Notes at the end
Prologue
"Oh Come on Man! Keep running! PubSec Can't Follow us if we make it to the Hollow!"
Two Gangsters ran down an alleyway, Closely followed by three Public security officers.
"Stop! Don't you Dare go into that Hollow!" One of them screamed, a Feline Officer, Running Full-Tilt towards the two.
"Oh come on! Man, I'm not built for all this running!" The other gangster screamed, Although his gait changed drastically as he saw the Officer Assume a Murderous Sprint in an attempt to catch them.
"OKAY! RUNNING!" The Two turned another corner, barely making it into the Hollow before the Feline Officer was forced to stop.
"Damn!" he came screeching to a halt, stopping just a hair's Breadth from the hollow.
"Cantrice! Permissions to Enter?" He said, Pale hair bobbing just in front of his face.
The other officers, thoroughly out of breath and lagging behind, opt to halt, only one of the other officers, a Black-haired woman puts her hand to her radio and calls:
"Huhg- This is Cantrice. Requesting permission to- Hooo- To Follow the Suspects into the Dead-End Hollow." She caught her breath as she said it, Hunching over.
Dispatch responded swiftly.
"Negative. The white star Institute wants this badly however await backup. Most of you don't have the Ether Resistance to pursue a chase."
The two winded officers agreed, however the Feline man grit his teeth, opting to obey orders.
Meanwhile the two Gangsters slowed down slightly, opting to go for a Light jog.
"Oh God. Did they finally stop?" The smaller of the two Gangsters breathed out, Leading the two into a small alley in the hollow.
"Uhh. yeah. I think. Christ that Cat Thiren Officer was Persistent." The two slowed down to a complete stop, The smaller of the two looking through his bag.
"Say Bro, what do you say we Look at what was in the Cache?" He pulled out a small Lockbox, Flimsy, but still with a lock on it.
"I dunno Bro, Didn't Bossman say that he wanted it in pristine condition? I'm not even sure if its the right one either. It was surprisingly easy to get."
"Well all the more reason to check then right?" The Goon Took his weapon- A Crowbar- and pried the lock off the box.
Inside was…
"A Piece of paper?"
"It's nice paper."
"Well, I guess. But its still just a piece of paper. We risked our necks at the White star to get this?!"
"It has something written on it."
Inspecting it further, The smaller goon tilted his head a bit at reading it.
"Yeah I don't understand any of this."
All the Letters on the paper were connected to numbers and shapes, Not exactly something either goons understood.
"Ah. Let's just get back. And hope that the boss doesn't' punish us too hard for peeking."
"Ah why do you care. He's not even the head of the Gang, he won't care that much." The Smaller goon closes the box with the paper inside, as the two scurry off to their hideout.
Meanwhile
A Makeshift lab deep in the Dead end hollow housed about twenty people, Each of differing Appearance and background, The most striking of which being a pallid Man in a Red and White blazer, with Fancy-ass Trousers, a striking difference between the Basic Red Fang Gang members around, most of which wearing Respirators to some capacity.
"Ah yes! Soon we shall have enough sedatives and Ether Resistance serum to Indefinitely stay within Even Hollow Zero! Say- How's Your operations coming along Petor?"
"It's Percy."
"Same thing, How's your progress?"
The man he addressed "Petor" now Gestured over to the Ether Resistance Serum he was working on. "Petor" stood at a whopping 6'2 and bore the resemblance of a Wise old man, Though he was scarcely thirty.
"It's about 65% Pure. Though The White star institute and other companies can get up to 95. But since its so easy to make, Getting Hundreds or thousands of them shouldn't be an issue."
The Man Laughed, a hearty but Financially stable laugh.
"Good man Petor!"
"Hey boss, i got a couple concerns." Another Gang member stated, Alligator Thiren, female and nearly as tall as Petor tapped on her boss's shoulder, the man having to look up to look her in the eye.
"Right, Lolita- What's your concern."
"Well its… Huh?" She asked, interrupting her self as she realized what she was called.
"Lolita- Your concern?" He said, trying to nudge her along.
"I-... What part of this says Lolita?" She gestured to herself, wearing the same Yellow Hazmat suit the other chemists wore while also having the Custom-fitted Respirator on her face.
