His stomach performed a disturbing sommersault.
'How the hell did I end up here? A future Earth? A parallel world? Or am I just loosing it? Cause I know for sure this isn't a dream.'
He shook his head and shut his eyes trying to refocus his thinking, his dark eyes darting to the window, where the world outside blurred into a dark blur of speed, which he found impressive because he couldn't feel the drag due to the acceleration, it was as if the train was warping through space.
As the holographic map of their direction signaled it's arrival, Levi's SnatchClaw, which was tucked into the hibernation device in his pocket, felt like a lead weight against his thigh. His fingers rubbed against the bulge of the device in his pocket, the embedded magical crystal pulsed constantly with a reddish glow.
'This thing is my ticket though… what? A better life? Or just more people laughing at my Grade Five reject?' his jaw clenched as he leaned his head back, closing his eyes before the train came to a slow, controlled halt— barely even making a sound except for that electric hum.
Levi stepped out of the train and onto the platform of Sector L's station as a well articulated female AI voice annouced their arrival.
Immediately he looked up, he could tell that he was no longer in Sector E. Every sense organ he possessed said so, the air was thicker and the scent of rust and ozone lingered like a fog. Their was no neon glow, it was replaced by a gritty haze lit by flickering streetlights and the occasional flare of a welding torch.
He made his way out of the station and into the streets, Sector L sprawled before him. A maze of crumbling buildings, jury-rigged shacks and piles of scrap metal stacked under the shadow of a low traffic bridge. There were hovering drones patrolling the streets with their red and blue lights casting a glow on the faces of pedestrians hurrying past, most people that he could lay his eyes on had patched and wornout clothes. A siren in the distace blared, blending with the constant and annoying clatter of street vendor's cart.
Levi's eyeslids were spread wide as he took it all in, the controlled chaos.
'This is… home?'
The memories of this worlds Levi Quinn told him it was, but having being in the luxurious smell of sector E and suddenly switch to this setting was sure to overwhlem anyone.
He looked straight ahead at a large billboard screen as he recognized the Prehistoric Advent logo on the display. It showed a live map of Portal activity in the Sector, red dots pulsing constantly across the city's geo zones and blue dots also scattered on several locations on the map— indicating that they were portals that were being attended to by Reapers.
His attention got quickly distracted by a group of kids running by, one clutching a toy dinosaur that sparked with cheap magical energy. Levi's lips twitched into a slight smile, but it faded as he caught his reflection in a cracked shop window.
He looked pale and lanky, with huge eye bags under his eyes and claw shaped dent in his shoulder from where his dinosaur had clung to earlier.
'I look like I belong here… but I don't feel it…'
He slapped his face and soon after he was navigating the crowded streets of Sector L guided only by the memory inplanted in his thinking.
His pace was quick and controlled, crushing gravel and discarded metal, his movements were purely out of habit and instict.
It didn't take much to scan the streets, as he knew pretty much where everything were; recognized people and remembered their names. He passed through battered down shops, vendors yelling and selling variety of food stuff and perishable goods, metal clanking in the background from god knows where and just when he was about to make the turn to exist the block, the corner of his eyes caught a small feral Dinosaur darting through a market stall with a huge chunk of juicy meat in its mouth.
It was a Compsognathus— DiamondClaw, it had a scale like body that glinted like tarnished copper and its outstanding feature were its shining claws that seemed to reflect every photon of light that hit it.
The vendor, a tarted woman with a scar running across her eye and down her cheek, shouted curses as the crowd scattered.
The Dinosaur hissed, exposing its claws and slashing everything in sight, sending splinters flying everywhere.
Levi froze directly where he stood watching the scene unfold, 'No Tamers around… Of course… its Sector L the people here have to tough it out with these rogue Dinosaurs, the only way you find Tamers here are Reapers and they only focus on the portals…'
He creased his brow as he caressed the bulge of his license device in his pocket.
That action must have been noticed by the vendor as her eyes instantly locked onto him, noticing the bulge too and somehow recognizing it's shape. "You! Tamer! Do something!" she barked with a sharp voice in desperation.
Everyone in the immediate vicinity witnessing the event had their attention turned towards him in an instant.
Levi's throat immediately ran dry and his heart pace spiked, almost beating out of his chest.
'What can my SnatchClaw even do against that… it's a DiamondClaw, lower Grade 4'. Levi thought to himself as his eyes began searching the crowd, staring back at everyone who had their eyes on him.
"Dino Tamer! Come on!"
The pressure suddenly increased and in that moment he remembered the mocking words of the red haired man before he got his license earlier and this gave him a sense of resolve, sticking his hand deep into his pocket and pulling out the device.
'Fine. Lets see what you've got, little guy.'
"He's a fucking Copper Class Reaper! What the hell is he gonna do!"
Upon exposing the device the metallic component of the surface that revealed his rank was seen by everyone in the gathering.
Somehow Levi's throat seemed to become even dryer. "Come on, SnatchClaw… don't embarrass me." he muttered to himself.
The Velociraptor materialized in a swirl of red light, landing on the cracked pavement with a soft thud. Its rustic red scales shimmered faintly, and its beady eyes locked onto the Compsognathus. The crowd murmured, most of them snickering and squirking at the sight of the small, Grade 5 Dinosaur. Levi's cheeks dyed red, but he squared his shoulders and cracked his neck ready to get into action.