Rex - The Rat King

Saturday, 10AM. A normal day in the Parekh household. The two residents lived in the Clay District, in a small apartment that was just big enough for the two of them. In the large living room, a boy wearing a black hoodie was typing away on a PC, watching lines of code appear and images flash on several screens. On the other end of the room, an old, thin woman rocked back and forth in her rocking chair, reading a paperback book. “Okay.” The boy stood up. “Dadiji, I’m heading out.” “Take Bingley with you,” the old woman said, not looking up from her book. “He looks bored.” “Okay!” The boy walked over to the other corner of the room and opened a large cage sitting there. As he reached in, four rats poked their heads out from the hammocks they were lounging in and began sniffing his hand. “Hey, hey!” Rex pet each one before picking out a rat with golden and white patches. “Okay, Bingley. Let’s go.” He placed Bingley into the hood of his jacket, closed the cage, and waved to his grandmother before he left the house. He glanced at his secret notebook- one of several he’d amassed over the years, containing avenues of investigation. He’d gathered a few more recently. His fingers traced over one- at the border between the Rose and Stone Districts, and a short walk from the Neon District, a new restaurant had opened up. It appeared to be a sports bar of some kind. Ever since he’d turned 18, which was the drinking age in Sancoline, he began visiting bars in the city, hunting for leads and information. People tended to loosen their lips around strangers with a bit of liquid courage in their stomachs, after all. And he was always curious about the specialty stuff. After checking how to get there on his phone, he walked to the subway. Bingley nuzzled the back of his neck as the subway began moving. Sancoline was a fun place to grow up in- for the technology, at least. Here, they had smartphones and air conditioning, even high-performance processers used for complex calculations in the city center. Apparently, this was how lots of Old Americans lived before the Erosion, except they had the capacity to travel to other places. Rex couldn’t imagine a world without computers. But in the present day, that wasn’t how everyone in the world lived. He knew he was incredibly lucky to have food, water, shelter, and technology. Even so, he knew that with great power came great responsibility- responsibility that Old America didn’t have. The Regent of Sancoline, an angel named Lyra that fell from the sky (though Rex had his doubts about that story) had his own agenda in keeping information out of the public’s hands. At best, in the Regent’s mind, it was to keep the Sancolinians from repeating the mistakes of their ancestors. But could you really blame the Sancolinians for wanting to know the truth? That was Rex’s- or rather, Ratking’s- role in the social ecosystem. To hunt down and provide the truth at any cost. “Well, Bingley,” he said, “this is the place.” Bingley poked his head out from Rex’s hoodie and looked at the bar in front of them. It appeared to be a bar with an exterior painted in white, contrasting sharply with the dark interior the windows and glass door revealed. Rex glanced up at the sign over the door: It read “Laplace”, with a stylized dancing stick figure to the side of it. Probably just there to liven up the sign. Rex sighed and threw his cell phone into his hood next to Bingley. “Keep an eye on it, buddy.” Rex walked in, wondering what he would expect. The place wasn’t exactly buzzing, but it seemed filled enough to stay in business. The wooden furniture was all painted the same black color, including the bar table and barstools. There wasn’t any light, apart from the light outside, to illuminate the bar. Apart from the bar itself, the rest of the bar was organized like a lounge of some sort, with comfortable-looking leather furniture and coffee tables with small decorations. He was curious about what kinds of people might frequent Laplace, but decided that the bar probably hadn’t been around long enough to develop a specific niche. Rex’s eyes scanned the clientele. Businesspeople from the Stone District were here, discussing a person’s actions at a meeting they had just attended in extremely vague detail. Pass. A young woman with green hair relaxed in a solitary booth, apparently grabbing lunch. She had no one to talk to, and probably wasn’t interested in talking to a stranger. Pass. A young couple sat at the far end of the bar. One half was feeding ketchup-covered fries to his other half. They were probably just here on a date. Pass. There was a quiet group of young people sitting in the middle of the bar. They appeared to be studying various subjects, from art to physics, very