"You can go now." A soldier informed the group. Keng and Olivia nodded at the soldier, thanking them before they returned to their post. Lee Seng was asleep on Olivia's shoulder while Manny, Liz, Ritsuka, and Evan were asleep on each other. Keng had kept himself up with Olivia, quietly waiting, barely chatting.
"I guess we should go." Olivia cleared her throat and looked at Keng. Keng nodded and shook awake the others, leaving Lee Seng to her. Olivia looked at Lee Seng, quickly drawing herself closer to him. Lee Seng's hair fell into his face. It was good he had it short, but Olivia couldn't help but think what it would be like if he had longer hair.
Olivia brushed his hair without thinking. Lee Seng twitched for a moment, spooking Olivia. She jumped, thinking Lee Seng had caught her, but the Fox Spirit smacked his lips and nestled on her shoulder. The groans and yawns of everyone else snapped Olivia out of it. She shook Lee Seng's shoulder and woke him up.
"Hey, we can go now." Olivia softly spoke. Lee Seng's tired eyes peeled open. He rubbed his eyes as he pulled away from her shoulder and nodded.
"Did I sleep on you? Sorry." Lee Seng apologized with a tired voice.
"No, you're fine." Olivia shook her head. "I wasn't bothered by it." Lee Seng nodded and blinked a couple of times before Keng grabbed everyone's attention.
"Alright, grab your things and let's get goin'." Keng clapped his hands together. The group nodded, slowly standing and lugging their things.
"I wish we could just use the Void Storage… Carrying things is so annoying." Evan complained.
"I know, I know." Keng patted Evan. "We gotta look the part." Evan nodded, wiping the tired away from his eyes. Keng and Olivia led the group over to the line which quickly moved. The soldiers saluted as they made it to the front and Keng turned around to look at everyone else.
"Alright, lets go." Olivia motioned.
"Everything's going as soon as we enter the portal." Keng added. The group looked up at the portal, nerves swelling in their chests. Entering the portal would start their long journey of going back to Capitol City.
Rain hit the trees as Lee Seng and the group exited the portal. The other people that had gone before them were now humans and waiting for the rain to stop to continue to their destination. Lee Seng flicked open his map and watched it update.
'That man wasn't lying at all.' Lee seng thought. There were many points of interest on the map, but Lee Seng noticed a heavily traveled place. 'It's half a day's journey, but this rain…' Lee Seng looked up, feeling a drop of rain water hit his cheek. It was warm by the standards Lee Seng was used to, but he welcomed the rain with a small smile.
"You two should, uh, change first." Manny cleared his throat. He pointed at Lee Seng and Keng who were still full Fox. Lee Seng and Keng shimmered, changing to match each other. They had decided they would be identical twins, playing off of Keng's distinguished look.
"This feels weird." Lee Seng commented looking behind him. He didn't have the comfort of his tails anymore. It felt… odd. "I really don't like this."
"Hmmm, a human turned Fox likes being a Fox." Ritsuka grinned. He stepped over and wrapped an arm around Lee Seng. "You're really taking your identity as a Fox seriously." Lee Seng shrugged off Ritsuka and brushed himself off.
"Of course." Lee Seng plucked a poncho out and wore it while Keng dished out the ponchos in his Void Storage. "I'm just… used to it. It feels really weird."
"Well, get used to the weird." Manny smiled. The group put their ponchos on and looked at Manny. "Alright, we should head to that ID place. You got the location?"
"This one's most frequented based on what I was given." Lee Seng pointed at the blank air beside him. "C'mon."
A small, broken-looking building came into view. The rain had accompanied them all the way here into the night. A dead tree stood off to the side of the house. Lee Seng glanced at the map, confirming they were at the right place.
"I think… this is the place. C'mon." Lee Seng motioned. Lee Seng twisted the door open and pushed it, revealing a deserted room.
"Are you sure this is it?" Manny asked. "It looks…"
"Like a squatter's house." Evan finished.
"A haunted house." Ritsuka commented.
