Chronicles of the Exalted Sun Child

The morning found Yuriko back in the lift lobby closest to their apartments. The evening and the night had been spent sharing what knowledge they’d gleaned from the REI-space through the Autotabs. The first piece being what REI-space was. Or rather, what everyone was saying about it. Simply put, it was a place where knowledge and information were kept, and also a place where people could share, contribute, and discuss that information. It was also where all connections through the devices were coursed and according to the pages, that connection was fostered by REI crystals built into the devices. That was probably where the threads Yuriko noticed connected to.

Where they connected from there, Yuriko couldn’t trace. Normally, the threads merged into the walls, ceiling, or floor, and from there, she couldn’t tell. Even if she forced her perception into the material, she couldn’t trace it. There wasn’t even another REI crystal on the receiving end.

REI-spacewalking could also be done but needs specialised equipment. That was when someone moved their consciousness directly into REI-space and… did things inside? Yuriko wasn’t sure what could be done in REI-space, and it actually sounded something like the dreamscape to her, but since the dream didn’t really exist outside of the Chaos Sea, she couldn’t compare them.

She was also given a glossary of terms that Gwendith forced her to memorise, and the page was also bookmarked in her tab. For one thing, the automata limbs were actually called ‘Chronian Gear, not Automata, after the Great God of Lightning, Metal, and Technology, Autochron. Which explained why every device she’s seen had the god’s name on it, in some way.

She wasn’t quite sure what to believe, but it was said that Autochron appeared at the dawn of Dragon Fall City, some tens of thousands of years ago, and helped foster the city’s growth and technology.

Damien didn’t remember him, but since the memories she held were just a fraction of the whole, that should not surprise her, huh? Damien did know of the Eternal Tower, but not of Dragon Fall City and the deity that supposedly created it.

It was also clear that Autochron was no longer paying attention to the city since none of their followers had ever heard from them, which led to numerous cults that were insane enough to try anything they could to draw their attention. Probably what Big W and his friends were worried about yesterday.

Anywho, Yuriko was here now because she wanted to explore. The mega building was a longstride to a side, and nearly twice that in height. There was a lot going on inside it, not just residential apartments. The way she read it, the mega building was something called an arcology, and was practically a city in its own right. This one right here had a population of more than a hundred thousand.

Well, she was headed downwards to look for furniture, clothes, and maybe a few weapons. She would normally just use her Radiant sunblades, and she had a dozen or so miniaturised hidden under her clothes, but when she moved a sunblade beyond her Anima reach, her active Anima not just her perception range, she felt the canvas of reality push back. She could do it, she intuited, but something might happen. Something might pay attention that she couldn’t afford to draw. So weapons, guns probably, would be of use, and she’d keep her sunblades to close-quarters combat.

She was humming as she arrived at the lift lobby. It was full of people already, most of them queuing by the lift entrances. Yuriko, now knowing that the lifts were controlled by panels and buttons beside the door once inside, could also show her, through her Autotab or visor, what floors they serviced and which ones were commercial or shopping floors. She pointed her tab at each of the lifts and got the morning rush schedule. Apparently, to facilitate getting workers to their jobs on time, from six o’clock to eight o’clock in the morning, the lifts only went to a specific range of floors.

There was a shopping centre down on floors 101-105, and even though there was one on the upper floors, 161-165 if her memory serves her right, none of the lifts went up there. While she could easily climb the stairs, she rather not do it while lugging furniture around.

Hmm, Gwendith, Heron, Saki, and Devotee were doing their own exploration, mostly in a bid to look for ways to earn ACs. They also needed to go and re-register at the Adventurers' Guild Hall, but their appointment wasn’t until three days later, so they had nothing much to do other than explore. Well, find a job, maybe? Not that she’d want to, but she wasn’t sure if the others would like that. Devotee and Desire worked for a hot springs inn, after all, though it was mostly to gain access to Chaos.

The atmosphere here was thin when it came to Elemental energies, but as she felt when she came through the gate, there was a smidgen of ambient Chaos. A tiny, tiny percentage of the air, but it was enough so that Devotee wasn’t wrung dry. It also meant that Ryoko and Saki wouldn’t be able to regenerate Animus through the ambient Chaos, but both girls could siphon the ambient Elemental energies and use it to regenerate anyway.

When the lift doors opened, Yuriko shuffled in with the rest of the people in line. It was a tighter squeeze than she was used to. Someone pressed up against her back, two on each side, and in front. Her condensed aura kept them from really touching her, so she didn’t really mind. The lift stopped at the hundred and tenth floor, and some people got out. Then it moved down floor by floor until they wound up on the hundred and first, right where she was going. It skipped floors 102 to 104 though, but when she exited the lift, she found out why.

