
Skip Navigation
Mission: The Road to Eldoradimon, Chapter 1
|
Post by Avatar of Courage on Oct 24, 2016 3:52:21 GMT
It was a bad day to live in the Golden City.
Eldoradimon, the gracious host of the city's citizens, had decided to take a trip through the Folder Desert, Yggdrasil knew why. When the citizens weren't trapped in their homes due to furious, powerful sandstorms, they were sweating like pigs while working their rounds, the searing heat of the desert burning against them as Eldoradimon continued its slow trek through the dunes.
On this particular day, the citizens of the golden city had been blessed with a 'clear' day, not a single cloud to block the searing sunlight in sight. The entire city seemed to have slowed down under the power of the sun, the digimon going about their usual routines with an air of sluggishness and irritation.
One such digimon was Squire-Veemon, a child-level dragon who's daily routine included serving as a messenger and delivery boy for his taskmaster of a Lord.
Unlike the old mons around him, the young digimon teared across the roads of the city with great vigor, waving to every pedestrian and stall owner he knew on the way. He was delivering his last message of the day to one of his master's old companions at the Knight's guild.
The old knight digimon's home was found in deep within the city's urban district, tucked away in a corner on a rarely traversed Street. Squire had gotten lost the first few times he had delivered mail there, he could only be thankful he had managed to more or less learn his way around the exceedingly similar buildings.
As the young digimon rounded around a corner on a strangely, eerily empty street, the sound of metal clanking against the sandstone roads diverted his attention towards a particular alleyway.
'What... was that?' He wondered as his brows knotted together. In the barren, silent street, the sound seemed out of place. Walking towards the alleyway, Squire glimpsed in, only managing to catch the sight of the back of a cloaked digimon before it jumped into the opened man hole, the lid sliding back place shortly after it had disappeared inside.
"W- What?!" Uttered the young dragon, his eyes growing wide as he broke into a run towards the manhole.
Who the heck was that? Civilians weren't allowed into the city's sewage system! And officials and engineers definitely didn't look so shady! What the heck was it with the cloak?
Frowning at the manhole, the message delivery completely forgotten, the small digimon reached for his sword, pulling it out of his scabbard.
He didn't know what was going on; but he would make sure whoever this guy was, wasn't up to anything fishy.
Squire's leg bent as his body fell all the way down the manhole, his light body landing almost soundlessly over the floor. He looked around, his eyes narrowing. He had never been under the city; he was counted as a civilian, and as such, not allowed in such a place. He would have to be careful to not damage anything.
"Okay..." He mumbled softly to himself, his eyes narrowing. "Just gotta be careful, be silent, and stay out of sight."
|
|
|
Post by Bonetrousled? on Oct 24, 2016 21:25:57 GMT
The light of the surface above shone down on Squire like a spotlight, serving only to contrast how dark it was in the sewer system beneath. It also highlighted how alone he was down here. Whether in circle of bright light Squire currently stood in or the shadowy illumination it was casting throughout the room, there wasn't a soul currently occupying the same room as him. The only indication that anyone else may have been present was the sound of wet footsteps in the distance, somewhere between north and east.
Thankfully for Squire, he didn't land in the watery end of the sewer. Instead he was currently standing on one of the concrete platforms that maintenance workers used to get between different parts of the sewers. That didn't mean it wasn't damp and clammy down here, though. The air was strangely cold, likely due to how far below the surface Squire currently was and the fact that the power didn't seem to be currently on. Electricity use tended to be sparing in the desert, the city deciding to avoid overheating Eldoradimon while he was in such a hot place. While that meant Squire wouldn't have to worry about contending with waste management systems today, it also meant it was going to be a lot harder to see. The air smelt surprisingly well, more stale than overtly smelly, but that was likely because Squire was still by open air. As he descended into the depths, it would likely only get worse.
From his current position, he could see at least five different exits. One was a simple ladder, leading back up to the manhole he had moved aside. The rungs looked mostly stable, even if the bright yellow paint on them was starting to flake and chip off. It'd be a reliable way to exit the sewer once his job here was done, but would it also run the risk of him being caught yellow-handed?
To the south was a heavy metal door, so close to Squire he'd bump into it if he even backed up a few paces. The door once had a sign on it, but age and wear made it little more than a few paper tears. They seemed to vaguely form a caution symbol, and the letters E and Y were visible on the top left and bottom right corners. On the wall beside it was a box, smudged letters reading _ N C _ _ E _ _ E _ _ R G _ _ _ Y.
A similar door was to the north, but this one was more inviting looking. It stood on a far soggier concrete platform and already seemed to be hanging open. Judging by the splinters and holes in it, it was made of wood. What was on the other side was a mystery, however, as the manhole's light only extended so far.
To the west and east were two halves of a sewer pipeline, some stagnant and filthy water still sitting in the pipe. There didn't seem to be any rust or jagged metal, but there was only one section of the pipe for Squire to judge by. The western half stretched straight on back until out of illumination range, while the eastern half diverged into a T-shaped junction.
