151 The Ocean City Of Atlantis II : Plans (1/2)

The waters within the Ocean city of Atlantis was a little bit cold, or it could be that it wasn't the water that was making me cold, but rather the fact that I was encased in a big ball of ice by Persephone. This was the method they came up with to have us gain entry into the city, by having Persephone pose as a bounty Hunter looking for a place to lay low. For the most part, it seemed to have worked. The loser city was brightly lit and was huge a marvel of architecture, here coral reefs at the edge of the buildings that gave the entire city a bright feel, it was like Vegas but underwater, and it was also quite huge too.

The buildings there either stretched downwards from the bottom of the island, or where actually floating islands within the sea itself. There were a variety of races going about their business, but surprisingly enough, many of them were players. And with how each and every single one of them was running about, I would say that they were probably completing one quest or another for the denizens of the city. But then again something felt...off, the city just somehow seemed to be a little bit more busy than I imagined, almost as if something big was about to go down.

Now to an obvious eye, they wouldn't notice anything wrong, but players and AI's alike where all placed on watch at strategic locations, others were busy moving crates or weapons and even tiny underwater jet skis that could only fit on person. It was a weird vibe, but I get the feeling that they were preparing for a conflict of some sort, what kind I have no idea, but it was coming none the less, I was feeling a little frantic and would very much like to get the fuck out of here.

However everywhere I turned, there seemed to be eyes watching, so it would take a little bit of finesse to be able to slip away. Persephone swam with the ball of ice in tow, drawing much attention to herself as she made her way to the central district. Normally such a sight would a cause for bullies and gang bangers to try and intimidate away what belonged to her, but no one seemed to care, plus Persephone didn't look like a pushover either, so no one wanted to be the one to make a move against her. She moved until she came to a central tube almost a 100 meters in diameter an 300 in length which shot upwards into the bottom of the island this was probably the path that connected both the upper and lower cities.

”Halt! Passage between the upper and the lower cities have been restricted indefinitely. Please return and find lodgings within the lower city, it would be quite a while before the path is opened again.”

As if I needed anymore confirmation that something was up, the guard who had just spoke was a merman, but much like the mermen I've seen in this game so far, the idea of using tridents to fight doesn't sit well with them, so he was carrying a big ass gun that was hoping at the sides, kind of like some sort of plasma gun. A shot from that would not just hurt, it would probably vaporize the person it was used against. Now normally I wouldn't give a shit about what's happening or about to happen, I still don't to be honest, but now this whole thing has gotten my interest piqued.

”Please is there nothing else I can do, no amount of money I can pay to get through? I've been underwater for a while and I would really love to feel the sun on my skin.”

”Sorry I can't help you, please leave or I'll be forced to use lethal force against you!”

Now that dude is just mean, but it was obvious he wasn't playing around, so it was time from plan B or our plan A which now that I'm thinking about it should have probably had a plan C and D. Since there was no way up from here, we had to look for another alternative and it couldn't be anywhere close to this guy, we'll be looking for another way up, so we'll have to avoid the familiar face of the grumpy guard.

Persephone turned away from him and made her way towards he Eastern edge of the city, when the Acheron was mapping this city, we discovered that the city had a barrier that was extended a little over two kilometers from it's edge, and that the edges had power or relay stations of sorts that kept the barrier active and powered. Currently since the city was not under attack the barrier was in an inactive state where all it could do was surveillance.

However we also noticed that those power stations were drawing power from the top of the island and seemed to have direct access to it. And luckily for us there were a few hotels around the stations as they seemed to be some sort of tourist attraction with their glowing towers of light blue energy. It was also considered the waters part of the city due to how stringent the security measures were, it would take a little more than just talking to get our way through them.

Persephone made it to a small hotel called the Forgotten Shell, it was the closest inn to the edge and the stations, however it was filled to the brim with other players and AIs who had the same idea about a way to get to the upper city. That brought upon the startling realization that there was more to whatever the fuck was happening here than I thought, but we couldn't stay here either. There were just too many people around that there was a massive chance that we could get caught up in a conflict we're not supposed to give a shit about. It was annoying, but I hope the others were having much more luck than we were.

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ZARETH & RAVEN SONG

The two unlikely partners drove their jet skis over the billowing waves of the Atlantic. The ride was much more smoother than expected, speaking volumes about the power, speed and balance of the jet skis the Acheron had created or rather assimilated and upgraded during her evolution. Raven was quite interested in how they worked, but all Zareth had in mind was a single minded focus on how to get on the island.

The dwarf was never one for fun and games, his reddish brown beard swayed under the onslaught of the rushing wind, which was pushing his hair backwards, having his thick braided locks sway under it's buffeting pressure like a piece of paper in a wind storm. Raven Song on the other hand found the whole thing quite comical, the dwarf was not a conversationalist, which was weird since all dwarves liked to talk, but he had been keeping stoic since they left the ship and in turn nature has been kicking his ass by sending his beard into his eyes, nose and mouth and having the wind pull at his thick hair as If he was being rode upon by something...or someone.

But Zareth's unfortunate situation came to an end once the harbor of the island came into sight. It was build into a cove and further in was a massive cavern that served as the entrance to the city and had tunnels that led further in. Not a lot of people paid attention to Zareth or Raven Song individually as quite a few new and strange faces have been coming and going over the last few weeks. But the sight of a dwarf with a Lance and a dark elf with golden heavy armor, a tower shield and a one handed war hammer was quite a sight. They were weird, but once you think about it, there were too many things in this world, and adding two more freaks into that equation was a need for alarm. So everyone went back to what they were doing and ignored the unlikely duo.