Abandon: The City on the Edge of Hell

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Sylus listened intently, taking note that he was good at information for future references. If anything, he'd be the one she'd like to keep around, just in case she was in need of information later in life. He must have been here a long time if he couldn't remember his first time here, which led her to wonder how long she'd be living in such a place. Whether it was a long or short stay, she'd have to get a job. After all, the money she had now wouldn't last forever.

Her eyes looked up as the man said they had arrived at the place, reading the sign. It was a weird name for her, but in a good way. She liked the sound of it. Sylus walked through the door, nodding at the man when he opened it for her. Despite his cold attitude and tough guy appearance, he wasn't completely terrible. She waited for the man, unsure what to do in such an unfamiliar place.
 
~Cyrus~

The door closed behind the both of them, Cyrus once again taking the lead as he led her towards the back of the bar. Smoke from cigarettes and the smell of alcohol permeated the air in the bar. Most of the patrons looked like the less than reputable sort. Obviously this wasn't the average place to get a drink in the city.

The seating he chose was away from the front of the establishment, away from most of the noise of the other patrons. Not out of any particular reason for wanting to keep quiet. He wasn't going to be revealing anything sensitive. No, he simply didn't want to be seen by the bars regulars and be harassed about being on a date. Tabitha would be bad enough to deal with on work days, and he wasn't going to put up with the regulars teasing him or annoying him about it.

"Oh, if it isn't little Cyrus! Here on your off day? And with a cute girl no less!"

Speaking of Tabitha...a woman who looked to be quite a bit older than the both of them, approached Cyrus. She was wearing a simple apron over t-shirt and jeans. Her voice was a bit on the hoarse side, whether from a lot of shouting at the bars patrons for them to keep quiet, or simply because it was her natural voice. Cyrus could never have decided which.

"Can it Tabby." He grumpily replied as he took a seat at the bar. "This ain't a date. She's new here and wanted some info." He continued, resting his arms on the counter.

"Oh sure, sure." She chuckled, turning to the girl. "Well, I'll be taken your orders then. You'll be taken the usual then, Cyrus?" The man grunted in response. "What'll it be then, hon? We've got almost anything you want here. Drinks to...get you in the mood for later?" She playfully winked at Sylus. At that, Cyrus groaned, not taking her teasing incredibly well. "Just go along with it Cyrus...you'll be out of here within the hour...." With a sigh, he bit down on the cigarette with a visible frown.
 
Sylus looked around the bar in wonder, not having seen or remembered anything like this. The smell of the bar was similar to that of the man, which she had assumed was the smell the cigarettes gave off, so maybe there were other cigarette users here? Possibly. She followed the man and sat beside him just as a woman came up to him. The two seemed to know each other well. However, the man, Cyrus, seemed to be rather annoyed. She smiled at the woman, Tabby as Cyrus called her, liking her because she seemed friendly. However, she didn't like the fact that she had mistaken her as Cyrus' date. Luckily, however, he cleared up the mistake himself.

When asked what she wanted, she was unsure and simply said, "The same, please." Just before Tabby could leave, she added, "Oh, and your strongest drink." Despite her size and appearance, Sylus was amazingly good at holding her liquor, a bit that she had remembered when she got here. However, she never had a chance to put her memories to the test. After that, she turned her attention to Cyrus. "Our names sound alike, you know. It's very odd," she commented randomly, forgetting that the man didn't even know her name.
 
~Cyrus~

"Well someone can hold their liquor." Tabitha chuckled, writing a few quick notes down on a pad. "Alright, I'll be right out with it. You two play nice now." With that, Tabitha left with a chuckle and went to go fill their respective orders. Cyrus simply sighed, glad to finally have a bit of quiet returned. He didn't dislike Tabitha - she was like the flirty aunt he never remembered having. Constantly bothering him and getting all up in his business. Saved his skin a few times too. Don't mess with a woman who runs a bar and can throw a glass bottle hard enough to break a window.

"Eh? Do they? Well you haven't introduced yourself yet." He said, giving her a gruff look. "I suppose I should introduce myself though. Cyrus Kingston. Don't ask about details, cuz you ain't getting them. Even if I remembered the details, I wouldn't share 'em." He took a drag of his cigarette, blowing out a puff a smoke as he held it between two fingers.

