Blood Red: Prologue
#7 of Blood Red
History log: 2084: Arch-Angels are transferred to city borders as a defense against Demons as well as other threats to the cities. 2090: Officials have begun enlisting youths into the Arch-Angel program due to the diminishing of the soldiers. This project was set back in 2093 due to the destruction of Arpeggio. 2094: Nulline Metropolis Enforcers have come into possession of a highly advance A.I, known as 'Sarra', and plan to use it as an information distributor. 2095: Arch-Angel program is cancelled and all law enforcement has unified to create the Hellfires, named after specialist Enforcers inhabiting Nulline Metropolis. 2101: After seventy years of immense radiation levels on the surface, most radiation has decomposed, and Earth has returned to its natural state, allowing room for reconstruction. 2175: All cities have been successfully altered and built to adapt to the surface. The following cities have been recorded: - TyrCity.
Nulline Metropolis.
New Vega.
New Arpeggio.
Allegretto.
Falsetto. 2180: Falsetto Militia is assaulted, leaving the city weakened. 2190: After ten years of refusal, the Falsetto Militia finally allies with the Enforcers. 2191: New City constructed: Vibrato. Over 50% of Earth's radiation has cleared, leaving a vast amount of land for construction. 2200: Aarl Green, previous leader of Enforcers, has passed away due to natural causes. Enforcers look to Torus Actar to lead as head general. 2210: All cities are under Enforcer protection. Crime rate descends to 3%. 2240: Arch-Angel Program is resumed, adapting Mech technology to test subjects. 2245: Current Date: No current history recorded. For all the years I've lived, New Vega didn't change one bit; it just seemed to stop aging like myself. Sometimes I'd wonder how old I was; ever since I stopped aging, birthdays seemed a little irrelevant; I still acknowledged them, though, and I still looked as young as I had been ever since the injections; a good solid sixteen. There were only a few select people who've lived for as long as me, not including Dragons; just me, and two other people. I wasn't even sure if one of them was still alive; but I knew that the other was still alive. She was hard to kill; my experiences with her told me that. Now everything is in a scramble; the Enforcers have started stirring the pot again; ever since 2220, they've been patrolling the rooftops of New Vega, making my jobs almost impossible to get done. We call them Scarecrows, basically because of what they do and how they do it. The current year is 2245, January 10th. So far, the Enforcers have slowed their pace a little. They're taking their time in cleaning up the city; starting at the top. It Pisses, Me, Off. My name is Kobalt Monday, and I'm a Seeker. Location: New Vega, Rooftops. Time: 18:50pm. Year: 2245, January 10th. I stood over one of the many rooftops; unchanged over the years. I felt tired; I was often like this, just standing on a random rooftop, looking over the same old city, and admiring it every time for how it always remained how it was. The sun was just beginning to set, barely casting an orange sheet from the sun over to the other end of the city. I wasn't admiring it this time, though. I merely focused on the Wolf in front of me, his grey fur slowly turning orange from the sunset. The person was dressed in a thin version of Enforcer armor, fully black, bulletproof, and marked with a three pointed star, making it clear that he belonged to the Enforcers. Meanwhile, I was wearing my Seeker jumpsuit; I had replaced my leather one with another made out of flexible nylon, leaving me with two identical pairs -well, almost identical. The one that I was wearing was layered inside with some soft battle-mesh; a souvenir from sixty years back, when I traveled with Elise Elorara Mayer, the only person who ever seemed like family to me. Even with my armored jumpsuit, I was still at a disadvantage. The Scarecrow was carrying a long combat knife with him; I may as well have been fighting naked. The only thing that my jumpsuit did was protect my modesty at the least. The Wolf passed the knife between both hands, crouching nervously into a fighting position. I wondered why; I was thinner, a little shorter, and most likely less skilled that him. I stayed in a casual position; my hood was pulled all the way over my face, making myself unrecognizable to him; at least that way I'd have less chance of getting the club into trouble. "Are you going to give in now?" The Wolf growled, brandishing his knife; "Or do I have to kill you?" "Such a rude way of speaking." I laughed quietly, but just so the Wolf could hear me. "I don't see why you'd bother killing me; I wouldn't kill you..." "You don't have a knife, though; do you?" The Wolf retorted, starting to slowly advance, keeping in his small crouching position. After a few seconds of silence and moving slowly around each other, the Wolf had almost leapt forwards, bringing his knife behind him and preparing to strike my chest with full force. Unfortunately for him, I had already rotated my body to the right, narrowly missing the knifes direct path; with the knife rendered useless, I clenched my left hand into a fist and struck the Wolf's underbelly with all my force, causing him to topple back slightly, giving me another chance to strike his forehead with the palm of my right hand. The Wolf fell to the floor in a large heap, dropping his knife to the ground, just next to his hand. I bent down and took the knife, as well as the large holster on his left leg. "You mean you 'had' a knife." I joked, strapping the holster onto my right leg. "Besides, if I had a knife, I still wouldn't kill you. Too much work." I continued on my way over the last few rooftops that led back to the rooftop of Club Phymn; but just after passing the first two buildings, my phone had started to ring. I didn't even have to guess who that would be. I reached down into my inside pocket reluctantly and pulled out the thin black phone, putting it up to my ear and answering it. "Kobalt, have you delivered that