“Have you ever ridden a bike before?” Lecky suddenly asked her.
“A bike?” Eden repeated, surprised. “Uh, yeah...”
To her surprise, just as she said this, three bikes showed up in the street in front of the palace. Their riders all wore dark helmets, so she couldn’t see their faces until one of them stepped up and took theirs off to hand to Lecky. Meanwhile, his bodyguards took their places behind the other riders.
“You should put this on,” he said, handing her the helmet. “I have a feeling the Tiger might get really savage if there’s so much as a scratch on you...”
Eden couldn’t say otherwise. She put on the helmet without discussion and realized the original rider was already walking away, hands in his pockets while Lecky got on the bike. They hadn’t expected to leave with one more person... Eden glanced around and suddenly realized A. had vanished without her even noticing it. Was he in one of the cars passing by?
“...A. will join us there,” said Lecky, who had perfectly guessed her thoughts.
Eden nodded and climbed on the bike. She had more questions in mind, but for now, she had to be mindful of their location, and Lecky was still a Zodiac on someone else’s territory. Not only that, but he would have to cross another one to get to his territory if that was where they were headed... He started the engine, and all three bikes rode away loudly in the streets of Chinatown. Eden felt a bit strange leaving without Dante, but there were more important matters at hand right now...
The three bikes left Chinatown quickly, and to Eden’s surprise, they split up on the highway, going at different speeds to put distance between one another, and all taking different exits. Was this a strategy to lose potential pursuers? She glanced back several times, but it was hard to see anything from the back seat of a bike, so all she could do was hold on.
“Kitty...” whined Loir. “Your Big Kitty is harassing me... Are you still alive?”
“I’m fine,” she chuckled. “Tell him I’m still alive and well. I left on a bike with Lecky, but I have no idea where we’re going.”
She heard Loir relaying the information to Dante. They had been on the road for a while, was the Tiger back at his headquarters already?
“Oh... The Tiger is not happy you’re on a ride with the Goat, Kitty. He says you’re not allowed to hug him!”
“I’m holding on to the back handle, for fuck’s sake! Tell him to keep his jealousy in check, just for a couple of hours. I’ll be back as soon as this is over, whatever it is they have planned for me.”
“...He wants to know what you want for dinner. Damn, I feel like a carrier pigeon! Do I get a salary for this?”
“What, tired of pizza already? ...Tell him whatever he makes. I want to eat his cooking...”
“Oh my Kitties, you two are real homemakers now! Are you going to make a kitten soon? Not that I would know about it, but you two have been working hard at getting all purry at each other...”
“Heck no.”
Eden felt a shiver just thinking about it. She had never considered herself having children. Who would want to give birth to children in a world like this? It was hard enough to survive by herself that she had never allowed herself to imagine having to care for a baby on top of that.
“We have two dogs and a creepy rodent already, that’s enough for now.”
“Rodent? You call me a rodent! You mean Kitty! You bad, bad Kitty! I’m extremely cute, you know! You could at least call me a bunny!”
“Yes, yes... Speaking of bunnies, what do you know about the Hare?”
“What do I know? Why would I know anything?!”
“Loir, that guy was in touch with Pan and the Edge all this time. Don’t pretend you didn’t listen.”
“Well, he was in touch with them, but may I remind you I’m not exactly on the Edge’s birthday-cards-to-send reminder list! If I knew about this bunny guy, of course I would have told you! Your master is so mean, hiding little secrets away from us and conspiring with the old Dragon at that! This is so upsetting, I’m gonna need some gherkins!”
“What about Circé?”
“I don’t know, Kitty, our favorite witch is still kind of mad at me. They didn’t even bring me any food! Can you believe they were at a Chinese buffet and didn’t even bring me the shadow of a sweet and sour chicken skewer? No fortune cookie! Not even a toothpick! Nada, nichts!”
“Tell me when she comes to see you. I might need a bit of backup...”
The more she recognized where they were headed, the more unsure Eden felt.
The slums. This was allegedly the absolute worst part of the Suburbs. The most devastated place, and also where no one ever went of their own volition. This place was cut-throat, a cemetery. If the Suburbs were hell, this place had to be considered the lowest level of it. Eden herself had heard enough that she’d never even tried to approach this area. In fact, there was no actual reason for anyone sane to go. There was nothing but death, sickness, and a horrible feeling of danger twice as bad as anywhere else in the Suburbs. Yet, they were definitely headed there. Lecky’s bike was riding slowly amongst the empty houses turned into squats, and they were getting tons of stares from all sides. Eden could see men standing against walls with huge machetes in hand, and cannons coming out of windows pointed right at them. She was shocked they were even riding by without anyone trying to attack them. Those people were definitely not open to strangers, and Eden soon realized they wouldn’t have let them in if it wasn’t for Lecky riding the bike.
Where the hell were they going? This place was one of the farthest from the Core, almost at the border. There weren’t even many buildings left; most remains of the twenty-first century were turned into a refuge, and tents were fitting more people than they were supposed to. A bit farther on their right, Eden recognized the airport, only used by the Core’s people now. She was surprised a portion of the Suburbs was even this close to that place, given the security they usually put around their transportation stations...
