Hunching into my baggy, old-fashioned clothes, I trudged down the street to have a look at the people staking out my money. As expected, professional army didn’t blend with surroundings at all. I wonder if they did better on their actual job in the field, but started to have serious doubts about it.

A couple of titans stiffly lounged at the eatery nearby and wondered what this mysterious time-off they were supposed to portray could possibly be. Two more sat in an alley of potential escape. Perhaps there were more, but this was an overkill already.

I found myself irrationally disappointed not seeing any pale faces. Safe Zone Two was not a city within Raktkalis jurisdiction, so I didn’t really expect to. Regardless, some anticipation has crept in. No matter. Money belonged to someone undeserving and I still had vested interest in seeing it liberated.

Right after leaving the bustling streets, I typed out a location and sent it to my mystery correspondent. If they decided to overreach and cover both avenues of approach, some soldiers would have to be retracted and told to head to a bogus meeting spot.

A reply came eerily swiftly.

“30 min.”

The city was big. I had no idea how they planned to be there on time, nor how I would be expected to materialise anywhere in such short duration. Waiting for the bus alone might take longer. This reeked of an out-of-touch snoot. After all, ruling class would have no concepts of a real city life. Public transport was as incomprehensible to them, as this meeting time – to me.

As I stared dumbly at an obfuscated screen, ears picked up a heavy thrumming of a helicopter. Its direction was unusual – flyer headed towards city centre and away from all military installations. Dignitaries rarely used this form of traversing. Singular loud target in the backdrop of vast sky was far too attractive of a target.

Were they passing through? I mentally followed it. Thumping stopped smack dab in the middle of skyscrapers. Echo was unmistakable.

How curious. I wasn’t sufficiently conceited to assume it had anything to do with me, but the development was irregular enough for my professional side to want this information. I might be under direct threat, but I always was. Life didn’t stop. Best of luck to them cornering anybody in a bustling metropolis anyway.

I elbowed myself onto a doddering bus and actually left several contenders bent over on the pavement. That hardly helped the inside situation. Unnameable wild beasts were more preferable companions to this travesty of a ride. I always lost something from my pockets. Gripped the voicebox tight and resigned myself to a misplaced vial or two. Hopefully a nasty one. Pickpockets would get divine retribution for sticking nose into other people’s business.

I and the working class trundled up the downtrodden streets towards opulence. It’s really the overcrowded suburbs that needed skyward expansion, but understandably, only the comfort of people with money mattered. Dull brick blocks gradually made way to more elegant, impractical designs. In all honesty, glass walls had no right to grace this climate, but electricity and heating hasn’t been a problem for decades. A lot of things gradually got worse, but not infrastructure meant for defence.

I disembarked one stop earlier. Eager to escape the smelly hotbox, but also to give myself a wider berth of approach. Had no desire to get right in important people’s faces.

Did not even need to look to find the curious crowd. Citizens have been animatedly whispering about an unusual development, wondering about some imagined emergency. In truth, as soon as I saw the black mechanical aggregate prominently bulging above their heads, I knew this was nothing but a rich brat acting spoiled.

“Kalantan delegation? Today?”

“Why land here?”

“Papers went flying out the windows!”

“They don’t seem in a rush.”

“Oh, look. This made mayor descend from his tower.”

“You think he’ll explain anything?”

“Not to us. Besides, dude looks more confused than us.”

This couldn’t possibly be happening. It can’t be a coincidence. What a dedication! Which city had he even flown out from?

I wanted to simultaneously howl with nervous laughter, chuck a something vile at them and run away. Held myself back. Mostly due to immeasurable danger, but partly because I did not have the right items on hand. By some lucky miracle, I was running low on supplies.

I did desire to vandalise, though. So much so, I began looking around for other sorts of mischief. Containing the urge, removed myself from temptation. I had nothing else to do here. Main task was to shallowly nose around. Had it been somebody of importance, then I’d have needed to find out where the dignitary was staying and why. Now? Not so much.

Strolling down the path and away from commotion, I spied some wide-eyed Kalantans going about their day. The whitely-dressed servants, not statuesque fighters – albeit they also milled about not far off too.

“Fucking tourists,” a woman with boxes silently cursed. “All this mess for a shopping trip?”

“I know, right? Some of us have work to do.”

The life on this alley has been thoroughly disrupted. It wasn’t just the extravagant arrival. The guests from province drew attention. A crowd of curious locals languidly circled around. Coincidentally, that obscured the view and gave me improper ideas.

I stalked behind one of the milky eyesores and, upon seeing an opportunity, grabbed a servant’s mouth as though to stifle the scream. In reality, I just wanted to provoke sharp intake of breath. The next moment, tension in muscles eased and body became pliable. Not unconscious, just unreasonably relaxed.

I pocketed the noxious flower dust and walked us through an employee door. It was empty. Even if it hadn’t been, disabling one or two blabbermouths wouldn’t have been an issue. I quickly threw someone’s jacket over that distinct gown and used shawl to cover a shiny beacon atop.

Break room’s exit lead deeper into a mall. I guided a stupefied girl by holding her up at the waist. We didn’t look as natural as I would have liked, but there were no lingering gawkers.

Where to? I hadn’t given this impulse any thought.