"Okay first," she took out her own phone, "Let's exchange numbers."
Ketevan replicated the process with the addition of Ana's number, it was certainly intuitive. Tap the series of numbers into the screen and then create the contact, but Ana interrupted her.
"Here," She placed her phone beside Ketevan's, "Do this." She tapped an icon with a rectangular symbol of a phone and two wave semicircles pushing outward from it.
Ketevan repeated what Ana did. Ana sent a contact exchange request, Ketevan eyed her suspiciously which earned a shrug.
"You could kick my ass anytime, warlord." with a cheeky grin and a narrowing of her eyes. She certainly did look like the people of Reika, if this woman were trained she'd certainly transform into one of those tricksters who would lead you astray and place an arrow between your eyes.
"Thank you," Ketevan said, "What is this called?"
"Bump." She winked, "Alright, I've got a question."
Ketevan arched an eyebrow.
"Is your hair naturally purple?"
She nodded, "What's your question?"
"...That was my question."
Ridiculous. "If you are to keep me company, I would rather you inform me of news, culture and things a citizen should be aware of."
"Guys are gonna fall in love when they see an elf from fiction appear."
No sorcery, no ascendants and the concept of a transcendant is likely limited to their god Traveller... Ketevan began to walk at a relaxed pace. She would have to confront this Traveller and ask if it is what it claims to be. She wrinkled her nose at the scent of tobacco and laughed softly then came to a stop. To her right in front of a shop that baked sets of bread that smelled sweet and full of luxury was a man walking by smoking a white paper roll of the herb.
"I would like one of those," Ketevan said to Ana.
"First you gotta try some French bread, you sound British, so I wanna see if that lines up."
French. Ketevan acquiesced. "So long as you are not attempting to snare me into work."
"Could you speak less formally?"
"Buy me the bread you daughter of a rotten shepherd's buboe."
Ana squinted, "What?"
Soldier talk then, "Buy the fucking bread then?" She stuck a finger in the direction of the bakery.
Ana stared at her for a moment then burst into laughter, "What do you people call that way of speaking?"
"It's how soldiers converse." Ketevan walked to the bakery with Ana skipping just ahead of her, the man inside upon seeing Ana straightened himself out and fluffed his hat. With the technology they had she respected his choice to stay bald - granted that was an assumption on her part that they could restore hair - and shouted at a briefly indolent employee to get in line as they entered.
The look of the interior from the outside, wooden floor, walls, counter and storage for the various shapes of bread felt somewhat like her world. When the door opened and the depth of the hundreds of scents washed into her consciousness she had saw a fleeting moment from childhood. Mother leading her by the hand into an Emmerlaine bakery, choosing out the sweet chocolate bread imported from Northern Eskar.
On a long-drawn-out breath Ketevan took a long moment to enjoy the memories and refresh them with the bakery's atmosphere. Mild floral scents of poplar with a hint of sour and the images of old forests, the nearly odorless smell of balsam in the maple mixed with the warm sweet fruitiness of black cherry trees.
Hearty smells of bread, deep grainy aromas from the mix of baked into the malty and somewhat robust flavours of good bread to feed soldiers if it was affordable. The cake breads had flavours she was unfamiliar with, but she did know the sugars, the butter and the nutmeg and cinnamon spices. Then there were the luxuries, she could certainly tell there was a much denser richness to their fragrances, even citrus mixed with chocolate, that odd scent again and dried fruit, too much sugar, but that was more indicative of this time of luxury.
With the sound of violins and pianos played over the radio and a woman rolling her Rs instead of vomiting them as they did with their strange accent, it was a wondrous arrangement. She could still see her mother's eyes shifting through various colours, her glittering snowy white hair.
"That's the most I've seen you smile so far." Ana leaned against the counter, "What do you got for a smiler, chief?"
The baker himself, a stout bald fellow with a beard that would make most Eskari men envious and have the women raise an eyebrow at studied her briefly with his brown eyes and nodded. He shouted for his assistant in that silly vomit and garble language before he vanished behind a back door which made Ketevan blink.
"Are you some kind of hero?" she decided to walk around the bakery to admire the swirls, loaves, odd shapes and cakes.
"Not really," she said, "I'm a scientist."
Ketevan whirled around, "What field?"
"Whoa easy, don't get too excited." She made a strange sound with her tongue and pointed a finger shaped like a handgun. Such a strange expression of... affection? "Psycholinguist."
"Psychological linguistics?" Ketevan watched the man return with a braided piece of bread that smelled of rum and brandy! With a sweet citrus and old oak in its buttery mix.
"On the house." He said in that accent and offered it to Ketevan.
"Thank you." she said.
He nodded, "You are well manned for English woman."
