6350/The City and the Undercity

The City and the Undercity
Date of Scene:	05 February 2019
Location:	Planet M-15: Undercity
Synopsis:	A young boy makes a radio call for help. Solty Revant and Silica respond.
Cast of Characters:	Solty Revant, Silica

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Solty Revant has posed:
     On one of the communications channels, a staticky signal comes in. "...um...h-hello? Is this working? My name is Jerry and...um...well some of us heard that people had been visiting from somewhere else. We're really hungry, and my sister is sick. Is anyone out there?" It sounds like a young boy, probably around 12, and he sounds like he thinks he might get in trouble if anyone catches him.

     The signal, weak though it is, is easily tracked to the world known only as The Planet and The City that is the only settlement on the entire world. Solty heard the call as well, and is waiting for a friend who she hasn't seen since their dinner together. She is anxious, bouncing lightly on her feet as she waits just outside the RUC Containment Area.

Silica has posed:
    Keiko Ayano comes walking up, after exiting the local Warp Gate. She's chosen to not use her Avatar just yet, since this seems more of a humanitarian mission than anything. She's got a satchel over one shoulder, and a small dragonling perched on the other, like some strange kind of bird. She doesn't need to be transformed for her pets to be out, apparently!

    On spotting Solty, she lifts her free arm and gives a wave, "Ooooooi! Solty-sa~n!" she chirps, picking up the pace and moving in to give the android a hug.

Solty Revant has posed:
     Solty gives Keiko a big hug and a happy smile before reaching up to give the little dragon a pat on the head. "Hello Silica! Er..wait, should I use Keiko instead right now?" Her eyes look upward as she considers, but shrugs lightly after a moment. "That's not important! Roy said that signal probably came from underground, but he wasn't willing to go check it out. He said something about the unregistered citizens living down there? I told him that it didn't matter though. We should still help if we can."

     She takes Keiko's hand and starts running. "Come on! We should hurry! His sister could be really sick!" She leads Silica to a back alley, and what looks like a sewer cover. "Roy said it's down there." She lifts the cover easily and sets it aside, then peers hesitantly down into the darkness. It certainly doesn't smell fresh, but at least it doesn't actually seem to be a sewer.

Silica has posed:
    "Either's fine, but I kinda prefer having a 'Hero Name' and my normal name, even if I don't exactly have a secret identity." replies Keiko, then nods as she's pulled along. "I brought my first aid kit and some extra food. Can't leave children to starve and die, it's just not right." she says, afixing her Augma over her eye as she follows after Solty.

Solty Revant has posed:
     Solty lets out an 'oooooh' of understanding and appreciation as Silica explains about her hero name. Solty nods quickly and smiles. "Right. So, Keiko..." She looks into the hole again, then swallows nervously. "Um...I guess I'll go first, just in case there is danger." she says, then just hops down. There's really no telling how far down the floor is, and there is a ladder, so Solty must not be too concerned about taking fall damage.

     The access tunnel turns out to be about 20 feet deep before finally hitting the floor and leading off down another tunnel. Despite it being both underground and beneath a veritable metropolis, the tunnels seem...space age. Like something you might see in the bowels of a starship. The tunnels are dirty and grimey, but don't seem to actually be rusty. And rather than the dull brown one usually sees in this kind of big underground tunnel, it is still a polished metallic silvery-blue.

     Solty's ears are twitching before they even start moving down the tunnels. "I...I hear people. Lots of people!" They have to walk a good distance through this tunnel, but eventually there are voices to be heard. Just people talking in normal tones about normal things like the weather above ground, how their family members are doing, and other typical conversational topics.

     Finally, after about 200 feet, the tunnel opens up into a MASSIVE underground cavern that is clearly completely artificial. Buildings have been built into the walls of the rock using concrete and precision drilling. The cavern looks big enough to contain a passenger cruise ship if it were standing on its end, and there are walkways visible all the way down in floors, with other walkways crisscrossing the open area in the middle.

