Getting Screwed

< The City of Silver Lights

Prologue
"My son, my son, my son. My only true son... They do not have it. You..." The demon reclines in his throne, removing his helmet and revealing a scarred, brutal face. "You have failed to serve me. Were it not for your power, for my mercy, you'd be dead where you stand. Thine own father hath been betrayed by his own son, his own lying son! You bespawler! You do not deserve to call yourself son of Xeren!"

Meanwhile, a bleeding teenager was stuck in the mud, hugging the injured body of his friend as the sun rose.

Atticus and Marshall
"Help?" Atticus called out, as dawn began to break over the horizon. His wrist was still throbbing with pain and tiredness ran through every inch of his body, due to having spent the whole night in the forest.

Marshall still gripped Atticus with his arms. "I'll... help..." As he let go of Atticus, he slowly stood up. "5 meters to the left, there is one spider. About 4 meters up in the trees is a hummingbird. We are about eight hundred meters from the nearest demon. It is currently 6:03 A.M. We can't waste any time." He removed his shirt, revealing the bullet hole to be missing, and used it to hold Atticus' arm in place, before helping him up.

"But-" Atticus tried to speak in shock as Marshall helped him stand. "You're wounded, how are you even standing? You should be resting! And demons? The hell are you on about?"

He looked down at Atticus. "There is a city over..." Marshall pointed in a seemingly random direction. "There. I think there are humans over there too, but it's pretty fuzzy... My head kinda hurts, man."

"Let's go then," Atticus said as he began to slowly walk in the direction Marshall pointed. "Maybe the people you mentioned can help us, will you be able to keep up?"

“Is this the city you were talking about?” Atticus asked as they approached a set of steel gates.

“I’m not too certain, but we can definitely find help here,” Marshall assured him as they walked into the city.

Walking into the city together, Atticus and Marshall were greeted by armed soldiers dressed in metallic body suits that were stationed at the steel gates they had just walked passed.

"Hold up!" The lead of the group called out as soon as the duo fully walked passed the gate, steadily making his way to them until he was towering over the two teens. His face was barely visible due to his helmet, but his strong voice rang out clearly. "What reason do you have for entering Silvia? Something seems shady about you two."

"Uhh," Atticus started, looking over at Marshall, who simply shrugged. "Well, we're looking for some people. We recently got into some trouble and got separated from them. This was the closest city."

"Trouble, eh?" The guard replied, in an almost bored tone, as if he'd heard the same thing many times before. "Just what kind of "trouble" did you encounter?"

One of the back guards became to scuffle lightly and muttered under their breath, barely audible, "Probably just got drunk and lost their riches to some bitches or something, haha."

"Could you not be a jackass perhaps?" Marshall spat out. "We're just trying to enter the city."

The guard in the back laughed at that, pushing his way through the small crowd of guards and standing in front of Marshall. "Haha, this one has quite a bitchy mouth."

A loud clanking sound was then heard as Marshall lifted his fist up suddenly and took a swipe at the guard's face, clashing against his armor.

"Fucking bitch!" The guard screamed as he reeled against Marshall's blow. Another guard suddenly stepped forward, jabbing the spear he had in his hands at Marshall, who ducked under the rushing blade and kicked the man in his back with enough force to send him to his knees.

The original guard then leaped forward again, lunging at Marshall and kneeing him in the stomach, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Now now boys, that's enough horsing around." A female guard came out from the shadows, pushing past the guards. She was short, and had long purple hair thrown up in a messy bun and blue eyes. "I'm off break for now before you do anything rash." She pushed past the line of guards and helped Marshall up, looking over at him and Atticus.

"Are you two okay? Do you need any help?" The guard asked them, as the rest of the guards scuffed and whispered among each other.

Marshall grabbed hold of her hand, staring up at her before quickly grabbing hold of himself and standing back up. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just pissed. So funny how your guards like to team up against people like that."

Atticus then stepped forward, glaring at Marshall before shaking his head and turning his attention to the woman. "We're not exactly "fine" at all. We were recently separated from our friends and we, uh, in an accident of some sorts. Haven't eaten in a while as well."

"Hmm." the female guard replied. "There's nothing I can do about your food issue or your accident. But I can give you this." She placed a map in Atticus' hand. "It's a map of the city. It will help you navigate around, and hopefully find your friends if they are here."

