A pounding on their doors woke everyone up, followed by them being flung open violently at the same time, their sturdy locks completely destroyed by the powerful kicks of those entering their rooms. Fred immediately sat up, which dislodged Eisa – who was sleeping on his chest again – and she made a yelping noise that was quickly silenced when she opened her eyes and caught a look at the doorway.
“Deecy, tell Regnark not to fight back in any way – there’s no way to get away from this,” Fred Communicated to the Dire Wolf in the next room. She didn’t respond back, but he also didn’t hear any type of fighting, which was a good sign.
“You’re under arrest for purchasing information outside of a licensed Information Broker, for soliciting information from residents in the Residential Quarter, and for tampering with SDIA systems. In addition, you’re also wanted for questioning regarding the information you were trying to acquire. Resistance will result in further fines or jailtime, so we suggest you come quietly,” the fully armored A-9th-Rated Commander-Sentinel spoke as soon as he entered the room.
Behind him, Fred could see another four Syndicate members, all ranging from the low A-Ratings to an S-1st-Rated Channeler-Alchemist in the back of the group. He couldn’t see who was at Regnark and Deecy’s door, but he assumed there was another group just as powerful.
Needless to say, Fred and the others didn’t put up any resistance; not only was Regnark fairly weak in terms of his Adventurer status now, but even if he had been the same as he was before he died and became a Shard, there still wasn’t much that they could do against such powerful people. “We’ll go willingly, but I think there’s been some sort of mistake here,” Fred told them as he got out of bed and helped Eisa – who was rapidly waking up now that their room was suddenly invaded – out as well.
“Put your hands behind your back and turn around with your face against that wall,” the Commander-Sentinel told them with authority and absolutely no indication that he had even heard Fred’s assertion of innocence. They complied and placed their heads against the wall; Fred looked over at Eisa’s wide-eyed and shocked face and whispered, “Don’t worry, everything is going to be okay.”
“No talking unless you’re being asked a question – got it?” the gruff voice of the one who had kicked down their door asked, just as something *snapped* around his wrists he was holding behind him. Suddenly, it felt like something was cut off from him; he wasn’t sure what it was, but it was answered shortly afterwards by their captors.
“Now, I wouldn’t advise trying to escape, because that will result in further fines and/or jailtime. Also, if you’ve never experienced these Negation Artifact Bands before, you’ll notice that you’re completely cut off from your Power and all but the barest amount of your Stamina – just enough to keep you alive and mobile. If you are found innocent of your crimes or at the end of your sentence, these NABs will be removed and you’ll have full access to your skills and abilities again; until then, these will stay on,” the Commander-Sentinel – whose name was Rogert – told them, before bodily moving them towards the door.
“The others are secure, sir,” a voice called out from the hallway outside their room.
“They put a collar and a leash on me; I don’t like it, but I could break out of it if you wanted me to.”
“It doesn’t seem like they know who we are quite yet. Let’s just go along with this for the moment, and maybe all we need to pay is a fine,” Fred Communicated back to Deecy. He didn’t think it was necessary for him to remind her to tell the others, because he was sure she would do that to calm at least Regnark down. A few seconds later, out of the corner of his eye, he could see Eisa’s shoulders relax a little, so he was pretty sure she got the message.
She tensed up again when their PIBs were untied from their waists and confiscated, which confused him for a moment, but then he remembered that she had the DAS Class Selector Artifact from Gatecross in there. That…could be troublesome.
Fortunately, they didn’t look in there right away and they were marched down the stairs and out of the Fire’s Eye Inn, where dozens of people still in the common room watched them leave. Fred was glad to see that Regnark and Deecy looked alright, though the big man’s face looked quite angry – he must be mad at having his sleep interrupted.
And just that quickly, Fred and his friends were at the mercy of Allroads.
Chapter 39
They were pushed and dragged quickly through the streets, which were sparsely lit by lamps on posts every 100 feet or so. Despite the lack of effective lighting, Fred was easily able to see where they were going: The Government Quarter. Within minutes, they were passing through a gate through another wall – which was not quite as big as the one on the perimeter of the city, but almost – and quickly rushed into a building just inside. It was too dark to see much more of the Government Quarter, but what he did see just looked like more plain, non-descript buildings.
The inside of the structure they were brought to was brightly lit compared to outside, which blinded him for a moment. When he blinked his eyes and could see again, he found himself and the others in a relatively small, stone-walled room with very little ornamentation other than the sconces up against the walls, holding what was creating the bright light. It looked like some sort of glowing stone, but it also looked uniform enough that it was likely something made by humans. Probably some sort of light-producing Artifact.
They were led to three chairs in the center of the room, and Deecy’s leash was tied to a hook in the wall, and then their captors left through the same door they came in. Looking around, Fred saw another door on the opposite side of the entrance, which he assumed led farther into the building, but other than that, there was nothing of note.
“What do we do?” Eisa whispered.
