“What do you need to protect yourself from the toxins of the ruins?! The answer is obvious! One miraculous pill, AllClear, purifies every poison! Ichijo Pharmaceuticals is always by the side of ruin explorers!”
“There’s no safe place in the undercity! Gun barrels and blades are always aimed at your life! Worried about tomorrow, anxious for your family’s future? BioLife Insurance stands with you! Visit our consultation desk in the commercial district—”
Danang, leaning against the elevator wall, glanced at Eve as she stared intently at the monitor spewing false advertisements and scam pitches.
“Danang,” Eve said.
“What?”
“You should get life insurance. You’re a ruin explorer, after all.”
“…Pointless.”
“Oh? Care to explain?”
“Don’t take undercity video ads at face value. They’re all lies. Read the fine print—completely different terms and effects, right?”
Eve stared at the looping monitor, a smile creeping across her face. “You’re right. The visuals are cleverly doctored too,” she said, her shoulders shaking with amusement.
“But do people actually fall for these ads?”
“They do, or they wouldn’t run. Supply and demand aren’t always honest, but if one scam fails, another takes its place. Most undercity folk—barely twenty percent can read. That’s why these schemes work.”
“Really? But the Pleasure District’s full of glowing signs. If people can’t read, what’s the point?”
“Most use mechanical eye translators or corneal projection implants. The scam data, built from lists of the dead, is top-tier—good enough to fool even machines. Assume the worst trouble always traces back to them.”
“Hmm.”
The elevator doors slid open, revealing a room lined with monitors and displays. The two stepped inside, their gazes settling on Lilith, seated in a chair.
“Welcome back, Danang. How’d the job go?” Lilith asked.
“Got the data. But it was a rough one.”
“Rough? Does that have anything to do with her… Eve?”
“Yeah.”
Danang, usually curt with Eve, softened slightly. Spotting an empty chair, he sank into it, exhaling a weary sigh.
“Hey, hand over the data and take a shower first. You’re gonna stink up my chair,” Lilith said.
“…Can’t I just sleep a bit?”
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“No way. This is my place, not yours. Follow the house rules.”
“…Fine. But Lilith—”
“What?”
“If you feel any danger, call me immediately. Got it?”
“Yeah, yeah. Now go shower. You reek.”
Shaking his head, Danang shed his tattered coat and headed to the shower room, closing the door behind him. Left alone, Eve studied the data on the monitors with keen interest, decoding it instantly before turning her languid gaze to Lilith.
“Lilith, you analyzed all this data yourself?” Eve asked.
“No need for formalities. Polite speech builds walls between understanding. I’ll talk casually, so you do the same—like you do with Danang.”
“…Alright, I will. Lilith, I’ll ask again: you handled all the analysis on these monitors alone?”
“Obviously. Danang couldn’t manage it. He’s top-notch at combat and exploration, but when it comes to data? Second-rate at best. Don’t you think so, Eve?”
Eve hesitated, unsure how to respond. Lilith, resting her chin on her knee, flashed a sly smile and tapped the keyboard, pulling up footage from the Pleasure District to the abandoned buildings.
“Well, his combat skills aren’t exactly top-tier either, are they? Second-rate, maybe. If a crowd turned their guns on him, he’d be done for.”
“Bold words,” Lilith replied. “Sure, in the undercity, you’ve got drug-addled idiots or the absolute dregs—thugs and gang members—who’d try to take him out. But whatever. Eve, let’s cut to the chase. You want to go up, don’t you?”
“…”
“Your digital certificate and auth code are legit. I never imagined someone with access to the upper city would be slumming it down here. Honestly, I’m shocked.”
But… Lilith’s fingers flew across the keyboard, hacking and cracking, only for an error to flash on the screen.
“Problem is, you’ve only got upper city clearance. Without mid-level auth codes, it’s a nonstarter.”
“How do I get to the mid-levels?”
“Trust and merit.”
“…”
“Illegal acts in the undercity aren’t crimes, but in the mid-levels, they are. Think about it: unleash a violence-crazed wolf among toothless sheep—what happens? That’s why only those approved by mid-level authorities can ascend.”
No trust, no credibility. No merit, no proof of ability. Few ever climbed from the undercity to the mid-levels, and those who fell were either heinous criminals or lunatics who chose to descend.
Eve sat in Danang’s chair, arms crossed, a faint restlessness in her demeanor. Tapping her slender white fingers on her arm, she sighed.
“…Can you forge the data?”
“Not impossible, but not all at once.”
“I don’t have time.”
“That’s not my problem.”
“Want to die?”
“Not particularly. I’ve got my own things to do.”
“Lilith, listen. What I’m trying to do involves you too. So help me. If I succeed, I’ll tell you anything you want. So—”
“Eve, I didn’t let you in to take one-sided requests. I’m here for a deal. Let’s lay our cards on the table.”
Should she play her hand or hold back? The negotiation was Lilith’s domain. No matter how earnestly Eve pleaded, Lilith’s heart wouldn’t budge. Should she brandish her silver wings and intimidate her?
No… that wouldn’t do. Disrupting a hard-won negotiation would be foolish. Swallowing the frustration boiling in her gut, Eve regained her composure, her prismatic eyes locking onto Lilith with a seductive smile.
“Danang,” Eve said.
“Hm? What about him?”
“He said he wants to live. That he doesn’t want to die, that he won’t bow to anyone. So, Lilith, how long have you known him?”
“About… ten years, give or take. Why? Something up with him?”
“No, just thinking things are about to get messy.”
Lilith’s eyelid twitched faintly, her fingers pausing on the keys for a split second.
“Danang’s always tangled in trouble. One or two more problems won’t change much.”
“I’m saying he might’ve caught the upper city’s attention.”
It was a bluff, of course. Eve, ignorant of the tower’s inner workings, watched Lilith’s eyes widen, her composure faltering as she tried to suppress her shock.
“He nearly died in the ruins once. Lumina’s bug is keeping him alive. If I ordered Lumina to shut down, Danang would die. You wouldn’t want that, would you, Lilith? Losing a partner of ten years?”
Eve felt it then—a shift. The balance of power was tipping. One more push, one more dose of reality, and Lilith’s unease would spill into words.
“Lilith, let’s talk openly. About us.”
With a bewitching smile, Eve extended her hand to Lilith.