"I also apologize about my guards. They can be a bit.. immature, sometimes." She walked over to the line of guards, crossing her arms. All of the guards hurriedly moved to the side, opening the gate. "Oh, and in case you need anything, my name is Kailan. You are always welcome back here if you need help."

Atticus wrapped his hand around the map, pulling it from the woman's grasp and then looking down at it, gazing at a well-drawn and detailed map.

"Alright, thanks... Kailan," he said, distracted by looking at the map. Once the guards had fully walked away, Marshall walked over to Atticus and grabbed the map from him, taking a glance as well.

"You could have just, like, asked for it." Atticus replied, rolling his eyes at Marshall's behavior.

"Unneeded." Marshall said, glancing up from the map and looking around the city. "I say we head over to a cafe and get something to eat."

"We literally have no money. You also never answered my question. How are you so well instantly? You were literally shot and dying just a few hours ago."

"Do you truly think we need money?" Marshall laughed, ignoring Atticus's other question. "Just follow me."

Atticus glared as Marshall walked farther into the city without seeming to have a care in the world, walking behind him shortly after.

Chris
A few miles away, Chris McFarlane was tucked into a bed inside of a cell that resembled a college dormitory, only without personal possessions. A green sign over the cell read "Reactivation Station." Chris' neck was plugged into the wall, as he was being recharged after a long journey. The bed was rather stiff and uncomfortable, but Chris did not mind.

He slowly opened his blue metallic eyes and began to get a feel for his surroundings. Right away, Chris noticed that he was not dressed in his usual attire. He was wearing a green and black jumpsuit with a stylized, "ATC" on it, as well as a #15. Endless possibilities went through Chris' mind as he staggered off the bed.

He peered in through the only window in the room, where he saw another android sleeping. This android appeared to be wearing human pajamas, but had no skin, merely a metal skeleton. Ever so carefully, Chris crept over to the tall door at the front of his room, where he noticed a man in a puffy green Alchemilia Corp sweatshirt.

At least, he thought it was a man, but then noticed the laser-like red eyes. It was another android. He must have been in some sort of training facility. Chris sat down on a squashy armchair directly opposite his bed, and decided to wait for some signal that he was supposed to leave for training or some "lunch" of new batteries or whatever was in store for him in this strange new place.

A piercing loud bell rang. Chris deduced this was some sort of "Going-To-Training-Bell", a hypothesis that was proven correct when he saw the schedule on his door, with a time for the first session that was precisely five minutes after the time on his watch, 6:03 AM.

The training session was apparently in room A123. Chris, excited to be heading to his first class, followed a group of androids also wearing two-color jumpsuits into the A-Hall.

After a minute or so of walking, Chris finally found the room and turned the doorknob. He could hear a female voice giving instructions, but couldn't quite make it out.

Chris enjoyed his first training session, much to his surprise. During the session, each of the androids had been told to pair up into groups of 2 and disguise as each person in a set list of photographs given to them by the instructor. Chris successfully disguised as each of them, but his partner, an android by the name of A.L.F.R.E.D., didn't have much luck, and kept mixing the people up.. Chase ended up having to slow down his own disguising to help Alfred. When the lesson was done, the instructor gave him extra-credit points, which made Chris extremely happy. "This is such an honor," Chris replied, oblivious to the fact that he had just made a joke.

Meanwhile, Chris had taken a break from his training for "recess", where robots recharged themselves and did whatever they wanted for a whole hour. Chris headed over to the Recess Instructor, a tall man that towered over him. "I'd like to do some running, can I get my gym clothes?" Chris asked. It was a lie of course. He had no intention of doing any such thing.

"Yes, that's fine, but hurry back," The instructor said, smiling.

Chris proceeded to run to the first open room he saw.

Previously, Chris managed to break out a small space in his room's window; one that was just large enough for him to fit through. He began searching for a disguise of some sort, one that he could wear as he used his window's opening. To his fortune, he found a duffle bag that contained an orange-and-white guard uniform.

"Perfect! This android must have been a former guard, but gotten fired, yet this remained its casual attire." Chris thought to himself.

After noticing a pair of sunglasses and a bottle of quick red hair dye, Chris slipped the sunglasses on and hastily ran the dye through his hair. Now in his new uniform and with the duffle bag slung over his shoulder, Chris crept into the open hallway.

"Peterson, where are you going?" A woman called out.