Silica has posed:
    Keiko follows Solty at a much more sane pace, by climbing down the ladder. Pina flutters off of her shoulder and follows the android girl down and perches between those ears, chirruping softly.

    Once Keiko has alighted at the bottom of the shaft, she adjusts her satchel and starts walking after Solty, her brown eyes marvelling at the construction. "Mister Kirito would probably have a field day in here, this looks like some really advanced construction."

    And then the giant underground cavern opens up and she boggles at the buildings and walkways. "This is... enormous... all this is below the city?"

Solty Revant has posed:
     Solty blinks as she feels the little dragon perch on her head, then she lets out a little giggle of cuteness and excitement before waiting for Silica to get there. She seems just as amazed as Keiko when they reach the enormous cavern. "It...it seems so." she says, mouth hanging open a bit as she looks around.

     Almost as soon as they arrive the people start giving them suspicious looks and give them a wide berth. There is even some disgruntled grumbling from some of the more downtrodden-looking people. Finally they are approached by a pretty big guy who looks none-to-happy to see them. "What are you /topsiders/ doing down here?" he asks, then blinks. "...and what the hell is that?" he adds, pointing to the little dragonling. Two more tough guys join him a moment later, and while they don't look violent just yet, they clearly don't care for the visitors. "If you two are down here to cause trouble, you can just head back to the surface right now."

Silica has posed:
    "Oh, please, excuse our intrusion. We don't mean to cause harm." says Keiko as the big men come up to the pair. "My name is Keiko Ayano, this is my friend Solty Revant and the little dragon is my pet, Pina." she explains, bowing formally. "There was a radio transmission from a young sounding boy, his sister is sick? We came down to offer help."

    As she says this, she very slowly and carefully picks up the satchel, holding it so it can be seen into easily and opens it without hiding where her hands are. Inside are some generic first-aid supplies. Bandages, antiseptic cream, cleaning spray and painkiller tablets. There's also some wrapped up food parcels in the other pocket, about enough for ten people to get at least a meager meal, or half that to get something at least decent.

Solty Revant has posed:
     Solty actually takes a few steps back when the three big men approach. "Um..." Keiko explains, and Solty nods in agreement. "We just want to help!"

     The three men peer into the bag, then the leader hmphs. "We don't need help from topsiders. If someone down here is sick, we make sure they get what they need to get better. Especially kids." he says. It is obviously a matter of pride for them. "So, just take all that stuff and head back to the surface. Whatever these kids need, we'll make sure they get it. The City doesn't want to help us, and we're fine with-"

     "Excuse me." The man's speech is interrupted by another tall man, only slightly less broad but with a definite strength about him, like a swimmer compared to a body builder. His clothing makes him look like the dashing rogue type. A black overcoat, black boots that come up almost to his knees, puffy white breeches, and a tight-fitting grey-blue shirt. This appearance is helped even more by his intense green eyes and his pale red hair, which is expertly groomed and cut short except for the long bangs that frame his handsome face.

     The lead man looks over at him before raising an eyebrow. "What, Larry?" he asks, and the red-haired man smirks. "You aren't going to turn down aid from two lovely ladies just because they are topsiders, are you? That would be incredibly rude, especially since Miss Keiko here obviously comes from this Multiverse we've heard about and may have travelled vast distances to come here."

     The three men grumble before backing off. "If you want to take responsibility for anything they do while they're here, fine. Just make sure they don't cause any trouble."

     Larry just gives a slight roguish smirk, almost like he practices such expressions. "Don't worry." he says, then looks to Keiko and gives a small wink. "I'll take good care of them." The three men walk off, and Larry holds out a hand. "Larry Anderson, of the Anderson Brothers. Pleased to meet you."

Silica has posed:
    Keiko bows once again to Larry, then takes the hand to perform a handshake. She's met men like this before, so if he attempts to kiss her hand she politely retrieves it. "Thank you, Mister Anderson... do you know where the children are? The boy sounded very anxious and I would like to find them quickly. My medical knowledge is mostly to do with animals, but there is some cross compatability with my skills." She blushes a bit. "Also... what is this place?"

