I didn't want to admit that I was nervous. Even beyond just being unbecoming, it was the first time I'd travelled beyond the boundaries of the palace. And I'd chosen the largest habplex on Mars to explore: Babylon Omega. Even though the habplex was absurdly large, it would be far easier to blend in and avoid suspicion than a smaller, more insular and suspicious community.

Originally created as a mining superstructure surrounding a rich mineral deposit, it quickly grew in size and population from the rich seam of the mine it dug, the quality sandstone surrounding it also serving as a quarried source of wealth.

Eventually the deposit ran dry, and the structure was repurposed. Instead of just expanding outwards across the dusty flats of Mars they descended into the empty mine, digging further into the surface as the old mining equipment was now used for construction. Despite the mine long ago running dry, the people remained. There would be other work, other mines or quarries to labour in. But this was their home.

Babylon Omega. A flower of civilisation bursting from the lifeless dust of a planet humanity was never meant to see.

Our shuttle docked with one of the lower ports of the habplex. Myself and Deianira were dressed in our disguises, two sets of hooded orange and yellow jumpsuits; the uniform of the city's public engineers. To obscure our appearance further we had donned a full regalia of electrical maintenance workers, with thick rubber gloves covering our hands and black rubber boots laced tight to the top of our shins to protect against rogue electrical currents. A tinted full environment mask designed to automatically darken in the presence of bright electrical sparks, as well as filtering out any dangerous smoke from electrical fires, served to hide our faces further beneath the hood which connected to it.

My maid assured me that since we'd be dressed as inconspicuous civil servants, we weren't likely to be bothered as we explored. We'd just blend into the background, fade away without anyone thinking of us twice.

I prepared myself. It hadn't only just now occurred to me that what I was doing was stupidly reckless. But I was sure that if I had done any research beforehand I wouldn't believe the things I was seeing and hearing in person, my perceptions clouded by preconceptions.

The door began to hiss open and immediately I felt the pressure of the air change drastically, a nauseating wave of vertigo suddenly causing my knees to quiver. Feeling like I was about to fall over, I gripped the side of the portal for stability as Deianira came to my side.

‘Is something the matter, Mistress?’

I tried to breathe in, feeling so strange all of a sudden. My vision couldn’t leave the floor, I felt so unsteady.

‘What’s wrong with this place? It feels … thin. Is there enough air here?’

Deianira surveyed the outside, not appearing to see anything amiss but offering, ‘Perhaps it is the altered gravity here? You would not be used to the average planetary gravity yet. Even though the environment in a habplex like Babylon Omega is pressurised, the air density is still thin due to the large space which needs to be in sealed containment.’

Taking a few steadying breaths, I stood and tried to adjust to the low air pressure. As I did I could finally take in the port our airlock had led us to.

Buildings of all manner of construction, ranging from solid and utilitarian ferrocrete structures to slapdash shanties of sheetmetal and buzzing neon light, crowded together and seemingly repurposed for any number of needs. Storage warehouses stood next to noodle shops and strip clubs and public libraries. The whole habplex sprawled outwards, upwards, and downwards, though it took me a few steps to truly see the cavernous depths of the once-quarry that now served as one of the most densely populated residential districts in the entire solar system; the Gardens.

The pedestrians were a sight to see as well. Mingling through the traffic of vehicles and cargo platforms, even a few Priapus-Pattern Loader Hulls hauling entire ton blocks of sandstone in the low gravity environment, people pushed past each other in the dense crowd in some state of grimy disposition or another. But it was noteworthy to see that everyone, regardless of their place, wore some fashion of respirator or another. Half-masks and goggles, full face respirators, even humble cloth or plastic dust masks.

Throughout the whole habplex, the red dust of Mars clung to everything. Their boots, their clothes, the walls and floors. Clouds of it hung thick in the air, blown about seemingly by their own weather cycles and the wake of flying vehicles.

I was very glad that our choice of disguise included a respirator.

As Deianira and I mingled with the crowd, I felt eyes upon me as we wove our way through the tight throng. But as we did so, another understanding dawned upon me as it became more and more difficult to stay close to Deianira.

Everyone else was so much taller than the both of us.