And with no sounds but footprints and trickling water, Squire was left alone in the dark.
|
|
|
Post by Avatar of Courage on Oct 24, 2016 23:42:02 GMT
He could hear footsteps. Had a vague idea of which direction they were coming from. But... Despite the countless hours of training and preparation Squire had been subjected to during the past months, and the extreme amounts of bravado the young dragon parroted on a daily basis... Standing under the only true source of light, surrounded by darkness and the unknown, the Squire hesitated. He probably should go back. Use his smarts for once. Get someone else, the authorities, older and more experienced digimon. Someone other than a child level civilian. That digimon had looked much taller than him; it was probably an adult level digimon, maybe even a perfect. Honestly, when he thought about it carefully, he had no business here; he could go back to his master, let the old knight handle it. The small dragon knew he would probably screw it up, somehow. Yes, letting his master handle it sounded like the best course of action. Squire slowly turned to face the ladder, grasping at it and placing his foot onto i- The footsteps were beginning to grow dim. ' No. Think about it for a second, coward.' Would the digimon still in the sewers when his master arrives? For all he knew, he would be long gone by then, having done whatever it set out to do. The Sewage was supposed to span across the entire city; utterly massive. Who knew how long it would take to find out what the digimon did. ' But... Even if I learned what the digimon was doing... what could I do?' What else? Code of Chivalry XIX Thou shalt destroy evil in all of its monstrous forms. ' But... if I can't...' Code of Chivalry XXV Thou shalt die with valor. Squire swallowed down a lump that had formed in his throat, steeling himself. The sword at his waist had never felt so heavy. "You... are a knight. Take your fear..." He muttered to himself, "and shove it...!" He finished, stepping out of the spot light shining over him. Achievement Unlocked: Not (too) afraid of the Dark [+2 Courage] The young dragon ignored the shudder that traveled up his spine as he threw a quick look around the room, his ears perked up as he tried to listen for the dimming footsteps. It didn't seem to be coming from directly in front of him, so the dark gate in his line of sight was out. (He tried to ignore the relief that washed over him.) Gazing to his sides, the boy noticed the pipeline going from east to west; he specifically noted that on the eastern side, it diverged on a T-shaped junction. That worked. Noting the echo of footsteps, the small dragon did his best to advance silently, running on his toes as he dashed for the eastern half of the pipeline, reaching the junction and turning towards the northern direction from there. His right hand moved to grasp his Sword's handle tightly as he found himself facing a blanket of near complete darkness. Right. No way for the manhole's light to reach there. Taking a shuddery breath, the young dragon steeled himself once again before stepping into the darkness.
|
|
|
Post by Bonetrousled? on Oct 25, 2016 2:57:50 GMT
Squire chose to follow his ears, which was a fairly wise decision when they were all he had to work with. Bright light gave way to dim light, which steadily began to fade until it gave way to pitch blackness. His own reverberating footprints began filling the air, metal on metal, but sufficient straining would reveal that the other footprints were still there. They were softer than Squire's and sounded almost squishy, as if water was being wrung out of them with each step. While at first they were at an even-paced rhythm, they sped up hastily as soon as Squire's greaves first hit the ground. The gentle swishing and squishing gave way to a full-on splattering, the footsteps hurrying away until they started to fade. They seemed to turn very slightly to the left, but with the head start the escapee had it was hard to discern.
The floors continued to be metallic, and for the most part seemed to be atop solid ground. There was one section of the pipe that seemed a bit less stable, the steady clanks of Squire's footsteps giving way to hollow-sounding clonks, but with no obvious entrances there was little avenue to explore the strange sound. The walls themselves were cold, slimy, and solid, as this was still a pipeline, but occasionally an area of them felt a little bit more rough and coarse. If those areas were examined by touch they would appear to be arrows, some carved into the side of the pipe and some formed from thick globules of paint. No matter the medium, however, they all pointed in the same direction; straight, then with a slight bend downward.
Thankfully, however, the pipeline didn't go interrupted for too long. Soon more light began to flood down into tunnel, shady illumination once more returning to the tunnel. Unlike the unobstructed light of an open manhole cover, this was the cross-stitched light of a sewer grate. Much less visually helpful, but it was better than nothing. The light revealed another room coming up, much like the one Squire had previously left but thinner. It also shed some light on the walls of the pipeline, the bars appearing at regular intervals. There was one exception to this, however. While the left wall of the pipe had seven bars of light displayed, the right only had six. The third bar didn't even seem to appear, as if there was a gap in the wall.
Of course, while Squire was too far to see much in the room up ahead, he would be able to see a door swinging open. It could have been the wind, or it could have been the perp. Would the mysterious oddity or the pressing reality be Squire's focus for the day?
|
|
|
Post by Avatar of Courage on Oct 25, 2016 5:27:28 GMT
Squire-Veemon couldn't help but flinch as his greaves hit the ground with sound clank, the metallic noise echoing and swiftly travelling the length of the pipeline. As if on cue, the faint sound of the digimon's footsteps became a frantic rush.