    As she speaks, Pina flutters up from Solty's head to land on Keiko's shoulder again, giving Larry a bit of a stink-eye.

Solty Revant has posed:
     Solty seems relieved when the three men leave, but also regards Larry with some suspicion. She lets out a very quiet 'aw' as Pina returns to Keiko, but most of her attention is on Larry.

     Larry does indeed try to kiss Keiko's hand in classic style, but she pulls it back before he can actually plant the kiss. He simply ignores the refusal and nods. "Of course. My brother and I make it our mission to know who needs what down here in the Undercity. I believe the child you are looking for is named Jerry? He lives a few levels down. He and his sister have no parents, so Andy and I try to keep tabs on them. This way."

     It is once again quite a walk, but in a few minutes they reach Jerry's house. It is dug out of the rock itself, basically a door and a single window leading to a pretty small abode, no bigger than most living rooms. Jerry opens the door a few moments later and blinks. "Oh, hi Larry? What's up? And who are these two?" It seems the two kids actually live by themselves down here.

     Larry introduces Solty and Keiko, and Jerry's eyes get as big as saucers. "Oh wow! It really worked! People from outside really came! I didn't think they would!"

     Solty blinks. "Oh..um, I'm not actually from outside the City."

     Jerry peers at her. "...then what's up with those ears."

     Solty blushes a bit and laughs self-consciously. "They...they're just my ears." The boy looks skeptical, but shrugs and smiles. "Well, come on in! Kari's over here. Did you guys bring medicine and food?"

Silica has posed:
    "Hello Jerry." says Keiko, crouching down to talk to the boy with a soft smile. "I have some basic medicine, but I'm not really a doctor. Do you know what's wrong with Kari?" she asks, then stands to follow the boy inside. "I did bring some extra food with me, and I can try to arrange more if you want it."

    Once led to Kari, Keiko settles onto her knees beside the girl, and unpacks things from her satchel, then goes about doing some diagnostics. Back of fingers against forehead to check for a raised temperature, feeling her pulse, and speaking to the girl if she's conscious, asking how she feels and if anywhere hurts, as well as if she has any injuries.

    Pina settles down next to the girl as well, curling up near her hand, in case she wants to try petting it.

Solty Revant has posed:
     Jerry is distracted by Pina as Keiko speaks to him and asks about Kari. "Woah! Where'd you get a pet lizard that will ride on your shoulder?" he asks before blinking. "Oh, well..."

     Kari is on a sleeping bag nearby. She looks to be about 6 years old, has red hair and blue eyes, and is curled up with a worn stuffed horse toy. She does seem to be having trouble breathing freely, and coughs pretty often. As Pina approaches she giggles a bit, but even that causes her to cough before she actually pets the little dragon. She looks a bit scared as Keiko approaches, but doesn't stop the diagnostics. Her eyes get pretty big when she sees the food that Keiko brought, though.

     When asked how she feels, Kari coughs a bit before managing to speak. "My throat hurts...and my chest too. And my head." She has a noticable temperature, but her pulse is kind of fast. Whatever it is, it doesn't seem too serious yet.

     "She's been coughing like that for at least a week now. Unfortunately, we can't take her to the hospital in the City. Unregistered citizens aren't allowed above ground, and don't have access to city services." Larry says as he watches.

Silica has posed:
    "Pulse is fast...not too fast but we really need to get a professional to look her over. I can treat the symptoms, but the root cause, I can't identify." She smiles softly at Kira, pushing a bit of that red hair out of the girl's face, then unpacks one of the food parcels. It's simple fair, some bread, a bit of cheese, some meat, and a little box of fruit juice. "If we could get her to a Multiversal Hospital, they don't have such restrictions... but why would the government put such restrictions on health care, especially for children like this?"

