Because of Runaway Office’s proximity to the Nest, they avoided seeing the worst of what District 23’s Backstreets had to offer. But as they wandered further and further away, things got more and more morbid. Only the suicidal or the insane would willingly come this far into these kinds of places, that or the really brave; people like Runaway Office, fell into the insane & brave category. Heidi stood over the bodies of 3 people who attacked them as they were passing through; maybe it was because they were Fixers, maybe it was because they had nice clothes on, who knows what their reason for attack was for. She had been following Oliver this whole time and still had no idea how far they were from their destination. “Shit, I was expecting it to happen but still, annoying to just get jumped on the street.” She tossed her cigarette to the ground, with sizzled out in the pool of the blood at her feet. “Are we there yet, Olive… I mean Oliver.”

  “Not much further now.” The bear masked girl said, checking one of the attacker’s pockets.

  “Come on, girl, you don’t have to go through their pockets. Let them rest in peace.” She said, nudging Oliver with her foot.

  Oliver got back up, holding two small jars, each about the size of a salt shaker, one containing a yellow powder, the other green. “Turmeric and rosemary. Spices.” She pocketed the spices. “They came from the Red Market.”

  “Red market…?” Heidi asked, as Oliver began to start walking again.

  “The Red Market.” Oliver nodded, repeating herself. “Echo. One of the hubs of trade in District 23.” She said, before the two stopped in front of a large opening between two buildings. A large banner, made out of what looked like human leather, letters written in blood. The ally looked like it could be closed off with a pair of heavy iron gates; likely to keep the Sweepers out during Nighttime.

  RED MARKET.

  There’s that echo again.

  “Hold on, you’re not taking me to some human meat market, You know that I don’t eat human flesh!” In front of the entrance, peddling meat from a cooler, was a group of shady looking individuals. Having bared witness to Heidi’s swordsmanship earlier, they at least were staying put.

  “You asked where I get ingredient. This is where I get them.” Oliver said. “Chefs need other ingredients. Not just meat. Vegetables. Spices. Beverage. This is where it is.” Oliver looked over to the peddler at the entrance. “…It’s also an organ trade hub.”

  “Yeah I guess that makes sense.” Heidi nodded, watching as Oliver began to make her way over. “So do we just walk in?”

  “Are you scared?”

  “Of course not! I’m just a bit creeped out is all. As long as they don’t give me any human flesh jerky or try to sell me some guy’s heart.”

  “Organ trade is a good way to make money.” Oliver said.

  “Have you made money selling organs before?”

  “Yes.” Oliver said, not elaborating any further.

  Looks like she had no more time to complain, quickly she followed Oliver in; she was starting to sound like Emilio with all this whining and complaining. The alley was full of stalls, selling all kinds of meats, with each of them being decorated in their own morbid way. Standees made out of ribs and spines. Instruments made out of bone and skin. Pickled organs and other assortment of body parts. The whole place smelled strongly of embalming fluid, blood, and sweat. It was humid and hot, like a sauna. Even the ground was sticky, causing Heidi’s metal feet to make a Velcro like noise each time she took a step. She was around death and bloodshed all the time, but even this place felt like a bit much. At least Oliver didn’t seem to mind it here, being a regular customer.

  “You said there is other ingredients here, I’m mostly seeing human flesh.” Heidi asked, looking at a stall that was selling fruits alongside organs… A curious combination? “Well, mostly human flesh.” Where were they getting fresh fruit of all things? The more she looked though, the more she noticed that there were a number of stalls selling ingredients she was willing to eat; produce, rice, and spices. How long was this place hidden to her?

  Eventually the narrow alley led into an open plaza, that had a few less stalls, but several tables. This looked like where trade deals were made or simply just for lounging around.

  Heidi smiled, her eye lit up seeing such things in the Backstreets of all places. She crossed her arms, “Incredible! I didn’t expect to see this kind of thing in the Backstreets of all places… No offense.” So this where Oliver had been getting all of her cooking materials.

