The room was dark, lit only by a harsh spotlight and a faint glow from a high window. Guards stared down at us from above.

Honestly? I wasn’t sure if this was better than being outside.

Tap, tap.

That was the noise from the mic, followed by an older male's voice.

“Please state your name and prepare to be scanned. Refusal will bar entry.”

With a deep breath, as if it were more of a chore than anything else, Mayhem replied.

“I am Mayhem. I should still be registered on the network. My friend here is a new spawn.”

She gestured to me. My turn to speak.

“I am Vestige Soul, and I am new to this world.”

Hopefully, that was an acceptable answer.

“The scan will now commence. Can you explain why you hadn’t signed in to any of the safe zones in the last five years, Mayhem?” A loud click went off as a pair of scanning beams as one horizontal, one vertical lit up from the upper corner of the room where the windows were.

“On my last mission, I fought a strong enemy and lost consciousness. I didn’t recover my memories until a few days ago,” Mayhem replied quickly and firmly.

Mayhem lied again. About how she came back from the dead.

I got why she did it. Last time, lying was safer. But this time… I wasn’t so sure. How long can you keep resurrection a secret? But was it really that important to keep it secret now?

The voice on the other side of the mic practically radiated annoyance. “That sounds somewhat reasonable.” The scan lights swept over us in two clean passes. “There’s only a five percent deviation from your last scan records. You’re both cleared for entry, but you’ll still need to complete a second scan. Vestige must also be entered into the system like everyone else.”

Suddenly, the lights in the room flared to life, nearly blinding me. The space around us was made of dull gray metal panels, many of them scarred by old battle damage. My gut twisted as I realized what had been aimed at us the whole time rows of gun turrets, mounted like silent judges around the room. Beneath them, the massive security doors several feet thick creaked open to let us inside.

"Welcome to Tucson, one of the last bastions of hope."

After we passed through the doors, Mayhem took a big stretch. "Now for the easy part, everything should be smooth from here."

I tilted my head, unsure about this. "I don't have to take a test or something?"

"Nope, we need to go through another scanner, and they just need to take some blood from you. So as long as you don’t punch someone when they are taking your blood, everything is good."

We walked down the hall, and the state of the hall walls was no better than the room before us. Though midway to what looked like a security counter, there was a section made up of black tiles. The moment we walked on the tiles, our footsteps had a green glow around them, and another light scan started up down the hall; it passed through us.

When we got to the counter, it reminded me of old police stations from my world, with slightly higher counters and bars all over. When we got there, the guard was napping with a light flashing on his terminal. Mayhem tapped on the window. The guard jerked awake and tapped away on the interface of the terminal so he grabbed papers from a machine and shoved them through a slit in the glass before going right back to sleep. She picked up the stack and handed me half.

"Alright, follow me and make sure you don't lose this, or you end up being someone else’s close friend." She smiled.

"What do you mean by that?"

She just winked and strolled off. I hurried to catch up. We made our way to the waiting room. The chairs had seen better days, and the room had a few machines that I had never seen before, including one that looked like it dispensed food. We slumped into our seats to wait our turn.

I noticed a group of people that looked like DU and her crew, but they were escorted by guards to another room.

Mayhem looked at who I saw, but her only remark was "Sucks to be them."

A slightly armored security guard came out of another door. "Vestige Soul, your turn to be evaluated."

I just got a pat on the back, and Mayhem smiled as I followed the guard to a room with a nurse. The guard stood and watched from the corner of the room. The room held several unfamiliar machines, some of which had screens. The nurse wore a simple outfit with what looked like a shield emblem with the words Tucson on it.

"This will not hurt and take very long, I just need to stick you with a needle."

I nodded and looked away.

The needle stung—briefly. Not as bad as I expected.

"All done," she smiled. "See? Easy. Now you just got follow the guard so he will show you the way out."

I followed the guard out of the room.

Fill out the paperwork. We’ll call you when the blood test comes back."

Then he was gone again, like it was just another work day.

Before me laid Mayhem, so I nudged her, but I eyed the strange bulge under her pants. Wait… wasn’t she a girl? I squinted. That bulge wasn’t in a normal spot. What the hell was she hiding down there? I slowly reached over to see what it was, but Mayhem woke up. Now it was a bit awkward.

"Guessing all is good? I got a good nap in." She said with a grin. I quickly sat down next to her and started filling out the paperwork. She leaned in and saw what my answer was. But most of it was basic. By the time I finished the paperwork, the guard had come out and told me to go to the ID counter, which Mayhem led the way to.

Now in front of a counter that could have seen better days, we handed in our papers, and The woman just handed us some cards that look like our IDs. I didn’t recall my picture being taken, but my face was on the card.

Mayhem double-checked the card and smiled. "Are all my credits still attached to my card?"

"Yes, ma," the clerk answered.

Mayhem smiled as she led me out of another set of doors to a busy street. For the first time, I saw a bunch of other people of different races around, like normal on city streets. The buildings around looked as normal as they could be, as some look like shops.

"First thing, we need to find either someone selling a fairy or get something to eat. As I don't want to be screwed over in the future without one. But the food we have been eating was awful."