Disregarding his backhanded rubbish, she bit into it. Teeth sinking through the golden crust, warm buttery bread tastes flooded her mouth with the golden mixture of citrus and sweet sugar cane and fruit aged in oak casks. Warm richness washed across her mind like a refreshing summer wind in ancient rain forests back home. The music of their golden age, the aftertaste of sweet with a hint of sour and the spicy tinge of good liquor.
"It is delectable, surely this cannot be for free?" Ketevan said before she took another bite.
"Betcha don't have anything like this back home."
Ketevan nodded, the sappers surely would have found many of these ingredients useful in explosives and kept the sweetness to themselves until the berets or worse found them. She indulged herself further in the richness before offering some to Ana.
"Nope," she said, "This is a holiday for you, warlord."
"Anything more?" the baker asked.
Ana turned a knowing and bloody outrageous cheeky grin on Ketevan.
After eating the entire sweets menu like a child, Ketevan felt as if she'd aged backwards for a time. That did not matter however, Ana was a blink in the lifespan of her kind... So what on this earth was she here for? Ana led them into a large shop, one she'd seen in advertisements. White artificial floors with tiny glows from near microscopic holes that most humans could not perceive. She raised her eyes above to the sound of little whirrs of what she assumed was the air conditioning described in pictures of homes for sale.
She wanted to spit on their floor at the air which had been stripped of all its character, but withheld her disgust for lack of knowledge of these people's customs. This was much akin to the home of a perfectionist scholar but with a myopic focus on tearing air down to its fundamental blankness. Regardless, she stepped inside. Though these people would kill themselves with good intentions if they were not restricted by proper regulations. She hoped they had proper regulations for this kind of fool.
Ana guided her to a man who looked overly bored with how he focused on watching a video on his phone and blanched when she cleared her throat and saw who she was. Such reverence for a scientist indicated that she had significant achievements... perhaps it is her who created that Rasputin machine.
"So, warlord, we've got light to heavy with mixes, whaddaya want?"
"Tobacco in paper." Ketevan said flatly, "Simple and herb."
The shaggy haired employee shrugged like a lout then made his way to the back, "One sec..." he mumbled.
"Do people not value their employment?" Ketevan asked quietly.
"A lot of the time young people gotta take jobs they don't wanna work get by, sure we're in a golden age, but it ain't perfect. You know?"
Ketevan's response was a nod, "Perhaps a small bonus shall encourage him to do better when he provides good service and stops this air from being ripped to its fundamental blankness."
"Cigarettes," he returned with a decently sized white pack, "I'll be sure to leave your complaint-"
"That's enough," Ketevan allowed herself to smirk much like Ana did, "I wish to see the establishment that earned you your reputation."
"I thought you wanted to get lost in the world and talk the talk?" Ana took the pack of cigarettes from the serviceman, "Hey, she says if you do a good job in customer service you can earn good money as a compliment."
"No shit." he grumbled, plonked his arse down on a chair and went back to watching his loud obnoxious videos in that rubbish language.
"Here," Ana handed Ketevan the pack and strolled outside.
Ketevan followed her through the automatic doors, placed the cigarette between her lips as two children whirred by in the middle of the street on what appeared to be motorised wheels attached to their shoes. She took out her phone to search it, mistakenly dodged Ana trying to light her cigarette and smirked at herself for it.
"Still at war, chief?"
"Do you people have combat sports?" Ketevan took a long draw on the smoke.
Ana's eyes went wide as if she'd seen a fat imp, "I forgot! You probably really pissed off the guard captain, and they're gonna send their martial arts captain to challenge you to a match."
Ketevan rolled her eyes, "I'll decline."
Ana genuinely looked as if she'd been hit in the head with a stone as she stumbled in confusion, "W-why?"
"It would be unfair, you have observed the strength difference," another group of those children blew by on boards with motor wheels and one of them even had one that hovered over the ground.
"Well, you could always learn to run on one of those and.... right, strength difference." She crossed her arms, "Do y'all have time to play games ever?"
"When we're children."
Ana slapped her fist on her palm, "I have an idea! We're going to the arcade." She cleared her throat, "First, the place is just dressed up to look like an underworld— criminal underworld, it's for the aesthetic to go with the music, kay? So no need to be on guard and killin' nobody."
"If I kill anyone on this planet it would be their fault." Ketevan said flatly.
Ana stared at her.
Ketevan smiled.
"I'm impressed you have a sense of humour, asshole."
Ketevan exhaled a cloud of rich tobacco smoke, "Donkey hole is not particularly offensive to anyone except a stallion."
Ana held her chest and laughed uproariously.
Ketevan watched her until she stopped, she waved for a vehicle to descend and pick them up while she continued to chuckle, in fact, the bloody woman would not stop chuckling until they were inside and on the way.
