Chapter 56 : The Sunken City (Patreon)

James faked looking around with his head as his domain filled him in on the reception he had just walked in. It was pretty simple, honestly. Green bricks, some regular lamps on the walls, and a big old desk right in front of him which was the first thing anyone would see when they entered. The desk was nothing incredible either, a somewhat darkish brown wood, it didn't appear to be of incredibly high quality but it was enough. Situated at the desk in a simple chair made from similar wood was a thin bald black man with a pair of round glasses reading some kind of magazine, the "Sunless Sights Monthly".

As he approached the man, something shook within James. A glance inside his body and he found the old bat amulet he had bought at the Black Block on his first visit glowing red. An amulet that the automaton salesman had guaranteed would detect vampires.

The man looked up from his magazine and studied James, letting his gaze wander from his feet to his head as his face remained still as stone.

"First time?"

"Uh... Yes?"

The man put down his magazine and opened a drawer, pulling out a sheet of paper and a pen with which he immediately wrote down a date, 13/05/23.

"I'm going to need your name."

"James. James Valdest."

"Are you a minor of your species?"

"No."

"How did you find this place?"

"Someone broke down a wall and opened a passage to the Sewage Network. A ferrywoman brought me here."

"Her name?"

"Martha."

"Are you familiar with the rules of the Sunken City?"

"Somewhat."

"Don't start fights whenever you see someone, keep your drama to yourself, don't let in cops or Heroes, if you get a place pay your taxes, and always listen to what people with a skull badge have to say. If you have doubts about whether someone is an authentic peacekeeper or not, go to an office like this one and report the number written on their badge. In the same vein, if you feel like someone is disturbing the peace of the Sunken City you may report them, we'll have someone investigate. Got it or do you need a note?"

"I'll be fine, thank you."

"A few more questions. Are you part of any established group within the Sunken City?"

"No."

"Are you part of a group that wishes to establish itself in the Sunken City?"

"I... I think so."

"Cops or Heroes?"

"No."

"Vigilantes?"

"Maybe."

"Thank you for your time. You should be able to retrieve a piece of ID here within the next few days that you will be able to present to other entry points to prove you have already gone down."

"That's it?"

"Yes. Keep to yourself, don't make waves and you'll be fine."

"I just... I assumed things would be harder, considering how some folks up there talk about this place."

"The first step to going to the Sunken City is to go through the sewers. That's the part people have trouble with around these parts. Any other question?"

"Uh... I don't think so."

"Good. The last thing, this entry point uses a mechanical system to join the Sunken City. You'll find the lift behind me. Only four buttons, up, down, stay, and alarm. Don't press that one unless there's an emergency. Don't break the lift."

"Got it. Thank you."

James stepped around the vampire's desk, taking notice of the frighteningly accurate drawing of his humanoid form the man somehow had managed to complete on his paper sheet in the time it took for them to talk.

Is this really necessary? Wouldn't a photo have worked better? Unless...

James preferred not to think of how the drawing had been done so quickly. His recent fights had shown he had some aptitude for battling, though mostly through trickery and preparations, but this... He was already a bit of a worrywart, but he would be at his maximum down there.

The lift behind the vampire's desk was relatively simple. Two arrows on the wall, one up and one down, but he had no to use them as the cabin was already at his level. Its door was a metal grid that he had to manually open, like those of the very lifts meant for human use - whether because this was cheaper to install or the place was that old, James didn't know.

James pulled on the grid, stepped in, and closed it behind him. As expected there was another grid on the opposite side of the first one, currently leading to a brick wall, and the two other walls of the lift were covered with yellow wallpaper with pink flowers for some reason. As the vampire had said there were four buttons, another set of arrows pointing up and down, a blank button between those and distinctly isolated from the others one with a classic bell drawing on it.

With a simple press of the down arrow, the lift began to shake. James readied himself, bending his knees and putting his hands against the walls of the lift for support. He had seen enough action and horror flicks to know better than to trust shaking old lifts.

The vampire spared him a glance and chuckled before he returned to his magazine.

The lift went down, and slowly the views of a brick wall and the vampire's desk through the grids got replaced. It wasn't much at first, but the further James descend the more he could see of the Sunken City.

That's high.

Old grey skyscrapers in the distance, some covered in vines, over crumbling to nothing, some modernized and covered in metal sheets and small blinking lights that made them stand out in the darkness of the immense dome they were in. The tallest stood in the middle of the dome, and yet despite their incredible size they didn't even reach the bare roof of the dome, hundreds of meters separating them. From that point on the buildings slowly got smaller as they got farther from the center of the dome, creating an odd visual effect. He could also see more lift shafts left and right, though it appeared they usually were in pairs from what he could see. Apparently, his station was on the smaller side of things.

It's like being inside of a snowball. An old, really dirty snowball, with no snow. Maybe "snowball" isn't the best term after all...