“Nothing for now,” Fred whispered back, taking the cue from her to keep his voice down. He wasn’t sure how he knew, but he could almost feel someone watching or listening to them even if there wasn’t anyone obviously there. “Hopefully this is just a misunderstanding, and they’ll let us go with just a fine.”
Regnark just grunted and Eisa was silent in response, apparently too scared to talk anymore. Fred just couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched, so he looked around again – and then he saw what he was looking for in the back corner of the room behind them.
“I see them, too. The ambient Mana everywhere around here is so thick that it’s quite easy to see where there’s a void.”
A void was exactly what he saw in the corner, as there was a person-shaped disturbance in the ambient Mana; he was reminded of how Pollianne was technically invisible in the Dark dungeon, but he could still follow her by watching her void move through the ambient Mana. It was much easier to see because of the sheer thickness of it in Allroads, however. With his attention caught by it, the others looked where he was concentrating, and it was obvious that they could see it as well.
The door abruptly opened, and a woman walked inside; the authority that she exhibited as she looked at Fred and the others was almost a physical force. He swallowed in nervousness as she stood in front of them, unarmored and without a weapon, but looking like she could kill them all with a look. When he peered at her Interface, he could well understand why; as a S-5th-Rated Inquisitor, he wouldn’t have put it past her to be able to do that.
She had very short brown hair and what he would classify as a severe face, with thin cheeks, sharp angles, and a pointed nose. She was probably a little shorter than Eisa and was thick but not with fat; from what he could see, most of her frame was filled out with well-toned muscle. Overall, she didn’t look overly intimidating…until you saw her eyes. They seemed as if they could see everything about a person just by looking at them, as well as ferreting out secrets without even trying.
She looked at the corner where the invisible person was standing. “Agent Ravenne, you can show yourself. They can obviously sense you’re there, so there’s no point in you hiding anymore.” Fred looked a
t the corner and saw another woman, wearing an outfit almost identical to Pollianne’s – though this one made his vision want to slip past her for some reason – materialize where he had seen the void earlier.
“I’m sorry, ma’am. They shouldn’t have been able to see me – I have no idea what happened,” Agent Ravenne said in a lower-pitched voice than Fred had been expecting, though it was still quite feminine.
“It’s not your fault, Agent. I believe these people here are quite…unique,” the Inquisitor said to the S-2nd-Rated Assassin-Spy in the corner. She turned back to Fred and the others, and for some reason decided that Regnark was the one in charge, because she primarily addressed him. Not that Fred necessarily thought of himself as any sort of leader, but if he was strictly going by Adventurer Rating, then it made sense that he was their leader. I guess she doesn’t know everything.
“Welcome to Allroads; my name is Chareese and I’m in charge of the Syndicate’s Investigative branch of the Allroads Council. Now, which one of you is Regnark?”
And then the questions (and a few explanations) began.
* * *
It turned out that Regnark’s “glitch” when he went to get the permit for Deecy was what caught the attention of the Syndicate. The issue with the Codex Array was such an isolated and unusual incident that they suspected that the big man had somehow tampered with his SDIA somehow, which was supposed to be impossible. They didn’t know what exactly went wrong with it, but they apparently sent Agent Ravenne to trail them to see if anything else unusual would make itself known.
Fortunately for Fred and the others, the Agent hadn’t gotten into their rooms to hear their more private conversations – like the ones about Mana, Necromancy, and summoning demons. All that the invisible Ravenne could find out was that they were looking for some people with Judgement Marks over their heads, which was what they had been doing in public for the last two days. They apparently could’ve been arrested as soon as they started talking to the residents in their Quarter, as well as giving “bribes” to the merchants, but they held off in case something else presented itself. When the Agent overheard them talking about trying to investigate the Syndicate Quarter, that was when the order to arrest them came down.
“So, now that I’ve explained to you why you are here, there are two things that I need to know. First thing first, though, I need to check all of your SDIAs to see if there is any other evidence of tampering,” the Inquisitor said, before pulling out the same sort of Artifacts that Regnark had used when he went to get his permit.
There was nothing that any of them could do…well, there technically was, but their Mana usage wasn’t something that they wanted to show at the moment. Fred had shared what he knew of their captors to Deecy and she had relayed that information to the others, which pretty much shut down any sort of thoughts of resistance.
Regnark went first and the same results as earlier showed up on the array; it appeared as though Chareese was prepared for that, because it didn’t seem to faze her. Eisa went next, and though a single eyebrow raised when she saw the Taught Abilities that she had access to, the Inquisitor didn’t say anything.
Fred dreaded his turn, because his was likely to raise more than a single eyebrow. He placed his hand on the Artifact with just the slightest hesitation and waited for her to be surprised. However, she only looked confused after looking at his Interface. “Well, obviously you two have altered your SDIA in some way, because there is no way you should have all of those Taught Abilities when you’re such low-Rated Adventurers. As for yours…Fredwynklemossering?...that’s a strange name…you don’t seem to have any abilities other than Teach as an Instructor. Am I supposed to believe you ‘Taught’ your friends here your non-existent abilities?”
