story_morgan_1_1

Vina, Hannah, Baird... we walk into the wind on the great avenue, our shirts hanging open in the wind.

The Originium lights never sleep. Norport's border checkpoints are like huge gaping mouths, churning through imports and exports.

Weighers' joints ache with tendonitis from overwork. The calluses on the shoulders of loaders grow thick and solid.

The streets grow wide.

The shops grow numerous.

Norport will become Victoria's most prosperous borough.

Norport Borough will belong to the Glasgow Gang.

Whoever controls Norport controls Londinium, controls Victoria.

From Norport to the world.

This is our journey.

—Torn page from Morgan's Memoirs

What's the coppers doing?

Dunno. We was occupied wif sendin' the boss to hospital.

What 'appened to the boss?

Crate ta the head. Knocked out cold straight up. Blood everywhere. A right picture that was.

Who started it?

Them! And I know they pushed the boss into that forklift on purpose!

Saints alive, those Sudean bastards is shittin' down our necks now that they've got sixpence to rub together!

We left us some boys there. Should get word if there's any news.

Any time now.

You really expect the coppers'll play fair?

Hold it for a minute, Hannah, love.

Outsiders? Who let them in?

Lane Brothers' Gang, right? We're here representin' the Glasgow Gang. We heard about Mr. Lane's injury and wanted to pay our respects.

Glasgow Gang... I've heard the name...

Thanks, anyways.

(I told you he'd be in hospital, but you insisted on coming to their hideout.)

We'll do more good here than at the hospital. It's called 'in the hour of need.'

(Keep it down!)

*pant* Lemme catch my breath...

What's the word from the coppers?

Locked up a few boys and said they're takin' the boss in for questioning once he's out of 'ospital.

Word is they plan to crack down on Norport gangs causin' trouble for Sudean factories, and that any ringleaders would be punished severely.

Well, somethin' like that.

What about the bastard who hurt the boss?

Coppers let him off with a small fine.

Piece of shit brass-bollocking,

PC Plod wankfest parade of...

PC Plod wankfest parade of...

Ah, shit, I need the whole dictionary!

Calm down.

I told you, ya can't count on the coppers.

I say we go into Sudean, find the son of a stockbeast who hurt Mr. Lane, and rip his bloody head off.

They've been tramplin' us for long enough! It's about time we got back at 'em!

She's right, our friend here from, er... Glasgow! Glasgow Gang!

Let's get 'em!

We'll get 'em!

I'm comin' too!

Hannah, love, Vina sent us to find Mr. Lane.

Don't get mixed up in their business.

This is about all of Norport! We've all gotta step up!

Two more draught beers. Make 'em big.

Don't drink too much, Hannah. There's a soapy taste to today's beer.

I knew you were addin' flavor capsules to it. Just didn't bother to call you out.

Hehe...

Why'd you stop me?

Hannah, you daft cat. You forgotten what happened at the cinema last week?

Yeah.

The glassworkers were hogging up tapes and places at McClaren's video store. They got into a fight with our people, brought the coppers right in.

But they went back to Sudean without losing a hair.

Makes me mad just thinkin' about it.

The cops are taking their side even on our own turf. I'm not the slightest bit surprised at how they dealt with this.

That's why we need to get back at 'em. We can't count on the cops!

Ai-yi-yi, no one's counting on the cops. Use your brain, love.

This is a big deal. They did it this way on purpose, just waiting for somebody to make a move to give them an excuse to clean up.

The real question is, why are the coppers taking sides?

This ain't anything new. It's been happening for years.

Bloody 'ell, I got no idea.

Two bowls of beer soup, Paul, nice and hot.

Extra croutons on top.

I guess the envelope was too thin to catch the attention of those bigwigs at the Sudean Labor Office.

But that's already a year's savings...

Don't think about it now. This one's on me.

Thanks...

Still need to look for a way to move to Sudean. Having to cross boroughs to go to work every day is rough...

Sure 'nuff...

Who would've thought ten years ago that people from Norport would be flocking to Sudean factories and docks?

Times change. When you're down, you're down.

We used to have the most depots in Londinium, and the biggest ones too. We were the door to the city. Ever since light industry in Sudean took off, though...

Textiles, glassware, cans, appliances... they just keep building factories and producing more stuff.

Then came the depots, and you could see Norport falling before your eyes.

Only two things keep growing on the streets: one, young people who've joined the gangs, spending their days at the cinemas, billiard clubs and bars.

