The Elfbone Extraction [M]

[Erik Vrell]

Erik was unsure of where he should look for reinforcements. After looking at a map of the seven tiers, he decided to go to the seventh one, since the people living there had to be the toughest to survive. He took an elevator down to the final tier and when he stepped out, he was overcome by a wave of nausea. The seventh tier smelt like vomit and death. Erik immediately wanted to turn back but he had a job to do. He opened his mind to those around him and took a walk around. Twice, someone attempted to mug him but they were lowly drug addicts and only had a knife so they didn't stick around when Erik drew his sword.

After ten or so minutes of wandering, Erik found a potential recruit. Cody was an inhabitant of the seventh tier who was addicted to an experimental psychosis inducing drug. Unfortunately for him, it was successful. Erik couldn't help but wonder why someone would create such a substance in the first place but didn't ponder on it for long. Erik approached the drug addict, who was huddled in a corner in an alleyway. If Erik hadn't picked him up with his mind, he probably wouldn't even had noticed him. "Hello" Erik said, not sure what else to say. The addict looked up at him. "What do you want." He rasped. Erik cringed at the man's voice, the drug had apparently damage his throat as well as his mind. "I need help defending the coruscant museum and thought you would make a good candidate. The reason Erik picked him at all was because of his disorder. The psychosis would, hopefully, make him more violent and he wouldn't be as mentally scarred as a lot of people would be. Cody laughed at Erik, at least Erik thought it was a laugh. It sounded more like a rasping wheeze. "And why should I help you, eh? I'm perfectly happy here!" Erik didn't think he looked very happy curled up in an alleyway but said nothing. "I need a little... incentive." The addict said, a look of glee in his eyes. "What do you want?" Erik asked the man, eyeing him suspiciously. Again, Cody laughed. "Why, more drugs of course!" The addict cried. Erik wasn't sure where to et the drug, so he just decided to create more. After a es minutes of concentration, he had finished making it. He felt... dirty after making something like this. He hesitated before giving the drug to Cody. "And you won't desert me if things get too tough?" Erik said. The addict simply ran his shook his head. "Okay then..." Erik said, still not completely convinced. Erik turned around and the drug addict followed him.

A little later, two or three minutes, Erik found another potential ally. A tech implant addict who was more machine than human. Erik was horrified when he saw him. The entire left half of his body was covered in machinery, and most of the right side was as well. Erik approached him more cautiously than he had approached Cody. The cyborg didnt remember his own name, but Erik could find it in the corners of his mind. His name was Drake and he was constantly suffering, but he wanted more implants for reasons Erik could not fathom. Erik quickly introduced himself and told he cyborg about the job. "Will it be dangerous?" The implant addict asked. This didnt seem unusual to Erik, ofcourse someone would be worried about their own safety when taking a job like this. Erik decided to answer him honestly, there was no point in lying because I'd he did, the cyborg would desert him at the first sign of trouble. "Yes," Erik said "three string and potentially violent criminals." The cyborg seemed...happy about this. "Then I'm in." The implant addict said. Erik was surprised by this. "You don't care if it's going to be dangerous?" Erik asked, partially in shock. The cyborg nodded. "Look at me." He said motioning to himself. "I WANT to die." He said, a note of distress in his voice. Erik just accepted this and moved on. When he asked Drake what he wanted to be paid in, the cyborg simply shook his head. "I don't want to be paid, I just want to die." Erik was concerned about the mans motives. If he just got himself killed immediately, he would be of no use to Erik and his friends. Erik sighed and motioned for Drake to follow him.

He wandered around the seventh tier for another thirty minutes and didn't find many more criminals who would be willing to help, and the ones that would have been were part of a gang and couldn't leave. Once the sun started to set, or at least Erik thought it had, Erik and the two addicts located an elevator and rode to the first floor, where he waited for his companions. 'I hope these two die right away.' Thought Erin grimly as he looked from one addict to the other.