Arriving on Machina

Regardless after only a little waiting with only the barest hint of small talk between the members I finally jolt forwards and put the hands on the table to stabilise myself. Surprisingly the table didn't even vibrate after I used it to steady myself. I have to guess that it's nailed into the ship or kept there by some other force.

Regardless we appear to have entered Machina space as the sudden deceleration and the G-force accompanying it would suggest. Now the little shaking that was there in our accelerated travel appears to have subsided quite a bit and I can't feel any difference from being stationary.

A voice comes through the speakers in the room that appears to belong to a guard of the Machina space. Apparently the conversation is being transmitted to us via these speakers even though we're not involved. Perhaps because the outcome of this conversation is vital to the mission and could seriously affect the plan depending on the outcome.

"This is planet Machina of the Abby galaxy under the control of the Malarie theocracy. Please state your name, rank and intention. I am known as Robeque, captain of the Machina border security and my intention is to confirm your identity and grant you safe passage should we deem you harmless." The guard's voice transmitted through the speakers is a somewhat feminine one.

He's obviously a man but his voice is so high-pitched that he's at the stage where he'd be teased for it but not mistaken for a woman. The tone is also gentle as though all you'd get for telling him to buzz off would be a stern lecture. Obviously that wouldn't actually happen but it's a voice that seems to put you at ease.

Of course the voice only caused tension in all of us as we awaited his response to the cover story Mainframe apparently prepared for us in advance. "I am a designated Robot driver assigned by the anytrain agency. I have no designation. My intention is to transport passengers. My passengers identities are mercenaries hired by Bishop Zekhamcil."

The robot then proceeded to read off our fake names and backgrounds in it's usual manner saying that each has been hired by a Bishop Zekhamcil to accomplish an as yet undetermined task. Upon hearing the name of the Bishop a gasp came through the speakers but it sounded like it wasn't from the guard that was monitoring us and was more likely from someone in the background.

"Allow me to check your information. If you'll please wait a moment." Replied the guard courteously before silence once again dominated the room we're all in. The tension in the air felt like it could be cut by any of our swords as we were all ready to take them out of their sheaths at the slightest provocation.

The silence lasted for quite some time as we sat there waiting for the guard's deliberation to finish. We were all high strung and ready to lash out at the guard at any moment. Well Marianne and Lumi looked calm enough and didn't appear to move an inch but you could tell by the look in Marianne's eyes at least that she was ready to pounce on the slightest evidence that the guard found us.

Luckily nothing happened and the guard came back after what felt like hours but was probably only a few minutes. "Everything checks out on my end. Welcome to Machina I hope you enjoy your brief stay." That sounded a little like a hint to get our business over with and get out to me.

Still as annoyed as he seemed with us he did let us pass and the ship kept plodding along at a pace we could barely feel. Since we were in their space now we couldn't accelerate in the way we did before. It just wasn't allowed and the guards were watching us anyway so they'd probably blow us to smithereens if we tried going any faster.

The tension in the air dissipated somewhat when we felt the familiar rumbling of the ship going towards our destination but the atmosphere was certainly charged after our encounter with the guards. We were all now on high alert and ready. We were on the field now and any mistake could cost us our lives. We were veterans and knew that from now on there was no time for even the small chat we had before.

When we heard the speakers boot up again the tension immediately shot back to original levels as we waited for what was said on the speaker. Everyone worrying whether or not they had realized our identities were fake or some other error. Trusting Mainframe for this was a big ask for us really and it wouldn't surprise any of us if they ended up messing this up.

The only reason we went along with it is that the benefits of participating or consequences of the opposite outweighed the risk of trusting an unknown with our safety. "I shall escort you to the Bishop myself." Came a cheery voice from the speakers and we instantly froze.

Why was this person wanting to escort us. We don't need that. In fact that would only be a hinderance. Plus while this guy didn't sound like the same guard captain from before the fact that his voice was coming from the speakers meant that he was one of the guard captain's men. What was he doing guiding some strangers to a Bishop's house.

