Inside the train was packed with people, as he opened his phone finally the applicative finished loading, there was an old themed Login in Password, but he didn’t need to wait anymore and so Noth was online.
He took a glance at the list of friends before even the main page load. All names there were gray, is a couple of names, and all of them had 10 years or more since the last login.
He took off his view from the phone and looked up, his eyes lost in the explosion of colors hit his eyes and he was brought back to reality. All around him, in the tight-packed train, hundreds of people no one was using protective cloth. but a variety of styles.
Girl favored sharp edges and tight fabric with color hue with black or white details. Mens varied between a loose armor like feeling to tank tops that weren't sure it would change much if he took off, favoring geometric shapes and one or two solid more pastel colors.
However, two things stood out from the rest, the branded jacket and scarfs with a variety of accessory stick out of it. Some looked like war medals, other that was covered by belts, some were chains but you could start to see a pattern between them.
However aside from Company ones most of them are in fact D-QR Codes, with the original image compressed on a please looking geometric form, but otherwise abstract and even hard to tell each one apart.
The other thing was the wide use of headphones from young to old or at least some kind of head accessory, circlets, tiara, glass all of them with small neon light. While headphone was the favorite among the crowd was rare to see someone with nothing.
Their hair was just as colorful, from candy colors to a blackness that makes you question if wasn’t looking at a 2d figure. In the end, was his mute cloth and hair that stand out, but he never attracted the attention of any of his fellow travelers.
As he looked at them he smiled like he just heard a great joke and was having trouble keep himself composed, but even with this, no one bats him an eye. Many of them busy in conversation, singing, playing instruments and yet the car remained in silence if not from a few and far between, conversation.
He had just checked his phone as the 10:05 exactly 5 minutes after the train departure, Noth started to count with his fingers, just mumbling with his mouth, but the closer he got to the last number the louder he gave the countdown, raising his hand in anticipation.
“3...2...1!”
For the next 10 seconds, nothing happening, but Noth expectation wasn’t hampered by such thing, his hand moved like a maestro to his invisible band. Everyone looks up and their body glitched before vanishing in a blink of an eye. Noth smiled while he was making an explosion sound.
“Haha, if should get the one of this day's Overture, wasn’t like Maofang always said: When in doubt, Explode it”
But his happiness was short-lived, as he looked around the complete empty car, with but a very old men sleeping like a log in one of the seats and dressed just like him if wasn’t for the orange color of his protective coat, if not more worn out, with a almost empty bottle in his hand.
Noth couldn’t help but look at himself, shaking his head he heard a voice as if someone was talking right in front of him. The voice was a calm and professional female voice:
“Dear customers, our Dive Avatar Connection is malfunctioning, as previously mentioned. Don’t worry that every avatar and data is safe and will be resuming normal activities once we cross the Magalhães Line. We of Breksta Company North sorry for your inconvenience, please enjoy the rest of the trip”
Now with the vision clear, he could see the ocean that the train was crossing over, with destroyed ships still showing their corroded hulls like sharp metal reefs, could be seen on the horizon, now as they are about to cross Magalhaes Line he could see two cities at once.
One filled with square towers in gray and black building and black smoke rising from afar, covered with the green light, while the other side the sun was already completely out of the fog influence and the sky was blue without one cloud.
On this side everything was brilliant white plaster, highlighting the clean and fresh feeling. While most of the high rise is covered in mirrored glass, most of them have either a detail or big lines in some primary color crossing.
When everything went dark for an instant, they entered the tunnel as the final part of their journey. The windows turned into screens called Iridium News, was mostly filled with a wide range of advertisement, the news itself was pushed into the second plan.
Things like new type of food and drink, promising taste that shouldn’t be possible like electricity and clouds. While others showed new fashion style with a special bonus to match with your Dive Set. Or a new Dive Lounge that could simulate for the first time Colony Prometheus-2 environment, with a private guide and a small room of the wide acclaimed Eleonora Coffee Lounge.
As Noth eyes started to fall to sleep a news sudden showed in all screens, however as he saw what was about he, shacked his head and tried to take take a nap, getting bits of words of the news.
“With Weed-le… First Monarch... defeat… 10 million … Last Year... Razor Road”
At the screen could be seen great palace, made of crystal that was floating slowly fall into the ground with a great destruction, while a crowd of tens of thousand wounded medieval soldiers is screaming the name of Weed-le, as the report is extremely excited as is trying to get closer but Noth mind was already far away.
When he wakes up he had finally arrived with the announcement Welcoming to Iridium City and a group of people in fantasy like clothes, looking at the blood dripping from somewhere over them, talking to the screen he said as he left.
“Well, maybe next time pal”
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
As he moved to his work, he could see the orange and yellow container being connected from the train to the station terminal and with each new container, a new batch of colorful or stylish people surged from one of the many doors on the building.
When entering the Iridium city, was filled to the brim with people, cars and even people riding small flying machines.