An intense mental frustration began piercing between the back of my eyes. Of course we were shorter, we were used to the constant intense gravity of the palace. But by the third or fourth time someone had almost bumped into us because they hadn't seen our bright – noticeably spotless – uniforms, I was beginning to lose my patience.

'We need to get to higher ground,' I said, turning to Deianira.

Thankfully, she was still dutifully at my side and she nodded. I took her hand and began leading to where I hoped a clearing might be.

As we moved, I got a better chance to examine the particulate that hung in the air of Babylon Omega. It wasn't just a fine powder that floated like a semi-opaque fog, but it was even smaller grains of sand. The mining operations that dug into the surface of Mars, the rust red iron-rich sandstone which was exported across the solar system and the leftover material crushed and refined to be turned into ferrocrete, left this ochre miasma which would destroy the lungs of anyone exposed to it for too long, be they of House Harmonia or not.

Eventually we were able to pass through the crowd, though it certainly didn't feel like it. Babylon Omega was densely populated, and there were thousands of people every direction one turned. But the mass of pedestrians had thinned enough that I could see where we had found ourselves, a plaza of some description which might have once been a prospective home for House Harmonia, if only judging by the enormous bronze statue at the centre of the plaza. With one hand thrusting a spear to the stars in triumph, another grasping the horn of a bull’s severed head, a woman in a fierce helm and sculpted breastplate rested their foot atop the base of a broken column. Its base bore a plaque, heavily obscured by dust.

I approached closer, wiping the red sand from it. The plaque read;

"Amazonia Ares — Queen of Mars, Daughter of Mars"

A familiar thought found its way into my mind. This must be my goddess. A true warrior. Someone who even someone such as I had to bow before, to serve. Recognition and reverence came to me, that sense of worship for ~ /◇̵̠͑͘¡̴̪͎͂̿≯͓̲̈́̂■̴̦͓́͘♧̶̲̥̎̌͒¤̷̥̱̈́¿̶̨̥͎̈̽̏}̵̙̜̏͌□̵̧̤̳̊̂̔&̸͙̇̍̋]̶̳̾͗͘•̸̢̎/ ~

…

I blinked my eyes. The back of my head hurt. Deianira was suddenly standing over me. I was lying flat on my back, somehow having fallen over.

What happened?

'Are you alright?' Deianira whispered again, trying to get me into a seated position.

'I … I think so. I need to sit down somewhere. Maybe get something to drink.'

Helping me stand, my maid guided me forwards back into the crowd as we looked for a place to rest. Thankfully it seemed no one else had stopped to help. It even appeared that no one had even paused their stride to see what had happened.

The establishment we found ourselves in was thankfully quiet. Most buildings had to be hermetically sealed to keep out the dust, so we had to remove our coveralls and masks, though luckily our hooded underclothes still offered us a degree of anonymity in the dimness of the bar.

The place was quiet, the bar likely having just opened to prepare for whoever it was that came off their gruelling shift work to forget their aches and pains with a helping of whatever it was that the bartender had placed two huge glasses in front of the pair of them. The bartender explained it was blüt; a deep sanguine alcoholic beverage somewhere between beer and spirit. Deep and bold hoppy flavour with the acetone kick of a cheap shot of luneshine after each sip. I wasn't totally sure I liked it, or what “luneshine” was exactly, but that wasn't going to stop me drinking it.

We found ourselves a small table in the corner, where we hoped we wouldn't be disturbed. I ran my hands through my hair again.

‘What was that?' I asked aloud, 'Why did I just suddenly faint like that?'

'Perhaps it was the air..? As I mentioned it is quite thin outside. You may have allowed your breathing become shallow,' Deianira suggested, visibly swallowing the urge to refer to me by my title.

I had another deep breath, a sigh, and another sip of my blüt. This wasn't good. The beverage was poor too. My body was used to dense gravity, not thin air. It was a wonder anyone survived here.

'Do you wish to go back home?' Deianira asked.

I shook my head, unsatisfied, 'I haven't felt like I've truly seen this place for myself yet. I need a better understanding of at least this habplex.'

Deianira nodded, though I could tell something weighed heavy on her mind.

'What is it? Something is bothering you?'

