To say that the shopping centre was spacious was an understatement, in Lucia's eyes, it was the largest one that she'd seen in her life, they'd been exploring the place for at least half an hour, and they still hadn't explored a mere fragment of the venue. Unsurprisingly, Alora was 'au courant' with the place, perhaps too well acquainted, never making a wrong turn or a mistake. While Lucia did have erudition, and explorational prowess, even she reckoned that a place like this would take her a good chunk of the day to fully cover, if not longer. Not to mention the littler details that Alora was also well versed with, she was impressed.
They had done their shopping for clothes a while ago, finding outfits that would help them acculturate to the city, Lucia had picked a hoodie with psychedelic liquid waves, floral jeans, and octopus sneakers. Her outfit looked quite bohemian to say the least, but she didn't quite mind. Aiden and Cynthia went for more simper approaches, Aiden wearing jet black buckle jeans and a reflective T-Shirt, and Cynthia picking up an olive tracksuit; wearing a pastel bucket hat that sat tilted on her head. Alora was very pleased with the outfits, thought definitely costing her a pretty penny, she didn't seem to care all too much.
"Where to now?" Lucia asked, straightening her new hoodie.
"The plan's to head to the fountain outside of the shopping mall," Alora answered, looking at her watch.
"D'ya reckon that Magnus and the rest have already finished?" Cynthia chimed in, rubbing her eyes, Lucia's shirt was giving her a very clear headache.
"Here, let me text Jake," Aiden said.
"Yo? Jacob, have u finished your shoppin' yet?"
"We just finished now,"
"Ages ago dude, y'all are slow as hell"
"Don't call me 'Jacob' you spud,"
"Where are you now then?"
"We're at some café, just grabbing some snacks lol"
"600 Xanar can get you FAR dude,"
"How far are we saying here?"
"Equivalent to about $1000,"
"The shopkeeper there told us abt it,"
"Cool."
Aiden looked visibly shocked by the figure, Lucia noticing his sudden shocked demeanour. "What did he say?" She tapped him on the shoulder, with profound curiosity, Aiden looked up from the phone, turning to face Alora.
"Dude... How much is a 'Xanar' worth?"
"How much is a Xanar worth?" Alora asked, with a raised brow, "In relation to overworld currency, about $1.80 dollars give or take,"
Cythnia looked impressed; it seemed like the city had a decent grasp on economics despite being so disconnected to the society she had grown in. Aiden continued to text his brother.
"Tell everyone to meet us at the entrance to the shopping centre"
"Have u got ur GPS?"
"Aight,"
"Yeah, I got the GPS, want us to go now?"
"Yeah"
"Alr"
Aiden placed the phone back into his pocket.
"They're on their way there right now, let's go," he said. Alora led the way, as the trio followed.
...
"Woooaah! You guys look awesome!" Lucia said, awestruck and clapping at the dazzling outfits her friends had on.
"Stellar picks from you lot also," Magnus laughed, posing with his new varsity jacket.
"Now you look like you'd fit into Qaietiox! Well done," Alora grinned, she looked at them with pride, as if they were her own children.
"How'd you get your hands on so much money?" Jake asked, "Well, when you work for The Engineer, money doesn't really become much of an issue," she explained
"How long have you known them for?" Cynthia added.
"Half a decade now, give or take," she replied.
"When do we get to meet him?" Lucia asked, with an upsurge of curiosity and investment, if there was anyone who could get her out of here, it'd surely be them. If everything around her was constructed by the Engineer, then surely, they'd know the ins and outs of the Otherworld, and even better, how to escape.
"After the tour!" Alora repeated, giggling at their enthusiasm, "I appreciate your eagerness, but this tour is a mandatory procedure for everyone new to the Otherworld,"
From the fountain outside the shopping mall, they began to promenade towards the taxi rank at the far end of the city centre.
"If you need the brooch to get into here, then how did we get sucked into this? We aren't the ones carrying the stupid medallion... This clown is!" Jake questioned, pointing at Lucia, who cuffed him on the neck.
"Simple, actually. You know the brooch? It has a certain... let's say 'blast radius'," Alora started, "Anyone within range of the brooch when it begins to transport you to the Otherworld will also be transported,"
"How do you know this?" Aiden asked.
