R. A. T. H

Thirty-One

Elsa's house was closer than she thought it would be. The streets had become bare, there were sparse people, and she went against the tide of men with weapons. It didn't take long before she pulled next to a crude house—much better than hers, at least this one looked as if it had been constructed with the intent that it would stand for a few years, but crude nonetheless. It was wooden.

She hopped out of the car and knocked on the door.

"Come in, I already opened it."

She entered, passing by a bathroom to her left before exiting into a living room where her friend sat. The girl wore casual, home, clothes. A tank top that showed off way too much, abs for one (did she even have a bra on?), matched a pair of shorts that showed off supple thighs. She was relaxed, sitting upon a couch of green, sipping something through a straw, as a screen blinked in front of her—a fight in play between two men that advanced towards each other with fists and kicks.

By the time she reached her, Elsa smiled, tapped an half-spherical shaped thing on the table to turn the screen off and pointed to a cup.

"Here." She grinned. "Strawberry shake."

It was sweet, pink, and it tasted like its name. A bit too sugary for her, but Rose enjoyed it nonetheless as she sat across her friend and thanked her.

"Thank you for the help."

"It's nothing." Elsa waved her off. "You can stay for as long as you'd like."

Hopefully that wouldn't be for long. The sound of pulses was still strong in the air. Rose nodded.

"By the way, what do you know about Paul Walker?" She asked, curiosity in her mind.

Sure, she could navigate through the Mana Web and see what pops up, but she was already here, and there was someone who had been in the slums for far longer right in front of her. Plus, as she sipped the shake, she thought a chat with a friend was more worthwhile than browsing.

"Paul Walker," Elsa tsked, crossing her legs and arms as she relaxed into her chair with a 'Hmm', "If we were to say there are 5 rims of the slums; he controls about half of the outermost rim, and a quarter of the 4th. His reach isn't far, but it's deep."

Rose imagined 5 circles extending outward from the city of Alos, one inside another until the whole of the slums were covered. If she wasn't wrong, her shack was situated at the 4th circle and was considered within one of the lower areas of even that, much less the slums.

"So," She began, not quite understanding why someone with that stable a grasp would start a war, "Why is he trying to take control of the Red District?"

She wouldn't cross out that he was ambitious, from the moment she met him, she thought 'A leader coming personally to collect debt. . .' was an odd thing. Of course, he said he only stopped on his way to somewhere else, but that wasn't actually needed for a leader. Either he was really frugal or a cheapskate, then again, Lux had been more than a month late in payments, maybe it was simply a tactic to scare him. It was much scarier to face someone who controlled a part of the slums than a lackey, she imagined.

Elsa looked at her. Rose could see her eyes waver.

"Fine, umm. . ."

She sighed, muttered 'Gosh', ruffled her hair, and finally began to speak.

"I guess you're still kinda new here right? Well, new slummers tend to think the closer to the city a 'Slum Lord' controls the more influential or powerful they are. . .which is just being stupid."

"I'm stupid then, I suppose."

"Y'know I'm not poking at ya." She rolled her eyes and gave an awkward smile. ". . .there are several economic zones in the slums, and various sections that have more power than others, the most famous, and arguably the most influential, is the Red District located in the fifth rim—for two reasons."