"I am going to take an android to the scrap yard," Chris said as he took a left, pleased that there was a guard that looked a decent amount like him.

"Uhm, scrap yard's in the other direction though," the woman said. Making a hasty decision, Chris then bolted straight for the scrap yard.

After managing to find his way to the scrap yard, Chris experienced something he rarely felt. Emotion, and horror at that. There was an innumerable amount of bodies in the yard, most haphazardly placed wherever there was space. The corpses were androids who had been disassembled, looted and left to rot.

Chris noticed one of them was a McFarlane model. The clothing and hairstyle was different, but the face was clearly the same mold Andrew had used for Chase himself.

He looked across the yard noticing a tall fence he could possibly climb over. He begin to make his way towards it when he realized that on the ground was broken parts of androids that had been tossed out to be recycled. He hurried to the fence accidentally dropping his duffle bag.

Chris carefully climbed the tall fence, jumping down and ascended into the woods, hoping he would be able to find Atticus, Melissa and the others.

Chris then came to the stunning realization that he had no idea where he was going or where he even was. The forest was dark, despite the sunlight surrounding it. The trees all looked the same, their twisted branches and gaping holes probably would have scared a human to death. Although he saw some stuff growing from the forest floor, he realized that they were, for sure, weeds and rocks. A small furry creature darted past, and Chris looked to see what it was running towards.

After losing sight of the creature, Chris, a little dumbstruck, bumped right into a tree. Suddenly, he heard movement behind the tree. Wondering if it was the fuzzy creature again, Chris turned...and saw something he had not expected. It was two young human boys of about 15, with a great resemblance that implied they were brothers. One of them wore glasses, while the other was slightly stockier.

The younger brother, the one with glasses, appeared to be holding something. Though Chris could not see exactly what it was.

"That was a fairly epic robbery Harrison." smirked the older brother.

"Thank you, Piercy." replied the younger brother. "I'm sure The Demon will be pleased with what we robbed for him. We'll be handsomely rewarded for our efforts for sure".

"I'll get the big half, as I'm the older brother." said Piercy.

"I was the one that did the robbery, so if either of us get the big half, it should be me." said Harrison. "You barely helped".

"Robberies?" Chris accidentally blurted aloud, tripping over a rock in front of the tree.

As Chris had predicted for the tiniest space of time, the brothers had heard him. They both turned around.

Though the two of them did look surprised to see that someone had managed to overhear them without their knowledge, one look at their faces convinced Chris that they had braced themselves for the unexpected.

"And who might you be?" asked Harrison. There was something devious about the glint in his eyes. "We had no idea there was anyone else nearby".

"That's right." said Piercy.

"Ah, salutations, gentlemen," Chris said. "My name is Cunning Humanoid Robot Intelligence Series McFarlane MKII," Chris then grabbed onto the tree branch, attempting to get a closer look at what they were holding, but Harrison was blocking it from view.

"Well it's nice to meet you I guess." said Harrison, though neither he nor Piercy looked reassured that it really was nice to meet him.

"Your name sure is one of the most bizarre names that I have ever heard." said Piercy. "It's almost as if it's a model name of some sort, for some kind of robot. Is that your nickname, may I ask?"

Chris then saw that both Harrison and Piercy were wearing what appeared to be arrow holders. But the arrows themselves did not look very, if at all, deadly.

"My exact species classification is an android." Chris said. "And from what I can gather, the neutrality of my class of beings is highly valuable, so I would much prefer if you explained details concerning your current situation." Chris wasn't sure how he remembered that, perhaps Gabriel's technology had some effect after all.

"And what exactly is an Android?" asked Harrison.

"Androids are high technology, fully functional, extremely complex bionic robots that contain human-like outer appearances, thus enabling us to blend in with the human race more easily than traditional robots." Chris explained.

"I think I may have come across the word before." said Harrison. "But I didn't know exactly what they were".

"I don't believe I've ever heard of them to be honest." said Piercy. "But something about hearing them makes me hesitant to trust anyone that admits to being one".

"I wouldn't be hesitant to trust us. We're not a harmful species." Chris assured Harrison and Piercy, still staring with amazement at the set of arrows they were carrying. "And what purpose do the arrows serve?"

Piercy, surprised that Chris was interested in their valuable weapons, explained, "The arrows are to threaten people that stand in our way. While they do deal damage, they are almost never fatal, but they scare our enemies nonetheless. We do use a second kind of arrow which has hollow points and is often fatal. Though we don't tend to use them unless it is highly inconvenient for us not to. Usually these arrows are all that we need."