'Ah Crud!' It was obvious the other digimon had heard him; he couldn't let it get away too far! Squire broke into a sprint behind the other digimon, his gloved finger tips dragging over the wall of the tube so as to not fall on his face. The inky darkness around him was disorienting, and the sound of the other digimon's steps was sure to disappear soon.
'Damn it, I can't let it get away!' What was he supposed to do now, though? The digimon knew someone was chasing it now; for all he knew, it could be retreating to the surface at this very moment!
'No, No... Think carefully.' It... It probably didn't know who or what was chasing it; for all it knew, he was a Knightmon Guard of the city; his greaves would certainly not suggest otherwise. He could work with this. He could... maybe... trick it, somehow?
'... Come on, be realistic.' Yeah, thinking through plans wasn't really his forte. The best he could hope was that the waterways of the city were laberinthian enough that they ran into each other once again. As he kept running forward, still bracing himself against the wall, sources of light finally appeared.
'Ah. Sewer grates.' He noted idly, his sight on the ceiling as he kept running. The light brought by the openings was almost a relief; the darkness was absolutely unnerving to him.
On the distance, he could almost make out a room; was that door swingi-?!
"Woah!" Squire almost fell onto his side when he suddenly found no wall to support him, only narrowly managing to recover before hitting the ground.
'What the-?' He found himself staring at what appeared to be gaping hole in the wall. Besides it were bars of light, parallel to an equal set on the other side of the pipeline. Staring into the gaping hole, Squire's brows knitted together.
Turning slightly, he gazed towards the room; he had seen the door swinging slightly over there. It was likely that was were the digimon had gone.
'Yeah. Just ignore this; can't let him get too far away!' Nodding to himself he turned fully towards the room, taking one steps towards it before another thought came to his head.
'But... If I noticed the hole, chances are the other guy did too... no?'
It was highly possible.
'... Just a quick peek oughta be enough.' He compromised with himself, turning on his heel back towards the gaping hole. Drawing his sword out of its scabbard, the young dragon stepped inside the hole, moving with haste.
|
|
|
Post by Bonetrousled? on Oct 25, 2016 22:13:21 GMT
As Squire entered the gap, he would find it somewhat of a tight fit. It was certainly wide enough for him to squeeze through, but it wouldn't be too comfortable of a journey. However, there would be something very comfortable at the end of the gap: light! It didn't seem too obvious at first, but the unmistakable glow of a fluorescent lamp was visible up ahead.
Once the wall of the pipe was past, the lamp would shed a little bit of light onto the situation that Squire had walked into. The first was that he was currently standing on a crudely-assembled chute. Whereas most of the pipeline had been solid up to this point, this chute was somewhat rusty and hastily placed over a simple scaffolding. Squire was now outside of the sewer's pipelines, and was currently inside of a gap between them. Surely enough, if he looked forward he would see an almost-identical chute coming out of a nearly-identical pipe, the chutes both seeming to funnel down to a single location. Thankfully, his armored feet prevented him from feeling the grodiness of the chutes, but if he looked down he would see they were currently caked in green and brown slime. Similar arrows to the ones on the walls were on the chutes, this time pointing straight down.
The source of the fluorescent lamp was a desk in this space between pipes. It sat on a concrete platform, which was cracked and brittle from age yet clearly good enough for whoever set up shop down here. Said whoever seemed to be a ShellNumemon, shell painted up to look like a suit jacket. Thick lint was plastered over his stalked eyes, giving the appearance of bushy eyebrows, and he was carrying around a briefcase in one hand. In the other he was tossing a glistening piece of metal up and down. Upon noticing Squire's footsteps, he immediately shoved it into his shell as if nothing happened.
There were quite a few other products on the desk, too. There were some hybridized action figures, hastily cobbled together from broken parts and super glue. There was a half-deflated inner tube in the shape of a Gwappamon. There was a giant tub labeled Shell Polish, which would have been all well and good if not for a random afro comb jammed inside of it. These were just three of the most visible wares in the flickering fluorescent light. Who knows what else there would be if Squire decided to take a closer look?
He turned the fluorescent lamp to try and aim it in Squire's direction, illuminating the Veemon's path if he chose to head on down to investigate. "Hey, hey, hey!" he called, in a voice practically dripping with oil. It was like a bunch of used car salesmen were caught in a The Fly style teleporter accident and fused into the sleaziest-sounding being possible. "That another customer I here? Usually lucky to get one in a day, let alone two in five minutes. Why don't'cha come on down and see if there's anything you like?"
|
|
|
Post by Avatar of Courage on Oct 26, 2016 4:35:57 GMT
Squire slowly found himself forced into something of a crawl as he advanced into the gap, the passage proving to be something of a tight fit even for his small stature. As the the trek became more and more uncomfortable, the small dragon began to consider turning back, not wanting to see just how tight the little gap could get.
