Climbing the stairs out of the tunnels, Ronin expected sunlight, but was surprised to see that the stairs only led to another dimly lit room, though the sparse lighting revealed it to be MUCH better maintained.
A quiet voice called for his attention, saying, "Excuse me sir! I need you to come here and check in, please."
Looking around, he saw that off in the corner of the far end of the room there was a smaller room built into the wall. Walking to it, he asked, "Were you talking to me?"
Behind a small window he could see an older woman sitting behind a desk and she replied, "Yes I was."
"What do you mean by check-in?" he asked.
An annoyed look flashed on her face and she muttered, "Great, I always get the idiots."
Looking at him through the window, she spoke slowly, "Check...in. You know, the way the civilized world keeps track of the people going in and out of a place?"
She moved her hand below the window and a small slot opened in the wall, revealing a keyboard that had been bolted to a piece of sliding metal. The wall beside the now open slot shimmered and became a monitor screen with instructions on what information to type in.
Trying to figure out why he had to check in, he asked, "What's this for?"
The woman rolled her eyes and pointed at the keyboard, clearly disinterested in talking anymore.
The monitor asked for a variety of questions, from the name of the person checking in to the kind of things they were bringing into the city.
Answering the questions as cautiously as possible, Ronin looked up and saw the woman motioning for the rest of the people behind him to do the same.
As the team finished the check in questions, the woman said, her voice monotone and empty, "Thank you for complying with the Horizon Sun checkpoint. The Horizon Suns are trying to turn the city of Neyk around and help anyone and everyone who is in need. Guildless and members of opposing guilds are welcome to apply for work at any time."
Raising more questions, Ronin tried to ask her what she meant by that, but instead of answering him, she just closed her window, which caused the check in keyboard to fly back into the room while Silas was trying to finish.
She and Azue hadn't had a chance to submit anything, but the rest of the team were finished, so Ronin hoped they wouldn't get any trouble from these "Horizon Suns".
Looking at Silas, he started to say something when Scalpel said, "We've really got to get this girl to someone, Ronin."
Remembering the girl, Ronin started walking for the hallway nearby, thinking that now they'd be out in the open air and he'd be able to find someone, but instead what he found was that the hallway opened into a larger room with what seemed to be hundreds of people wandering from place to place.
Checking his V.U.I., hoping to get a map of some kind, he found that the local map only read, Guildless Territory, in large black letters over a blank outline of a map.
A woman ran by him, clearly deep in thought and he said, "Excuse me, ma'am?"
The woman looked at him and stopped running, saying, "What. What is it, I'm VERY busy right now."
He nodded and quickly said, "Do you know any place we could bring this girl, she's very badly hurt."
The woman looked at him, looked at the girl on the stretcher, looked at him again and burst into laughter.
Glaring at her, he asked, "What's so funny?"
The woman only started laughing harder and ignored him as she walked away.
"What was that all about?" Scalpel asked.
Ronin frowned and said, "I'm not sure...but we need to find this girl a place to get treated before we try and figure it out."
A metallic voice from the shadows behind Ronin said, "Ignore that woman...come here."
Looking around, he saw a glint of metal from within the shadows behind him and said, "Who are you?"
"My name is Abster, I know that girl...well...I've seen her," the voice said.
Walking toward him, Ronin asked, "Do you know where there's a hospital, or her parents at least?"
Stepping out of the darkness, Abster revealed himself to be a very short man, barely coming up to Ronin's shoulders, and said, "No parents...they're dead. She's an orphan."
Frowning, Ronin looked at the girl, her breathing stabilized by the stretcher, but obviously struggling to stay alive.
Abster said, "I can get her to the Horizon Suns, they'll fix her up as best they can. There are no medical centers down here in Guildless territory."
Scalpel scowled at the environment and asked, "What do these people do if they need help?
Abster's head sank and he said, "Die."
He beckoned them back into the darkness he'd come from and said, "I've got a place you can rest while I bring the girl to the Suns."
Ronin looked at the rest of his team and back at Abster and asked, "Can we trust you?"
Shaking his head, Abster said, "You can't trust anyone in Guildless territory...but there are ten of you and one of me...seems like even odds, even here in Neyk."
Silas shrugged and said, "Nobody would actually tell their victims not to trust them...he seems...genuine, if nothing else."
Abster flinched like she'd slapped him and said, "Even if you don't decide to wait here, let me take the girl. She's been through enough without dying in this hole."
Nodding, Ronin decided that there was nothing they could do for her and said, "Take her."
Scalpel stood closer to the stretcher and said, "I'm going too. If he tries anything, he'll regret it."
Abster walked to the stretcher and Scalpel began pushing it as he pointed her where to go.
Ronin said, thinking to himself, "I wonder where the sunlight comes from...it's hard to tell the time in here."
Getting farther away, Abster said, "Sunlight is for people with money or guild members. It's always night for the Guildless."