Svanda let out a sigh as the door closed, Nina’s hurried footsteps echoing up the aisle. Looking over at Julia, she shrugged.

“Sorry about that.”

“That’s alright,” Julia smiled before taking the largest weapon from the rack in the case. Handing it out to Svanda, she nodded towards the rifle. “I thought I’d sneak in a RRY-04 so you could give it a try.”

“Thanks, I don’t really feel like it after what just happened,” Svanda said with a wry smile.

“It’s here for you anytime,” Julia said as she placed it back in the display case. Punching a few more buttons into the control panel, the entire case sank back down into the wall to be replaced from above with the empty one that had been there earlier. “That girl, she’s from Caecus right?”

“Mmm,” Svanda nodded before picking up Nina’s random assortment of bags from their earlier shopping. “Not hard to tell after that reaction, is it?”

With a soft laugh, Julia shook her head. Opening the door to the aisle for Svanda, she ushered her through before falling in behind her. “You’re not going to go after her?”

“There’s nothing I can do for her right now,” Svanda said as she entered the elevator. Seeing Julia follow her inside, she looked over. “Not staying?”

“I don’t feel like it after that,” Julia sighed. “I think I’ll take the rest of the day off.”

“If only I could do that when I felt like it.”

“Reina is quite a good employer though, isn’t she?”

“She is, so I don’t have any complaints,” Svanda laughed as the elevator doors opened. “But maybe in the next life I’ll be born a little higher like a certain someone.”

Julia hit her with a playful punch. “Would you like to go for a drink now with that certain someone?”

“I should take this back now, Nina can deal with it when she gets back,” Svanda said as she held up Nina’s shopping. “After that, sure.”

Julia threw her a smile before peeling off towards a staff only area. “I’ll get changed and see you soon?”

“Sure, see you up there.”

Svanda exited The Eye of Iron and headed back to The Cloud Orchestra. Reaching the apartment door, she remembered that she needed to get a key to the apartment for Nina. It was possible for her to use the doorbell, but that was generally used by customers who wanted to access the reception room as they were checked via video display before the door was unlocked from inside the office.

“Oh, you’re back,” Trim said as Svanda made her way into the office. “Huh? Where’s Nina?”

Svanda explained what had happened at The Eye of Iron as she dropped Nina’s shopping bags on one of the empty desks.

“You didn’t chase after her?”

“What am I supposed to do? I’m probably the last person she wants to see right now,” Svanda sighed as she shook her head. “I’m not good with things like this.”

“I’ll deal with it.” Reina’s voice drifted out from inside her office. “Did Nina buy shoes?”

“She did.”

“Give them to Euris so she can modify them and leave the rest of the stuff upstairs somewhere… Oh hi Hala it’s Reina, can I ask you where you two went with Nina the other day? Talewood and the Sandbell… No it’s ok, you’ve already been a great help… Yeah thanks, bye.”

Reina appeared in the door to her office and leaned against the frame. “Can one of you hold down the fort while I’m gone?”

“I was going to go and get something to eat and Svanda has been out today already, so that’s settled,” Trim smiled.

“Sorry, but I’m supposed to be meeting with Julia right now.”

“That’s your problem, isn’t it?”

“Unfortunately, it’s yours,” Reina said as she grabbed some keys and a card from her desk before heading towards the door. “Julia is too important, so Svanda is going.”

“Euris is here so why does it matter?” Trim sighed.

“You both know what she is like,” Reina said as she looked over to Euris’s office. With a black curtain covering the glass that separated her office from the main space next to it, Euris leaving her office to help with Nina’s identity was the furthest she had travelled in the last few days.

“Fine, I’ll see if there’s anything upstairs.” Trim stood up and walked to the stairs as Reina and Svanda both made to leave.

“Can you take Nina’s stuff up while you’re at it?” Svanda asked with a smile as she held the door open for Reina before following her through it, leaving Trim in silence.

“Unbelievable,” Trim muttered to herself before she began to collect the shopping bags. Remembering Reina’s earlier comment, she dropped the one with Nina’s shoes in it in front of Euris’s office before flicking a small switch next to the door and then heading up the stairs.

