Chapter Thirty Four: No City for Heroes

Four months later, the upgrades and renovations had been completed, with the building becoming as impregnable as a fortress. Aether fortified walls made the building impervious to all but the strongest weaponry and able to regenerate itself based on a blueprint that Ronin had spent weeks developing.

 The two floors above Abster's were devoted entirely to Scalpel's new office and labs, with the floor just above the lowest level being her official infirmary, open to anyone for free. Abster had insisted on it, since it was the easiest way for the Guildless to reach the infirmary without having to go up multiple floors.

The team's living quarters were all the way at the top of the building, so the elevators were redesigned to move as fast as physically possible without causing harm to its users, while their labs were located at various places in the building.

At the fiftieth floor, Delta had set up shop, turning the entire floor into a massive open room filled with computers of her personal design. A security system was laced throughout the entire building now, sending constant live feeds from cameras on every floor, logging their recordings in the main system.

Soon after finishing the building, Ronin and Trigger discovered that AeEx had been hard at work here in the city, building a system that merchants and inventors could use to sell and distribute their work throughout the city. Receiving forty percent of the sale, AeEx had developed vending machines that could fabricate and mass produce any item they possessed the blueprint to. Merchants and inventors could set prices at any amount the wanted and even set price by guild, a functionality that Ronin was surprised to see.

The whole team began selling their inventions via this system, marking up their prices for guilds and making them as cheap as possible for the Guildless.

Simple weapons, self defense items, and any life improving technology they made free for the Guildless, with more complex or dangerous weapons and items selling at a higher price.

The higher prices were the first reason the Horizon Suns sent an emissary to the team, hoping to negotiate with them.

Accepting the invitation to visit the Guild home, Ronin, Silas and Azue all went together to discuss the matter.

The team trusting Ronin, still regarding him as their leader, had let him go to represent them as a group, while Scalpel had received a separate emissary in relation to her infirmary.

Walking through the streets of Neyk, Ronin squinted, and said, "Man, I haven't been outside in a month."

Azue looked at him, shocked, and asked, "What? Why?"

Scalpel laughed quietly and said, "Ronin gets caught up in work pretty easily. A few years back this kind of thing wasn't uncommon, to be honest."

 Ronin shook his head sarcastically and Azue said, "We have more than enough money though...surely you can take some time off."

 Scalpel pulled Azue close to her and said, "It's not about the money for Ronin. He creates because he NEEDS to...if he doesn't invent something different everyday, he'll die!"

Azue pulled away from her and grabbed Ronin's arm and looked into his eyes and said "Ronin, do not die!"

He rolled his eyes and said, "She's just messing around. I don't need to do it, I just want to. I research and study because it's usually all I'm interested in doing."

Silas's voice sprang into their heads through their V.U.I.s, "Believe me, he's not lying about that."

Ronin looked around surprised as Azue realized what she meant and began to blush, her hair flashing blue.

"Where are you?" Ronin asked curiously.

"I'm in Delta's lab. We hacked into the cameras around the city Look around, you'll see a cafe nearby, I'm listening to you from a camera mounted on a pole there."

Looking around, he saw the cafe Silas had referenced and waved at it saying, "Well, I guess I should have expected it from you two."

Scalpel asked, "Speaking of that, how is Ronin?"

Azue shouted, "La la la la la," as Silas started to describe Ronin in bed.

A young man that Ronin thought he recognized forced his way past them as Silas said, "Aww, looks like little Azue has a cruuuush on Ronin!"

Azue blushed harder and said, "No I do not, shut up!"

Ronin, now ignoring them, sped up and tried to catch the man he'd seen before he lost track of him.

The man wandered down an alley, his black hair seeming to flash in the light, and Ronin turned to follow, seeing that now the alley was empty. He looked up and and around, but the man was just...gone, disappearing as abruptly as he'd appeared.

Scalpel and Azue caught up with him, now silent, and touched each of his shoulders.

He jumped, surprised and Scalpel asked, "You doing ok?"

Nodding, he turned away from the alley and said, "It's...it's nothing, thought I saw someone...."

Azue pulled his sleeve and said, "Are you ok?"

Smiling down at her, he touched her cheek playfully and said, "I'm fine, I promise. I've probably just been working too much, I need more rest."

The rest of the walk to the guild home was uneventful, though Ronin felt his jaw drop upon seeing the grounds.

Massive, even bigger than their home, the Horizon Suns HQ sat nestled in an inordinately large courtyard that shone with more living green vibrance than he'd have ever imagined possible to grow within the city. Giant trees and hedges hemmed a path leading from the front gates to the door, with branching paths leading to other unknown locations.

As they approached the front doors, Ronin received a contact request from someone named Hidden Moon, the Full Moon's Child.

Raising an eyebrow, Scalpel laughed and reminded him of the title system that AeEx had implemented.

