Train Journey (1)
Standing at the central station of Vienna, Aiden looked at the screens to see which platform his train would be boarding from. >>Platform 4 D it is…<< the station was overcrowded more than ever, it was Monday morning, the least busiest time usually, but even then the station was full. People pushed one another, hitting each other's shoulders or running into one another and cursing while trying to board their train.
Aiden was no different, pushing himself through others, even almost knocking some civilians who wanted to curse, but seeing the badge of Aiden shied away and said no words. As much as he hated being a dog, there were some benefits to it, even if they were not doing the best for his image, they at least made no one try to have trouble with him. He didn't understand why, but he felt so annoyed by all these people.
Walking up the stairs to platform 4, an ad flew by quickly before being replaced by another one that piqued the interest of Aiden. He looked at the name before continuing to walk up the stairs. He stood at platform 4D waiting for the train. While waiting for the train, he opened his watch, opened the internet, and looked up the company name that he had just seen in the ad. It was a company focused on prosthetic limbs, having made a new advancement, or that's what the ad says, at least.
Machines, a small fascination he always had. Ancient clocks, pistols he takes from criminals, or even machines he buys just to dismantle them to understand them. When he has no work to do, he simply plays as a mechanic, enjoying the learning on how things work and how it is all working with a certain sense of logic and order.
The prosthetics were stated to be made of a mix of Lithium and
He looked up at the sky, the clear night sky of Vienna that had been this way for centuries. No star could be seen, they had become long rare, and even if a star can be seen, its light is so faint it isn't worth even giving a glance to the night sky.
People mumbled, speaking loudly with earphones in their ears or replying to emails. Some read news, others drank, and some just smoked, even if it wasn't allowed. That side of the platform wasn't that busy, at least while not empty, he wasn't being pushed around and could stand there.
Platforms where all the split rooms are, so that one wouldn't take the space of the other passenger from their side. Sorted and categorized like animals, ensuring it is all spaced out.
Aiden would hear an argument, it seemed to be between a young girl and an older man. Not like it was anything special, but Aiden peeked with the corner of his eye at the small argument they had.
A young, petite woman who had two fox ears sticking out of her head, she wore glasses that were two sizes too large for her face, and wore clothes that didn't fit with the style that the people wore in the city. She seemed young, not even an adult yet, given how her body was underdeveloped. The man was just a middle-aged white man wearing business attire. He sees a coffee mark on the clothes of the man and a cup of coffee on the ground.
>>Should have bought the more expensive coffee holder<< He understood the gist of it, why the two were arguing, it was just the fault of a kid and a man that didn't buy a holder that wouldn't be spilled when he rammed into someone. No one gave a thought to them except for Aiden. A girl with fox ears, a kitsune likely from China, but why would such an individual be here in Vienna at the moment?
The man was shouting, his face quite red, while the girl seemed to be frustrated by the entire thing. The man was loud, resembling a stray dog, especially with how he was shouting all around. Then something had happened, the man crumbled as he was grasping for air. SPit falling out of his mouth as if he had been hit in the stomach as he held his hand around his stomach.
>>What was that<< Aiden couldn't see it, there was no movement, was it magic? >>No, if it were magic, then the alarms would have gone wild and the guards would have been called to arrest that girl<< a power that wasn't magic, but Kitsunes are not known for their superior physical capabilities, but their power of trickery and sorcery
The train arrived, and the doors opened. It was quick, people left the cart, whose destination was the central station, and the rest walked in, taking their seats inside the train.
The ticket he had bought was first class, where he would be given a room that he would at best share only with one other person. He went to the room that he was assigned to and entered the room, but to his surprise, he saw the fox girl that just minutes ago beaten up a grown man.
When he entered the room, she turned her head quickly to Aiden and, seeing the badge on his clothes, made her became wary. She didn't hide it, showing it clearly on her face that she had distrust towards him. She pushed her glasses slightly up, and the nails on her right hand were getting longer as Aiden could see them peeking out of the sleeve of her clothes. A Yukata that, just like her glasses, was at first glance too large for that girl.
"Don't be so wary of me, I won't arrest you or beat you up, as I have something more important to do." He took a seat opposite the girl; he ignored her stare towards him and looked outside the window. The light reflecting onto the city, purple, blue, red, and more, all flashing through.
The train was moving fast as it was first on the rails before it went inside a tube. All trains were moving inside large tubes that only they would use. It went high into the sky with the trains engraved by the finest of protection barriers to ensure that even if it fell from the sky down, it wouldn't get damaged, and the passengers in first class can survive.
"Seems like they are taking their dogs on some expensive trip. Where is your owner?" The girl said tauntingly to Aiden. It was obvious provocation from a kid. He ignored her taunting and kept looking outside the window. There was no need to give her any attention. It would take only an hour for them to reach München.
