
"Yep, cute, the cutest..." Asher very carefully walked away as the woman beamed, curtsying slightly by pulling up a fold of her dress.
'What the hell was that? Who is she??'
He ran to the store she pointed him to, flinging open its doors to escape the mother and her child.
Inside the store, an old lady stood behind the counter, rolling pairs of dice on the table over and over. She pocketed the dice as he neared, coughing to clear her throat.
"What'cha looking for? Toys? Phones? Drugs?" Asher glanced around him. Indeed, items of all three varieties were put on display nearby. along with dozens more.
"Someone... said you sell lights here?"
She nodded her head, leading him to the back of the merchandise. Lamps, bulbs, and other devices of illumination were laid neatly on the ground, packaged into neat boxes.
"Prices are all on there. And they running all on Enkephalin, so they'll last a few years at least."
Asher sifted through the pile. He sighed in relief, as most of them were affordable to his budget.
In the end, he bought four boxes, each containing a 'ceiling light' that could be installed on the ceiling and controlled by a remote. One light for each room. With this, he and Mei wouldn't have to always use flashlights.
Actually, if the flashlights could last years on Enkephalin, then couldn't he just buy a bunch of flashlights to use as lights?
'Eh, too many buttons to press. What I bought is more convenient anyway.' He thanked the old lady, his balance lowering from 290 to 40 Ahn, as each one costed around 60.
"Curfew is in 5 minutes. Hurry, little boy." He didn't need to be told twice. The streets outside were already empty.
The boxes obscured his vision as he ran, irritating him somewhat, but he pushed through.
...
Five minutes passed, but Asher still wasn't even halfway to there yet. He took extreme care to not jostle the boxes, which were filled with glass and electronics.
As he adjusted the stacked boxes in his arms, he heard a beeping noise from all around him.
It was time for curfew; the streets were now owned by the Sweepers.
Gradually, the streetlights shut down and his vision was obscured by oily clouds of fog.
'Scary atmosphere,' he thought to himself as he walked forward with leisure. Truthfully, he wasn't scared at all.
Asher's ears perked up as he heard the sound of scraping metal behind him. He turned backward to look at what caused the noise.
A Sweeper's red glowing eyes peered straight at him, cutting through the dark fog like a lamp. An ominous crimson glow from its garish meat hooks surrounded it.
'I don't have time to deal with you.' He synchronized with Sophie, disappearing from the thing's vision.
It lumbered away with its limping gait.
'You know, Sophie has a lot more utility skills than me so far.' Asher compared the skills of [Fairy Queen] to his synchronization.
[Bystander] was a particularly useful skill. Too bad he could only use it in Sophie's form.
Walking forward once more, Mei's apartment emerged from the white fog. He unknowingly sighed in relief as he climbed up the stairs.
He rapped on the door. He could hear Mei's frantic footsteps as she ran to open it for him.
"Asher! Thank goodness-" She stopped in her tracks.
He stared at her in confusion, but a terrible feeling dawned on him as a strand of golden blond hair fell onto his face.
"Sophie?"
He had gotten so comfortable with Sophie's body, he forgot to change back.
'Well shit...'