    She sounds a little bitter, which causes Pina to lift its head and chirrup softly. "It's fine, Pina..." a sigh, and Keiko looks at Jerry. "Pina's one of my oldest friends. I met her in another world, one I didn't really belong in. She helped protect me, and together we survived." then something seems to click... "Pina, Heal!"

    The Dragon then perks, and turns to look at Kira, before opening its mouth wide. Green light seems to bubble up in the back of its throat, before a soft green mist sprays out over the girl, seeping into her skin on contact.

    The effect, though minimal, is instantaneous, the pain subsides a little, and the tightness in the chest from coughing eases just a bit. "It won't last long.. but we can probably move her and I can make sure she gets treatment offworld."

Solty Revant has posed:
     Jerry takes a turn petting Pina as Silica talks, but seems more worried than before as she explains. He looks to Larry, who seems unsure. "People around here are kind of...xenophobic, I guess you could say. Anyone not from the Undercity is regarded as a possible danger, and they don't like people who have more than them or act superior. Like that guy said, we take care of our own and take pride in our ability to do so."

     Kari takes the food and drink as soon as it is open, and starts to scarf it down but has to slow down with a wince when she swallows. Even that though is solved in a moment, and all three of the Undercity citizens stare wide-eyed at what Pina did. Kari's eyes widen even more when her throat doesn't hurt as bad and she can breathe more easily, and Solty's eyes are practically sparkling. "Ooooh. Magic! That's so neat! I've been trying to learn, but so far it hasn't been going well."

     Larry's expression makes it clear that he's never even heard of actual magic before, much less seen it. "Wow...if we could learn things like that we really would be self-sufficient down here." he says as he watches Kari eat and breathe happily. He thinks for a moment. "Look, there'd be trouble if you tried to take her out of here, but if you can arrange for someone who can cure her to come down here we can swing that."

     Jerry joins Kari in eating, and both children look pretty happy now. Though Kari does still cough every now and then.

Silica has posed:
    "I'll have to pull in some favours I'm owed... unfortunately, the magic I know, and the abilities Pina has, are only stop-gaps at best. They suppress the symptoms and ease the pain, but don't actually cure the cause." Keiko sits back on her haunches in a traditional japanese style, hands folding in her lap as she watches the children eat. "I'll have to get back to you on that, but I'll see if anyone could come help out through my contacts in the Syndicate..." she looks up at Larry, and smiles sheepishly. "I can't really teach my magic to others not from my world... it's, complicated, but the short answer to 'why not', is that it's tied to this device." she gestures to her Augma. "Noone else can use this one but me... and getting one requires a very special kind of person on my world."

    Pina settles down beside Kari, resting its head on the girl's lap and emitting soft trills of contentment. Pina does love children, after all.

Solty Revant has posed:
     Larry offers an actual genuine smile and nods to Keiko. "Thanks. I'm sure we could have taken care of her, but she'll get better much faster this way." he says as he too watches the kids from his spot leaning against the doorframe. "As for your question...well, it's like this. The RUC controls everything in the City, and supposedly there aren't enough resources to care for registered and unregistered citizens. But, registration itself is a broken system. If a kid is found and no one can find his or her parents or otherwise identify them, they get thrown down here. Kids born to unregistered parents are automatically unregistered citizens, and there isn't any sort of petition or class to get registered. The only way an unregistered can become a registered is if they are adopted by a registered citizen when they are a kid, and even that is only possible if the kid is orphaned. RUC may call us unregistered, but they still keep track of the family lines for enforcement purposes. And if you're a registered citizen somehow but it's discovered that your parents were unregistered, then they revoke your citizenship and you end up down here."

     Larry frowns. "The RUC and a lot of the topsiders treat us like we are lesser people just because we got stuck down here. One day we're gonna fix that, though. Especially with this Multiverse place out there now. I think the hard part will be convincing the people down here to actually accept aid. As you've seen, we're pretty proud of the lives we've managed to build down here despite all the handicaps handed down by the RUC."

