Chapter 21

The sunlight beaming in from the window of my room woke me from my dream of a blonde haired beauty. My eyes felt like grit had been rubbed into them. I could smell the scent of beer and alcohol wafting from my body.

Despite the massive amount of alcohol I had consumed last night, I was not plagued with even the smallest of hangovers.

Flicking my eyes to the upper right, I checked the time. During my travels, I had played with the abilities of the implant and found I could fix all sorts of information to my eyesight. It was exactly like a HUD. Not wanting to clutter my vision, for now, I kept it simple and only had the time listed. Placing it as high as my eyes could travel into the back of my skull meant I would only see it when I wanted.

It was 7.30am. I jumped out of bed and grabbed the towel Nicholas had lent me yesterday. There was just enough time to take a shower. A long one if others didn't bother me.

I double checked to make sure the door was locked and entered the shower. The hot water felt miraculous. The water was so comforting that when the water started to become colder I realized I had been showering for more than 30 minutes.

The ability to bathe daily with hot water was new to me. Back home the showers were communal. Lukewarm was the best you could expect and there were always other people present in their own shower stalls to drain the enjoyment out of showering.

Nicholas wouldn't like that I wasted so much water, but he didn't have to know. I would pay more attention in the future.

When I stepped out and began to dry myself, I realized I would need to get some cash really soon. I didn't even have a toothbrush. My mouth felt like a dirty cesspool with bacteria colonies growing in it. The lack of soap was a problem as well.

After putting Nicholas's spare clothing on again, I placed the towel back in my room to dry and went downstairs. The common room was completely empty. The chaotic mess from the night before had been completely cleaned as if it had never existed.

Not knowing what to do, I sat at the bar and waited. What could I do? Without any money, I was stuck in place for now. I really needed to meet Nicholas's contact and get some money. I wasn't sure exactly how much I would get, but it should be enough to at least pay for the day to day and maybe even buy some fuel and ammo for the Calipso. Fixing the Calipso's damaged rifle might even be an option.

There was also a need to restock the ammo for the submachine gun. I had spent nearly a third of it in my battle with the core beasts during my travel here.

Most important of all I needed to find a way to extract my mother from Grey Rock City with none the wiser. My thought was to obtain a false ID for me and her. Slip in. Slip out. Trash the ID and never use it again. It wouldn't be that simple though. Bringing my mother across the wilderness to Anarchy city would be extremely dangerous for her.

To top it all off, it had to be done within a time limit. I gave myself a month to get it done. Too much longer and my mother would run out of medicine. Even if she had an unending supply of it, she must be worried about me. Maybe she already received news of the group I had left with disappearing.

If any city had people with the capabilities to offer false ID and or methods to sneak my mother out of Grey Rock City it would be this one. Anarchy City was well known for its spy network.

How else could the bandits and "privateers" get information on trade caravans to make a move on? Wandering around aimlessly would likely net a group a whole bunch of nothing.

I also needed to arrange things here. Without figuring the situation in Anarchy city out, it would be foolhardy to set roots down here. I could be bringing my mother into a dangerous situation. There wasn't a doubt in my mind I had made waves of some sort by coming here.

Two old world armor, no matter how damaged one of them might be, tended to make waves. There was probably already rumors and whispers floating around about a battered young man showing up alone with two old world armor.

What would people do with that knowledge? More importantly, what would the powers that be in Anarchy city do with said knowledge? I didn't maintain the illusion I would be left alone to do as I please. Even leaving the city would probably spell a quick death for me. How many groups of greedy armor pilots would set about tracking me down the instant I left in an attempt to part me from my armor?

Obtaining an old world armor and keeping it were two separate things entirely. I needed to be cautious with my next moves.

An old man once told me the most cruel and vicious creatures on the planet were not core beasts. They were humans. His words were absolute truth that I took to heart.

My mind went over and over what would need to be done. Lists were made in my head and a general outline started to take shape.

The smell of cooking food dragged me from my list making and planning. A heavenly scent drifted from between the cracks of the kitchen door and teased my nose. The scent reminded me I hadn't eaten at all yesterday and my stomach roared with the desire to consume food.

Looking around the common room and seeing no one around, I made my way to the kitchen door and pushed it open slowly.

Inside the kitchen, Alice was cooking. She was humming a light tune and doing a sort of dance while she glided around the kitchen. She had a large smile on her face and she seemed to float instead of walk around.

I leaned against the door frame and watched in silence. Watching her was like looking at moving art. Every move she made was elegant and beautiful. She seemed innocent and completely defenseless. Call me a stalker or a weirdo if you want. I'm just a young man not accustomed to being around pretty girls. The girls from back home were nothing like Alice.

