While Duncan and Alice journeyed to the cemetery, their comrades, Morris and Vanna, were far from being unoccupied. They had embarked on an important mission assigned by Duncan to the “Citizens’ Assistance Center,” a significant establishment in the southern region of the city’s more upscale district. The task was not a simple one. They had to secure a dependable, lawful residence within the frigid confines of the city-state known as Frost. Furthermore, they were to establish one or two public personas if feasible.
The assignment was crucial as their operations in this city-state might span over a prolonged period, and living covertly like the cult members was not an option they could afford. They needed to blend in, to live like the city’s normal inhabitants.
With the unreliability of the informants Tyrian had left behind in the city becoming apparent, Morris took it upon himself to find an alternative solution.
The Citizens’ Assistance Center of Frost was a grand, domed edifice, its two extended wings encompassing the main construction. It was much more than just a support center for the local inhabitants. The center also functioned as a welcome facility for those entering the city-state, providing a myriad of third-party services. These included a platform for house rental and property sales registration, issuing of temporary passes, and even hiring short-term domestic helpers such as maids, gardeners, and laundry workers. The extensive wings housed numerous registration counters and offices, and the central dome enclosed a lively, bustling lobby. This constant hum of activity distinguished it from their former location of Pland.
As they stepped into the cavernous domed space, they were greeted by a comforting warmth. Frost’s efficient high-pressure heating system did an admirable job of warding off the winter chill. Bright electrical lights hung suspended from the high dome, bathing the entire interior in an inviting glow.
Though the center had opened its doors only recently, a sea of individuals had already thronged the counters. They were there to seek short-term employment or to register for property rentals and sales. Amid the clamor of the crowd and the mechanical sounds of air transport pipes constantly in operation, Vanna seemed to struggle with adapting to this new environment. She moved gingerly among the masses, muttering to Morris, “Back in Pland, they didn’t mix human resources and housing services in the same building.”
Morris replied with a hint of resignation, “Consider the cost of heating such a vast building and the time and effort needed to retrofit a heat exchange station. Frost has inherited much of its basic municipal infrastructure from the era of the Frost Queen. But those halcyon days are long gone. Following the rebellion, the city regained barely 70-80% of its former vitality, primarily due to the mining industry. Rebuilding the complex network of underground pipelines and steam power systems left by the Queen is a formidable task.”
Vanna’s eyes widened in surprise, “So they’ll continue to make do with these antiquated, half-century-old facilities?”
“What alternatives are there?” Morris expressed a sigh of resignation. “We are grappling with a two-pronged crisis. The city’s decline is one aspect. The other is the population pressure, compounded by the loss of habitable space due to the initial landslide. Navigating through the narrow, crowded spaces of these antiquated facilities may indeed be difficult. However, they just about meet the requirements. As long as they are adequate, they will continue to be employed. This challenge is not exclusive to Frost but is faced by numerous industrial city-states. In contrast, thriving cities like Pland are few and far between.”
Vanna fell into an uncomfortable silence. Such matters were beyond her usual purview and comprehension.
Meanwhile, Morris had successfully located the transient population registration counter on the elaborate guidance map hanging above the hall. Guiding the taller Vanna through the sea of people, they finally reached a relatively serene counter.
The elongated wooden counter was nestled against a wall, partitioned into several sections by metallic barriers. Each section housed a staff member in a uniform of grey-blue, their expressions as stern and immovable as the iron fences next to them, an indication of their intent to maintain this demeanor until their shift’s end.
“We’re here for a residence permit and a short-term rental property,” Morris addressed a sallow-faced, middle-aged clerk in one of the sections, lowering himself onto a creaky iron chair. “We arrived just today.”
“Which pier did you dock at?” The clerk asked, barely lifting his lids to look at the older man across from him. He paused momentarily as he noticed the nearly six-foot-tall woman standing behind the old man. Regaining his official tone, he continued, “Kindly provide your pier documentation and boarding papers.”
Vanna furrowed her brow, looking down at Morris for a reaction.
Yet Morris remained undisturbed, spreading his hands in a gesture of helplessness, “They seem to have been misplaced. They might have been lost during our disembarkment at the pier, and our ship has already sailed.”
The clerk abruptly stopped his work, raising his head to glare at Morris. His stoic expression now showed a hint of annoyance, “That is unacceptable. You must have the documents. Return to the pier and apply for new ones.”