     Kari and Jerry take turns petting Pina as they eat, and of course can't resist stretching and folding Pina's wings every now and then. "So, does that mean we could get a little dragon?" Jerry asks with his mouth mostly full.

Silica has posed:
    "There's places in the Multiverse where you can adopt dragon whelps." replies Keiko to Jerry. Pina, meanwhile, tolerates the manhandling rather well, seeming pleased that it's brightening the children's day, even a little. "Do you have a council or some kind of leader?" she asks Larry, next, standing and dusting herself off out of habit. "I'd like to speak to them if they will hear me."

    Keiko's face has taken on a much more serious cast now, a steely glint entering her eyes as she looks at the man. "Even the strongest warrior cannot win a war alone, nor can a city stand without aid... it is not a weakness to ask for, or accept help from others, the opposite, in fact." she places a hand on her chest. "I know this from my own experience.. I nearly lost Pina, because I was bullheaded and refused to accept help from anyone... Mister Kirito taught me a valuable lesson when he helped me get the item I needed to bring her back."

Solty Revant has posed:
     Larry chuckles at the question about a leader. "We don't have our own government or anything if that's what you mean, but there's a few people like myself that the entire community respects and listens to if they say something. His smirk fades to a more neutral expression as he sees that steely glint in Keiko's eyes. It returns a moment later, but with more of a respectful look to it. "Maybe, but when you're used to no one helping you then it becomes seen as a weakness to take help from outside."

     Keiko's story makes everyone look over at her. Larry is the first to speak up. "There's more to you than it seems." he says. Jerry and Kari are quietly discussing if they could somehow adopt a dragon. Solty has just been quietly watching all of this, but is obviously sympathizing with the Undercity people if her expression is any indication. "Who's Kirito? And what happened to Pina?" she asks after a few moments.

Silica has posed:
    "It was years ago, Solty... I was about Jerry's age..." begins Keiko. "I won't go into the details, but, I left the group I was traveling with in a dangerous area because I was too proud to admit I needed them... I went into the forest, and was ambushed by a group of monsters. They nearly killed me, but Pina intercepted the killing blow, holding them off long enough for Mister Kirito to kill them... she died in the process though."

    Keiko's eyes look over at Pina, who chirps softly. "Mister Kirito is the leader of our Guild... the Gatecrasher's Union. We specialized in saving people from terrible situations. I'll ask him if we can do anything to help down here, even if it's not really appreciated." she chuckles softly. "Mister Kirito was always a loner, it's why this situation reminds me of him."

Solty Revant has posed:
     Solty gasps. "You were fighting monsters when you were that young?" she asks, a bit horrified. "I'm glad we don't have monsters here." she adds after a moment. Larry too seems surprised. "Much more to you than it seems." he says with a bit of a chuckle. "I wouldn't say we're in that bad of a situation down here. True we don't have the best healthcare, but we manage to keep everyone from going hungry and there's no epidemics or anything. It's as much the principle as the hardship, if that makes sense. There shouldn't be a lower class of citizens. Everyone should be equal. But if you and this Kirito want to try, I won't stop you.

     The children's day seems considerably brighter thanks to Keiko's and Pina's visit. They've finished off the meal and are concentrating on Pina now. Kari has picked Pina up and is gently moving her up and down to a song she is obviously making up about cute dragons named Pina and healing breath. Jerry is pouting a bit though as Kari monopolizes Pina.

Silica has posed:
    "I can't make any promises, of course, but I'll ask him if there's anything we can do." replies Keiko, then looks over to Solty. "I'll explain when there aren't children present... I wouldn't want to upset them." She adds, smiling over at Jerry and Kira. Pina is a very tolerant little dragon, especially since Kira seems much happier now.

    She does see Jerry pouting, and taps her Augma, making the eyepiece begin to glow faintly with blue light. She then makes some gestures in the air, 'tapping' something then flicking her hand downwards, as if pulling something open. Tap, tap. Tap-sliiide. Taptap. It all looks very strange, until another creature materializes. It's a sinuous snake-like creature with feathery wings fluttering to keep it aloft. It hisses at Keiko, nuzzling her cheek before the Beast Mistress gestures toward Jerry. Nana, the Flying Serpent, slowly approaches the boy, being as non-threatening as possible.

