"We have to find somewhere for you to rest soon," Kiana warned Mei. "You're getting heavier."
"I'm not that fat."
"Should have eaten less buns. Besides, I can feel the storm inside of you."
"Stupid useless body," Mei grizzled.
"What's changed? Before you were in complete control."
"Remember how I spanked you hard?"
Kiana snorted as the pair stumbled along. Mei chuckled.
"I could spank you ten times over now."
"That makes no sense."
"Too much power and not enough room. I can either explode or implode. If I keep pushing it inward then nothing leaks out. No excess Honkai energy. No Herrscher energy signature either."
"And the alternative?"
"Then this city starts to glow and nothing is left but zombies."
The Herrscher of Lightning reached out and tapped Kiana's chest.
"You don't want that thing inside. I do. So I've much more power. The problem is I was a repressed little wall flower. Didn't practice much Honkai energy control. I'm learning on the run. Isn't easy. I'll acknowledge you learning to do as much as you have here in Arc City is rather impressive."
"I didn't want to hurt people again. I had to learn."
Mei didn't argue. Kiana had hidden within Arc City for months. Ignoring her was foolish. The pair slowed down their pace. Two more friends out for a stroll. Mei knew vaguely where they were going and gestured in one direction. They chose to cut across a park. Others were about. Couples. Families. People working late. Some marvelled as the greenery slick with rain. The others gazed up at the clearing skies. Conversations that were theirs alone. Worlds wholly separate and blissfully unaware of the danger clawing at the edges of reality. It was these blameless and decent people that Kiana and Mei fought for. For the normal people who did not deserve the terror of the truth.
"So where did you say Tesla was?" Kiana asked.
"Hiding in plain sight. You haven't met Ningyo. She's an assistant of sorts. They actually found work whilst I went on my little quest across the planet trying to find you. Right now Einstein wouldn't Tesla recognise them if they bumped into one another."
"The name of the business?"
"Let me think now. The o… well it was… ahh…"
Mei halted. The damp heat pressed inward. It drowned the senses. It pooled on skin. A heady malaise sinking into the mind.
"I know I should… well it's… no… I—"
Fumbling words and errant thoughts crackled within Mei. Sentences merged. Words oozed by. Thoughts were sticky and damp.
All sense of balance left her.
Mei slumped to the ground, one arm held uselessly by Kiana. Sound turned into white noise and vision lost all colour. She couldn't even feel her body anymore. The world was nothing but the thumping of her heart.
Static.
…
…
…
"I— drink—just wait—"
Something warm lay under Mei's head. Her vision was blurred and her eyes slow to move. Eventually the oily smudge came back into focus. Looking down on her with naked concern were Kiana's crystal blue eyes. She ran a gloved hand softly over Mei's brow.
"Mei-chan?" she asked in a very gentle voice.
"Sorry, Kiana-chan, for making you worry."
A sincere little smile crept along Kiana's face.
"That sounds like the Mei I know."
Mei settled further into the warm pillow. She closed her eyes and focussed on taking each breath slowly and carefully.
"What happened?" Mei asked in a low voice.
"You just started babbling. Your voice sounded weird and you didn't seem to know what you were saying. Then you just collapsed. It caught me by surprise. I wasn't sure what to do. A few people noticed us and looked ready to call for medical aid. I assured them it was just the humidity. Someone offered to help carry you over to a bench."
A curious thought tickled Mei's mind. She slowly lifted a hand and reached up to her head. The hand rested on her pillow and gave it a poke. Kiana squirmed a little.
"A lap-pillow? How forward of you." Mei teased.
Kiana's cheeks were tinted pink. A throaty chuckle came from the sadistically inclined Mei. The thumping of footsteps interrupted the moment. A woman stepped out of the gloom and into the streetlight that illuminated the park bench.
"I've drinks for the two of you," the woman announced.
"Thank you," Kiana replied and accept the beverage.
Mei looked up to the new arrival. The woman's age was nebulous, with cheery green eyes and neon blue hair in a pixie cut. She offered the carbonated drink to Mei. With unsure hands Mei clutched the bottle and took a sip.
"Happens to tourists all the time," the woman ventured. "They don't realise how bad the humidity gets. Then it's fuzzy head and a dirt-nap."
Mei sipped her drink and glared at the woman with slitted eyes. She didn't like this one already.
"So, where you heading?" the woman continued.
"We're just out for the night," Kiana replied.
"Mmm. And afterwards? Heading back to a hotel or looking for somewhere?"
The woman sipped her own drink, gently rocking back and forth on her heels. Something about her made Mei want to flick her on the nose.
"Why the questions?" Mei asked with undisguised suspicion.
"Well I kinda want the job."
"Job?"
The woman gestured all around.
"Arc City is a big place and people get easily lost. Especially all the recent arrivals. I'm a private guide. Help people find what they want. 100% discretion guarantee. If I blabbered, then I wouldn't have survived this long."
Mei made to sit up. A wave of nausea quashed that plan. Irritation followed. Finally resignation. Her mind was still full of static and unvarnished confusion. Her memories were all over the place. Thoughts discombobulated. The name and location of the business where Telsa and Ningyo hid was lost in the roiling soup.