---

After losing herself in the crowd and following the flow of people down the main street, Nina had found herself standing in front of the Talewood arms again. Pushing her way through the door, she ignored the staff on the ground floor this time and instead headed straight for the stairs. Given the time of day, the place wasn’t too busy yet, so while harbouring a hope, she arrived at the fifth floor.

They’re not here, she sighed inwardly as she looked out to where she had met Hala and Cross the day before. Feeling her stomach rumble she looked towards the bar area to see no sign of food. Remembering that they had left last time to get something to eat, Nina concluded that either the food here was not worth it, or that they didn’t even serve food at all.

Before she knew it, she was out on the street again. Following her memories along the road, she ignored the curious gazes of the people around her. Twisting through the procession of people before making a turn, she again found herself in front of a building from the day before.

Considering that she was reluctant to try something she didn’t know, this was the only place that had served her food. She didn’t know the prices, the names, or if she would even like new foods, so she had opted for the one thing she did know. Entering the Sandbell, she walked up to the empty counter while looking around. The desk had no bell, and Nina remembered that Hala had resorted to hitting the countertop to get Dex’s attention. Reluctant to do the same, Nina clenched her fists before asking.

“Umm, excuse me?”

After twenty seconds of silence, Dex’s head popped through the curtain. “Oh, it’s you. You need something?”

“I was wondering if I could get the same thing I had yesterday,” Nina replied with a meek voice as she looked at the counter.

“Just you?” Dex asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes.”

“No problem, go up and sit down,” he said before his head disappeared again behind the curtain.

Walking upstairs to where she had sat before, Nina took a seat that looked out to the space below them. Gazing at the detail of the buildings on the other side of the street, she turned as she heard footsteps approaching.

“It really is you,” Naztra said as she placed two glasses of ale on the table. With her charcoal hair falling over a plunging blue dress which again didn’t leave much to the imagination, Naztra examined Nina’s face with a hint of interest.

Wondering exactly how many glasses of ale she had ended up buying, Nina was surprised as Naztra sat next to her and took one of the glasses herself. “Do you mind?”

Nina shook her head as she sipped her glass in silence. With a smile, Naztra also opted to remain silent as she followed Nina’s gaze out to the space beyond. For more than a minute, the pair sat in silence as they watched the world pass by outside.

“Do you have a gun?” Nina asked.

Pausing for a moment at the question, Naztra shook her head. “I don’t, no.”

“Why not?”

“Because I have this,” Naztra said as she drew a thin blade out from the high slit in her dress. Reflecting the light, the silver blade was about the length of Nina’s hand, a deep red grip with an intricate carving wrapped around it forming the hilt.

“Why do you need that?”

“Because bad people are out there Nina,” Naztra sighed. “It doesn’t matter how good you want to be if the other person isn’t interested.”

“That’s why there should be a police force,” Nina said. “Isn’t that what SuTSU is supposed to be?”

Naztra raised the back of her hand to her mouth as she chuckled. “You dropped here recently, didn’t you?” Seeing Nina’s nod, she continued. “Think of how many buildings you saw, then think of how many floors are on each building. After that, think about how many people you have seen on the few floors you have been to while realizing that you haven’t even scratched the surface of what really happens here.”

“There are too many people,” Nina replied.

“There aren’t too many people,” Naztra rejected her idea. “After all, couldn’t you just employ more? If the percentage of SuTSU staff to people is balanced, there shouldn’t be an issue.”

“So what is the problem then?”

“The problem is that SuTSU doesn’t care,” Naztra said matter-of-factly. “SuTSU are interested in the people up there, not the people down here,” she continued as she pointed to the ceiling. “Down here, the world is a maze. Alleys, apartments, abandoned shops, you name it. It’s easy to hide and SuTSU aren’t willing to invest the effort to help out.

“So people have to take matters into their own hands?”

“That is often the case. There are many organizations which fulfil similar roles, you will run into them soon enough.” Naztra finished her ale before standing up. “It was nice to speak to you, but I have to get back to work.”

“Naztra.” Just as she turned, Nina called out to her.

“Yes?”

“Your knife… have you ever used it?”

Nina watched as Naztra paused. Even without her turning around, Nina could see her shoulders rise as she sighed.

“Once,” she said softly before walking back to the kitchen area.