  “District 23 is known as The Streets of Flavor for a reason.” Oliver said, “Did you think we exclusively dined on human flesh?”

  “Well, no…”

  “That would be a very poor diet. Think before you talk.”

  “Yeah, that it would.” She slowly nodded. Did Oliver always have this much of an attitude? “So were you going to buy something? Because I don’t have any money.”

  “You wanted to see where I get my stuff. I showed you.” Oliver shrugged her shoulders. “Didn’t want to buy. Just show.”

  “Right.” Heidi said, getting use to how to talk to Oliver. This was probably the most she’s ever heard her talk in one day. Pulling on her jacket collar, she huffed. “Let’s get out of here, this humidity is killing me.” She turned to leave, but was soon met with another figure, this one dressed in a chef’s apron and a face mask. Heidi jumped as she almost bumped into him as she turned around. “Dammit! What is with you people and sneaking up on me!”

  “Oliver!” The man laughed, “It’s been a while. I heard you were going to join a Fixer Office and thought you’d never come back here!” The edges of his face mask rose as he smiled widely. If there was one thing about District 23’s residents, was that despite the infamy of the Backstreets, they were all so unusually friendly. “I see you also brought one of your Fixer friends. Here on a job, ma’am? Don’t worry, you’re not on a menu today. Unless you want to be… I’m Colby, by the way. I own the stall over there; we have a sale on leverpostej today.”

  “Nah, just visiting. Oliver was showing me around and I haven’t really been around this area outside of work.” Heidi explained. She wasn’t even going to mention anything about the offer of… Whatever leverpostej is… “So this is basically a marketplace for the cannibals and butchers of the Backstreets here?”

  “One of them.” Colby nodded. “There are several markets around District 23. We get our ingredients from Syndicates, shady Fixers, and from people who can sneak in and out of the Nest. That’s why they’re so high quality.” He laughed, walking over to a nearby stall. They were selling vegetables! Actual fresh vegetables that a Backstreet’s vagrant would kill for!

  Now that Heidi was talking with someone else, Oliver would finally go back to standing around as an observer, relieved she didn’t have to talk as much anymore.

  Heidi rubbed her chin, not expecting to see this much organization in the Backstreets of all places, especially outside of Finger territory. Actually, that got her thinking. “Hold on, what do the Fingers have to say about this kind of thing? They have their hands all over the Backstreets and I don’t see any of their iconography anywhere.”

  “That’s the thing, these markets are considered neutral territory.” Colby continued, “Happened years back, before even my parents were born, that none of the Five Fingers would be allowed to stake a claim on the markets.”

  “I didn’t know they could be so amicable with each other.”

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  “Sometimes they can be. But it sometimes leads to more fighting than anything. At least it means we don’t have to obey the Middle’s insane rules or be handed Prescripts from the Index or anything like that.

  “Sounds like it’s a win win for everyone, huh.” Heidi said, looking around, looking for a place to sit down. The tables in the center were completely empty, everyone sitting around else where or remaining standing.

  “Well, there is one downside… It kind of brings us into the other thing I was gonna tell you; this place is frequently used for meetings between the Fingers. Think of it like a smaller scale Finger Bow-Bell. That’s where-”

  “I know what a Finger Bow-Bell is.” Heidi said, flicking at the tassel on her sword. “I come from the Index.” The Bow-Bells, the rare moments where the Fingers aren’t at each other’s throats. The rare times when members sit down and talk on how best to control the Backstreets. Sometimes ending amicably with them shaking hands and moving on. Sometimes ending in all out war. Heidi would bet good money that these so called neutral markets have been completely destroyed thanks to being the locations of such meetings. Maybe they haven’t, if they were “smaller scale” as Colby put it.

  “Ah right…” Colby nodded, “But still, on that note, you two kind of picked the worst possible time to come here.”

  “Why’s that?” Heidi asked.