quietly. Pass. In a lounge area, a bunch of bookish-looking people appeared to be having a conversation about current events. From listening in, he caught snippets of their conversation. “... from the Archival Project… ” “... make a copy?... ” “... goddamn Carolina Post situation… ” Rex’s eyes widened at “Carolina Post situation”. That was a preserved newspaper from Old America that had been heavily regulated by the Regent’s direct orders. Are they talking about literature censorship? Only Salt District students would know about this kind of stuff, and only the Regent would hand it down. He quickly sat down in a nearby seat and listened in, quietly ordering a glass of beer in the meantime. There were three of them- one a Black girl with thick glasses and a large afro, a skinny blonde girl with an acne-scarred face, and a third girl with a shaved head and thick eyeliner. The spectacled girl continued. “The seller said it was 10 gigabytes worth of information.” “But did you take a look at it?” the bald girl asked. “I did briefly review all of it. It’s a bunch of digitized books. And some pictures. There were buildings I’d never seen, selfies, artwork, digital graphics, and pictures of a family. Among other things.” “Really? Were they the seller’s family?” “We’re never gonna see them again, so I’m not sure.” “Well, maybe they haven’t left Sancoline yet!” “No, they have. He sold it to me and then left with his caravan. The pictures are being kept in the Archival Project, and we did get names for the caravan in case they came back, so if we get more information we could tell them. I just don’t understand what was on that flash drive.” “When was it written?” “A range of dates. 300 years ago to just one. Amazing it lasted that long. I knew there were PDFs of Old American novels in there… ” Just one year ago? Rex wondered. He was writing all of this down in his notebook. It’s possible that this caravan had the capacity to make copies of those files using another flash drive, hence why they were so eager to part with it. But the information there should be harmless. “Oh,” the acne-scarred girl exclaimed. “Did they pass by Opulei or Rio City?” “Yeah, they did mention they came from the direction of Rio City. They said they even took pictures… ” She paused. “Oh, that must be why.” The Salt District managed the flow of knowledge, disseminating newly discovered literature and artwork to the masses, but Lyra would sometimes intervene in that process, designating certain documents as forbidden. He always kept information about other cities out of the peoples’ hands. No one understood why- perhaps it was a means of keeping Sancolinians from leaving for other cities. Still, most people felt that it was unjust, and those that didn’t were at least curious about the other cities. This, Rex decided, was worthy of a scoop. The spectacled girl shook her head. “I’m asking my professor about this tomorrow. I just can’t abide the loss of all that other literature over some pictures. They might not even be related.” “Yeah, keep us posted.” “Oh!” There was the sound of ruffling and rummaging behind the seat. “Actually, that might not have been the only copy. I do a sync on my laptop every couple of weeks, and the sync was running while I was looking at the files… ” Rex heard the three girls stand up and move over to their friend’s side. Then, he heard more movement from farther away. He calculated the direction from the noise in his head. The study group? He drank the rest of his beer and stood up, as if to go order some more. He glanced at the study group while he waited for the bartender to finish pouring. The one who had an art textbook open was staring at the same page that they were before, having not once turned it. They were all visibly listening to the students’ conversation. They aren’t a study group- they’re spying on the Salt District students! “Wow!” the acne-scarred girl whispered, as Rex walked back to his seat. “Is that what Rio City really looks like?!” He balked as something collided with the seat above him. Someone had jumped over the back of his chair- it was the study group. Even the Knights, Sancoline’s peacekeeping force, weren’t so reckless, meaning it could only be- “So, you’ve got pictures of the outside?” One of the “spies” slammed his fist on the table. “The boss thought you would. Why don’t you show us what you got on there?” “What the hell?” The bald girl sighed. “Are you guys Vamps? What do you want?” The Onyx Vampires, or Vamps. A street gang led by Sabertooth, a spoiled twentysomething from the Rose District who likes throwing his weight around. Rex sighed. If there’s any person who’d start trouble in these parts, it’s him. The girl with thick glasses closed the lid of her laptop and clutched it