"Interesting" replied Chris. "I never used any sort of arrows before, but your usage of them sounds quite efficient."

"I suppose so," said Harrison.

"Well then, I ought to get going, I really should be focused on locating some people I was with, I am using up valuable time right here."

"Ah alright then. Do you know where you are going?" Harrison asked, feigning concern. "This forest can be very tricky to get out of. There's some silver lights overlooking a city to the east, following its light is usually the best way to find your way out of the forest."

"Thanks very much for the directions, but I don't need them, I am positive I know where I am going," Chris lied as he turned around. He slightly hesitated for a second, unsure of exactly where to go before walking away. Once he was out of their view, he ditched the slow pace and started sprinting in the direction of the city. As he ran, he thought long and hard about whether or not he considered Atticus, Melissa, Savannah, and Marshall friends. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he did not see himself crash into the debris of a wrecked car.

"He'll be lucky if he ever finds out of this forest." Piercy chuckled. "He didn't look like he was very certain of his way".

"I think it would still pay to inform The Demon of this Cunning guy, in case he did over-hear our conversation." Harrison replied.

A lanky man in a black shozoku with a red scarf around his mouth watched the two brothers talk as he hid behind the trees, making sure to keep view of himself hidden.

"Those idiots..." he thought to himself. "Talking loudly about my father and their recent feats, without a fucking care in the world. As stupid as they are, they are right though. This would be useful information for Father to know. A McFarlane android...still thriving. It would make a brilliant addition to our team."

Savannah
As the sun rose in the sky, kissing the surrounding area of Siliva in its light, Savannah noticed how the buildings and streets began to reflect a beautiful silvery glow. Struck by its beauty, she looked over at Warren and managed to utter "How does..the city glow like this?"

“Stunning, isn’t it?” Warren snickered. “It was a beauty to me when I was younger. Each light in this city has a base made from the finest quartz crystals. These lights don’t run on electricity. They run solely on the crystals, giving them a silver glow and a lovely brightness. The effects of these crystals, which are all located deep under ground, are amplified by the stainless steel that our lamps rest in.” Warren was absolutely delighted by Savannah’s clear curiosity and interest, remembering how curious he had been when he first moved to Silivia.

Savannah sat intensely focused, attentively nodding at Warren's stories. "How long has it been like this?" Savannah asked Warren curiously.

"This city has existed since before the great war," Warren said. "It remained largely untouched, thanks to the power of the lights to repel those horrible beasts. It's notoriety and importance led it to become the capital of Thales. I do believe the lights were first installed a thousand or so years ago when some weird event happened, but I don't know what it was. Led to the war, that's for sure."

"Absolutely fascinating," Savannah began, until she fully caught unto what Warren had said earlier. "Beasts?" she asked, visibly confused. "What do you mean, 'beasts'? Monsters, some army? Can you elaborate or something?"

He looked back at the girl, dumbfounded at her question. "You're kidding," he snickered. "Surely I do not have to explain this, I mean you have to know what a demon is right? Cause for humanity's decline, the low population, something, anything? Come on now. Everyone knows about demons in this age."

"I honestly have no clue as to what you're talking about. Surely you are the one who ought to be kidding, what is this demon foolishness? I'm sorry, I am just really confused."

Back in Siliva, Savannah suddenly remembered that the others were as far as she knew still in the woods.

"There are a couple more people I need to find," she said half-panicked to Warren. "Is there room for more in this house?"

"I'm afraid this is quite a small house, but I could try my best to accommodate you," Warren assured Savannah, quickly checking his watch. "My my, it's almost time for me to head to work. Take care of yourself, Savannah. Make yourself at home, maybe go out for a walk," Warren smiled as he went into the house to get his coat.

"What do you do?" asked Savannah curiously.

"I work at the Guild of Silivian Writers. Our mission is to write books that are both entertaining and realistic," Warren explained, as he walked out though the open doorway and headed for the sidewalk. "Farewell, Savannah,"

"Very interesting," Savannah replied fascinated. "Goodbye, Warren." Savannah went over to Warren's bookshelf and decided to read one of his books for herself. As she was sitting down to read, however, she heard a noise near the window and quickly sprang up to see what it was.

