Chapter XIX : Lost

Connor woke up. He was laying on the sand or the dirt filled ground. A wind blew him as he felt A sense of relief seeing the sun. But the sense of relief won't be there for long. He'd get up Breathing heavily and sweating profusely. In his horror he saw the minecart rolled over and in flames. But he couldn't spot Scarlett. He ran to the flaming minecart and used his jacket to blow out the flames trying to search for Scarlett. He couldn't find her. He didn't know what happened or if all of that was just a bad dream. He would be utterly confused about where he is. He couldn't find Scarlett in all the debris. He would give up searching for her as it would be a waste of his time. He would start walking to the East, All sweaty and the hot sun.

Eventually he walked, avoiding any contact or attention to the aliens. He would find himself in the Farlands. His jacket over his shoulder. He would gaze upon the City, seeing lights and merely destroyed buildings. A Cyberpunk-like dystopian wasteland. Connor would walk up to the Front entrance, Gates Surrounding the city, with full protection 24/7. It was only until then he realized how small the city was, The Walls surrounding the city would be around 12 feet tall. He would see the front gate, a Metallic Steel door, in front of the Empty road, Suddenly the door would slowly open, Forbidden would enter the Guarded city seeing all the lights and street vendors, selling what looks to be Rotten flesh. The city is Alive to say the least. People walking and buying stuff in the local market like they’re not living in an alien filled world. Connor would look around in awe, this was the first ever time he had ever visited this City. He always imagined it to be a wasteland with Drunk and high humans, But it was the opposite. A soccer ball would suddenly roll over to Connor, He would see a few kids playing soccer, they seemed Poor but nevertheless happy. Connor would look down at the ball, and kick it back to the children, as they continued on they’re little game. Connor would see the children play, getting distracted, not noticing a Street vendor pushing their cart, accidentally hitting Connor. The Cart would fall over as the weird soup he was selling, The Big man looked around 6'7 feet tall, His right arm would be robotic, and would have a long pointed edge. One of his eyes was missing, and he would have very dirty messy hair.

“HEY watch your steps, You know how much i spent on that soup.!” The Vendor shouted in anger trying to pick up whatever meat was left on the ground.
“Sorry i’m so sorry, Do you need any credits, I'll pay you for the damages” Connor said in a very worried and panicking Tone, trying to pull out his wallet out of his pants.
“No.. No.. it’s alright, It was an honest mistake.” The Vendor kindly and strangely said.

Connor was confused and didn’t really know how to react. Suddenly Connor would feel a slight discomfort, like someone was spying on him, he would look around. But It seemed like no one was looking or even caring for him. He started walking randomly on the sidewalk and at a moment's notice he would get tackled, to the Alleyway, Connor would be stunned, he would be backed up against the brick wall. The person would be a hooded girl wearing a red cloth mask covering her mouth. She was blonde with blue eyes, she would shush Connor.

“Don’t make a sound.” The Mysterious girl said. Connor nodded
A Group of cops would be scouting the area, fortunately the shadows would block they’re view of the Girl and Connor. The Cops would leave the premises quickly since it was a relatively empty spot.

“You're from the SoE right?” The girl said
“How can you tell?” Connor said.
“Pretty obvious from the Nametag and those badges.” The Girl said.
“Wait, why did you tackle me here?” Connor questioned.

The Girl held Connor’s hand and pulled him deeper into the alleyway.
They stopped.
“Wait, I didn't get your name?” Connor said.
“My name's Aurora, Yours?” Aurora replied.
“Connor… Connor Forbidden…. Connor Forbidden Mrkemms” Connor replied.
“That’s a Nice name.” Aurora replied.

They would be at the edge of the alleyway, A Dark corner, filled with trash. On they’re left a locked door, and a Cat poster that seems to be rotting away.

“Why do you want me here?” Connor said, Mesmerized by Aurora.
“We needed to tell someone from the SoE this… But we could never leave the premises, since we were considered Criminals by the Farlands” Aurora replied.

“Wait…. Who’s We?” Connor asked

Aurora would rip the cat poster from the wall and leave it at the floor, behind the cat poster would be a Passcode lock, She entered a jumble of numbers. Connor still confused, walks over next to Aurora, Suddenly the Locked door opens to a secret room inside the buildings next to them.

