They walked in relative silence. It did not take them long until they started to see signs of people – some tents here and hut there. Eventually actual people began appearing. One overly thin bear paced through the streets muttering to himself. He seemed harmless enough but it left Marcellus on his guard nonetheless. A group of children huddled around a steel bucket with a fire in it. Two felines and a canine, their specific species and genders impossible to tell from the amount of clothing they were wrapped in and the dirt in their fur.

By the sight alone one realized how cold it was down here in the under-city. Nothing here offered any warmth save for fire, live wires, and each other.

Cold, dreary, polluted. Why on Terra would anyone willingly choose to live here?

Marcellus had lived in a small village far from Urbium. Like everyone else, he once wanted to live the lavish life Caelum offered in the upper levels of this mega-metropolis. It’s why he enlisted in their military program. Because of this he never lived in the under-city. His only time spent in Urbium was during training and rec in the upper levels. Even when he made it to becoming a Templar he was still stationed and operated elsewhere. Although he had seen the under-city from afar he had never personally been.

This place is less under-city and more like Gehenna, he thought.

“We’re here,” Ava said, snapping Marcellus out of his reverie.

The flickering neon lights of a sign that read “The Hole in the Wall” met his gaze. His expression dropped to one of utter un-amusement. “You’re kidding me.”

Ava snickered and pushed through the batwing doors to the tavern. True to its name it was seemingly built into one of the Zone’s walls. The front of the building only extended a few feet before sinking into the reinforced concrete. The structure itself seemed to be built out of decent quality wood but underneath was a hint of repurposed steel plating. It only looked mundane on the surface. Marcellus kept this in mind as he stepped through the threshold.

He was met with the smell of cheap alcohol, stale peanuts, and the blues. This all seemed to be embodied in the single patron in the far corner of the bar. The old wolf was asleep in his booth, glass still in hand. Calling this place a dive might be too kind, Marcellus thought.

“Hey, pretty boy, back here,” Tivon said as he waved him behind the counter and to the backroom of the bar.

Marcellus wondered just how large this building was considering its location. His curiosity was gifted with an answer shortly afterwards. Tivon led him to the storeroom where an old holo-shooter game stood against the wall and beside a large steel shelf filled with bottles of liquor and random supplies. Tivon went over the machine and began pressing the credit return buttons for both players in a quick sequence. After the final press he stood back and the shelf beside it swung open.

This elicited another raised eyebrow from Marcellus. Ava took notice and shook her head smiling. He knew that she knew that he knew that he was impressed – if only slightly. He tried not to let that fact irk him any more than it should have.

After Marcellus stepped in through the threshold of the hidden door, Tivon flipped a switch on the other side that made it swing shut practically soundlessly. Tivon continued down the ramp that lay behind and the hallway that it led to. It was lit every ten feet or so with sodium-vapor lamps of which flickered every now and then. The hall gradually sloped downward, was wide enough for three to walk abreast, and arched a few feet above their heads. The air was dry but blessedly free of the stench of the under-city.

It was an eerie sight but nothing Marcellus had not seen during his time as a Templar. In fact, this kind of reminded him of one of his stations.

At the far end of the hall was a slightly rusted door. He knocked in a syncopated pattern and a moment later a viewport slid open on the door. Green eyes and orange fur peered out from the port. It slid back closed and with a few more grating and sliding sounds the door creaked open.

“Took you all long enough,” Declan said from behind the door. His tail twitched nervously. “Spot of trouble?”

“Nothing we couldn’t handle,” Tivon said brushing past Declan.

Declan looked at Marcellus with a look that might have been wonder or appreciation. “It’s good to see you in one piece.”

Marcellus huffed. “It would take much more than that to faze me.”

Declan’s face lit up in childlike awe. He shut the door as everyone came inside and ran off into the compound.