Back at Warren's, Savannah was still reading one of Warren's books but while doing so, she had an orange striped cat she took in. The noise near the window was that cat who had gotten lost and fell off a bin. Savannah took in the cat and named her Mittens.

Melissa

 * = Previous night =

As Melissa ran from the demon and Atticus, eventually, she regretted her choice to leave him behind. She paused for a moment almost turning to head back, when she heard a faint scream not being able make out what it said. A wave of sadness rushed through her believing the worst had happened.

She turned once more and headed towards the lights, tree branches and plants smacking against her, as she ran. Soon she came to an empty road, she paused to watch her surroundings.

Not far from her, she saw a city showered in silver light, surrounded by a wall as if to protect the innocent lives within, it was beautiful. She could see an entrance to it with a bridge in front.

She began to walk towards the city slowly before collapsing at the entrance. She leaned against the wall as the effects of recent events started to come to her. She hugged her knees as she started to think about the others and how this started with her waking up in that barn. Once again she wondered who she was and how she had gotten placed in this to begin with.

She couldn't find a single memory of her past or who these people where that were with her. She began to cry softly into the silent night in both fear and regret from having left, Atticus behind believing him to have been killed, and it her fault. the only sound that could heard was her sobs slowly she cried herself until she quickly fell asleep having been worn out from recent events.


 * == Morning ==

She didn't notice as the sun had rose up, until she heard voice of a man. "Miss...? What's wrong?" she quickly woke not realizing until, now she had even fallen asleep and rubbed her eyes allowing them to adjust to the bright light.

The man, wearing a long white trench coat and with grayish-green hair, asked again. "Miss..? Do you need any help?"

Hearing the voice, Melissa quickly wiped away her tears and took a few breaths to regain herself. "No, thank you." She replied to the strange man she saw standing before her, feeling a sense of distrust due to her past encounters with Gabriel Alchemilia. "What is this place?" She asked in wonder, looking around at the glowing city.

"Silivia, reasonably the most well-known city in Thales, as it is the largest. Are you sure you don't need any help?" The man says, putting his hands in the pockets of his coat. "How did you get here? Why exactly were you crying, if I may ask..?"

Melissa looked around at the small part of the city she could see, before turning to answer him. "Well......it's a long story but the people I were with were killed...." She replied, slowly piecing together her memories of the previous night. "Um... have you seen a young girl named Savannah?"

"I wouldn't say i haven't, but i have not met someone with the name today, what does she look like?" Richard asked, calm but puzzled.

"Um.. well she has pale skin, long brown hair, and brown eyes and she is a bit taller then I am." She said answering him.

"Well, well. Mmm.." Richard thought about it for a moment. "No, i don't believe so. Sorry."

Melissa looked disappointed. "Alright, I'm new here, I'm not really sure what to do now, plus I'm slightly lost, do you have an idea of what I could do?"

Richard looked at the poor girl quivering in front of him. "You look exhausted, let me take you to the lab and I can help you out," he suggested, giving off a warm smile.

Melissa paused for a moment before nodding knowing it would be better then staying in the strange city alone. "How far is it?"

"Not far, about 5 minutes walk," Richard replied, estimating.

"Alright." Melissa looked around them one last time waiting to follow Richard to his lab as she shivered slightly from the cold.

"Come with me, it's this way." Richard said, and the two headed off to the lab.

Richard and Melissa stood outside a big silver building. Strange pipes poked out either side. Steam wafted out an open window. "Welcome...to the Laboratory of the Unexplainable" Richard exclaimed proudly.

Melissa looked around shyly and in wonder but didn't move to enter the building. "Why is it named Laboratory of the Unexplainable?" she asked suddenly distrusting.

Richard explained. "We investigate the things scientists can't even begin to understand. The strange phenomenons throughout Euclid. The 'unexplainable'. Come, let me show you."

Melissa paused hesitantly. "Alright, show me."

Richard opened the door for Melissa. "Come, you have much to see."

Melissa walked inside the lab nervously.

The door opened into a room filled with high tech equipment and bubbling chemicals. A brown haired, thin man stood inside, reading some papers. He saw Melissa in the corner of his eye and spun around in surprise. "Melissa, you're back! I was so worried!" he exclaimed

Melissa stared at the male in shock. "Who are you? How do you know my name?" She said stepping back towards the door.

"It's me. It's Steven." He noticed Melissa still didn't recognize him. "Your brother."

Divided we Fall >