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We left the Academy into the frigid night air and headed north. The sun had set hours ago, but it was still another hour before the curfew would go into effect. Still, the streets were quiet and deserted with only the occasional late-night traveler hurrying home. The snow was well-trampled and dirty.
We crossed West Boulevard, the dividing line that separated the Sunfire District from Eclipse. That near area - south of the red light district and Trade Union offices - was mostly dedicated to crafting shops and facilities. It was one of the main hubs for Ethanolics Anonymous' crafters. The place we were interested in, however, was a slice deep into the district and toward the edge of the city, where the fantasy broke into a more touristy zone. While the streets remained cobbled and the buildings maintained heavy, old brick and stonework, the shopfronts took on large glass displays with electric lighting and neon signs promising 'GAMES', 'PRIZES', and 'DUNGEON CRAWLER EXTREME'.
We passed by a group of players loitering outside an arcade, their conversation hushed but animated as they compared some kind of collectible cards under the glow of a streetlamp.
"Curfew's in thirty minutes." A World Guard peacekeeper approached the group. "If you want to chat, take it to an inn."
They dispersed with moderate annoyance.
The peacekeeper's gaze shifted to us, lingering on Livitha, who looked completely out of place in her Resistance cloak. But he merely frowned and continued his patrol.
Livitha scanned the street, her eyes narrowing as she took in the gaudy displays and flashing lights. "I'll admit I'm not familiar with this part of the city. We need to find the hidden recesses - do you know where to start?"
I was familiar, yeah. And come to think of it, I thought I knew exactly the place.
"What about that place on 67th Street?" I suggested.
Cherry's eyes lit up. "Oh, yeah! That place is shady as hell!"
On the north side of the entertainment district, or rather, where the entertainment district transitioned into the flavors of entertainment that were taken up by the mafia guilds, there existed a hazy zone where neither World Guard peacekeepers nor mafia security bothered with. It was the truly lawless no-man's land dressed as a strip mall. The snow had piled higher there, untrampled and pristine aside from our own footprints cutting through it like the first explorers on a foreign shore.
The place was completely deserted when we arrived, but it would have been empty even without the approaching curfew. The only people who dared to shop there were either hapless wanderers who didn't know what it was, or those addicted to the Chinese place's crab rangoon. They were good, but not worth the risk in my opinion. Just standing there in the open made me feel like I was going to get mugged.
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"This is definitely the kind of place they would hide." Livitha said. "Perfectly out of sight."
I blew on my hands, trying to keep them warm. "So what's the plan? Kick in every door until we find someone?"
"There." Livitha pointed upward. "Let's get up on the roofs. We'll have a good vantage of the surroundings."
She led us into a narrow alley next to a tall, warehouse-like grocery store building. Livitha sized up the wall, then adjusted her gloves. Her eyes flashed with a dull yellow light, and she slapped her glove against the wall. The leather stuck to the stone as if it had been glued there. She placed her other hand higher up and repeated the process, then her feet. Within seconds, she was a few feet off the ground, clinging to the vertical surface like a gecko.
"Climb on my back. I'll take you up one at a time."
I went first - I wrapped my arms around Livitha's shoulders, hugging her from behind. Underneath the cloak, she was surprisingly muscular. She didn't even grunt at the added weight - it was like I was nothing to her. Climbed right up the brick wall like it was a ladder.
When we reached the top, Livitha brought herself up high enough for me to roll off onto the roof. I scrambled over the edge, and she hopped down to grab Cherry.
I stood up and surveyed our surroundings. From there, I could see across the entire no-man's land - a grid of dark streets and silent buildings stretching out in all directions. Beyond that, the lights of the main entertainment district glowed like a distant carnival, and even further, the Citadel loomed against the night sky, a starless hole staring down at us.
Cherry's excited whoop broke the silence as Livitha brought her up to the roof. She hopped off Livitha's back with considerably more enthusiasm than I had, bouncing around the roof excitedly.
"That's cool!" Cherry exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Can you teach us how to do that?! Just imagine climbing up a wall and hanging from the ceiling to record people's conversations!"
Livitha pulled off her gloves, carefully detaching them from her hands. They continued to stick to everything they touched as she stuffed them into her belt pouch.
"It's just a Seal infusion." she said. "Your best bet for learning it would be... Somewhere in one of the Academy's water-based schools."
Taking that to mean it was a mage class, I opened my class tree and scrolled through the magic branch. "Azure Mage, maybe? Let's ask Trevor about it later."
Livitha walked to the edge of the roof and looked down at the streets running underneath. "Yes, this will work nicely." She pointed to different sides of the building. "Now we need to wait. I'll take this side, one of you watch the back, and the third get some rest."
"Oh hell yeah!" Cherry punched the air. "Stakeout time! It's been way too long since we've been able to do one of these! You still got the camping equipment, Jack?"
I nodded and started to unpack our camping gear from my inventory. A pair of small tents followed by a portable heater. As I set them up, I remembered something else I was carrying.
"Oh! Right, this'll help!" I spawned Liz's drone from my inventory and activated it, letting it hover in front of us. It made a soft buzzing sound, but in the light snowfall, it was barely noticeable and practically invisible against the dark sky.
Livitha nodded. "Excellent. Let me know if you see anything unusual - and anything at all is unusual at this hour."
Cherry set up our camping equipment while I calibrated the drone's controls. She placed a few cans of beans on the heater, and soon the smell of warm food filled the cold air around us. We sat on stools around the heater, watching the drone's screen as I piloted it in circles a few blocks out from our building.
It wasn't an unbeatable tool - the snow interfered with visibility, and I kept it high to avoid being heard. Still, it let us effortlessly search the entire area without moving from our spot - and eat beans while doing it!