'Wait. Is that... light?' He blinked, narrowing his eyes. Indeed, there was a faint source of light at the end of the small passage, inviting Squire to an escape from the suffocating darkness.
His crawling became faster, his eagerness to leave the cramped space pushing him forward.
He almost fell when he finally reached the end of the gap, the chute underneath him trembling under his weight and making him reach blindly for something to grab on. Finding support against the side of the unfinished pipe, the small dragon's eyes took in the scene bellow him.
It appeared someone had made a home (or a work bench) out of the City's sewers. On the concrete platform directly in under the pipe, there was a digimon standing in front of a desk, juggling shiny pieces of... metal. Squire didn't have much time to truly examine the ores before the other digimon realized he was there, and promptly shoved the rocks into his shell.
Well, that wasn't suspicious or anything.
The small dragon's hands moved to block the fluorescent light from his eyes as the digimon, a... variant of Numemon, turned the lamp towards him. Honestly, after being in the darkness for so long, the glare of the light burning his pupils was almost welcome. He kind of wanted the thing.
And it appeared he just might get a chance at i- No, wait, focus. 'Another Costumer?'
He decided to not come down just yet, instead squatting at the edge of the pipe with a look of curiosity etched into his face, elbows resting on his thighs.
Looking at the digimon, the guy looked... not too honest. He looked way worse than any of the guys he regularly saw at the market. He looked like the kind of guy who would steal someone's ride and then sell it to you while the authorities were still searching for it...
Authorities...
'Wait... this guy shouldn't be here!' The area was barred for civilians! This guy was breaking the law!
Hypocrisy aside, the Numemon's presence was a lucky break for Squire. He couldn't keep wandering around in the darkness, he was lost as it was! What with not knowing his way around the sewers. Putting complete darkness on top of that was just too much. This guy was apparently selling a lamp and had seen the other digimon on top of that, he probably knew the direction in which it had gone. Heck, maybe even exactly where the digimon was going.
But still, he looked like the kind of guy who would pull a fast one on him...
"Hello there, Civilian." He started as cheerily as he could manage. "I can't help but notice your illegal presence in this barred area of the city." He was laying it a bit thick, but Squire didn't know much about subtleties, nor did he care for them. It was best if the guy understood what was going on anyways.
"Luckily for you; I'm currently in the middle of something of a chase; it wouldn't be a surprise to anyone if I missed you completely while seeking a perp. I'm known to be very single minded on my job." Well, the last part wasn't a lie. "So if you could just tell me where your last costumer went and where he is going, that would be awesome! Heck, I'm even willing to do actual business with ya. Is the lamp for sale?"
|
|
|
Post by Bonetrousled? on Oct 27, 2016 1:11:42 GMT
Illegal? Crap, the jig was up. However, ShellNumemon was the diligent sort, and wouldn't be giving up just so easily. As Squire called his bluff he ruffled into his shell, eventually pulling out a wad of slimy papers. They were stuck together and reeked badly, but Squire would be able to see that they were proper licenses. Sure, they weren't his licenses, but between being torn, crumpled, and coated in slime, ShellNumemon hoped that little detail would go unnoticed. "Here's my papers, boss. Filth Digimon permission exemption-" An especially bullcrap point in an already bullcrap story, but ShellNumemon hoped the kid would figure a Numemon in the sewers would get such an exemption. "Sorry they're a mess, guy. Bottom of a sewer, stuff happens, eh?" he asked, waggling his fake eyebrows for effect.
At mention of the other customer, ShellNumemon clamped his shell a bit more tightly closed. It was very hard to not make an action like that suspicious, but he hoped by bantering the whole while he would be sufficiently distracting. "Ah, that's a tough one, buddy," he said as he adjusted his shell. "I don't see where they're coming or going from. They go down the chute, pop right on in, and then go back up the chute. But I can tell ya what he took off my hands, if you'd like." His voice was confidence without earnestness, the kind of tone where you'd swear a guy was a liar but had no idea how to prove it.
"Lessee . . . big ol' pile of slop, for one. That's a store specialty. A flowerpot. Some old bendy straws. Ooh, tar, can't forget the tar. Suitcase. An old clock. Think there might be some more, but my memory's slipping a bit . . .
Care to help me refresh it? Lamp's 500 bottlecaps, by the way. Or bits. Whatever you surface fellas use." The nerve of this salesman, fishing for a bribe when he was already under suspicion! He was either really cocky or really stupid.
|
|
|
Post by Avatar of Courage on Oct 27, 2016 3:44:22 GMT
Squire-Veemon could only stare at the Numemon as he lied at him through his teeth, staring flatly at the crumpled mass of licenses the other digimon was tried to show him. He couldn't quite see them from where he was perched on the pipe, but he didn't think he needed to. 'Filth Digimon Permission. What the bugger?' Even he could tell how dumb that was; why heck would they allow a digimon made of filth inside the sewers? These were literally Eldoradimon's insides!