Solty Revant has posed:
     Solty looks over at the children, then nods lightly. "Okay. I understand." she says.

     Jerry blinks as a flying snake floats over to him. He seems uncertain at first. Snakes are a little more scary than tiny dragons. Still, it has wings, and was summoned by Keiko, so he hesitantly reaches out to try petting it. Kari, being a small child, sees the new creature and it draws her attention from Pina. She still hugs the little dragon like some kind of plushie, but is watching Jerry and Nana now.

     Larry nods to Keiko and waves a hand dismissively. "Like I said, no one down here will really care if we don't get help. We want to change this city ourselves." He finally stands up from leaning against the wall. "Well, if you've done all you can you should get going. The longer you're here the more chance that someone might try something. There's no police down here, just us. So I'd rather we avoid trouble if we can."

Silica has posed:
    Keiko gestures to the satchel. "Keep that.. the medicine will help with the pain and coughing, at least for a while. There's also bandages and other supplies if you get hurt. The food is yours too." she smiles to the children, as Nana lightly coils around Jerry's forearm after being petted. It hisses softly and just seems to be a docile cuddle-noodle, with wings.

    Pina, if its expression ever changed, would look rather nonplussed at being cuddled like a plushie, but lifts her head and boops her snoot against Kira's chin.

    "We should get going, but I kind of need my pets back." she says, looking apologetic at the kids while the two pets start trying to return to their mistress. Nana gives Jerry a nuzzle on the cheek, and Pina attempts to ease herself out of Kira's grasp, turning and giving her another puff of Healing Mist once freed.

Solty Revant has posed:
     Both kids let out a syncronized 'awww!' as Keiko says she needs her pets back, but both let them go without much fuss. "Bye Pina." Kari says sadly, waving to the little dragon. Jerry waves too, then stands up and moves to give Keiko a hug. Kari follows soon after, feeling well enough to move around after two healing spells. "Will you come back and visit again, Miss Keiko?" Kari asks, looking up at her with big blue eyes. "I hope so. You're like a big sister now!" she says with a giggle.

     Solty smiles as she watches, and Larry places a hand on Keiko's shoulder. "Come on. Let her go now, kids. I'm sure she'll come back if she can. But she has to leave now." he says, a gentle smile on his face.

Silica has posed:
    Keiko hugs the kids back, dropping to her knees to get closer to them. "I'll try to come back." she says, squeezing both fondly, before easing away and standing up. She looks to Solty and Larry, then nods. "Wouldn't want to cause any trouble." she says, then with a soft click of her tongue, calls her pets back to her. Pina lands on her shoulder, while Nana coils around the opposite upper arm, almost like they had their own designated roosting positions or something!

Solty Revant has posed:
     Both kids wave as Keiko, Solty, and Larry head back toward the entrance tunnel, giggling a bit at how the two pets take up what are obviously special spots for them.

     Larry bids them goodbye as Keiko and Solty start back down the tunnel, then chuckles. "Andy is never going to believe this." he says as they walk away.

     "Thanks for coming, Keiko." Solty says with a happy smile as they walk down the tunnel once more. "It was nice to see you again. I'm sure Roy would let you stay the night if you wanted."

Silica has posed:
    Keiko pets Pina gently on the head, then looks at Solty. "I should head back to Haven... I need to talk to Tomoe and the others and get some feelers out in the Network. The sooner we can start getting people involved in this, the better. Especially for those kids." she says, moving to give Solty a one-arm hug as they walk down the tunnel.

Solty Revant has posed:
     Solty smiles happily at the hug and hugs back with both arms even as they walk. "You're right." She sighs softly. "I had heard about unregistered citizens, but...I didn't know they had to live underground and without any support from the RUC. I hope we can help them, and maybe even let them live up here one day."