The walls of the dome were surprisingly a very familiar pitch-black, though from where he was standing in his little lift James was too far away to get a good enough look at them to know their exact state. There weren't any stalactites, that was for sure, and he could see some colored spots, most green but not always, some even glowed in the dark, that he presumed was some sort of moss.

The city itself was, well, a city. To the point it was somewhat uncanny. It looked like a regular city had just been left to rot for decades, and despite the dozens of customized places he could see, they couldn't stand out enough to drown out the dead normalcy of the abandoned urban environment. Not to say the fake volcanoes, sci-fi labs, and such were bad, but they were so few and far between.

A bat flew by James' descending cabin, screeching before avoiding his little transport. James was thankful to see his bat amulet hadn't reacted to the flying mammal. His first encounter with a vampire had gone well, and he didn't want to be racist - or perhaps specist would be more appropriate, or even vampirophobic - but knowing bloodthirsty monsters couldn't sneak up on him that easily eased his worries. Not that he had anything for them to drink, but they didn't know that.

An abandoned city stuck in eternal darkness, uh... I can see what kind of people would want to come here.

The lift rattled and James worried this might a one-way trip. Considering how high up he was, even with his peculiar physique he wasn't sure he would survive the fall. Well, without organs and bones the worst that would happen would be turning into splatters, and if his experience with Brutus the shark man was representative then having his body turn into pieces wouldn't be that bad... Still, it would be for the best if he didn't have to test that theory out.

The lift's shaft - if it could be called that, considering it was open on two sides of its entire length - was in arguably good condition, so the rattling was probably nothing. Hopefully. But the descent...

It's so slooow... I think dealing with the ratlings and trying to learn magic ruined my patience...

Objectively the lift wasn't that slow. In fact, it was much faster than any other one James had ever used before, with noticeable winds entering and leaving from the sheer speed of it through the two grid openings. The problem was the ridiculous distance it had to cover.

Come to think of it, wasn't there a thing about lifts being limited on how high they could go? Something about the cables?

Focusing on this stray thought, James paid more attention to the cable system that allowed his descent. Despite the lift's old look and his complete ignorance of anything engineering-related, the cable system seemed really impressive and resilient. The cables - a pair for each corner of the cabin - were incredibly thick, and so were the rails on each corner.

Okay, I'm already bored.

Mercifully the trip came to an end soon enough, though James would still make sure to bring something to do on the way up and for any future use.

The cabin went down, getting closer and closer to another station. Though before it entered the building James noticed there wasn't much around in this area. Some more one-story buildings, but that was it. It looked like this place used to be on the outskirts of the city before it was abandoned, or maybe a park and the buildings were placed later? He could always ask.

The cabin entered the building, and sure enough, it stopped. James opened the grid, opposite to the one he had used to get in he noticed, and exited the cabin. He closed the grid behind him and stepped forward, arriving at a door he had to open to enter the actual office.

What was on the other side of the door shocked him a little. A desk and a chair, much like the one the vampire used, but the one using those was a little different from the man he had met above. Namely, it was a skeleton.

"Oh?"

A skeleton wearing a red sundress.

"Hello there! You're new!"

A skeleton that happily stood up from her seat - he assumed she was a woman, going by the dress and voice, though it might be best to ask - and walked towards him, paper and clipboard in hands, standing a good head taller than him despite his humanoid form already being slightly above average in height.

"Uhm, hello? Miss?"

"Call me Mimi, cutie! But you sound weird. Ah, let me guess, first time you see an undead?"

"Yes. I didn't expect skeletons to be so... Lively."

"Hihi, don't worry. So, first time down there or not?"

"Yes, first time."

"So, I know you already filled a file up there with Vladdy, but I need to ask a few things to verify stuff. Don't worry, it'll be quick!"

"Uh... Sure."

"So! Your name?"

"James. James Valdest."

"That's a cute name! Next, minor or not?"

"I'm an adult."

"Awesome! Last but not least, are you part of any group or organization that already is installed in the Sunken City, wishes to come here, or could prove to be dangerous, such as the police or the Union?"

"I'm part of a group that may want to get down here."

"Good for you! Now, I'm gonna need a quick picture, stand still and say cheese!"

Before he had time to respond she had already picked up a camera before she abruptly stopped, her finger bone right above the button.

"Wait, are you okay with being photographed? Any allergies to light? To technology?"

"No?"

"Ah! Good. Goody good. Cheese!"

"Cheese?"

And in a flash, it was done.

"Thank you for your time! To go back up you'll have to come here since you don't have an ID yet."

"Can't people just claim to be here for the first time every time?"

"They could, but we share files. It wouldn't work for long."

"I didn't see much up there. Neither here."

"Magic, silly. Anyway, this place is pretty peaceful, so you don't have to worry much. Enjoy your stay!"

"Thank you."

And with that, James was on his way out. Onwards to the Sunken City.

I hope they have a library nearby.