"What is an arcade?" Ketevan asked once it seemed like Ana had her fill.
"It's um..." she tapped her finger on the white leather seat, "It's a shop that provides machinery for playing video and virtual reality games, video where you look at the screen and hold devices to control your character. Virtual reality is where it simulates a three-dimensional space where we place a helmet with a visor on your head so you can see it in first person and control your character. "
Ketevan nodded, "I'll think better of it once I see it. But why games when she wishes to brawl until knock out or death?"
"Games are serious business without wars, you know."
This much is certain, I was brought to this place to force progress in war preparations. "Could you ask your Rasputin if anyone is developing weapons in preparation for war?"
"THERE IS CURRENTLY ONLY THE BLACK ARMOURY. THEIR FORGES EXIST AROUND THE WORLD. LOCATIONS HAVE BEEN SENT TO YOUR DEVICE."
I must contact them and seek... Rasputin is some kind of large scale machine capable of something like a vast presence? "Rasputin," Ketevan spoke flatly as he did, "I would like study materials in detail delivered about how weapons are to be crafted, I would like to begin this immediately as so if I can afford it I would be able to take hobbies to cultivate a mature existence in this world and all it has to offer."
"COMPLETE."
Ana simply smiled, "Glad to have you on board, Ketevan."
The girl looked as if she'd won some kind of victory, "Why must I be kept from your father?"
"He's bad news." She said in a manner that barred questions.
I see, Ketevan turned to Rasputin, "Also, I would like to know how this SIVA functions and of Engrams."
"SUCH REQUIRES YEARS OF STUDY."
"Yeah, take it easy, Ket, you've got years and years to do that." Ana leaned back in her seat and tapped onto a pad of numbers for the seat beside her to fall away to present a set of bottles of alcohol, glasses and ice.
"You'll find I'm quite astute, on with it, please." She insisted, "No drinking until business for the day is done." she eyed Ana carefully.
Ana barked a laugh, "Fine by me then, you prefer shooting or melee combat?"
"I suppose you people with how advanced you are, your people must have created firearms that far surpass the mixture of explosives my people make use of." Not counting the stellar powered weapons that are newly developed... I wonder how they power their tools of war "It would be best to practice that."
"We'll be there soon. Anything you'd like to know?" Ana turned on some hidden fans inside the roof of the vehicle and held out the ignition device, "You can smoke with that on. We call this a lighter."
Ketevan took the lighter and mumbled thanks, "Tell me how your Traveller arrived."
She shook her head and looked outside and tapped the glass behind her, the driver came to a halt "Oh boy this is perfect," she pointed outside to a set of four statues wearing helmets that must consist of reinforced glass, "Those three there discovered the Traveller, Calumet, Qiao, Hardy and Mihaylova on mission renamed to Ares One. We're not sure about how the Traveller does what it does, if you're lucky you can meet some scientists who are more of an expert than me." she rapped her knuckles on the glass again for the driver to continue.
"Understood," Ketevan took a lengthy breath of tobacco smoke, "Since the majority of you people seem to believe war is..." a strange beeping sound came from outside, seconds later Ana received a phone call with what sounded like an alarm.
"What happened, Elsie?" she looked concerned.
Out of respect, Ketevan tuned her ears out of prying and decided to search for researchers on the Traveller who are present on Earth, odd, the name of an element of magecraft was the name of their planet... Her eyes struck open, am I on the so-called fundamental form world... Regardless, that is a question for another time. The list of scientists cited as available narrowed itself down to one with most being busy or off world:
Clovis Bray.
"Are they okay?"
Ketevan looked up to see genuine concern on Ana's face. They're probably dead unless Rasputin is capable of executing danger.
"Thank God Rasputin was there, so what are the... okay, I understand. I'll be there in a week I've got our newest assistant." her eyes flicked to Ketevan and then out of the window with hardly any bloody embarrassment at that less than truth.
When she put her phone down she leaned back in her seat, "Alright, lay it on me."
"Lay what on you?" Ketevan said, "I'm just surprised you'd think your father would approve of an elf with purple hair working in his corporation or even contacting him." she showed Ana her phone. "May I ask what occured?"
"Some researches, the best of the best and the excellent among 'em got caught in some kinda alien trap and Rasputin managed to save 'em before they got jacked up."
Ketevan put her phone away, "Jacked up? Like hacked to pieces?"
"Yes, but their brains. Okay, so after we're done with your exploration for today we're going to America, I need to get back in my off world office, and then we'll go to Mars after you taste so more culture. Deal?"
Ketevan acquiesced.
"And you're in luck, Big Skully's on the mic, and he'll love to see you against whoever the guards send, maybe the captain or their superstar." She tapped the glass with a finger, "Stop here, we're gonna walk through."
