Sometimes, you might be gripped by the need for adventure. The ideal of humanity stands in a balance between the order that makes you safe but bored and the chaos that makes you interested but might kill you. The exact spot that this ideal might be found is different for each person. Some people might look up to the walls that surround them and feel a positive feeling of safety inside their protection, while others may gaze at the same thing and feel themselves imprisoned by them and the oppression they facilitate.

Thus, some people may feel compelled to search for a way in which they can safely leave those walls. Outside lies a dangerous world full of creatures that wish nothing more than to kill and mangle other creatures, including humans. It is therefore clear that a good plan and some amount of knowledge are needed by those who intend to ever venture outside the safe, but stiflingly boring, inside of the walls that protect the people of the Empire.

The known and common enemy was the Infected. Humans that had become something else. Almost everywhere outside the walls within the Empire was guaranteed to have at least some wandering around, which made any ideas of exploring outside the walls not very viable. However, the Empire was not the whole world, not even the whole continent in fact. There was another place in which the Infected were almost non-existent: The Wildlands, ruled by the curious Mutants. Surely, that was a place in which one could have a great adventure.

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As he stepped out of the station in Destroia, Benjamin could not be helped to feel a surge of excitement. The first step of his journey was done! Now he only needed to...

“What's the plan again? Are we staying more than a day in this city?”

“Not too sure, I hear that the Prince wants to wait at least until his sister gets here. Take a look, intimidate and make sure she's not a big threat or something.”

He froze as the two chatting Knights passed by. That reminded him of the seriousness of what he was doing. Deserting was something that carried a death sentence and much shame with it. Still, Benjamin could not resist the temptation. It's not like he was doing it out of cowardice or anything. In fact, he suspected that what he wanted to do required more bravery than just following orders. And anyway, that had been his plan all along. He didn't lie to the recruiter when he said that he would join Charles' army for the chance to see new things. He also didn't lie when he left the Innovation... The guard asked him what he was taking a backpack full of things with him for: He said he wanted to write something outside, and would also like to buy things. Those were seriously technically not lies, even though they weren't the entire truth.

Was it even his fault anyway? Traveling to Destroia was a very regulated matter, doubly so around the time that the Great Race was going on. How else was the third son of higher nobility, with no contacts of his own with any businessmen supposed to get there? When he asked the favor from his father, he was met not only with a refusal, but a whole conspiracy designed to make sure he never got anywhere near to the gateway to the Wildlands.

Therefore, one could only truly conclude that he had no other choice. Yeah. Benjamin nodded to himself as he managed to completely justify his crime to himself. No other way, if he was to have any chance to reach that exotic and adventurous place called the Wildlands, he could only have joined Charles' Army as a Recorder and then leave them behind in Destroia. He was sure that even the Prince might understand his situation if he had the chance to explain it! Not that he ever planned to do it. Nope. Who knew what went on in the minds of the Imperial Family?

And so he wandered deeper into the most interesting city he had ever been to. First, he wanted just to bask in the strange scenery around him. Humans and Mutants were pretty easy to differentiate, what with the latter usually walking covered in many more layers of cloth. At least in the mixed sections of the city. He wondered if he could have a better look at the Mutants in their own section of the city.

Not that he was in any real rush. Being in that city was a very novel experience to him. Stalls here and there, small buildings, smaller shops displaying many different kinds of products. In the rest of the Empire, even in Came, where he had frequented an university, almost everything was quite tightly regulated, so products usually weren't differentiated very much. It was boring. Destroia, on the other hand, with its much looser rules was such a colorful place. How much cooler would a city be in the rest of the Wildlands? Benjamin couldn't wait to see it.

Invigorated by what he saw in the city, Benjamin decided to take that next step, which would irreversibly make him a deserter, then he realized he had a pretty big problem: At the moment he was wearing an uniform along with a badge that marked him as one of Charles' Recorders, if people saw him with one but without the other, it would be easy to mark him as a deserter. How suspicious would it be for someone in his position to buy a whole set of clothes? Probably very much suspicious. He could say he wanted it for a memento. It wouldn't be so far-fetched, the acquisition of products from the Wildlamds was quite regulated, so it wouldn't be strange for someone under a Prince during the Great Race to want to buy something in Destroia, even clothes. That was one problem less, which still left him with a second problem.

Even if he bought a set of clothes, how would he change into them? He wasn't going to consider doing it in a dark alley or something. He needed to find a discreet place where he could change his clothes with a low chance of being marked as a deserter and then being informed on to prince Charles. Still unsure of it, he went to buy a set of clothes appropriate to travel the desert that marked the border between the Empire and the Wildlands, leaving the problem of where to change into them for the future.