Most of them are used by some force of security or is a variation of one blue and red machine from before, just now the edgy are softened and weapons hidden inside the bodywork, giving a less threatening feeling when you look at it.
The number of colorful people was the great majority inside the train but the more they disperse inside the city more pastel colors are present in a small amount to highlight some detail like they are mirroring the art style of the building.
However while he was distracted looking at the calm floating the now printed Police machines, he stranded a little from his path.
At the same time, a girl and her boyfriend moving in a mix of floating board with rollerblades are quickly approaching and with both parties distracted they crossed each other, Noth noticing at the last moment and could only prepare for the impact.
However there wasn’t a hit, but a small distortion on the couple, that after checking their matching blue and white jacket, in surprise looked back. Noth on another hand when there was no impact he flinched a little and took a deep breath looking back to the couple.
“Ohh, I have not even seen him or connect, with any channel” -said while moving an imaginary table in front of her
“Hey,- with a mocking smile - haven’t you feel the shiver of a Ghost walk past you?”
“ghost? stop that your idiot, this is not funny”
“so why are you smile, let’s go let the dead play with the dead, Harikan called us”
In the end, they bare glanced at him before leaving and before he could go, he stumbled into another man that were talking to someone on wearing a very expensive looking headphone and a lab coat. However this time he didn’t even look back, he just shoved Noth out of the way and said something about Specters and Peasants.
“well... fuck you too”
But before Noth could even take finish taking his card that had fallen, something stopped in front of him. Watching that there was a shadow but not legs, he could just let a small tired sigh before looking up.
“Hello officer”
In front of him was, a floating chrome basketball, look alike the one that was throwing himself into the escaping Red Caps.
“Please sir, establish Horizon Connection”
“Please sir officer, this is impossibl-”
“don’t test my patience boy, is better you link your ID if you don’t want me to do it”
“I can’t I’m a Spectator”
“Ohh… You think I will fall for the oldest truck in the book, Specters, come with me Mr. one in a million”
As he followed the floating ball, he was lead to an officer, it wasn’t even the official Police Building, just guarded him with the ball on a small room. Most of the time he spends was waiting for an hour before the cop come back make some simple question.
“Where your Dive Identification?”
“Who are you?”
“Why you intentionally hit a member of Aperturia Dive Science?
“Why you insulted a member of Aperturia Dive Science?”
“What your purpose in coming to Iridium City”
“You have fixed residence? And stable job? where you live and work?”
"what gang or clan you are part of"
Noth answers are without delay and at the time he almost started answering before the question finished. In the end, he has to show all his ID cards. Running to work.
Was already past 12 am when he arrived. However it wasn’t the angry words of his boss that greeted him, but a calm and composed boss, that spend most of his time fiddling with a tablet on his hand, he used many terms and redundant words that while Noth remained silent most of the time, he mused himself in deciphering what his boss was saying in fact
“... the company…”
‘I(the boss)’
“...in face of recent new expansion and economic change and adversity…”
‘the high up finally decided to cut you’
“...after a long and difficult evaluation…”
‘I got a great opportunity to screw with You’
“...As a man of your ability would be restrained by this new environment…”
‘you are useless here, probably my job will also be taken by a robot’
“...Take into consideration the future and the cut in the resource of our department…”
‘you are part of a dying job and if you aren't the greatest genius get outta here’
“... A unique opportunity with the great chance of rising through the ranks, almost tailored to a man like you…”
‘I think they got an open spot for next guinea pig or shit cleaner, wait I already do that here’
“...is close to where you live, less time walking…
‘we find something horrible to be done on the hellhole you call Old Burnt city, and I recommended you’
“...There is a chance to get a voucher for the company from simply going to work…”
‘they will pay you in participation trophy for kid’
“...Was a great pleasure, and so on…”
‘Now go away that I need to go back to my DD like normal people’
Well now Noth moved his belonging from the small Holographic Development Room and started to walk out of the building, passing one of the Lounge Virtual Deep Dive Service Development-3,; the Citizen Management Service, also know as Birth of Nobility and Redevelopment Effort of the West Side, also know as “police repression and train maintenance”,
Iridium city official lab B-2, was what he left behind, as he was out. It was on the corner of the city, in an area less important, however, was the first class if compared with his next working building.
In a middle of an artificial valley of a hill and high rising, this place in shadow 200 days each year and so most of the building here is heavy on neon light and the metal plates can be seen raw, just like when they used on the construction of the base of the city.
When someone was approaching him, Noth was on guard, however, when the face of the one behind the pilot helmet was visible, Noth was flabbergasted
“Ohh if isn’t my brother Noth, how are things on the plaster part of the city?”
“W-well is fine I guess…”
“fine? good, good - he slowly nodded his head - I assume you are also fine?Sleeping well, eating good stuff, work with the greatest mind on Holographic? ”
“No Dean this, that, it wasn’t…”
“Oh ho, it wasn’t? so now that I heard that everything will be fine? like old time when I got your back and you...well... sometimes didn't get mine.