Edmund, Merrion, and Alta formed an unlikely trio as they made their way down the main boulevard the Estrella. Carnival-goers delighting in the raucous atmosphere dodged out of the way of the towering Alta, who spearheaded the advance of the trio with her colossal stature as they made their way towards a location in the distance. Following closely behind her was Merrion, with Edmund taking up the vanguard position at the back. The two detectives occasionally shuffled and readjusted the large haversacks resting upon their shoulders: Merrion doing so out of general discomfort, and Edmund out of habit. Curiously, Alta herself was carrying no such object, instead wheeling closely besides her a polished ivory suitcase in perfect coordination with her own bone-white business suit.
Edmund: "You alright down there, Merrion?"
Edmund asked, barely able to see her head obscured behind the massive haversack perched atop her shoulders.
Merrion: "Oh yeah, completely fine. At least I won't get lost like this…sandwiched between two walls."
Alta: "Indeed, with this crowd a woman of your stature would be hopelessly lost."
Edmund's eyes widened slightly.
Edmund (thinking): That's true…but even I wouldn't tell her that. A surprisingly straightforward person, but annoyingly literal as well. What an…unique individual you are...
Merrion: "You…you don't have to rub it in. Must be nice, to be so tall as a woman."
Alta: "It is both a blessing, and a curse."
Edmund suddenly paused as Alta stopped in her steps briefly, moving her head from left to right as if surveying the surroundings.
Alta: "Clothes in my size are hard to find. All my clothes are either in the men's size or have to be bespoke. It is fortunate for me that I enjoy wearing suits, although having to retailor the chest region is always annoying."
Merrion: "…"
Edmund: "Alright, maybe you can stop making your own bodyguard feel bad? The mission hasn't even started yet."
Alta: "Point taken."
Edmund: "Where are we even going, anyway? All Zora told us was to find and meet with you."
Alta: "That's not all she told you, is it?"
Edmund: "If I said the rest here, I'd have to kill you, and then myself."
Merrion: "What about me? Do I get to kill her too?"
Alta: "When I hear you, Merrion, say that with such a cute and cheerful tone, I really wonder if Zora isn't planning an unfortunate accident for me by proxy."
Edmund: "Absolutely not, perish that thought."
Edmund smirked, and before him, he could hear Merrion chuckle lightly.
Alta: "Well then, we're headed for the Estrella's shuttle bays."
---
Merrion readjusted her haversack. The straps were starting to dig into her flesh, and the adjustment brought a brief moment of comfort before the pain returned. The rhythmic clicking of their footsteps as they walked occasionally synced up, before desynchronizing again only to repeat the cycle. Sandwiched between the already tall Edmund and the even more colossal Altansarnai amongst the thronging crowd, she was relegated to just following their lead. Her only way of asserting her control was to ask questions of the bone-white pillar leading her and Edmund towards, apparently, the shuttle bays.
Merrion: "The shuttles? We need to board shuttles? Weren't we supposed to go to the Dismo…Dimo…erm, what was the –"
Alta: "The Dimoprasia – we're headed there. It's not connected to the tether network, and no tram will take us there from here. There are several mooring tethers linking it to the Estrella, but only the ad-hoc shuttles traverse them. Thus, our destination of choice."
Merrion heard Edmund's voice from behind her.
Edmund: "Not much of a choice if it's the only way there."
Alta: "An astute observation, young man. Yes, it was a figure of speech."
Merrion: "Madam –"
Alta: "Altansarnai. Or Alta."
Merrion was cut off instantly, before she could even append their client's name, with such speed that she briefly jolted from the surprise.
Alta: "I have informed you earlier not to stand on ceremony with me. I will not repeat myself again."
Merrion: "… Alta."
Alta: "Yes?"
Merrion: "Zora said that you'd tell us more about this bodyguard job that we'd be doing for you in exchange for passage to the –"
Alta: "I need you to stop right there."
Merrion (thinking): Again, she's interrupting me. Pointing out my height earlier, and now this.
She felt a brief knot of annoyance flare up inside her.
Alta: "Perhaps Zora didn't mention this, but I know what you were about to say, and I must insist that you do not mention it, not until I do."
Merrion: "Why is that?"
Alta: "There are…reasons. Suffice to say, it would be…dangerous. For us all."
Merrion breathed in deeply, taking in this revelation.
Merrion (thinking): Could it be, that just mentioning that we're going to the 7th Sector, here, is dangerous? Or is there some other reason?
Even though she had personally grown up in the rough and tumble environment of the 7th Sector, Merrion couldn't personally imagine how just mentioning it would be dangerous. There was nothing she could do in this situation, but to just defer to their client's judgement.
Merrion: "…I understand. Or rather, I don't, but I shall abide."
Alta: "Much appreciated."
Edmund: "Are we thereeee yet?"
Merrion heard Edmund grumble behind her, his tone obviously joking to her ears. She chuckled slightly at the forced drawing out of his words.
Merrion (thinking): He's not normally like this, he's probably annoyed at her too.
Alta: "Almost."
---
Edmund: "You know, when people say "Almost", they usually mean "Oh, we'll be there in a few seconds more!" or "Just another minute.""
Merrion leant back, relaxing upon the curved metal sheeting of the bench, her haversack placed on the ground before her and held between her legs. Beside her, Edmund was also relaxing, taking a drink from a large metal bottle before continuing his complaint aimed towards Altansanai, who was standing before them, towering over their tired forms.
Alta: "We have already arrived, no?"
