"Investigative Journalism"

Chapter One - Sleepy Midnight City

Gordan's misadventures in the Canopy Kingdom commence. He's off to a pretty strong start, it seems.

The Canopy Kingdom: Where a place of bustling communities, thriving commerce, beautiful sights, a varied, thriving culture, and a melting pot of various peoples stood also a land with a bloody past and present alike. From its many previous wars to its modern inner conflicts and most notoriously paying host to the Skull Heart, the Canopy Kingdom was hardly the most ideal of places to travel if one were seeking a quiet and safe life. The city of New Meridian was perhaps the epicenter and leading area in these regards, a bright and beautiful city of many peoples, but crimes and deaths ran rampant here in the dark spots of this metropolis.

However, one young-ish man, just finished with his plane ride, was already fully aware of the risks New Meridian posed and ventured to this place regardless. He sighed out of a mix of worry and anticipation, already having a gut-deep feeling that his somewhat flighty adventure was just going to pay off.

The man let out a little hum as he pulled out a map from his suitcase, stretching his tired legs and throwing his arms upward before near-crashing onto the bench. The wood creaked for a half-second before splintering apart and breaking completely, sending the man's bum crashing painfully onto the ground.

"... Ow." he muttered, tempted to curse. "Could'a sworn I was super-scrawny, should'a looked at that bench before sitting…" He quickly noted the many pairs of eyes on him as he rose. Flushed with embarrassment, he made a little show of dusting himself off, saying with a slightly raised voice, "Nothin' to see here! Just some clumsy dude making a fool of 'imself!"

Most everyone moved on after that, and he put one hand on his luggage as he opened up his map a second time. "Lessee here… Left a couple blocks from here, walk a mile, catch the trolley there… There's the apartments, yep. When's that trolley, though, hmm…"

The man eventually and reluctantly decided to play the trolley time by ear, figuring that the sooner he got to the station the better. Wheeling his luggage along, he resumed his journey toward his destination, a bit thankful at the opportunity to use his sleepy yet energy-filled legs a bit.

The man took a bit longer than was strictly necessary to get to his first stop, slowing down often to take in the sights and people along the way. Humans, Ferals, Dagonians, even the occasional Gigan in spite of the war just a few years earlier all navigated the streets, and the man could only imagine how the myriad signs lit up at night.

He made it to the station a short while later and plopped down on a bench (a metal one this time, he looked first this time) and opened up his map to triple-check he had the right building. After that his eyes wandered over to a convenient trolley timetable placed on a post right next to the tracks, which let him know the next one would arrive in about eight minutes. The man sighed a little and leaned back against the hard metal of the bench, content with getting comfortable while he waited.

A couple minutes after his wait started, the man found himself having some company. A young Dagonian sat herself down next to the man, and he couldn't help but quickly scan her over. Short, with glowing magenta irises and a light-and-dark-blue coloration. A large, vibrant fin with a yellow underside was tied up behind the girl's head in an imitation of a ponytail, and the large scales on her head looked remarkably similar to actual hair when viewed as a whole. She was carrying a little dark pink purse as well -

"'Zit uncomfortable?" The man only realized he was the one who spoke after the words left his mouth.

The young woman looked up at him, a brow quirked. "Hm?"

The man instantly regretted bringing up such an out-of-nowhere question to a complete stranger, but went on anyway, unable to help his sudden curiosity. "The ponytail. Puttin' up your fin like that. There ain't many Dagonians where I'm from, so 'course I'm curious-"

The man finally stopped himself by physically putting his hand over his mouth. Once he was sure the thing would stop running, he put his hand down and sighed, about to apologize before the girl answered, "No, it doesn't, mister. I wouldn't be doing it if it did, would I?"

"... Yeah. Yeah, that's. Pretty obvious..." A sigh. " Sorry for bringin' up such a weird question, we don't even know each other..."

The girl merely hummed as a response, focus shifting toward the timetable to read over it before grabbing a magazine out of her purse. The man sighed and struggled to resist the urge to look down at what she was reading, knowing that he'd already made things awkward enough. To distract from said urge, he pulled out his map again to review the sights and a few places of interest he'd try to visit the following day.

'Let's face it, I'm probably getting up real late tomorrow. So... This one restaurant in Little Innsmouth looks like a good place for an early lunch. Not too far from my place, either. Then… I think the casinos would be a good place to get the scoops I'm lookin' for. Considerin' this city, though... Hmm.'

After half a minute to think on that, he next decided that a decent substitute location in case the place seemed as dangerous as he thought would be a few of the churches and cathedrals around the city. 'Some sightseeing and getting myself more familiar with this place would do me good. Kinda curious about whether this place worships only the Trinity, too.' Speaking of which, the Grand Cathedral near the center of downtown New Meridian looked to be a potential hub for worship. 'Could ask around there for some religious questions,' the man idly catalogued.

So his train of thought continued, brainstorming additional places to visit and acquire information from. Before he knew it, the soft hiss of the trolley engine entered his ears, and he and the girl next to him quickly rose and boarded. Seeing as he didn't have a pass, the man presented a few coins to the trolley engineer, who nodded after a swift count and allowed him to sit. Or, rather, that's what the man would do were it not for the fact that there was only one seat left and the girl from earlier still hadn't gotten herself one.