To his surprise, the merchant did not even ask him what he wanted the clothes for! What was wrong with the guy? In the Empire one could hardly buy a pack of toothpick without having to state the purpose of doing so. Answering “Because I dislike having things stuck in my teeth, so I wish to use toothpicks to remove them.” was met with frowns and further questioning. Yes, Benjamin had tried it once instead of the boiler plate “For personal use.” shopkeepers usually expected for the more innocuous things. Was that but a taste of the freedom that he imagined people of the Wildlands had that could not be found in the Empire? Thinking about it. It might be better to ask what is wrong with the Empire when its government expects people to be questioned over every tiny detail, but the people cannot question anything about it.

Wandering around, pondering about these questions, Benjamin realized that night had finally come. So weird, the heat that he had been feeling during most of the day was quickly turning into a biting cold. Recognizing the uncomfortable reality, he wanted more and more to find a solution to his predicament. Would he have to give up, at least for the day, and go back to the Innovation? No! He wouldn't let his adventure end just because the weather was a little cold. Okay, it was getting really cold as time passed, but still, his point would still stand.

Just as he was about to give up and go back to the Innovation, Benjamin found a solution. Of course! Maybe he hadn't thought of it because he was still affected by his rather prudish upbringing, but looking now at the rather provocative images around him and women seductively beckoning him, he realized he had a solution at hand. Brothels were probably among the more discreet businesses in any given place, and somewhere that you can get naked without attracting unwanted attention, for obvious reasons. Not like he was actually after... companionship for the night. Nu uh, he just needed to really get out of this damn cold. Getting pretty desperate, he entered an establishment without really looking around.

“Ah, welco-”

The man behind the counter, who had strange appendages growing from his head, as well as other places, marked him as definitely not exactly human, started talking as soon as Benjamin had opened the door, but hesitated when he took a good at him.

Fuck! Was he in trouble? Did he make a mistake? Would the man in front of him start to dial some numbers and then a pair of heavily armed Knights would burst through the door and bring him back to the Innovation for a quick execution? Nah. That would be insane, but there was obviously something strange about Benjamin being there. He didn't want to be seen as suspicious. Walking out right now would be very suspicious, and he didn't want to go back to the cold. Therefore, he could only use the time-honored technique he had seen his father use to great success multiple times: He rifled through backpack for a Greater Gold Mark, discreetly put it on the counter in front of the man and talked confidently in a low voice.

“I hope you can be sufficiently discreet about this.”

It worked! As soon as he saw the coin, the man changed his demeanor as if Benjamin's presence there was the most natural thing ever. He shrugged and handed a a small pin in the format of a butterfly's wings with a golden detail in its center.

“Hey, we don't judge here you know, as long as you're paying. Hold on to this, it means you've got everything paid up already, social area is that way, although if want me to help with choosing someone...”

Don't judge huh. Benjamin had to admit his father was right: Gold was the second best method of silencing someone, after a knife to the heart. Still, he'd rather go on his own for the moment.

“Don't worry, I can... choose by myself.”

Benjamin went in the direction the man had pointed, until he found himself in a relatively big room full of... people? He almost had a heart attack as he realized what exactly he had gotten himself into. Everywhere he looked, everyone looked vaguely, if not completely, bug-like. His ignorance had brought him to an establishment made to cater to bug Mutants, which pretty much explained everything. Hehe, he mentally laughed at himself. Well, it was no problem, of course! Nope. He didn't care one bit that right at that moment anyone looking at him thought he was some kind of weird fetishist, after all, he wasn't one! He didn't mind getting looked at by that huge vaguely humanoid looking cockroach. Come on! You're a cockroach dude! What you looking at me for?

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't very uncomfortable at that moment. What to do though? He had already spent a Greater Gold Mark to get to this point. Even if he left at that very moment, he'd still be thought of as strange. Well, hey, it's not like he would meet any of these people again, right? Even if he was at an establishment for humans, it's not like he intended to make use of the services anyway! He just wanted a place to change his clothes and not get ratted out for desertion, okay? He wasn't a freaky human with a freaky fetish for bugs, okay? As his discomfort started reaching greater and greater amounts, he started desperately looking for someone that looked more like a human woman than a bug. Was he even getting looks at this point? He didn't know, but he just wanted to escape the situation somehow, and he figured the best way was to find a “partner”. He finally saw a woman that almost looked human. He'd never been much of a religious person, but Benjamin prayed that she wasn't actually a client or something, he could do without more awkward situations.

Layla was not one to stare at people. So, of course, she kept her attention on her drink even as she felt a human enter the room. How did she know it was a human? With extremely sharp senses, everyone in the room probably knew he was a human. With the corner of her eye she saw him blushing furiously looking around kind of lost. Was he made to come here on a dare or something? Good grief, what was the manager's problem? Why would he let someone like that in without saying anything? What a poor young man. Wait, was he walking in her direction. He sure was. He stopped right next to her slightly hesitant. She turned to look at him.

“Please, could we go somewhere more private?”

He looked like a desperate and lost puppy so much that Layla couldn't help pitying him. Poor guy, his friends probably forced him to spend some amount of time here. She supposed she could keep him some company. She gave him his best smile, made her fingers as smooth as possible, and took his hand.

