Tears of the Abyss - Part 2
#2 of Tears of the Abyss
The cab drops them off two blocks from Nellis' apartment and refuses to go any further. The wolf isn't surprised. Welcome to the realm of the sick and disturbed. New Canis Residential District B-9.
The place where you go if you really want to party and don't mind ending up dead. Or worse.
The people living in this charming little neighborhood are special flowers, each and everyone of them, but it's the kind of flower that baits you, poisons you and then swallows you whole. It's the perfect place for someone like Nellis. There are secrets buried everywhere, people talking with hushed voices and shadowy figures standing in dark corners, watching and smiling. If anything bad happens in the city, chances are that someone here knows about it. Or is involved.
Nellis prefers to be on good terms with his neighbors, a relationship based on a mutual respect for each other. They leave him alone most of the time and they also don't mind him poking for some information once in a while. Of course, it also helps that Nellis can call nightmarish creatures that enjoy tearing someone's mind to pieces.
The Kha'Purr following him seems to catch the vibe of the place, because he tries to stay as close to the wolf as he can, almost hugging him.
They arrive at the door to his apartment without incident, but Nellis has seen the looks from some of the locals. Nellis sighs. The kid will have to stay inside.
The front door is made of gray-ish stone, with ornate engravings framing it and the chiseled head of a wolf in the center, holding an iron ring in his muzzle.
Francis lets out an excited gasp. "Wow, that's ancient."
Nellis chuckles. "No, it's not. I change the door on a regular basis, depending on my mood."
Ignoring the cat's confused look he carefully presses a paw against the stone and focuses. Ripples appear on the surface and then the wolf steps right through the door. He looks back and sees the jaguar standing there in awe.
"Hurry up, kid. It doesn't last forever and you don't want to get stuck in that, trust me."
He can barely dodge the Kha'Purr who dashes through the door, almost loses his balance on the slick floor and after much flailing finally comes to a slithering halt in the wolf's living room.
"Welcome to my humble abode. Make yourself at home."
While the jaguar is exploring the room, Nellis briefly checks the various protective wards he has woven into this particular compartment of reality. Untouched. _ Untainted _. With a sigh of relief he lets himself fall into a seat and closes his eyes, trying to find a moment of peace.
He hates early mornings. Usually he works evening and night and uses the day to recover. His special talents work best when it's dark outside and the veil between The Dream and reality is thin.
He rarely does any normal police work, so he has been given free reign to decide when he is going to work and also with whom.
Nellis usually works alone, the only exception being Nasur, his friend and fellow inspector. They have teamed up in the past on a few occasions, on those rare cases where Nellis knew that he would need the cool, analytical mind of the jackal to contrast his own rather random, intuitive way of getting to the gist of things.
In this case he isn't worried about getting to the gist of the matter. He fears what he may find there and that he won't be able to look at it without any bias. That's why he is going to need Nasur, so that when things turn really ugly someone is able to say "Fuck this shit, we gotta kill them all".
A scream of terror startles Nellis, making him jump out of his seat. Francis rushes into the room, his paws raised in disbelief.
"There's no projector here! I've looked everywhere and you neither have a projector nor an interface of any kind. How am I supposed to dive here?"
Diving. That's what the cats call the projection of your mind into the Energy Web and following the stream to worlds of wonder and excitement. Not unlike traversing The Dream. _ Too crude . _ Too unrefined _. Nellis tends to agree. It's a bit like ramming your head into a socket and having your brain fried, only that it is fun and exciting. He has to admit though that diving certainly has its uses. A good diver can get into places that contain lots of valuable data. _ Or money _. _Or the controls to an army of killer bots.
Nellis still tries to avoid it, because afterwards he always feels like having a serious hangover. Another reason why he will need Nasur. Not the reason though why he has no mage-tech around.
"Sorry, kid. The emissions and surges from the crystal links and devices interfere with The Dream and I don't need that here. If you need something to do I can give you a book to read."
The jaguar looks at him as if threatened with torture. "How can you live in a place like this? There is so much ancient stuff around, it's like a tomb or something. You also have no mirrors. Are you a vampire or what?"
The inspector sighs and shakes his head. "No, Francis, I am not a vampire. There are no mirrors here because mirrors are gateways to The Dream. In fact any reflective surface can serve as an access to and from The Dream. This is why I've brought you here, because this apartment is a oneway, meaning you can enter from here, but noone can access this place from the other side. I've set it up like this, because there are denizens of The Dream you don't want to find staring at you through a mirror or rummaging through your apartment. Or lying next to you when you wake up."
"Oh." The Kha'Purr looks around indecisively. "So what happens now?"
Nellis decides there's no point keeping any bad news for later. "You stay here and don't leave this apartment. Door won't open for you anyway. Outside you would be too vulnerable in case someone comes looking for you. Now to the rules of the house. Don't touch anything. Some of the relics here can seriously screw with your mind if you don't know how to shield yourself from such influences.
Also, try not to fall asleep. There are some spells in place that will make it harder to access your mind while you dream, but let's not take any chances, ok?"
"Awesome. May I breath occasionally?" The jaguar is clearly unhappy with his current predicament.