The two awkwardly shared a glance before the man gestured for her to sit, which she did with a small nod of gratitude. A few seconds after the man got a grip on one of the handles hanging from the bars, there was a gentle sway, and the trolley was off.

The man couldn't help but notice the girl got off only twenty minutes later, at the Little Innsmouth restaurant he was thinking about earlier. The man let out a soft "huh" as the girl exited, holding her purse close as she walked off toward her… 'Work place? Home? Maybe both?' The man's thoughts quickly got back on the track of tomorrow's plans, a bit weirded out by his own semi-fixation on this teen he'd just not-so-smoothly met and didn't even know the name of.

Nearly half an hour later, the man arrived at the station closest to his destination. He got off with a little hop to skip the last singular stair down before getting out his map once again to confirm his next directions.

'Right from here, then just keep walkin' straight...'

Though it was the opposite of a long walk from there, the man couldn't help but feel a bit of paranoia set in. New Meridian was well-known for its immense quantity of criminals, and he was by himself, and there were a rather large number of dark alleyways… Et cetera.

Luckily, aside from the feeling of being watched by a lot of potentially unseemly people, the man encountered no trouble. He breathed a sigh of relief as he pushed the somewhat fancy yet simultaneously dirty and uncared-for glass door open.

The man looked around, curious about how different the place he'd be staying looked in-person compared to the previews he'd seen online. The smoothed granite walls have evidently not been polished in a while, but the wooden floor, a deep brown in shade, at least appeared cared for. A mix of candles and electric lights gave the place an odd, not necessarily seamless blend of new and old. There was a stairwell beside the counter and a hall to the left, a bathroom on the opposite side, and a hall likely leading to the ground floor living rooms. In sum it was a bit on the dingy side, but not unbearably so.

Seeing no one behind the counter at the entrance, the man rang the service bell. There was a grumble from the room behind the counter, a grumpy and elderly looking Gigan squeezing out of the room and into the lobby soon after. "Checking in?" he asked gruffly, adjusting his glasses to look down at the man. "'S real late, interrupted m' reading."

"Ah, sorry, man. Plane had a few difficulties, 'm tired too. Anyways, I'm here for the room booked for "Gordan Mason?" The first name has an "a" by the way, 's odd, I know."

The Gigan hummed as he waited for the rather decrepit-looking computer he just turned on to boot up, taking a little while to access the apartments' page or what-have-you and verify Gordan's status at this location.

"ID?"

Gordan pulled out his wallet and opened it, grabbing the appropriate card and handing it over. The Gigan checked it out for a second and looked at the man's face, as well as the computer monitor, then asked, "Can't see your eyes with those glasses. Take 'em off."

Gordan responded with a bit of apprehension, going, "Ah, sure," before slowly taking them off, looking the Gigan in the eyes after that. The attendant couldn't help but quirk a brow at the man's hesitation before looking down at the ID again and handing it back. He then pulled out a key and set it down on the counter.

"Room 306," was all he said, pointing toward the stairs before lumbering into the back room, presumably to resume his reading.

'Hrmm, doing that always makes me nervous... ' the man internally remarked about letting people see his eyes, looking down the hall for a fact check. '001, 002... Probably the fourth floor, then.'

By the time Gordan managed to lug his belongings up to his floor, he felt just a bit exhausted. The combination of the longer-than-necessary walking and the somewhat exerting task of hauling his weighty luggage up four flights of stairs all not too long immediately after a lengthy and sleepless plane ride had taxed both his mind and body.

Gordan slid the key in and unlocked the door, closing it behind him. He began scanning the room as he did so, pushing the extendable handle of his suitcase down into its slot with a huff. The height of his room and the subsequent view partially made up for the imminent and large amounts of legwork he'd have to do to get up and down the floors every day; neon lights glimmered in the downtown area nearby, and below and immediately in front were the culturally prominent Dagonian styles of buildings and advertisements. The ocean, only half-visible at this distance, reflected the moonlight beautifully.

If only the room itself had the visual splendor to match the view it provided! There was no small amount of dust, the dark blue paint was beginning to show signs of chipping off in the corners, and the quantity of space there was to move around in wasn't the largest. Still, it had its own miniature kitchen area off to the side as well as a bathroom all its own, as opposed to a communal kitchen or bathroom, so Gordan decided not to complain too much.

Talking a couple layers of clothes off, the man settled into the bed, not bothering to completely change out of his clothes or undress entirely. It was a decent one, the mattress and pillows not too hard but not exactly plush either. With a deep sigh, he tightened up the blankets around his person, glancing at his unpacked stuff for a few moments and internally debating before deciding he'd just get to it tomorrow morning.

'Too tired... Gonna be tired after everything tomorrow as well, though.'

"Hummm…"

'I signed up for this, though. Almost literally. So I'd better get used to this and get to sleep it is already past midnight and you will be busy.'

Gordan was out like a light not too long after that train of thought abruptly shifted tracks and ended.

Notes:

The first of many chapters. I hope you all enjoy the little circus act I've concocted.