tight to her chest. “This information belongs to all of Sancoline.” “If Lyra had his way, no one would see it. One pair of eyes is better than none, right?” “Stay away!” One of the Vamps- a tall woman- shoved the spectacled student. She fell to the ground, still hugging the laptop tight under her body. The tall woman kicked her, causing her to shout, but she protected it still. “Are you kicking her?!” Rex shouted. “You threatened a girl and now you’re kicking her!” “I’m a girl too, so it doesn’t count!” “The fuck is wrong with you?!” Everyone had turned to watch the chaos. The businesspeople gathered their things and filed out quietly, eager to avoid the chaos- though Rex did spy one of them calling the Knights. The couple feeding each other fries was now hiding behind the bar, pointing their cell phone cameras at the altercation. So was the bartender. “What’s going on? Are we just kicking innocent people now?” The green-haired girl stepped out of her booth with a slightly uneven step. “If you kick them again, I’ll break your nose, okay? The cops’re gonna catch you right away, looking like that.” “Who’s this ugly bitch?” one of the Vamps asked. “Well, who are you? I don’t know your face!” “We’re the Onyx Vamps.” “And you don’t know who I am?” The girl laughed. “If you’re gonna fuck someone up, you’d better get your kicks off me. Beating up a student is one of those really indefensible things, you know? Of course, I could always just track down your mom and tell her myself.” “Shut up!” One of the Vamps shoved the solitary girl away. Another grabbed the student protecting the laptop and tried to pry it from her arms, but was quickly tackled away by the acne-scarred girl. Shit, this is getting out of hand. Rex glanced at the students, the Vamps, and the outdoors, where the businesspeople had left to. If the Knights learn what’s on that laptop, they’ll confiscate it- but I can’t let the Vamps steal it either! His allies in this fight were a slightly unstable girl and a pair of terrified students. And Bingley, of course. He body-blocked the girl with the laptop, holding his arms out to protect her. The unstable girl’s itching for a fight. Hopefully this gets her to ally with me, and inspires the others’ courage. One of the Vamps drove a punch at Rex’s stomach. Rex grabbed their arm and redirected their punch, then kneed their groin, landing a solid hit. The man stumbled back as another one attacked him. Rex shoved his fingers at the man’s eyes, making him recoil. Next to him, the green-haired girl goaded one of the men to fight. He charged at her. In response, she punched him in the face, knocking him out. She immediately attacked the last man as well, landing a hit on his side. Rex heard a loud CRACK as the man fell to the ground. “Don’t harm them!” Rex muttered. “You’re too soft, man. You don’t get their psychology,” the green-haired woman said. “You’ve gotta make ‘em look like losers. Then they’ll back off.” She cracked her knuckles. “Your men called me an ugly bitch, but no one’ll ever love a girl with a broken nose.” “Wait.” Rex held his arm out. “No nose-breaking is necessary.” He reached into the hood of his hoodie and pulled out a cell phone. He showed it to the tall girl. On it was a video of her kicking the student protecting the laptop. Her face was clearly in view. “This was automatically saved on the cloud. I’m willing to give this to the Knights, or publicize it on the Internet. Back off right now and I won’t.” “Why should I-” “Your face is clearly visible in this video, and so are your words that you’re a Vamp acting on your boss’s orders. In other words, if this gets out, not only will your leader’s reputation be tarnished, but he might even cut you off to spare his losses. Are you willing to take that gamble?” The girl’s eyes widened out of shock. “Where did you-?!” “Well, look at you, aspiring journalist.” The green-haired girl laughed and clapped her hands. “You slug the kid now, I’ll break your nose for real, girl. How’s that for self-defense?” The Vamp stepped back. Her eyes flitted to and fro as she considered her options. After a momentary pause, she ran out of the bar. The remaining patrons waited for her to disappear, then all collectively breathed a sigh of relief. The couple behind the bar and the bartender took down their cameras. “About your laptop,” Rex said, facing the laptop owner, “just let the Knights know that your sync finished. Then, they won’t have any reason to confiscate your laptop.” “That’s not how that works!” the student exclaimed. “Well, what’s the chance the Knights know?” He smiled. “And I just wanted to say, you’re awesome! I’m happy I met you.” “Oh,” the spectacled woman said, smiling widely, “thank you!” The door opened. But instead of its threshold being