"I'm actually off to see that old codger myself. He pays my second salary if you get what I mean. I'm off to collect payment. So I figure I'll bring you along and get some brownie points. Don't worry I've been to the place so many times I couldn't get lost." He explains with a gentle sounding voice apparently expecting us to be confused as to why he wanted to guide us.

While we were confused about that we were more annoyed with him for ruining our plans and taking us somewhere we really didn't need to go. The question is what do we do with him? He's a guard meaning we can't just off him and be done with this whole thing. He's too noticeable and they'd know it was us if we took him out as he went to guide us.

I mean we could blame it on the Bishop but picking a random fight with a economical and political powerhouse is just dumb. We've already got enough enemies I'd rather not create random new ones by offing his subordinate in the guards. Come to think of it he did just casually mention that he was paid by the Bishop rather than the planet Machina government.

Is the place really that corrupt? I mean clearly but still. Guards have no qualms at all about revealing that they're under the thumb of some political figure or another. Who is this Bishop anyway? Well I'm getting distracted.

The point is we need a good way of getting rid of him without annoying the Bishop he works for or alerting him that we're not actually going to the bishop. Just as I'm thinking up solutions for this issue and having very little luck Delilah gets up out of her seat and walks out the door.

"Don't worry I got this. Mum's con artist days rubbed off on me bet I'll be able to make the guy want to leave us alone no sweat." With that declaration she leaves the room and apparently heads to the pilot's room.

The robot hasn't said anything this entire time so I wonder if the guy is getting suspicious or just figures the robot won't be asking him. Suddenly we hear a loud almost shrieking voice come out of the speakers. It even causes the speakers to have that weird popping sound they make when there was too much force behind someone's words and they don't have a pop filter.

"HEY WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING YOU STUPID HUNK OF JUNK" Screams a voice we're all familiar with. Ok what on all the races land is she doing?!

"I told you! I need to go to a proper toilet. Don't even get me started on the awful facilities in here! Take me to a toilet right away. Actually make it a spa. Just because you cause me so much stress I need one. You STUPID. MOUND. OF. METAL!" We proceed to hear a banging sound an awful lot like something hard striking metal and a few more pops from the microphone that indicate the volume is a bit much for it.

"Now, now there's no need for that mis-" Tries the guard but Delilah's apparently having none of that.

"Who talked to you brat! I'm talking to the junk in front of me so shut it. Did I hear you say you wanted to guide us somewhere. Take me to a hot spring. Actually make it a full on spa vacation area. I need it after dealing with this nonsense. Do you hear me!" She continues to rage at him for a little while after that shouting profanities and not letting him get a word in edge-wise.

Finally he relents and says "Look there aren't any spa locations ok?" tentatively like he's putting meat under a dragon's nose. The reaction is just as volatile as that situation sounds.

"Huh?!" Delilah grunts in a low voice.

"You dare to refuse me you little shit. Why I oughtta cut you down here and now. If I was in that ship I'd…" She goes on to explain in horrifying detail how she would dismember him and such. Every time she does I can practically feel him becoming more and more unwilling to accompany us until eventually.

"You know what lady. I thought I'd do you a favour but I don't feel like it any more. This ain't worth my time. Good luck on your own you psycho!" I can almost hear the spittle from his mouth hitting his communication board as he yells at her and then the communication cuts off.

"I suppose that's one way to get rid of him…" I mutter to no one in particular.

The rest of the journey proceeds without any more undue interference. It wouldn't surprise me if that guard told everyone about how rude one of the mercenaries was. This will unfortunately make us infamous and while we don't really care about our reputations here it does mean that people will remember us and that's not ideal.

Regardless it's not the worst case scenario and seeing how pleased delilah is as she walks back into the room where the rest of us are waiting I can't bring myself to say anything. She muttered something about it being from her mother right? What kind of education did she have the poor girl.

