1:4:2 Tarthesis (Part 3)

Back on the main street, they again took inventory of their available shops.
“Chemist or General store it is I think?” Char’s eyes darted between the two options. “Where is everyone?”
“Good question.” Lore tried to look around without raising too much suspicion but, with their missing eye, they weren’t as subtle as they had hoped. “Let’s go ask in the Chemist. I wonder if they’ve got anything for my eye.”
“That’s not growing back.” Sky chuckled.
“I know that but it doesn’t stop it bloody itching.” Lore raised their glasses slightly to reveal a patch of skin that had been poked and rubbed one too many times.
“I wouldn’t mind going to see these ‘wild’ zones if we had time?” Sky shrunk away immediately after making their request.
“I think we could do that.” Char nodded to Lore.
Lore nodded back before heading toward the Barber chemists. The building shared a layout with the cafe however the flooring and walls were much less faux homely. White linoleum with wood effect vinyl walls; it smelt funny, an almost unbearable mating of sterility and hair products. Lore scanned the shelves, searching for anything they recognised as helpful for reducing inflammation.
“Find anything?” Char rested her hand on Lore’s shoulder as she joined the search.
“I’m not a doctor…” Lore looked to her. “I haven’t the foggiest what I’d need.”
“Can I help you?” Although his voice was rather soothing, its sudden presence scared them both. Lore and Char looked to it’s owner, only to find the waiter. “Should I get the pharmacist?”
Lore stood there, silently staring at the waiter. They had questions but they didn’t know which one to start with.
“Can we help you?” Char snapped back.
The waiter was taken aback but gave a look as though he had suddenly realised some mistake. “Ah… My mistake. I’m not just a waiter.” He opened his jacket and removed a polymer card. “Jason Wreaves, official tour guide.” Char snatched the card, checking it over multiple times before returning it to Wreaves. He took it back but wiped it on his jacket before showing it to Lore and Sky. “See. Officially licensed. Now, let’s see if we can’t find Doctor Lister.” Wreaves returned his card to his wallet then wandered off to complete his self prescribed quest.
“Plan?” Char whispered.
Lore was about to respond when Wreaves returned with an individual in a lab coat. “Hold on, I’ll ask.” They hoped Char got their message. “Are you the Pharmacist?” Lore rolled into their next conversation.
The lab coat wearing stranger extended a hand. “And barber too.” She smiled. “Fionna. Jason tells me you’re in need of my medical expertise.” Lore simply removed their glasses. Fionna’s face nearly teleported to a point just barely a centimetre from Lore’s. “By the looks of it, you’ve had this for a few weeks, maybe a month? I’d have thought the physician that closed it up would have given you something for it or are you looking for a refill?”
“It happened a few days ago actually.” Lore ran their finger around the circumference of the wound. “And the doctor I saw was in the middle of an active war zone so aftercare was a bit of an afterthought.”
Fionna was taken aback. “A few days ago…” She somehow managed to get in even closer. Lore tried not to twitch. “For a combat job, this is phenomenal. I should have just the thing to reduce the irritation. Hold on a moment.” She disappeared into a back room. She wasn’t gone for long but she returned with a container nearly the same size as her torso, at the top of its neck, a hand pump. “This should see you through for a good, long while.” She set it down on the counter near the card machine. “Just squirt out about ten millilitres then rub it on the tissue as needed. It’ll sting the first few times but after that, you should feel the full benefits without any side effects.” Fionna scanned the container before looking at Lore and smiling. After waiting an uncomfortable, but by no means long, time she spoke again. “And how will you be paying for that today?” Lore produced Woolsly’s card. “Oh… Thank you.” She feigned tapping the card to the reader before holding it out to them. “Thank you for stopping by. If there’s anything else we can do to help, just ask.”
“Thank you.” Char extended her hand to take the card but Fionna moved it at the last moment. She tried again but again, Fionna moved it away. “Thank you.” Char repeated, trying once more to take the card and once more, failing.
“Thank you.” Sky smiled, taking the card. “I’ll keep this safe for you shall I Lore?” Sky nodded then immediately handed the card to Char much to the dismay of Wreaves and Fionna.

