Xander walked through the Outer Ring; his cloak worn as he slowly made his way through the labyrinthine city. He looked around at the decrepit huts made up of the left-over steel plates that the builders from the Zones sometimes throughout, lit up by ancient castaway lamps which flickered through the darkness.
All around him he could hear the sounds of bartering, corruption, depravity around him along with the signature smell of smoke which wrapped around the city and made its way to the nose of every citizen, causing tempers to flare. He glanced at a nearby flea market where two men were competing for the incoming foot traffic.
"Selling five loaves of bread here for one silver. Only the best quality here."
"His bread is made up of sawdust and bad spirits. Get yourselves some real bread at 3 bronze per loaf! Just 3 bronze!"
"Are you trying to undercut my honest establishment here? You know your product is stored in that mold-filled excuse of a warehouse!"
He didn't deny the mold-filled part, Xander thought as he whisked his way through the lively market.
No one paid much attention to him.
There wasn't enough sympathy for the rejects of science for anyone else.
However, if they looked into his eyes, they would notice him then. Shuddering, Xander held his head down as he went into the nearby stairwell leading him into another level of the outskirts.
Posters advertising various reforms and the kingdom surrounded the stairwell as Xander descended down the staircase to Level B1 though they were mainly useless propaganda. One of the only things the Kingdom did for these souls after they gave up was label and divide the layers of the Outer Ring.
Made it easier to pick up dead bodies, he supposed, one of the only things the government bothered to do here. His home was on B4 where River was waiting. Hopefully with some bread waiting for him at home. He would sell the Jade tomorrow as soon as possible; it was useless to River and even more for himself.
To pay for the six months of rent, I would need about two gold coins for us. I should set enough food for a month or so, so about fifty silver coins and then some.
The Jade... I can take it for auction for that shining hermit below us... Probably would net us three gold coins in exchange.
That means we would have one gold and eighty five silver remaining for anything else.
He smiled as he clutched the Jade in his hand thinking about the profits as he descended yet another staircase looking at the people around him constantly. He made sure his cloak was secure and hiding his face securely.
All sorts of odd figures passed through the staircase no matter the time of day.
Old couples traveled up the staircase to scour around for cheap food around the upper floors where competition was highest. Workers, covered in strange marks and seemingly showered in ash went back from their labor in the Zones, probably used as test subjects or shown off at the Academy to scare children.
He sometimes swore that he saw walking corpses with hollowed out cheeks and bandaged up torsos sometimes, but River never believed him.
It wasn't that strange to see hunched over corpses still grasping the rusted metallic handrails in the large staircase she reasoned, but they were still living. Though one time, Xander had to cover River's eyes from a rotting corpse covered in cuts and bites as they went up the layers to find a book for her birthday.
Sighing, Xander found himself in front of a large sign next to a doorway a few meters in length. In monochromatic writing, the text read--if you could read it through the myriad of scratches and dents in the flimsy metal, "B4". It reminded Xander of prisons. His eyes ached again.
He walked out of the staircase and found himself in the familiar sight. Welcome back to B4.
People try their best to live normal lives in the layer, just like him. Though he probably broke the law more than most residents here.
It was close enough to the business layers for their different groceries, needs, and work and not low enough for the true underbelly of the Outer Ring which created the reputation and idea for the entire province.
Schools, mandated by the government, were placed in the layer to teach students basic knowledge and, more importantly, scout out new Wunderkind.
"River's around that age, isn't she? She'll need a lot more books then. More books than when I was her age." Xander mused to himself. He heard a startled noise to the left of him.
"You're back so soon Xander?" An elderly guard sitting on a nearby table spoke to Xander. He had white hair reminiscent of the snow that sometimes passed through the kingdom. His eyes which sunk so far into his face that Xander doubted would let any light in, not like he needed to. He was currently hunched down with a newspaper in front of him, never opened.
