Arc 1: A Witch’s Request Chapter 3: Weird Meat (Part 1)

2:21 am, June 19, 2483. W Meats.
There was only one place that Declan knew that would sell meat and was within reasonable distance of the middle layers of New Kowloon. And that was W Meats.

It was less of a butcher’s, and more of a slaughterhouse and distribution centre, doing the dirty work, then shipping it off to buyers all over New Kowloon. It was a bleak, grey warehouse, built next to the even bleaker skywalk of Industrial Zone 1. Industrial Zone 1 was the last fully functioning, ‘honest’ group of factories and warehouses from back when New Kowloon was actually meant to be lived in, which wasn’t saying much as Declan still had to hop over rusty pipes, and wonder with each step on the skywalk whether it would finally give way and send him tumbling to his death. But at last, he and Tori stepped off the skywalk to face a large warehouse locked behind a chain link fence. They were here.

“Gods, this place gives me the creeps.” Declan muttered as Tori helped him hop over the chain-link fence.

“Why, it’s just dead animals. They can’t hurt ya.” Tori said, looking at him like one would look at a poor, lost child.

“Stop looking at me like I’m a wuss,” Declan scowled. “I’ve got a perfectly good reason to be wary about this place…”

As with any well-working establishment in New Kowloon, there was a catch to W Meats: it was run by a rather vicious gang, and there was often speculation that it was a rather creative method of disposing of their victims. Declan shuddered. He usually wasn’t one to feed into rumour and speculation, but he couldn’t lie: it was probably true.

They waited for the security camera to turn to the other side of the yard before they dashed to the safety of an awning.

But that being said, as a gang-affiliated location, W Meats would definitely keep a close eye on those that either worked for them or did business with them. And so, it was almost guaranteed they would have an expansive records list, which was virtually impossible for Ou not to be on. But first, they needed to actually find a way in.

“That vent is probably our best option since the doors are all locked from the inside.” Declan said, watching the metal grate that was supposed to be covering the opening swing limply off one screw. Someone as large as Tori would face a lot of difficulty if they tried to force their way in, so…

“Don’t die while I leave you,” Declan warned Tori as he carefully calculated the distance up to the vent.

“Wait, what are you-“

“I’ll open that door over there with the cow skull spray-painted on it, just stay out of sight of the security cameras, bye!”

Then, in a blink, Declan was now shimmying away into the vent high above.

“O-okay…”

Tori looked up at her vent with a hint of concern. Declan surely would not know the layout of these vents. He had said it was his first time coming to the area personally on the way here, but since he seemed so eager, he must have a plan, right? Right. She just needed to have more faith in him, that was it.

It was quiet here, unnervingly so, especially in such a place as New Kowloon, where the night and early morning was when the people of the city came alive, but there was nothing, no people, no chatter, not even the sounds of fighting and gunfire. Just silence. It was like she had walked into a part of New Kowloon which had never moved on from its past, when it was an actual, liveable city.

Even the harsh neon glow of the city lights seemed distant, almost looking like stars. It almost looked beautiful.

But who was she kidding? This was still the same city she’d always known, with its ever-increasing crime rate and death toll. Even at its quietest, there was always the sense of violence lingering just around the corner.

She glanced at the security camera, making sure it was turned away, before she made her way to the precarious metal railing surrounding the facility. It would probably take a while for Declan to be finished with whatever he was doing in there, so it would be safer for her to stay on the edges of the premises, where the security cameras couldn’t reach.

The night was still too quiet for her tastes. Silence made her think, and when she thought for too long, she got existential. Which was of course what was happening now. Of all places and times to be alive, what was doing here in New Kowloon in the year 2483? Sure, it just happened to be where and when Declan had found her and booted her up out of hibernation, but that didn’t make her any less confused.

There was something she never told anyone else, but some part of her half-human, half-machine brain still clung to this one tiny scrap of memory, of her life before… all this happened. Of a woman in a lab coat, Tori remembered calling her ‘Mother’. But she must be long dead now, seeing how she left Tori to freeze in a stasis capsule, as Declan called it, but it still left her with so many questions, too many questions even… who was she? Was she even Tori? Who was this ‘Mother’? What happened to her?