After a minute of watching her without her notice, I coughed lightly into one hand and cleared my throat.

Alice performed a small started jump and yelped in surprise before she spun around and laid eyes on me. I could see the blush on her face as she looked to the ground in embarrassment.

I didn't understand my desire to make this girl blush at all. I just gave her a big grin and openly showed my amusement at her actions.

Once again she surprised me. She smiled widely and spoke.

"Were you cold last night? We can fix that tonight if you like?"

I choked back the teasing words I was about to speak and giggled a bit. It seems I would have to pay a price every time I made her blush. Alice was no pushover. Though, the price of admission was worth it.

Her words brought back memories of what happened last night. A feeling of deep shame at my foolishness last night crept up inside me. God, i had barely known the girl for a few hours and I had already made an ass of myself.

"No... I'll be fine."

"Are you sure? You know my mom is always-"

I cut her off mid-sentence.

"Nope. Nope. It's good. I'm fine. It was VERY warm."

My sheepish expression seemed to have won me a reprieve. She let it go and began mixing the contents of a pot while humming a triumphant little tune with a grin.

Deciding to move on, I left the door frame and walked into the kitchen. Looking into the pot, my eyes beheld a stew that made my mouth water. Large chunks of carrot and potatoes floated around mixed with what looked to be a healthy amount of beef.

It looked absolutely delicious. When I approached the pot closely a large wooden spoon was thrust into my face. Leaning back to avoid sauce splashing on my face, a beautiful set of glaring eyes assailed me.

"Don't touch! I hate it when people stick their fingers in the food. My dad does that all the time!"

"Alright. Alright. I was just looking. It looks great. I've never seen a better-looking stew. That's all."

My words and calming gestures eventually persuaded her I wasn't going to violate her stew and she let it go.

She went about her business while almost completely ignoring me. She was bouncing around here and there tending to the food. From time to time she would stop while the food simmered and read from a book. It felt like she was ignoring me on purpose. Obviously my stupid act last night had put her on her guard.

Being ignored and left to the side by such a lovely girl didn't sit right with me. I figured she was looking at a cookbook and went over to investigate when she stepped away from the book. I wasn't really interested in a cookbook but maybe it could spark a conversation. I felt the desire to fix what damage I had done to her view of me last night.

When I began to read the book, I was shocked to find the book contained mountains of technical jargon and all sorts of data. I flipped through a few pages and found that the book was a user manual for an armor! Some armor called a Stiletto.

The book was more than just a user manual. It contained heavy annotations in the columns which seemed to be tips and tricks as well as corrections to the book.

I was fascinated for a few moments before two delicate hands reached out and grabbed the book up.

"Don't turn the pages. I'll get lost! I don't even remember what page I was on!"

I took a step back and looked at the angry girl. Alice wasn't furious, but she was very miffed. She seemed to have strong boundaries when it came to personal items.

"I'm sorry. I was just a little shocked. I didn't expect it to be a book about armor."

"Why not? Is a girl not allowed to study armor?"

This was a trick question if I had ever heard one before. Which I had. Answering in the affirmative would put me permanently in Alice's bad books.

"Of course not! I just didn't expect it from you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Oh shit. My mother had warned me about spiraling talks with women. It was never a good idea to get caught in this situation. Almost anything I say could be turned around on me.

"No. You just... You have the whole inn keeper thing going on. I didn't... expect-"

"You didn't expect what? You should keep your expectations to yourself. It's a sign of fuzzy thinking."

Oh boy. This was not going well. Using the only tactic left to me, I forced the conversation along. At least she was speaking now.

"Do you plan on repairing armor or something?"

"Why? Is that the best I can hope for as a girl?!"

Why god?! Why do I keep putting my foot in my mouth?! Talking to girls was sooo much harder than it looked!

"No. No. I'm just asking. I didn't mean..."

And then I saw the grin she was trying to hide. This little witch!

"Har har har. You done making fun of me?"

She burst into light giggles. I was beginning to think her innocent appearance was some sort of natural camouflage to hide her more devious side. However, she was smiling again and that was great.

"You should have seen the look on your face. You were all like "no no. I'm just asking." It was priceless!"

She did a silly impression of my earlier demonstration of foolishness. The impression she did was very unkind. I didn't look so stupid.

Ok, now I knew she had taken part of her brazen nature from her mother. She enjoyed making people scramble for words and squirm uncomfortably.

"You want to be a pilot?"

Changing the topic felt best. It was also a topic of interest to me. Alice looked me over and smiled.

"Yup! I turn 18 in 4 months. When I do, I'm going to apply for the Steel Eagles. My mom and dad were a part of the Steel Eagles. They were actually part of the founding group. It's my dream."