"It's in your vibe. But what's your concern, I don't have all day." "Lolita" Rolled her eyes and said:
"Well My primary concern is that The Sedatives can't quite get up to snuff- being made here in a hollow. Ignoring the Risky Supply lines we have running into the Hollow and the Dead-End butcher, Some of the Raw Materials we require to make sedatives aren't Ether resistant enough to survive long-term exposure. The Deviancy rate on the Sedatives can reach like, 12%. Which in layman's terms means that It will effectively poison people."
"I see your Apprehension Dear Lolita-"
"It's Izabelle."
"Whatever, But that's where the Serum comes in. It doesn't matter if the product isn't 100% effective, Nothing is, Not condoms, not Vaccines. But Having two layers of protection is why we're here."
"That's… Alright then sir." "Lolita" says, despite having the look of her wanting to say more in her eyes, but she merely turned away back to her own work station.
"Alright, now any minute we should be getting-"
It was at this moment that the Doors to the Lab swung open, with the two goons carrying the Lockbox arrived.
"Hey Boss! We got it!" The smaller Goon shouted, Presenting the Box above his head.
"Oh wow you two actually did it." The Boss blinked a few times, realizing he said it out loud.
"I mean, My favorite Subordinates! Tito!-"
"I'm Toji." Said the smaller
"And Alphonse!"
"It's Alberto." The Larger one said.
"Potato Pototo. I see you got my Lockbox from the Vile Institute. Open it up, Open it up!" He said giddily, not even acknowledging the fact the lock is broken open.
"Tito" Tenaciously opens the box, revealing the piece of paper, which is snatched up by the boss almost immediately, Opening it and scrunching his nose.
"Uhhh. Percy! Come over here, What does this mean?"
The aforementioned man approaches, picking the piece of paper up, tilting his head.
"Well its a piece of paper detailing… Some Chemical compound. Can't say I know this one off the top of my head."
While this piques the interest of a few chemists, the most of them just resume work.
"I see. Well, You two, Did Public security follow you?"
"Only up to the Hollow sir! There's no way that they'll find us, We even lured ethereals to block the route here!"
The Boss nodded.
"Well, It seems that Congratulations and Promotions are in order, You two are to become my bodyguards from here on out!"
The Two goons looked at each other as the boss turned around, placing the Lockbox on a table nearby. The two fist-pumped as they stood at an untrained Ease once the boss turned back around.
"Believe me Ladies and Gentlemen, We alone shall stand as the Sole Providers of Illegal Hollow resistance Product! And I shall stand as its Overlord!"
"Hey boss there's like, Forty people outside."
Another Chemist said, peering through a set of blinds.
"Ah yes, that must be The Logistics Company! They've come to pick up the Truck of Etheric Matter outside."
"Nah boss they got blue on."
The moment the chemist said that, The Door was kicked down, showing about eight Pubsec officers standing in the Doorway alone.
"Ah poo." Said the boss, as the Scuffle began.
The Two Newly assigned bodyguards froze for a moment, before The two looked each other in the eyes, nodded, and Dove out the window.
"Ah. Fair enough. You'll never take me alive, Public Security!" He grabbed the Lockbox, snapping it shut and dove out another window, not looking back as a number of the other chemists were placed under arrest.
The man Took his long, lanky legs and bolted, running for dear life, a carrot in his pocket.
"So long as I have this Chemical Compound, I can restart! I just need more chemists after this!" He says aloud, turning his head back and seeing a six foot four Corn-fed Man from the Outer rim Running him down like a bull seeing red.
"What the Hell has Public Security been feeding you lunatics!?" he screeches, Turning on a dime and running up a Half-destroyed building's Flight of stairs.
"Stop Running! You'll only make this more fun for me!" The Officer said.
"Who's The Criminal one here!?" The Boss Screamed, sliding under a Laser Defense system, picking his pace back up in no time, Whipping around and drawing a Pistol and aiming it at the Officer, only taking pause and watching in horror as the officer Ripped the Laser Matrix out of the Concrete floor and threw it at the Boss.
It hit him square in the chest in his shock, though it seems it hit him a little too hard as The man flew through the open window, falling two stories and into a pile of raw Etheric Matter.
