Dane found himself at a diner with Reggie, a hole in the wall cramped between a couple of other stores in a dark alley. But it seemed to have a few customers despite the hidden location.

“The food here is good,” Reggie said, obviously just playing it cool. He couldn’t hide his anxiety, tapping his gloved fingers on the table. His eyes kept darting to the windows. “Cheap, too. But Deka gave us money, so.. eat up, okay?"

“I don’t think those green guys will think to come here, Reggie,” Dane offered quietly, looking at the greasy, laminated menu.

“Of course they won’t! We’re fine. Everything’s fine. I thought they’d be out of this area for longer, is all..” Reggie swallowed a lump in his throat and asked the waitress for coffee.

Dane frowned at him, “Do--”

There was shouting outside in the alley as a scuffle unfolded in the dark. It sounded like someone got thrown into a trashcan, metal crashing and footsteps hurrying away as a man shouted after them.

Reggie blinked at Dane, “What? Oh-- Dane, you’re really green. That’s nothing.”

“I.. was wondering who those men were-- I know you said they were a gang and they were xenophobes, but-- is there more?” Dane’s nerves were frayed from the noises outside, though gone now. Everything was sending him on alert. They could die so easily here, couldn’t they?

“They’re just another street gang, but one that hates me a lot. Uh.. they like green? I guess? One of their guys jumped me a few months ago and I killed him and I’m half-alien, so I’m like this huge insult to their twisted vision.” Reggie sighed, rolling his eyes as he looked outside.

“Are there any bigger gangs? Or are they all just pockets of angry people who want money or.. whatever they want?”

Reggie hummed, “Mostly pockets, but some big people are pulling the strings around here. I try to stay away. The Women of Limbo are a huge society that’s really secretive. Dekartha has a hunch they started as a refuge kind of group, but we don’t know much else beyond that you should really stay out of their way.”

“Women of Limbo.. that sounds like a band,” Dane mused to himself.

“I’ve found some documents on them in my searches,” ANDI said to Dane, “They’re like the Amazons if the Amazons had plasma cannons.”

That sounded bad.

“... you said things get dark. What’s the worst thing you’ve seen?” Dane quickly asked Reggie, “If it doesn’t hurt to say.”

“Mostly experiments on people. People who are veterans and lured in for a meal or something and emerge seventy percent machine, put together poorly with their experimental synthetic parts scraping and cutting their bio parts. I’ve killed my fair share of them. No other cure for it. I’ve also seen friends die, but that’s personal horror. Can I get the sunny side combo, please?” Reggie replied, handing off his menu.

Dane felt sick.