  “I’m saying that there is going to be one today! Why do you think we made the meeting area look so clean?” He motioned over to the empty tables. It looked incredibly spotless compared to the rest of the place actually. “Listen, it might be a good idea to get-”

  “Colby!” A man from across the way shouted, running over to the group. “They’re here!”

  “Whose showing up today?!” Colby shouted, snapping into action. “I told them to give me more time to prepare! Tell everyone to stand at attention and don’t do anything stupid.”

  “Red and black… Rifles… It’s The Thumb!” The other man screamed.

  “Fuck…” He looked over to Oliver and Heidi. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself down. “Just don’t do anything that could be taken as a form of disrespect. Alright?!”

  Heidi nodded, a chill running down her spine. She only dealt with The Thumb once and that was a few low ranking members and in a combat scenario. Never had she dealt with them in a diplomatic scenario. “Stand next to me, Oliver.”

  The bear masked girl nodded. The only thing she knew about enemy thumbs was how to bite them off.

  “Down the West entrance!” Another man shouted. “It’s a Proxy from the Index! He has 4 disciples with him.”

  This, however, caused Heidi to audibly gasp.

  The worst possible person to show up right about now: Someone who possibly knows her.

  Down the East hall, was a group dressed in red, black, and gold. Dressed far too expensively for this area, a single button on their outfit was more expensive than an entire set of clothes on any body here. Black suits with red coats, draped over their shoulders like a cape. Some of them wore wide brimmed hats, others didn’t. Everyone they passed by stood at attention, some with their heads bowed, anything that could be seen as respect. Even the smallest slight would be met with death or worst. In the center of them was a silver haired woman, her hair flowing down to her upper back. A scar ran diagonally across her face. Despite not looking too old, she walked with a cane. She wore a pork pie hat, with The Thumb’s symbol on the brim.

  Francisca, Capo of The Thumb.

  She looked over to one of the men to her right, “Is something bothering you?”

  “This place smells like a pig pen.” One of the red dressed men said, holding his nose.

  “You’re right.” Francisca spoke with a low voice. Despite being the shortest member in the group, standing just a bit taller than Oliver, everyone shut up once she spoke. “Hm… Find whoever was in charge of cleaning the hall, because this is unacceptable, even for the Backstreets.”

  “What do you wish to do with them?”

  “Cut them to pieces, find the home of any family members if they have any, and scatter them around them around their home. That’ll teach their family the importance of cleaning.”

  “Yes, madam.” The man broke off from the group.

  Heidi watched from the crowd, as Franscisca stepped into the center of the plaza. Already, Heidi was looking for a way to get out of here. There were two entrances, East and West. The Thumb was gonna be keeping guard on the East entrance, so that was a no go. The West entrance… That wasn’t an option either, considering who was walking down it.

  Walking down the East entrance was a remarkably smaller group, just a group of 5. Four men, each wearing black militaristic uniforms, along with the white robe of The Index. Each of these four men wore a unique golden mask, concealing their face. In the center of them was an incredibly tall figure, nearly twice as tall as Heidi. His entire body concealed in a white robe, topped with a metal, bird like head, with a single red eye in the center.

  Eve, Proxy of The Index

  Their outfits made the stick out as monochrome figures in an alleyway full of color.

  “A robot?” Oliver asked, unperturbed

  “No, a full body prosthetic.” Heidi said, walking forward, approaching Eve. “His brain is in there somewhere.”

  “Where you going?” Oliver said in surprise. She stayed next to everyone else. Heidi was the only one currently approaching the Index members.

  Wait… What was she doing? Just early she was hoping she wouldn’t be noticed? Why was she walking over to them. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of Eve, who looked down at her, his single red eye locking on to her. Everyone was staring at them, watching as someone so willingly approached a Proxy of the Index. But, Eve responded with a jovial, breathy tone; breathy, despite his lack of lungs.

  “Aaaaah… Heidi.” He said, extending a skinny metal hand to her. “I didn’t expect to see you here. I see you followed your Prescript to a T; so dedicated of you. But, of course you followed it, because if you didn’t, I wouldn’t killed you myself.”

