River Street wound through the Eclipse District, built directly over the River Moondrop as it made its way through the city from Syzygy Square all the way up through the red light district. The section we were on was south of the Trade Union's offices. There, we walked along the avenue until we found a particularly open part of the river - the street was just a single bridge crossing over while the banks were left grassy.
We found our final interviewee by the hiss of his spray can. He had set up shop underneath the bridge on a narrow walkway between the wall and the water, perched precariously on a stepladder. His nameplate identified him as 'NX King'. He wore dark clothes splattered with a rainbow of paint, a respirator mask pulled down around his neck, and a beanie tugged low over his eyes.
Cherry and I picked our way down the slippery bank, careful not to slide into the frigid water. I waved as we approached. "Hey there!"
King didn't pause or even turn his head, his focus entirely on the controlled bursts of color he was adding to the piece. "What's good?"
"To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women." Cherry replied without missing a beat.
I elbowed her in the ribs.
"What?" she protested. "He asked!"
King glanced at us briefly. "Alright, more power to you on that."
I cleared my throat and asked, "So, mind if we take some pictures?"
King returned to his work, adding a streak of electric blue. "It'd be a little tone deaf for me to care about permission on that, wouldn't it? It's meant to be viewed; you view it how you want."
I dug into my inventory and spawned our drone, piloting it to hover over the water to get a complete view of the artwork.
King glanced back at the buzzing sound. "Oh, nice - where'd you get that?"
"Part of our work equipment." I said. "We're doing a trial run, so maybe you'll see them on the market soon."
"Cool." King said, and went back to his painting.
I couldn't help feeling a little smug. The graffiti artist - the literal definition of street cred - had called me cool.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
|A>?Says the lady bringing out Conan the Barbarian quotes!
|A>?Don't stick your tongue out at me!
So anyway, I took several photos with the drone, capturing the full scope of King's work. From a distance, I could see what he was going for - a stylized depiction of the Citadel, but twisted and crumbling, with plants and wildlife reclaiming the stone. It wasn't vandalism; it was commentary. Then I quickly brought the drone back in before she got hurt.
Setting up the tape recorder, I asked, "So, King, what inspired you to get into this? Why express yourself like this?"
"I don't play the game like other people do. I don't care about loot, or levels, or any of that." He gestured broadly at the city around us. "This world? It's not really ours. It's something we were given - something built for us to play around like a theme park. But me? I want to make it mine."
"Cool, cool." I nodded. "So what other kinds of places have you hit? I know we found you because you were caught tagging Evermoon Palace - any other big exploits?"
King capped his spray can and hopped down from the ladder to view his work from a different angle. "Depends how you want to define it. The biggest one I've managed to finish was a piece on the wall by the west gate - a big mural. It's still there last I checked. But my favorite... that'd be the time I tagged Seltzer's personal wagon."
"Nice!" Cherry exclaimed.
"What kind of wheels did he have?" I asked.
"It was a covered wagon - private sitting space to keep out onlookers. I rode up beside them and barely managed to finish before they killed my horse. I dove into the river and swam away, hid in the sewers for a few days."
"We can relate." I said. "Have you ever been caught?"
"A few times. Usually just pay a fine and get released. The Guards don't really know what to do with someone who doesn't care about their rules. What are they gonna do, ban me from the Player Market?" He laughed. "I spend all my gold on paint anyway."
Before I could ask another question, a shout rang out from the street above. "Hey! What's going on down there?"
I looked up to see several World Guard patrolmen leaning over the bridge railing, pointing directly at us. One of them was already heading for the bank, hand on his weapon.
"And that's a wrap on this one!" King shouted, immediately abandoning his stepladder. He snatched up a backpack from beside the wall and booked it down the river bank.
Cherry and I exchanged a quick glance before following suit. We sprinted along the grassy bank, our feet slipping on the frosted ground. Behind us, I could hear the Guards shouting for us to stop, their heavy boots pounding down the slope. Just ahead, the river entered a tunnel that connected to the sewers. We just had to get to-
A crackling arc of electricity sailed through the air and struck Cherry square in the back. Her entire body convulsed violently, limbs spasming as she let out a garbled "Bluh-bluh-bluh-bluh!" She pitched forward and crashed face-first into the river.
"Cherry!" I shouted. Without thinking, I dove into the frigid river after her. The cold hit like a truck, knocking the breath from my lungs as I grabbed her twitching body. The current wasn't strong, but it was enough to start pulling her limp body downstream. Just pulling her back to the grass would have been suicide - we'd be captured instantly; our only hope was cross and running.
I kicked hard, dragging us both toward the opposite bank. My clothes felt like they weighed a thousand pounds, and Cherry was deadweight in my arms, occasional spasms making it even harder to keep hold of her. But I did it - I got us over to the far shore and heaved Cherry onto the bank, scrambling up after her.
... And we immediately found ourselves surrounded by a half dozen Guards, their weapons drawn and pointed directly at us. They'd, uh... used the bridge.
I managed a weak smile. "Hello, gentlemen."