Alfegos
05-04-2009, 18:22
"Il'vi is a bustling city of 7 million lively inhabitants, located in the north-east of Zevkhay Province. With the beautiful Mountains of Solace to the north, and the tropical beaches of the east, it is a popular tourist destination both internationally and domestically. Flights come in almost daily from most national airports to the Il'vi Palm Aerodrome, both conventional aircraft flights and airship cruises, and the well-equipped modern port to the south offers the capacity for conventional ship cruises.
During the day, one can visit the old heart of the city, a national heritage site, take a trip up to the mountains in the north, or bask on the beautiful white sands of the Il'vi beaches. At night, the off-curfew seafront offers numerous clubs and night-time party sites.
A note to all tourists is, due to the Anti-terrorism Act of 1976, most areas of the city enforce a curfew after 9pm, lasting until 5am. Police will often accept a passport as a legitimate form of identification if you are caught out in a curfew, though repeated curfew breaking will result in heavy fines.
Whilst the official government response to terrorism is currently at 'Normal', we recommend care around any of larger tourist clubs."
- Excerpt from 'An Unofficial Guide to Alfegos'
It was nearing midnight as the two police officers walked through the streets on the edge of the curfew zone, on the lookout for any drunks who had got lost. In the streets, dim blue lights illuminated the pristine pavements and roadway, kept clean as part of the attempt to keep tourists coming to such a potential danger zone. Whilst there had been no attacks in years, the government had found people were still sceptical in their view of the city's safety, preferring other nations in the region.
Both of the policemen were visibly armed, one of the many deterrents to curfew-breakers. Each held an AMP-2 machinepistol in a bulky side pouch ready to be drawn, with a knife next to it. In Il'vi, when there were fights, most of the time the authority of the Police was ignored, even if they had been on the receiving end of heavy firepower beforehand. And even that sometimes wasn't enough for the most determined of people. However, their lax attitude to observing compensated for their armament, idly chatting whilst quickly glancing either side of the street.
After a few minutes, they came to a junction in the road, a turn leading off into the curfew-free area. Whilst a barrier had been lowered, and numerous signs were posted warning of the consequences of passing that point, the occasional tourist still showed enough lack of attention to walk straight through. Looking over, the pair saw a couple staggering down the road towards them, already drunk up to their eyeballs. The nearest officer sighed, before turning around and yelling over to them.
"You can't come down here sir without a permit - this is the curfew zone."
"It's a ...free... country? I can do... what I like." The man's speech was slurred, hints of aggression showing through a thick haze of malco-ordination.
"It isn't sir once you go past this line. You from round these parts?"
"What does it... matter to you!?"
He fumbled around for a passport, his girlfriend hanging off him around his waist, until he drew a thick booklet.
"That's not a passport sir, that's a map of the town. Now can you please turn around."
"Why? I don't want..."
The Police Officer was losing his patience, and moved his hand down to his baton.
"This is your final warning sir. Turn around and go back the way you came, or I'll arrest you for curfew breaking."
"Cur..few? Wassat?"
The man walked past the barrier, his girlfriend tripping over. The police officer by now had had enough, and walked over whilst his partner watched him - with the criminals they got, the Police always needed someone to watch their back.
"Sir, I'm arresting you for violation of the curfew. You do not have to say anything, but anything you say or do will be recorded and may be used in evidence against you. Same goes for your girl."
The drunken man was not keen to co-operate with the police officer, and made his biggest mistake - he twisted to throw a punch. A couple seconds later, the man's brain had finally come to the realisation that his body was on the floor and his hands cuffed painfully behind his back. Several feeble attempts to escape finally brought the sobering reality to him, as his girlfriend was put into a similar state.
Just as the officer was about to radio for backup, he saw a flicker in the shadows behind him, moving into a back alley. Nodding to his partner to watch the two, he sprinted after the figure, drawing his pistol.
"Stop, whoever you are!"