"A murder waiting to happen." Olivia corrected them. The group all filtered into the place with Ritsuka closing the door behind them. They all pulled their poncho hoodies off and took a look around. There was a hallway on the left side and a door on the right.
"Hello?" Lee Seng stepped over to the hallway. "Is anyone here?" He made it short of the hallway before they all heard a click. Nano machines flew out and quickly started flashing them.
"Ah!" The group yelled, throwing their hands in front of them. The buzz of the nano machines flew around the entire group. Lee Seng felt the tug of energy pulling them downwards and in a blink of an eye, the group landed with a thud. Lee Seng rubbed the blinding light out of his eyes. He could hear someone shuffling further up in front of him.
"And I was about to close shop for the day." An old man spoke. Spots of lights stopped Lee Seng and the others from fully taking the man's image in. Lee Seng could only spot out the man's plaid button-up. "Blindness is temporary with the nanos. Just keep your eyes closed for thirty seconds and you'll be fine."
Lee Seng and the group did as they were told. The blinding lights faded from their eyes and they turned to take in the old man. He was bald, wore a plaid button-up and was standing behind a counter. From the way he was positioned, it looked like he was sitting, only revealing the upper-half of himself.
"Welcome, welcome! I haven't seen your faces before, so I assume you didn't just accidentally stumble into this place." The old man stood up and pushed the high chair away from him. "What can I do for ya?"
"Hello, Mister…" Lee Seng gulped. "We heard you'd be able to forge us some IDs." The old man chuckled and nodded.
"Come forward. No need to be wary. You're safe from the elements and anyone tracking you currently. Just don't get on my bad side." The old man smiled. Lee Seng looked at the others before taking the first step forward. They all followed Lee Seng until they were on the other side of the counter. "You need IDs? I can provide them… for a price."
"How much?" Manny asked. "We're kinda… tight on creds." The old man's pleasant smile turned into a frown. His demeanor changed from friendly to guarded.
"It's gonna cost a lot to get a forged ID… Can you even afford it? You all look… quite young. Lemme guess, running away from something? Someone? The government?" The old man cocked his head. Lee Seng sighed. Mr. Tila's information was coming in handy.
'The old man likes to scare people away with the act. The IDs are actually pricey. If you can't afford it, you can offer your services. The cards run for a million per person. Repeat customers have the option to pay 25K over time since the old man has you in the system. The old man particularly likes those with gold cards. He breaks the price down by a lot… I'm not sure why, but these people tend to have the easiest time getting an ID over the others.' Mr. Tila's voice echoed in Lee Seng's head.
"An ID runs about… a million creds for a newcomer, but for repeat customers you let 'em pay around 25K over time?" Lee Seng asked. The old man's eyebrow raised.
"You know your stuff. Have you been here before?" The old man asked. Lee Seng pulled his wallet out and plucked a gold card out of it. The old man noticed what it was and grew more interested. "That card…"
"I hear it's a measly 5 grand per card for a card like this." Lee Seng smiled. He moved the card closer to the old man, who's eyes were glued on it like a moth to a flame. "I haven't used this in a couple years, but I'm pretty sure it holds its weight somewhere, right…? Cards for all of us and you can use whatever's in here." The old man snapped out of it and took a good look at Lee Seng. It wasn't a face he recognized. He looked at the others and noticed an identical twin amongst them.
"You and your brother… Are you two some sort of high in society people? Did you run away with your friends to show your independence or something?" The old man asked. He reached up for the card, but Lee Seng quickly pulled away.
"Mr. Adams, we're just trying to get some new IDs. Why do I need to share anything? This could be a wonderful start to our relationship. I'll let everyone else I know to come your way with loads of creds… if you hook us up. Whaddya say?" Lee Seng raised his eyebrows. Mr. Adams looked at the gold card and then at the others.
"Fine. Deal. Gimme the card." The old man motioned. Lee Seng handed the card off and the old man snatched it. He looked at it in the light, flipping it multiple times before turning slightly away. "I'll prepare IDs for all of you. If you have any specific name you'd like to go by, tell me."
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