Damion gasped in horror. Before him stood a canine anthromorph. He was reminded of cartoons of antromorphic animals on Japanese websites, and the figure before him looked just like one of them, except that this was obviously no cartoon. As he took in Merc's appearance, Merc sighed. "Not exactly what you had in mind, huh?" he asked. Damion could only nod, still speechless by the creature in front of him. "Well, there's a reason why I look like this." Merc explained. "But this isn't the safest place to talk. We should get moving now if we're gonna make it to my place by morning." Merc started to walk, but stopped as he noticed Damion was still standing in the same spot. "Some time tonight would be nice!" he exclaimed.
Damion snapped out of his trance. After all, he had heard rumors about a few anthromorphs that had been prowling across town, although no one knew how they had snuck out of their Community. Without another thought, he followed Merc through downtown. They stuck to alleyways and rarely used the roads. Occasionally they would come to a locked gate, which Merc climbed over with ease and unlocked for Damion.
After about an hour of this, they walked into a dead-end alley with doors on either sides, and a red door at the end. Merc opened it and gesturedfor Damion to go inside. Damion went through and waited for Merc, who closed and locked the door. Damion turned around and saw he was at the bottom of a stairway. "All the way to the top." said Merc. Damion took a deep breath and began to climb the staircase.
After a half-hour of climbing, Damion reached the top of the stairway, gasping for breath. Merc was a little winded too, but not nearly as much. There was only one door between them and their destination. Merc pushed the door and let it swing open, and they both stepped out int the open air.
What greeted Damion's eyes was a sight to behold: an unobstructed view of the city, which was speckled with little dots of light. Light from rooms of apartments and offices looked as though they were strung out and hovered in place. Damion wlked over to and edge of the roof and looked down. Car headlights made their way through the city streets, making it look like a steady stream of glowing lights were snaking around all over the place. "Whoah... it's beautiful!" Damion said. He looked tward Merc, who nodded. "Know where we are?" he asked. Damion twirled around, trying to get his bearings. He didn't see any farmiliar landmarks, and didn't recognize the building either. He shook his head. "We're almost in the middle of the city" Merc explained.
After pointing out some major nearby streets, Merc turned Damion's attention to a large air-conditioning structure. "Do you know what that is?" he asked. Damion shook his head.
"That is an air-conditioning structure that used to cool this entire building. I hollowed it out, and turned into my base of operations."
"Really?"
"You bet, kiddo.I'll show you around." The two walked into the empty structure, and Merc showed Damion inside. There was a long bench that strecthed along a curving wall. Directly in front of them was a large computer desk with a monitor sitting on it. Behind the desk were larger monitors that had been mounted on the wall. to the left was a small empty space that couldn't have housed anything else. "This is my base of operations, or my 'lair'." Merc said with a grin. Damion looked at him.
"Now that we're here, how about you're story?"
"Sure. Sit down and get comfy."