'Took a while, but it paid off.'
For the past few hours, Cain had been staking out the massive city in the middle of a desolate plain. Atop a highway overlooking the city, Cain could barely peer past the city's walls.
The walls themselves had masked soldiers in strange clothing and armor patrolling under the watchful gaze of robots of some sort.
Cain could only connect these weird machines to his experience in Netherane; the Union had access to machines as well, and they all looked slightly similar to each other.
'Are they used for defense or something? Why have them on the walls?'
The machines were bulky and installed on rotating disks to allow for a full 360-degree motion. Cain could see some of the inside pieces, like hydraulics and wires, but that was it.
'What's with the barrels on the end? Do they administer serums? They kind of look like small cannons...'
After studying the city a bit more, Cain found it safe enough to make contact.
"For being somewhat close to the Dream Realm, they must have had contact with outsiders at some point. The chances of them attacking on-site are slim to none.
"Yet, they do seem wary of anyone and anything."
Forgoing restraint, Cain jumped from the highway, sticking the landing and breaking the concrete below his feet. He then arrogantly headed toward one of the entrances he scoped out earlier.
Coming to the entrance, Cain watched as those weird machines sensed his presence.
The turrets quickly powered up and aimed at him, ready to fire. Some of the guards noticed the turrets and readied their weapons. In less than 10 seconds, the segment of wall Cain was approaching had over 30 masked men aiming guns down at him.
'Hmm... so the machines deal with enemies? Does it act like a deterrent? But what are those masked idiots pointing at me?'
One of the masked men quickly called out to Cain; their voice was distorted by their mask, sounding slightly inhuman. "Who are you? Why are you here!?"
Raising his arms, Cain put his hands above his head.
"I come in peace and curiosity. I've traveled for a bit and I'm wondering if I can enter this... city?"
The masked men conferred; they seemed to be relaying information from some electronic device Cain had never seen before. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the masked men peered over the wall once more.
"You can enter, but you have to go through tests and evaluations. Welcome to the Complex, traveler."
As the masked man finished his words, the gate before Cain slowly opened it.
From the dust, a single masked man with a clipboard came out, similarly wearing clothes with additional armor crafted into the fabrics.
"Please follow me; I will bring you to the evaluation room."
Following along, Cain was brought into a dark room with a steel table under a single hanging lightbulb.
"Take a seat," the attendant motioned for Cain to sit, and he did.
'They're strict. I wonder what questions they'll ask.'
A few minutes later, a woman in a black uniform entered, her brown hair cascaded down her neck and to her hips.
She sat in the chair across from Cain and took out a few papers.
"Hello, I am Inspector Zoe. I will be holding your evaluation to enter our complex this evening."
Cain propped his feet onto the table. "Do you get people like me often? Also, do you have a map of the surrounding territories? I'm kind of lost."
Zoe stared at Cain for a moment; her eyes revealed distaste for his actions, but she kept her professionalism.
"Yes, there are records. We've had seven other travelers enter our compound in the last 2 years. They all left after a few days of stay. As for a map, we don't have such things. None of us have left the complex, nor do we have access to anything like that."
Cain raised a brow, "What? Why not?"
"It's the orders of The Family," Zoe responded.
"The Family?"
"Yes."
Seeing as she wasn't going to answer anything more, Cain decided to get on with it.
"What are your questions?"
Zoe stood up, pulling out a needle.
"First, a blood test."
'I feel like one of my experiments....'
After a quick retrieval of blood, Zoe sent it away and sat back down to start her round of questioning.
'They shouldn't find anything in my blood, right? Oh well, if it's something serious, I'll just have to kill everyone. Well, it wouldn't be killing them; they would simply join the mist, hehe.'
Zoe gave her first question, "Where are you from?"
"A territory."
"Which one?"
"Funny story. I was from one territory but ended up in another with my memories gone. As for which one you could say is "my" territory, that's up to debate."
Zoe was silent for a moment before she mumbled while scribbling something down.
"Next question, are you a gatherer?"
Cain answered resolutely.
"No."
'Technically that's true. I need two powers to be considered a gatherer after all. The Dream core hasn't fused completely yet, still waiting on the abilities too.'
"What is the ability you use?"
"I can control mist."
"Can you show me?"
Cain put his finger against his lips and winked, "Nope."
Zoe felt chills run through her spine, the chills that sprouted from disgust. She scribbled again.
The rounds of questions went on for a while. There were multiple sessions where Zoe would finish asking her questions and then leave to get more questions based on the old ones.
Cain was even more bored than when he aimlessly wandered the abyss. He had nothing to do.
'She just keeps asking similar questions! Ugh! I feel like one of my experiments now. I didn't think anyone would be so detailed in such a desolate place. Hmmm... maybe they need to? I must say this has been interesting in some sense.'
Zoe finally returned for the last time.
"We have compiled all of your answers and deduced you're fine to enter the complex. The only thing you will be subjected to is this collar that lets us know your location at all times. It cannot be removed without permission."
Zoe took out a strange collar with blinking lights. When she did, Cain gulped.
...
Entering the Complex, Cain scratched his neck just below the collar.
'So uncomfortable. It seems to also read my heartbeat; if I use the mist to escape, they will be alerted without some illusions in play... How annoying.'
Although it was annoying, Cain smiled. At last, he could see the inside of the Complex. Its doors were open to him and his curiosity. Wandering around, he saw many strange structures. Each one was more or less the same in design, but the design itself was foreign to Cain.
'I wonder what they used to make all these buildings. To be so upright and with so many windows... yet they all are more or less destroyed. In Netherane we relied on specifically bred bacteria and ancient ways to ever build this high.'
Almost every other building was in a semi-pulverized or worn-down state, with multiple walls long gone, leaving the inside open to windy drafts.
The buildings that were still somewhat intact weren't too good either, with signs of cracks being prevalent and many floors missing, leaving behind only a floor or two.
Nonetheless, this was only the outskirts of the Complex, better buildings were closer to the center.
'What a barren place.'
Wandering around, Cain saw more of the masked guards. He also saw citizens. Some of them seemed fine, but others were basically in rags, and there were a few that were no more than beggars.
Cain tried multiple times to talk to these citizens, but they avoided him like the plague.
'Where can I even go? This place isn't that friendly at all...'
Only when he walked into the core region of the Complex did he start seeing well-constructed buildings and houses that were made from repurposed debris. Yet none went more than three floors and some even had the appearance of bricks.
Eventually, he saw a building with a sign reading 'Jinx's Gin.'
'Thank goodness everyone uses the same language. I must thank whichever Ruler of Gatherer came up with such a wonderful and ambiguous imperialistic idea!'
Walking inside, he saw a woman with black hair polishing a glass.
"Hello! I was wondering if you could answer some questions."
The woman glared at Cain, noticing the collar. She put down the glass and waited for Cain to take a seat before answering, moving her head to motion for him to sit.
Sitting down she smiled and opened her mouth.
"As long as you pay, you can ask anything."
"What do you accept?"
"Money."
"..."
Cain reiterated himself, "What kind?"
"The paper kind."
Cain frowned, "I think we're having a problem with communication...."