The way he kept clamping his shell was obvious even to the small knight in training; not that he would have bought what he had said even if he had been more subtle in his body language. No one had gone up any darn chute; he was standing on it, damn it, and he had seen no sketchy bastard on his way.
"There are no Filth Digimon permits on the city, sir." he started simply. "We can add Permit Document Forgery to your growing list of offenses, sir. Right along with Illegal trespassing and Obstruction of Justice; lying to an Knight Officer chasing a criminal is against the law, sir."
Hell yeah, he knew his shit. Kind of. Somewhat. Shut up.
"But if you are still intent on protecting this 'customer' of yours, then I guess I can't convince you." He said shrugging, moving to stand from his squatting position, patting off at his thighs casually. "So I'll be placing you under arrest. We can go to the Knight's guild, and you can tell Dukemon himself everything you've told me. And see how he takes it. I've known him for a while, and I can tell you: He has a bit of a temper."
"Or... You can just tell me everything about this guy. What he bought, where he is going, which direction he went. And. You'll tell me about those rocks you hid on your shell." He said, trying to look as dead serious as he could manage, the fluorescent lights of the lamp casting shadows from underneath him and making him cut a tad more imposing sight.
"Tell me this, and I will forget I ever saw you. You won't appear on my report, you won't be mentioned to any officer." He tilted his head slightly. "And I will throw in the 500 bits and buy the lamp."
|
|
|
Post by Bonetrousled? on Oct 27, 2016 4:19:18 GMT
ShellNumemon thought he had all of the cards on the table. He thought this was just some stupid errand boy who was gonna look at a few cobbled-together permits and be on his way. Then he could get back to this sewer racket, making cash and dousing himself in beautiful, beautiful sludge. It was a job so easy a baby could do it. Instead, the one being done in here was ShellNumemon, because the mark just broke out the threat of citizen's arrest. Heck, worse than that, he just dropped that he was associated with Dukemon. There were a lot of things ShellNumemon wanted to do in life, and being run through with a giant lance? Not one of them. Not even close.
He looked at Squire's face, looking for any nerves or sign that he was kidding. Upon seeing none, he practically flung himself at Squire's feet. "Hey, hey, buddy! C'mon, you can't mess with a guy's livelihood like this!" he pleaded, eyes bugging out and tongue wagging desperately as he spoke. "You know what it's like up there for a guy like me in this heat? If I don't get my hands on some slime and ooze, it's curtains for me! Oh, who am I kidding! It's gonna be curtains either way.
Alright! You win! I'll sing." He went back behind his desk, sitting in a folding chair and taking a drag of a long-since-stale candy cigarette. This was apparently very important to the interrogation procedure.
"So this guy comes in here, right? And he's a big fella. I mean, B-I-G Capital B Big. Guy practically had to tiptoe down the chute so he wouldn't bust it on the way down. Had one heck of a head start on you, too. Guessing he could see in the dark, because he had no trouble walking through the pipes. Couldn't get too good of a look on him, on account of that hooded robe he was wearing. But he had a metal plate on his head, a major case of hunchback, and these big, yellow fingers.
Not much of a talker. I tried, but he gave me a bunch of this to shut me up." As if to demonstrate ShellNumemon removed his shell, shaking it and letting the gold rocks fall out. A few made light-sounding clinks as they hit the floor, but one made a really heavy thud. "Check it here, pal. Gold Digizoid. Genuine stuff. You know how much of a fortune I could make springing these? Oh, I'd never have to sell another sock a day in my life! I'd get to rent a nice little shack with a big ol' sludge tub in the middle. Don't know how he got his mitts on the stuff, but hell, I ain't asking questions with a payout like that.
Anyway, he bought all the stuff I told ya, then packed up to get a move-on. Wouldn't tell me where he's going or why he's going, no matter how much I asked him about it. Went right back in through the way you came from and bolted for the door. Could've sworn I heard him muttering something about the head, but he's gotta be barking up the wrong tree, right? These sewers lead to the sides. For all we know he'll come storming back all disappointed in a few minutes.
If you're looking for him, I'd make like that cereal box guy. Follow your nose, and all that. With all the slop he bought, he's gonna reek!
Got any other questions, or can an honest slime get back to his day in peace?"
|
|
|
Post by Avatar of Courage on Oct 27, 2016 6:05:24 GMT
Achievement Unlocked: Hustle the Hustler. (+3 Knowledge. -1 Honesty)
Squire had to bite the inside of his cheek to not break out into a relieved smile; he was going to talk, thank Yggdrasil. Unfortunately, the information he wanted had no good news. His moment of indecision had apparently granted the digimon enough of a head start to strike a deal with the merchant and leave before he got there. Damn it.
'Metal Plate... Yellow fingers?' He couldn't really think of any digimon with those characteristics off the top of his head, unfortunately. The ability to see in the dark though... for some reason, it tickled at him. He felt like he had read this words together, before.
