MORITURI TE SALUTANT!! [S!4] ROUND 3- OPHIDIAN JADE!

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SpoilerI have permission to hop Sol's reserve.

Quite a crowd had formed around the doors to Il Maledicta’s main stage, a few hundred people at least, all foregoing the pretences of their roles to catch a moment of the distant opera, even though the sounds of the crowd made this all but impossible. Upon seeing a crowd that big it took Nameless all the willpower she had not to snap back into salesman mode. It was only the thought of that terrible exchange rate that stopped her looking for props she could pass off as delicious confectionaries. There were probably profitable ways she could be spending this time, but she was having a tough time finding them. She never should have let Carlie out of her sight, now there was a girl who had a way of finding her way into situations.

As Nameless left the eager crowd behind she reflected on how easily she could have fallen in love with Il Maledicta. Making a sale here was so easy; as long as you could communicate the idea that your product was desirable everyone would behave as though that was the unquestionable truth. It all just seemed like one massive missed opportunity.

Nameless walked aimlessly down one corridor after another, moving further and further away from the ‘streets’ of Il Maledicta. She had no specific direction in mind, but having acquired Lavi’s infamy she supposed that hanging around in one place for too long might not be the best idea. Lavi had given Nameless a cursory heads up to watch out for those dickass aristocratic nobles. Namless wished she’d asked exactly what they wanted with her; it wouldn’t have affected her decision, but it sure would be nice to know whether it was the kind of trouble she’d be able to buy (or sell) her way out of.

As she meandered down a particularly decrepit hallway (the bulbs in the wall sconces had long ago burned out, the rotten carpet squelched underfoot, and here and there weeds grew through cracks in the wall) Nameless realized she’d walked straight into the perfect ambush location. Sure enough she glanced behind her to see a pair of goons trailing her in matching deep maroon suits, ties and crooked angle fedoras. They each had short black hair practically dripping with gel and identical pencil thin moustaches (though it was possible to tell that the lead goon’s moustache was just drawn on). In a run down corridor in the back end of Il Maledicta like this it was impossible for either Nameless or these goons to pretend they hadn’t noticed the other. Their eyes barely met before each of them was running full pelt down dilapidated passageway.

Nameless was already short of breath in under a minute, and it was taking a lot of concentration not to slip in the virtual swamp of the ruined carpet. When she tried to hold onto the wall for support a section of plaster collapsed under her touch revealing a dark space beyond. She pushed onwards, her instincts telling her that she didn’t want to be caught by these guys. Eventually, her lungs burning she rounded a corner to see a dead end; the path blocked by the rubble fallen from the floor above. If she was able to swear she’d have done so right at this point. Still she pressed on down the corridor hoping for some unexpected way out. She heard gasps and mocking laughter from behind her as her pursuers rounded the corner after her. Their footfalls slowed, she wasn’t going anywhere.

The lead goon called after her: “No need to hurry away, uh” he floundered trying to remember a name that should exist but didn’t for some reason “Angelo. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to miss la tua grandi prestazioni.” The other goon snickered.

As Nameless neared the fallen floor she brushed past a semi-veil of rotten wallpaper hanging loose from the walls, and almost gasped in relief as she saw a metal door like an emergency exit. It was a little rusted but in better condition than anything else in this particularly miserable corner of Il Maledicta. Without a moment’s hesitation she pushed down on the bar and pushed the door open, or she tried, the door didn’t budge. She pushed onto the door with her whole weight and nothing. She slammed herself into the door; not even an inch.

“See how inutile it is to try to run from the Borgata Family.” The lead goon smiled widely as he continued his unhurried pursuit.

Nameless slumped back against the wall opposite the door and gasped for breath. As she gulped down air she stared at the door. The footsteps of the mobsters squelch closer and suddenly she has an idea. She pushes herself back onto her feet and takes a couple of good gulps.

“Why don’t you stop putting up such la lotta and come with me.” The lead goon crooned. “Unless you want to do this nel modo più duro.”

Nameless faced the goons, gave them the middle finger and in one swift movement sold the emergency exit door and ran out through it. Outside the air was cool, there was a slight breeze that blew at her now heavily soiled veil. She let it blow away. It was only when she heard the goons starting to run after her that she considered that he hadn’t escaped them as thoroughly as she might have liked.

The outside at a glance; a black expanse with white box markings on the floor. Inside some of these markings were large rusted metal objects. Nameless sprinted for the nearest one, slowing slightly when she felt the roughness of the smooth black floor under her bare feet and then ducked down behind it. She peered around object which her collar was informing her was a automobile (more specifically a 1969 Chiral Hirola) to see the mobsters standing nervously in the doorway. They were glancing back and forth at the outside world even though Nameless was pretty sure she hadn’t reached cover in time. They shared glances as if to dare each other to take a step out into the world beyond Il Maledicta but neither did.