Regardless we managed to land on one of the docking ports fairly quickly after that. The somewhat loud crash announcing the ship's landing and the jolt we all got where we once again had to hold onto our tables was enough proof that we were at our destination.

Normally I'd like to give a speech about being on the job from this moment forwards and I expect professionalism especially looking at people like Delilah who apparently don't care too much for that kind of thing but we were already on the job the moment we entered Machina airspace.

We all finish whatever we're doing and get out of our seats. Myself and Tommy didn't touch the food and we're the closest to the door so we end up going first. We both carefully get out of the surprisingly comfortable padded pews and out from the tables in front of us. Then we walk to the metal door that from here only looks like metal but on the other side kinda looks like a cut out piece of sky.

Seriously what's up with this design it's just so weird. I touch the door handle and notice how cold it's gotten. Despite the air in the ship being fairly temperate metal conducts heat extremely well meaning the door handle's cold and it surprises me for a moment and brings me back to myself. That's right I'm on a mission. This is reality, the cold hard real world.

Re-affirming my resolve I open the door… and realize I'm still in the ship. "I can see that look on your face. You were preparing yourself weren't you?" Snickers Tommy behind me. My face immediately goes a bright shade of pink and I walk through the door without saying another word Tommy following behind me.

I emerge into the transition room with all the symbols on the wall and I take one last glance at the picture of Saint Abby before leaving out the door on the other side of her. Tommy appears to ignore the painting and simply follows behind me. I even see Marianne walking through the door behind us with her usual ferocious smile. I wonder if she can keep our cover? I suppose we ARE supposed to be mercs.

The door opens with the sound of colliding metal presumably from the door's connections to the metal frame. Then outside we see the planet Machina's biggest hangar port. The ground is just a fairly normal concrete though it is impressive that they managed to both lay it all out and colour it the deep black it appears to be while constructing this place.

A number of people are trampling all over the floor and creating so much noise that when it hits me all at once I almost stumble back into the ship. Conversations about trivial matters drift into my ears "How is your business going well I hope?" Says one man in the crowd while another conversation drifts into my ears.

"I do hope those flies don't buzz around us for too long. It is so distasteful having to use bug spray." I hear a man say before laughing uproariously and then I lose his voice in the crowd as well. It all combines into a cacophony of noise that grates on my ears and it's far more than any station I've been in.

All the guests also appear to be well off. Not only are their clothes clearly well made but the only conversations I pick up are about people's businesses or in a code I don't or can't understand. Sure there are also some small talk conversations going on here and there but they are so in the minority that I can't really pick them out.

The proportions of the people around us also appear to be somewhat uniform. It's almost as though the universe condensed all that is ugly and unholy then shoved it into one place. Fat old men with beer bellies, Old crones who appear to be using an incredible amount of makeup to hide their aging, even children who are waddling around like penguins because of their ridiculous weight.

Everything around me looks and feels utterly disgusting and a shiver unconsciously travels up my spine. Regardless I enter this world of the corrupt and as I hear the sound of my boots clacking against the metal ladder once more I take a closer look at the place rather than the people.

For a den of the corrupt it's surprisingly clean. Though I suppose this is meant for rich people so of course it'd be clean. The floor is so spotless I can see the people's reflections on it as they walk by. The walls around us are clearly trying to be ostentatious if the black and gold colour scheme is anything to go by.

Seriously what's with these rich people and their black and gold colour schemes. Maybe it's got something to do with the church? I ignore that nagging suspicion as I inspect the area looking for exits. A habit I should be actively nurturing in enemy territory and thus one I do not suppress.

As it turns out there's only two different exits. Though one of them is supposed to be an entrance so really there's only one if you look at the amount of people pouring in from the entrance like a tsunami. It's also very clearly marked with the green open doors sign that screams entrance right next to it.

