Two Halves: chapter 31

chapter 31, woot

Five minutes later Zeckle still hadn’t said a word. She sat there and continued to eat Nicolas’s pancakes with an enthusiasm and speed that far outstripped the man Nicolas had watched earlier. Nicolas had ordered another plate from the kindly looking woman, and Zeckle was just finishing her food when the new plate arrived. As soon as the porcelain touched the table Zeckle reached over and pulled the top pancake off and put it onto her plate.

 

Finally after a further three minutes of consumption she finally finished and leaned back into her chair. Her face was splattered in the syrup that had covered the pancakes. She reached for a napkin from the small dispenser on the table and started to wipe her face. While she did this Nicolas slowly ate his pancakes, and then finally she spoke.

 

“You think you’re sneaky don’t you?” She asked in a accusatory tone. She reached over with her fork and stole another bite from Nicola’s plate, and he attempted to block her utensil intrusion, but was unsuccessful.

 

“Stop that! And what do you mean, do I think I’m sneaky?” He shot back in a halfhearted anger. Zeckle had already stolen a further three bites from him, and was chewing vigorously.

 

“This morning, when you got out of bed. You think you didn’t wake anyone up didn’t ya?” She laughed as he looked at her confused.

“You’re like a herd of elephants. I thought you were gonna wake the whole floor up, and do you think Besty wouldn’t have woken up to? He is some kind of assassin; he would probably wake up if someone turns over in the room next door.”

 

Nicolas sighed angrily, “So, where is Bestalel then?” He asked.

 

“When I left he was getting up, mumbling something about, interfering my sleep patters. I think he was going to those showers. Any who… how’s your day going?” Nicolas burred his face into his hands and sighed again. A series of thumps came from the staircase, and Nicolas glanced over towards it. Bestalel was standing at the foot of the stairs, and he was in a business suit.

 

It was odd seeing him out of his Chameleon stealth armor. He wore a cheap business suit and shoes shined to a nearly blinding glow, in his hand was their demon’s sack suitcase. His arms bulged against his sleeves, and his chest stretched the fabric taught against his skin. A pair of small circular sunglasses covered his eyes, and his bald head was slightly shiny in the light. He walked over and sat down at the same table as Nicolas and Zeckle.

 

“Good Morning. We are going to be heading for the Interdimensional Commerce Office soon. I have our tickets here,” he patted the suitcase lightly. “I will have to ask Ms. Zeckle to return to your imp form now. As soon as Nicolas finished his breakfast we will have to leave.” Nicolas looked down at his plate, which was mostly empty at this point, excluding a few scraps of pancake around the edges of his plate. He distinctly remembered not eating this much, and suspected Zeckle, who again had syrup on her face.

 

“Fiiiine. Though I can’t see why we just can’t buy me a ticket.” Said Zeckle, while leaning back in her chair. She squinted her eyes for a moment, and shifted. Her body compressed and changed color. The small imp was sitting there, and with a small flap of its undersized wings it hopped onto Nicolas’s shoulders.

 

“So, where is exactly is this place?” Zeckle’s voice had changed to the high-pitched drawl that all imps had. He smiled with his pointed teeth, and his tail slowly flicked across Nicolas’s back.

 

“Nearly directly above us. It is in the center of Hope district. Right next to the Salex corporate office. Our transport is scheduled for eight a.m. In just under three hours. It will like a fairly long time for us to get past the decontamination systems, and during this time of day they are notorious for being slow.” He got up and walked towards the exit of the bar. Nicolas got up silently behind him and followed.

 

They walked through the market, and this early in the morning the throng of people was slightly diminished. As they came closer to the rail way station they had come into originally the grouping or people thickened. The station was completely packed with people; trains were coming and going at a near blinding pace as the commuters scurried about. No one had business suits; most were in simple workman’s clothing with the occasional cheap coat and tie.

 

Bestalel led them towards the staircase leading to the upper floors, and they began to climb. With each floor that fell below them the place got progressively cleaner. On the platform directly under street level the walls gleamed from the over attentive scrubbing of Janitor-bots.

 

They walked the final few steps onto street level, and Nicolas was nearly blinded by the intense maelstrom of signs. Huge screens plastered nearly every building, displaying a variety of products. He could not even see the tops of the building, some of them extended over a hundred stories into the non-sky, and at its center was The Salex corporate office. It’s silver spire extended over two hundred stories. The noises were nearly as intense as the scenery. There were hundreds of cars packed into the narrow streets in between the buildings. The various honks and shouts the emanated from the street combined into a typhoon of pure noise.

 

The crowds were so huge now that Nicolas nearly lost Bestalel in the few moments he took to look up at the sky.  He scanned the crowd until he saw Bestalel walking quickly towards the Salex corporate office. He pushed his way through the crowd until he was behind Bestalel once more. Nicolas tapped him on the shoulder, but Bestalel only acknowledged him with a slight nod without looking around. They continued through the streets until they saw a long low building that looked rather like an airplane hangar. Its curved silver structure had ICO painted on its side in a dark gray metallic paint.

Author's Note

chapter 30, here we go!

i didn't feel that great about this one. The entire exchange from non-space to earth-2 is a little hard for me. The action is going to pick back up again once we reach Earth-2 and find ourselves at the mile high walls.

Reviews

[Aggie Skeleton]

I liked It, I noticed a typo though that made me smile. Nicola’s. Sounds like a beer name actually.

[Miss Coral]

Personally, I thought it was fine. I really like how Zeckle uses "Besty". :) Transitions are kind of boring to write, and feel almost tedious sometimes, but this one was fine I think.

[James Watts]

“You think you’re sneaky don’t you?” (“You think you’re sneaky, don’t you?” noticed this one a few times.)

Nicolas sighed angrily, “So, where is Bestalel then?” He asked.( remember what I mentioned about the -ly's. This one that is unneeded)

Nicolas burred his face into his hands and sighed again. A series of thumps came from the staircase, (Nicolas buried...)

This is not bad and the story is moving along.

[Dutch Jr.]

Good job, and I can't see why you don't feel too great about it. This was a really nice write.