>>If only these beasts were not everywhere, going there would have been faster…well, if they didn't exist, I wouldn't even need to go to a different state to begin with<< The sky, the sea or even the ground, humanity had been living in less space than ever as in the past the world was theirs but with the arrival of the monsters and their magic it had been hard to face them off. >>I remember reading that it has only been almost two centuries since übermenschens have started to appear<< History is forgotten and rewritten with what is found about the past, if it's true or not, one will never kno,w but it allows one to change the narrative as one wishes to.
"Quite the calm expression, I thought you would start biting when I started to insult you." Aiden gave a look to the girl. She had her arms and legs crossed, because of her short physique, she couldn't look down on Aiden, but the way she had her head positioned, the intention was clear, even if it failed. Her eyes were up, simply showing more how wary she was towards him.
"What use is being angry, especially to a girl who openly beats up someone else"? He leaned on the window and stared at the girl. Her eyes opened reflectively, she was going to stand up with the movement of her leg, but stopped herself as she looked at the corner of the room. She seemed nervous as she looked there, and sweat was building up.
"It seems there is a camera? The way you stare at it makes it clear that there is something in the room, and it only captures visually seeing how you openly provoke me." Aiden didn't show anger in his voice; he was the usual self.
His eyes are indifferent, even if he felt more agitated than usual, he was still himself. The girl seemed now nervous about what he had said. "I don't bite civilians who curse at my superiors, but I bite at civilians who keep provoking me." A joke or his attempt, there was nothing to deny to the girl that he was a dog, but he wouldn't let himself be undermined by some teen. "Stop acting like a moron nothing good will come out from it" Not everyone can act rationally when facing someone they dislike espacially kids as adults are just better at controlling their emotions, but that a kid like her was acting in such a pitiful manner was not something Aiden had seen before.
"The kids I saw were more mature than you were, be it before or now." He acted arrogantly, and he wasn't going to shy away. Even if she was fast, he had protective gear on. While no weapon, he was still wearing his gear to protect himself from lethal attacks. >>Subduing her shouldn't be that hard<<
"A dog calling a free person immature, how ridiculous." This wasn't going anywhere. It was just throwing insults at one another. Aiden sighed. A gun would have been nice. A simple shot beside the girl would have shut her down. Filing reports for arrest is paperwork that is not needed, especially if she is a kitsune; the Chinese might cause some problems. Kitsunes were a species that the Chinese were most proud of owning, as they were the best in the spy field.
"If you were not a kitsune, I would have had you arrested for that mouth of yours," he would casually say, and there were no consequences. Be honest, be mean, or be a figure of fear, but follow what you are told, and one will be fine. >>How great it would be if everyone were just logical<< the wish of order and logic for society, not driven by the abuse of power. He was also a problem, but what can one man do against the giants?
The expression of the girl changed from waryness to simple disgust towards his words. How come? Aiden didn't understand that expression; she was a kitsune, wasn't she? All individuals with fox ears were kitsune, as those were the only ones mostly cared about. Aiden had never heard of other humanoid species with fox ears.
"Pah, ignorant cop," the girl turned her head away in annoyance. She didn't keep eye contact anymore, no glaring or speaking, she ignored Aiden like he had committed something hideous. >>Works for me<< It made his job easier overall. He took a piece of paper from his coat and read the street name again that Friedrich had written on it. He barely left the capital, having lived most of his life there, as traveling was a luxury, and if it wasn't for work, there was often no way to leave one's place.
>>I should go to the station there and borrow some equipment later on. As lowly dirty-blooded people are, if enough of them are there, they can be a problem for anybody<<. Soft music played in the room, and the air was tense. Was bearable. The train had driven out of the city and was high in the sky. They were not too high in the sky as the ground was visible, but all below them was simply dead. Constant rain outside the city, and the touch of humans, raining down and killing all life that came in contact with that rain.
A knock came to the door, and a young attendant with a cart filled with different food and alcohol. "Could I offer something to you gentlemen, and young miss?" He spoke in a kind voice, easing the air in the room. The young attendant gave a peaceful feeling; it felt comforting. "Cigarettes from the Timoko brand, you have these right?" he had quite the urge to smoke, all because of that girl, having irritated him.
The attendant opened a small drawer of the cart where the cigarette packs would be stored and looked to see if the brand that was asked for was in it. He shuffled through it and took one out. "We do have that brand, sir, that would be 400 Schilling." he gave a smile to Aiden, while noting the price.
"So cheap?" He asked, surprised by the cheapness of the cigarette pack. He reached for his watch, and the attendant took out the credit machine. The two touched one another, and a short 'bing' sound came out of the watch before the purchase was confirmed. He gave the cigarette package to Aiden. "And what would you like to have, young miss?" he asked the girl again.