That entrance is on the furthest right side of the wall in front of me. I also noticed by accident that all the ships that enter this place are kept within a certain zone presumably so they don't run anyone over. That area is pressed up against what I assume to be the back wall.

Only a certain number of ships can dock here at one time but since ships aren't allowed to stay long anyway since this is a drop off zone it doesn't really matter. It does mean that while Lumi, who will be staying on the ship by the way, is trying to find an illegal parking space we'll be without an escape route so we have to be even more cautious about getting caught.

Anyway the exit is on the opposite side of the entrance. Presumably to split up the lines. The people have a sort of order to them this way. People are lining up in a sort of crescent moon shape with people coming in from the entrance and towards the ships. Then some come out of the ships and walk towards the exit. In the middle of that is a massive open space.

Or there should be but there are so many people here that this space is used to line up for certain ships that can carry a number of passengers. Spacetrains are a good example of ships that have a number of passengers lining up for them.

The furthest left side meanwhile is the exit and that's where all the people who aren't lining up for or entering the ships go. Presumably it's also where we need to go. So the moment my shoes make a different clacking sound, this one sounding a lot more subdued thanks to the lack of give from the concrete under my feet, I head into the line towards the exit like I belong there.

Tommy follows behind me, Marianne seeing this appears to follow our lead as she lines up behind us. It spooks some of the people in front of us seeing and feeling Marianne's pressure but they appear to be more than just corrupt fatsos as they immediately recognize we must be hired mercs and pay no attention to us as though we are not even here as they continue their conversation.

Dede also appear behind Marianne at some point and while Dahlia looks fairly composed as most mercs should Delilah is starting to get a bit antsy. I can see her tapping her foot and looking impatient even when I'm only glancing back at her from the corner of my eye. Hopefully she doesn't do anything stupid, though she's a professional I doubt she'll truly be dumb enough to actually do anything in a crowd like this.

Sure enough after a number of minutes waiting the line finally reached the exit and we were able to finally get out of the ridiculous number of bodies in that hangar. Or so we thought. The outside however was just as packed if not more so.

Apparently Machina's aesthetic is a highly developed mechanical city that caters to the wealthy. So you would think they would have that same black and gold colour scheme or you would think the place would look opulent in one way or another. But it's actually a fairly efficient city from my standpoint.

It almost feels like it's going for the natural look actually. The buildings haven't been painted, nor do they have holograms projected over them. Instead you can clearly see the building material used to make them. Space elevators dot the landscape looking like strange tubes into the sky but otherwise the place is fairly subdued for a city of corrupt rich people.

The main colour in front of me is an incredible reflective silver. The pavement appears to be made of some sort of springy metal looking substance though if I look closely it appears almost like the pattern you use to weave baskets has been used to make a metal looking wood into a functional road.

The buildings are all silver in colour. All of them. Not a single building is unique. No fancy castles or shiny buildings, no one building a giant metal dick because they have the money to. Honestly there's always one of those people on each planet so I'm seriously surprised no one's bothered to do it.

The shapes of the buildings vary perhaps a little. I mean there's a giant metal sphere somewhere in the distance and there also appears to be a few buildings that are more apartment complexs than proper houses. But still most of the buildings around me resemble your typical quaint house in the countryside more than anything. Well it's made of metal so obviously there are a few differences.

"Not what you were expecting." I hear an incredibly deep voice say behind me and I whirl around to see Marianne admiring the scenery as she walks up beside me. Looking for more people I also spot a ridiculous horde of bodies incomparable to the one in the hangar just casually walking on the pavement.

They're a bit more varied this time but there are certainly just as many of them and most of them are the same as they were in the hangar. "Yeah. I was sort of expecting a lightshow or an entire planet size hologram or something. This is just a bit anticlimactic." I reply to Marianne as she approaches my side and stands there looking out over the metal buildings and the crowd in front of us.

"Even the air is different here is it not? Inside that hangar it was so condensed you could almost smell the grease and corruption coming off them. But here." Marianne takes a large whiff of the air before letting out a smile that's less ferocious than usual.