She seemed to relish the thought of joining these "Steel Eagles"... whatever they were. I could see the conviction on her face. Nothing would stop her from trying.

"The Steel Eagles? What do they do? Are they bandits or something?"

She tended to the food while she answered. I found my eyes fixed to the nape of her neck. She had her long hair in a ponytail that revealed her lovely white neck.

"Bandits with CLASS, when they do go about it, but no. Mainly they hunt large packs of core beasts that wander too close to the city and head out on deep treks into the continent's core looking for old bases and research outposts. Cities too."

She seemed to respect these Steel Eagles a lot. I listened as she went on with rapt attention.

"The Eagles are nothing like the Devil Dogs or The Legion. They don't prey on every target available. They only target caravans that are run by the nobles who stand out as baddies and even then it's usually not a slaughter or anything."

I was learning some good stuff. Apparently, while there were disreputable bandits in anarchy city, banditry itself was not looked down upon at all. It made sense and matched what I had learned so far.

"Finding old world tech is what I really want to do. Doesn't that sound amazing!? Going to places living people haven't been to in hundreds of years. Finding a mountain of treasure and the such?"

I didn't feel that it was so amazing. It was dangerous out in the wildlands. Things only went from bad to worse out there. I had intentions on doing much the same as Alice, but I never looked at it as some grand adventure.

She could see my hesitation and disagreement.

"I was only picking on you earlier but your not actually going to say some crap like girls shouldn't, or a girls place... right?"

I shook my head in the negative.

"No... It just wasn't so grand when it happened to me. When I found some old world tech... It was anything but a pleasant experience."

She picked up on my mood.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I just... Wait! Did you say you found some old world tech?! When, how, where?! What was it like?! What did you find?!"

Alice was excited to the extreme. She was blurting her words out like a machine gun fired bullets. She rushed up to my face and seemed to forget about personal space... not that I minded. The conversation seemed to have worked to break the ice between us.

Scratching the back of my head, I tried thinking of all the answers I could actually tell her. I was having a hard time thinking with Alice being so close. I decided to tell a small fib and leave the rest out.

"Um... it's best if I don't tell you the when and where for now. But I can tell you I found two old world armor."

That set her off even more.

"Really! What class of armor were they?! What group were you a part of? What type of armor did you pilot?"

Alice was all questions now. They came rapid fire one after the other. I tried answering as best I could.

"One was a light assault armor. I haven't gotten around to IDing the other. It's pretty banged up and probably needs some repairs to even be able to power it."

She was showing dogged attention to every word. I could see she was imagining herself being in my position. She was imagining finding an old world armor and coming back a hero.

"As for the group... I don't think it even had a name. If it did, they didn't plan on telling me. I wasn't a pilot or knight. I was just a scavenger."

At the mention of the word scavenger, Alice's face went pale. A look of concern spread across her face.

"A scavenger? For real?! That's horrible. Why would you join the scavengers? My parents told me to never join the scavengers. It's basically signing up to die. But... how did you get the armor then? Wait... They don't use scavengers in Anarchy city for that type of work."

She was a smart girl. Even in her excitement, she was rapidly piecing together the story. She also seemed distrustful of my story now. I didn't blame her. The story did sound like a fib. Obviously Rose hadn't told Alice anything about me yet.

"No. I'm not from Anarchy city. The reason I joined the scavengers was that it was my only choice."

That got a reaction out of her. She looked down at the floor in embarrassment at asking a man why he would be stupid enough to join the scavengers. Everyone with half a brain knew the answer. There wasn't a choice in most cases. Those men who joined the scavengers were selling their lives. She seemed to feel sadness for my forced decision.

"And the reason I got the armors and no one else did was... because everyone else was already dead."

I let the words hang there. She was silent while she looked at me with an incomprehensible emotion in her eyes.

"I'm sorry... for your loss."

The words "for your loss" didn't sound right to me.

"I didn't lose anyone. It's not like I was friends with any of them."

She lowered her head. And spoke one word.

"Still."

I fumbled for words while I ran my fingers through my hair. The best I could come up with was a grunt. My feelings about the death of the other scavengers were complicated. I didn't weep for them but it could have just as easily been me dead and one of them here now.

"So you want to be a pilot. You have been studying hard right?"

Changing the subject was a time-honored go to move when talking to girls... or so I have been told. She gathered herself and nodded. I was glad she let the subject drop. The mood between us had grown rather dreary and the look of sadness didn't suit her at all. She was beautiful when she smiled.

"Yeah. I'll join the Steel Eagles and be the best pilot ever... if they let me join. It's not exactly easy joining without bringing your own armor and my parents refuse to help me get one. They say if I'm going to be a big girl and be a pilot, I shouldn't need any help from them getting into the Steel Eagles. If I can't even do that I'm not ready to leave the city."

