Planatae

Interlude: FERRUS (ONE MONTH AGO)

Immediately, she stopped and looked down at herself, but there was no visible sign of tampering.

A Factor-born, then, she concluded, and turned her gaze upon the street around her. Her medals were of sentimental value more than anything else - they weren't worth more than the bronze and steel they were casted from. And yet... if that had been an attempted theft, why the light touch? They could have simply ripped them straight off and disappeared into the crowd.

The dull, faded colors of Ferran workers streamed around her, and Erin eyed each passing figure to no avail. None of them seemed particularly interested in her, beyond the fact that she was now an obstacle for other passersby.

She was about to drop the whole thing and just continue on when the tugging returned. This time, Erin paid close attention to the direction of the force, and she whirled towards the line of buildings on her side of the street.

There, standing beside a break in the structures stood a man. Short, nondescript, with the quintessential black-and-gray outfit of the Ferren, he seemed utterly mundane. Except for the fact that he stared directly at Erin, who was disarmed by the intensity of the look. It was as though every drop of passion or emotion had been drained from the man's larger being and distilled into his gaze.

Erin shivered, and felt her muscles tense, but she didn't look away. For a long moment the two of them stood there, connected, before the man pulled back and slipped into the alleyway beside him.

There was nothing that suggested Erin should follow. Orlsow was the seat of the Ferrum Rete, a model city for the rest of the coalition. Still, that didn't mean that the city was fully declawed. Like two sides of a moon, there was always a dark side to things, biding its time to appear.

Even as Erin considered the man's potential to be a murderer, or some kind of con artist, her legs had taken on a mind of their own. In a few moments, she had already crossed to the edge of the sidewalk that met the row of buildings.

Peering within, she could see that the corridor was not well-lit. The space appeared well-maintained, however; in fact, she could see that racks of wood and soil had been installed along the walls. The space had been converted into a small contained mushroom farm, probably one of the adjacent office buildings aiming for a tax break.

But the ally ran deep, and the man had since melted into the darkness that the allway's dim, UV-lighting couldn't penetrate.

Still, Erin wasn't particularly worried. This was the heart of Orslow's government and financial district. It was as safe as you could possibly get in the entire city. The correct choice, regardless, would be to turn around and continue on her way.

And yet all of this rational thought couldn't stand up to the curiosity that had bubbled up inside her. This strange man's actions had been an anomaly in her morning - a series of behaviors that had no apparent purpose. Deviations from the norm are what drove her work with the Planatae, with deciphering the Factors. That same drive was pulling on her now, demanding her to find out the answers to the mystery before her, no matter how inconsequential they may be.

Having come to her decision, Erin activated her feed, directing her contacts to begin recording everything in her field of vision. She wasn't equipped with the right equipment for audio, but the visuals would be enough.

She stepped forward, feeling the shift of temperature against her skin as the sunlight dropped away behind her.

It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the shift in light; far above her, a thin band of brightness marked the sky. To the sides were draped rows upon rows of small, delicate-looking mushrooms.