"You may. Look, I am sorry, Francis, but ..." Nellis' voice trails off when he hears a weird sound behind him. It is similar to the crackling noise some of the high powered generators and engines emit, only softer and accompanied by a humming that briefly increases and then dies down.
_ Teleportation spell . S_hit.
He is already running towards the bewildered jaguar when he catches a brief glimpse of the intruders mind. He finds it empty except for one single-minded purpose. _ KILL _.
The moment the wolf collides with the Kha'Purr and knocks him down all hell breaks loose.
He has barely time to grab the reality and pull it over them like a blanket when he hears the menacing roar of a heavy blaster and is forced to witnesses half of his furniture crumbling to dust.
The shots hitting the flickering shield where reality has temporarily merged with The Dream transform into random objects as the energy is absorbed and turned into a more harmless form.
A cloud of butterflies. A rainbow. A gush of orange juice. _ Focus, damnit! _ He reaches out into The Dream, deeper into the regions where dreams prey on each other, devouring and giving birth in an endless cycle.
"Voracious, Ravenous, come and feast!"
In the chaos and the burning remains of his living room two shapes appear, vaguely resembling dire wolves, but they have too many eyes scattered across their hulking forms to be mistaken for any animal. The blaster fire goes right through them, causing them to flicker a bit, and then they are at the enemy's throat, descending on him in deadly silence.
The sound of grating metal. Discharging magical energy of crystal veins cut open and bleeding sparks. And above all the high pitched whining of a machine realizing it is about to cease functioning.
When the whining is suddenly cut off Nellis knows it is over. He briefly checks if the kid is alright.
Scared to death, trembling like a leaf, but otherwise in good condition._ Excellent. _ The wolf staggers to his feet, slightly embarassed. The second time in less than two hours that he ended up on that jaguar. He hopes it doesn't become a habit. On to more immediate issues. Like a burning apartment _ and a failed assassination attempt. Sure could ruin your day._
He sends the two sentinels back to The Dream. He can feel their disappointment because there haven't been any minds to devour. Sorry, boys. He tries getting closer to the remains of the attacker, but the heat is intense and it doesn't look like the flames would die down any moment. Having no tech obviously has some drawbacks too. Like having no automated extinguisher, a common house upgrade based on water magic.
There are other means though. He creates a link to The Dream in the center of the room and then adds a little spin. A small maelstrom appears, sucking in all the flames and heat. Before something is pulled in that wasn't supposed to disappear he closes the link again and then stumbles over to the broken corpse.
Robotic eyes stare at him lifelessly. Not that they were alive before. Nellis recognizes the model. Assault Bot, Stalker Series. Specialization: Assassination and Infiltration. Enhanced Stealth Device, Personal Teleportation Device. Equipped with the newest weapon and armor tech. Automatic memory wipe in case of death. Expensive, impossible to afford except for the rich and powerful.
_ Someone likes you. Feels great to be popular._ _ Are you afraid? _
Nellis returns to the jaguar and gently helps him back on his feet. "Ok, Francis, I am afraid we'll have to fall back on Plan B. Go into my bedroom and see if you can find something to wear. I'll make a call in the meantime and try to get us out of this mess."
He gives the Kha'Purr an encouraging nudge. When the cat is out of sight, he leans against the blackened wall of his living room. Exhausted. Drained. What the fuck is going on? It doesn't take long for him to finally admit that his presumption was correct. It's just that he didn't want it to be correct.
He knew the moment he heard that Dreamers were possibly involved, that it had painted a big red target on his forehead. Of course. If this case was somehow related to Dreamers, those responsible would first target the world's one and only Serarr who had been stupid enough to sign up with the police. _Great to be a real celebrity. But the fans demand blood. _
He activates his ACT and calls Nasur.
Just a moment later he can hear the jackal's voice. "Nellis? What is ..."
"They just tried to kill me and the witness. I am standing in the ruins of my living room."
It's probably the longest silence he has ever witnessed. "You still there, Nasur?"
"Yes ... I am sorry, Nellis. Are you and the witness ok?"
„Yes, but do you realize what this means?"
"I am not sure, but how about: the shit just hit the fan?"
"No, Nasur. The shit didn't just hit the fan. The shit hit the fan, blew through the roof, turned into a gigantic shitstorm and is about to crash down on us like a fucking tsunami." He is almost screaming at the end.
The jackal's voice grows more urgent: "Calm down, Nellis. Let's meet at our place and then we figure something out. Don't lose your temper."
Nellis takes a few deep breaths. "Sorry. I had to do quite a bit of dream weaving and I am exhausted now. And I really liked my living room."
"We will get it back in shape, Nellis, I promise. And maybe this time you'll let me install some security measures against dangers from this side of reality."
"Maybe. We'll be at the place in a few minutes."
"Alright. See you there."
The connection ends and Nellis is suddenly confronted with the returning jaguar, who has managed to find some clothes that are slightly too big for him, which makes him look even younger than he is. The wolf sighs and starts walking to the front door.
"We are going to meet a friend of mine. Let's go, Francis."
The Kha'Purr hesitates and looks at him with big green eyes. "Are we really in a shitstorm?"
Nellis stops and looks back over his shoulder. "Yes. But maybe we can find some shelter soon."
Together they leave the apartment and step out into the gray of a new day's morning in New Canis.