"Anyways, Welcome to Abandon, or hell, whatever you want to call it. So, start with your name and ask any questions ya got."
 
"Sylus. My people don't have last names, so Sylus is fine," she sxplained, giving him a small smile. Cryus Kingston was a nice name and memorable. His attitude certainly wasn't letting up, which did make her a bit disappointed. But it was to be expected in this place, Abandon as he called it. Unsure of where to start with her questions, she just went straight into it.

"Can I leave this place? What is there to do? Where is everyone from? Is there a place where I can work? Why can't I remember anything?" she began, throwing every question at him that came to her mind.
 
Aran walked into the next room and was surprised to see an assortment of weaponry and other equipment laying about for his perusal. He was under the impression that he would be competing with his bare claws. Aran looked over the equipment, weighing his options. He had some memories of working with tough insectoid shells, carapaces used to decorate the walls of the tunnels or create crude instruments. He was never a smith, that much was clear, but as the "man" of the family, and thus in charge of doing some basic hunting of these giant insects, he had to be good with his hands. After some thought he selected a narrow chisel-like weapon, the flat blade honed to a point. A few hunting techniques were recalled while he rolled the implement around in his claws, getting a feel for its weight. It was well-crafted, the decent weight distributed evenly throughout.

Satisfied, Aran stepped to the back of the room, got a running start, and hurled the weapon at the first target with all his might. The blade pierced right through the material and flew on to the next target, lodging itself neatly in the tougher material. Aran grinned, pleased with himself, but then he remembered that he was supposed to be going easy on Shiro. He hissed in thought. What was the best way to keep it from looking suspicious? Aran walked up to the second target, pulled the weapon out, and moved onto the third one without giving the second target another try. He didn't have as much room for a running start, so this time he simply held the chisel in an overhead grip and stabbed it into the third target. He didn't put as much weight into this strike, and the point barely penetrated the surface. That would do it.
 
Shiro picked herself up off the floor, dusting her clothes off with her hand as a matter of habit, despite the sterile whiteness that coated the entire building's interior. The door slid open with a satisfying swoosh sound, and she stepped through. She wasn't surprised to find that her opponent had gotten the point for that one, he did look awfully strong in comparison to her. There were 5 trials left. She wasn't sure exactly what they would have in store, but she knew what they would assess. There would be a test of endurance, a test of wit, a test of reactions and a test of courage, before the final trial that would assess every aspect of the character. She figured that she stood the best chance of winning reaction, courage or maybe wit, depending on the intelligence of her foe. She decided she quite liked her opponent, so hoped to end in a draw if she could. Which meant that from this point, one person would need to win 3 more trials, while the other would have to win 1 more trial and the final test. She couldn't say any of this aloud due to the surveillance cameras, so she had to simply hope that Aran had come to the same conclusion. Just then, the man from earlier entered the room, and announced the rules of the next trial - the trial of wit. Each player would be presented with a series of mind games each becoming progressively more complex. The one who could solve the most before failing won, at which point the games would end and the door to the next trial would open.
 
~Cyrus~

Sylus, huh? Well, she was right about their names. They did sound similar if one wanted to think about it. Not a big deal, to be honest really though. He was certain there were other Cyrus' out there. He was slightly curious as to her people not having last names, but it wasn't the oddest thing he has seen in Abandon so he didn't ask. Not to mention he really did just want to eat and get going back home. Not babysit some new arrival who had simply been curious about his cigarette.

"Take a breather and slow down! One at a time, jeez." He said as she fired off a series of questions. They were quite...mundane. She could have probably asked anyone and gotten a decent answer. Oh well, he agreed to answer her questions if she paid for the food. He wasn't going to turn that down, at least.

"Define 'leave'. Sure, you can leave the city, but it's not safe outside of the walls. Creatures out there will kill ya, and normal weapons don't hurt 'em. You want to leave this place in general? Not happening. Even if you die in Abandon, you'll be brought back eventually. You get killed by those creatures though, and you get offed permanently." He went quiet for a moment, allowing what he said to sink in before continuing.

