Jian sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing the half hour of sleep he’d gotten that morning out of his eyes. After everything that was said last night, it was little wonder that sleep hadn’t been very forthcoming. He’d spend most of the night just trying to wrap his head around it, and the rest of it trying not to think about one particular thing and its implications.

There were other versions of the people in this world living in those other worlds.

Of course it hadn’t helped that the sun was rising and Malik had knocked on their doors to get them up. Jian admired her resolve but he wouldn’t mind if that resolve had come maybe an hour or two later. That woman seemed untireable.

He got up and splashed water on his face from the room’s handy sink. Honestly the room reminded him a bit of student housing. Nothing matched, or was particularly comfortable, and it was a far cry from what he was used to, but he supposed it functioned.

He got dressed and gave his hair a quick style (it’s never a bad thing to look one’s best). He grabbed the small, concealed handgun he’d brought with him to the Spire and debated whether he should bring it or not. It might come in handy in a pinch, but it also might complicate things. He ended up putting it in his inside pocket. He’d hate to be in a situation where he wished he’d brought good old Chekhov along.

Malik was already in the kitchen when Jian entered, drinking a cup of that black goop she called coffee and eating a bowl of what looked like Lucky Charms cereal. She honestly looked exactly the same as the night before: leather jacket, hair pulled back out of her face, and thick eyeliner on. Jian briefly wondered if she just woke up like that or if she went to sleep at all. “Good morning,” He said, sounding more cheerful than he felt.

“Morning,” She replied, markedly less cheerful. She seemed restless, her foot tapping a brisk rhythm onto the floor. He supposed it must be frustrating for her to deal with them while she had a job to do. It was easy to see she wasn’t the patient sort.

He went to the kitchen to search for breakfast - hopefully something other than Lucky Charms, no offense to Malik. He tried all the cupboards but all he found was a box of Lucky Charms and several packets of noodles. He sighed, thinking he should have brought more than just tea and milk, but he’d figured the Spire would be inhabited by someone slightly civilized. No choice then, a bowl of lucky charms it was. At least he did have the tea.

Namsun walked in still yawning, closely followed by Seungchae. Jian supposed he wasn’t the only one who’d hardly gotten any sleep that night.

“Good morning, did you sleep well?” Jian asked. People like it when you pay them attention and sincerely ask them how they’re doing. He brought the cereal, milk, and two extra bowls to the table.

Namsun shrugged and mumbled something noncommittal.

“Not at all. I kept thinking about what we’re going to see today and now I feel like I might sleep through it all,” Seungchae said with a small laugh as she made herself some breakfast. She didn’t seem to mind Malik’s terrible cereal choices.

Jian laughed. “That makes two of us. Namsun will just have to keep us awake.” He turned back to Malik. “So how is this going to work?”

“You’re going with Seungchae, Namsun is going with me,” Malik said. Namsun looked up, alarmed, and Seungchae glanced at Jian. “Both teams take a portal and look for Pi. If we don’t find anything we reconvene at the Spire in 3 days to discuss next steps.” She took a slow sip from her coffee before continuing. “I’m sending the two of you to a world I’ve been to before but didn’t find a Pi. You shouldn’t find any trouble there, but if you see someone who looks out of place get back to the Spire immediately and wait here until I return.”

They ate in silence for a bit, all of them lost in their own thoughts, until the sound of footsteps on the stairs alerted them to a new presence.

“Hello?”

All eyes turned towards the entrance of the Spire where a girl was coming up the stairs with a suitcase in tow. Her eyes were ringed with red but there was a stubborn determination in them too. Jian glanced at Malik and saw that the other wasn’t all that surprised. Another Seeker then?

He gave a smile and a little wave. “Good morning, welcome to our little band of misfits.” Malik shot him an irritated look but he ignored it. “Have a seat, have some tea, I’m sure you can use some.”

Malik cut in. “Change of plan. I’m sending you three in together and in the meantime I’ll catch up…”

The girl hesitated a second. “Sigma.”

Strange name that was. Strange name and strange hesitation, though Jian supposed he couldn’t really judge anyone in this situation, so much like fish out of the water they all were.

“Right. I’ll catch Sigma up on what’s going on and then she’ll set out with me. Sigma, go find a room over there,” Malik motioned to the bedroom area. “And I’ll be right there. You three, let’s go.”

“Wait right now?” Namsun said.

“Right now.”

Seungchae shoved a last spoonful of cereal in and sprung up, seeming almost too eager to go. Jian finished his tea and got up too.

“Are you wearing suspenders?” Seungchae asked.

“Sure am. Last thing I want to do is moon everyone while we’re being chased by space-jumping Agents Smiths,” he replied with a grin.

Seungchae laughed. “Good point.”

“Do you remember my instructions?” Malik said strictly. Humour didn’t seem to be her forté.

“Look for Pi, return if there’s anyone out of the ordinary-" Jian started.

