“Wait a minute...” Lucia was feeling a peculiar sense of déjà vu walking through the city, until it hit her. Her face visible lighting up from the realisation, she looked up to face Cynthia, who was busy taking in the sights.
“Cynthia, this was the place I was talking about!” She said, tapping her shoulder and pointing around like an excited kid trying to show her mother a cool toy she’d just seen, “That’s very cool Lucia,” she muttered, still fixated on the airspace; beholding the beautiful futuristic view. Lucia sighed, “No! You don’t get it! This was the EXACT same city that I saw on the notepad back on the cruise ship, I remember seeing this exact same street,” She insisted, Cynthia seemed to have been paying more attention to her now, realizing the weight of her words, listening to her more attentively now, “Are you sure that this is the exact same street?”
“I’m positive,”
Cynthia looked down, unsure of how to take in the information, “So, that would mean that the person who created the notes knew about this place?” She asked, Lucia’s shrug was the reply, albeit not a very helpful one.
“Hey, Alora?” Cynthia called out to their tour guide, who looked back with a friendly beam.
“Is it possible to leave the-”
“Otherworld? No, I don’t think anyone has ever left here before,” she commented, The Otherworld? So that’s what this was called, “The Engineer is very well-versed in the nature of these worlds, he’ll know how to decode it for you,” She added, Lucia was still glad that this supposed Otherworld wasn’t some barren wasteland, she felt a sense of protection within crowds, despite having a strong camaraderie with her good friends, Alora had been showing them the sights, of skyscrapers that seemed to go on forever and billboards with neon lights, glowing. Retro music being played from every corner of the city, Cynthia had a fondness for it, as synthwave – or anything of the sort – was a genre of music she relished, listening with gusto. In a way, she got exactly what she wanted, the chance to live in a futuristic city where the sky was the limit, something she’d always considered when in reverie back at home.
“So, you’re saying that somebody from outside the Otherworld knew about Qaietiox? How is that possible if you can’t escape it?” Lucia asked at last, breaking the silence.
“Not escape, you’d have no reason to want to escape!” Alora giggled, “But that is a good point, I have no idea how one would go about documenting the existence of these lands without being stuck here?”
Lucia opened up the “The Omnibus for The Otherworldly” a notebook she was gifted back in the US, and the exact same notebook where she found the sketches of the city she stood before, handing it to Alora to have a deeper look at. “Hmm, very interesting indeed,” Alora mentioned, rubbing her chin, “I recognise the handwriting, though I can’t quite put a finger on it,”
How strange, it was like the book had created a mysterious aura that made everyone unsure about it. “Nobody seems to know anything about anything these days,” Jake grumbled, the rest sighed at this, even though he was brutal with his speech, he was honest. They were getting nowhere with this.
“We’re all very understandably stressed, but that’s no reason to start panicking, we should let this tour clear our minds,” Madeleine suggested, Alora and Magnus nodded, both seemingly unconcerned with their quandary.
“I agree, finding Kieran will be a long haul, but if we get to know the city better, I suppose it might be a tad bit easier, don’t you think?” Magnus said, his chocolate-brown hair a curly mess from their endeavour, they were still in their pyjamas from the previous night, they truly stuck out like a sore thumb in the city, and only had their gifts as they were left in the study, on the night that they got transported to the dreamspace. “It’s completely normal to be upset and confused here for the first time, how could I blame that?” Alora said, sympathetically, “I had a lovely family in the Overworld, they cared for as long as I could remember, one day, I was playing with a couple of friends, a good ol’ game of handball between buddies,” she allowed herself a slight chuckle, “It was nice... I remember that one of my friends had launched the ball a tad bit too far, and it landed on a lawn in some strange dodgy house, that’s when I found it,” Alora pointed to the pin in her hair, keeping her bun in place, “I never really mentioned it to anyone, but one fateful day, I was in my bedroom, reading a book, my mother had just tucked me in for bed and I was ready to call it a day, I noticed that the pin was flickering, a sort of purplish color, until the bright light covered the entire room, the next thing you know? I’m here,” Alora frowned, shaking her head, “I was 13 back then, alone and scared, when I first arrived at the Otherworld Qaietiox was still being built, The Engineer overlooking the city, he took me in and took care of me, just like my mother used to do, made me feel like this place wasn’t truly all that bad... You know?”
Lucia lowered at Alora, she couldn’t help but feel bad for her, despite how content she was with her home.
