The walk home was uneventful, though Thomas was certainly glad for it. He wasn't sure how much time he had to log in to deep ground before he missed anything, though he didn't want to rush. He got to his apartment block and ascended to his room. He walked inside and shut the door, dropping the book onto the floor, undoing his shoes and taking his jacket off. He dropped them to the side before carefully depositing his drink onto a nearby table. He then sat on his bed and unlocked his phone once again. He'd gotten a message that told him about odd activity in the black city. Thomas wasn't sure why but he felt that there would be more to it than that. That was one of the reasons he bailed out, though not the only reason. There was also the new update to contend with and he couldn't fall behind on experience either. There were professions, skill cards and other stuff he had to think about, but he'd do that later.

He sent a quick reply before locking his phone and laying into his bed. As he closed his eyes he dove into deep ground.

[hr][color=gray][h2]Welcome, Puppet Master[/h2][/color]
[hr]

The puppet master awoke, blinking, to find himself sitting cross-legged in a dark room surrounded by candles. He stretched his arm outwards, studying his fingers. Reflexively he turned his palm away from himself and activated his second skill.
[color=gray]"Puppet creation."[/color] He muttered. 
A metallic form rose from the ground where his palm was pointed. Its head emerged first followed by a freakishly thin neck. Sleek limbs followed a shiny torso and it soon emerged at its full height, standing attentively. The puppet master lowered his hands and sat for a while, thinking. He would preferably have 2 puppets scout out the situation at the black city to minimise risk but the skill had a lengthy cooldown so that wasn't an option. 

The puppet master rose from his sitting position and walked over to the bottom left corner of the quite large room. That corner held his stock of weapons, weapons he'd collected over his time playing deep ground. They were mostly uncommon as he sold all of his common weaponry and rares were hard to come by, though he also kept his main weapons there. He picked out some good ones, though they were only uncommon, and pocketed his own weapons before going back to his summoned puppet. His puppet's equipment wasn't limited to Stephen's weapon restrictions, though they couldn't wield 2 handed weapons. He offered the weapons to the puppet, a one handed sword and a pistol, and the puppet reached to take them.
[color=gray][i]"I don't have much of a choice here."[/i][/color] Thomas thought. [color=gray][i]"If I want to check out the black city I'll have to do it myself."[/i][/color]

The puppet master summoned his own blade and studied it for a moment before sheathing it to let it hang at his side, and the puppet mirrored his action.
[color=gray]"It's just you and me for now."[/color] The puppet mastered rasped as he turned around.

He began walking into the darkness and the puppet followed.
[color=gray]"You and me against the travelling system."[/color] He continued.
The puppet did not respond, though he didn't expect it to either.
[color=gray]"Let's see what happens."[/color]

The puppet master and his puppet began heading to the black city.