Carnivac and Shiro passed through the gates and into the city of Trone. Shiro let out an imitation of a sigh of relief and placed a hand on Carnivac’s shoulder and leaned over.

“I am so glad that worked. I have to admit, I had my doubts,” he said, regaining his composure.

As Carnivac looked around, he could see a large variety of shops. Most of the shops near the gate were food based but as you got further into the city you could see many different specialty Automata shops. Unlike the magic tool shops in Urd that might have a selection of Automata, here in Trone there were entire shops devoted to just servant type Automata, or warrior types, or labor types. There was even a shop that was specialized in Automata escorts.

The thought of switching to IronHide and laying waste to the city surfaced for a moment but Carnivac could see those knight type Automata everywhere as well as heavily armed sniper types stationed at regular intervals up high. The city was packed with people of every variety and carts loaded with goods heading in both directions. Automata slaves abounded, trailing after nearly everyone.

My blood, for lack of a better term, was boiling. There was nowhere I could look without seeing an Automata being exploited and repressed. Cyclone had a good rate of fire for his arm cannons. I could switch out to him to take out the snipers, while deploying IronHide to smash open the buildings with Sentinel focused on hitting any standing Automata with a Liberator round.

Maybe there was some way that could build something that would act like a wifi router that could broadcast [Liberator.exe] across a wide area. Did I have anything in my [Console] tools that I could base things off of? What kind of magic would I need in order to—

Carnivac looked down at his arm to see that Shiro had taken his hand and was patting Carnivac’s bicep with the other.

“Did you know that shadows are swirling around you and radiating like heat?” Shiro asked calmly. “Come this way, out of the main thoroughfare.”

Shiro led Carnivac down the back alleys and into the slum areas.

“Where are we going?” Carnivac asked.

“I... I just want to check on something...” Shiro said, looking at buildings and down roadways as he tried to navigate his surroundings. “It’s um... it’s been a while since I was last here... I think this way?”

Eventually, Shiro led them to a cluster of houses. Calling them houses was actually a bit generous. Truthfully, they were more like sheds and shacks that threatened to collapse under a moderately stiff breeze. What Carnivac didn’t see was a lot of people. Most of the shacks looked abandoned and empty, though if The Factory was murdering whole villages to collect souls then clearing out their own slums would be a first place to start I’d think.

In front of one of the shacks, sat an elderly couple that looked for all the world like wrinkly old thunder cats. Shiro stopped when he saw them and ducked behind another building, pulling Carnivac with him. He took another peek around the corner and saw them watching over a pair of kittens playing in the dirt before ducking back again and sliding to the ground and putting his hands to his ears.

“Everything okay?” Carnivac asked, risking a peek for himself.

“I think... I think those are my parents! But they’re SO OLD... and it looks like they have grandchildren... I was an only child, but I guess they moved on? Did they just forget about me?” Shiro asked, looking up at Carnivac and starting to shake violently.

Carnivac looked again at the couple in time to see another family down the way call out to the kittens. They got up from their dirt and ran off to the other house giving the old cats friendly waves of good-bye.

“The kittens left, there was another family. Do you want to talk to them?” Carnivac asked, looking down at Shiro.

Shiro shook his head then looked like he was gathering his resolve before standing up but hadn’t quite gotten there yet. “No, um... this is fine... we can go... I just wanted to check...”

Carnivac stepped out from behind the building and walked towards the home of the older couple. Shiro reached after him with a look of terror and panic but hugged the corner of the building watching. The couple watched Carnivac approach with curiosity. They didn’t seem to be wary at all of Carnivac’s appearance and smiled gently.

“Afternoon,” Carnivac greeted them with a small wave. “My name’s Carnivac, do you know those children?” he asked, tilting his head in the direction that they’d gone.

“Them?” the old man asked, “oh yes. They belong to the neighbors. Good kids. You have some business with them?”

“Not as such,” Carnvac said, reaching into a pouch at his hip. He pulled a handful of Battle Beast discs from my [Inventory] and held them out to the couple. “My employer is a toy maker and I’m looking to get some feedback on a new product.”

“Ah! Shouldn’t you be in the market district then? I’m afraid we don’t have anything we can give you for those,” the old woman said in a slightly panicked voice.

“No worries,” Carnivac said calmly, “these are free samples. My employer finds that kids like these tend to be far more honest with their feedback than the merchant and noble kids. If you don’t mind, I’d like to come by again some time to see what the kids think? I don’t need to talk to them directly and would be happy if you could let me know the results.”

“I... I don’t know... I mean... this is very irregular,” the mom worried with her husband nodding in agreement.

“You’re right,” Carnivac said, “it’s unfair of me to not offer compensation for your services. I don’t have much at the moment... is five coppers okay for now and another five each time I come by?”

“Five! That’s very generous of you sir! Um... I.. I don’t know...” the dad fumbled verbally.

“Carnivac!” Shiro screamed coming out of his hiding spot and looking terror stricken.

The couple looked past Carnivac at Shiro and softened their expressions.

“Why don’t you come inside and we can talk about it,” the old man suggested.

“You too, sir!” the old woman called out to Shiro, with a friendly beckoning wave and a smile.

Shiro timmedly did as bidden and half jogged to catch up and follow the couple and Carnivac into the house. Inside, the place was kept neat and clean, though there wasn’t much. In the corner of the room, Carnivac saw a small display with a couple of old baby items and what looked like a child’s drawing.

“You have a little one?” Canivac asked, looking at the display.

The old woman sighed deeply and nodded.

“We have a son, though we haven’t seen him in... sixty years now though,” the old man explained. “We fell on some very hard times and The Factory offered to take him in as an apprentice. They told us that we wouldn’t see him again as he would be sent to another country, but we wanted to give our boy a chance at a better life.”

Shiro covered his mouth and started shaking uncontrollably. His disguise started glitching out and crashed, and Shiro crumpled into a shaking heap. The old man and woman gasped.

“Ah... a maahesian... Automata?” the old woman said, clutching her shirt. “What’s going on Mister Carnivac?”

Carnivac squatted down and put a hand on Shiro’s shoulders until his shaking calmed down.

“I’m going to find the local guild hall, you stay here and have a chat, Shiro,” Carnivac told his friend before heading for the door.

“Mister Carnivac... did you just call that Automata... Shiro?”

“I understand, that’s what his parents named him,” Carnivac said with a wink. “Shiro, I’ll leave Shrapnel outside by the door, meet me in the market when you’re done. We’ll see what we can do about setting up a new residence as well.”

Shiro gave Carnivac a weak nod and looked back to his parents. Carnivac could hear Shiro beginning to introduce himself as he slipped out the door and closed it behind him. He brought my smallest proxy, Shrapnel out of [Inventory] and set him by the door. Shrapnel powered up and gave Carnivac a thumbs up.

“Right... now where to find that guild hall...” Carnivac wondered aloud. Shrapnel gave him a shrug.