"As for stuff to do? This is a city like any other. Look around, there's something you'll like doing probably. Just don't get up to anything illegal and you'll be fine. Same for if you want to work. This place has got any job you could ever want. Now, for the people...the better question here is where aren't they from? This place has people from all over the place. Different universes even from what I've learned." He didn't mind really answering this basic stuff if that's all she was interested in. However, her last question was a bit...difficult. Did she know that she had been killed in the place she was previously from? He didn't exactly want to be the guy that told her that, but hiding the truth wouldn't be good either.

Thankfully though, Tabitha returned with their order soon enough. Two plates with a sizzling steak, mashed potatoes, fries, and two glass bottles filled with alcohol. Cyrus's was in a clear, blue bottle. The one Sylus had was in clear glass bottle. It was smaller than Cyrus', but she had asked for the strongest, and that's what she got. "Enjoy, and if ya need anything else just ask." Tabitha replied, and went to go serve some other customers.

"As for your memories," He started, picking up a knife and a fork as he started cutting into the rather large piece of meat in front of him. "Well, sometimes when people first come here, their memories get a bit scrambled." He sighed, taking the cigarette out of his mouth and putting it into a nearby ashtray before turning to Sylus with a serious look. "The reason? You...died." he said. "The only way to get into Abandon, is by dying. People's memories get scrambled a bit sometimes."
 
Sylus took a moment to listen to him completely, allowing his words to fully process before saying anything. When the food came, she took small bites of it without questioning what it was. So she could leave the city and kill monsters? It didn't sound like such a terrible way to spend her time. She'd definitely like to try that as a way to test her strength. However, the part about dying and being reborn troubled her. As she ate, Cyrus began to explain the answer to her faded memories, but it was something she didn't even think was possible.

She was dead.

Dead? No, surely he was mistaken. There was no way Sylus could have died. She had no recollection of anything but herself, so it could have made sense, but she still couldn't accept it. It was just too hard to believe. The shock made her stop eating and stare down at her plate, wide-eyed.
 
Aran walked through the sliding door and looked up at the screen, surprised to see that he had won the trial. After the speed Shiro had displayed, he was expecting her to be stronger. Didn't the two go hand in hand? That was what he thought, anyway. At this rate, maybe he had a winning shot after all.

Of course, nothing would please him more than to be able to fight by Shiro's side, and for that, he would need a tie. He thought back to what the guide had said. Seven trials in all, each worth one point with the exception of the last one, which was worth double. They were evenly matched at the moment, leaving four one-pointers and the final trial, six points overall. So one of them needed to win three normal trials, and the other, one normal trial and the last one. While he was thinking this over Aran pretended to stretch his throwing arm so as to not look suspicious.

The next trial was a test of wits. Aran had no idea how he would match up against Shiro in this test, so he resolved to do his best and see what happened from there. He looked to Shiro and smiled. "Good luck."
 
"You should keep your luck for yourself. Heavens knows, its certainly not abundant around here. Between you and me, I think the Watchers are just making it up as they go along..." With that, she stepped through the next door. As it slid shut, she found herself in a dark chamber. High above her, a small light flickered. The walls were made of iron and coated in rust, and the floor was covered in a 4 cm deep pool of water. On a pedestal in the center of the room was a ridiculously complex pattern of bent metal, like one of those children's games where you have to get the hoop to the other end without touching the piece of metal. It wasn't really a mind game, this one, since there were multiple ways of completing it. Even so, she didn't trust herself to have a steady enough hand, so instead she used her teeth to bite into the handle of the loop and remove a small microchip from the plastic, which she dropped onto a small electromagnetic sensor on the other end of the puzzle. After a couple of seconds, the illusory walls disappeared and were replaced by a human man with dark skin. He had white hair and a large covering of freckles, and wore a crisp white suit. A small name tag identified him as "The Riddle Master". The man, obviously a hologram, explained that they were going to play a game of riddles - the first to make an incorrect answer would lose the puzzle.

After what felt like an aeon later, the latest challenge disappeared after her incorrect answer, and she walked to the door at the end of the room.
 
Aran hesitated at Shiro's words. The Watchers making it up as they went? That didn't seem likely. Everything had a reason behind it, especially brilliant plans for millions and millions of people. Or however many were living in this Creator-forsaken city. When Aran looked up to rebut Shiro's claim, she was already in the next room. He hissed to himself.

