after you were unknowingly given to kafka by elio, you've gotten to know more about this strange girl that likes playing video games who's also a part of the stellaron hunters. however, the good times would not last for long.
You were running again, but this time, it was for your life. When you were making your way back to the city, you were spotted again by Rewind's crew, and they've been chasing you ever since. You thought you had been stealthy about it too. Didn't your time with the Stellaron Hunters taught you anything?
Anyway, you were almost out of breath, and could really use some rest. However, you can't afford to be captured by those guys again. You don't have time for such trivial matters. You kept running, taking every single turn you could find. Eventually, you found what seems to be like a door to the basement of a building next to what seems to be a fast food restaurant, and it seemed to be opened. You decided to take your chances and went inside, closing the door behind you as you do. You placed your back against the wall, and only relaxing your entire body once you heard the sound of a horde of men running past.
Then, you tried checking the tracking device again. You pulled it out of your pocket, and it looks like it was busted during the commotion with Rewind's crew. Great, now you have no idea where to find Silver Wolf. At least you know it's busted instead of being in the hands of Rewind and his gang, that could've been much worse. Then, you heard a voice coming from the inside of the basement.
"Who is it? What do you want?" the voice said.
You went back on alert mode, and decided you had to check it out. You slowly walked down the stairs to the basement, only to be greeted with darkness. Then, the lights suddenly flicked open, and you were blinded by the lights for a few seconds. After your vision adjusted to the lights, you did a full scan of the room.
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There were multiple arcade machines placed along the sides and sometimes in the middle of the basement. Multiple wooden stools were placed on one corner of the basement, with some of them missing a leg or two. All of the arcade machines were still intact, or at least it didn't seem like they were damaged on the outside. Dust was on every single surface of the basement, from the arcade machines, to the floor, to the stools, and even hanging on the ceiling. Some ceiling panels had even detached from the ceiling and fell down to the ground, thankfully not on the arcade machines. Some of the arcade machines also activated, seems like their ancient wiring still works to this day. On the far end of the basement, you could see a counter with a door behind the counter, and out the door came an old lady, possibly around her late 50's.
"This arcade's closed, has been for a long time. Go waste your credits somewhere else, boy."
"S-Sorry, madam. I was just hiding from-"
The lady walks out of the counter and slowly made her way towards you, seemingly trying to shoo you away from her property.
"Aah, shush, I've heard this before many times already, everybody's always running away from someone in this city-"
As she got closer to you, she noticed your attire and appearance, scanned you up and down, stayed silent for a bit, and made a conclusion.
"You... you're not from around here are you?"
You stood still, waiting for her to speak again. The lady slowly walks back to the counter.
"Fancy seeing an outworlder wandering around these parts."
"I... I'm looking for a friend. She's somewhere in this city."
"Well, your friend would most likely be in the more busier areas of this city, not somewhere urban or abandoned like this place."
You made a quick glance over some of the arcade machines. One of the arcade machines was showing the high scores, and the one with the highest score had keyed in their name as "SILVWO". There also seems to have traces of someone cleaning the dust off the screen, and the buttons and joystick of the arcade machine had specific spots that were dust-free.
"SilvWo... Silver Wolf? ...Could it be...?" You thought to yourself.
"Madam, wait! Do you perhaps... know Silver Wolf?"
The lady stopped in her tracks, but stayed silent.
"Actually, I'm... she's the one I'm looking for."
"Don't know her." She quickened her pace. "And never return here ever again!"
"Wait Madam, I'm not here to capture her! I'm her friend!"
Then, the lady stopped just before she could exit back the door behind the counter.
"Please... She's been gone for days, and I have to find her before something bad happens to her."
The lady ponders for a little while, and closes the exit door.
