Neter opened the door and glanced up the
stairwell, the smell of food breezing down from above was torture now. He knew
the stairs well, there were three flights and nowhere to hide if company
arrived. He scanned the Hub once more, listening for sounds over the hum of
machinery, it was like a ghost town. The Shipping storefront was still open but
there were no telling shadows on the walls. Determined to learn the truth, he
hurried up the stairs, ascending swiftly, sword in hand. The stair which he
knew fed into a hall which he didn't know; the Headquarters building had been
renovated. He paused to scan the length of the modern hallway, the exit was
marked.
The
sign led him to another hallway, then another hallway, it felt like he was
getting lost in a maze until sounds of life emerged ahead, sounds of laughter.
He slowed his pace and crept forward with caution. The hallway took a turn and
spat him out in a more familiar place; the Headquarters lobby.
The
lobby was just as he remembered, some things hadn't changed so much. He stood
in the shadows, searching for the source of voices, louder now… They were coming
from the reception hall. He inched towards the archway, a young guard was
flirting with a receptionist, they were ensconced in desire and obviously
misbehaving whilst on duty. He scanned the room, it was deserted... Where was everyone?
The
aromas of food were more pronounced upstairs. He glanced back across the lobby,
noticing now that he couldn't see the hallway he had emerged from… The remodeling
surrounded the stairs in such a way that one wouldn't necessarily know they
were there... Could it be possible
that someone like Vikkar could be deceived into believing they were
no longer still there? How else could it be possible that he didn't know? Now
he had more questions for Vikkar.
Conscious
of the time he hurried across the lobby, noticing the Gallery of the Gods
hadn’t changed much, either. Torus’s painting was new… There were was another new addition on the wall...
Neter
studied the painting of Nolan. He was handsome, definitely a modern Gen race
like Zara. He glanced at the plaque beneath. "Nolan God of Desire? Good grief!" It was all so insane. He
turned toward the front doors again, he had more questions for Zara, too. As he pushed the door open and peered out into
the street it was like travelling back in time, except that it wasn’t. A soft
rain was falling over the city he once called his home, giving the street a
soothing atmosphere. Feeling refreshed, he pondered his next move. He could
hear the steady drone of drumming and hollering coming from the courtyard
below, that was where the food smells were coming from too. Atlan was very much
alive and awake this night, there was a celebration in the Grand Courtyard
alright! A big celebration! That's
where everyone was! From here he could see smoke rising from the courtyard, a
glowing light was coming from the stage, illuminating the idol of Medel, his
eyes were lit up like a hideous theatrical prop.
Drumming
coming from an establishment across the square was competing for attention. He
could barely make out the words 'SKIN
CLUB' on a sign, hanging outside what looked like a Vine Club
establishment. He watched the street for a while, conscious of his blonde
hair, luminescent in the moonlight and debated investigating farther. This was as far as it was safe to go.
He
let his gaze wander toward the harbor at the foot of Main St, full of Atlan's
magnificent ships, calmly resting in the water, thinking again about Vikkar and
his gravel trade, docking regularly at the harbor below. His business took him
in and out of Atlan on a regular basis, was it really possible for Vikkar to
have been doing business for all these years and not know what was really going
on? Didn't the Nefilim know?
Out
on the street, everything appeared normal... There was absolutely no indication
of anything going on underground, at all. He thought again about the layout of
the new hallway, the obscured entrance to the establishment below. Perhaps it
was true, perhaps Vikkar really didn't know about the modern Underworld or the
operations taking place.
A
young couple walking up Main St wandered over to the fountain hand in hand,
giggling. He backed into the doorway, watching, they appeared to be
intoxicated. They kissed, giggled and teased, then the merchant pulled
something out of his pocket and handed it to the goddess, he pulled something
else out of his pocket and sparked a flame! He lit a pipe! The goddess inhaled!
"Ha!"
He chuckled, watching in amusement now, the Gens were secretly quite naughty!
He knew Atalon forbade any sort of smoking indulgences!
Again
the merchant lit her bowl, just in case he didn’t believe what he saw. Once
again, the goddess inhaled deeply then exhaled a plume of white smoke, coughing
and fanning her face as she passed the pipe back, giggling flirtatiously with
the merchant by her side.
Neter
couldn't believe his eyes, they were actually smoking...
As the breeze blew the plume of smoke his way, he took a whiff.
"Ugh!"
He almost blew his cover, coughing. It was a familiar odor, it wasn't tobacco that he knew of... It was strange... It wasn't nice... So why were they enjoying
it?
He
studied them with growing curiosity as their behavior became strange too, they
began wildly flailing their arms as if hallucinating on magical mushrooms,
without a care in the world...
Another
waft of the smoke blew his way.... Again he sniffed the air, trying to identify
the substance, deeply troubled by it’s ominous
familiarity. Neither Vikkar nor Zara had spoken a word of this. What were these exotic drugs?
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