"Yeah, my boss told me that I deserved to go home early today. Carried a lot of lumber." Xander smiled genuinely as he felt his pockets again. "Still blind?"
"How'd you know?" Grant chuckled a bit as he gestured the youth toward him.
"Read me a little bit of the news today. I heard that something really extraordinary is happening this time of year."
"You've said the same thing for years now."
"Doesn't mean it's not true." Grant laughed in that weird way of his, with him somehow not coughing up a lung with the racket he was making. "Incredible things happen everyday to random people. The big man up above knows how to make life interesting."
"Did you carry this newspaper just for me to read it?"
"You have the best voice in Layers, Xander. That's what makes you so great."
Xander sighed as he took a look at the newspaper and looking at the front page, seeing a picture of a man in a lab coat--in what Xander thought was colored green from the black and white photo--standing next to a band of twenty-or-something year olds with smiles on their face.
One girl in front was shaking hands with the scientist, dressed in an elaborate green dress, poofy like the flowers River liked to collect when she was young. She had sharp eyes that seemed fit for the camera.
She annoyed Xander for some reason, but he read for the old man's sake.
"The 86th class of the L'Avenir Academy graduates with high honors. Lead Savant Rhodes hands early diploma to the 87th class president. New Wunderkinds show promise for the future. Glory to Versprechen." He rolled his eyes when talking about the
"Thanks Xander. I can always count on you." The old guard smiled softly and put his hand on Xander's shoulder.
Grant suddenly had an odd demeanor, tightening his grip on Xander's shoulder. He must've been going senile lately or something, because he kept on doing that lately. From time to time, Xander saw him staring into the wall, not responding to anything with his hands clenched.
Whenever he saw that, Xander didn't really know how to help him, but Grant kept on going about his day after a few moments. Those moments though, did scare Xander.
"Grant, are you fine?"
After a brief silence, Grant beamed. "Of course I'm fine. You're here after all. I can always count on you."
Xander frowned quickly and tightened his grip on the Jade in his pocket.
"You shouldn't."
"I know a good person when I see one." He pointed at his caves for eyes as he squeezed out some laughter. He seemed sentimental to Xander as he continued to speak. "People like you should live longer than me, Xander."
"Almost everyone can do that." Xander rolled his eyes and patted Grant on the back. "I'm not planning on dying anytime soon anyway."
He couldn't of dying right now. He had to deliver his payload soon anyway.
Brushing off the hand on his shoulder, he was about to leave the table until Grant reached out and grabbed his arm, this time standing. That was a bit concerning so he turned around where he heard Grant's request.
"Xander, let's talk tomorrow morning. Okay?"
What was he talking about? Xander scanned the old man for any reason for his request, but there was nothing. Nothing except a strange willful aura around him that made Xander shudder. It must've a remnant of his old commander days that he boasted about.
"You're scaring me," Xander said jokingly but he agreed, "But okay. I've got time tomorrow."
"Good." Grant seemed relieved, and that put Xander at ease. That type of military aura wasn't fit to be around him anyway. Grant had an odd expression as he sat back down on his chair.
Xander left the table and Grant put his feet on the table and began humming to himself as the two parted ways. He listened to the nostalgic melody before leaving for home.
Grant swatted at a fly on him as he stared straight upward as he began to drift off to sleep. The fly dropped down dead instantly and he smiled amused.
A skinny guard came up next to Grant and coughed to let him know he was there.
"You should get some sleep, I'm here to take over."
Grant nodded and he felt the handrail back to the stone build guard barracks. The tall guard was looking at the newspaper in front of him as Grant left and the guard suddenly had a sad look on his face reading the top headline of the day.
"18th Anniversary of the Eleuthera Cult's massacre. The Wunderkinds vow to find the perpetrator who burned the Zone 9 to a crisp. Reminder for all to be on the lookout for the Red-Eyed Child of Ignorance. Investigations by Disciplinary Director in Zone 1 taking place."