"Kiana, if I told you that the place where our friends were staying has the image of two carp circling a black and white mountain, would that sound familiar?"
Kiana had been in Arc City far longer than Mei. The woman still shook her head. Mei didn't need to look in the direction of the unwanted bundle of energy and irritation. She could read the atmosphere alone.
"We don't need your help," Mei insisted.
"Like I said, tourists get lost here all the time."
"We're not tourists."
"Yeah and I'm secretly a Herrscher."
The two seated women froze up a little. The blue-haired girl chuckled loudly.
"Wow. You two are adorable. All jokes aside do you want my services or not?"
"How much?" Kiana asked.
The woman held up one hand with several fingers extended.
"Seems suspiciously cheap."
"That's per hour."
"Seems suspiciously expensive."
The woman shrugged.
"If I'm screwing you then you two can work me over a little. You don't get a fighting physique like that on a whim."
Mei's expression cooled again. Violet eyes fixed the would-be-guide in place.
"You've good eyes."
"Part of my job. I don't want clients killing me after I've done my part. Happened once or two. Ran really fast."
Mei finally gave an approving nod.
"You're not stupid then."
"Girl's gotta find a living in Arc City. Stupidity doesn't keep you alive long."
Mei extended a hand toward Kiana. Taking the hint, Kiana grabbed it, rested her other hand behind Mei's back and slowly eased the woman into a seating position. That act alone left her feeling like her brain would disintegrate. Keeping the bubbling storm within was all she could do. The silver-haired girl gave Mei a defeated smile.
"We'll take your offer," Kiana said. "Payment on arrival."
"Cool. Well. First things first."
The guide wandered over to the pair and knelt. She made a motion for Mei to set most of her weight on the woman. Not foolish enough to ignore the gesture, Mei balance herself between the guide and Kiana, gently standing up.
"May I ask your name?" Mei inquired.
"Polished manners you have there, dear customer. I'm Amarant. Welcome to Arc City."
"Pump has died again," one of the staff yelled from the corridor.
"What are you people doing!" Tesla shouted back. "I just finished with the two boilers and you've got me going and repairing the pump. Again. Twice. This week."
The fiery redhead gritted her teeth. Her wild hair was done up in a tight braid, a headband keeping it from falling into her eyes. Finishing with the wiring of the room she closed the light switch and tapped the lapel mic.
"Turn on the grid for guest quarters 2," she ordered.
"Hai," Ningyo replied calmly.
Tapping her feet for three beats, Tesla leant forward and flicked the light switch. The bulb flickered several times before coming to life.
'Keep me on just to replace these aged circuits. I think I've fully upgraded every bit of the bathhouse's grid since starting here. Now they just need to buy some halfway decent light bulbs and a pump that works.'
Tesla loaded up her toolbox and made her way toward the outbuilding where the pumps lived. She'd come to learn every single centimetre of that shed. Rust. Dust. Oil leaks. Diesel smell when the power grid failed.
Tesla didn't like that shed much anymore.
Ningyo met up with Tesla just near the entrance. Like Tesla, she wore overalls and reliable work boots. The two had various tools and gloves hanging from their belts. To anyone entering the bathhouse they were seasoned maintenance staff.
"Hey, Freddie, you've a guest," a waitress passed on the message as she wandered by with a stack of linen in her hands.
"Guest?"
"Three girls just showed up and started asking for you."
Tesla set her toolbox down for a second and opened it. She closed the box after fitting on her nuke-lear gauntlet. Ningyo didn't ask. The pair negotiated their way down the corridors.
"Someone lookin' for me?" Tesla asked the receptionist.
"We asked them to rest in one of the waiting rooms."
Tesla and Ningyo walked into one of the adjoining rooms. She shut the door firmly behind and surveyed her 'guests.' Seated on the floor were three women. One was the Herrscher Tesla was familiar with from the photo's given to her. The second was some random. The third and tallest was propped up by the other two.
"Mei!" Tesla called out.
Her travelling companion looked up and gave a weak smile.
"Hiya."
Tesla slowly looked the woman up and down. There were no obvious injuries. Still, something was clearly off.
"Let's get you inside and we—"
"Caution Dr Tesla, Frederica. High Herrscher energy levels detected," Ningyo announced.
'Stupid cyborg doesn't understand the meaning of caution or discretion.'
The cyborg had crept up beside Tesla without making a sound. Tesla glared at Ningyo before looking to their unnamed guest. Realising all pretence of subtlety was gone she gestured towards Kiana.
"That would be this—"
"No, Dr Tesla, Frederica. Mei, Raiden, is the source."
Tesla let out a low hiss.
"What have you done this time?" she growled.
"Gotten stronger," Mei answered.
"And stupider," Tesla muttered
Amarant, the previously quiet third wheel, had frozen. Panic lit up her face. Eyes twitched between the strangers.
The butt of Kiana's gun pressed against her spine. There was no going back. No negotiation. Their guide was now a prisoner.
"Well, I guess that could have been handled better," Dr Tesla admitted. "Cats out of the bag. You're stuck with us now, girl."
The doctor-turned-mechanic spun around and made a following motion before heading back into the bathhouse.
"Welcome to the Smiling Carp Bathhouse."