Chapter
IV – Into The Well
“Can
you believe it?”
Anjali
was shouting at Kandah as they were speeding through the traffic.
“They
lift the restrictions and curfew just in time for us to go … where
is it we're going anyway?”
“Yeah,
those biochemists always seem to manage it. Did you see the number of
losses though? Ten thousand they said. Anyone you know fall to it?”
“No,
I don't think so, but then we've always been lucky. Dad says his
family have warriors blood cells!”
“I
heard that it always seems to be what the Makarium call the “Undess”
that fall to influenza.”
“What
are they then, Undess? I've never heard that word!”
“I'm
not too sure that I actually know, but what does it matter anyway?”
“Dunno,
not much I suppose. So where are we going?”
“It's
so nice seeing the city from up here, don't you think?”
“Kandah!
Where are we, just a moment, we're heading into the sunset, that
means were going towards the (shitty bit of the
city). Kandah, I want to know where we are going!”
“Ok,Ok,
we're heading for The Well to see someone that knows more about this
than I do.”
“Knows
more about this? Knows about what, exactly?”
“How
to hack.”
“Hack?
HACK! Hack what?”
“Well,
she says she can hack anything, so I suppose thats what she means.”
“She?
And does 'She' have a name?”
“Brambelle,
well that's her handle anyway.”
“Oh,
right, yeah, of course! I'm not sure I like the sound of this
Kandah!”
“Well,
it doesn't matter, were here now. Just down there's were we're
going.”
Anjali
was used to flying between the skyscrapers on the skyways, but as
though there had been an invisible line drawn, the 'scrapers ceased,
and Anjali found herself in a wide open space. To begin with it was
strangely disconcerting to her, she was just so used to having
something all around her. Now there was nothing, but air. Her eyes
could wander further than normal, perhaps for the first time, she had
some idea of seeing for some distance. Slowing her scooter down to a
meer crawl, Anjali took a few moments to take what was before,
behind, and all around her. She could see why it was called The Well.
The city made sheer walls of glass, steel and concrete, describing an
almost perfect circle. Looking down, the first thing she noticed was
just how visable the streets were, there were no high rise buildings
here, or at least not in comparrison to the city 'scrapers anyway.
But then, looking deeper, she realised that the steets themselves
were somehow sunken. As though anticipating her question, before it
had even formed in her mind, Kandah spoke;
“It's
a crater. An almost perfectly circular crater. The Well is about 200
meters below the ground level of the city.”
“Really?”
Anjali gasped, “Wow!”
“Most
of those buildings are workshops, of one sort or another, even though
they look like shacks from up here, they're really huge! We've got to
find Brambells, it's on the outskirts somewhere”
“Workshop?
I thought you said she was a hacker!”
“She
is. I also said she hacked anything. There're hackers down there that
collect the scraps from the Leviathans, and 'hack' it into other,
more useful things.”
“You
mean they're mechanics?”
“God
Anjali! Whatever you do, don't call them that! In fact, don't call
them anything, or ask them anything. Actually, it's probably best you
don't speak, at all. They're a bit, how can I put this, rough, I'll
do the talking, Ok?”
“Oh,
and you know rough do you? Kandah, you know books, how the sun
shines, about how the internal workings of an atom make a vidi-vert
work, you know, stuff. You don't know people, how people tick, and
you especially don't know how The Well works!”
“Yeah,
well, I got in touch with her, so I'll still do the talking.”
“Ok,
have it your way, I'm not in the mood to argue. Lets head of that
brightest area of light, it's probably best to stay in a more public
place to start off with.”
“Yeah,
ok, agreed.”
Turning
their scooters over, they pealed down towards The Well in a graceful
arc. The closer they got, the more massive it seemed. Dropping down
below the level of the rim, the only evidence of the city beyond
being the tops of the 'scrapers showing. Going further into the
depths of The Well, the light changing as the went, Anjali and Kandah
both noticed there was as much in the walls of the crater as there
was on the floor. Tiny pinpricks of light that were windows, and huge
great openings.
“Anjali,
look. They've got to be launch bays of some sort.”
“Yeah,
thats what I was thinking, but some of them are the wrong shape, too
tall and not wide enough. What do you think those could be for?”
“I
have no idea. They're too small for a regular launch bay too.”
“Let's
get down there and find this Brambelle.”
Diving
down towards the street level, Anjali and Kandah saw that they were
much larger than they seemed from above. Somehow they seemed too big
for everyday normal traffic. Finding a good spot to park and secure
their scooters, Anjali and Kandah went about trying to work out how
to find Brambelle. For some reason Kandah had neglected to actually
get an address for her, instead trusting her insticnts, and the now
seemingly vague directions that Brambelle had given her.
Finding
a not too rough looking Umbrella-bar, and choosing a spot that wasn't
too conspicuous, they watched the world come to eat and drink, and in
some cases, get drunk. They just people watched for a short while,
trying to work out who was who, and more importantly, who they might
ask about Brambelle. It turned out that they didn't have to wait too
long.
The
barman and owner of this particular establishment knew as soon as
Anjali and Kandah walked into the bar that they weren't locals. They
were far too clean for starters. Most of his locals had lube up to
their elbows, and oil so engrained into their skin they were
positively waterproof.
“Hey!
You! Why you here for huh?”
Looking
about, as thought the barman should be addressing anyone but them,
Anjali tried to ignore him. He looked like the sort of people Ashmita
warned her about.
“I
talkin' to you gurlie! Why you here huh?”
The
attention of the barman was snatched by a voice from the darkest
corner of the bar.
“Why
a' you so interested, barman?”