"The Guildless don't put it to use much, but most guilds and respected individuals have at least one. They're a good way to know who and what you're dealing with, as well as to separate the special from the normal Guildless."

Looking at Scalpel, he saw that his V.U.I. pulled up Scalpel, the Mad Doctor.

 "How do the titles get chosen?" he asked.

Scalpel shrugged and said, "Silas and Delta have been working on figuring it out for a few weeks now, and near as she can tell, AeEx must have some serious algorithm figuring things out, or watching everything all at once somehow, because I'm the "Mad Doctor", but the only people who know about my experiments are you guys."

Accepting the contact request, Ronin nodded and walked through the doors, which was being held open by two guild members clad in all white robes, bearing a bright red and orange sun on the left shoulder.

Thanking the two members, Ronin entered to find that the entire guild apparently dressed this way, all white with a sun on the shoulder. Some wore armor, some wore robes and some wore what seemed to just be normal clothes adorned with the sun symbol.

The trio walked to the front desk and a young woman smiled brightly at them and said, "Ronin, Scalpel, ma'am, our leader has been waiting for your arrival."

Standing and walking them to an elevator, the young woman said, "We'll be needing to go to the bottom floor, he's a quiet man and the hustle and bustle of the day to day guild activities give him a headache."

Understanding the feeling, Ronin stood quietly in the elevator, surprisingly large and able to fit the four of them without even the slightest feeling of crowding. Humming quietly, the elevator rocketed downwards towards its destination, the bottom floor of the Horizon Suns guild home.

Stopping early, the receptionist motioned for Scalpel and said, "Your appointment is this way."

Pulling Azue with her, Scalpel said, "Let's give Ronin and HM some time alone kid."

Watching Azue get dragged away, Ronin asked, "What's Hidden Moon's business with me?"

The receptionist smiled gently and took a step closer to him, saying, "Unfortunately, I'm not permitted to speak on guild business with outsiders, though I'm sure he'll be very happy to see you."

She took another step toward him and said, "You know...my mother and father are all Guildless...what you did was amazing, you really helped so many people out."

Ronin laughed nervously and stepped back toward the corner, away from her, and said, "I'm glad to hear it...you know, I was just doing what I could to help a good person."

Moving toward him, she put an arm up by his head so he couldn't escape and said, "No, no, you REALLY helped so much. I only wish I could...reward you somehow."

Behind her the doors slid open and almost immediately a deep, stern voice rang out from deep within the room they lead to.

"By Aria, woman, compose yourself!"

The receptionist immediately jumped away from Ronin and said, "I'm sorry, ma'am."

Ronin cocked his head and said, "Ma'am?"

 Stepping into the room, the receptionist winked at him as the doors closed and Hidden Moon scoffed from beyond the glow of the elevator's light.

"Don't stand there looking all shy, come on in," Hidden Moon said.

Walking deeper in, Hidden Moon asked, "Do you know how the guilds of the city got their starts?"

Shaking his head, Ronin said, "No idea…"

 Appearing in front of him, a large hologram version of the city, but smaller than it was now, flickered to life and began rotating, its gentle white glow illuminating the space around it.

"The city didn't even go by Neyk until just around fifty years ago, to be honest. It was still known as New York City for a long long time, until the bandits came. New York was always an independent city, a shining star in a sea of mediocrity, so not long after the discovery of Aether, citizens of New York seceded from the government in charge at the time. It stood strong for many many years, but bandits eventually began to target it for its money, resources and more. 

Some of those bandit groups learned to love the city and respect its people, taking up residence here and changing the city name. Thus the guilds were born, of a mixture of respect, fear and power, and so I stand before you today, an old woman."

A small figure walked from the shadows into the light of the hologram and stood, saying, My name is Hidden Moon. I've lead the Horizon Suns for over sixty years now, though most doubt me for some reason."

As the light glowed a little brighter, Ronin realized he was looking at a young woman who couldn't be more than fifteen, and said, "You're kidding right?

Laughing brightly, the girl moved her hand, previously holding a device against her throat, and her high voice rang out as she spoke, "Nope. You may have noticed that I'm known as the "Full Moon's Child", yes?"

Ronin nodded and she continued, jumping up and sitting on a desk that was almost invisible in the darkness, kicking her legs as she did, "Back when we were bandits, the Horizon Suns used to be known as the Moon Slayers. We were an all girl bandit group, killed and stole what we wanted."

She sighed happily, remembering the days of her youth, continuing on, "Some of us raided an old zoo just on the outskirts of town one day. It had been long abandoned, with warning signs about some deviant or another. We didn't care, we...we were invincible. Turns out, this deviant was a massive spider, easily bigger than this room, that secreted Full Moon Aether instead of silk. It caught us in its web and wrapped us up, though unlike other spiders, it didn't inject us with anything until we were about to be eaten. 

