“Hmm,” Guy grumbled. “Aww hell! Yunie! You heard that order, right? Give the man what he asked for,” Guy said begrudgingly, as he called to the back of his merchant’s tent.
“Already got it prepped for him. Shit this stuff is heavy! You sure you’ll be able lug this stuff around for the rest of the night?” Yunie, the merchant’s assistant, asked as she brought everything to the counter.
“I’ll be fine,” Caiden said. Guy acrimoniously held his Cred codec up to receive Caiden’s payment.
“Two hundred thousand Creds all there. Thanks for doing business with me,” Caiden graciously said, bowing his head.
“Ugh, whatever, kid. Get outta here,” Guy replied.
As Caiden picked up the heavy-duty utility case and walked off with the twins, a small smile crept across Guy’s face. He was more amused by his interaction with Caiden than he initially let on. Yunie gave Guy a comforting smile.
“Remind you of someone?” Yunie asked.
“Huh, maybe,” he replied.
Just as their transaction was completed, Caiden and the twins saw a few of the patrons scurrying off in one direction.
“What’s going on?” Hitomi asked one of the passersby.
“New cage match going on at the other side of the Bazaar! Big money on the line,” the stranger said, before scurrying off.
“Okay, I wanna go see this!” Nami stated enthusiastically.
“Sis, you sure about that?” Hitomi asked as they both looked at Caiden.
Caiden sighed. He didn’t want them to run around unsupervised. “Be careful okay? Are your datashades fully functional?”
“Let’s see, shall we?” Nami replied as she tapped the futuristic earpiece. The twins pressed the power button on their devices and a holographic display visor emerged in front of their eyes. Caiden activated the NOVO Lenses. Upon activation, his eyes glowed the signature turquoise color. His visual display offered him several options to choose from. He looked up, selected the E-CHAT application, and sent Nami and Hitomi a message.
Caiden: You guys get this message?
Nami: Sure did.
Hitomi: Yup!
Nami: Wow! This is even cooler than I thought it would be!
Caiden: You haven’t used datashades before?
Hitomi: Nope.
Nami: We’ll be in touch if anything happens now that we have a direct link to our favorite lover boy! Let’s go see the fight, sis.
-End Chat-
“If anything comes up please be careful,” Caiden said.
“Yes, ok, Daddy! Ooh, I kinda like callin’ you that.”
“Nams, behave. Let’s go,” Hitomi interjected, before grabbing her sister’s hand and running off to go see the fight.
Caiden shook his head and smiled to himself. He decided to head to the booth that sold manna. He figured, that with the extraordinary properties of manna, the girls’ weapons would have an advantage over conventional ones.
“Welcome to Rejedj’s Essence. How may I be of service?” the merchant asked. He had a similar accent to the merchants from the fresh fruit stand.
They both must’ve traveled from a city in the Sun Desert just to get here to sell their products, Caiden thought.
“I’m looking to buy twenty ounces of liquefied manna,” Caiden replied.
“As you know, sir, manna does not run cheap. But you have an earnest look in your eye. How does ten thousand Creds sound?” the merchant asked.
Damn. Thank god for hacking, Caiden thought.
Caiden understood that out of all the goods here at the bazaar, manna would run significantly higher with much less negotiating room to bring the price down. Manna was a much sought-after substance due to its extraordinary energy qualities and its many uses. Caiden raised his Cred codec to the tent’s automated Cred codec to pay for the manna.
“Thank you for your patronage, sir,” the merchant said.
“Thanks,” Caiden replied.
Caiden put the manna inside the utility case alongside the titanium. Upon closing it, he happened to notice three strange men heading toward a VIP negotiation tent. Thinking nothing of it, he ignored them and carried on with his business. But there was something about these strangers that didn't feel right, so he inspected them again as they made their way through the busy marketplace. They were wearing gaudy blue velvet robes with a marigold trim. Under their robes were regular street clothes. There was something familiar about their appearance. It hit him. Those guys are from the Zealots of the Blue Earth! he realized. The ZOBE members waited outside the tent. A tall, athletically fit man stepped outside of the tent. He had a dark brown comb-over and cybernetic implants on his temples, hands and shins. The implants in his temples made his eyes glow a vivid orange color.
It was Lieutenant Daav August. Caiden had never met this man, but stared at him as if he had. Who the hell is that guy? Why do I feel like I know him from somewhere? he thought to himself. Something about this man irked Caiden. Something about the situation didn’t make sense. A man who was clearly a Hybrid was meeting with members of ZOBE. Not to mention that ZOBE members never ventured into Darkside due to its parent borough, BlackLight, being home to the largest population of Hybrids and registered androids in the entire city-state. ZOBE could usually be found in the Blue Emerald borough. So, why in the world would these Purebred extremists be meeting with a Hybrid here, of all places? Caiden pondered. This is far too odd to be coincidental.
Daav and the three ZOBE members exchanged pleasantries before shaking hands and heading into the tent. Shortly after, two armed guards emerged and secured the front entrance. Because the VIP negotiating tents usually were usually occupied by big money clients, the organizers of the Bazaar found it necessary to hire a private security firm to keep unnecessary threats at bay. These agents were spread through the entire bazaar.
Compelled by an irresistible urge to identify the familiar face, and to learn more about the Hybrid’s meeting with ZOBE, Caiden went to investigate the matter. Something just wasn’t right. Caiden zigzagged through the crowd and past the security guards until he reached the back of the tent where the Lieutenant was. He leaned in to see if he could listen in on the conversation.
He loitered