“Who
asked you, Dirt?”
“No
one. No one but a' me that is. I asked ya, why a' you so interested,
barman!”
With
that the stranger leant forward, his face weathered by time as much
as atmosphere, his eyes showed an age deeper than his years.
“Oh,
no, no reason Dirt. No need to get all … agitated. They just out of
place, is all, huh. Don't want no harm coming to them do we?”
“So
long as you not involved, barman, non will! Get back to cleanin' ya
glass a' leave be.”
Then
turning to look, he addressed Anjali directly.
“You
Ok? That barman, he mean no harm really, is just rough about these
parts, an' he's right, you outta place. What you doin' a' here, if
you don't mind me askin', nor you mind tellin', nor keepin' a person
company for that matter”
Kandah
hurriedly whispered to Anjali
“No,
we shouldn't. He could be very dangerous Anjali. You heard what he
said, it is rough here, and he's rougher than most I suspect.”
“I
think that if he meant to harm us, he would appear to be nice to us.
But he's not trying to be nice. He is being honest though, I think
anyway. Something about him reminds me of Dad and Ashmita.”
Looking
over at the man, Anjali could make out more of him, now the corner
didn't seem quite so dark.
“We'll
come and sit a little closer Sir, but not at your bench, well, not
yet anyway.”
“Ah,
that a' good choice. I see you a fast learner, that a' good too.
Come, sit at that bench there, we can see each other good from
there.”
Anjali,
followed reluctantly by Kandah, sat at the bench opposite from the
man. From the leathery complexion and translucency of his skin, and
his pet, he spent a good part of his life in the high desert. Like
any self respecting freeman, Dirt carried all his worldly goods with
him, and just about everything had more than one purpose. Even the
clothing he wore could be adapted to the environment he found himself
in. Here, in The Well, the temperatures were considerably higher than
he was more normally used to. In fact the temperatures were higher
than Anjali was used to too. Kandah had warned her that it could get
warm, and it was.
She
remembered Kandah telling her something about it being because it was
almost underground, and because it was closer to the core. Or maybe
it's just the heat given off by all the buildings, Anjali didn't know
why, but she felt like she was glowing, and the man, sat opposite her
was clearly suffering a little too, beads of sweat were forming on
his closely shaven head.
“What's
your name sir, if I may ask?”
“Ah,
polite too, must be from the City eh Groog”
The
desert dog looked up at the man with plaintiff eyes, as though
despairing of it's owner.
“I
thought you wanted some company.” retorted Anjali.
“Easy
easy, you a little too hasty, err?”
“We're
not telling you our names, eh Anjali?”
Anjali
looked at Kandah with plaintiff eyes, defiantly despairing of her
friend.
“Anjali
is it eh? Nice name, full of meaning that a' name. I like that a'
name. Tell me, Anjali, what are you doin' in The Well then?”
“And
your name?” replied Anjali, still defiant, and trying to regain
some ground that she thought Kandah had lost them.
“Ah,
of course. I'm a' sorry, forgettin' me manners. Dirt, thats what they
call me. Can't remember if I ever had a real name, but Dirt is what I
answer to.”
“Dirt?
Oh! I thought the barman was insulting you.”
“No
one can insult me no more, not really. You is ok, and just for the
record, I won't harm ya, I know what honour is, I just had a rough
life, is all.”
“What
did, um, do, you do, Mr Dirt?”
“Not
sure I wanna tell you what I did, not sure I wanna tell anyone what I
did, not sure they wanna know either.”
“So,
what do you do? Now, that is.”
“There
you go, bein' hasty again. Too much infos can make ya brain explode.
That sommet you don't wanna happen.”
“How
can you have too much knowledge? That's just stupid, knowledge is
power after all, they say!”
“Ah,
but knowledge, like yous knows it, is useful. I'm talkin' about
infos, just stuff, about people, things, useless information they
stuff in ya head. Like you got infinite space, like they think it's
all gonna fit in there, and then ya head explodes. Everythin' you
thought you knew just goes out, and you not you self anymore, you
just this kinda empty shell of stuff, of infos, of infos they shoved
in your brains.”
“Erm,
Mr Dirt, sir, are you ok?”
“Eh,
what, ah, yeah, sorry. I got a bit carried away there. So, whats I
does now is I lives in the high desert, tryin' to get my mind back.”
“You
lost your mind Mr Dirt?”
“Dirt,
just Dirt, no Mr about me. I can't remember if I was ever a Mr, or a
Master, or anythin' else. They wiped it all outta me, outta my mind
that is. They made me into...into something else, something wrong,
something...well lets just say something that I want to forget. I
don't wanna talk about it any more.”
“Who
are they Mr, erm, Dirt? Why did they wipe your mind, why did they
want to wipe your mind. The mind is what makes us humankind, isn't
that what they say?”
“I
tol' ya I don't wannna talk about it missy. It was me askin yous the
question anyways. What you doin in The Well?
“We're
looking for someone to help us, someone with a very specific sort of
knowledge.”
“Ah,
you lookin for a hacker?”
“How
did you know that?”
“Hahahaha,
Anjali, thats the ONLY sort of person you find in The Well, hackers,
of one sort of another. I know most of em. Is it anyone in
particular, I might be able to help ya find her.”
“Brambelle.
Her name is Brambelle, do you know her?”
“Brambelle
eh. Hmmmm. I don't know her, but I'm wonderin if she's the daughter
of someone I do know. You know where her workshop is?”
“All
we know is that it is on the Edge, but I have to admit, we don't know
where that is.”
“On
the Edge of The Well eh? That can mean only one thing, Battle Bots!”
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