He didn't really get to gather his thoughts, though. He found himself shocked speechless at the sight before him.
Gold digizoid.
'How. How?' If Chrome digizoid was rare, Gold Digizoid might as well have been mythical. He could probably have bought a piece of land with a slab of purified Gold Digizoid. How the heck had this perp gotten his hand on Gold Digizoid ores? Where did one even find this things?
Wait, he had actually bought all that trash? Bizarre.
"The head, huh...?" He mumbled, before shaking his head. He nodded at the slime. "Yeah, that will be enough. Thanks for your cooperation. Here." He said, reaching into one of his pouches were a bag of bits was secured, while leaping down from the chute. Falling smoothly onto the platform bellow, his knees absorbed the impact before he dropped 500 bits onto the digimon's bench. His fingers then hooked around the lamp. "Pleasure doing business with you. I didn't see anything."
Nodding one last time at the merchant, he leaped back towards the chute, before breaking into a mad dash back towards the tunnel.
When all was said and done... he had basically just wasted a lot of time. The perp had gone the other way, and had probably made sizable progress while squire negotiated with the Numemon. On the other hand... He had a mild idea of the digimon's appearence, and he now had a light source. No more darkness.
Oh, and he had actually managed to outdo a sleazy merchant in a lying contest!
Which kind of went a little against most of the Oath's of truthfulness and honesty Knights were supposed to have. Granted, he was a Squire. But in his rush to get the information, he had actually broken his own rule of never lying... But hey, it was for a just cause. (Hopefully.)
After having rushed swiftly, Squire reached the end of the gap, all but leaping back into the tunnel. The cross-stitched light of the sewer grate greeted him as he immediately turned towards in the direction of the room, rushing into it before rounding towards the door. The Darkness of the sewers seemed a lot less imposing now that he had a lamp in his hand.
Aware of the considerable lead the other digimon had on him, Squire rushed through the door; he had distance to cover.
'Follow your sense of smell, huh?' He really hoped the digimon smelled as bad as the Numemon had said. When a Numemon thought you smelled bad... well.
|
|
|
Post by Bonetrousled? on Oct 28, 2016 19:09:30 GMT
"You're a good man. I'm not gonna forget this second chance, okay?" ShellNumemon said, incredibly grateful for not being hauled to the slammer. "I don't know where this guy got the rocks from, but if my people give me a source, maybe I'll kick it back to you. You scratch my shell, I scratch yours, right?" It seemed that ShellNumemon knew when he was beat, and with him no longer having the upper hand of the deal he was going to milk his current position for all it was worth. He eagerly scooped up his 500 bits, seeing Squire off with a cheerful wave.
The change in the environment was like night and day. Thanks to the light, Squire would now be able to see so much more of his environment. As he went through the door, he would notice himself entering some sort of office space. It was a small, humble room, and would have looked very orderly if not for the furniture lying around everywhere. A large sofa was blocking a door to the north. It looked to be haphazardly thrown in front instead of carefully dragged over, and some stuffing was leaking out of the sides. The door itself had a pipe symbol on it, and seemed to cave in slightly on its hinges. If there was a lock there before, the shattered fragments of metal on the ground below showed that there certainly wasn't one now.
Beyond this door, there were two others. To the west was a door made of steel rather than wood. The word SECURITY was written on it as plainly as day, something that Squire could now easily discern due to his light source. Next to the door was an alphabetical keypad, sparking slightly but otherwise looking perfectly functional. There were four slots for entry, enough to make a simple password while still befuddling anyone who tried to brute force their way through the matter. If Squire was careful, he would notice a small piece of paper tucked behind the keypad. If he took it, he would notice the words "THE CITY OF ____" scrawled on it.
Finally, there was a door labeled EQUIPMENT on the south side. It didn't have anything barring it, but a lack of glass on the door made it a tricky gamble. Would it contain anything worthwhile, or was it already picked clean of anything useful? Regardless, it was also the easiest to access of the three doors.
The smell of Numemon sludge in the air continued to waft northward, crawling out from under the blockaded door. However, there also seemed to be scattered pieces of gravel spilling out from below the security door. In comparison to these, the equipment door was almost too untouched. Unfortunately, this was the point where Squire would have to start making judgment calls. In his conversation with ShellNumemon, the footsteps strayed too far for Squire to properly make out anymore.
|
|
|
Post by Avatar of Courage on Oct 29, 2016 5:03:41 GMT
"Never leaving home without this." muttered the small dragon to himself as he quickly realize the incredibly difference between his situation before and now. Now that he could actually see his surroundings, the fear he had chucked to the back of his mind as hard as he could seemed to slowly dissipate. Without the threat of anything possibly coming out of the darkness to hurt him, he felt as if he could focus better on the mission.
Which was good, because he had a lot of ground to cover if he wanted to catch up to the mystery Digimon. 'Big, Hunched backed, Face plate, can see in the dark, thick yellow fingers...' All these characteristics painted a rather unique mental image, but Squire couldn't for his life guess which digimon it could possibly be. There had to be at least half a dozen species with these characteristics in the digital world, and he probably only knew one or two of them.
