No matter how hard he tried, Jarvis couldn't get the memories out of his head.
As Bento and Jarvis approached the downtown sector, Jarvis could only think about the battle that had occurred. It had been over a decade since a Mind had attacked the city directly, and not to a scale like this. Nearly 500 men and women, reduced to ash and dust, to be swept away among the endless sand.
"Hey, kid. You good?" Bento glanced at Jarvis a few times, his hands clutching the wheel tightly as he sped past building after building. Jarvis could only manage a weak nod, fiddling with his rifle in an attempt to distract himself.
Jarvis watched the city as it sped by; as they moved further to downtown, the buildings became cleaner, wiped of the dust that stained many others. Flickering billboards could be seen, with most displaying messages advertising one of the three ruling factions of the city.
The sandspeeder came to a stop alongside a couple dozen others, and Bento hopped out, beckoning for Jarvis to follow. The two headed towards a massive courtyard, filled to the brim with sandstone buildings of all shapes and sizes. Some were restaurants wafting with the scents of fried delicacies, others were bustling storefronts selling any kind of good you could need out in the wastes. Standing tall in the very center was the most impressive of them all; a ten story monolith of metal and concrete called the Mark of Peace, a symbol meant to represent the supposed cooperation between the three ruling factions. In truth, you could hardly call it cooperation at all.
Bento pointed towards the building, taking a few steps towards it as he weaved between the crowds. "Probably a good idea to tell someone about the attack! By the looks of it, we're the only ones who made it out of that area." Bento clasped his hands together, a dollar sign forming on the screen of his eye. "I bet we'll get a hefty reward for our service."
Jarvis shook his head, patting Bento's shoulder plate. "Oh yeah... good to know you've got your priorities in order, you bucket of rust." Bento shrugged, following Jarvis inside.
They were greeted instantly by armed guards, preventing them from moving further than the doorway. The first guard approached, clutching a modded assault rifle. He spoke to them through a mask of meshed together barbed wire. "The public isn't permitted on these grounds right now. The faction commanders are on site." Jarvis pushed Bento aside, saying "What we've got is important enough to interrupt whatever useless meeting is going on"
The guard scoffed, not backing up an inch. "Sure you do, just like the countless others who want to bother them. Go on, enlighten me." Bento chirped up, standing beside Jarvis. "You heard about the evacuation of Thomas Street, right? We came from there, and no one else got out. We've got news of what happened." The guard hesitated, glancing at the others, who nodded in unison.
"Fine, we'll let you through, but you'd better watch yourself." The guard nudged them inside with the butt of his rifle, with Jarvis grimacing in annoyance. "...yeah, we hear you." The other guards opened a hidden door in the wall, revealing a polished steel elevator inside, the buttons made from solid bronze; a far shot from the rusted metal and decrepit machinery that made up the vast majority of the city.
Bento spent a moment admiring the elevator before stepping inside, the double doors slamming shut behind him. "Damn... I could probably sell something like this for more than I make in a year." Jarvis leaned back against the wall of the elevator, pressing the button for the top floor, where he assumed this meeting must be taking place. "You know, Bento, I've always wondered. With all the Vox tech you're collecting from scavengers, why don't we have nicer things throughout the city?"
Bento laughed roughly, his voice scratchy through the speakers under the grille on his face. "Two reasons. First, Vox tech ain't easy to dissect and learn, and that's done intentionally. Any of the useful stuff is hidden deep within the underground facilities, and very few Vox actually know how it works; none of the common soldiers know a thing or two about any of it. And second, ain't many of you humans here on Vexra that know how to replicate whatever you all had back on Earth, and the handful who do work for the upper class, making things like this elevator... which only a couple of people get to use, it seems."
Jarvis nodded, slightly disappointed by that answer. "We can't have anything nice out here, can we? I've heard Earth was the same way." Bento shook his head, watching the doors as the elevator continued its ascent. "Of course it was. It's all the same everywhere you go."
The Elevator came to an abrupt halt, the doors opening up to a long hallway. Several doors lined the walls, but what immediately caught their eyes were the doors at the end: a pair of polished wood doors, with a golden plate hanging over that read "Commander Chamber". Bento patted Jarvis on the back, heading down the hall. "I guess we've found our destination, yeah?" They both stood before the fine wooden doors, their arms crossed. "Let's crash this meeting."