Huh? I wonder if my Adapted Abilities don’t show up on there… “Uh…I don’t know what you’re talking about.” It was a lame answer, but he was temporarily confused at what was going on.
“You should know that I have the ability to tell if someone is lying, and that statement, Fredwynklemossering, was a lie. Now, I’m going to ask each of you a question and you had better not lie again, because my patience isn’t infinite,” the Inquisitor said calmly at first, but her voice grew hard toward the end. “Did you alter or in any other way manipulate your SDIAs to present false information?”
Fred and the others answered honestly, “No.” This only seemed to infuriate Chareese as it was apparent that they were telling the truth.
“I’m not sure how it’s possible that you’re telling the truth. Do you know why the Codex Array is displaying false information?”
Again, each of them answered, “No”, which was technically true. As far as all of them knew, it should be displaying accurate information and none of it was “false”. Of course, the Inquisitor didn’t think to ask that and the frustration on her face only grew.
“Regardless, something is going on and we’re justified in keeping you here until we figure it out. Now, as for your other crimes, normally you’d get away with just paying a fine…but in this instance, the subject of your inquiries is of more concern. Why were you looking for these…‘Judgement-marked’ individuals?”
Fred answered simply for the others. “They’re our friends and we wanted to know what happened to them.”
“Your friends, huh? Do you know why they were Judgement-marked in the first place? Most marked that way are usually bad people; if you were friends with them, does that make you bad people?”
Fred wasn’t sure how to answer that, because trying to explain why they were “Judgement-marked” probably wasn’t the best idea. Instead, he said the only thing he knew to be true. “They aren’t bad people – and neither are we.”
“Hmm…that might be true in your opinion, but I doubt the world would agree with you. I’m tired of this for tonight, however; we’re holding you until we can get to the bottom of this. After I get some sleep, I’ll be questioning you again tomorrow. Ravenne—” Chareese turned toward the formerly invisible woman still in the corner— “please escort these individuals below and see that they’re secured for the rest of the night.”
“Yes, ma’am. About the wolf…?” the Agent asked.
The Inquisitor looked over at Deecy leashed up against the wall, calmly watching the proceedings. “Take it with them; sometimes when bonded pairs are split up in captivity, there can be some…unfortunate consequences. If everyone here is innocent, I don’t want it said that we treated them poorly.”
Chareese left quickly, leaving them alone with Agent Ravenne. “Don’t even think of trying to escape; even if you were able to get past me – which is doubtful – there are dozens of A and S-Rated waiting outside for you to attempt something like that.”
Fred wasn’t planning on it; he knew when he was outmatched, especially if he didn’t have access to his Adventurer Power. The others were powerful in their own ways, but even together they stood only a very slight chance against the Assassin-Spy, let alone the guards outside if they were anything like the ones that had arrested them.
The Agent led them through the same door the Inquisitor had disappeared through, which opened into a long hallway lined with approximately a dozen doors. There was no sign of the other woman, however, and Fred figured she must’ve gone through one of the doors on either side of the hallway.
They were corralled toward the end, where the hallway took a sharp right turn that led to some stairs leading down. And down…and down…and down. Fred counted at least a dozen flights of steps leading down into the depths of the earth, which ended in a stone hallway almost identical in appearance to the wooden building above them. The main difference was that the lightweight wooden doors were instead heavy-looking solid metal doors with enormous locks on them. They had a small open grate on it that you could look through to see what was inside them, however, and from the first one Fred looked through on their way past, he could see that they appeared to be large empty rooms.
The first six that they passed
were empty, but the seventh one held a surprise. It was only a glimpse, but he could see people inside that had the Judgement Mark above their heads. We found them! Of course, he didn’t get a good look at them to recognize any of them, but he doubted there were that many other Marked people in the city. It has to be them. They passed another door and he managed to peek inside to see even more people with the Marks; one just so happened to be looking straight through the grate at that time and Fred briefly met the gaze of Metch.
It is them! From what he could see, at least most of them seemed to be alive and well, though they appeared quite downcast. He wasn’t sure what the Syndicate and the Allroads Government was planning on doing with them, but it probably wasn’t good. He wasn’t sure if the others had seen what he had, so he Communicated with them via Deecy.
“Amazingly, the stench of the city is quite muted down here and I recognized a few of their scents as soon as you told me. I can’t tell if they’re all here, but it’s quite possible that if they’ve survived this long, they’ll be in there.”
Soon enough, they were led into their own metal-walled cell, which looked identical to the others Fred had seen. They were told to go inside while the Agent locked the door from the outside.
“This door and the walls are made of a very strong metal that even a Brawn-centric S-Rated Tank would have trouble damaging, so don’t even think about trying to bust your way out. The Inquisitor will be back for you in the morning,” Ravenne spoke to them through the grate. And without anything further, the Agent walked away and left them.
“Along with myself, they both want to know what the plan is.”
“So do I, Deecy. So do I.”
Dungeon World 3: A Dungeon Core Experience Page 32