'Hmm... I guess the main question would be... Who fits the bill in Eldoradimon City?' The small dragon had been delivering mails and running errands around the city for the good part of a year now. He had seen a lot of faces, met a lot of people, and liked to think he knew more or less what to expect from the Golden City.
Still, he decided to try and think about it later; right now, the new room demanded his attention. With his new lamp, he could see the mess that had been left in the room perfectly; he could also see all the exits available.
"Is this... an office?" His nose wrinkled slightly, an eyebrow tilting at the thought. Who the heck would work at a sewer? The Numemon merchant didn't count. He was an illegal.
'Urgh! Focus!' Okay, focusing. There were three exits. 'The north exit...' The disgusting smell of the sludge could be easily smelled from where he stood. The door itself was also heavily damaged, as was the couch that had been thrown in front of it as a blockade. But... somehow, he doubted the perp had gone through there. How would it have moved the couch in front of the gate if it had?
There was another door on the opposite end of the room. Different from the North gate from how immaculate and undamaged it was. The Equipment room, apparently. Seeing it was practically untouched, Squire moved ahead to the next gate, choosing to ignore the suspiciously immaculate door for the moment.
The last door... now this one was a tricky one. If he wanted to get through it, he would need to hack his way through the keypad. He swallowed down hard, his lip curling down. He wasn't really all that good at this kind of thing... At least the password was only 4 slots long. Maybe he could guess?
Approaching the pad uncertainly, the Squire glanced down, his brows tilting as he saw some gravel underneath the door. The merchant had said that both gravel and sludge had been bought by the mysterious digimon. His brows knitting, he looked over his shoulder, glancing at the very abused door, noting the sludge once again. He then looked over his other shoulder.
That door truly was in pristine conditions, all things considered.
Huh.
'Something to consider, I guess.' He thought to himself, before finally stepping fully towards the keypad. It was alphabetical. He breathed a sigh of relief; his chances with numbers were likely much worse than with words. Still, he had absolutely no clue as to what to write. His first guess would have been something related to the city itself, but Eldoradimon was too long.
Huh; was that a piece of paper peeking from underneath the pad?
"What the...?" He mumbled, reaching for it. Pulling it out, he stared at the scrawls written on it, tilting his head to the side. "'The city of...?'" He mumbled.. The city of... Eldoradimon? No, he had been through this already! Urgh...
'Another thing to think about.' He was pretty sure he had this one at the tip of his tongue... but honestly, even if he had guessed it immediately...
The small dragon slowly turned to face the Southern exit, his eyes narrowing slightly at it. It was probably silly of him. But he couldn't help but think it seemed too untouched. Why ignore the easiest door in the room?
"Eh. If nothing else, I may find some useful equipment too. Can't be too prepared for this place..." With that said, Squire made his way towards the door, brushing his fingers over the door's knob. He immediately turned it in a smooth motion, pushing the door open before shining his lamp towards the room to illuminate the place.
|
|
|
Post by Bonetrousled? on Oct 30, 2016 1:57:46 GMT
The door took a little bit of force to open. It wasn't anything noticeable, but another sign that it hadn't been opened in a decent amount of time. However, a proper turn of the knob and push open lead to it swinging by without resistance, granting Squire entrance to the equipment room. It was without a doubt the easiest of the three solutions, providing far less struggle than either of the other two options would have. While it was pitch black inside, Squire's lamp would make that a complete non-issue.
As he swung his lamp inside he would notice that the room was very small. However, the shelved stretched throughout the room made it almost like a labyrinth to navigate. All in all there were three shelves lined end-to-end, forming little hallways for Squire to navigate. Some had holes in the middle to allow Squire to duck through them quickly. Some had piles of fallen products in the middle of the aisle that made them impossible to pass. This unfortunately made what should have been a quick duck into the equipment room into a bit of an ordeal.
The first shelf was literature. Safety regulation codes, on-the-job training manuals, and explanations about the history of Eldoradimon's sewer systems were among some of the books present on these shelves. Other than the worn copies presumably borrowed by a few bookworms, most of them were left untouched due to how boring they were. If Squire thumbed through them with enough attention he would probably learn a few interesting facts. For example, that the southernmost door he had passed earlier lead to the main power generator. Or maybe he would find the map leading to Eldoradimon's head, located in the last chapter of the history book. However, this all depended on him actually mustering up the effort to read such dry books, or even notice them in the first place.
The second shelf was electronics. Most of this was a nest of wires and cables, each with agonizingly specific purpose and different plug shapes. While their intended purposes were most likely useless to Squire, they looked thick and flexible enough to come in handy if he had any clever ideas. More relevant was a large box of batteries, each in various sizes and shapes. There were even a few that would fit Squire's lamp, which would make running out of power a much less pertinent concern. Next to the wires were a few walkie-talkies, two noticeably missing from the shelf. Finally, there was a huge and cumbersome backup generator.