Passing under a streetlight, he saw what looked like a young man, running down a side alley behind an apartment block. In fast pursuit, he turned the corner, and saw the person run into a dead end. And then something strange happened.
All around him, a deathly silence clamped down, even the leaked music from the clubs in the curfew-free zone disappearing as his other senses went into overdrive. A surprisingly warm wind came flooding up the alley towards him, not like he would have expected for the time of night. As bags of rubbish by bins began rustling, he noticed the man he had pursuing was running back towards him, panicked. Seeing what looked like a weapon in the boys hand, he didn't hesitate to bring up his pistol, flicking off the safety. His finger squeezed on the trigger, past the first action to the second, dropping it from a sudden electric shock. Sparks began jumping from metal objects in the alley, showering down from the steel fire escape on the building above him, as the wind intensified. He drew his knife, gritting his teeth against the shocking pain as the young man drew even closer, shouting a warning.
"Stop or I will use lethal force to defend myself!"
Then came the flash of light, followed by a sudden cessation in the supernatural phenomena. The rubbish was back where it was, and the sound was back to normal. The young man however had disappeared. He bent down to pick up his gun, and saw a strange sight - the image of the alley bent, as if it were a giant glass of water. Moving forwards, he put out his hand, looking for the cause of the optical illusion, before radioing in.
"This is Whiskey One to Control - get on the phone to the strange shit department. There's something seriously strange going on down here."
"Control to Whiskey One - can you provide a description of what you can see?"
"A bloke just disappeared in front of my eyes in an alley just off of 17th North street. There appears to be some strange sort of distortion in the air... wait, it's changed now I've moved - there appears to be an image of something floating in the middle of the alleyway."
"Whiskey One, have you had anything to drink recently?"
"A glass of water a bit earlier. I don't know what you're trying to imply."
"We'll get a unit back to you in a moment. In the meanwhile, search the area for the fugitive."
The young man suddenly appeared out of the hovering image, running faster then before. Barging straight past the police officer, he ran out of the alley, the man in fast pursuit.
"Whiskey One, calling all units - in pursuit of a young white male on foot, heading north up 17th North... nope he's turned left now at the I'lo hotel, and going down towards the old city."
The adrenaline rush of the chase pushed the strange images out of his mind as he sprinted down towards the escaping man.
During the day, one can visit the old heart of the city, a national heritage site, take a trip up to the mountains in the north, or bask on the beautiful white sands of the Il'vi beaches. At night, the off-curfew seafront offers numerous clubs and night-time party sites.
A note to all tourists is, due to the Anti-terrorism Act of 1976, most areas of the city enforce a curfew after 9pm, lasting until 5am. Police will often accept a passport as a legitimate form of identification if you are caught out in a curfew, though repeated curfew breaking will result in heavy fines.
Whilst the official government response to terrorism is currently at 'Normal', we recommend care around any of larger tourist clubs."
- Excerpt from 'An Unofficial Guide to Alfegos'
It was nearing midnight as the two police officers walked through the streets on the edge of the curfew zone, on the lookout for any drunks who had got lost. In the streets, dim blue lights illuminated the pristine pavements and roadway, kept clean as part of the attempt to keep tourists coming to such a potential danger zone. Whilst there had been no attacks in years, the government had found people were still sceptical in their view of the city's safety, preferring other nations in the region.
Both of the policemen were visibly armed, one of the many deterrents to curfew-breakers. Each held an AMP-2 machinepistol in a bulky side pouch ready to be drawn, with a knife next to it. In Il'vi, when there were fights, most of the time the authority of the Police was ignored, even if they had been on the receiving end of heavy firepower beforehand. And even that sometimes wasn't enough for the most determined of people. However, their lax attitude to observing compensated for their armament, idly chatting whilst quickly glancing either side of the street.
After a few minutes, they came to a junction in the road, a turn leading off into the curfew-free area. Whilst a barrier had been lowered, and numerous signs were posted warning of the consequences of passing that point, the occasional tourist still showed enough lack of attention to walk straight through. Looking over, the pair saw a couple staggering down the road towards them, already drunk up to their eyeballs. The nearest officer sighed, before turning around and yelling over to them.