“Of course, this way.”

On the way to get a key to the room, she glared at the manager who was at the entrance. He just shrugged and made a sign saying the young man whose hand she was holding was loaded, then gave her a thumbs up. Layla rolled her eyes and guided the young man upstairs. She opened the door to a private room, gently guided him inside, then closed the door. Before she could say anything, the young man turned to her ans awkwardly blurted out.

“You know, well, to be honest, I'm not interested at all in you! No, wait, that kind of came out wrong. I mean, your body. Yeah! I'm, er, not after, uh, sex, I guess? Uh...” Somehow, a part of Layla was disappointed at that. Well, he was a human, but after all, she was a professional and she had been told many times how good she was at making her body more human-like. “No, wait! In a way, I guess I am interested in your body!”

Eh, he was?

“Huh?”

An awkward silence followed. Wait, what was she supposed to act like again? Damn, she had never been with a human client before. She should have talked with the Bees more, they were the ones getting human clients relatively frequently. Something about feeding honey? Wait, if he was after something like that he would have gone after one of the Bees. He blushed again.

“Fuck that came out wrong again... Uh, where to start. Oh! Benjamin. My name is Benjamin. Uh, nice to meet you.”

He tried an awkward smile. A greeting, good, that might lead them someone that is not so awkward.

“Hello, my name is Layla. I probably was a firefly before my ascension. So, I have never been with a human before, so, if there is a specific thing you want to do, we will need to talk about it.”

He did say he was interested in her body. Right? Thinking back on the Bees, just because he has a fetish or something doesn't mean he wants sex. Maybe he was after some kind of play? For his part, Benjamin got flustered again.

“No. Uh, my circumstances are a bit... specific and different, I guess?”

Ah! Layla finally realized something important. The badge he was wearing. He was with the Prince who was passing through the city. But wait, did that actually matter? It's not like anyone was going to attack him or anything, so she supposed it didn't matter all that much?

“Would you tell me about them? Your circmstances.”

Maybe he was just after some companionship? But then, why would he be in that specific establishment? Hmm, secrets? Now Layla's curiosity was being stimulated.

“I... Was a university student in Came. I tried a bunch of different courses, until I realized that the knowledge I was looking for is nowhere to be found in the Empire. So I joined up with Prince Charles' army so I could come to Destroia. From here, who knows where I am going. Hehe.”

University. As far as Layla knew, it was a place to learn things. Did that mean he was a smart guy? Well, he was certainly awkward. She could probably ask him all sorts of different stuff! Which was just perfect, since she had first gone to Destroia not only to try and make some sort of life for her, but to also satisfy her curiosity.

“Is that so? But from what I hear, the prince will soon leave the city. Aren't you going with him?”

Benjamin looked quite uncomfortable with that question. What it a bad idea to ask? It just seemed kind of obvious, if he wanted to know more about things outside of the Empire, one day was nowhere near enough, and everyone knew that the prince was just passing through on the way to the Imperial Capital.

“Well, yeah. I suppose I should go with him, at least, that would be the right things to do.” He was really being fidgety. “Except, um, I fully intend to... separate from him in this city, then go my way.”

Oh. So that's what was going on. She just met with a naughty little rule-breaker who was about to become a deserter. Things were getting more and more interesting.

“I see. But I hear that the people of the Empire are reaaaaaaally strict, you know? Will you be alright? What if you get caught? I've heard some really scaaaaary stories about what happens people who break the law in the Empire. You have to be careful not to get caught...”

She was just having some fun teasing, but before she realized, the young man in front of her was looking really pale and scared. Really? What the hell is wrong with people in the Empire? He took a very pleading tone.

“Please... Don't report me or anything.” He took the backpack he had brought in hand and started rummaging through it. “I have some money, so if you need something to...”

She put a hand in one of his shoulders to grab his attention, then when he stopped and looked at her, she shook her head and gave him a smile of confidence.

“I'm not going to report you or anything. You see, in the Wildlands, we aren't that big fans of the law . It's the Wildlands after all! I'm not going to blackmail you, don't worry.”

At the mention of the Wildlands, Benjamin's eyes lit up. So that was his objective? A man from the Empire, curious about the Wildlands. Oh, so that's how he was interested in her. Things really started to make sense now. Layla couldn't say she disliked that at all.

“The Wildlands!” He said in wonder. “Could you tell me more about them? I looked through almost all the different libraries in Came, but I didn't really see any books with concrete information about them, even less about their culture and things like that. Is it true that everyone from the Wildlands worship the same god? And it's not the Flame?”

My. She was curious herself, but as things are going, she was going to be the one answering question. She decided to act difficult.

“Aww, that's unfair. I wanted to ask some questions of my own... How about we do it like this? We exchange questions and answers. Okay?”

Benjamin did not hesitate to nod. She really liked him. In the end, it seemed like it had really been worth it to come to this city.