In shady worlds like Ord Mantel, a good rule of thumb is that if you think you have a problem then that is quite an understatement.
Probably you have barely begun to glance at them.
My first problem was glaring at me the moment I arrived at the mag train station.
I suddenly realized that I did not know where I was going.
Yes, I could see the market district listed on the holo board on the train terminal, but beneath the district there were like fifty or more stages.
As I glanced at all of them I could not see any mention of a decapitated statue stage, which was my sole point of reference.
"Fucking crap," I cursed, skimming through my pocket.
I also realized that the conductors in my earlier rides had taken the tickets, so I had nothing to refer to. And that was barely the problem.
There was another matter.
All the prices had suddenly changed.
If I added up all I had paid to get to the corporate district it was eight credits, but now glancing through the board, beneath it was a shiny shameless notice. Rush Hour Prices.
It was dancing as if to mock those who had been caught unaware like me.
Instead of the total eight credits that I assumed I would have paid if I had to go to the market district, the most expensive market district stage was now a whopping twenty credits.
The cheapest I could see was six credits.
The problem was I could swear I had not come from that stage.
I had literally parked my speeder on the first landing pad I had seen at the beginning of the market district.
The cheapest stage on the market district would be on the edge adjacent to the entertainment district, which would mean it was way further than where I had parked my speeder.
The next one was slightly more expensive at eight credits, and so on and so on.
I figured that the last one, the most expensive one that cost twenty credits, would be at least near my destination.
Though I doubted it honestly.
I did not think that would lead me to the edge of the decapitated statue.
Instead it would probably take me deeper into the district underworld.
The shady parts.
I approached the kiosk too stunned to think clearly.
It was indeed rush hour and I could see people shoving each other out of the way trying to pay and secure a booth before the next mag train arrived.
Nobody seemed concerned with the prices at all, which told me this was a common occurrence here.
Good thing the line was moving quite fast.
Soon enough it was my turn.
The person behind the kiosk was a human female whose eyes looked quite beaten from the strain of this work.
There were dark circles around her eyes, which told me that to her, sleep was a luxury she often had to ditch .
"Your stage," she said, breaking me from my stupor.
I did not know what to say.
"Excuse me... I do not recall the stage exactly," I said, feeling petrified.
Such were not the words you were supposed to say in Ord Mantel.
That you were lost? .
But I judged that since she was an official, maybe she would be of some help.
"I am heading toward a decapitated statue adjacent to the edge of the market district. Sorry, I forgot my stage."
She gave me a piercing glance.
A cocktail of tiredness, boredom, and disregard.
"Market district. Sub level four terminal. That will be eighteen credits. Fifteen official price. Two for having to think for you."
She offered me a hand, looking quite impatient.
People were really shoving each other behind me and I could hear the commotion getting worse.
"I do not have... I do not have eighteen credits. I only have ten."
"Well good luck with that. I would advise you to buy some energy bar and start walking before the late cycle begins. Next."
Her voice had zero sympathy.
And true enough the next customer, who happened to be a towering Weequay, shoved me out of the way before I could even come up with an alternative.
I turned furious.
Ready to shove him back and ask the woman to book me to the nearest stage within my price.
But when I saw who it was I decided not to.
The dude resembled General Grievous.
I did not fancy my chances antagonizing him.
Mainly because under rush hour everybody seemed weighed down by the urgency of whatever they were trying to do.
It was like they were trying to clear off to whichever parts of this shady world they had come from before the dreaded late cycle began.
They were not that lucky though.
Because the next customer who followed the Weequay happened to be the last before the separating barrier was automatically lowered and the mag train hooted as it pulled up at the stage.
The booths opened and people poured in.
All this seemed to happen in the span of just a few minutes.
Once again the holo board reset into a thirty minute timer.
That was the next train.
I did not fancy my chances looking around.
The passengers had not reduced in the slightest.
In fact they seemed to increase by the minute.
With my ten credits I did not think I would stand a chance with this lady here, because it appeared she would still be the one booking people.
Even now she was already busy booking people for the next trip.
Even now, the prices were increasing Right in front of my eyes.
This was downright extortion.
'Tell that to someone who cares'
A voice said in my head.
Nobody here seemed to mind.
This was perhaps the first lesson I learned in the streets of this junkyard planet.
Demand set the price, not morals.
This city thrived purely on extortion.
When you found a chance to extort a few credits from the desperation around you, you took it.
I did not believe these prices were the official rates.
Maybe whoever was in charge of the station simply set whatever pleased them.
That would also make up for the trouble of the long hours spent working.
Or maybe they worked those long hours purposely to extort even more.
After mulling over my predicament I finally decided that what the woman had said was probably my best shot.
Not buying the energy bar part.
But walking.
Maybe walking would cut down the fare I was supposed to pay.
I however did not want to start jogging here.
I would appear suspicious, like somebody in trouble.
Not to mention I was still in the corporate district.
Which meant some security droid might perceive that as me escaping from trouble I had caused.
Besides, judging by how fast we had arrived between every stage, I assumed it could not be that far.
All I had to do was follow the path nearest to the direction of the mag rail.
The best thing was that once I crossed into the entertainment district I would know.
Because the colors would change.
Not to mention I would first arrive at the spillovers before I officially crossed into the real entertainment district.
Thirty minutes later I realized that my assumption was entirely wrong.
The mag train might arrive in a few minutes, but that was because of its speed.
Even though when inside those trains you never felt like it was moving really fast, the truth was it was moving at a blinding speed.
I mean it was a magnetic train.
The distance it covered in minutes, me walking was almost like a snail crawling across a football field.
Well, make it two football fields.
There was absolutely nothing I had achieved with my thirty minutes of trekking.
All I ended up doing was reaching another terminal still within the corporate district.
My collar gave a sudden vibration.
By God, I was fucked.