"Hey, there's this friends thing, do you want to add me?" Jack asked as we waited in the line.
One by one people stepped through the trapped wind, and we were nearing the front. Jack had put his jacket on and was carrying his backpack around with one sling around his
"Huh, sure."
I open up the 'friends,' section on my PID and Jack does the same. The process was apparently automatic, because as soon as we both had it opened as close as we were "Jack Harlas," appeared on my friend's list with a checkmark. I clicked it, and he was added to the screen.
"Neat."
"Yeah. Really," He said; his voice quivering, "Oh man, I am SO excited!"
People glanced back at the large man. Some laughed and chuckled, but he didn't seem to mind.
"Ay, add me too. Both of you." Daniel said.
We add each other. Jack adds a couple of the other people who followed Daniel. Eli, far in the back, nods over to me, and I add him as well. Jack practically leapt through the portal, and the man who was ushering in everyone stopped me. He was a Black man with long hair tied back in a dreaded ponytail. He wore a white cloak over a black jacket. Gray fur lined the insides of the cloak, and the WC symbol was emblazoned on the shoulders.
"Name?"
"Lyle Kyle."
"Ah. Yeah…" The man leaned in toward me, "Let me give you some advice, alright? You're the lowest-scoring person here, perhaps ever in the history of the Company. If you just stay at an inn, and do menial jobs like sweeping floors, collecting crops, herbs, and the like, you'll be able to go home without a problem, alright? Though you'll spend most of the money you would have made, at least you'll be alive."
A light flashes on his wrist. I bit my tongue so I didn't spit in his face.
"Go in." He said before I had any chance to respond.
He checked my name off of his list and shoved me through with his hand on my shoulder. As soon as I touched the white wind, I felt a rush through me, as if I were on a roller-coaster. My stomach leapt in loops, and the earth left my feet. I land on stone ground, and my head is still spinning.
"Name?"
"Lyle — urk, Lyle Kyle."
It took all that I could to not throw up. I look around. The thing that I had just stepped out of was almost embedded into the wall of a massive hexagonal stone room. The letters N. AMERICA were on a plaque above it. The ceilings are high. The white light shining from the lamps set up around us barely illuminated the large wooden rafters above. It must have ended in a dome, as the walls closed in the further up they went.
Similar wind constructs are embedded into the wall around the room. EUROPE, ASIA, AUSTRALIA, AFRICA, S. AMERICA, V. CITY the plaques around those read.
"Please step forward."
I take a step forward, admiring the building.
"Camping supplies, trapping supplies, or fishing supplies?"
A red-headed man asked.
I looked at the supply area. The woman who had handed me the book was standing there. She wore an all-white outfit. She mouthed the words, "trap."
"Trapping supplies."
"Good, please pick them up at the next station and get out of the way so we can get the rest of the people in."
I excuse myself and step over to the station. She handed me a bag that had been sitting separately from the rest of the trapping supplies.
"Thank you for the bo—"
She pressed a finger to her lips.
"Bag."
She nodded and motioned for me to head out. Through a set of propped open doors. I followed her instructions and stepped into a long tunnel. Another man waits at the final set of doors, with bright sunlight bleeding in through the bottom. At his station was a series of rifles and pistols, and neatly stacked ammo.
"Name?"
"Come on, again?"
"Sorry, protocol."
"Lyle Kyle."
"Oh, you're…"
"Yeah, I'm him." I cut him off.
"Alright, now take a rifle."
I do so. They only had bolt-action rifles left. Old wooden things, though well maintained. The varnished wood caught the light beautifully. There was a canvas strap on it to hang over my shoulder. I sling it.
"The five clips with ten bullets each will be in this bag." He hands over a canvas bag with the word RIFLE painted on top. "Now pick out a handgun."
I chose a sleek black handgun, like the one they had at the firing range during the training they had us do. This came with a really basic holster with a clip. I slide the holsters over my belt and put the empty pistol in it.
"And your five mags with ten bullets each will be in here." He hands over another canvas bag. "Remember, these are your last handouts. Everything from this point forward; from food, to ammo, to new weapons, clothes, and room and board will have to be paid for, scrounged up, or procured by you in some way do you understand?"
"Yeah, do you think I'm stupid?"
"Do you want me to answer that honestly?"
"No."
"Alright, so get going."
"Fine."
I push through the door, and a cold wind blows inward to greet me. I bundle up my shoulders and tuck the two canvas packs into the trapping supplies. Jack was waiting at the door for me apparently. The fort was standing in the middle of a lake; a stone bridge stretching down to a staircase that led down to the city. Slanted roofs constructed of a variety of materials: grass, terracotta, and carved stone, peek out from the slope. The waters contained in the horseshoe-shaped lake fell down this slope in white-peaked cascades and drained into two parallel canals that ran through the city. Cobblestone streets ran parallel to these canals, and bridges went over them every hundred or so feet.
"Look back there."
Jack pointed in the direction of the fort. I followed his finger and nearly stumbled back. A white wall of pure ice towered over the domed fort. Two massive waterfalls roared and fell to fill the waters of the horseshoe lake that surrounded the fort. Scarce vegetation grew around the building.