'Well … yes. I didn't think it would be an issue at the time but, there is a heavy criminal presence in this habplex specifically. They're generally referred to as the Martian Mob, an organised crime syndicate that more or less controls all the underground dealings within Babylon Omega.'

'So they're … bad?' I ventured.

Deianira paused, seemingly unsure how to respond for a moment, 'Yes? It may not be that simple. They are a criminal organisation, yes, but House Harmonia's dealings with them have been necessary for ensuring its security in the hierarchy of the Great Houses.'

I gave a slight snort, 'I'm never sure if I should be impressed or upset that you know more about my own house than I do.'

Deianira nodded her head in a small, meaningless bow and continued, 'Aside from most mundane criminal activities, they are also responsible for the abduction and transformation of people into sex dolls.'

'Transformation?' I echoed, 'Are they responsible for what you are?'

Deianira shook her head profusely, 'Absolutely not,' she said, her tone seeming like she was almost offended at the suggestion, 'The techniques the mob utilise are far more primitive. They entirely erase the personality of who a person was before they're forcibly augmented with implants and cybernetics which ensure their obedience. They then sell them off to whoever has the capital to pay for one.'

'Right,' I nodded, trying to understand, ‘So from what I believe you might be inferring from this, you’re worried they might identify us and hold us for ransom?’

‘I am unsure, though that is not an impossibility,’ she whispered, ‘Though they would be very unlikely to have such gall to attempt it due to their connections, if they were to do so it would have disastrous political consequences for all of Mars.’

I nodded before chuckling, ‘At the very least they wouldn’t dare turn us into sex dolls.’

Surprisingly Deianira gave a small titter, nervously adding; ‘Well, turn you into a sex doll perhaps.’

It took me a while to understand what she meant, though when I realised her humour I gave another laugh. I smiled. It finally felt like she was getting to be more comfortable around me. That was something I was already grateful for.

A not entirely present feeling came over me as I realised I needed to go to the bathroom. The spaceflight down to the planetary surface with the disguises we had chosen hadn’t left many opportunities for relief, so I stood from the table, finishing the last of my blüt with a swig and a grimace.

‘We should go soon. We still have a lot to do today,’ I said, ‘Before that though I need some quick relief.’

‘Of course. Shall I accompany you?’

I initially thought to refuse, but thought better of it. After all, Deinara had just warned me about this Martian Mob, so it’d be the height of foolishness to dismiss her presence. Even if she weren’t combat capable.

I gave an affirmation and we moved through the dive bar to find the bathroom, stowed away through a thin corridor that looked like it had once extended into a completely different building.

I heard footsteps.

Looking behind us, a small group of people had followed us. It was hard to identify them behind their masks, but anonymous the trio looked upon us with a clearly predatory intent.

I hissed internally as I grabbed Deianira’s wrist and pulled her behind me with a scowl. As I let go, about to bark a threat to the thugs behind us, I heard a muffled yelp escape from Deianira. Another pair of assailants, appearing from further down, had grabbed her and placed some kind of opaque triangular mask over her mouth and nose, the unmistakable hissing of some kind of sedative gas putting her to sleep.

About to turn and lunge again, I was grabbed from behind. I saw another of those same chemical masks about to be pressed over my own face. I gritted my metal teeth.

‘No!’ I yelled, wrenching one of my arms free and gripping the forearm holding the mask.

He screamed as I heard something crunch beneath my grip. He dropped the mask, and I slackened my grip out of sheer surprise. I’d had no real idea of my own strength. Were the bones of people on Mars just that brittle?

‘Holy shock!’ another of the assailants – a woman this time – loudly exclaimed.

I ignored them, focused entirely on pushing the attacker holding me down off me so I could get to Deinira. But as I threw the heavy man to the ground, another figure was already lunging towards me, brandishing something that crackled with electricity.

Instinctively, I tried to grab it with my robotic arm. A poor mistake. Hundreds of thousands of volts shot through me, and thousands more as another of the assailants hit me with another of those things in my torso. I felt my legs give out from under me, my body collapsing to the raw ferrocrete floor heavily.

The big man that had first tried to hold me, their own breath heavy with pain, picked up the mask and quickly forced it over my face, knocking my head against the hard floor. Stars burst in my vision, even before I drew in a breath.

Before I had even realised what was about to happen, the world had vanished into blackness.