Twisted Metal Heart - Eve Langlais Page 0,72
vehicles in the city. The streets are too narrow and too many people were getting hit by careless drivers.”
“Makes sense.” He eyed the many large garages. “Isn’t theft an issue?”
“Not often. The security to get a vehicle out is tight. As in, you’re more likely to be melted into slag than escape with it.”
“Don’t steal from here, got it. Can I buy a ride, though?”
“With what funds?” Alfred pointed out.
“Might have to get a job.” Wouldn’t be the first time he’d gotten stuck somewhere and had to slog at something to find his way out.
“Or maybe someone will be kind enough to loan you one.”
Titan snickered as he glanced at Alfred. “I might not be well versed in cities, but I doubt anyone will give me anything. That’s not how it works. You have to do something to earn it.”
Alfred bobbed ahead. “A belief like yours is rare. But admirable. Now you might want to stop talking to the air like a crazy man, because people are looking at you.”
He was well aware he’d drawn a few stares. An old woman sat on a porch rocking and watching. He felt the prickle long after he passed. “They’ll assume I’m talking to my comm unit.”
“Would help if you had one.”
“It’s called acting, Alfred.” He smiled at a couple as he passed them, holding his hand to his ear to make it seem like he spoke and listened. Then realized something. “Can they hear you talking?”
“My return speech to you is on a frequency only you hear.”
“Meaning I look crazy,” Titan muttered. “Great.”
“And looking crazier all the time.” Alfred might have actually sung those words.
Damned robot was just as alive as his bionic parts. Riella really could do magic with metal.
As he kept walking, and the houses and buildings began to grow closer together, he ran into more people outside, strange vehicles, too. Small, quiet, they didn’t move very fast on their two wheels, and they appeared to run on a preset track embedded into the ground.
He wanted to keep talking to Alfred because he wanted to know what he was looking at, but even he knew he should be careful about drawing notice. Most people glanced at him for only a moment and then away. He was just another person out and about. They didn’t know he was freaking out inside.
Seriously. This place was massive and the things…the stores with windows displaying the most insane things, from food that appeared decadent with thick icing and tempting bits to the clothing—from practical to outrageous. Three straps two fingers wide did not make an outfit.
He could have spent days wandering the streets, checking out the shops, just absorbing it. But worry for Riella kept him moving. It was only deep in the town he finally wondered, “Where are the guards?” He’d yet to see any. Surely it couldn’t be that easy?
The voice surprised him because he’d not seen Alfred hovering in a while, but he heard his hushed words. “They’re around, but their job is to intervene if necessary. Only once you reach the higher levels of the promontory will you run into resistance. But you won’t be going there.”
A glance overhead meant he saw the looming height that held the castle. He’d barely seen anything of this place yet. “What am I supposed to do if I am stopped?”
“Lie your face off. It’s what Riella usually does.”
“And that works?”
“Most of the time.” Alfred almost chuckled. Titan would have sworn it. “Don’t get noticed. and you’ll be fine.”
Not the most ringing endorsement. He’d reached the part of the city where there was no space between the buildings. The bustle of bodies was compounded by children running and screaming with laughter. It seemed wildly inappropriate, and the freest thing he’d ever seen a child do.
He’d have never dared run away from his parents, not in any camp.
A while back the roads had gone from dirt to stone. Then he entered the main thoroughfare where more of the wheeled transports and even animal-drawn carriages joined the melee.
In this section, the houses had evolved from rough mortared rocks to blocks of perfectly cut stone. Everything had straight lines and was fitted with carved wooden doors in a rainbow of colors and windows trimmed with the most ornate shutters.
He’d never seen the like. Nor so many people. It proved hard to not glance around in slack-jawed amazement. He did his best to stand straight, show no weakness, even if inside he worried about being alone and buried