We sat there, wrapped up, trapped and unable to move, for days, listening to each other die horribly. Their screams were….haunting...since there was no kind of anesthetic or paralytic in its venom. It injected them and they were forced to feel their organs liquified, somehow kept alive by the very same liquid that killed them. Obviously, in the end, I escaped, but I killed that spider...I tore each of its limbs off, killed it as slowly as I could...then I cooked and ate it."

Ronin, caught off guard, said, "The hell?"

Hidden Moon laughed and said, "Yup. Days without food will do things to you though, make you go to lengths you'd have never even imagined prior. The Aether in its body changed me, I don't age anymore, which sucks more than you might think."

 Hidden Moon chuckled at her own pun as Ronin rolled his eyes and said, "How else did it change you?"

Touching her chin, she shrugged and said, "I kill better than I used to, I guess. The rest of my little bandit group did what they could to keep me safe. We destroyed the ruins of the old zoo and set up shop here, using stolen money to commission a building big enough to support us. The other bandit groups soon followed suit and the guilds were born, out of unfathomable horror and tragedy, the city of Neyk reared its head for the very first time from the ashes of New York City."

Ronin looked at the hologram and asked, "What does any of this have to do with me?"

Hidden Moon snapped her fingers and made him look at her and said, "You and your friends seem like you mean well...you're obviously strong, but you have no idea what you're getting into."

 Ronin's hand fell to his side and he prepared to fight as he asked, "Are you threatening me?"

Hidden Moon laughed, hard and loudly, letting him go to hold her sides as she leaned back onto the desk.

She regained control and fought her laughter, saying, "Threaten you? By Aria, I want to MARRY you. You've saved countless lives among the Guildless, Ronin!"

Ronin was taken aback by this and he said, "Marry me?"

Fighting back more laughter, she said, "A joke, a joke...but seriously, you have no idea how many people were being killed by those….things...and you didn't even try to take CREDIT! You just did it and went about your day like it were just a thing to do! None of us knew what had happened, just one moment my warriors were fighting a horde, and the next minute they'd all turned to ash!"

Looking at her curiously, he asked, "How did you all find out?"

Smiling happily, Hidden Moon said, "That would be because of your adorable friend, Azue. She was seen going in and out of the building with the highest concentration of the creatures, bringing food. Out of curiosity we had her tailed, and the building researched, finding your name as the one holding the current lease, issued by one Abster Ance. Then your devices started hitting the market, including a floating lantern with a description of, 'Keep the things that go bump in the night away'."

Ronin sighed and rubbed his eyes and asked, "Ok...so why am I here again?"

She walked behind her desk and said, "First I wanted to thank you in person...second, I wanted to ask why you've refused affiliation with the Horizon Suns."

Ronin nodded and said, "I claim no loyalties. I've come to understand that some of my friends have allowed themselves to be affiliated, without joining, but personally, I don't want any responsibilities that might get in the way of my research, particularly since I can sell my results without relying on any one guild."

Hidden Moon sighed and said, "I was hoping you'd be willing to negotiate a lower price in exchange for access to the guild resources…"

Ronin shook his head and said, "If you want to negotiate a lower price for my wares, I'm open to it. I just won't be claiming or acknowledging affiliation, I won't be taking sides in any conflict or problems that may arise from usage."

Narrowing her eyes at him, she said, "A guilds resources are one of its most valuable negotiating tools...if you won't accept that...what do you want?"

Ronin thought for a moment and said, "Dissuade any rumors that I'm responsible for stopping the creatures, and I'll cut prices for your guild and its affiliates by fifty percent."

 Hidden Moon stared at him, mouth agape and said, "Ronin...that's crazy, you're a hero! You deserve to be celebrated for this, not ignored"

Ronin shrugged and said, "That's what I want though. I want to be left to my own devices, and if people are walking around thinking I'm some kind of savior or hero, I can't get anything done once they start trying to reach me. Besides...let's not forget, my highest selling item right now is a weapon that melts Aether off the body and into the system, causing it to start decomposing while the victim is still alive. I'm not exactly what you'd call a role model."

Hidden Moon shrugged and said, "It's a deal then, I guess...you'll always be a hero in my mind though."

Ronin smiled and said, "That's fine with me. A few people knowing what I've done is ok, hundreds talking about it not so much. I only destroyed it to help Abster ot as a thank you, so it's not like I set out to be a Guildless champion or anything."

"Speaking of which," Hidden Moon said, her voice quiet, "You're building another reputation as well, this time among the guilds. They're calling you Ronin, the Unclaimed...if that gets to become your title, you may have problems."

Looking at the hologram again, he asked, "Why do you say that?"

 Hidden Moon tapped her desk absently and said, "You know how they treat the Guildless...it's terrible...but for the most part, the Guildless are composed of people who simply haven't joined a guild or who were removed from one...somebody who actively turns down guilds...they'll hunt you for that. Even in these times...standing out in a crowd still gets you smacked down, Ronin...I'd hate to see that happen to you."