Edmund: "Yeah, AFTER HALF AN HOUR!"
Alta: "There was no point arriving faster, look."
Merrion raised her head and looked in the direction indicated by Alta's outstretched hand. In the distance, closer to the shuttle terminal, several dockworkers were moving large pallets of supplies and miscellaneous items wrapped in protective cushioning foam. Teams of workers were working at a feverish pace loading these supplies into the airlocks, presumably connected to the shuttles that they were supposed to board shortly.
Merrion rubbed her sore shoulders, although to her surprise, she wasn't as tired as she expected herself to be. Although her shoulders were worn down by the load, the rest of her body was fine. Meanwhile, although his arms and shoulders were artificial replacements, Edmund was far more tired than she was.
Merrion (thinking): Guess those powerful arms must take a toll on your legs, Edmund?
Merrion looked down at her hands, remembering her newfound power. She hopped to her feet. There was no use dawdling about.
Merrion (thinking): We've all got it rough in different ways. Maybe I can scout out the vicinity, see if there's anything of note here.
Merrion: "You rest here first, Edmund. I'm going to look around this area."
Edmund replied, his voice sounding haggard from the exhaustion of carrying that enormous haversack.
Edmund: "Be careful, this place is not safe."
Alta: "She'll be fine. Compared to later, this place is completely benign."
Merrion: "There, Alta said it's alright."
Edmund: "Sigh, fine. Don't be gone too long."
Merrion: "Gotcha. I'll leave my haversack here."
Merrion looked around, surveying the vicinity. Even here, there were still some festive decorations and small stalls catering to the workers in this section of the docks. There were several groups of workers sitting on the floor, talking excitedly with each other over a jug of drink, probably nothing alcoholic or intoxicating. The current time was approaching the demarcated lunch break, and soon this area would also be crowded with workers.
Something caught her eye in the distance, a set of tables with people playing cards in pairs. Almost all the tables were occupied, but there was a single one with only a single player seated there. The other people in the area seemed to avoid that table, walking by it as if it wasn't there.
Merrion squinted slightly, trying to get a better look at the person seated there. As in in response, the person she was trying to look at looked up, catching her by surprise. Then, a friendly wave, almost as if they were beckoning her.
Merrion (thinking): What the hey, maybe a card game won't hurt? It's the festive season now. Although… I've no idea what they're celebrating, but surely it has to be commemorating something of importance.
---
Alta: "Your partner is playing a game with that dockworker over there."
Alta gestured towards a location in the distance, catching Edmund's attention. He stood up, and after a brief delay, focused in upon the game table where Merrion was seated. Merrion's opponent, seated across from her, dealt out cards with lightning precision. In contrast, Merrion's own movements were more relaxed, less wary.
Edmund: "Doesn't look like any game I remember. Though, if it's a game of chance, I hope she didn't bet any credits."
Alta: "Surely she can't be that unlucky."
Edmund: "I don't know…although for her sake, I hope that you're right."
Standing side by side, the duo watched in silence as what appeared to be one round of this strange card game was played and completed. The silence, layered over with the sounds of the dockworkers moving the cargo, was punctuated with a shrill beep from Altansarnai. With a single swift motion, she extracted a communicator from her jacket pocket, and made several quick gestures.
Alta: "We have a half-hour window to board any available transfer shuttles. We'll depart in another 10 minutes."
Edmund: "Acceptable. If Merrion doesn't finish her game by then – "
Alta: " – then you know what to do."
The two continued to watch in silence as several more rounds were played between Merrion and the stranger: each round heralded with the collation of the cards, followed by the dealing of hands and several other movements which were hard to discern accurately from this distance. Nevertheless, the end of the round was always when either player threw down their hand, though telling who had won or who had lost was difficult, to say the least. Eventually, this game seemed to come to an end, and Merrion returned back to Edmund and Altansarnai.
Alta: "Did you have fun?"
Merrion: "Yup!"
Edmund watched as Merrion turned around to wave at the stranger, who returned back the gesture with a wave of their own.
Merrion: "He was really nice. I didn't know how to play at the start, so he quickly went through the rules. After that though, I quickly got the hand of the game, though I lost all the rounds…"
Edmund: "All the rounds? Wow, that's kinda sad…"
Merrion puffed her chest out and pouted slightly.
Merrion: "Hey! I didn't even finish! I lost all EXCEPT for the very last round! The man said that if I won that final round that he'd give me a prize, and you know I never lose when there's something at stake!"
Alta: "So, where is this…prize that you speak of?"
Merrion pulled out a deck of cards from one of her hoodie's pockets.
Merrion: "Right here!"
Edmund: "Really? A…deck of cards?"
Merrion: "Yep! He said they were a good luck charm, or something or another. I didn't quite get what he meant, but I won it fair and square."
Alta: "Right, in either case, your timing is perfect. Ten minutes have passed. Let's go."
Merrion: "Ten minutes? Wha-"
Edmund: "While you were enjoying your card game, we got the notice that the shuttle boarding has started. Here's your bag."
Edmund stretched out his right arm, with Merrion's haversack dangling at the end. Even though the haversack was decently stuffed with its contents, Edmund was able to manoeuvre it over to Merrion with effortless ease. Merrion quickly took the haversack off Edmund's hands and slipped the pack atop her shoulders. The straps pressed into her, and she winced briefly, adjusting the pack into an acceptably comfortable position.
Merrion: "Thanks."
Alta: "Alright, let us be on our way."