"A-Am I under arrest or am I getting killed?!" The Boss screamed again as he clambered a bit and started running again, firing a short burst of shots into the upstairs window, forcing the officer to duck into cover.
The Boss's Mind ran wild, pulling a Carrot out of his pocket, starting to follow the directions to the nearest Fissure into the Cretan hollow.
"No way they'll follow me after that, From there I can go to Fourteenth street and Meet up with the rest of the gang! Flawless!" He said aloud, only to look down, finding a shadow starting to form on him. He looked up as a look of true, Primal, Raw terror filled the man's heart, So strong that if the man were to reproduce, it should fill the hearts of all his descendants for the next thousand years.
The Absolute unit of a Public Security Officer Crashed down into him like a comet, An elbow Drop from the heavens directly onto the Boss, Causing a Massive shockwave and Dust cloud.
"Stop resisting!"
"I'm Not I swear!"
"I will have to use Force if you continue!"
"Is this not Force!?" The Boss screamed once more, as more officers arrived on their location.
"Oh thank God, PLEASE GET THIS MAN OFF OF ME!" He yelled again, The Lockbox clattering a good ten feet away.
Another officer approached the lockbox, kneeling down and picking it up.
"How dare you try such a sneak attack like that YEOWCH" The Boss groaned, as the Massive officer applied more pressure to his spine.
"Officer Tality- That's enough. Cuff him and take him in to the precinct." The Officer with the Lockbox said, Opening it up and frowning.
"I told you can Call me Bru."
"We're on Duty." The Officer squats down to The Boss's Level, asking:
"The Lockbox is empty. Where are the contents?"
The Boss blinked a few times, making one last vocalization:
"Huh?"
Outside the Hollow
A Truck quietly Drove down the Streets of New Eridu, The Light traffic in the City making it easy to go by quickly- but not suspiciously.
It turned off into an alley, the Driver taking a deep breath out.
Taking off the respirator and the Hazmat suit, leaving her in a Sports bra and Shorts, Izabelle coughed a little, holding her head in her hands.
Sweat dripped off her snout, One scaled, though it only went up to the bridge of her nose, Down her neck and to her shoulders. She sat uncomfortably in the chair, not exactly one fitted to accommodate her thick Reptilian Tail.
"... Fuck." She said aloud, Leaning her chin against the top of the Steering wheel, Turning the radio Up on the Pubsec Scanner.
"Nineteen Apprehended. Their boss. Yes. Lockbox contents nowhere to be found. Awaiting Further searching of the premises."
The Radio spurt out. Izabelle let out a small sigh of relief, turning around a bit to open the window to the back, Seeing the Two and a half tons of unrefined Etheric matter in the back of the truck.
'Less than Ideal for trying to get away quietly. Though it was probably a good thing I Grabbed the Formula for whatever this is before I dipped out.' She thought to herself. She looked down at the paper, Placing it in her Bra and scratching her head.
"Okay. Let's see. I got some savings left, I could go to the Gang, but to be honest We're Kind of fucked. As flawed of an idea as it was, Red Fang Only has a chance with Selling Off-brand Sedatives and Serums. Which was just raided because the Boss wanted something from White star. Fantastic. No point in going back. They'll just think I'm a rat anyways. I got a Truck with Two and a half tons of Etheric Matter, no place to call home as of now and a Note that Will probably get a hit put out for me. Fantastic."
Izabelle leans backwards and considers some options.
'Though I guess that leaves some room for Competitors in Giving out These Serums and Sedatives. Willing to sell to Known hollow raiders.' She considers, taking out her Phone and Going on Inter-Knot.
Hundreds of posts of people needing Serums and Sedatives- Preferably in Bulk. Known Proxies and Gang Connections all needing some in some way shape and form.
She nodded her head, Taking a deep breath and putting the Phone down.
"My ancestors were Ambush Predators. I can wait, I can find My opportunity to bite."
Izabelle put the Truck in Gear and started driving away.
"I just need to find my River to Wait first."
"New Eridu Doesn't' seem to have a drug problem. Let's Fix that."
You can turn your brain off for this mostly. I'm taking this about as seriously as I took Mohglester.