“Everything’s going to be out of the ordinary there,” Malik shot back. “Get the hell out if there’s anyone out of place. Still you shouldn’t find any agents there, they saw me there once and they’ll assume I won’t come back.”

“So what makes you think they didn’t already get to the Pi there?” Jian asked.

Malik shrugged. “If I didn’t find her then there’s a chance they didn’t either. As you’ll probably find out soon enough, the conditions for searching weren’t exactly optimal at the time. Still I don’t doubt that they’ve searched. Mostly it’s a safe enough world for you to look around without me there to hold your hand through it all. See it as your training wheels. Now come on.”

Malik lead them up three flights of stairs. Jian noticed Seungchae and Namsun glance at each other as they passed the first floor. When Malik led them onto the third floor landing, any questions he’d had dissipated.

When she’d said portals she’d meant portals. These came straight out of a sci-fi show. Circular structure, weird wobbly liquid suspended in the middle, the whole shebang. He also noticed that they were numbered and each had big red X’s painted next to them. Malik lead them past four of these before stopping in front of one.

“What does the X mean?” Seungchae asked.

“It means that it’s been explored and declared empty,” Malik said. “Like I said we’re making an exception for this one. Now remember what I said, anyone who might be an agent, get the hell out of there. You see a Pi, bring her here as soon as you can. The Keeper will know what to do. Remember where the portal is and you can always come back to the Spire if you need a break. Now off you go.”

“Through there?” Namsun asked.

“No around it - of course you go through. Come on.”

Seungchae was the first to approach the portal. She stuck her hand through it without hesitation, and then a leg, and then she was gone. Malik looked at Namsun, the next in line, expectantly, but he hesitated so Jian stepped forward instead and reached a hand for the portal.

It felt weird. Wet but not wet. Alien on his skin before his hand passed through and he only felt a ripple of pressure on his coat sleeve. He went in head first and had to squint against the bright sunlight filtering in through the large window that made up the entirety of the wall the portal was facing.

They were in a tower, but this one looked nothing like the Spire. Everything was glass and golden frames in between in a style that vaguely reminded Jian of the art nouveau movement. The city that stretched before them was all glass, green, and gold.

“This is insane,” Jian said.

“This is incredible,” Seungchae said. She was pressed against the window taking it all in.

Namsun was pushed in next and bumped into Jian’s back. He looked around, eyes wide and startled. “This is impossible.”

Malik followed and approached the window. “Would you look at that. Last time I was here this world was going through some serious conflict,” she said. “Fighting in the streets and everything, half of those pretty windows were smashed. Seems like things have quieted down, which should make things easier for you.”

“Wait,” Jian said. “You thought you were sending us into an active war zone and that’s what you call safe enough?”

Malik shrugged. “Any world without Zhu’s agents is a cake walk in comparison.” She reached into her pocket and retrieved a battered photo of Pi and handed it over to Jian. “First steps should be marketplaces and other spots where large bodies of people come to meet. Show around the photo and see if anyone has seen her. The rest is just dumb luck.”

“How reassuring,” Namsun muttered softly.

“Don’t worry about anyone noticing that you look out of place, the people will forget you as soon as you step back through that portal so just do your job and try to stay out of trouble,” She pointedly looked at Jian when she said this, and he gave her his most reassuring smile.

She didn’t look very reassured.

“Don’t count on me to get you out of trouble if anything happens,” Malik warned and walked back to the portal. “Good luck in any case. I’ll see you in a day or two.”

“Yes boss,” Jian said. She scowled and stepped back through the portal.

Jian approached the window. This was crazy. This shouldn’t be possible. But here it was, a whole city spread out ahead of them. A whole city in a whole other universe. This was bonkers.

“Well,” Jian said. “it’s safe to say we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

~*~

“Ah, I’m so tired,” Seungchae  let herself fall onto one of the benches in the square. Jian was pretty damn tired himself but he remained standing and watched this world’s people filter out of the square.

This world’s people. It was still insane, this entire thing.

“I still can’t believe how beautiful this world is,” Seungchae said. She’d been gawking at their surroundings for most of the day while Jian was talking to people and Namsun stuck close by. “I also can’t believe that after a whole day of questioning we’ve still got no clue about the Pi.”

“It couldn’t be that easy,” Jian said. “Otherwise the Seekers would have found her ages ago.” Still it was incredibly frustrating to spend a whole day showing people the photograph only for no one to have any information about Pi’s location.

“Do you see their fashion though?” Seungchae continued. “It’s like they each stepped out of a Mucha painting. I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on a dress like that,” she motioned to a woman entering her house wearing a light flowy dress with golden accent.

Jian had to admit that everything about this world was beautiful. He felt like the three of them stood out like sore thumbs against the beauty around them. The buildings practically sparkled in their gold and glass glory and the green of the nature that surrounded them offered a colourful contrast to it all. He couldn’t imagine this world in conflict so brutal that there would be active fighting in the street.

Then again, every rose has its thorns, even if they aren’t immediately visible.

“Did you notice the cameras?” Namsun asked.

“What cameras?”  