I saw her as she looked around with a bright glow on her face. "We could do both, couldn’t we?"

"Yeah!" She nodded, took my hand, and we moved forward into the unknown.

We passed more and more people, and I never thought there would be so many people. here in the world like this. We had passed a lot of shops, but they didn’t look like they were selling what we were looking for. But on the other hand, it does look like we have passed restaurants.

I wondered what kind of restaurant Mayhem liked, probably one that sells lots of meat.

We stopped for a moment as I noticed her tail wagged back and forth. I looked in the direction of where her focus was and saw red lights and flashing signs. A lot of females on the street were talking to every male that passed them. It reminded me of the red-light district. Was this something she wanted?

"I would have to come back here later." She said as she hesitated to leave. But in the end, she led me down a different street.

At last, we reached the store that looked like it sold fairies. After what felt like hours of walking, we finally spotted the fairy shop, right across the street. I looked at the signs outside, and there were very big numbers on them.

"Maybe if we went inside, we would be able to find a cheap fairy, as I am not sure I could afford one with the credit that we have now," Mayhem looked at me before we set off.

When our foot touched the street, an explosion could be heard overhead. I looked up as someone fell from that sky to land right into my hands. It was a battle-worn young woman with sharp, light red hime-cut hair and a tied-back ponytail. Her eyes were tired but alert, framed by dark circles. She wore some sort of heavy combat armor with a bunch of pouches, with an SMG and a combat battle axe.

She looked up and gave me a great big smile. "Oh, my savior, thank you so much!"

I was still confused, she took the time to look around and noticed something.

"Long time no see, how is it going, Mayhem?"

With the most shocked expression, Mayhem snapped back "Shit, what are you doing here Fuze?"

Fuze lifted a bag that had a small red drip at the bottom. "For these, of course. Cannot lose the goods I just got."

"I don't want anything to do with you, Fuze." At that moment, the doors of the building behind us opened as guards flung outside.

"It’s a bit too late for that, Mayhem." She then yelled towards the guards, "Thank you, getaway team, time to head off," as she now pointed out to go down an alley.

The guards opened fire on us as Mayhem picked me up and bolted into the alley. Gunfire echoed behind us as Mayhem ran. Fuze dug through her endless pouches she had.

The guards were always close to our tail, even when Mayhem ran full blast.

"Found it!" said Fuze, tossing an object behind us and then another in front. A blast could be heard behind us as the building fell behind us. The path was now closed. In front, a smoke screen covered our escape as Mayhem took a sharp right turn.

Mayhem ran for a while, and Fuze looked over Mayhem's shoulder. "Looks like we lost them." She hugged Mayhem. "Thank you, my savior! What would I have done without you?"

Mayhem set me down, then pried Fuze off of me as Fuze clung to me. She looked like a smug cat dangling from Mayhem’s hand.

"So, what were you doing, Fuze?"

"Ummm, gathering intel for Hex like normal."

"Blowing up a building is intel gathering now?"

"Things are a bit complicated, that's all. One thing led to the next, and ended up chopping off a guy's arm, and one of my toys fell. Just normal stuff, normal stuff."

"If we return you to Hex, would she hook us up with a fairy?"

Fuze looked away, "Maybe?"

Mayhem squeezed her cheeks. "Can you repeat that?"

"I will try!"

"Ok, that's good enough."

After Mayhem put Fuze down, she led us to a rundown building complex. We walked down the halls and noticed there were machines attached to the walls as if they were looking at us. We got in front of an enforced door made of metal.

Fuze banged on it. "Hey, Hex, it's me! I made it back and brought a few friends!"

Over an intercom, a female voice ringed. "I have noticed that." The doors opened soon after.

When we entered the room, Fuze waved to a woman who sat on a box on the floor above us. She was slender, pale-skinned, with asymmetrical silver hair and violet eyes that glowed. She wore a tattered tactical coat over a bodysuit etched with circuit-like etchings. Calmly spun a data knife between her fingers. When I looked around the room, I also noticed robots set up around the room.

"So you brought good news, right, Fuze?"

"Yeah, first the guys you sent me to check on did not have any information at all, but I got a prize." She pulled an arm from the bag and practically drooled over it. "Next, I have Mayhem and her friend!"

She smiled. "Long time no see, Mayhem. It’s been a while. I could have sworn that you were dead, as I have not seen you in a long time."

"It has been Hex, you know me, it's really hard to keep me down. You should know that the best."

"Well, you are tough and energetic. So, what brings you here? I assume this isn’t just a friendly reunion."

"I was wondering if you had a spare fairy or some extra cash, as we did help Fuze escape from her mess."

Her eyes narrowed. "I don't have anything to spare at this moment. But if you help me on this job currently, I could get you a fairy and some cash with no issues."

Mayhem looked at me for a second, then scratched the back of her head. "Alright, we can help."

Hex looked at me. "And who are you?"

"I am Vestige Soul, I am new to the world, and Mayhem has helped me out a great deal."

"The pleasure is all mine; it will be a fun time working with you."

What the hell have I gotten myself into this time...