“But I do have other forms of identification,” Morris calmly responded as he fished in his pocket. He produced a folded document and a small booklet with a dark red cover, “These should be sufficient for legal identity verification.”
The clerk made a dismissive gesture with his hand, “Without the pier documentation, nothing else is…”. His sentence trailed off as he spotted the amulet on the small book. He proceeded to unfold the document, scanning its contents.
His previously stoic expression changed drastically at what he saw.
“A passage permit, sanctioned by the Academy of Truth and the Boundless Sea Navigation Council, entitles the bearer to visit and stay in all city-states under the jurisdiction of the true gods. During their stay, the local city-state university affiliated with the Academy of Truth acts as the guarantor,” Morris explained, pointing to the red booklet. “These are my credentials — a dual degree in academia and theology from the Academy of Truth, with the academic rank of professor.”
The middle-aged clerk, with his sallow complexion, was left momentarily stunned. He slowly raised his gaze towards Morris, appearing somewhat flustered. “Uh… good morning, Professor Morris… It’s an honor to meet you. Of course, your identity is entirely… legal…”
A sense of relief washed over Morris’s face.
However, the clerk hesitated, seemingly wrestling with a quandary, then continued in a stiffened tone, “But… I must confirm the ship you traveled on. It’s… a requirement.”
At this, the recently relaxed expression on Morris’s face was replaced with an awkward one while Vanna, standing next to him, surreptitiously touched her nose and averted her gaze.
Morris exhaled a sigh, his gaze fixated on the nervous yet resolute clerk before him.
“You’re already aware of the ship I arrived on,” he said with a certain conviction in his eyes. “Please, proceed with issuing the permit.”
The clerk wavered momentarily, a flicker of confusion passing over his eyes. Then he nodded, busying himself with the punch machine before him, and dropped the processed card into a pressure pipeline container adjacent to the counter.
A few moments later, the sound of hissing and clicking echoed from the pipeline, and a card returned to the counter from an approval office deep within the building.
The clerk then inserted the punched card into a compact reading machine, confirming the receipt number and security code. Without lifting his gaze, he began to fill out the requisite details on the proof document. “This is only a proof document. You need to take this to window A-12 in the west wing. There, you’ll find suitable short-term rental accommodations,” he instructed.
“Thank you,” Morris accepted the completed document, paused, and whispered, “I’m sorry.”
With that, he and Vanna promptly departed from the counter, making their way towards the next window.
“This is the first time I’ve had to resort to something like this,” Morris confessed in a hushed tone once they had put some distance between themselves and the counter. “I had intended to handle this through the usual document procedure…”
“We came aboard a phantom ship that doesn’t belong to this realm, remember? The usual procedure would never suffice for such a circumstance,” Vanna retorted in a whisper, a hint of amusement in her voice. “Unusual situations necessitate unusual methods.”
“…What do you think are the odds that Mr. Duncan will manage to secure a legitimate ship registration certificate for the Vanished?”
“And what’s your take on that?”
“…Understood,” Morris sighed, his gaze focused on the proof document in his hand. “We must keep this from Heidi. Should we encounter a similar situation in the future, I’d prefer to craft a counterfeit ship ticket first.”
Vanna glanced at Morris, a half-smile playing on her lips as he heaved a sigh. This was the first time she had witnessed such a worried expression on the face of the typically strict and rule-abiding scholar. The sight was… rather intriguing.
…
Simultaneously, Agatha, who had just completed her on-site investigation and had yet to return to the cathedral, received an urgent briefing from her team stationed at Cemetery No. 3.
Inside her steam-powered car, Agatha stared at the letter that had just been delivered to her, her eyes gradually clouding over with surprise – an anonymous tip-off from the elusive visitor.
The letter had arrived at the cemetery just after she had departed.
Was it a case of bad luck that she missed the visitor, or was it the perplexing behavior of the “visitor” that was more concerning?
She tucked the letter away and quickly began to think, over to find a wave of unease washing over herself at the urgent situation.
“Change course, head towards the east port.”
The team member driving the car looked taken aback, “Aren’t we headed to the cathedral first?”
“The plan has changed. We’re going to the east port first,” Agatha commanded with conviction. “I have a bad feeling… something might attempt to land, taking advantage of the current state of affairs.”
The driver was puzzled but instinctively obeyed the order.
The sleek black steam car decelerated at the next intersection, made a swift turn, and then accelerated towards the port area situated in the eastern part of the city-state.