"You can't come down here sir without a permit - this is the curfew zone."
"It's a ...free... country? I can do... what I like." The man's speech was slurred, hints of aggression showing through a thick haze of malco-ordination.
"It isn't sir once you go past this line. You from round these parts?"
"What does it... matter to you!?"
He fumbled around for a passport, his girlfriend hanging off him around his waist, until he drew a thick booklet.
"That's not a passport sir, that's a map of the town. Now can you please turn around."
"Why? I don't want..."
The Police Officer was losing his patience, and moved his hand down to his baton.
"This is your final warning sir. Turn around and go back the way you came, or I'll arrest you for curfew breaking."
"Cur..few? Wassat?"
The man walked past the barrier, his girlfriend tripping over. The police officer by now had had enough, and walked over whilst his partner watched him - with the criminals they got, the Police always needed someone to watch their back.
"Sir, I'm arresting you for violation of the curfew. You do not have to say anything, but anything you say or do will be recorded and may be used in evidence against you. Same goes for your girl."
The drunken man was not keen to co-operate with the police officer, and made his biggest mistake - he twisted to throw a punch. A couple seconds later, the man's brain had finally come to the realisation that his body was on the floor and his hands cuffed painfully behind his back. Several feeble attempts to escape finally brought the sobering reality to him, as his girlfriend was put into a similar state.
Just as the officer was about to radio for backup, he saw a flicker in the shadows behind him, moving into a back alley. Nodding to his partner to watch the two, he sprinted after the figure, drawing his pistol.
"Stop, whoever you are!"
Passing under a streetlight, he saw what looked like a young man, running down a side alley behind an apartment block. In fast pursuit, he turned the corner, and saw the person run into a dead end. And then something strange happened.
All around him, a deathly silence clamped down, even the leaked music from the clubs in the curfew-free zone disappearing as his other senses went into overdrive. A surprisingly warm wind came flooding up the alley towards him, not like he would have expected for the time of night. As bags of rubbish by bins began rustling, he noticed the man he had pursuing was running back towards him, panicked. Seeing what looked like a weapon in the boys hand, he didn't hesitate to bring up his pistol, flicking off the safety. His finger squeezed on the trigger, past the first action to the second, dropping it from a sudden electric shock. Sparks began jumping from metal objects in the alley, showering down from the steel fire escape on the building above him, as the wind intensified. He drew his knife, gritting his teeth against the shocking pain as the young man drew even closer, shouting a warning.
"Stop or I will use lethal force to defend myself!"
Then came the flash of light, followed by a sudden cessation in the supernatural phenomena. The rubbish was back where it was, and the sound was back to normal. The young man however had disappeared. He bent down to pick up his gun, and saw a strange sight - the image of the alley bent, as if it were a giant glass of water. Moving forwards, he put out his hand, looking for the cause of the optical illusion, before radioing in.
"This is Whiskey One to Control - get on the phone to the strange shit department. There's something seriously strange going on down here."
"Control to Whiskey One - can you provide a description of what you can see?"
"A bloke just disappeared in front of my eyes in an alley just off of 17th North street. There appears to be some strange sort of distortion in the air... wait, it's changed now I've moved - there appears to be an image of something floating in the middle of the alleyway."
"Whiskey One, have you had anything to drink recently?"
"A glass of water a bit earlier. I don't know what you're trying to imply."
"We'll get a unit back to you in a moment. In the meanwhile, search the area for the fugitive."
The young man suddenly appeared out of the hovering image, running faster then before. Barging straight past the police officer, he ran out of the alley, the man in fast pursuit.
"Whiskey One, calling all units - in pursuit of a young white male on foot, heading north up 17th North... nope he's turned left now at the I'lo hotel, and going down towards the old city."
The adrenaline rush of the chase pushed the strange images out of his mind as he sprinted down towards the escaping man.