"The Engineer told me this during one of his meetings, I was curious about it! Just like you are,"
"And how far out can this 'blast radius' get?" Cynthia continued, getting into one of the hovering taxis that were parked at the rank "Well, it depends on the environment, it commonly engulfs the majority of the room its host may be in, but I don't quite know what happens when you're outside, or out in the open when the brooch decides to act up, which is why it most likely hasn't happened before," Alora shrugged, entering the driver's seat of one of the taxis, the rank began to clear up and Alora started the car, driving towards an opening in the interchange, the interchange was shaped like a clover, a true architectural masterclass, the roads flowing like a river in a valley, meandering and flowing as if it were one of nature, all vehicles and cars moved in harmony, no traffic or congestion could be seen from miles out, the streetlamps glowed an emerald green, illuminating the thoroughfare. Alora was silent as she drove, house music was being played in the taxi and she was clearly enjoying it, she loved the 'Otherworld' so much. It was written on her face, from the second they'd got there, to now.
"Where to now?" Magnus asked, interrupting the fleeting peace of the group, Alora looked at the Satnav, tapping the screen impatiently.
"The Decagon," she answered finally, "It's the heart of the city and the most prominent accommodation facility in the city, it's quite like the Burj Khalifa of Qaietiox," Alora pointed to the left, "There it is, you can see the thing from everywhere in this city, you can even see it from our neighbouring city Galvitos,"
She was right, there was a skyscraper, a sleek Nero but covered in a spiral of purple light, climbing up the tower in its stunning luminosity. It appeared to touch the stars in the cloudless sky, piercing the atmosphere as if it were a home in a fairy-tale. Although it was hard to make out fully, Lucia could tell where the name 'Decagon' came from. Emanating from the top of the Decagon was a beacon that was rotating, a powerful light soaring through the air. Magnus could have sworn that the light must've went on forever.
Alora noticed them gawking at the tower and added.
"Though this may not be the Engineer's actual private estate, he's done quite a few conference meetings there, he did one now too long ago," she commented, "If we're lucky enough, we might be able to see him around these parts, the Decagon may not be his favourite building, but it's most certainly his best and most impressive one, he takes a lotta pride in the thing,"
Lucia felt more enlightened after Alora's succour, but wow... it was all a lot to take in, she'd been worrying about her parents the entire time since they'd first met Colton back at the plaza.
"You have any loved one's back at home?" Alora had read her overwrought mind, they nodded silently, "Well, if it's of any reassurance to you, I doubt they'll be worrying about you anytime soon-"
"What are you on about?" Jake bemoaned, glowering, "Why can't you just make sense just for once, I never understand what you're saying because you always come up with these curveballs the second, I start to understand-"
"Okay! Okay, let me explain," Alora sighed, with mollifying hands, "As I said... You used to live in the Overworld, that in itself is one reality, as soon as you shift to the Otherworld, a new and alternate reality... You technically stop existing in the reality prior, meaning that you never existed or will exist. Sure, there'll still be some documents and traces of your existence here and there, but it'll mean nada because you don't exist anymore, similarly if you were to go and shift from the Otherworld to the Overworld, you'd be erased from existence in the Overworld,"
"Oh wow," Cynthia couldn't find the words to articulate her emotions to Alora.
"So, in short, Pops doesn't think he has any kids," Aiden said, turning to Jake.
"Until we get outta here," Cynthia reminded, Alora sighed once again, "If the Engineer can't get out of here, then what makes you so sure you can?"
Lucia was confused, and a feeling of puzzlement could see seen visibly on her face, if what Alora was saying was true, then why was Kieran was any different? Everyone from the Overworld remembered Kieran and his attributes, but what made him stand out from the others who had suffered the same fate and were forgotten as a result?
"This 'Engineer' guy isn't some deity you know?" Magnus chuckled, Alora's idolization was quite amusing to him.
"He may not be a deity, but he's the closest thing you'd get to one,"
"You'd think an "all-powerful being" like this dude would be able to find a single man..." Lucia muttered, still annoyed about the lack of answers.
"Hey, you asked ME where your brother was, not him," Alora giggled, still relaxed; she was confident in the capabilities of her preceptor, she'd known the man her entire life after all, "You'll get the chance to talk to him! Just wait till we get to the Decagon; I'll ring him up as soon as we get there,"
"Fine," they all groaned collectively.
"I'll let you in on a little secret actually," Alora continued, much to the sudden attention of the group, "The Engineer was actually expecting you, he knew about your arrival way before you ended up here,"
Lucia looked unsurprised, seeing how much he already knew as it was.
"How far away exactly is the Decagon?" Cynthia asked.
"It's about ehhhh..." Alora started tapping on her Satnav once again, as she considered the distance, "76 Ultons,"
"Miles?" Cynthia asked,
"About, 12 miles, Ultons are a more exact metric that The Engineer introduced a while ago," she continued, turning into another junction, the taxi was hovering, so bumps and any other inconsistencies – Though Lucia doubted they even existed - couldn't be heard from the road. The ride was unusually smooth, orthodox for Alora, not for the rest, however.
