Maddy immediately started healing Nick, which he was immensely grateful for. It took a lot of time but Nick’s body was eventually back into a workable state. Maddy couldn’t heal him back to perfect health though. Nick decided to finally ask why Healers couldn’t just infinitely spam out their skill.

“Most skills come with some sort of cost. It’s almost always a physical or mental strain. Heal, the skill, drains both. With each cast of the skill a Healer is drained more and more. Eventually it gets to the point of a migraine and being so physically drained I can’t move.” Maddy explained.

Nick then realised that he had a skill with a very obvious display of that, Punishing Blows. He could very easily feel the drain from that skill, with each successive strike in his combo his energy was drained more and more. Though, Nick hadn’t really noticed the drain from his other skills. He’d been using the map skill and Treasure Sense in large repetitions at points but hadn’t really felt a drain at all.

“Some skills cost more than others.” Maddy said with a shrug.

Nick then turned to Lily with a smile, he had some information to share. Nick explained what he had picked up about his name spreading through the Parklands and then everything he had learnt about Paige and how the Executioners operated. He also tacked on some of the stories that people told about Explorers. All of the new information sent Lily into a deep contemplative state, Nick knew she’d be like that for a while and there was no point trying to communicate with her until she’d mulled it over.

“My boy, I can’t believe you’ve been forced into this situation. I’m so sorry, I should have been able to do something.” Henry’s voice was deep with sorrow.

“There’s nothing that could have been done dad. We’ve just got to make the most of it now.” Nick said with a weak smile.

“I just don’t get it. Why would Reggie have done this to his own image? He’s only made himself look weaker. He probably got invaded because of it.” Maddy said.

“Yeah, I don’t get it either. The situation already seemed shaky, the invasion was bound to happen anyway, the Shamans had already seen it. He made himself look weaker when he already knew war was coming.” Nick replied.

“But what if that was exactly the point?” Lily finally spoke up. “He made himself look weak on purpose to get the PPM to invade earlier than they might have been planning.”

“Why would he have done that?” Nick asked.

“He already wanted Tony gone, but didn’t want to do it himself for whatever reason. You were the perfect opportunity to bring attention to the 72nd floor and make himself look weak at the same time. Reggie wanted this to happen.” Lily answered.

“Why would he want to get invaded and lose a whole floor though? What could he possibly gain from this?” Maddy then asked.

“Now that. I’m not quite sure about. There is definitely a reason though, this seems all too calculated to just be happenstance. Reggie is planning something and I don’t want to be part of it.” Lily said.

It was then that Nick checked his clock and realised that he was supposed to be meeting with Paige five minutes ago. He quickly got up and went to leave.

“Where are you going?” Lily asked.

“I have a meeting with Paige. I want to get some answers from her.”

“That doesn’t seem like the smartest of ideas Nick.” Maddy said with a frown.

“I’m starting to think that she has some sort of skill that lets her influence you, from what you’ve told me. I don’t think meeting her alone is a good idea either, it seems that the Rina woman has always bailed you out so far.” Lily added.

“Yeah it sounds like she might have some of those stickers that influence social skills, you don’t want to be alone with a person like that.” Maddy said.

“There are stickers that influence other people?” Lily asked.

“Yeah I don’t know too much about it because I’ve never met someone who talks about them. I think it’s an attribute called charisma or something.”

Lily then entered another contemplative state and Nick took the opportunity to move towards the door. He didn’t really care what the two women said, he wanted his answers from Paige. He then made a break for it.

“Hey wait you idiot!” Lily called out.

But it was too late. Nick had closed the door and was on his way back towards the kitchen. It took him a minute or two to make it there and he found Paige sitting at a table alone. Everyone was giving her a wide berth. Nick winced and headed over to her. He noticed that she’d changed clothes since he last saw her. She had changed out of the frilly dress with knife straps all over it and into a more decorative dress. It was still the same victorian-inspired goth styling, which Nick realised would have had to have been custom made in a place like this.

Paige noticed Nick approaching and frowned at him.

“And here I was, beginning to think that I’d been stood up.” She pouted.

“Paige, this isn’t a date. I just want to talk.” Nick’s brows furrowed.

“Hush now, a woman can hope. It’s been a while since someone has asked for a private meeting with me.” She said with a smile.

Nick was beginning to piece together why. The crazy woman in front of him was some sort of enforcer for the leader of a powerful faction, who was likely more than willing to get pretty violent with her methods. They certainly weren't the most appealing of traits, though he was sure there was a crowd for the kinda stuff.

“Well let’s get to it then. I had Doyle free up a room for our business.” Paige said with a giggle.

She got up and held out an arm towards Nick, confused he walked next to her. She then slipped her arm around his and linked arms with him. She set off with surprising gusto and Nick was dragged along. Paige was surprisingly strong for a woman so small, Nick had to assume there were stickers or some sort of skill at play. No five foot three woman should be this strong. Nick was dragged through the kitchen, his flustered disposition on display for every important person on the floor, including Doyle himself. The man smiled at Nick, but instead of being genuine, Nick was certain he could read some pity in the man’s face.