The other, poorhouses, which barely scratch the surface of the problem. There are so many people living off unemployment aid in Norport, and Londinium wants no more to do with us.

Morgan thinks back to the page of Morgan's Memoirs that she tore off. Beer goes down, memories come up.

Trucks and carts loading and unloading, tailor shops and magazine stalls all over the streets, smiles everywhere.

Hotel bellboys on Sunset Street, so busy they hardly get a drink of water all day.

Merchants and high society from all over Victoria and as far away as Leithanien and Kazimierz, checking in one after another.

It was the face of Londinium.

How did it turn out like this?

Morgan gulps down the rest of her mug. Twenty years of Norport, two decades of her life, down the throat with the beer.

Well, stuff me.

Let's go. Early shift tomorrow.

I'm stopping by the Labor Office again tomorrow. You oughta come along, move to Sudean too, if you know what's good for you.

I...

I know what you're thinking. I'll miss it too. But you never know when Londinium will decide to cast it away.

You remember those two, Hannah?

They used to be weighers on the docks. True blue Berties. People I looked up to when I was little...

If the Berties stopped caring about Norport, there might really come a day when Londinium casts Norport aside, as they said.

This is our fight.

I never said it wasn't.

Hannah, you daft cat, we both know you and me could go to Sudean right now, dig up whoever hurt Mr. Lane, beat him senseless, even put him in the ground.

But a fight won't solve our problems.

Don't worry, I've been thinking about it.

I hope you're right.

Two weeks later...

Why are you pacing in circles? Is the new sofa too hard for you?

You called us all here for a job. What is it? Are we gonna get back at them for what they did to Mr. Lane?

Slow down.

The Lane Brothers are through, Vina.

What?!

The man himself is still lying in a hospital bed, and they're just gonna give up? Throw away their hideout?

Weren't they all up in arms, ready to set fire to the other side's factories?

They got a bunch of people together a couple of times, but they were stopped before they could leave Norport. Things just fell apart after that.

The Sudean Labor Office recruited a new lot of workers from Norport this week. A few Lane Brothers heavies were on the list.

The Lane Brothers couldn't stay together without anyone running the show.

Those traitors!

We can't blame them.

The Lane Brothers used to watch over the biggest warehouses around here, collecting enough protection money to feed a few hundred mouths.

It's hard to keep up in the sorry state of Norport's markets today.

Everyone's here, Vina. They're waiting outside.

Alright, let's go.

Where to?

The Lane Brothers' hideout.

The Glasgow Gang will take in anyone from the Lane Brothers who has nowhere to go.

What're you on about?

Don't you get it, Hannah? We're taking over Lane Brothers territory.

That's like robbin' a man while his house is on fire!

I suppose you could put it like that.

Why are we doing this?

It's a long story; I'll explain on the way. Grab your stuff and we'll head out. There's a lot to do today.

Not just the Lane Brothers' warehouses; cinemas, billiard clubs, cafes, hotels... we're visiting half the establishments in Norport.

You'll have plenty of things to punch today.

Norport's gangs may not be all that big, but everyone sticks to their territory, and sticks together when there's trouble from outside.

That's why the other boroughs never tried to mess with us.

Vina's only been in Norport a few years. You and Morgan and me grew up here. How could we sign on to this?

Hey, where <i>is</i> Morgan? Does she know what we're doin'?

It's Morgan's plan, Hannah.

She's not with us today because she has her own job to do.

I'm here. I'm alone. Show yourself.

Who are you? Sneaking around like that, throwing letters tied to rocks... you broke my window, dammit.

And your writing's real ugly.

Hah!

My writing's ugly?

Hey, what's with the machete?!

No funny stuff, I'm warning you. Lots of boys around here. All I need to do is shout.

Go on, shout. You read my letter.

Why you...

You should be glad it's me here and not my friends. I came to talk. This is only for when talking goes wrong.

Bernie from Romi Textiles in Sudean Borough, am I right? Just double-checking.

The stuff in the envelope. How did you find out?

The unstamped lists of goods and invoices with your name on it?

It wasn't hard. Took me just two weeks to put together all you did this past year.

Pirated videos, unprocessed spices, Arts generators, Originium equipment... all controlled goods in Sudean that you sneaked through the checkpoints.

What would Mr. Romi do if he found out his foreman has been runnin' a smuggling hustle through his factory?