The shopping centre was all five floors combined in such a way that it looked like a huge floor. The ceiling panels shed down sunlight, and the entire floor was an open plan, with buildings and all that. There were even pockets of greenery, though on closer inspection, the trees weren’t really trees.

Most of the people who rode down the lift with her were employees, she thought, though shouldn’t they come down here earlier than the public? Well, it turned out, according to the info bit that was shot into her tab, that the First Hundred Shopping District was open all day and all night.

Her perception spread out to give her a map…then she hesitated and prodded her tab to give her the floor map. It beeped and displayed the Shopping District map, complete with labels and blurbs, as well as little icons that gave her an idea of what's what. Well, the first thing she needed to do was get new clothes. While her traveller’s outfit somewhat fit in, it was already a couple of years old and she was sorta tired of it.

Hmm, there was an icon that had a shit on it? She tapped on it and it expanded to show a shopfront with the name written in light tubes. Neon lights, as they were called, though she wasn’t sure what that actually meant, but the brightness of the lights and the vivid colours were quite eye-catching. Ah, the shop was named Blacklight Threads. It was only a few blocks away so she meandered towards it. Despite the early morning, there was already a crowd, though they were heading to what was labelled as a food court. There were too many icons cluttering up the screen, so Yuriko didn’t bother looking. She’d go there after clothes shopping!

When she arrived in front of Blacklight Threads and entered the shop, she hummed in appreciation. It looked more like an armoury than anything else, really, since there were complete outfits, which were labelled as armour, on mannequins displayed in a neat row.

She was sure they had casual clothes…she hoped they had casual clothes, but then again, maybe she should look elsewhere? She looked at her tab and fiddled with the search function. This was rather convenient, wasn’t it? Better than figuring things out with her perception aura, huh?

Well, she checked the shop first and changed her mind. Their aesthetic was quite close to what her traveller’s outfit looked like, though there was no shopkeeper to entertain her questions. Instead, there was an attempt at connecting with her Autotab, which she allowed, which then showed her a catalogue of their services, as well as a price point. Just as interesting was a model of herself in the middle of the screen. It was exactly what she looked like right now, complete with her braid, every strand of hair in place. It wasn’t updating in real-time, however, simply a snapshot of when she entered the building.

Inside a side panel were different sets of clothing and when she tapped on one, it replaced her current outfit with it. She fiddled with the choices and eventually picked a few sets that were similar enough to her current gear, save that the tights and the overcoat had different shades of neon colour running up and down the sides, and the sleeves. Pretty and it stood out, but she was never one for hiding anyway, much as she tried to, it just never worked in the long run.

Happy with the selection, she paid the thousand AC bill per set and was four thousand ACs poorer. After a wait of a few minutes, the first set was fabricated and a light trail lit up on the floor to lead her to a changing room. The set included underwear, and they were incredibly comfortable. It didn’t have any self-cleaning functions, but Gwendith told her that they would need to purchase a laundry device anyway. Besides, Dragon Fall City didn’t use runescript, as far as she could see.

Their technology was run on something called circuitry, and it was powered by harnessed Lightning. Electricity, Yuriko thought. The concept of it, the Ennoia of Lightning and Electricity was…prominent in this place. It was right there, just out of sight, reachable if she just stretched her mental fingers. But she refrained. Her Ennoia of the Radiant Flying Swords was in flux with the introduction of the Metal Phase of the Sword. She needed to stabilise that before she introduced another variable. To make her long-winded and specific Ennoia into one that was a general Ennoia, the Ennoia of the Sword, it must also be all-encompassing. Shallow knowledge and foundations would only make the Ennoia weak.

Still, nothing was stopping her from just browsing. As long as she didn’t connect it to swordplay, the Ennoias wouldn’t merge.

Yuriko hummed as she examined the next couple of clothing sets she bought. The second one was reminiscent of what she wore when she was thirteen. Greyish loafers, black tights that showed off every curve of her legs, a white tank top, and a blue hoodie with a white v stripe across her bosom. A couple of strings dangled from her lapels as a method to tiger the hood. Hmm, did her hair fit under the thing? She pulled it over and found that it did, though it’d have to be in braids to do so.

The third outfit was a bit more risque, but she’d leave it for her lovers to enjoy, while the fourth one was a casual sundress with a halter top that she liked the style of. Hmm, she should bring Ryoko or Gwendith down here sometime, to help her coordinate her fashion.

She had the outfits packed up and sent them to be delivered to her apartments for an additional 500 AC fee, then she wandered back outside.

Her footsteps brought her to a nearby shop and her eyes widened in delight.

Simon & Garoll: Guns & Ammo.