Everyone's ears rang.
But they got used to it. At least on the outside. After all, they were the elite of the human race. Being fazed by something so trivial such as music, was just going to make their whole race look weak. Even if that music was nothing but noise.
Looking weak was the last thing they wanted.
The same couldn't be said about Theo though. He had to try his best to hold back the pained expression. If he didn't need to put up this front, he might have even cried.
It was a large room: too large even.
There were maybe a hundred people? All Sahallas. And most of them had decent amounts of clothing.
'So only the rich are allowed to wear enough cloth?' Was it because it was prohibited for the general people or maybe they couldn't afford it, that Theo didn't yet understand.
And he didn't want to either. After all, it took his all just to stand with all this noise and not start grimacing and screaming randomly.
The noise itself was coming from the corner of the room where seven musicians were creating the sound with their long fingernails and a piece of white serrated concrete-like substance. They moved their hands in a gentle elegant manner.
"What the hell is elegant about that?" Theo mumbled. He spoke quiet enough for no one to hear.
He had to agree, the motion was elegant. The sound? Not so much.
He did get heard by two pairs of ears though.
"Stop being a wuss and take this," the doctor, Blenn gave Theo something.
A tablet?
Theo nodded and ate the tablet at one go.
Water wasn't necessary. It had no taste.
The ringing became less painful. But it was still there. Theo felt slightly distant from reality.
But now that the pain was dulled, Theo's eyes and nose registered more.
First of all, this place was much brighter than the rest of the place. There was artificial yellow light everywhere and rows of different types of food. From roasted animals to desserts of bugs and larvae. And there were all sorts of exotic fruits on display as well.
The sweet aroma almost drove him in.
Though the sight of bugs and larvae did deter him slightly.
"Thanks." Theo turned to the doc.
Actually, though a ball of sorts, this place didn't really have that many decorations- one could even go as far as to call it bland by human standards.
"No, problem." He flashed his teeth.
All modified humans were quite similar in looks and body type. But this doctor, Blenn, was on the slimmer side.
"Here he comes. Be polite," Barslain whispered, looking ahead.
Though the group had entered the ballroom, no one had paid any attention to them. Or more like no one approached them- till now and pretended like nothing was amiss.
They did whisper amongst themselves. And it was almost like they were waiting for something.
"Ah, Lady Sharon. It is a pleasure." A round man. Still taller than Theo but perhaps he was so far the shortest Sahalla. His clothes though were by far the best looking in this place: red suit with yellow dots: diamonds and gold. Lots of jewelry.
A group of people approached Theo and the others. All of them looked awfully important. They had more jewelry on them than clothes.
"Yes, your majesty." Barslain slightly tilted her head down, not quite bowing. "It truly is a pleasure to see you again." Her tone was neutral with a hint of delight.
The rest of them followed suit.
"And these are your companions?" He spoke fluently. Though his accent wasn't quite accurate.
All eyes were on the two groups.
"Yes." She looked back. "That's the king, introduce yourselves," She whispered.
One by one everyone introduced themselves.
"Theodore Black." Theo was the last one.
When he said his name though, one of the Sahalla next to the king, stared at Theo for a few seconds.
Neither exchanged any words.
It wasn't awkward perse, but definitely not pleasant.
The captain and the king kept talking and eventually, "Please enjoy yourselves. We trust you would spread the news of our hospitality and we shall have a peaceful relationship with each other." He took a glass of clear fizzy liquid- "TO peace!" -and drank it.
"To peace!"
Everyone drank the same thing.
'Isn't this just cola?' Theo wasn't impressed.
The taste was slightly saltier than cola though.
***
The party was underway. Theo and the others were free to wander around. The people here tried to mix with them but met with limited success. Some couldn't even speak the language while others failed to keep the conversation interesting enough.
'If they already know our language, how come this darn translator not working then?' The Sahallas could speak English to some extent but so far, none of the humans managed to speak their language. The translator wasn't even picking it up as a language.
The colors and food were exotic but not enough to amaze John and Voli. They had wonder plastered on their faces but that was for something else altogether. Their missions had just begun.
Theo on the other hand didn't have waves of Sahallas surrounding him. And since Theo didn't want to listen to this music and deal with the locals, he searched for ways to hide himself instead.
This music, or rather the noise was still making him feel funny. And he wanted no part of it.
And he found just the thing.
A door leading out into the corridor, up to a terrace.
And if he could be alone.
Maybe he could even lick this tree's bark and gain exp.
It was certainly possible.
For now though he just wanted to get out of here.
'But this place really is something.' And that something being, large. Massive was perhaps the better term.
Even the corridors had very tall ceilings. It hurt his neck just to look up.
But now he could be alone!
Though to his horror, there were people even in the lonely corridors. With a sigh, he moved quickly and, in a corner, just stared outside.
The noise was still coming here just fine. In fact, they were using some sort of speaker system to transport the music to the terrace too. 'What is wrong with them?' Theo certainly didn't know.
It was merely the third floor and yet, to his standards this was maybe 7th or 8th floor high?
The people below were going about their days.
Busy.
Everyone had work; they had a purpose.
'This is work too.'
But how was he going to complete it?
Sigh.
[!]
Beep!
An exclamation mark appeared in the corner of his eye. He focused on it.
A menu opened.
'Special quest available'
He opened the quest.
[S.Q: Lick the fruit of life]
And the quest came with a specific set of instructions and even a marker.
There were no apparent rewards for the quest and it seemed skippable.
But just when Theo thought he didn't want to dive into it- another beep resulted.
This time, it came from his bracelet.
A mission update.
What perfect timing.
'Shit.'
His eyes opened wide.
'Steal the fruit of life.'
The message came with a very lengthy explanation on how kidnapping a resident was going to be taken over by someone else and the fruit was going to be easier to smuggle for Theo.
The three explicit rules again flashed in Theo's mind. He was apparently going to break all three.
'Did someone curse me or something?'
But this was the job he took.
There was no going back.