They stepped outside of the shop. At least for now, Wreaves wasn’t following them. “I’ll Breach this back to the ship then we can go for a walk.” Lore winked before vanishing in a flash of white. They arrived in their room where they applied the recommended amount of cream to their hand before stopping. “Destiny. Could you please scan and identify the contents of my hand?”
A beam of light shot from the wall and lingered over the cream pile. “Chemical identified as a numbing agent with anti-inflammatory. It should be perfectly safe to use on your eye.” Destiny concluded. “Just not that much. You only need a drop. That much would likely numb the area for a significant amount of time, potentially causing nerve damage.”
Lore was beginning to realise the potency of the cream as their palm began to tingle before losing sensation completely. They hastily removed most of the cream by scraping it onto one of their bed legs. They rubbed what remained onto their wound. “Oh. That’s good.” They purred. “Much better.” They smiled as they walked over to the fabricator and requested a towel. They mopped up the left over cream and recycled it with the cloth before setting their Breacher up to recall them to their last co-ordinates.
“Actually, before I go, Destiny could you bring up a map of the local area for me?” Lore lowered their Breacher and moved to their closest monitor.
“Here you go.” The screen lit up, showing the town and the neighbouring areas.
“Interesting…” Lore scrolled across the map. “The nearest ‘wild’ zone is actually not too far away.” Hidden from view by a small hill and several buildings, an area half the size of the town sat encased in an atmospheric shield. Unlike the others, this ‘wild’ zone was limited in every respect; its footprint was half the size needed to sustain a settlement with its population and it only had a few hundred metres of vertical clearance in comparison to the other zones that stretched to the planet’s atmosphere. There was a complex kissing the border of the shield showing a significant human presence.
“I wonder.” Discounting Sky, there were only seventeen human life signs in the town itself and a further twelve in the fields. “Hello…” Lore focussed in on the pathway between the complex and Trenam. “Sneaky bugger.” The whole path was lit up like a constellation, with human blips migrating back, nearly tripling the population.

Lore downloaded the map to their glasses before activating their Breacher once more. They returned to find the once empty street bustling with activity. People walking around, entering and exiting the various buildings and uniformed officers patrolling, failing at nonchalantly focussing on Char.
“There’s a small ‘wild’ zone nearby. It’s about a five minute hike but we can’t go at the moment.” Lore got up lose to Char.
“What’s going on?” Char’s eyes darted all around.
“They’re getting ready.” Sky surprised them. “They didn’t know we were coming and they didn’t have time to move everyone about but they do have time to prepare for Dee so they are. Bad for business for people to arrive at an empty town. It’s a front.”
“I’d have to agree with you there.” Lore nodded. “We could probably Breach there but I don’t know how they’d react. There’s a small complex nearby, probably military. Wouldn’t want to scare them.”
“There’s only one way I’m guessing?” Char whispered.
“One official way at least. We could go across country but I don’t know what the terrain’s like.” Lore nodded at the path they would be taking. “That’s the only way that’s guaranteed to be stable and safe.”
“How long have we got till Dee gets here?” Char checked her wrist but realised she didn’t know when they got there.
“Half an hour or so.” Lore double checked their Breacher. “Closer to thirty five.”
“It’s worth the risk.” Sky’s voice was blunt yet determined. “These people are arseholes but we can take them.”
Lore winced. “I doubt it…”
“If we’re careful and we keep low, we could be in and out of the ‘wild’ zone before they realise we’ve left town.” Char waggled her wrist. “No flash.” She tried to tempt them to her side.
Lore thought for a moment before letting out a deep sigh. “Fine. Quick in and out.” They sent Char the co-ordinates.
“Right then, we’ve got a choice.” Char began. “In the ‘Wild’ zone or just outside of the base?”
“Is just outside the zone an option?” Sky chuckled nervously.
“We don’t know how the shield works so it’s probably for the best we choose inside or the base.” Char started to prepare the co-ordinates.
“We can teleport though…” Sky looked at them confused.
Both Lore and Char looked back at them disappointed in themselves. “That we can.”
Char found some new co-ordinates, just outside the zone, hidden from any life signs, human or otherwise.
“Ready?” Char asked. Once both Lore and Sky nodded, she tapped her wrist.