Chapter 5 - The Cloud Dragon Sets Forth 2

[DATA RECALL: Sanctum Pamphlet]

[DATA RESEARCH. . . NOW<<<]

//*

Welcome to Sanctum!

Humanity's last light, a city of order and safety!

A cradle for your tomorrow!

▶Worried about ion storms? Don't be! Sanctum is safe! Our state-of-the-art plasma barrier, the Veil, provides complete protection for the city twenty-four hours a day!

▶[ZOT], the AI system overseeing the entire city, guarantees your safety in everyday life! Fear crime no more!

(*All citizens are deemed to have consented to the collection and use of personal information for the efficient operation of [ZOT].)

▶Make your dream of owning a home come true! Housing and a full range of amenities tailored to every citizen rank! Your contributions will never let you down!

(*Citizen rank is adjusted monthly according to the 'individual contribution assessment,' and access to services may be restricted.)

▶Now recruiting Pathfinders year-round! Unearth forgotten legacies and claim your rightful rewards! You are Sanctum's heroes!

(*Explorers bear sole responsibility for all accidents occurring during exploration. Under no circumstances shall the Sanctum Administration assume legal liability.)

▶The Sanctum Administration is your friend!

*//

"Mister!"

Akina's voice reached him, bringing Ash's mind back to reality.

Sanctum. The Gateway District.

That was where they were.

"What are you standing there spacing out for?"

Akina tugged on his steel hand.

"I was merely taking a moment to look. It is such an unfamiliar sight."

"Hehe! Pretty flashy, right?"

Ash could not tear his gaze from the panorama of Sanctum spread before him.

"... Indeed it is."

The city before him was unlike any place he had ever lived.

It was a city that gave off its own light.

Buildings dozens of stories tall pierced the sky in bizarre shapes, their surfaces plastered with images and text that shone in a riot of colors, demanding his attention.

Nor did the dazzling display end with the scenery. The surging crowds were every bit as brilliant.

Everyone wore a piece or two of cyberware. Arms, legs, even eyes gleamed. People who had replaced parts of their bodies with shining metal or carbon hurried along the streets.

To Ash, it looked exactly like a procession of ghosts. A rather contemplative impression for a humanoid whose entire body was a machine.

Yet all that splendor was merely on the surface.

What truly held his attention was something else: the strange heat radiating from the countless people passing him even now.

The Sanctum described on the data cards was an arena of poverty and desperate struggle. It was a hellscape where people were hounded for credits at every turn, scraping together money earned by selling their lives to wrest something of equal value in return.

And yet, look at this.

Not one passerby had lifeless eyes. If anything, was there not a peculiar vitality here, unlike anything he had ever experienced?

It was by no means a vigor born of peace or comfort.

It was life springing from desperation, like a lamp burning up everything it had in one last flare before going out.

And so Sanctum brimmed with vitality.

It almost seemed as though everything in the streets was alive and moving.

"What a wondrous world this is."

It was a complicated sigh, too dry to be admiration and too warm to be cynicism.

"Mister!"

Akina urged him on.

At last, Ash set his motionless steel feet in motion and let the girl's hand lead him into the crowd.

Into that strange heat.

* * *

After a long walk down the Gateway District's main street, they finally reached their destination.

A purple neon sign flickered as though welcoming them.

[Santa's Rest Stop]

They pushed through the old iron door beneath the sign, and faint music reached their ears. It was rock music, utterly unfamiliar to Ash.

"Lady A."

"Yes?"

"Is this the place?"

"Yes, it is. Why?"

"Did you not say it was an inn?"

"What's an inn?"

"A drinking establishment."

"This is a bar, though."

"... It looks scarcely different from your workshop."

And indeed it did.

The scene bore no resemblance to what one would ordinarily picture upon hearing the words tavern or bar.

The interior was far larger than it looked from outside, but every inch of that spacious room was filled with junk.

All manner of cyberware lined one wall. Guns lined the other.

On top of that, vehicle parts and bare engines lay under grease-stained cloths.

Did that mean there was no alcohol?

There was some.

Behind the counter stood bottles of cheap liquor and beer, perhaps ten in all.

"..."

The proportions seemed profoundly wrong. But rather than voice that observation, Ash decided to watch for now.

Just then, voices reached them from behind the counter.

"Ah! Aaagh! Old man! That hurts! Are you even listening to me?"

"I don't listen to anyone weaker than me."

"What kind of bullshit... Aaagh!"

"Almost done. Bear with it."

"Then at least turn off the music! It's killing my ears!"

"What? Can't hear you."

"Aaagh!"

A baffling exchange.

They ventured farther inside and peered behind the counter. There they found a man lying on a crude medical bed and an old man installing cyberware in his arm.

"Grandpa Santa!"

At Akina's shout, the old man turned toward them. He looked at Ash standing beside her, then turned back to Akina.

After a brief silence, he slapped his forehead.

"Damn it. You actually went and did it. Me and my big mouth."

After grumbling to himself, he shouted.

"Stay right there! Don't go anywhere!"

The old man, Santa, dug into his 'customer's' forearm with renewed enthusiasm. The man's screams grew louder.

