Chapter 169: Down In Flames

"I'm new in town," I replied to the barkeep, leaning slightly against the concrete bar with one arm and picking up my second drink with another. 

"Don't get many newcomers down here," The barkeep remarked, watching with what looked like poorly masked awe as I downed my second shot of the alcohol. 

Either the alcohol wasn't very strong, which couldn't have been the case considering how much it burned on the way down, or my metabolism had also been bolstered by the drink because I really wasn't feeling anything. 

"Yeah, funny story about that, I'm like… really new in town," I said with a little chuckle, "As in, I can't have been on this planet for more than a few hours, let alone any extended period of time." 

I… hadn't entirely meant to be that liberal with the information I was giving out. Maybe the alcohol was having a little bit more of an effect than I had been expecting it to. 

<You're tellin' me,> BB said in the back of my mind. His voice was slurred as if he'd… as if he'd been drinking a bunch of alcohol. 

BB was taking the alcohol load for me instead of that just going into my own metabolism. No wonder the AI had been leery about me going to a bar, he was a lightweight! 

<M'not a lightweight,> he slurred, <That drink was… big… lots of alcohol.>

Okay, clearly BB had already had a little bit too much to drink. I'd have to try and slow things down just a little bit. 

"But that's not possible, we're in the middle of a sunstorm," The barkeep intoned, "How did you manage to get through that?" 

"Well, I very nearly didn't, I can tell you that much," I said, "Some security guy on the gate slipped us through at the last second, we were nearly fried though I can tell you that much." 

The barkeep nodded his head at that, I wasn't sure if he believed me or if he thought I was a madman, "That would have put you out in the open in the middle of curfew, though," he said, "I know all too well what the dranes are like at that time of the day." 

Well, that confirmed my theory that the barkeep was an ex drane of some kind, though how he'd managed to slip down here without the officers dragging him back was beyond me. That seemed to be the kind of thing that they wouldn't take very kindly to. 

"Yeah, met an officer with a couple of those after leaving my friend with a doctor, didn't fare with the heat too well," I said, "Had to sort of jump from bridge to bridge to get down here, figured any sort of a lift wouldn't exactly be safe to use." 

"Quite a fantastical tale," the barkeep replied, okay so he thought I was crazy, "But still, I suppose I've heard madder things working here." 

Okay, maybe he didn't think I was crazy. 

"Yeah, the doctor said the dranes wouldn't come down to the Furnace, so I decided what the hell and just sort of went for it," I explained, "I figured down here would be a good place to get started, after all." 

The barkeep became immediately guarded at that. His human eyes narrowed slightly, and his metallic muscles tightened up as if he were ready to pounce at me at any given moment. 

"Get what started?" He asked gruffly, as gruffly as a simulated and warbling voice box could be gruff anyway. 

"Well, the fight back against whatever tyranny is going on up there," I replied, "I've gotta get back up to my friend eventually, and I figure the only way of doing that is fixing this whole mess." 

The barkeep shook his head slightly at that, as if he couldn't actually believe what he was hearing, "Look, you need to be careful with talk like that," the barkeep said, "The dranes might not tend to come down here very often, but if talk of revolution starts spreading through the Furnace unchecked you better believe they will." 

I nodded slowly at his concerns, "Then we'll fight them back," I said, "Hey maybe we'll even get some to join the cause, you're a turncoat after all." 

He stiffened up even further at that. 

"I think it's about time you leave," the drane barkeep said, his voice was low and menacing now yet still managed to carry itself over the noise of the bar, "You don't want to make a scene, and I don't want to start something that might lead to my punters getting hurt. Bad for business, yah see, just like talking about revolution is bad for business." 

I swallowed, my mouth had gone suddenly dry, and raised my hands in what I hoped was a placating manner, "Hey look, I didn't mean to stir up any trouble," I said, full well in the knowledge that I had indeed meant to stir up trouble. 

"All the same, best you leave," He said with an air of finality before turning away from our conversation. 

<Should probably do what he says, fight would be the opposite of good,> BB said, he was slurring a little bit less now but he was still clearly tipsy. 

I had to agree, and so I turned on the spot, carefully made my way back through the busy bar, and found myself back out on the open street. 

Okay, so my initial plan hadn't exactly been as foolproof as I had been hoping that it was. In fact, it had pretty much fallen flat on its face and had ended- 

"Hey, big guy," A female voice behind me said in a hushed whisper, "You without any mods." 

That could only mean me. 

I turned around yet again, and was faced with a short human girl with bright red eyes and nails as sharp as daggers. 

"Heard you talking to the barkeep about an uprising, yeah?" She asked, to which I responded with a nod. "Alright then, follow me." 

She shot me a toothy grin and ducked down the road the split off from the main high street. 

Maybe my plan hadn't been such a waste of time after all.