crossed by any Knights entering, the group was surprised to see that the green-haired woman had left. She soberly walked down the path to the street, and then disappeared behind a building. --- Saturday, 6PM. A normal evening in a small, cluttered apartment. The green-haired girl who had threatened the Vamps and knocked two of them unconscious arrived at her apartment. Her knuckles were covered in blood- she’d been attacked by some more Vamps, probably seeking revenge for their friends, and she wasted no time in subjecting them to the same fate. The Vamps were clearly running scared of her now- and she’d gotten a good few of their numbers squashed before their leader, Sabertooth, managed to figure out what was going on and called off the hunt. Her body flashed and distorted, like a living glitch, before she turned into someone else. Her once long, green hair became short and black and her affluent Rose District-like clothing became a simple Sancolinian tunic. Her body became more masculine, and her voice deeper. Two feline ears sprouted out of his head, and a feline tail danced behind him. “Mrrow,” he muttered, stretching his arms, “good to be back in my own body again.” His robotic cat ears flickered back and forth as he took his sandals off and flopped down on a mattress on the floor. It felt good to rest his wounded body- the Vamps were strong in numbers. He checked his phone. He’d set his email account to notify him whenever a certain website updated with a new blog post. He quickly opened it as he collapsed on a dusty chair. [Tanglr] [The Rat Den: New Blog Post!] He clicked on the notification, taking him to a simple website. Its header read “The Rat Den” in graffiti-styled text. With its black background, ASCII text decorations, and rat-shaped logos plastered everywhere, it looked to him like a childish imitation of a hacker’s website from an Old American movie. He scrolled down to the blog post. RIO CITY PICTURE! Hey everyone, Ratking here! I’ve got some cool new intel which I think you’ll like. It comes with a story, too! I was down at a bar near the Stone-Rose border. Just chilling, doing my thing. I overheard some conversation about the kind of harmless stuff Lyra doesn’t want you to know. It was a student discussing some information they’d received from a traveling merchant. Completely by accident, it looks like they saved a copy of the files they were supposed to hand over to the Archive Project! They mentioned lots of different types of information in this file (the caravan must have been pretty well traveled) including information from before the Erosion took over the OUS! Things like novels and family pictures. (I wonder if we could track down the descendants somehow- it would be a nice gift, don’t you think?) But there were also, believe it or not, pictures from another angel-city. Somehow, Sabertooth managed to get wind of this. He sent five of his men (well, four men and one woman) to get the information any way possible. And we all know what Sabertooth does with that information- stuffs it away in his little vampire hoard. (Do vampires even have hoards?) Those brats began kicking the laptop’s owner! They probably intended to steal the laptop and leave. They had strength in numbers, but we managed to fend them off! Luckily, someone called the Knights and someone else caught footage of the thing! There were some injuries, and we didn’t get all the Vamps, but the laptop was A-OK! Oh, but I promised you guys information, right? This is a blurry photo, but this is what Lyra was trying to hide from you. This is a bonafide picture of Rio City. Cool, right? I’m not sure what this is, but it looks like a lighthouse. [Alt Text: A picture of a lighthouse covered in smooth white paint against a blue sky. The lighthouse’s base is half-buried in white sand, and it appears to be around 3 stories tall. The apex of the lighthouse is black. Around the lighthouse are smaller buildings that appear to be stone masonry construction ruins.] Also, shoutout to the girl who did everything in her power to protect that laptop. Hopefully she backed up the data again- if not for the sake of her own curiosity, for Sancoline itself. If the data really was valuable, it would be good to have two copies of it. When protecting the laptop, she said, “This information belongs to all of Sancoline.” It looks like she loves this city’s people as much as I do. Kudos to her! Though we met in person, I didn’t have the chance to tell her that she was very brave to stand up to them like that. I hope she’s recovering! Until next time, stay squeaking! The cat-eared boy shook his head and clicked his phone screen off. “Does he know?” he muttered to himself. “Does he know that he’s just another pawn in the angel’s game of chess?”