The third shelf was tools. There were giant buckets of scrap metal, nails, screws, nuts, and bolts sitting haphazardly around the shelf. After them were some regular tools, such as hammers, screwdrivers, wrenches, and the occasional stepladder. After this were the power tools, like electric drills, welding torches with masks, and even a chainsaw. A welding torch seemed to be missing from here, and if Squire was careful he would notice a box labelled "OXYGEN - AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED." The box was empty, but seemed completely untouched. If he checked, it would even still be locked. Who would go through all of that effort?
Finally, to the right of the third shelf was a door labeled UNIFORMS. Inside would be, surely enough, uniforms. They came in all shapes and sizes, to make room for bipedal and quadrupedal Digimon at various stages of growth. They were unflatteringly dumpy looking, made of rubbery yellow material and coming with giant, sight-obstructing masks. They were waterproof and helped filter out gases, but they had an awful, stale odor to them.
Overall, it was a fairly comprehensive equipment room. It was also as quiet and still as a mouse, with the exception of the second pile occasionally shuddering as if someone was hiding inside of it. But completely still besides that little disturbance.
|
|
|
Post by Avatar of Courage on Oct 30, 2016 5:47:40 GMT
The first thing his lamp illuminated were books.
"Oh crud." Books. Why did it have to be books? He got enough of them on a daily basis. They weren't nearly as relevant to his daily life as training was, true. But they were there, and they were boring. He couldn't bring himself to care for maths. History could be interesting... occasionally, when it spoke of legends and heroes and great evils and journeys. Most of the time it spoke of name he couldn't care less about who did this and that and founded this and that city. Point was, Squire didn't like books.
He decided to deal with them last.
So instead, he turned his lamp to another shelf. Moving around the room was a bit of a pain. There was trash littering the floors, sometimes making a damn trek just to get from one point of interest to the other.
After managing to find his way round another pile of litter, Squire found himself staring at a plethora of wires and cables which's purpose completely evaded him. He decided to ignore them for now, walking past them and moving further down the hall, his lamp's light hovering over every object of interest.
A box chock full of batteries was by far the most interesting one.
"Jackpot!" He felt a grin spread across his lips as he moved towards the box. Oh yes, these were batteries alright. Checking for his lamp's battery size, he quickly swiped a few pairs of the correct batteries before dropping them into his pouch. He was already here... might as well help himself to a few goodies while he was saving the city. "Let's see... what else is there."
Not much, unfortunately. There were a few wacky-talkies, two missing from the shelves. Squire didn't really have much need for one; the room had obviously not been invaded by the perp, so he probably hadn't been the one who took the devices. Looking over the wires, he could honestly not tell what any of them were for. Buuut... they were both long and thick... once he had beaten the bad guy unconscious, maybe he could tie him up with one of these?
Funny how a simple lamp seemed to have erased the possibility of losing from his mind.
Wrapping the wires and cables diagonally over his chest, he slowly turned his lamp light towards the third shelf.
And then he thought he saw one of the piles of trash move and tremble.
"HOLY YGGDR-" His shouting was interrupted as the back of his head banged against the first shelf, making the structure tremble slightly. From the top shelf, a single book seemed to perfectly slide out of place, bonking Squire right in the nogging with its mighty, heavy girth, before rolling off his scalp to slap wide open in front of the small, groaning dragon.
"Ow ow ow ow...!" He moaned lowly as he rubbed at his head furiously, crouched on the floor as he did. "I knew books were bad news...!"
Wait, was that a map?
"Huh?" Squire tilted his head to the side, staring in confusion at the book sprawled open under him. Suddenly, the weight of its side shifted, moving to close the entire thing. Squire's arm immediately moved to catch it though, pinning it open as he stared at the... map.
"Huh... It's a map of the sewer system." He muttered, humming thoughtfully. Well, that was nice and all, but it really didn't tell him where the hell the other digimon was. With a shrug, Squire closed the book, moving to place it back unto the shelve. He struggled for a while to put the book back in the top shelf, being extremely short.
Then his mind finally caught up.
'Went right back in through the way you came from and bolted for the door. Could've sworn I heard him muttering something about the head, but he's gotta be barking up the wrong tree, right? These sewers lead to the sides.'
"HOLY CRUD!" He said, his feet tripping under him and sending him back to the floor, the book's slapping him right in the face as it fell. The young dragon shrugged it off though, simply rolling the book under him and throwing it open once again, finding the map.
Skill Check: Journeymon
"Yeah... Yeah! I can read this!" Finally! For once knowing how to read a map was useful! Grabbing the map, he ripped it off the book, grinning widely as he made a break for the door. "Oh ho ho! Up yours, yellow fingers dude! I can finally catch up!"
He had practically forgotten about the trembling heaps of trash.
Achievement Unlocked: Achievement in Ignorance [+1 Knowledge]
|
|
|