As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a cloak of darkness over the city, most of the students at Hyperion packed up and left the academy. It was 6 pm and the vibrant city lights illuminated the night sky, lighting the streets and demonstrating the city's incessant activity.
Even though saving energy had become world policy after the Dark Era, it was still necessary to keep the cities illuminated during the night, especially the most active ones where even during night the flow of people didn’t stop. As a result, in order to save energy while maintaining the cities lit up sensors were deployed all around the cities. These sensors measured the flow of people and delivered energy according to it. This way, residential areas where almost no people transited at night had the bare minimum of illumination which increased approaching the core of the city.
Sunrise City, being one of the New World’s leading cities, was always active. Day or night, the city thrived with a constant stream of people and a symphony of hovering vehicles traversing the virtual highways high in the sky. The New World never slept.
Seth and his friends left the academy and headed to Solar Mall. As expected from a city of such importance, Sunrise City possessed numerous malls, each one buzzing with people at all hours. However, the Solar Mall outshone the others as a monumental structure that radiated luxury. Almost 2.5 kilometers in length and 1.5 kilometers in width, this architectural marvel boasted cutting-edge security systems, including a formidable defense mechanism against high-level threats like Lux Aeterna.
Laughing and joking, Seth and his friends strolled through the city streets.
On the sides of the buildings, giant screens displayed commercials, advertisements, and important news. Holographic projections danced across the streets and building facades, captivating the passersby with their captivating displays. From the announcement of a new movie to a summary of last week's world political news, the information displayed was diverse.
Seth's attention was drawn to a particular screen, broadcasting a news story. The footage featured two men and two women in elegant suits, engaging in a press conference. The screen captioned the event as "Annual Meeting of the Three Nation Leaders and HSA President Yields Positive Results." As one of the men started to speak, subtitles with a quote from the HSA president, Owen Bancroft appeared on the screen: "We aim to keep improving our collaborative methods in the coming years, to better serve the people."
The screen switched to showcase various data reports from the previous year, analyzed during the meeting. Each report highlighted the substantial advancements achieved:
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“- 13% increase in the global GDP
- 20% human personal growth in the HSA
- 8% boost in the overall strength of HSA operatives
- 23% surge in investments within the research field
- Modified trade agreements to facilitate import-export between nations
- 6% decrease in-hospital mortality rates
- 17% rise in public infrastructure projects”
The screen continued to enumerate the improvements in all the different areas, underscoring the significant progress made across various sectors. It then shifted to quote Owen Bancroft once more, this time addressing Lux Aeterna: "While I cannot disclose classified information, rest assured that HSA operators are tirelessly working to bring all remaining members of Lux Aeterna to justice."
Viktor motioned for Seth and Jake to catch up as they were both engrossed in the news report. "Come on, guys, you are falling behind," he called out.
"I hope they catch those bastards soon," Jake muttered in a somber tone before joining the others, looking away from the screen. Seth gave one last look at the screen before following suit.
After a few more minutes of walking, the group finally arrived at the Solar Mall. Stepping inside, they were greeted by an expansive interior bathed in radiant light. The mall buzzed with people shopping and wandering around.
"So, what do you guys want to do?" Viktor asked.
"How about we just look around until we think of something," Illya proposed.
The four of them agreed since they were still trying to come up with a better idea. The shops within the mall were incredibly varied, adapting to every taste and desire. They wandered from one store to the other, stopping some minutes each time to check it. Despite their progress, an hour later, they had barely seen a tiny part of the colossal mall, which was so big that it had its own transportation system.
As they wandered around, hovering trains would occasionally pass through the transparent tubes installed in the ceiling above them, transporting people from one end of the mall to the other.
They ventured into clothing stores, tech stores, supermarkets, and even cookware stores. They tried on different clothes and laughed as Jake playfully tried on a child's hoodie and couldn’t take it off, prompting a stern reprimand from a security guard who also struggled to get Jake out of the hoodie. They tried out the latest gadgets at the tech stores, from cutting-edge smartphones to immersive virtual reality helmets. Viktor's attempt with the latter left him dizzy and sprawled on the floor, which caused the other three to start laughing.
“Aren’t you supposed to be some kind of pro gamer?” Jake mocked while laughing.
“Sh-shut up,” Viktor replied, trying not to vomit.
Viktor’s answer caused them to laugh even harder. At the cookware store, a guard reprimanded them for playing with ladles, using them as swords. Illya also scolded them and apologized on their behalf. This kind of situation repeated more times and every time one of them got reprimanded, the other three would laugh at it and continue walking.
It was such a joyful Friday night at Sunrise City. Smiles graced the faces of everyone as they relished the company of friends and loved ones. Even the guards, who had scolded the four friends, couldn't help but chuckle, remembering their own youthful days.