Sun was lost, his mind blank, as he simply stared in wonder and confusion at the many colored lights radiating from the high towers of the city. As they approached, he began to make out more details. Instead of stone or wood, the towers were made of glass and metal and were of strange and incredible design.
He saw the lights that moved, some of which projected from panes of glass on the sides of buildings, but most seemed to float in the air, disconnected from any structure.
Sun was watching a vibrant pink fish swim through the air, when his view was suddenly blocked. Snapped out of his daze, he looked around at the surroundings to catch his bearings.
They had moved much closer to the city while he’d been distracted and had entered into an area that reminded him of a shanty town. The buildings were sturdy looking, mostly brick construction, but they looked run down and in disrepair. Windows were broken or dirty, walls were stained or covered in graffiti, and the few people Sun could see walking around in the late hour looked similarly unkempt.
Sun turned to look back up to the lights of the city, but found his view completely blocked by a massive wall of what looked like solid, smooth rock. The wall looked to be more than two hundred feet high with fortified balconies halfway up where soldiers could presumably fire down upon an enemy. On top of the wall were great metal structures with long barrels facing out into the desert, and they were positioned every few hundred feet.
Out of all this, perhaps the most terrifying aspect of the city’s wonders and defenses is that he felt no qi from any of them. That all of this was possible and accomplished without qi boggled Sun’s mind and left him questioning many of his assumptions.
Looking to where they were heading, the traffic had become much denser and slower as they had approached the wall. The road ahead led directly into the wall and into some kind of tunnel that went through it.
They slowed to a halt as they entered a line for a checkpoint before the tunnel, just a small box-like building between the lanes with an arm for blocking traffic. They waited for their turn as cars ahead of them were waved through, but Mick looked increasingly anxious as time went by, checking the band on his wrist more frequently.
When they made it to the checkpoint, Sun saw the attendant was a young man, a little younger than him with a pimply and pale face, and a dead look in his eye that said he’d rather be anywhere else at that moment.
“Identification and manifest.” he droned.
Mick reached over to the glovebox in front of Sun, opening it and taking out a stack of papers and handing them to the attendant along with a card from his pocket. The attendant looked over the papers and checked them against something on the glowing screen in front of him, giving no reaction other than a look of utter boredom. Then he checked the card holding it under a light that changed from red to green over the card, to which he nodded and everything seemed to be going well.
“I need his as well.” He stated, pointing to Sun after he handed back the rest of the papers..
Mick and Sun shared a look and Sun shook his head.
“Uh, he doesn’t have one. Found him wandering the desert on the way here.” Mick explained and the attendant gave an annoyed sigh.
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“I can’t let you in without an ID. I’m sorry, those are the rules.” He did not, in fact, look at all sorry.
“C’mon man, look at him! He’s hardly a terrorist or something. Show a little humanity, huh?”
A look of indignation and anger crossed the attendant’s face and he opened his mouth to say something. But before he could, a buzz rang out behind him and he turned to see what it was. Mick’s look turned pensive and worried when the man looked back to them. His anger turned to exasperation and surrender as he looked over them again, his eyes lingering on Sun.
His head dropped and he let out a heavy sigh before hitting a button. “Fuck it, go on through.” he said as the metal arm in front of the truck lifted.
Mick thanked the attendant and was waved off as he started shutting down the checkpoint booth and flagging down cars to turn around. The truck continued on its way and they both breathed a sigh of relief.
“I thought we weren’t going to make it there for a second.” Mick said “They close off entry into the city after dark. Some kind of holdover law from way back when spirit beast attacks were more frequent. Don’t even know why we still have it, considering we haven’t had an attack in, like, forty years, or somethin’ like that.”
Sun nodded in understanding, as the Flaming Fist Sect had a similar rule. Spirit beasts, animals mutated and empowered by qi, were more likely to attack during the night for the same reasons a human enemy would. And so, it wasn’t uncommon for cities and villages to raise their defenses at night to ward off attacks and project strength. And the strength the city was projecting with the massive wall above them was unimaginable, to the point he wasn’t surprised no spirit beast would attack it.
When the truck exited the tunnel, Sun was almost overwhelmed by the lights of the city. What he had seen from the distance had apparently been only a small sample of what it had to offer. He gawked up at the towering buildings around the road, lighting up the street like daytime with bright and colorful signs.
Almost as eye-catching were the people walking alongside the road, as many of them wore clothes that went against every convention Sun could think of. He was used to the simple and concealing robes that people in the sect wore and the plain dress of the commoners around it. The clothes these people wore, however, tended to be either incredibly flashy - literally, that guy’s clothes are actually flashing colors - or way too revealing.
Sun tore his eyes away from a woman in a dress that was two sizes too tight for her chest and muttered some heart calming sutras to get his thoughts under control.
He turned his attention to where they were headed as Mick turned off from the main roads and into a part of the city that wasn’t as brightly lit by the buildings around them. He pulled into a lot with about a dozen other trucks like his own, their drivers chatting amongst themselves or performing some act of maintenance on their trucks.
Mick pulled the truck into an empty spot and cut the engine, undoing his seat belt and getting out of his seat. “This is our stop.” He said. Sun quickly followed suit after a brief struggle finding the bright red release button for his seat belt.
As they met in front of the truck, Mick pulled out a pen and quickly sketched something on a paper card he pulled from his wallet. “There’s a motel a few blocks that way,” he pointed down a street, “since I’m guessing you don’t have a place to stay lined up, that might be the best place to go. It’s not exactly nice, but it’s better than the street and they’re not too expensive.”
He handed the card over to Sun so he could see the rough outline of streets and turns he’d need to make to get to the “motel”.
“Speaking of which,” he grimaced, “what exactly is your money situation?”
Sun pulled out his satchel and found the small sack of silver. He pulled out a piece and showed it to Mick.
“I guess the real question would be ‘how much is this worth?’”
Mick’s eyes widened at the display, quickly taking out his small screen device and tapping at it. After a minute or so he frowned and looked back up at Sun.
“Unfortunately, not that much as it turns out. And no one is actually going to accept that as payment unless they’re going to rip you off big time.” Mick pulled out his wallet and from it a stack of paper.
“It’s not that much, and not what that’s worth, but I’ll buy it off you. This should get you a room for the night and some food in the morning, but that’s the best I can do for you.”
Sun nodded and took out a second piece of silver, placing both into Mick’s hand to his surprise. “You’ve helped me more today than anyone else in my life ever has.”
“All I did was give you a ride, though?” Mick said, although he was smiling and accepted Sun’s gratitude. “Stay safe out there kid, all right? This city will eat you whole if you let it.”
Sun gave Mick a deep bow. “I’ll try to be careful.” He said before turning around and heading in the direction that Mick gave him to head to the hotel, waving back at his short-time companion.