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Red Nail · #36 (**permalink**) 10-03-2008

The tram continued on slowly, its bulk rumbling down the less than sturdy tracks it was situated on. The smaller trams might have been able to zip around a section at a fair pace, but the larger inter-section trams moved with ponderous ignorance of other people’s needs and schedules.

Jordan fidgeted in his seat as the journey continued. The Beat Town bound tram was packed with people from all over Ruin and he felt smothered in their midst. The stench of all the bodies was nearly unbearable, but they all endured it for Beat Town. Its stance on the Committee and Center Piece was very clear; the uppity stooges weren’t welcome here. If Jordan hadn’t known the Madame, he would have still come to this place. It was easy to get lost in the crowds.

When he could, Jordan left his seat to stroll the corridors of the tram and look out the windows. Night was falling in Section 2. Soon Center Piece would dip under the rim of the Spiral and come out again on its darkened underside. There would be no stars on the other side save for the guide lights held aloft in the night vapors. For the subsections it was even simpler as the refraction orbs would simply die out and plunge their areas into darkness that was only broken by various street lamps.

Outside he saw the rail tramps ambling alongside the moving tram, knowing just how close they could get to the trams without be barked at by the guards at the doors. Jordan felt a pang of guilt as he watched them and their sour faces pass by. He had just enough money for the tram left and wondered if he’d have to make the long walk to his next destination. Jordan shook the thought from his head though, he was getting ahead of himself again.

As he passed a vendor in one of the mid-decks his stomach growled audibly at the greasy and simple foods it offered. With all the excitement of the day he’d forgotten to eat. The last food he could remember having was the bread and meat roll from that morning. As Jordan dwelled on just how hungry he was he noticed a simple bass beat moving through the tram, rattling its metal body and thumping up through his feet.

With each mile they crossed the thumping grew in intensity and moved from his feet into Jordan’s chest. Around Jordan some of the other passengers began to stomp and move along with the bass beat as they felt it too. Even Jordan couldn’t ignore it. He joined them as the beat infected him with it’s rhythm. As they drew ever closer to the beat’s source Jordan could hear the mess of random and sometimes conflicting melodies coming out of Beat Town towards them.

It was chaos as different dancers picked up on the music they liked best and tried to tune out the others. Jordan knew better and moved to the totality of the chaos like a few others that had been to Beat Town before did. It was a mess of music but it all obeyed the bass beat and swayed to its motions. It was the truth of Beat Town that while all the music of Ruin came through its streets and hall, it was all still one complete piece of music that traversed lines of race and station with little regard.

--

An hour later the passengers of the tram disembarked sweating and tired before their real partying even began. They were greeted by the wild and colorful banners and lights that covered every square inch of Beat Town. The scintillating colors drew them into a warm embrace as they stepped in time towards their destination. As they walked, wake gas filtered into them from the air and rejuvenated them a little. For some the mild dose was a little too strong and caused them to run wild through the streets, divesting of their clothes and inhibitions.

Jordan could only shake his head at them before he remembered just how bad he’d been the first time he’d been here. He’d run naked through the streets too and caused more than a little trouble for the bouncers that roamed the streets to keep the peace. He fingered the last shill he had, the important shill, and went in search of the Madame.

As he rounded a few corners he realized that Beat Town was in the throes of a full on party. Dancers clogged the street. They swirled and crested like living waves. In their midst were stray eddies that were people with actual business to attend to here. In some cases the swells broke and created a temporary hall of bodies. The people ran down those halls, trying to beat their closure before getting caught up again and made to stand and wait for another moment of compassion from those around them.

Jordan avoided the mess altogether by climbing up fire escapes and pipes to reach the tops of buildings. With the ease of a Tack he leapt from roof to roof. He knew where he was headed. Three buildings later he was at the entrance of what could only be described as a private club. He walked past incoming bouncers that weren’t about to listen to anything he had to say. He simply held his last shill up and walked on. They stopped mid charge and went back to their posts.

Unimpeded while he held the coin up, he continued past the private parties, drug rings, and composers that hummed out snippets of tune while they inked paper furiously. A few looked his way out of curiosity, but they went back to their work. They knew what the coin meant and they weren’t about to anger the Madame. The last impediment Jordan faced was a simple door and Jordan was not surprised to see it unlocked. He walked into what he knew would be a darkened room and held his shill out instead of up.

From the shadows came a slender, wooden hand that took his and led him forward. This close Jordan could see her in all of her simple glory. The Madame, the elf outcast, pulled him into a warm embrace and pressed her lips to his. Jordan stiffened at the unexpected intimacy and stayed stock still while she smiled at him.

“You’ve gotten so serious my eager boy,” she arched her eyebrow and removed herself from him to sit cross-legged on one of her many pillows nearby, “Or should I say man? Come and sit with me. We’ll talk about you, me, and the troubles you carry on your back.”

Jordan obeyed and sat across from her. He wasn’t surprised that she knew about the box. She was a veracitor after all. She could see the paths of the future and tell him what he needed to do. She was Ruin’s oracle.