Population Control

"Water has always been the problem of everyone in the Gutter. It even caused the first war between the two biggest factions many years ago. Until now, we've only been trading gallons of them, but never had our own source." Aldric Stormheart, the chief commander of Ant Hill, talked continuously while leading Lucky through the steel, narrow hallway. "We had all the materials to process it and even distribute it. Matter of fact, we have every means to do whatever we want with it if only we got our well."

"If you can do that, why not dig a hole in the ground?" Lucky blurted out lazily, stopping when the chief commander looked back at him. "Don't tell me you cannot? You have all the equipment to make armor suits. You can dig up a hole and create a well on your own."

"If it was that easy, we would've done it a long time ago." Aldric smiled and resumed his steps. "However, it wasn't as simple as that. You've seen those hounds. They weren't merely a result of experimentation, nor they were based on some lore about the underworld."

Deep lines appeared between Lucky's brows, eyes on the man's back. Ever since this man introduced himself, he had been prattling about water and how they needed it. Aldric didn't bother with anything else. 

"Underworld?"

"You are a smart man, Mr. Lucky. I'm certain you have noticed already. Digging up a hole in the Gutter can result in many problems. For instance, creating more portals to the underworld. Though before that, we might end up in a war once other factions hear about it." Aldric glanced over his shoulder and smirked. "Some of the hounds you faced were the real ones — though feral ones, if I may add."

Lucky threw his hands on the back of his head, keeping his comments to himself. "Enough with that. I'm now more interested in why you don't seem to be interested in the outsider that you welcomed in here with open arms."

"Were you suspicious?"

"I don't have much of a reason not to. If I were the chief commander, I wouldn't just show an outsider an underground laboratory. And wherever you're taking me, I'm pretty sure if it's not a cell to keep me until I prove my innocence, it's another secret department."

Aldric stopped once more and looked back at him. "Nero told me about you."

"When?"

"The night he met you," the chief explained, resuming his steps. "He said he found a Visitor and requested your entry into the base."

'He did that?' Lucky raised his brows in amusement. 'Probably when I left them to fend for themselves.'

"Knowing Nero, he already briefed you about the things you needed to know about the Visitors."

"Well, he did tell me visitors are often given special treatments."

"Which explains my confidence in showing you the laboratory and our next destination." Aldric smiled. "There's only a few Visitors in Ant Hill. All of them, except Nero, were commanders of their own unit."

"And why is that?"

"Nero doesn't want the responsibility."

"Or he doesn't like the idea of being a big fish in a small pond."

Aldric chuckled, glancing over his shoulder. "Could be."

"I'm not interested in being a captain or whatever," Lucky said, wanting to make that clear before this guy started assuming. "I'm here because I promised the little girl to take them back to this base. If you let me stay until tomorrow, I'll be glad to accept it. But I won't stay longer."

"I know you won't." Aldric maintained his smile and soon enough, they reached a metallic two door. He planted his hands on the surface of the door, and after a few seconds, the sound of mechanical gears turning echoed in the empty hallways.

"Asking you to be a part of the command is not in my plan," said the man while looking back at Lucky. "You are too early to carry responsibilities that hold thousands of people's lives. My intention is far different from that."

As soon as those words rolled out of Aldric's tongue, he pushed the door open without much effort. It creaked aloud, but that didn't stop him from stepping in. Lucky still followed the man, looking around at the pitch-black space they got into.

"What I'm trying to do by showing you what this place has to offer is more of a personal interest." Aldric snapped his finger and lights around the dark space switched on one after another. 

Lucky squinted his eyes at the sudden light. Peeking from one of them, his mouth almost fell open at the large tanks and machinery that seemed to process clean water.

"Visitors like yourselves always have the Metro as their top priority for citizenship. After all, up above there, they don't have to worry much about the hounds or anything that lurks on these surfaces," the chief commander slowly faced Lucky. "And as you can tell, I'm not a man who goes around in a circle. I'm giving you an option for accommodation in case the high dream of living in the Metro fails."

"If you're a smart man, you'd build rapport in here so you know there's a place you can go back to when that happened." Aldric smiled, facing Lucky squarely. "The water you see right here was the waters we've processed just for others to use."

He nodded slowly. "Yes, your guess is correct. Our main business here is water processing. The other factions send us water to process, and in return, we get a percentage of it. But it is not enough. This is not enough with our growing population."

"Kill the elderly," Lucky suggested with disinterest. "Population control."

"I've seen you clear the area. I was watching it and to tell you the truth, I was more than impressed." Aldric ignored his comment and faced the water system. "Ant Hill had the best technology among all other factions, which should give us a lot of advantages. But with the scarcity of supply, progress has always been slower… and I'm losing my patience."

Lucky cast the man a sidelong glance. "So? You want me to do your dirty work once my high dream fails?"

"It is not dirty work," Aldric stressed. "Finding the location of a well isn't."

"Let me ask. Why not send that gatekeeper to clear areas you think are useful?"

"There are only a few powered suits we could operate and had produced at the moment. Like I said, the scarcity of supply." A deep sigh slipped past Aldric's nostrils. "Sending one means lowering the security of Ant Hill, resulting in endangerment of the citizens. We've taken those measures before. It was the reason we sent out scouts before deploying our aces to save up some cost of sending one."

Aldric continued to share his dilemma, which Lucky considered as oversharing. But then again, Nero mentioned that Visitors were treated like nobles in this world. Though, he knew that the chief commander's intention was more than just to please a Visitor. 

"To make it short, sending one of your aces consumed a lot of energy and fuel, and if there are damaged parts, repairs could be challenging?" Lucky clarified, and Aldric nodded. "To solve this problem, you want me to use Rampage Rex and clear evil-stricken areas because it's cost-efficient?"

"I'm glad you understood."

"No, thanks." Lucky smiled. "I'm going to the Metro."

"If you change your mind, our doors are always open, Lucky."

Lucky shrugged and turned around. As soon as he did, the white-armored gatekeeper with an ant helm was already standing by the door. 

"By the way." He cocked his head back to Aldric, pointing at that ant-wannabe by the door. "If deploying these armored suits is that demanding, how come this person walks around here as if it wasn't?"

"That is not an armored suit."

"Didn't you say he's the gatekeeper?"

"The gatekeeper is the one who controls it." Aldric smiled. "This is his new prototype for his project and it costs less. However, it's still not the end result."

"Ohh…"

"For now, you can stay in Ant Hill as a guest. We've prepared lodging for you." He motioned his hand to the prototype. "Please. He'll take you to your room."

Lucky studied the man before he turned his back on him, waving dismissively. "Thanks for the tour and the night stay, but I'm leaving tomorrow."

Aldric kept his smile as he watched Lucky follow the prototype to his lodging. His eyes, however, glitched like monitor screens for a moment before they returned to normal.