"What...the…"
"That's Antarctica." A guard standing by the door to the fort said, "Thousands upon thousands of miles beyond that, and you'll be back to Earth."
"Is that...is that so…" I don't know what to say. It was both gorgeous and terrifying. "Is there something like this out there?"
I looked back to the city, and the new world stretching out before me.
"The Barrier Forest." He said, "A forest tens of thousands of miles wide that leads into the next realm. You have to be A rank or higher to go there, though."
Oh, that was a long way off.
"Isn't this cool?" Jack said, "Oh man, I'm...I'm so fucking happy right now."
God, how embarrassing.
"What should we do?" I asked the man to draw his attention back to reality.
"I suppose...we should find somewhere to drop our stuff off at first." Jack said, "Unless you want to be carrying around all of this," he lifted up his own armful of stuff, "all of the time. Like an inn or something."
"If you open up the map on your PID you can actually navigate where you want to go, and it'll show you how to get there." The guard said. "That said, there's a cheap inn by the gate leading in and out of New Eden." Just follow the right-hand side canal and you'll be there in no time; a place called the Cat and the Fiddle."
Daniel stepped out of the building and leapt onto me. Latching onto my back and nearly pulling me to the ground. He would have done so as well if Jack hadn't caught the strap of my backpack to steady me.
"Ayy — holy SHIT what the hell this place is gorgeous, man."
It takes a moment for him to settle down.
"Shit, we're really in a new world, ain't we."
"No, still earth apparently."
"Really? Right, it's flat and infinite, and whatever the fuck that guy said. What are you planning on doing?"
"Finding a room." I answered as I peeled the squirrely man off of me, "Apparently there's a cheap inn by the gate to the town. Coming with?"
"Nah, man. Me and the homies are going to find somewhere to eat first. I'm HUNGRY man. Big hungry." He slapped my shoulder as he passed by to lead the small crew of CDCR lifers down the staircase. "I'll find ya later, Kyle!"
"I think I'll do the same," Eli said. I nearly jumped out of my skin when he spoke, as I hadn't even seen him come up. He glanced at Jack who was still looking down to the city. "What's your name, bud?"
"Jack Harlas."
"Well Jack, I'm Elijah Arcroft, it's nice to meet you."
"Same."
The two of them shook hands and Elijah walked away, carrying all of his things.
"Let's go," I say as I head down the stairs.
"Y-yeah."
He followed after me, and we followed the right canal just as the guard had said. Along the canal are a variety of food stands; weapon shops, medicine shops, and general stores. At these stores and stands were people haggling for goods they brought back from their jobs. Some of them carried weapons like spears, swords, and daggers along with a firearm of some sort. Some wore WC emblazoned clothes others wore a variety of armor types, ranging from steel to iron, to leather and hide. Each was likewise emblazoned with a big white WC.
"Why do you think they do that?"
He said as he noticed one man carrying a two-handed sword.
"Carry weapons like that? I don't know. How could I?"
"Yeah, that was a dumb question, sorry."
"So what rank did you get?" I asked.
"Only a D+," He said with some shame, "How about you?"
I didn't answer. My ego was crushed. There was no way I was really that weak, right? The canal flowed through the length of the time, and we followed it until it started to flow underground, by that time a small side gate that led out of the city was visible. A large clearing opened up just in front of it, and on the very edge of this clearing coming into town, was a squat stone building with a sign with a painting of a cat playing a violin.
"Are you going to do a job today?"
"Maybe. I'm going to look at them first."
"Yeah, same."
The door creaked as I pushed it open.
The room was dark, dusty, and dreary. Wooden floors creaked underfoot as I stepped forward to the counter. An elderly man with short-cropped black hair and a beard sat at the counter. A few people sat around an equally drab bar; taking drinks out of dirty glasses.
"Can I help you, lads?" The man asked as he pushed himself off of his chair.
"Uh, we're looking for a room."
"Got some available. 200 a night."
"What the fuck, that much?" I stomp my foot.
"250 if you keep that up little shit."
I shut my mouth.
"Is there storage in the room?" Jack asked.
"You get a shelf, a trunk a desk, and a bed. That's it."
"That's fine."
"Alright." He pulled out a device with a plastic button hooked up to a PID. "But your thumb here."
Jack set his thumb on the button and hissed as it took some of his blood.
"How long?"
"A week." He answered as he sucked on his thumb.
"1400 dollars it is. Room 205."
He handed Jack a large key.
"You going to rent a room, or are you going to bitch some more?"
"I'll rent a room."
Better than being homeless, and I had plenty of money to kill.
"You know the drill."
I set one of the ammo pouches down on the counter put my thumb on the button and squeeze my eyes shut. A slight pinch later the man asks.
"Lyle Kyle? How long?"
"A week as well."
"206."
He hands a similar-looking key over. While I grab it he grabs hold of my wrist. I tried to pull away, but his grip was strong. Unnaturally so.
"Look. New Eden is a friendly place, so don't start copping an attitude with every goddamn person you meet. Hagglin' is all well and good but don't do what you just did, ya hear?"
"O..okay."
He lets go and I shove the key in my pocket, pick up the ammo bag, and move up the stairs: bruises forming all along my arm, spitting curses under my breath as I push open my door and throw my armfuls of stuff on the bed.