Drink some water then go find Einwyl Ali
+1 We might also want to dry out the datapad before it craps out.
You try your best to dry the datapad by shaking it vigorously but you can still see water droplets between the screen and the thin pane of plastic covering it. You don't think that's a good sign. But you can't really think of anything else to do, so you just put it back into your pack. Said pack is still wet, you did your best to wring the water out of it but you couldn't get all of it. You'll just have to wait for it to dry on its own.
...
It takes you several minutes to make your way back. You find a ventilation shaft facing towards the right direction and shove the fan out of the way. The fan falls until it disappears into the perpetual clouds covering the lower levels of the city. From here you can see the apartment tower. All you have to do is fly to Ali's window and nobody will notice you.
You unfold your wings, wait for favorable wind and when the time is right you jump. You glide low, passing below the bridge, before shifting your wings up, transforming your speed into height. With a couple of flaps you twist around while hovering in place and with a few more you pick up speed. You approach Ali's window, getting ready to slow down. It's too late when you notice something is wrong: the window is closed. You slam on it, grasping at where the ledge would be, trying to find a handhold, but the glass is too smooth, the surface too small. In the end you're forced to take off. You hover in place for a moment until you find a nearby place to grab.
This is worrying. Why would the window be closed? You've never seen them close it before. You look around, double checking to make sure that this is indeed the right window. Why would they do that? Are they trying to keep you out? Is it because of what happened yesterday? Does Ali not want to see you? Or is it her parents' doing? Is she even still there? Before your worries have enough time to blaze up, you decide to try opening this thing on your own. If you can just find a seam... You jump back towards the window, flapping your wings to push your body against it. Your sudden appearance scares Ali. She takes a step back, stumbles and falls, landing with her butt. You're also surprised, almost surprised enough to forget to keep flapping.
You somehow manage to dig your claws into the ledge, but the the traction is bad, you're slipping away. Ali is looking up at you from the floor. She still looks scared.
"Help." you ask, but it doesn't look like she heard you.
You can't hold on any longer. You jump away from the wall and back to the handhold.
This is frustrating. You just want to go back inside. Why isn't she letting you in? What's going on? A few minutes later you hear the squeaky sound of plastic being dragged against metal.
"Draggy? Is that you?"Finally! The window is open! You fly towards it but to your frustration there's only a small seam open. You land on the window and push your claws through the seam, using it as a handhold. This time she tenses but she doesn't move away.
"Draggy?""Yes. Draggy."She sighs in relief.
"Oh, I'm so glad you're all right. I was so worried... They said there was a monster on the loose, killing people. The security force had seeker remotes zipping around, scanning everything. They said they were going through every apartment to-"This is all very interesting, but you are still outside.
"Open." you ask.
She looks away.
"I can't."Yes she can. She opened the window this far, why not more?
"Open." you insist.
"I can't!" she yells.
You are taken aback. She rarely yells. She
never yells at you.
"Dad said I shouldn't open for anyone. Not even you." she explains, rubbing her eyes.
Age: a few months (hatchling)
Size: about the size of a large dog
Status: hungry
Health: fine
Weapons: claws and teeth
Armor: soft scales
Abilities:
- Short Flight: You can glide in order to survive falls and quickly move great distances. You can even fly upwards for short distances. You can use favorable winds and updrafts to increase your glide time.
- Basic Human Language: You are able to understand many of the most common words of the human language, including some that express more abstract things, though there are still a great many words and expressions that you have yet to learn. You can also read, though it takes you some time to understand the words. You can also speak, though it's sometimes hard for others to understand you.
- Communication: You have a knack for understanding other beings, even those whose language you don't know.
- Basic Nursing: You know the basics of caring for patients and preparing and maintaining equipment used in their care. You can also administer certain simple treatments. However you still lack much of the knowledge necessary for you to be able to determine what said treatment should be.
- Large Sonic Rifle covered by old torn clothes (in Maintenance Tunnels, behind a pipe)
- Pack with plastoid tape modifications (equipped on left side)
- Half-used medpac
- 677 credits (8 orange, 8 blue, 1 red, 3 cyan, 1 pink)
- half-used roll of plastoid tape
- flashlight
- small can of droid oil
- small metal toolbox
- 2 blaster pistols
- 1 knife with button
- 1 datapad (soaked)
- 2 packs of smoke sticks (soaked)
- keycard
- Ali's Apartment (Lair): A tiny 2 bedroom apartment. The little human Ali lives there with Dad/Jobal and Mom/Ania. Room 327.
- Ali's Apartment Tower: Apartments arranged in a circle. Clean, bright, mostly locked doors, few hiding places. Little traffic during the night.
- Eiwhyl's Clinic: Sells medpacs and other healing items and provides treatment. Warning: stabby. Room 509.
- Streets: Dirty streets, parked hovercars, shops, building entrances, street vendors, little traffic during the night.
- Maintenance Tunnels: Interconnected tunnels, small and large, going low and high. Connect various streets and buildings. Wires and pipes. Dark, dirty, with old machines constantly rumbling. Scavenger-vermin and hunters-of-vermin.
- Garbage Pit: A large room with mountains of garbage half-submerged in a sea of sludge. More garbage frequently arrives from holes in the ceiling. A monster lurks here, may pull prey underwater.
- Hydroponic Pool: A room with a large pool filled with plants. A ceiling full of bright lamps. A spherical gardener-droid takes care of the plants. Patrolled by hostile gunmen. A corridor leads to other rooms. Storage room. Processing room. Other rooms are unexplored.
- Iyran Grower Shop: A store located deeper into the tower's streets. Operated by a cephalopoid. The grower sells cheap synthetic meat, amongst other things.