  “Thank you.” Heidi shook his hand, her metal hand and his clanking together. “I’ll let you get to your meeting. I just wanted to say hi.”

  “Why leave so soon? Join us at the meeting.” Eve questioned.

  “But I left the Index.” She said.

  “Ah, you have? Did the Prescript not demand you join a Fixer Office? It did… Didn’t it… Yes, it did. The Prescript said nothing about leaving the Index, did it not?” His red eye contracted and expanded like a camera lens as he thought.

  Heidi, with a neutral expression, couldn’t help but recall all the long discussions she had with her and her fellow Proselytes regarding what a Prescript meant. Finally, she answered, “I suppose it didn’t.” She could feel the stares of the 4 others with Eve.

  “Then sit down.” Eve said, holding his arm out, welcoming Heidi behind him. His arm was as tall as he was. No matter how much he moved his arms around, it was impossible to get a glimpse under his robe, what type of body he had under there.

  Without a word, knowing that she couldn’t possibly argue, Heidi moved behind the Proxy, standing next to the masked men. She saw Oliver coming over to the group, at the very least she knew the Index didn’t kill without reason. So Oliver wasn’t in any danger… Unless one of these masked men had a Prescript requesting it.

  “Either way, I have something for you after this, but we can’t keep the Thumb waiting, can we.” Eve chuckled heartily. “Ah, but who is this? Another Fixer? I see you’ve made a friend, Heidi.” Eve said, his single red eye looking to Oliver. “I wish you could join us, but you’re not part of the Index, my apologies.”

  Oliver looked over to Heidi, then after a long pause, gave her a thumbs up. What did that suppose to means?! “Good luck… Be safe.” Was that concern in her voice…? Oliver continued to be full of surprises.

  On the other side of the plaza, someone was talking with Franscisca, scared out of his mind, reminding Heidi that things could always be worse. He was the man who was speaking with Colby earlier. Maybe he was own of the managers.

  “Ma’am, I’m sorry about the state of things, it’s hard to clean things up in such a short time.” He stammered.

  Patricia gripped on her cane, grimacing. “I see… It appears that if you’re going to act like a child, I must treat you like a child.”

  “Ma’am…?” the man asked.

  “So it’s hard to clean up? Remind me what happens Between 3am and 4am in the Backstreets? A certain monster comes out at night…”

  “Sweepers, ma’am…?”

  “Yes, Sweepers. They devour all organic matter in sight. Yet this place is covered with it. How did you possibly get it this filthy between then and now?”

  “We close the gates to keep Sweepers out, because it keeps them from eating product.”

  “So you’re going to be feeding us rotten meat then?” Franscisca lifted her cane up.

  “N-no! We have a cooler! We would never-” He shouted, panic overwhelming him as he was no longer able to stay polite, throwing his arms out to the side.

  His words were interrupted though, when Francisca held her cane up and revealed a gun barrel hidden in the shaft of it, which promptly blew his head clean off, he was dead before his body-minus-his-head hit the ground.

  “Hm… If a man in charge sets a bad example, then everyone below them will never learn. Let’s hope they replace you with someone who knows how to maintain the place along side proper manners.” Stepping back into the center of the plaza, she sat down at the largest table, just as the Index approached, Heidi with them.

  This was the closest she had ever been to a high ranking member of The Thumb. She knew how these meetings could turn out. They could be a peaceful negotiation about territory or sometimes the rare partnership. Other times they could end with a slaughter of both sides and everyone in the area. Heidi’s ears pricked up, she could hear fighting just outside the market. Looks like the local Syndicates and possibly even Fixers, were trying to break in; trying to assassinate a person of power within any of the Fingers was suicide, Heidi had nothing but pity for them. She was safe around Eve… Maybe… There was little stopping any of the Thumb members from killing her right here right now if she did anything to offend them. Snapping out of it, she looked to the crowd looking from the sidelines, spying Oliver among them. She breathed a sigh of relief.

  As the Prescript demanded it. She would stay put.