Would he break your legs, or hand you over to the coppers so they can do it?

What do you want?

Remember Mr. Lane? You got into a fight with him here two weeks ago. Sent him to the hospital.

He's still there. I think you owe him an apology, and his medical bills too. Not a pence short.

Oh, so it's the Lane Brothers. Took you two weeks to do something, did it?

Wait a minute, I thought you were wound up.

The Lane Brothers' Gang is no more.

I'm Morgan. Morgan of the Glasgow Gang.

Remember the name. This won't be the last time we do business.

Pah, what business could we possibly have with Norport?

Look at that train behind you, girl. A dozen carriages, carrying more in a day than your old docks see in a week.

Look at all those elevators and carts working around the clock, and rows of factories stretching as far as the eye can see. You got those in Norport?

Tell you what. I'll find you a job on the line, and you give me the originals of what was in that envelope. How's that for a deal?

What are you doing?

The 'brain' of the Glasgow Gang walks up to the man, smiling, and buries her fist in his belly.

The man falls to his knees, grabbing his stomach, his face twisted in pain.

He looks up to see the young Feline glaring down at him. Her face is pretty; her expression, less so.

Gah...

Got distracted by the machete...

For all that Sudean has, you smuggled all this stuff through Norport, taking the long way round.

Sudean's checkpoints are pretty strict, aren't they? Isn't it interesting how certain things only get into Londinium through the old depots?

The gangs of Norport have been struggling to stay afloat for a couple of years. Starting today, though, the Glasgow Gang runs the show in Norport. All of it.

You want to keep your hustle, you keep your tail firmly between your legs.

You can go now. You can guess what happens if you don't show up at the hospital before the sun sets.

A word of advice. People like you and I, trying to get on top of one another? There's no point to any of it.

Yes, Sudean is booming right now. Lots of smokestacks, lots of workers. You're drawing a lot of envy.

But have you ever set foot in Auchterigg?

Have you seen the nobles' mansions? Alleys wider than a central avenue in Sudean?

Their clothes are always sparkling clean. They don't punch their timecards for the morning shift, and they don't watch pirated video tapes when they get off in the evening. They drink tea in gardens bigger than any of the factories behind you.

Sudean, Norport? It's all the same to them.

Who knows if Sudean won't become the next Norport? Maybe a new industry rises in another borough in a few years to take your place.

We're all the same to Londinium, Bernie. They can throw us out at any time.

We can't keep up with the changing times.

I'm back.

Is everything fine, Morgan?

Of course I'm fine. Bernie, not so much. He should be in Mr. Lane's ward as we speak.

Too bad none of you were there to watch the showdown between Kate Morrigan and Sudean's throng of smugglers.

Well, I'll be sure to write it down in my memoirs for you to enjoy.

Oh, please, gimme a break.

Hahahaha...

What have you been up to?

Took in a dozen lads from the Lane Brothers who accepted Vina as their new boss. You'll be able to write while watching the warehouses from now on.

We visited seven gangs today. Talked three into joining. Hannah and I beat the other four into submission.

But the markets of Norport are barren, and the gangs living off it a bunch of loose rabble. It's a disorganized mess, not something that you can just bring together in the blink of an eye.

No hurry. The Glasgow Gang is in this for the long haul.

Thanks for agreeing to it, Vina.

I've always wanted to ask you... who does Londinium belong to?

One or two boroughs more or less won't make much of a difference to Londinium. Who are we, then? What are we?

Could Londinium actually cast Norport away?

I don't know the answer, Morgan. I'm still looking for it, myself... for Londinium, and for Victoria.

But I'm part of the Glasgow Gang, which makes me part of Norport.

I can't make any promises, but I won't stand idly by, if the day comes.

No need to promise us anything.

We're not afraid, as long as we stick together.

Exactly! Let's see the fat cats of Central Londinium try. I'll kick down the doors of their mansions and punch 'em square in the face.

I'll pour boiling coffee on their evening dresses.

I'll take care of the arson.

What about you, Morgan?

Don't worry, I won't stop you, if it comes to that.

You're right. No need to overthink.

We're not the nobles. We can't build a big project to revitalize a borough in decline, or run some policies to help the people who live here.

But there are things the people of Norport can do for themselves.

Sure enough.

So why didn't you tell your plan earlier, Morgan?

Hannah, you daft cat, did you really think those muscles in your brain would understand?