Blank Slate Ch.3: Road-trip

Table of Contents https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/225386550/0/0 I stood up as the man approached me. "M'name's Salem," He said. His voice sounded soft and tired, but stern. "I'm a Hunter," he looked up to Blanc and asked, "New Guardian?" Blanc moved as if nodding and answered, "Yes, but I revived him over a month ago. He knows the important stuff. And he's a Warlock." "A month, huh," Salem said to himself, then looked back to me, "Well, Warlock. I'd assume you know your name by now." "Yes," I replied, "Keis-51. We've been waiting for a ship to..." I trailed off. Finally, a ship. Blanc had told me stories, but I didn't know what life was like outside this city. "Hey!" Salem shouted. I snapped back to reality. "Sorry," Blanc told Salem, "We don't know why that happens." Salem sighed, "Well, at least you're not a Hunter." "Why's that?" I inquired. "Because there are only three types of us," Salem stated, flashing three fingers across his chest, "The obnoxious and overconfident show-offs, the ones like me who are antisocial, and the ones who are a mix of the two. Warlocks and Titans usually have more bearable personalities." I wasn't sure how to react to that, and Salem snapped his fingers in my face. "Did you zone out again, KS?" He asked. "No," I said, "KS?" Salem shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I like the way it sounds. No more of that spacing out crap. I don't want to deal with it." "No guarantees," Blanc mumbled, "Can you take us to the Last City?" "Of course," Salem answered, crossing his arms, "But the only reason I saw your messages is because I came here to scout. You'll have to wait until I've done that." "We can help with that," Blanc said. Salem shrugged again, then turned and walked out of the room. Assuming that was a yes, we followed him. As we left the building, Salem spoke over his shoulder, "All I need for now is a good view, so we're going to one of the taller buildings in the center of the city." As he finished, a ship flew over a building and into view. It was gray, with a forked nose and triangular wings. It slowed down until it was drifting a few meters over us. "Hold still for transmat," Blanc whispered. My body began to tingle and I was suddenly sitting in the dark cockpit of a ship, illuminated by small lights and dials on the walls. I held up my hands. Molecular rearrangement from one place to another. Teleportation. Similar to how my helmet and armor disappeared, but that was Blanc storing it. She called that my Inventory. She could also make herself part of my armor matrix, so she'd be safe and out of the way. Salem materialized in the seat in front of me with a small flash and grabbed the controls. The ship began moving. There were screens showing video feed of what was happening outside the ship, and I could see the city passing below. "I'm supposed to come here every four months," Salem said, "I make sure nothing happens here, and nothing ever does. Not even the Vex care about this place." "The Vex?" I asked. "I'll tell you later," Blanc replied. We sat in silence for a minute, then the ship slowed down and we were transmatted out. My boots hit the ground and I looked around. We were on a skyscraper in the middle of the city. I began walking to the edge for a good view. "Have you two seen any signs of activity?" Salem asked. "No," Blanc answered, "But we've mostly stayed on the East side of..." I stopped listening as I looked East, towards the sea. The city was ancient, but most of it was also damaged. Everything was covered in plants and moss, but there were signs of combat. Holes in walls from explosions, large blast marks, some collapsed buildings. Off to the southeast, something that looked like a large ship had crashed to the ground, crushing multiple buildings, where it remained. Part of something similar sat on the beach, but it seemed that the sulfuric acid had eaten away the rest. This city had been a war zone. I wondered wha- My foot met open air, and I found myself falling once again. I sighed. When Blanc revived me, Salem threw up his arms and yelled, "What the heck was that?!" "I zoned out," I said. Salem put a hand over his visor and groaned, "Whatever. I'm done with this nonsense. We'll fly over the rest of the city real quick, then head home." • • • The trip to the Last city was quiet. Salem didn't like talking, and I didn't like saying things that weren't important. I tried thinking about what I would do when we got there. Blanc had told me that talking to the Vanguard would be first, then someone called the Speaker. I tried thinking past that, but my train of thought kept going haywire, like usual. A couple of times, I snapped out of my thoughts and couldn't remember where I was, but Blanc quietly reminded me and I drifted back into my mind. • • • "We're here," Salem said as the ship slowed down, "The Vanguard's going to want my report, so I have no choice but to come with you. Welcome to the Tower." We transmatted once again. This time, my boots landed in a courtyard. As Salem's ship flew out of sight, I took in my surroundings. It was sunset. There were a couple trees with red leaves and tall columns with what appeared to be computers in them. To my right, left, and in front of me, stairs lead to other areas of the Tower. "KS," Salem said, "The best view is behind you." I turned and saw something I could only describe as incredible. Above, ships flew in every direction. Below, there was a large city, filled with lights and movement. Around it and off in the distance were massive walls. The outer one was damaged, but standing. The sun was falling behind a few mountains. There were forests off to the sides. But above all this was a massive machine, shaped like a sphere and as big as a small moon, though nothing around it was affected by the gravity that something it's size should have had. Its exterior shone pure white, and a soft glow filled the air around it. I felt warm just looking at it. But the bottom of the sphere was shattered, revealing a mechanical interior. [i]The Darkness,[/i] I thought. Salem put a hand on my shoulder and said, "Follow me." He lead me through the middle of the courtyard and down a staircase. While walking down the steps, I wondered what the Vanguard would be like. What missions would they send me on? Would I- My thoughts were cut off as I ran into a wall at the bottom of the stairs. "How do you even do that?" Salem muttered under his breath. He grabbed my arm and pulled me around the wall and down more steps. We walked into a wide hallway. A blue robot stood in a corner, sweeping the floor with a broom. It was structured vaguely like a human, but looked nothing like an Exo. Blanc had told me the Tower had robot assistants with artificial intelligence called Frames, and I assumed that it was one of them. Two Guardians were strolling by and speaking with each other. As we passed them, I realized that I was big. I looked over the heads of the other Guardians, and had a broad build, unlike the skinny Salem. "Never seen a Warlock as big as you..." Salem grumbled to himself. At the end of the hall, we entered a room with a large table in the center. Around the edges of the room, a few frames and humans were working over computers and equipment. One Guardian stood at the far end of the table. He wore bulky green and white armor. But the interesting part was his head. His skin glowed a soft blue, and light appeared to flow under his skin. His black hair has wild and he swept it away from his face as he looked up to us with intense blue eyes. Blanc hadn't told me about anyone like that. He clearly wasn't a human, Exo, or frame. What species was he, and where did he come from? Salem clapped his hands in front of my face. Everyone in the room was looking at me. Not knowing if I had missed anything, I asked, "What is the blue man?" One of the workers stifled a laugh, and they all turned back to their work. The blue Guardian waited patiently at the table as Blanc and Salem moved in front of me. "He's an Awoken," Salem answered. "They're like humans," Blanc added, "But no one knows how they came to exist. They're from the asteroid belt." "Explanation over," Salem cut in, then grabbed my arm and pulled me to the Awoken. As we drew near, Salem spoke to the Awoken, "Where's the Vanguard? I found a new Warlock. His name's Keis....uh..." "Keis-51," Blanc assisted. The Awoken looked at me and said, "Welcome to the Last City. None of the Vanguard members are here. They all have important things to do, but I'm sure they'd say," he switches to a formal tone of voice, "We are glad to have another Guardian added to our ranks. Together, we'll use our Light to push back the Darkness. Etcetera, etcetera." The Awoken turned to Salem and said, "Without the Vanguard, you'll have to show this guy the ropes. Help him get the supplies he'll need." Salem responded with a sigh, then turned and grabbed my arm once again. As he towed me out of the room, he muttered, "C'mon, kinder-guardian. Let's get this over with."