City Station Tower

Jaden would arrive to the city. The smell of the not so fresh air instantly hits him and made a little bit queasy. "How can anyone get use to this smell?" He sighs then walks over to the edge looking straight down at the city below. "Anyways, I'm here now. Probably a diner or somewhere that I can order a burger from." Jaden makes his way towards the street level as heads towards the mall.

*Marcus steps off the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. from the Darklands and sighs, slightly irritably. He hated the loud hustle and bustle of the city. He fidgeted with his left arm, making sure the white bandage bindings were still tight over the length of the limb and fingers, the ends of the bandages frayed and singed. He started to make his way to the elevators down to the ground level.*

Several groups of people are mulling about, from KND agents to a few Dexlab and MI scientists arguing about something. Four sets of elevators were coming and going, letting people on and off.

This was the first time Lexxia had been to the tower and it was pretty breath taking to say the least. She avoided standing too close to the edge, just enough to get a view of the city down below. The girl glanced around at the interconnected web of rails between the buildings, the people down below, who all looked like ants from this high up, and the fusions mobs, who also looked like ants. But, like, bigger, angrier ants.

"Okay, that's enough of that," she thought before heading towards the elevators to the ground level, "I should probably actually do something today."

*Marcus stood nearby, the tapping of his boot on the tiling marking his impatience as the crowds filtered in and out of the elevators. His arms were folded, clutched tight. He pointedly avoided physical contact with others in the crowd when they came too close. Finally, one of the elevators emptied and he slipped inside quickly.*

The young girl squirmed awkwardly through the crowd. Lexxia gasped a sigh of relief once out of the crowd and pressed the button for the ground floor. Lexxia glanced to the intimidatingly tall man next to her, then to the elevators controls, and lastly noticed how she was right between the two.

"O-oh!" she took a quick breath, "Are you h-heading down? To the ground, I mean - if you're not I could push the one that you are..." Lexxia said with as much confidence as she could, pointing to the buttons.

*Marcus glanced at her and then nodded, holding in another sigh. He gripped his bandaged arm a little tighter.*

"Yeah, ground floor. Thanks."

*He tried to stay brief, not wanting to bother her too much. Or maybe it was the other way around. He fiddled with his belt and the strap holding his rifle to his back for a moment, before gazing back out the glass elevator doors.*

The elevator at this point was half way down and one could see the lower part of the city skyline, including large flashes of light from the direction of the mall.

"O-okay, cool then." Lexxia said with a small thumbs up. Then she stood there awkwardly and uncomfortably as the elevator descended. Eventually the silence, which swarmed around like a choking presence got to her and she cracked,

"S-so..." Lexxia started, looking Marcus up. When she noticed the blaster on his back, she continued, "Do you fight fusions too...?"

*He didn't glance back, but figured there was no harm in answering.*

"Yeah. Darklands. Sometimes they call me in to train some of the newbies sometimes too. But mostly Fusion-blasting."

*He was quiet for a few moments, taking a look over at the short girl with the eccentrically patterned...coat, poncho thing?*

"You part of the army?"

"Oh-no. I'm a... volunteer? Free-lancer?" Lexxia didn't know the word to describe her place in this fight. But what she did know was,

"I just wanna stay safe out there, y'know?" she paused for a moment, "And maybe keep some other people safe along the way."

"Mmm. That's good. I remember that feeling of needing to protect people."

*He wanted to say more, but didn't think sending the conversation down a dour turn would be good for the new acquaintence.*

"As long as there's good people like you out there helping in this war, I think we'll be okay."

The elevator slowly comes to a stop and the doors open with a soft ding on ground level.

"Well...Guess I'll see ya around, kiddo. Stay safe out there, yeah?"

*Marcus stepped out of the descended elevator, then move aside to allow her to also exit. His head went on a swivel, trying to make sense of the city layout and find his destination.*

"Y-yeah, you too," Lexxia meekly responded as the man walked off. What he had said was settling in her mind. She stepped off the elevator, taking in the city and her new perspective of it. Lexxia paused for a moment, before turning to look back at that man,

"He-hey. You make sure to stay safe, too. And, u-uh," she stammered, not having planned to talk more, "Welcome to our city!"

"Heh, I appreciate it. Feels claustrophobic and choking to me, but I'll try."

*Marcus offered a very small smile before turning back around and pushing his way through the crowd and his tall black hair disappearing.*

"Time to find this friggin' facility Dexter wants me to go to."

*He muttered as he wandered through the grid-styled city. He was supposed to pick up some sort of large package to bring back to the Darklands that was supposed to fix some sort of Fusion Matter Regulator. He hated doing this grunt work. Why not just send a SACT agent or something?*