"Sounds like a good goal. I think you can do it."

I smiled a bright smile at her. Honestly... She might be able too. She seemed smart enough at least.

An incredible idea struck me suddenly. I could hit two birds with one stone!

"Why don't we study together? I was a scavenger until not long ago and could use some help filling the gaps in my knowledge. You can also teach me about the Anarchy city, its different groups, and show me the ropes. We could even use my armor to practice what we learn."

I sort of regretted offering to let her pilot the Calipso immediately. I was too excited and I let my words out before thinking. I liked Alice. I liked her a lot despite only knowing her for a day, but I had let my youthful hormones speak for me.

Putting the Calipso in her hands felt like a stupid move so early into meeting her. She seemed like a great girl, but I barely knew her. However, could I take my words back now? I could already see the look of pure joy on her face. Her eyes were like stars brilliantly shining with vigor. She reached up and grabbed my forearm.

"Really!! Are you being serious?! For real!!? You would let me pilot your armor!?"

I could see the expectations in her eyes. The unadulterated glee. Her bright shockingly blue eyes pinned me in place. She smelled amazing.

Fuck it. I smiled back and nodded.

"Of course. But don't underestimate how hard it will be to teach me. I'm pretty dense at times. You will more than earn a few training sessions in my armor by the end of teaching me."

My words were greeted with a silky soft hug from Alice. Due to our height difference, the top of her head only came up to my nose. She buried her head in my chest while squealing like a little girl. I knew not to take this hug as some sort of sign. She was just very excited. Talking about armor appeared to be the right method to close the distance between me and her.

"Thank you thank you thank you!"

She was having a blast and I chose to lay my hands on her shoulders in a calming way.

"It's fine. Like I said. You will definitely earn it in the end."

She pulled back a little and looked me in the face. Her grin was infectious.

"I'm going to be the best teacher ever! I swear! You won't regret this."

I stared at her joyful face with a stupid grin on mine. Dear god, she was beautiful. Though the look she gave me wasn't one of love and affection, it would do for now.

She still had her arms half wrapped around my midsection and I could feel her body lightly pressed against mine. My mother taught me not to take advantage of naive girls... this didn't count, right?

The sound of a deep cough broke us from our similarly happy but different in meaning embrace.

I looked towards the sound and saw the bear of a man Nicholas standing in the door frame to the common room. He had an eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face.

"Are you two enjoying yourselves?"

Alice and I parted from each other immediately. While I scratched the back of my neck and tried to avoid Nicholas's gaze, Alice began to jump with joy and explain to her father my offer to let her practice with my armor.

He was happy for her and said nothing else about the embrace his daughter and I had shared. I respected the man's control and easy going attitude. I was half expecting the man to be very protective of his daughter. I would be in his situation.

Alice danced about gleefully and talked on and on about armor and the Steel Eagles. She talked about hunting treasure and seeing the world.

Nicholas calmly listened to it all and appeared to show mild support. Eventually, he spoke up interrupting Alice.

"Is the food done? You should go wake your mother up. She drank more than she should have last night. She will have trouble waking up. You can tell her all about practicing with an old world armor when you wake her."

Alice thought the idea was a splendid one. She skipped off to wake her mother and tell her the good news. I smiled and watched her enter the common room. I could hear her rapid and excited footsteps as she went up the stairs.

As I watched and then heard her leave I failed to notice Nicholas walk up to the table I was leaning against. I only noticed he had approached when he laid his hand over the hand I had placed on the table.

The sudden contact shocked me and I felt the urge to pull my hand away but found it gripped in the massive man's grip.

What in the hell was going on? Nicholas looked me in the face with a serious look.

"You can chase my daughter. I'm fine with that. As long as you play fair and honest. Who she chooses is her choice. As long as the man is not total garbage I won't say a word. I am a supporter of free love."

For a moment I thought he was giving me the go ahead. It felt weird as I wasn't even sure what the hell I was feeling about Alice just yet, but reality soon reared its ugly head.

Nicholas's grip suddenly tightened like a vice. It felt like he was trying to break every bone in my hand. By the look of the veins standing up on his arms and wrist, he was trying just that. If my body hadn't been enhanced I would have experienced the pain of my fingers being pulverized. Even with the enhancements, his grip hurt something awful.

Nicholas leaned forward into my face with a deadly glare and continued his speech while he did his level best to crush my hand.

"But, if you think for one moment I'm going to sit by and do nothing while you help her become a pilot and fight on the battlefield...."

He paused for emphasis and narrowed his eyes. All of the good-natured kindness those eyes held before was now gone.

"You got another thing coming BOY."