The next morning Stelvin left his home on the second layer and ran through the streets bumping into random citizens. He carried a big stack of documents against his chest and some loose pieces of paper would occasionally fly away into the air behind him.

On this windy day, Much of the long coat he was wearing flew up in the air and followed him like a cape on a superhero as he ran.

Running through the streets in the mornings was normal for Stelvin because he had a habit of being late for work. But Stelvin that day did not run fast in the morning because he was late.

Stelvin was excited because of a sudden realization he had the night before while he was having dinner with his wife. He needed to find Arturian the Younger at once, whose personal manor was located in a suburb just outside of the metro area down on the third layer.

He went through sidewalks of the wide main streets made of metal and that lay between buildings also made of metal. He was going toward one of the city's main sources of public transportation or what was left of it.

The form of transportation was an elaborate system of elevators that could move up, down, forward and sideways. It was not as advanced as it used to be, but it was still an impressive feat of engineering left over from such a long time ago.

The elevator network did not operate past the eighth layer from the top of Natovis, the lowest layer the authorities had domain over. The elevators probably were capable of going further past that point, as one could literally see the elevator shaft lead down into the layers below without end.

Stelvin arrived at the station. The station was a large structure that was completely metallic on the inside. There were different sections in the station depending on where citizens were traveling to. Even though the station was so large, much of the sections in the building unutilized and blocked off.

These long closed parts included the routes that once led to the parts of Natovis the authorities no longer controlled. The other closed off area was a larger path leading to what would have been the spaceport hub for this layer.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

Stelvin then waited in line a while to purchase a ticket. As he waited in line there was an occasional beeping sound followed by the sound of a voice speaking indiscernible words over a speaker.

Stelvin while standing in line observed just how busy the transportation hub was today. He thought to himself that maybe since there was such a a strict curfew now, that citizens had to accomplish what they normally would do in an entire day, in the time before the hour of four.

After waiting in line for about 15 minutes, he got to the ticket booth. He pushed forward some coins and asked for "one elevator ride to the third layer on Suburb number 921 please!"

Even though He had traveled many times throughout his 24 years, Stelvin was still awkward every time he went through the process. He stared at the clerk not saying anything and the clerk waited for about five seconds in silence. In an annoyed manor, realizing Stelvin was not going to do what he was supposed to, the clerk behind the glass finally gestured for Stelvin to hand over his travel book through a small glass door on the booth's glass panel.

Stelvin reached in his pocket while the clerk waited for another 10 seconds. He finally produced a small booklet and handed it over through the glass. The clerk quickly turned through many pages filled with stamps and quickly stamped the book. The dimly lit figure behind the glass then handed it back to him. Stelvin walked through the transportation hub and found the designated section to board the elevator.

The elevator could be heard moving from a distance. Once it got close there was a screeching sound then it came to a stop. The elevator door opened up and about 100 people exited the elevator.

A red light in front of elevator shaft 436 then turned green signaling for the line Stelvin was standing in to get on board.