“My back isn’t going to thank me for that,” Jade said with a frown as she stepped out of the train carriage and onto the platform. Stretching her arms over her head as she strolled along the concrete, her wandering eyes passed over the neat stacks of supplies that sat beside them. A few workers in orange jumpsuits scuttled among the boxes as they organized what must have been the relief effort, but The Cloud Orchestra’s arrival didn’t seem to concern them. Better things to do than gawk at whoever was happy to jump into the ongoing mess, Nina guessed, and for that she was glad. No need to attract attention when Ormain or Rucille were potentially nearby, although the fact that things would potentially be the other way around this time caused a wry smile to appear on her face.

Where was Rucille?

After the group had headed to the train station at Southstone, Reina had shown the group a written pass that would serve as their ticket into the Westworks. She didn’t seem as pleased as she should have been considering her success, but then again Nina didn’t know what kind of concessions she’d made to get her hands on it in the first place. Svanda, the only other person who knew what had happened, was subdued. Nina quickly found that it was difficult to get more than a few polite words out of her along with a weak smile, so she’d simply decided to err on the side of caution by giving her space. The fact that Svanda fell asleep as soon as the train left Southstone proved that her decision was correct, but it didn’t do much to answer the latest bunch of questions swimming around in her head either.

The train ride had been… uncomfortable. Nina had been expecting to board one of the shiny steel passenger lines that stood motionless in the somewhat desolate Southstone railway station, but unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be. They weren’t responsible for running supplies up to the quarantine zone, apparently, and so the group was ushered off to the warehouse instead of riding past the mountains in style. The line of steel boxes on wheels that they were met with hadn’t looked too bad from the outside, but they quickly found that the inside was a different story. Clean sheets of steel made up every surface, but the utilitarian carriages offered nowhere to sit and no windows to look out from either. Reina’s query about sitting with the driver was also rebuffed as there wasn’t any space, and after a brief protest, the group had been forced to sit amongst the supplies. Even Reina looked frustrated as she tried to make herself comfortable atop a pile of grain sacks, but there was nothing they could do as the door was closed before their journey began.

“Would have helped if the trip wasn’t so long,” Trim said as she mirrored Jade’s stretch. “At least the rails were smooth.”

Nina hummed in agreement as she studied the workers on the platform. There weren’t that many of them, but she had already noted an interesting fact. Silver haired workers, Terminus natives, wore masks over the lower halves of their faces while the others didn’t bother. The detail led her to believe that they were aware of how Rucille’s virus targeted them specifically, but it didn’t mean that everyone else was certainly immune. Nina herself was proof enough of that, but then again, she didn’t know the whole story either. People who were from plates further away from Terminus might have been alright after all, or Rucille could have also spread something different this time around. How the virus spread was also something that she was still in the dark over, but at least she had suspicions. The water had been her first guess, but the masks on the quarantine workers suggested an airborne threat instead. Something didn’t add up somewhere along the line, but at least now they would have the opportunity to get some answers.

If anybody had any, that was.

“Got one of these?” Reina asked the train driver as he stepped out onto the platform, drawing a circle around her nose and lips before nodding in Svanda’s direction. “She’s going to need one.”

The driver’s gaze quickly flicked over Svanda’s hair before he stepped back onto the train, reappearing after a minute with a mask in his hand before handing it to Reina. Offering the group a curt nod now that his job was done, he turned on his heel before walking towards the rear of the train to supervise the unloading of the supplies.

“Here,” Reina said as she tossed the mask to Svanda. “Don’t know if it’s effective or not, but it certainly can’t hurt.”

Svanda nodded as she caught the mask, putting it on before fiddling with the strap to tighten it. Nina thought that it suited her surprisingly well once she’d finished adjusting it, although it was probably because it looked mean when paired with her soldier-like attire more than anything else.

“You should have stayed in Southstone,” Aline said to Svanda as the group followed Reina away from the platform and out into a hall that would take them to the street. “There’s no need to risk anything, and a few days of rest would really help. We could have just tied everything up on this end before picking you up afterwards.”

