"We're here."
Bob flashed a card and pressed it against a seemingly plain wall in the side of the underground tunnel.
The wall parted to reveal another passage.
It closed behind them seamlessly.
"Don't worry about IDing the gates yeah? I got you."
Renny nodded stiffly.
That was probably for the best.
If Bob asked him to pull out his ID now, he wouldn't know what to say, because he didn't have an IDCG ID on him.
They went through this process a few more times, until Renny lost all sense of direction.
Bob somehow kept knowing where to go.
Then at the last passage Bob pressed his ID again.
The wall parted to reveal a small chamber.
It contained pods that looked similar to Coffins, lined up like cars in a parking lot.
They were horizontslly levitated above the ground.
Bob seemed to notice Renny's surprised face and raised an eyebrow.
"What you haven't seen a Zoom before? They're basically modified horizontal Coffins used to travel in speed tubes."
Bob climbed into one of them and inserted his ID card into a slot.
The Zoom revved to life.
"You can use mine. You lost your ID card or something right? I noticed when you kept staring at mine."
Bob's more observant than he seems.
Renny climbed in. He saw 2 other seats behind the 2 front ones.
Bob piloted the Zoom to the start of the speed tube.
The moment the Zoom aligned with the speed tube, it was sucked in.
The Zoom sped down the tube automatically, extremely fast.
The tube blurred past in streaks of light — yet inside, Renny felt nothing. No wind. No pressure. As if the speed existed only outside the shell.
Renny saw a tiny hub display.
It showed a complex network of what he assumed were speed tubes and circles.
Bob sighed.
"You're not an IDCG Diver right?"
Fuck.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
"I'm not gonna do anything don't worry. Damn, I really thought you were one."
Renny shifted in his seat.
"So what happens now?"
Bob leaned back in his seat.
"Well, I'll just sign you up I guess. You've already seen too much. And I don't want to kill you. Just whatever you do, do not share this with anyone you know. We were never here, there are no tunnels and speed tubes. That's one of their rules. Don't talk about it."
Renny asked, "What is the IDCG?"
"The Illegal Dive Commission Guild is an underground guild that gives Divers and those who want to be Divers but don't have a license yet a space to train, go on extra missions etc. Not even the GDA and CoL know about it."
He continued, "To many, it's a secondary source of income. Shady yes, but it pays better than GDA tasks. The guild doesn't tax any of the earnings from Divers. Missions are not locked behind ranks and numbers. If you think you can handle it, go for it. The IDCG is not responsible for any deaths or injuries."
Renny was silent for a while, digesting the information.
"Then why did you think I was from the IDCG?" Renny asked.
“IDCG doesn’t follow GDA rules. They don’t run twelve-man entries. Smaller teams. Sometimes solo. GDA would never allow that. So I figured you were IDCG — probably got chased out by a Crawler.” Bob replied.
He continued, "Anyway, just stay close to me. The security's been ramped up these days. No clue as to why as well."
Renny thought back to what Devil had said, about how the system was flawed.
The existence of this Guild proved it.
His fatigue kicked in suddenly.
The adrenaline had worn off.
He pulled the chains tighter around him, almost like a blanket.
He slumped comfortably into his seat and dozed off.
---
Renny woke up to Bob nudging him gently.
He felt well rested.
The Zoom was nearing the end of the speed tube.
It slowed down and stopped, then it opened up to reveal a massive underground space spanning as far as the eye can see.
It was like an underground city.
As they stepped out of the parked Zoom, Bob noticed Renny's amazement.
"Welcome to IDCG Main. Stay close."
Hundreds of people milled about. All armed.
Many guards were present, dressed in full black body armour and holding a specialised rifle.
Some patrolling, some stationed.
The black helmets they wore gave no indication of where they were looking.
A tall man walked up to Bob. He wore a mask that looked like an Oni, a japanese demon from folklore. He carried 2 swords on his side, katanas presumably. His body had minimal armour and was covered in scars and tattoos.
Bob spoke, "What can I do for you, Kurogane?"
Bob's voice was soft and slow, as if he was being careful.
Renny could see his hands clenched.
The chains tightened slightly, silently.
Kurogane spoke, his accent seeping through, "Where is the money?"
Bob replied, voice shaking slightly, "I don't have it with me now sir."
Kurogane put his hand on one of his katanas.
He was about to speak when a chained fist flew into his face.
Renny hopped back, readying his chains again.
Be light.
Be stronger.
Be powerful.
He felt a cold energy flowing through the chains.
Kurogane staggered back, then drew his swords, enraged.
His originally silver katanas shimmered and slowly turned black.
Bob stood at the side, shock and fear showing on his face.
Kurogane yelled, "Who are you, fool?"
Renny responded by dashing into the space right in front of Kurogane, where he couldn't swing his swords.
"Shit—"
He slammed his fist into Kurogane's ribs.
The impact sent Kurogane stumbling backwards.
Renny looked at the chains, surprised.
The chains...
They felt weaker?
Kurogane lunged, bringing his right sword down onto Renny—
Renny blocked the attack with his left hand wrapped in chains, then moved in—
Kurogane jumped back to prevent Renny getting too close.
Renny had just exploited the weakness of swords, which was their weakness in close quarters.
He wasn't going to let it happen again.
Kurogane slid his foot back, stance lowering.
"So you're a brawler," he muttered, annoyed.
Bob stood frozen on the sidelines, knuckles white around his ID card.
Kurogane stepped in, controlled, precise.
One blade slashing in a wide arc horizontally.
The other blade remained stationary, close to him.
Renny ducked, then tried to get in close again—
Kurogane was ready.
He hopped back, preventing Renny from getting too close.
The second sword slashed across Renny's face—
No sound rang out when the blade met the chains that emerged to protect Renny's face.
Renny was startled and the force sent him flying backwards, but he was otherwise unharmed.
The chains moved with his thoughts.
Like a reflex.
Kurogane's eyes widened slighly.
He realised those chains were not normal.
They didn't make a sound when he slashed them.
Moreover they didn't even have a scratch on them.
Kurogane brought a blade up and inspected it.
The black colour on the blades had gone down significantly, almost half the length of it.
Kurogane pushed Heartlight into his blades. The black colour slowly returned, covering the full length of the blade.
It reminded Renny of weapons that could absorb Heartlight from their users and store it. They discharge Heartlight from the blade in controlled bursts strong enough to slice cleanly through conventional Heartlight reinforced armour.
Was that the case here too?
Was that black along the blades a visual indicator of Heartlight levels in the blade?
Kurogane glanced at the chains — untouched.
This wasn’t a fight he could finish here.
He sheathed his swords.
He straightened, clicking his tongue.
"I'll deal with you another time. Bob, I'll be back for the money."
He stalked off.
Renny relaxed and asked, "Bob, who was that?"
"That was a money lender. An illegal one. He acted like my friend to get me to borrow money from him, and here we are," Bob replied, looking around.
Renny noticed too.
Many watched the fight, yet none stepped in to stop it.
They stared the way humans watched insects fight—curious, detached, waiting to see which one stopped moving first.
Bob grabbed Renny by the sleeve and pulled him closer, whispering, "Thank you for standing up for me, but don’t do that again. Let’s get you registered."
