“Hey, stay close here, don’t wanna get lost” Stomach said

Wraith nodded, barely paying attention. Its attention darted side to side, trying and failing to take in all the new scenery that surrounded it. Cities always felt chaotic, but this was something else. Everything Wraith expected was there, tall buildings reaching for the sky, wide roadways filled with noisy vehicles, but all these elements took on a surreal tone. Towers that scraped the sky were precariously stacked on one another, standing high over the clouds with seemingly no regard for safety or stability, roadways stretched off the ground, huge metal pillars stuck into the ground at strange angles almost like they were made to give the city acupuncture. Wraith spotted a massive building in the distance that resembled a colossal guitar with twelve strings that stretched to the ground.

 On top of all the unique architecture, each person the pair passed on the street was different, much more so than anything Wraith had seen before then. Each one had a completely different body, and many even had different numbers of legs. They passed something that looked like a stickman made of scraps of leather walking side by side with a huge metal lizard with bony spikes covering its back.

“I’ve gotten used to the sun being purple, but how do you get used to everyone looking like this?” Wraith asked

“What’s a sun? Anyways, you’re still looking at it the wrong way. Nobody here is used to any of this, it’s all just insane to us. It’s like I told you, the only way forward is to accept the insanity, open arms and everything” Stomach said

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense” Wraith said

“Of course! It always makes sense when nothing makes sense!” Stomach laughed, draping his arm around Wraith’s shoulders

Wraith chuckled, then broke out laughing. In all the hours Eyes and Glow had spent trying to make sense of the world for Wraith, nothing had been as clear as it was now. Nothing in that world made as much sense as how nonsensical it was. 

Stomach beamed down at Wraith, a look of pride on his face.

“You finally starting to get it? Startin’ to make a little sense? Well, try not to drink too much when we get there, I don’t want you forgetting all this catharsis!” Stomach said

“So we’re going to a bar?” Wraith asked

“Of course! Where did you think we were going?”

Slowly, details were beginning to appear from the chaos of the city. The obvious danger of the stacked skyscrapers was undercut by thin, barely visible support beams made from some nearly transparent red material. The floating layers of road were also made from this substance, although how such little material didn’t collapse under the weight of hundreds of vehicles was still a mystery to Wraith. The edges of the sidewalk were lined with small concrete structures, like long, flat benches. 

“What’re those on the sidewalk?” Wraith asked

“The worst night’s sleep you’ll get. A little better than nothing, I guess” Stomach said

“They’re for sleeping?”

“Yeah, and sitting. For fellas without houses”

“Huh, we don’t have anything like that where I come from” Wraith said

“Really? Then where do you sleep if you don’t have a house?” Stomach asked

“Huh, didn’t really think about that very much”

“Damn, that sucks. Around here having a house is pretty optional. They give out blankets for these, and there’s this public storage system, I wouldn’t trust it though. I actually lived without a house for a year a while back. Made it harder to be traced” Stomach said

“Why didn’t you want to be traced?”

Stomach opened his mouth, before closing it and shaking his head. He stopped walking again, seemingly deep in thought, before gasping slightly, like he just thought of something great.

“I just like anonymity”

Wraith knew he was lying.

“Right, it’s just a few more blocks down the street here” Stomach said

The two had been walking over an hour now. Wraith began wondering why they hadn’t taken one of those strange cars. The city around them had become noticeably less clean, and a lot shorter. No more stacked skyscrapers, the tallest building around was only five stories. Wraith noticed that everything around it seemed very climbable, to the point that everything must have been constructed with that in mind. The crowd that had engulfed them earlier had now thinned out to nearly nothing, only the occasional passerby.

Two bright lights suddenly shone in front of the pair, both of them shielding their eyes. Wraith wondered what kind of idiot had such bright headlights on in the middle of the day. The vehicle they were attached to pulled up next to the two, matching their walking pace. A panel from the side of the vehicle disappeared, and someone leaned out. It looked like a deflated puppet made of purple rubber, its body hanging limp like its strings had been cut. 

“You two interested in some V?” The puppet asked

Stomach raised his middle finger and increased his pace without saying a word.

“C’mon, it’s an easy job!”

“Get off, we’re not interested” Stomach said in a flat voice

“Hundred V an hour make it more interesting?” The puppet asked

Stomach stopped short, Wraith nervously following suit.

“A hundred? For real?” Stomach asked

“Yeah, sure. Last minute casting call, two actors pulled out”

“I’ll need your account name first” Stomach said, taking his slate from some hidden compartment on his leg

“No, this one’s off the books” The puppet said

“You give me an account or some collateral, else we pull out” Stomach insisted

The puppet sighed, floppily brushing its hands down its face. Wraith didn’t quite like the way it moved, a little uncanny. It reached back somewhere in the vehicle and presented two large tokens. Flat and shiny on one side and rough with some strange symbol on the other side.

“Collateral, token for each of you” The puppet said

“Yeah, that’s good. Alright Wraith, we’re making a little detour”