...
The car came to a halt near a similar taxi rank. Madeleine stepped out of the car first, looking around for the Decagon, finally catching sight of it in the distance, it looked far though... Very far, it was almost as if they hadn't moved a bit from the interchange. Alora stepped out of the car next, unsurprised with the visage the tower held, it was if it was normal for the tower to be this size. "Visual Inertia," she chimed, "A reality bending attribute that the Engineer assigned to this building, the concept was prototyped onto the Decagon to ensure that it was fit for future builds,"
"What's the point of it?" Madeleine asked, gawking at the supposedly distant skyscraper.
"Countermeasures, The Engineer, has enemies like everyone, rogues and rebels who hate the world he's made, and would do anything to harm him or his protégées," She lamented, "It happened to me once," Alora rolled up her sleeve to reveal a huge gaping scar that ran through her arm, the group grimaced at the sight of it.
"Yikes, how did that happen?" Magnus asked, probing his own arm subconsciously.
"One of the rebels broke into the Decagon searching for something - I'm not quite sure what - and they caused havoc... In a rather foolish attempt to de-escalate the situation, I came across one of the rebels. He had a weapon of the sorts, and slashed at me, naturally I blocked the attack with my arm, but the blade sliced right through it."
The collective 'Oof...' that was uttered from the group was enough to tell Alora how they'd felt about that story.
"Callous scum..." She muttered under icy breath, rolling down her sleeve once again, straightening up, she continued down the pathway that led to the Decagon. The rest followed.
"Where was I... Ah right, Visual Inertia, let me explain it to ya," Alora continued,
"If an enemy of the sorts were to go to war with the Engineer, they'd most likely attack the Decagon or the C.O.C, they're some of the cities' hotspots for resources, however, the latter has been well concealed and only a few know the whereabouts of the area."
"What's the C.O.C?" Lucia asked, still wincing from the sight of the scar.
"Citadel of Cognition, a high security base, one where The Engineer produces his blueprints, and experiments, it's also his abode, that's why it's such a confidential location." Alora explained.
"Visual Inertia is a demotivator for adversaries, why would you attempt to pursue a place that can't be reached, no matter how long you walk, or how far you travel?"
Madeleine was processing the scar still, disregarding the logistics of the Decagon completely. Was Kieran a rebellious person? Would he be a part of the rogues who seemed to take pleasure in destroying the city? It would explain why Alora knew about the man but couldn't place a finger on it. It looked like she knew most people.
"Err, so how exactly would you go about entering the Decagon?" Magnus asked, waving his arm around as if he'd been the one who got his arm sliced, Cynthia held out her arm to stop his flailing, sighing at his sensitivity.
"You need to have access to people who work inside of the building, I don't necessarily know how it works, but the secretary who operates at the ground level will terminate the inertia sequence once I call em,"
Alora picked up her phone and started to dial a number, a comically long one at that, Jake found himself stifling his laughter as they all stood in silence, waiting for the tour guide to stop tapping numbers.
"Hello? Ah- Hi Dan, we have uh- one, two, three, four... Six kids who just came from the Dreamspace, I'm taking them to the Decagon right now, we'll need some accommodations for them in the meantime, they have a meeting with The Engineer in a couple of hours..." Alora rambled, talking to the person on the other side of the line.
"Err, mkay, that won't be an issue... Are you at the entry point currently?" The voice from the phone replied, the signal distorting the voice slightly, making it difficult for them to pick up every word.
"Not yet, I just wanted to make sure that you'll have the gateway open in advance,"
"Err, I don't know if you're allowed to do that, the protocol has been made a bit stricter since you were last in moderation, it's to prevent insurgents from tapping into our comms, their infiltration means are chronic- to say the least, but you shouldn't overlook their persistence"
"Has the specification been updated? I didn't know," Alora had a face of penitence now, Jake could hear the agitated groan of the man who spoke on the other side of the line.
"Mkay, just get to the entry point before you encounter anyone we don't want in the facility, we don't need a repeat of the Incident,"
Alora scratched her arm in response to that, which was an instinct that Aiden had clocked during her conversation.
"Okay, we'll be there in a minute,"
"Gotchya."
She hung up the phone and cleared her throat.
"Follow me, we should get going before there's any complications," she started, as she continued down the pathway, instantaneously, she could notice the proportions of the Decagon enlarge exponentially as they approached it, getting bigger and bigger until it was towering over them in intimidating glory
"After you," Alora said silently, as the group entered through the doors to the skyscraper.