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Every major city had a dumpsite. Most garbage was disposed inside cities, either shrunk inside size-changing containers or was repurposed into various items. But these sites were not meant for an average citizen’s daily trash. 

Regions of and surrounding the dumpsites were supposed to be toxic. A venom seeped into the land, bastardizing the area so all its value was lost. Exposed workers deteriorated from within its cone of influence, sapping life from even the most exuberant people. And Titans never neared such foreboding places. 

Or so Maren had been told. Like anyone with an iota of sanity, Maren steered clear from these toxic sites. Talam’s largest technology companies with extensive research and development departments utilized them. That was reason enough for her to stay away. 

Until today. 

She wobbled on an upper branch of a willow tree, her stomach lurching. She clenched the bark until her hand hurt. The ground was a far more comfortable location, which sadly didn’t provide a proper vantage, even atop the dumpsite’s neighboring hill. So up she climbed, fighting her vertigo with each rising foot.

Linick’s dumpsite was a large hill, hollowed out, and marked with tall, thin towers at regular intervals along its perimeter – likely forming an invisible barrier that made it impossible to enter or leave the site. Except, two of those towers were surrounded by technicians while five workers bearing guns filled the space between – approximately one hundred yards. All wore hazmat uniforms, but Maren was too far away to make out any details. 

She expanded her tablet, making a quick search for which companies had branches in Linick. Obviously Talam’s largest technology companies did: Trulson Tech Inc., Nadar, Star Weapons, and H&A Weapons Company. But plenty of others had branches, as well: Grant Inc., Rossen Power, Sekko Research, Lazer Corps., CFE, and Diverse Electric. Too many names for her to care remembering. Not to mention the government’s own specific branch for research and development. 

But... no. It wouldn’t be them. That division wouldn’t have blundered so badly as to loose monsters into the countryside. And if they had, no one would have survived to report it. 

Did the uniforms have any logos? She activated the camera, zooming in as far as possible. The image was a little hazy, but she could just make out a small logo on the hazmat suits’ backs. She ran the image through her secured database, and found that the swooping design belonged to Trulson Tech. 

Doesn’t mean much, really. Maren shrunk her tablet and stowed it. Trulson could be here fixing the breach. But they could be trying to fix their mistake. 

A flash of orange drew Maren’s attention. One of the men standing against the dumpsite’s entrance was bracing himself, bright fire engulfing something out of sight. Looked like there were more horrid beasts in there, wanting to get out. 

Maren shook her head, abandoning her first plan. If she could have taken a suit, she could have explored the zone and found the tunnel where it connected to the city’s interior. That would’ve made locating the monsters’ origin much easier. 

But as it stood, Maren couldn’t take a suit without alerting the others. She’d either have a large fight on her hands, one she couldn’t win without killing or maiming most of them, or she could inadvertently allow more monsters free to terrorize the countryside. Likely both. And if one of those workers happened to be a Wielder, her chances went from slim to near impossible. 

Plan B, then. She searched the locations of the previous companies within the city and created a map with their buildings highlighted. Time for some investigative work.