Rock music and screams.

The two blended together strangely well.

"Lady A," Ash called to Akina.

"Yes?"

"Is that elderly gentleman the man we seek?"

"That's right."

"... I understood he was an innkeeper. Why is he performing cyberware surgery?"

Akina thought for a moment before replying.

"Um... because he can?"

"Hm?"

"Grandpa Santa knows how to do lots of things. Says he picked up all sorts of skills back when he was a Pathfinder. So he sells weapons, fixes cars, does surgery, installs cyberware... Anyway, that's how it is."

Why was selling alcohol missing from that extensive list? It was a mystery.

While Ash and Akina held their brief conversation, Santa finished the procedure and came out to the counter.

"Damn it! See if I ever come back!"

He flipped off the customer grumbling his way out, then stuck a cigarette between his lips and lit it.

All the while, he stared at Ash.

"Hi, Grandpa! How are you?"

"Oh, you're doing fine? Can't say the same for myself."

Santa answered Akina without averting his gaze.

Ash, in turn, looked him over.

He was a truly flamboyant old man. A clean-shaven scalp, a neatly trimmed white beard, a skull-shaped earring in one ear, and black sunglasses.

And then there was the silk shirt embroidered with a riotous floral pattern. It was so garish that staring at it left one unsure where to look.

"..."

But his attire was not the only reason Ash was studying him.

The cybernetic body visible beneath that gaudy silk shirt was no crude, haphazard patchwork of modifications. A glance was enough to tell that it was finely honed cyberware of the highest quality.

Above all, there was the faint flow of electromagnetic fields emanating from the cyberware encasing his entire body.

That power of 'electricity,' which Ash had only recently begun to sense, told him that the old man before him was anything but ordinary.

A solid, dense presence utterly at odds with his frivolous appearance.

Ash's optical sensors glowed.

'He is no ordinary man.'

That was the conclusion he reached as he studied the man's appearance and gaze.

"... So this is your answer?" Santa asked.

Akina answered brightly.

"Yep! Say hello to each other. This is Grandpa Santa, and this is Mr. Ash."

Ash stepped forward a little and greeted him.

"I am called Ash."

Santa raised an eyebrow at the unexpectedly old-fashioned greeting.

"Santa Claude. Bartender."

After that brief introduction, the two men fell silent again. It was a peculiar battle of wills as each took the other's measure.

But there was one girl who could not have cared less about any of that.

"Okay, enough of that! Remember what you said last time, Grandpa? Now write me that recommendation."

Santa frowned. Only then did he break eye contact and look at Akina.

"So you're really determined to become a Pathfinder?"

"Of course!"

"... With this one scrap-metal humanoid as your teammate?"

"Mr. Ash isn't scrap metal! Do you have any idea how good he is at fighting?"

Akina reenacted the battle with the REST-men, using both hands to imitate Ash's movements from the night before.

"See? He went like this! And then, whoosh, whoosh-whoosh, and the guy split right in half! I mean, seriously, can you believe that? Cutting someone with a pipe? Awesome, right? Amazing, right? So hurry up and write my recommendation."

Watching the little girl's performance, Santa grimaced and slapped his forehead.

"Oh, for... Me and my big mouth. My big mouth. What possessed me to make a promise like that...?"

He went on complaining for quite some time.

The substance of his complaints was simple enough. Apparently, he had promised to write Akina a recommendation for a Pathfinder license if she found herself a 'capable teammate.'

He had assumed she would eventually give up, since no Pathfinder would agree to team up with a girl this young.

But who could have seen this coming?

She had 'built' a teammate herself and brought him along.

After muttering for a while, Santa suddenly looked up as something occurred to him. He had found a loophole in his own promise.

He addressed Ash.

"Right. Ash, was it?"

"Indeed, Elder San."

"Is what Akina says true?"

"What do you mean?"

"That you're a capable teammate."

The answer was simple.

All he had to do was establish that Ash was not capable.

"You've heard enough to get the picture. This kid wants to become a Pathfinder with you as her teammate. Honestly, I'm not keen on it at all. The Outer is one hell of a dangerous place."

Ash nodded.

"I agree. In truth, I have only just learned that becoming a Pathfinder was Lady A's goal."

"... Really? Well, that's good!"

Santa's face brightened.

This might be easier to resolve than he had expected. What could be better than this scrap-metal humanoid backing out of his own accord?

But Ash's next words were wholly outside his expectations.

"But that changes nothing."

His electronic voice was low and firm.

"I owe Lady A a debt of gratitude. Should not any human being know to repay the kindness shown to him? Her wish to become a Pathfinder is certainly unexpected, but I have a duty to repay her. I see no reason not to accompany her."

Santa gaped at the speech, then turned to Akina.

"... Why's your friend so good with words?"

"He does have that side to him."

Shaking his head, Santa addressed Ash again, his manner harder than before.

"Ash. Do you really have to do this?"

"I do."

"All right... Then there's no helping it."

Santa collected his thoughts.

This had never been his real angle to begin with.

"Akina."

"What!"

"You haven't forgotten the promise, have you? I said I'd write you a recommendation if you brought me a 'capable partner.'"