Nameless took an opportunity to look out at the world; beyond the black expanse she hid in there were more buildings; every one in some advanced state of disrepair. Weeds, bushes, and in some cases entire trees grew through the wrecked buildings; though the plants all looked a little off somehow. Maybe that was just a factor of being in a different world. There were no people, no animals anywhere, but here and there amongst the rubble were corpses; skeletons picked clean of flesh. It made her shiver, it also made her want to loot those bodies.

She looked back to the Il Maledicta stage door to see the doorway now standing empty; the Borgata Family thugs nowhere to be seen. Nameless breathed a sigh of relief, happy in the presumption they’d been stopped by some kind of Il Maledictan superstition.

Nameless stood up straight and brushed the dust and dirt from her dress. She tried to scrape the muck from her feet but only succeeded in spreading it across a greater surface area. Having straightened herself up as best as she could in the circumstances Nameless looked up at Il Maledicta itself. Though it was not in the best of shape it had clearly weathered whatever disaster had happened out here better than anywhere else she could see, even some of the decorative statuary remained intact.

Nameless smiled to herself; no pursuers, no contestants to worry about, just her and a veritable treasure trove of unowned salvage. If it wasn’t for the terrible exchange rate in this world she’d have been in heaven. Thoughtfully she reached up to her collar and gave it a twist; it was a slim hope but maybe now that she was out of that cramped theatre it might just be possible that her collar could pick up some of the other local currencies (this is of course assuming that any other people survived in numbers great enough to necessitate a currency which, as she looks at the ruined cityscape, does seem unlikely).

As her collar worked through its reboot procedure Nameless examined the automobile. There was a heck of a lot of broken glass lying on the floor around the sides of the vehicle. Nameless took another check of the bottom of her feet and resolved to find some shoes at her earliest convenience. Walking more carefully now she stepped up to the smashed window. Inside the vehicle there was a skeleton slumped over what looked to Nameless like a smaller, less ostentatious ship’s wheel made of plastic. Most of the corpse’s clothing had decayed away but peering into the footwell Nameless saw his boots, big, black and leather, still seemed pretty good. She tried to get the door open but it was as obstinate as the stage door had been and she solved the problem in the same way; though the entire automobile disappeared into the aether between this world and her Raxucorp Account when she did so. Unsurprisingly there was no luck on a more profitable currency.

Nameless took the boots after carefully tipping all the loose bones out onto the floor; they were probably too big for her but with a little padding they’d be fine. She decided she didn’t want to ruin them immediately so stowed them in her satchel. They were soon joined by some other items picked from the debris of items that had fell to the floor when the vehicle they had existed in had suddenly disappeared; a pair of spectacles, a cellular telephone, a wristwatch and a silver plated cigarette lighter (all helpfully identified by her collar).

Nameless was picking her way to the next nearest automobile to see what loot she might find there, when suddenly there was a stream of green text floating in front of her face; a projection from her collar. It said: Raxucorp smart collar user here there is a name that Nameless suspects had once been her own only from context and as soon as she takes her eyes away from it it fades from her memory this is Raxucorp Executive Acquisitions Manager Jane Jones, please respond. Below the message hung a holographic keyboard.

Jane Jones... Nameless could already picture her: long blonde hair, pale blue eyes, the very image of the word ‘perfect’. She clenched her fists and tried to remain calm. There was no benefit to be gained here from flying off the handle. Her fingers shook as she typed sup

We’ve recently received items from your account transmitted not just from outside of your home universe, but from multiple universes both of which are outside of the current operating scope of Raxucorp. Nameless might have scowled at the implication that this accursed company was operating multiversally if it wasn’t for the fact she’d been scowling ever since her collar had started ringing.

i stil get the mone rite?

Of course. Raxucorp would never dream of breaking a promise to a loyal customer. What we wanted to ask you is if you continue to travel through these far flung universes you could do us a favour and earn yourself quite a tidy sum at the same time.

no deel Nameless typed it out, pausing only as her finger hung above the ‘send’ key. Begrudgingly she erased the message, typed go on and hit send for real.

We will send you a bundle of data called a program. All we need you to do is activate this program on a machine called a computer.

an then wot hapens?

There is a very limited window in which we believe it is possible to talk to you, a window that is rapidly closing. A fully detailed explanation would not only be a waste of time that we don’t have but also probably be too technical for you to understand.

giv me the ideots vershun then

There was a long pause before the next message arrived. It would allow us to gather information about the multiverse.

Nameless chuckled bitterly and suppressed her desire to call bulshit. Despite how satisfying it would be to stick it to Raxucorp Executive Acquisitions Manager Jane Jones she didn’t need to give them a reason to hate her. Taking a deep breath she typed i ned tu think abowt it

Another long pause. Please don’t take too long Ms. that name again We’ll send you the file and hope you make the correct decision Nameless didn’t reply. She hit the disconnect key and the text and the keyboard faded away. She really wanted to take this collar off, crush it underfoot. Except that wouldn’t really accomplish anything. She sighed deeply, and turned back to face Il Maledicta.

There was a black shape and suddenly she was plummeting into blackness herself.