Tori sighed. There was no point in asking that sort of question now, it was like what that kid told her when she first started asking questions: “What would be the use? Past is past, you better start looking to the present and future if you want to survive.”

He had a point, but he also couldn’t stop her from wondering…

Then, the silent early morning was broken by the sound of a scuffle coming from a platform before. The sounds of men shouting, and footsteps running along metal. Was that Declan? Was he in trouble?

Tori leaned over the edge, peering underneath, but it was not her boss, but rather, a young woman dashed past, pursued by some lumbering thugs. Her ash-blonde hair was tied back into a small ponytail, and she did not appear fearful, instead only determined to escape her pursuers. But unfortunately, her path was blocked, and she was left without escape. However, the woman did not back down, instead twirling a cleaver in her gloved hand, before performing a deadly slice to one of the thug’s necks, practiced and swift. She watched as the thug fell to the ground, blood spurting from his wound. The woman was strong, but there was no way she could hold her ground against this number of people. Especially as the one thug she had felled began to stand back up again.

Not to mention, there was something about her…

Hold on, isn’t that-

Tori’s train of thought stopped as someone clapped a strange smelling cloth over her mouth, which almost immediately made her vision blurry and wobbly, and dragged her into the darkness.

Maybe going through the vents was a dumb idea.

That was the thought that hit Declan as he crawled through the tight metal tunnels of the vents. First of all, wow, these things were a lot louder than he expected. Each movement that he made through them sent a clanging noise ringing out. Not even the large fans, whose whirring filled the entire space, could seem to drown it out. It got better as he got used to navigating in the claustrophobic space, but not as good that he didn’t worry that each step could give him away. Something which was worsened by the fact that he couldn’t hear anything going on either.

Secondly, these vents were a downright maze, with each branch leading off to dead ends and more crossroads. Maybe he should have found a map or something. But at least he was making some progress. As he headed down his current stretch of vents, he noticed a light at the end. Looked like he had made it to an opening into the building. He moved close enough to peer down it, only to see a storeroom of snuffling pigs. It didn’t look very hygienic, and smelled worse, and there were what appeared to be a few workers still walking around. This room would not be a viable exit point. He slowly backtracked to the last crossroads.

The next opening came out sideways, leading into a hallway. Declan looked through the slots, only to see it abuzz with activity.

“Did that one escape?” a guard-like person yelled to another walking the opposite way.

“Must’ve, but she cant’ve gone far, the muscle are going to be on her like a hawk.”

Another unsafe exit point. But Declan couldn’t help but wonder what was going on here. Was W Meats hiding a prisoner? Maybe those rumours about the meat were true after all. But still, he pressed on.

Finally, he came to another top-down opening, this one leading into a small office-like room. There was nobody there, and there didn’t appear to be any security cameras nearby either. Perfect.

Declan teleported down into the office, and begun looking around. The one small desk in the room was littered with documents. He sifted through them, realising that they were mostly personnel files on the employees of the gang. He paused on one file in particular.

A photo of an ash blonde women with mouth curved into a frown stared back at him.

OU FANG
Age: 22
Sex: Female
Job: Butcher

Now that made a lot of sense, actually. So she was a worker here after all. That meant that this place could offer more information on the missing woman, however, as he picked up the paper to take a closer look, a huge red stamp on the bottom of the page drew his attention.

COMPROMISED

Now what could that mean? Declan sighed, carefully folded the document, and slid it into one of his pockets. It was probably some gang thing. Right now, his current mission was to get Tori in.

He carefully edged through the hallways, avoiding the guards and the cameras alike. When he got to the door he promised he’d open, he was surprised to see no guards anywhere. That was weird. But maybe they all had to be somewhere else, if what the guards said about someone escaping was to be believed. He made short work of the latches, and swung open the door.

“Yo Tori… Tori?”

There was no sign of that blue-haired cyborg, only the silent and empty night.

“Godammit, I told her not to die!”