“Did you ever try to escape back then?” Aiden asked, “Countless times yes, I hated it here at first, and I missed my home, I still do, actually,” Alora replied, looking up at the night sky, “But things like this happen, and if it won’t change for you, you’re going to have to change and adapt for it, I accepted my fate a while ago, like many of the people you'll see here,” Alora returned to her warm smile, “Well, should we continue the tour?” They all nodded silently.
(...)
They had to admit, the city centre was beautiful, there were plenty of shops, flashing in neon colours, people on segways, hovering cars and in their retro outfits, full of exuberance; they were living their best lives every day, Lucia also saw stray cats, also tending to their own business, traversing through the city centre innocently, occasionally stopping to get petted by the ongoing citizens. It was a wholesome sight for her, she had never seen such an ebullient place before. Lucia looked up, she could see a rosy aurora covering the sky, a pure euphoric dreamy image that made her question reality itself. A new world was a scary one for anyone, but she couldn’t help but appreciate the charm it holds, even if it meant never seeing the sunset again.
Alora scrutinized them, thinking about their choice of fashion, “If you want to fit in, you’re going to have to act, look, and speak just like ‘em” Alora sat down at a bench, beckoning them to sit next to her. She looked at the many shops that sat within the boundaries of the city centre, “Here, let’s go to the shopping centre, we’ll find you some clothes that’ll help you fit in,” She suggested, standing up, and adjusting her bun, Alora seemed like a woman who was very fond of order and perfection. The group sauntered over to the main shopping centre, a venue of cosmic proportions, with walls of black, white and grey. The lighting for the mall came from a singular hovering orb that floated glimmering cyan vibrantly, Lucia could see a group of bikers wearing similar helmets to The Engineer, they also wore grey leather jackets and cyan cargos, they all looked so uniform. They were deep in conversation, leaning on their bikes, and laughing, nobody seemed to feel trapped in this place, Lucia had noticed. Everyone seemed, happy... Perhaps she should lower her guard and embrace the new environment, there was no harm in trying to fit in afterall, Alora was right, she didn’t want to stick out like a sore thumb. Jake had also noticed the bikers too, immediately admiring their attire. “Where would you go about buying something like that?” Jake asked, pointing at the group, Alora turned her head to check the outfits that Jake had been pointing at, “Oh? I know where they sell those, would you like to go there instead?” Alora turned to Jake, who was supressing a smile, he loved free clothes, and he had a partiality for unconventional dressing. “We should go then, if they sell it,” Jake chimed, muffling his excitement, “What do you guys think?”
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“I don’t really mind any store, I’d just like to get to know the place, it’s really special,” Cynthia answered, the rest of the party giving the usual shrug.
“I got an idea,” Aiden suggested, finally speaking up for the first time in a while, he seemed quite reserved now, “How about we split up and search for clothes in separate stores?”
“Haha!” Alora chuckled, “I wouldn’t mind that! Issue is... Wouldn’t you fellas get lost? This shopping mall is the second largest in Qaietiox VI, it’s easy to turn a corner and forget where you initially left off,”
Jake smirked, he had the exact thing for that, he reached into his pockets and picked up the silvery GPS, which was still flashing from their encounter with the strange gate. He handed it to the woman, letting her examine it, she tapped the screen and shook it. After a moment of thought from Alora, a lightbulb appeared. “Oh right, you were in the dreamspace like a bit ago, that’s probably why the GPS is acting up, nothing is really NORMAL around those parts, and it makes technology throw a hissy fit sometimes!” She explained, she pulled the antenna of the GPS, twisting and turning it until the display on the screen reset to its initial version, Alora inserted the coordinates of the area outside of the shopping mall, “Once we finish shopping, we’re to meet outside of the mall, we can continue our tour after that? Have you all got each other's contacts?” Everyone nodded, which pleased Alora, it was obvious that she hadn’t had a tour as smooth as this one before, shown by her relaxed demeanour. There was a moment of silence as they debated what the assigned groups would be in their minds. “Lucia, Aiden, Alora and Cynthia?” Magnus said, “I'll go with Madeleine and Jake,”
“Sounds good to me,” Lucia smiled, adjusting her eyepatch, and fixing her hair, “we’ll meet up again in an hour,”
(...)