The car halted, doors opened upwards on their own to the smell of something artificial mixed with flora, something abrasive that hung around the bodies of people. The scent of oily food, potatoes, and some strange alteration to cooked meat.
The underground section was a large road from what she could observe, akin to the long roads constructed across countries to join nations, however, with their technology they created a large slab of road that went up alongside the flat road that they had travelled on. They bid the driver goodbye as Ketevan took in the impressive sights of human engineering.
The road that slanted up at this side of the city where there was a clear divided between heavy industry and what they called 'urban' to a more homely area was abrasive. An area fenced off had children on boards and shoe-wheels performing tricks, playing, chattering and spending time in wholesome sport.
One of them took note of her appearance, one after another they all turned to look and then noticed Ana where they started shouting and requesting her phone number. Ana, tapped Ketevan on the shoulder and ushered her into the tunnel that led to their mock criminal underworld where men and women of all skin tones and racial features gathered. They had to form groups as is their nature with a few deviating from it.
Beneath the arching road was a dank walkway where what she assumed where trendy vehicles pulled low to the ground cruised through, women wearing so little they may as wear nothing at all and men dressed from halfway smartly to... Ketevan decided it was best to give up. The values she held likely did not line up with this universe.
On that note, if this did exist, and it hadn't become a pit of demons as she had not detected any so far, this universe as she can currently identify is not hostile. Else, this Traveller holds a position significant enough shift Logos, such a being would be invaluable if they could happen to come across their own. Ketevan lit another cigarette, burning regrets of perishing and failing to— she scowled.
"Something on your mind?" Ana stopped to look at her, genuine concern again. But she was a guarded woman, could laugh, could joke but always prospecting. A dance she probably played naturally with everyone she comes across. Potent enough in her for her to not be misled by her father, if she was in the right, and he is in the wrong.
"No," Ketevan took in the dank underway for what it was, screens all over the place, advertisements from things to what were likely video games with displays that were too real and some that looked like they were for children until she saw the detailed gore. The light was bound to overwhelm anyone unprepared or who had that odd mental issue that the Eskari had somehow developed at a one in fifty case. Bright lights, dank atmosphere, degenerate music, she wanted to spit and break the speaker it played out of. Worst of all, she noticed the name of the shop behind Ana.
"Why would someone build an antique shop in such a place?" Ketevan approached the door to Eververse Antiquarians, but Ana caught her hand.
"Can't smoke in there, they're very strict, and you'll only be allowed in because of me."
Ketevan put out her cigarette on the top of a bin and flicked it inside, "Very well." she looked around, "This challenger, will they come soon?"
"Can count on that."
"Then we shall return to this place another time, I would like to buy a sword and a kite shield." Ketevan gestured for Ana to lead on.
"I can just order them to my office when we get there."
Ketevan chuckled, "You don't test them first?"
"Er... I'll get Rasputin to teach you how to make SIVA weapons, he can probably pay the Black Armoury for that kinda thing."
She followed Ana into what appeared to be an old mausoleum from their previous era, repurposed and fitted with images of beautiful men and women wearing next to nothing wielding weapons from wooden clubs to guns. Two guards stood outside and gave them a nod to enter.
"Hey, your brother around?" Ana asked.
"Yeah, he's wheelin' and dealin' software." the guard replied.
"Tell him to stop, the Euros might play nice but if he goes too far messin' with their systems they'll put 'em away." Ana handed him a card but her refused.
"You can't pay his ass to make better decisions," he shook his head with anger boiling behind his visor, "The dumb fool does it because he's bored."
Ana rolled her eyes, "Germaine, Germaine."
Ketevan followed her into the arcade, more shimmering screens filled with action from guns, hand-to-hand combat, some nonsense eyesore of colour in rapid eruptions and other things she had no interest in. The single room had people in the middle selling cheap alcohol, food and trinkets. Men and women gathered throwing degenerate lyrics at one another, some even made musical instruments out of their mouths which was impressive. But the overwhelming majority of these people were glued to computers and fat machines with stick, box and button controls on them.
Toward the far side of the room was a giant screen where two people were fighting as characters on the screen. They were in strange skin tight suits and performed over the top movements to fight on screen with a mixture of boxing and soft fighting. Ketevan made her decision, she would face her challenger right there and overwhelm them.
The announcer erupted when one of the men bested the other, "Fight forever Germaine! show them why your legend grows forever!"
Ana blinked, "Since when could that kid fight?"
"Ana," Ketevan placed a hand on her shoulder, "I'm going to make this arcade my dominion."
She barked a laugh, "Get outta here warlord. That's a cheat match, they're both using deregulated gear and mods, that's expensive, but I can buy you some."
"No, give me a regular device and I shall win. I require the challenge to maintain my proficiency."