“Can’t,” Svanda replied with a shrug as they walked down the empty passage. Nina guessed that this area was usually a thriving strip of activity, but business had probably dried up as soon as the trains had stopped. The collection of shops that lined each side of the corridor seemed to prove her theory too, as their current state was somewhat lifeless. Not even half of them seemed to be open to begin with, and the ones that were probably didn’t see many customers if any at all. Rucille’s stunt, Nina realised, was suddenly beginning to have many more implications than she first thought.

She hadn’t even stepped outside yet.

“Her name is on the paperwork,” Reina said as she tapped her pocket, indicating that it was where she kept their pass. “Can’t go in or out without her. It’s unfortunate, because I too would rather leave her behind if possible.”

Nina expected a retort from Svanda but was instead met with silence, their footsteps across the polished concrete floor the only sound around them as they headed for the exit. Four pairs of large wooden double doors were lined up across the wall to accommodate for the usual traffic, but today they were able to push their way through at their own leisure before stepping out onto the street. Well, kind of a street, Nina found. It was more like a large concrete plaza or something that they had to cross before they reached a car, and the unexpected revelation drew a frown on Nina’s face. Normally she wouldn’t have minded, but the slight chill in the air was being swept across the square by a breeze that she wasn’t particularly fond of.

Surrounding the square were large concrete buildings that stretched some ten or so stories above them, the relatively orderly array reminding her of Luem. Both functional and completely devoid of decoration, the grey pillars that were studded with glass seemed to stretch into the distance on three sides. Behind them on the remaining side, however, was what Nina found to be the most interesting feature of the Westworks so far. Climbing out from behind the city skyline were the towering black mountains that she had seen on their initial approach from the air, and the swirling dark clouds above them clinging to the peaks. It was fitting, somehow, a surreal pairing of monstrosities from both the earth and the sky. Lights could be seen occasionally on the slopes, although Nina didn’t know what they were for. The fact that people would be up close with the clouds surprised her, but the plates had never been short on surprises to begin with. Not her cup of tea, but people did strange things.

“It’s pretty empty,” Jade mused, her attention darting between the few people who lingered about outside. “Usually it’s busy out here.”

“I wouldn’t be wandering about either if I was at risk,” Aline replied. “No point going outside and getting sick when you don’t need to.”

“People do need to,” Reina said as she led them towards the street, hands in pockets as she frowned at the breeze. “The Westworks are the engine of the plate, it can’t just stop or else the whole thing falls apart. People have to go about their daily lives whether they’re at risk or not. Your job isn’t going to wait.”

“You can still be cautious though,” Trim said.

“Which is why there’s nobody out here where they don’t need to be,” Reina continued with a shrug. “Besides non-natives, that is. Have you noticed that almost everyone who is out and about has coloured hair?”

Svanda was the only person that nodded as they finally reached the road. Much like Southstone, the roads here were occupied by the same cars in varying shades of black and grey, the seamless traffic sweeping along like a river. A car was already waiting for them, fortunately, and Reina opened the door before climbing inside without hesitation. Nina guessed it was a taxi of sorts, and so after waiting for her own turn she ducked inside. The interior was almost identical in design to the previous car they had been using around Southstone, although this one had a darker grey trim. Reina was already tapping away at a small display in the centre table by the time she sat down, and so after Saela slipped inside they were whisked away from the curb.

“What’s the plan?” Trim asked as she looked over towards Reina. “And why only tell us now? You could have said something when we were on the train, but instead you left us to stew over it. I’m assuming there’s a reason for it, so what’s up?”

Reina chewed on her lip for a second before her expression returned to her usual calmness. It was uncharacteristic, and if Nina caught it then the rest of the group would have too. Apparently, she had something to say that wasn’t going to sit very well with everyone, and it left Nina wondering who would lose out. Unless it was all of them, of course, but that didn’t make a whole lot of sense either.

“We’ll stay at the Westworks for two nights,” Reina finally said. “After organizing the transport tonight, we’ll go to the factory tomorrow. It would be perfect if we can get the goods onto the train’s return trip, but bribes will only take us so far. If not, we’ll have to go by car.”

“Wait,” Svanda said. “What about Rucille?”

“…We’re ignoring her,” Reina replied with a sigh. “She isn’t a direct threat at the moment, so we’re going to get out of here as soon as possible.”

As Reina shrugged to the silence that followed her statement, Nina could have sworn that she heard Svanda’s fists tightening inside her pockets.