“They’re everywhere.” Namsun nodded at the direction of one of the overly ornamental houses that lined the street, the ones that vaguely reminded Jian of London’s townhouses - if those houses were actually pretty. “Do you see where the decoration makes a flower? It’s in the middle.”

Jian inspected it closer. Sure enough there was the tell-tale eye of a camera lens. He was surprised Namsun had noticed them at all, small as they were. “They’re everywhere you say?”

“There were a number of the in market square, and I noticed more of them along the roads we walked.”

“So all is not well in this world after all,” Jian mused.

“Where is everyone?” Seungchae said. Jian looked around and indeed there were no more people around them. He also noticed the sun had almost entirely set and the darkness made this place look more sinister. One by one the lights in the houses started to set. The streetlights above them didn’t turn on either. “I don’t like this.”

“Me neither,” Jian said. “We could go back to the Spire and come back in the morning.”

“You remember where the portal is right? Cause I’m way lost,” Seungchae said.

“I remember,” Namsun mumbled. Jian was relieved, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to find the way back. “But it’s too dark to see much of anything.” Well there went that relief.

“Do you remember the general direction Namsun?” Jian asked.

Namsun nodded. “I think so.”

“Good then let’s start moving, it’s better than sitting here waiting for the dawn to arrive.” Jian motioned for Seungchae to get up and they started walking in the direction Namsun indicated. Jian should have seen this coming and he was annoyed with himself that he hadn’t. How could he have been so absorbed in talking to people and searching for Pi to not notice that the sun was going down?

Stupid, Jian. Don’t make a mistake like that again.

They walked for an hour before Namsun stopped. “We’ve been here before.”

“How long ago before?” Jian asked.

“An hour ago,” Namsun said apologetically. It was well and truly dark now and they could hardly see a thing.

“Stop right where you are.”

That wasn’t any of them.

Jian turned around and saw - well not much considering there was a bright flashlight shining into his eyes. He automatically motioned for the other two to stay behind him. Hopefully they’d let him do the talking. “Good evening… officer?” A hunch, the voice sounded official.

“Show me your papers,” the officer demanded. Well .

“Ah yes, about that,” Jian began. Though he couldn’t see the figure clearly he could see the man reaching for his side, and Jian assumed that the grabbing-one’s-gun motion was universal. Literally universal. “Nevermind, run!” He turned around and shoved both Namsun and Seungchae in front of him as they scrambled to run away in the dark.

“Where?!” Seungchae called over her shoulder.

“Turn left and keep turning into alleys!” Jian shouted back. They couldn’t let the officer get a clear shot at them. Seungchae did he told her and shot into the alley. She was fast, faster than Jian and Namsun, who was already lagging behind. Jian grabbed Namsun’s arm and dragged him along after Seungchae.

They must have turned at least 6 times before the footsteps behind them started to falter. If they’d been lost before they were hopelessly lost now.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Jian turned around in the dark, attempting to identify where the disembodied voice came from this time. “Who’s there?”

“You’ve got half the ringers in the city looking for you,” the voice was female, but she didn’t sound like the officer had sounded.

“Ringers?” Seungchae asked off to his right.

“Ringers. Soldiers. s that shoot first and ask questions laters,” the voice said with an incredulous tone that meant everyone knew the term. She must think they were really stupid. “What the hell do you think you’re doing out past curfew, showing your face on every Eye you can? Do you want to be taken to the cage?”

Okay Jian, think. How do I bull someone when I don’t know half the words they’re saying? “We got lost without our papers,” okay yes that’s a good start.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to lie to us, we’re Fianna,” she said that last word like it held volumes of meaning.

“Niamh!” Another voice said, male this time. Male and hauntingly familiar. “You can’t just tell every stranger who we are!”

“We can’t just leave them to the Ringers, and the operation is blown anyway,” the woman shot back. “Look at them, they’d be dead otherwise.”

“What if they’re informants?” the male voice objected. Jian got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He knew that voice.

“They’re not. Informants wouldn’t be dumb enough to trigger every Eye in the city. And we do not leave innocents to die.” There was the flick of a switch and a light went on a few meters ahead and Jian might have noticed that the woman holding the lantern bore a remarkable resemblance to the girl on the photo in his pocket.

He might have noticed if he wasn’t too busy staring at the face of Daehwan.

author's note

And we're back again with our regular-ish update xD This chapter was brought you by a healthy dose of solarpunk and, though considering the state of the world perhaps that dose isn't so healthy after all.  

So our first team in their first world and it's already going less than swimmingly. They found out that it might be a little tough to find a person in a giant city, especially when that person is an underground rebel. What a twist.

And Nari finally showed up! (what a slacker amirite) Or should I say Sigma? Stay tuned for the cheerful adventures of Sigma and Malik! 

So yeah that's about it. Next week won't have an update because I'll be abroad and as soon as I get back get into an exam, but the week after should. Hope you guys enjoyed this week's fill of Jian, our resident smooth-talker~ 

MONKEY OUT.