"Don't call me young miss when you are likely younger than me and I want nothing," She said arrogantly. The boy said nothing but simply nodded. "If you wish so, I wish the two of you a great trip to München." He left the room and closed the door. He took the cigarette out and put it to his mouth, the signature skull and red and yellow tip. It lit itself, and the smoke came out as Aiden breathed it in.
The girl closed her nose as the smell was unbearable, but the smoke would quickly escape to the vent that was on the ceiling of the room. She stopped holding her nose and simply stared out the window. They had long abandoned the sky and were now under the ground. Paths that were complicated because of bad planning and no space to build things in a manner that would make sense.
"God, you are just so painfully boring." She couldn't hold it and just said it. She seemed more at ease now, with a relaxed expression and boy. She leaned forward with her chin on her hand as she stared at Aiden with a look that was just screaming that she wanted him to lose his cool.
"The other officers were more aggressive was easier to annoy them." The change in her tone showed that she wasn't wary of him anymore, a smile that turned smug, and eyes that seemed to try reading him like an open book.
"I'm not weak-minded like the other cops, I have quite the reputation, you see, that wouldn't allow me to be an easy-minded officer." He puffed out smoke from the cigarette before putting it back in his mouth. "Still, as I said before you are not only immature but a moron for even having tried it"
He puffed another smoke out but held the cigarette with his fingers, "but hearing how you already tried it, it seems that you know that you are not immature but simply a moron for doing that" Aiden was a honest man, when someone is stupid they are just stupid there was no need to be subtle about it.
She was just a civilian, someone with no power; she couldn't be a rich girl as she is riding this together with him instead of being at the very front of the train, nor could she hold too much power as she is all alone, no one beside her. Maybe a stray agent or one on the run from the Chinese. "I could report you to the Chinese government at this very moment and ask them if they know someone like you."
Intimidation was a set of skills something one has to possess if they want to live in this job. The girl clenched her hand before she moved, a quick movement with her feet in this enclosed space. The air had moved like a whip; she tried to attack Aiden, grabbing his very throat with claws that had grown. It had not come close to him; however, the coat that he wore protected Aiden.
"I thank you for doing something foolish like that, as that allows me to arrest you." He punched the girl right in her face before grabbing her by her throat, "There are quite the protective gear you know, ones creating barriers at the area where one is most vulnerable and bloodlust is looked at, some regulating the temperature of the body which would allow me to go in the sahara desert and not feel even the tiniest of heat but I? I simply went with the barrier as that fit the most with my style as you can see" His grabbed tightened, choking her slowly.
"Under the law, anybody who is a threat to the law is to be subdued and, if needed, be terminated to ensure a safe society, be they kids or old." She tried to grab his hand his but they couldn't pierce the thin field that was being made around there. The entire clothes of Aiden were his protective gear, clothes made to look ordinary but made using the latest barrier technology and an automatic-protection system that will activate when it deems most necessary.
The girl would try to say something, but no sound could escape her mouth. "Oh my, it seems I might have held it too tightly." he let go of her throat; he was sarcastic, there was no actual worry in his voice that she might die. She wanted to curse, she tried to, but Aiden wouldn't let her even speak. He put his foot on her throat, his shoe, that were made of thick leather, put pressure on her throat; he pressed just hard enough that she could still breathe but not move from the spot, the spot that was the ground.
He called using his watch the police station at München, and it didn't take long, as his call was picked up immediately. "Here is speaking Chief Inspector Aiden Fate from Vienna Stephan police station, while coming, I was attacked by a young Kitsune kid and have subdued her. I request backup at the station München with power collars to hold her down." A quick report on the situation, no time wasted.
"Police will be set as backup right at the station. Please hold her down till then so we can assess the situation. Please describe the suspect." The voice was mechanical, not an AI, as it sounded too tired to be an AI. >>They are just taking anybody…they couldn't even bother getting someone with a normal voice to work<< he scoffed.
"Young girl, dark brown hair, she has glasses and a Yukata that's too large for her. Not an adult as she is underdeveloped, but admitted to having provoked previous officers, but I do not know if it is from the capital or München officers. He took a breath from his cigarette but started to cough. The dispatcher asked if everything was fine, but Aiden couldn't answer because of the coughing.
The door was opened, and it was the attendant boy. "It seems to finally work, what a heavy smoker you are, I was surprised that you stood still so long." He looked towards the attendant but saw nothing.
The peaceful feeling was here again, his mind felt calmed, and his eyes felt heavy. "Do not worry…Aiden, you said? I only need to take my sister with me as she is someone important to us." He pushed Aiden gently away, making him fall into the seat. The call was still going on, but the attendant paid no mind to it. He grabbed the girl, helping her stand. "You need to fix this habit of yours, sister. What will the leader think when he hears of this?"
The boy said before leaving the room, taking the girl with him, with Aiden only seeing the smirk of the attendant before losing consciousness.