People swiftly moved out of the way of Paige, not a single daring to even throw her a questioning look. Nick was beginning to realise how important of a figure the woman dragging him along was. She had been sitting in on the meeting between Doyle and the PPM, where the plans of invasion were being made. She was also able to get Doyle to clear a private room for her. Paige certainly held considerable sway over the events here on the 71st floor.

Nick was then pulled through another door leading out of the kitchen, this one led into a wider space, with people lounging about on sofas. All of the people were grouped in teams and wearing gear, Nick guessed that these were the Quarters of the 71st and everyone here was on a team that worked for Doyle. Nick noticed a lot more people openly gawking at the sight of him being dragged. He realised it must have been a rather bizarre sight. Paige was dressed up in her styling of choice and Nick certainly wasn’t dressed up in the slightest. Nick was still in his armour and gear, hell, even his hands were still bandaged up. He was coated in dried blood, most of it his own. His hair was likely a bit matted and he didn’t want to know the state of his face.

Paige didn’t seem to care one bit though, her pale arm was directly looped around his own. His arm was caked in dried blood and she didn’t seem to mind at all as it rubbed off onto her. Nick felt slightly bad honestly, the woman clearly put a lot of effort into her appearance and he was getting blood all over her. He tried to free up his arm so that he wouldn’t be getting her dirty.

As he tried to pry his arm free she clamped down on it, it felt like he’d been grabbed by a solid steel pincer. She was far stronger than him.

“You’re not getting away that easy.” She giggled.

“I uh, I’m getting blood all over you.” He stammered out.

“Dear, there’s certainly nothing wrong with a little blood.” She flashed him a grin and her long canines were revealed again.

Holy shit. Was she a vampire? Was Paige a goddamn bloodsucking creature of the night? The more he thought about it the more it made sense to him. The pale skin, the gothic dress sense, the fangs, and not to mention the strange mind-messing going on. How had he not noticed it before? Was it possible though? An actual vampire? Nick shook his head, surely it wasn’t possible. The Complex was a strange place for certain but this was a steep off the deep end. Paige was just a woman who liked to dress up a bit, it’s a strange place so why not get a little strange with your styling?

Paige eventually approached one of the doors in the room and opened it up. Nick could have sworn he heard a whistle before he was dragged in. The room was a large open space, with one piece of furniture defining the room.

“Paige, what the hell is with the room?”

“Hmm? What do you mean?” She innocently replied.

Nick pointed at the giant four-poster bed in the room. “That Paige. Why are we in a bedroom?”

Paige shrugged. “It’s the nicest room on the floor. I wanted my friend to share a decent experience with me.”

She had put a strange emphasis on the word friend, Nick realised that she was using his own words. He had brought up their friendship back in the dining room and she was reminding him of that. There were two armchairs and a coffee table in front of the bed and Paige gestured for him to take a seat and took one of the chairs for herself. She then took a teapot and two teacups out from a small handbag she was carrying. Nick saw that the handbag was styled similarly to the rest of her clothes, hinting that the bag was of custom make as well.

Paige then served them both some tea, which if the steam was anything to go by was still boiling hot. Nick was about to ask about it when Paige answered before he could.

“My bag maintains the temperature of the items it carries. It’s very convenient for things like this. I can enjoy myself some tea wherever I happen to be!”

“That’s certainly pretty cool. I was wondering whether these magic bags were made by crafters or loot.” Nick replied.

Paige smiled. “Well, they’re both. Crafters can make pretty good bags, like mine, or I suspected yours. They can be found as loot, but they’re very rare. Loot bags are simply the best though. Crafters can only make a bag's storage a certain size, limited by their skill levels, and can attach limited effects to them. Bags created by the hotel have no such limits, though it’s usually quite random.”

That was an interesting bit of information. So crafters can make straight up magical stuff, which means there must be some really cool stuff out there in the Parklands. Nick had suspected it from the communication crystals but the bags confirmed it. Straight up magical crafting, why the hell was Nick the only one without magic? Goddamnit. Nick shook his head, this wasn’t while he’d asked to meet with Paige.

“Paige.” Nick started.

Paige then sighed. “I guess we should get down to business. Ask away Nick.”

“Why didn’t you warn me about the invasion?”

Paige rolled her eyes at him. “Really Nick? There are so many reasons that I’m sure you would have had to have worked out a few of them.”

When Nick stayed silent she continued.

“Nick, this was an event much larger than us as individuals. While I would have loved to give you a warning, I couldn’t openly release information about it. You never do know who’s listening. I was only privy to the meeting you saw as a mediator. The Executioners take no direct part in conflicts, which you understandably wouldn’t know because you’re new here. We are entirely focused on clearing down through the car park, every other faction accepts that. Members of the Executioners are often used as mediators because of our impartiality to other matters.”

Now that was a lot for Nick to process.

“Aren’t you guys part of the Parklands?” He asked.

“Yes and no. The Parklands isn’t a single unified faction, Nick. The two major players are the Parkland People’s Militia, the group currently at war with the hotel, and the Executioners. There are some other smaller factions around the place, but the PPM has done a decent job over the years of stamping them out.”

The new information just kept rolling out. Lily and Maddy were worried for nothing, Nick was totally getting the best of this.