The next test's chamber was comfortingly dark, the first time Aran had felt at ease since entering the building. A small step at the front descended into a shallow pool of water; Aran took a ginger step and was relieved to find it of a comfortable temperature on his bare feet. A puzzle of some sort was set on a pedestal at the center of the room: a plastic hoop sat at one end of a twisted metal sculpture, with a sensor of some sort, differentiated by its green color, was placed at the other side. Was the metal some sort of maze? He could move the hoop around, but it would take ages to get it across the metal sculpture and Shiro was sure to have made it through by then. So in the end Aran also elected to take a third option: he used one of his sharp claws to slice through the plastic, and then simply set the hoop on the other side of the metal maze.

With the puzzle completed, the rusted metal walls faded away entirely, and a man appeared in their place. Aran had seen a few holograms in this city before, but the technology behind them never failed to astound him. The Riddle Master spoke in Sohli as he spun his mysteries, so that the intricacies of Aran's native language could be used in the wordplay.

Though Aran was no slouch when it came to fancy riddles, he didn't know many himself. After a short time, shorter than Shiro's run, Aran failed to come up with another riddle for the Master to answer and forfeited the challenge.
 
When Shiro emerged from the trial room, she found her competition already finished. She glanced at the scoreboard. "So, you lost, then. Guess that makes me smarter than you, huh?" She said it jokingly, with no insult intended. The official was once again present. She had no idea how he managed to appear like he did. She dismissed it as 'magic'. He did not explain the next trial, except that it was going to begin soon and the one who remained inside longest would begin. Shiro nodded a silent "good luck" to her foe, despite her previous comments about how luck should be kept. She couldn't wait to see the lizard's reaction to this one. She stepped through the door. On the other side, it was all pitch black. Neither door was anywhere to be seen. She could see nothing. Feel nothing. She had lost all sensation from her body. She was alone with her thoughts, which weren't even formulating properly. She couldn't think in words or in pictures, just fragments of colour and confusion. Time was nothing now. How long had she been there? She felt like breaking down. Or rather, she would if she wasn't intending to lose this one on purpose. Slowly, gradually, the darkness faded. Sensation returned to her limbs, and she could think clearly once more. She wondered how it would have affected Aran. This same section had been used every time she tried. Rumour had it she has just been exposed to a simulation of the true nature of Oblivion. Endless waiting, unable to think, with no memories. Just eternity, weightlessly existing somewhere, having no meaning or purpose, not even a physical form, name or language to associate yourself with. The next images were truly frightening. They seemed to real. One moment she was plunged into sub-zero water, trapped between ice, slowly, slowly drowning. The next she was dry, but plummeting at terminal velocity through the stratosphere, on a collision course for the streets of an ancient city. Then, right as her nose touched the ground, she was standing inside a walled city, watching a huge whale smash through the black stone barricade, jaws opened wide, 8 eyes on it's stomach searching for prey. When she felt she should be on the verge of insanity, she faked it. She collapsed to the ground, curled up into a foetal position and conjured faux tears, accompanied by silent sobs. The illusions faded, and she crawled through the final door, to sit in the next waiting room with a mug of hot beverage, waiting for her foe to finish.
 
"Your only choice - by far not. Being knowledgeable you could easily make stuff to sell on the black market - the name just sounds scary, in fact everyone goes there and the rules of this plan pretend not to notice it or run it themselves - one of the two... eh?" Gray got startled, as the little creature put it's head on his shoulder, but nevertheless he quickly regained his composure, realising that each race and culture had their own, distinct way of behaving and concept of intimacy - what was strange for him was probably normal where this one came from. That being considered, he didn't move but stated, thinkingly "Perhaps I should stop avoiding those guilds after all... their leaders sometimes know a lot and I've heard of a substance that reveals one's soul as a weapon - that very substance could be the key to getting out of this inter-dimensional prison."
 
She looks at the man, moving in an upright position. "using the soul as a weapon? How shall that be possible? And when you are going to this 'guilds' can I come with you? I still don't want to be alone." She ponders about what he could mean. A weapon could be many things. Also, when he is dead as well, where should he went beside of this ' inter-dimensional prison' how he called it.

"And when you are 'escaped', where would you hope to land? You are dead after all or?"
 
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