package, yet?" A familiar voice asked with a weary tone to it. "There are two people here who don't want you to be late; there's me, and then there's Damien Archer." "Seriously? Damien again?" I asked, sitting down on top of the roof. That was The Administrator for you; the Dragon often called at inconvenient times. Damien, on the other hand, had perfect timing; he often paid me a 'visit' at least once a month. It felt comforting to have a Dragon to sleep with who really cared about me. "Give me a reason to come back for you." I joked, scratching the end of my muzzle. "I'll come back for Damien, but what about you?" "Don't be like that." The Administrator replied wearily; "We're getting a little old for that joke. How old are you; eighty?" "And still looking as young as sixteen." I said happily, laughing in my head. "Fine, I'll come back as soon as I can. I've only got a few more buildings to cover and I'll be with you -well, Damien -in less than half an hour." "I'll see you then. Don't get lost on the way." The Administrator laughed, hanging up on me and leaving me in on calm, quiet rooftop. I never really worried about The Administrator, but he was getting along in the years; the first time I met him was when I was six, and he was one hundred and fifty then. Add a rough eighty years to that, and he'd be just around two hundred and twenty. "The old bastard always gets the last word." I said to myself. I wasn't angry at him; I never was, I just say these things for fun. Maybe I was getting old as well; my body stayed young, but my head can only take so many years of history and knowledge being crammed into it. I wasn't breaking down or anything. I was just getting tired. Location: New Vega, Club Phymn, Room 172. Time: 19:30pm. Year: 2245, January 10th. I sat silently on the edge of my bed, wearing just a grey shirt and a pair of shorts, trying to think over the many years that had gone by. When thinking normally, I felt as if I were still just sixteen; an unknowing and interested mind. When I thought deeper, I felt as if I was satisfied and knew everything about the world. My head often tried to tear itself apart when I thought about things too much or if they were so long ago. I wondered if this was how most Dragons felt when they looked to the past; maybe they had adapted to the feeling. I fell back onto my bed and looked around the room slowly; a lot had changed over the past few decades. My room was more like a small apartment now, since I was considered a permanent worker; on the far side was a small kitchen area, and opposite that lay a small wooden table and chair. The Administrator was even kind enough to have a balcony built in my room to get a good view of the city. I occasionally sat down on the balcony that looked over the streets, thinking out loud. "I guess I'll be living this way forever..." I muttered lightly, rolling over to face the door that was slowly clicking open. A large figure stepped into the room; with worn green scales, and a tail that looked a little too long for the large but aged body. He was wearing a plain grey outfit that looked like it barely fit him. "You've been thinking again?" Damien accused, smiling. He stepped over to me; I got out of bed and stepped up towards him, and rested my head on his surprisingly soft chest. "And now I've got a headache." I sighed listening closely to his heartbeat. "Sorry about that; I've probably ruined your plans again." "You haven't done anything like that." The Dragon whispered into my ears, wrapping me in his large arms and pulling me that bit closer to him. "You know I'm okay with these kinds of problems." "How do Dragons deal with it?" I asked as we both lay down on the bed, by which time Damien had already removed his shirt. "If I remember too far back, my head hurts. It's like my body doesn't want me to remember." "We adapted to it about two thousand years ago." Damien laughed, running the tips of his fingers along my back slowly. "I guess you'll have to wait a couple of millenniums until you adapt to those headaches." I sighed and got up slowly, reaching for a tall flask on my bedside table, not very amused at the joke Damien had just made. I screwed the top off and poured the contents of the flask into two small glasses; the liquid was light pink, but cloudy enough so that I couldn't see through it. I picked up the two glasses, handing one to Damien and swirling the other slowly around. "Still mixing up these things?" Damien asked rhetorically, gulping down the contents in one go, whilst I had only downed half of it; I took both glasses and put them back on the table, resting my back on Damien's warm chest. Over the few decades that I had lived, I had decided to experiment with a few drinks; even a few drugs, though there weren't any notable side effects. One of my best drinks was The Pink One; not a very well thought-up name, but it explains it briefly. It only contains three things; crushed pineapples, cranberries, and some Aura to top it off. Aura is one of the most advanced pleasure drugs used in history; no addictions, long-term side effects, it isn't even detectable by tests or scans. It was perfect for long nights; either alone or with 'company'. I turned around slowly, almost snaking around to meet the Dragon's face and plant my muzzle on his, letting the Aura inside the drink take hold of us. I felt small sensations moving from my chest all around my body, flowing from muscle to muscle as I ran my fingers lower, down Damien's chest, starting to lose breath but not caring; I knew what I wanted; I wanted Damien...just him...alone together... Damien slowly and softly pulled me away, and wrapped me in his arms again, pulling me close so that our heads were over each other's shoulders. Past the ringing of my ears, I could hear my own heartbeat; and beyond that, another beat trying to overlap mine. I could tell that it was Damien's...I could hear his own heart beating... I let myself fall asleep, resting my head against his and smiling whilst humming a tune that was barely hearable... I thought to myself; I should use less Aura next time...