"You can't smell anything wrong with the place. The air is clean, fresh even. It's natural and that naturalness is unique in it's own way when people like this gather." She says before Tommy comes up to my other side and explains her less than helpful remarks.

"Where do you hide a tree?" He asks. Oh great he's being cryptic too. Well even I've heard this saying.

"In a forest." I reply lazily not quite understanding where he's going with this.

"Precisely. You can't tell where the corruption is coming from because it's everywhere. Sure we can recognize this place is wrong but can you tell me what exactly is wrong about this city?" He asks and I look around.

Honestly it looks more than normal. It looks prosperous. More than prosperous actually. The place looks like someone designed an extremely efficient city and didn't pay any attention to it's appearance which is extremely rare among people like this.

"Now that you say that…" I couldn't quite figure out where I was getting that eerie greasy feeling from. In the hangar I could tell you who was bad though it was most of the people in the place if not all of them but here it feels like everything's just… Normal.

"That's what they're doing. This looks like a normal city but if you look under the surface." Explains Tommy finally getting to his point and showing me a certain location with his eyes. Looking in that direction I spot something rather horrifying.

A young woman was being pinned against a wall and stripped by two fat men who appeared to be leering at her. I couldn't believe my eyes. This was happening in plain site. Sure they were out of the way of pedestrians but they were still on the same street and yet.

"How did I not notice that?" I ask dumbfounded as I turn my eyes away from the horrible scene. You can't help everyone and we're not here for that anyway so I just ignore her plight as best I can as I try to understand what's going on around me.

"Did you see anyone looking at it?" Asked Marianne gently. Her usual deep and gruff voice sounds almost like a relaxing hum to my ears as she speaks as though there's a warm blanket covering my mind.

I think about her question in the comfort of her voice and realize that everyone walking past this in the street aren't even looking in their direction. They're completely ignoring it. As though this was just an everyday occurrence. Is this herd mentality at work? I think to myself as I watch everyone walk past that same spot as though nothing is different from an everyday stroll.

"No. Why is no one doing anything about it. I'm pretty sure one of them was a police officer or something like that so…" I mutter dumbfounded and Marianne has a quick reply for me as Dede come to her side and stare out at the crowd.

"This is the corruption in the air. You didn't notice because no one else did." Explained Marianne in that same blanket like tone before closing her eyes and lapsing back into some sort of meditation. Dede appear to be taking this pretty hard as well.

Delilah looks fairly surprised but not disgusted. If anything she seems impressed. I can almost hear her saying 'how are they getting away with that?' while doing that impressed whistle to herself. Her partner meanwhile appears to be far less accustomed to such obvious acts of violation. Her eyes seem cold but I can see the pain in them as she watches this unfold.

She seems as though she's struggling with herself. Wondering whether or not she should intervene. I see her hand or leg twitch ever so often but then it will return to normal as though nothing happened before doing the same thing again and again.

"Well any more of this scene and we're going to find ourselves in a position we're obliged to help someone so I say we get a move on." Says Tommy in a loud encouraging voice looking at the various expressions on our faces. He's clearly telling us to just move on because we can't help them.

"Such is the way of the world." Marianne mutters and I almost thought I heard a bitterness to her voice. A sense of powerlessness as though the world around her was crumbling and she could do nothing about it. Then a powerful light of resolve shone in her eyes and she was the first to step forwards.

"Come we have a mission to fulfil." She says back to her usual deep and powerful voice and we almost instinctively follow. Even those like Dahlia who is still struggling with herself decide to follow along once She sees everyone's behaviour.

So we start walking towards the pavement with all the people on it and slip into the crowd hoping our little misbehaviour can be ignored just like the crimes clearly being perpetrated on the street are. Well that's what some of us are thinking. Some like Marianne appear to want change. To change this wretched place and the supposedly wretched world that allows this to happen.