“Y2K?” Magnus read the sign on the designer shop they stood before, “Y2K stands for ‘Year 2000’ pretty prominent style back in the... 2000s,” Jake explained. Magnus rubbed his chin “It seems like the future is all about going back to the past, isn't it?”
“And expanding on concepts that were prevalent back then,” Madeleine corrected, goggling at the several clothes on display behind tinted glass windows.
“Say, how much money did Alora give you?” Madeleine asked, still staring at the clothes on display in adulation, “She gave us 600 ‘Xanar’, I’m not too sure about how the currency works around here, but Alora insisted that it would be more than enough,” Magnus said, “She’s the boss,”
The trio entered the store – Not to their surprise- being large in size and incredibly impressive, the walls were jet black, the store being illuminated by neon lights that shifted between the spectrum, glowing in all different kinds of hues and tones. Futurepop was being played in the background, a nice little beat that had their feet tapping. Madeleine made her way to the shopkeeper, a short man who sat behind the counter was busy flicking through a newspaper, looking up once he noticed the girl at the counter waiting for him. He did not speak, his silence was prompt enough for Madeleine to ask what she wanted to ask.
“Err hello? We’re new here,” she started, Magnus and Jake waved to the shopkeeper backdropping Madeleine, his face unchanging. “We were wondering about the currency of this place, how far would 600 Xanar get you in a place like this?”
The shopkeeper raised a brow, placing his newspaper down on the counter, and leaning forward to listen more, “Would be enough money to clean out a good chunk of the place, I’d reckon...” He said finally, looking around the store, “From what I remember from the Overworld, 600 Xanar would be worth 1000 dollars, but meh... I haven’t been there in a while,” he sighed, returning to his newspaper, “There’s price tags on all of the bits and bobs here, knock yourself out,”
1000 dollars, wow, that really was quite a lot of money, Alora was right afterall, Magnus was unsure if he’d ever seen 1000 dollars in his life before. Madeleine at once started to pick up clothes from the shelves, holding them up against herself, “Do you think I look good in this? Or does this one fit me better?” She asked Jake, who was contemplating her choices, “That one,” he answered, pointing at the jacket to her left. Magnus was already in full attire, trying out a cerulean varsity jacket, navy baggy jeans, sliver boots and a turquoise beanie. He also wore futuristic biker sunglasses that had a purplish gradient to them, as much as a fashion critic Jake could be sometimes, he had to admit, he looked pretty good...
“How do I look?” Magnus asked, approaching Jake, he contrived a smile, “You look great dude! You should totally buy that, how much is it?”
“50 Xanar,”
“Solid stuff, we can afford it for sure!” Jake said, livid. He went off to find his own clothes, while Madeleine approached Magnus, she had also found a full outfit to wear and was already striking poses. She was wearing a silver crop jacket on top of a dark hoodie that was dotted with stars, she wore her signature beret that sat neatly on her long vermillion tresses. She also wore black jeans with star patterns and wore boots similar to Magnus, if they were having a fashion contest, she’d have already wiped the floor with him.
“Where’s Jake?” She asked, “Off to buy some clothes for himself, you look great by the way!” He mentioned, Madeleine allowed herself to smile at his compliment, “Why thank you! It cost me 25 Xanar,” she said.
“25 Xanar? How!” Magnus exclaimed, unsure of how to respond, looking better while paying less money was surprisingly offensive to Magnus “Yeah, it was quite expensive, but I pulled though,” she continued, ignoring Magnus’s facepalm.
Jake was the third one to get dressed, he wore a white turtleneck underneath a beige puffer vest. He had black jeans on and grey sneakers, he seemingly forgot all about the biker attire, shifting style completely. If Magnus was sure that Madeleine had wiped the floor with him. Jake certainly came back for seconds, it was humiliating. “You look great!” Madeleine beamed, taking in his outfit, “You too!” Was the reply, Jake impressed by her fashion choice, “It’s missing just ONE thing though,”
“Oh? What’s that?”
Jake took off his signature rimless glasses and put them on her face, “Now, it's perfect,” he smiled.
“It’s very cool! How much did it cost ya?” Magnus asked. “25 Xanar, admittedly my priciest purchase yet,” he said, scratching his head and laughing awkwardly.
“Damn it,” Magnus muttered, “What was that?” Madeleine asked, “Nothing, let's just pay for our clothes and get outta here,” he bemoaned with his hands in his pockets.
Jake and Madeleine exchanged glances and shrugged.