“I’ll tell you who’s “We”” Aurora replied, holding Connor’s Hand and pulling him inside to the building. Connor, still confused about all of this, decided to follow along in this game, Following Aurora. The Room would be dimly lit. And a few more cat posters would be hung on the wall. There was nothing much to this room, But it was below the room that was interesting, Aurora would open a secret trapdoor, The trapdoor would open revealing a flight of stairs leading to an underground Tunnel. Aurora went down, and Connor hesitantly followed. The flight of stairs would lead into a room, The walls were torn and old. And it had a bunch of bunk beds. Next to one of the bunk beds was a door and a sign that said “Do not enter” on it.

“This place was a Subway tunnel, but we repurposed it as a living space for the Poor of the Farlands,” Aurora said.

“What do you mean by ‘poor of the Farlands’” Connor questioned.
“Well we’re kinda Criminals, but you promise not to report us?” Aurora replied.
“Well let’s see how it goes then I'll decide” Connor replied.

Aurora would enter a room. The room was a bar of sorts with three round tables with a bunch of people. The people were there playing card games and having a jolly good time. Connor would eventually enter following Aurora, Aurora would start walking, passing all the sweaty and big people inside the Bar. Eventually Aurora Stopped and Connor was right behind her. She would be in front of a table full of weird but interesting looking people all presumably from different backgrounds.

“Ahh Aurora, come take a seat” The Leader Hans said.
“Thank you Hans and may my friend join us, he's part of the Saviors” Aurora replied
“Saviors eh, You want us to talk about the thing?”Hans cunningly said.
“Yes, I brought him here to talk about it,” Aurora replied.
The Person sitting next to Hans, would whisper to his ear.

“Let him sit.” Hans said.

Connor would sit down on an empty chair next to Aurora.

“Connor, this is Hans, the leader of the group.” Aurora said. Hans would be a big guy around 6 foot, he has himself a robotic leg and arm Connor quickly noticed. Next to him a quiet man holding a gun, a weird helmet, similar to Boba fett's helmet from Star wars, just painted black with red markings. He wears the same coloured armor, with thorns around his helmet.

“I can see you staring at me. My name's Val” The Helmet warrior said. Val would start shuffling the card and giving the cards to the people on the table.
“Val… Nice name” Connor said. He grabbed the cards that Val had given him.
“Yea.. yea” Val said in an ominous tone, like he’s suspicious of Connor.

“Ignore him, he’s… well not much to say really…. Anyways that’s Wittlestar over there” Hans said, pointing to the Bearded guy with a cunning face. Wearing a brown leather jacket.
“And that over there is James, you can call him Richard if you want” Hans pointed at a Ginger boy, Looks like a teen, wearing a tank top.
Val would draw a card.

“So uhh what was the thing you needed me for” Connor asked.
“We found something the SoE might want to know, We couldn’t get to ya guys sooner because we can’t leave the city without a million cops chasing and shooting us down” Hans said.

Hans pulled out a device and threw it on the table. As it hit the table the device would turn on, and a hologram would pop out in the middle of the table. The hologram would be of a familiar face. Rubix, The Princess. Connor would be interested. The Hologram was a message, and The Hologram said as followed;

“Rubix log 501. This is a message to Boss: Make sure that all equipment and supplies are ready before we are able to bring the Mothership to Earth, we are close to the mothership's arrival date, and The Queen will not be happy if this takeover is delayed. I am very disappointed with the progress we’ve made currently. Follow your order, they are very clear, if you are interrupted by the Savior, Do not give them mercy, All clear. Thank you, Princess Rubix.”

“Where did you even get this” Connor said whilst he grasped on the device.

Hans grabbed the device from his hand and said. “We got this from a mysterious individual”

Val interrupted the conversation “Her name was Vic. She was a piece of shit.”

“Woah calm down there Val, She might've manipulated you, But she gave us a very important piece of information, that could possibly change the tide of the war” Hans replied.

Connor’s face lit up a bit after hearing the name Vic…

“Vic.. Vic… Victoria.?” Connor said.

“Yea. She said her name was Victoria Sco-something I couldn't remember.” Val replied

“Scotterson” Connor corrected.

“Yea. Yea. Whatever” Val Responds.

“She's an SoE member… Red short hair, Petite body? “ Connor hesitantly said

“Exactly.” Val said.

“Wait what do you mean she's an SoE member?” Hans asked.

“She was an SoE member, One of the smartest members. She worked with Scarlett for the Solaris Project. But she was kidnapped by the bloodhounds. When we tried to save her, She couldn't be found. But she returned to the Base shortly after. Before the SoE's heist.” Connor replied.

“Welp, I hate to break it to you, But during those times, She was with us. The Scumbag criminals of the Farlands.” Val replied.