“Welcome, everyone, to the great Hollow City of the Io Iceberg!” the attendant said, and the doors of the lobby swung open.
Dassah stepped out into a park of the underground of the iceberg city with breathless wonder.
“Wow...” she managed to murmur. Standing above the hollow city, in a park of brilliant teal grass, they could practically see it all stretched out beneath them.
Dassah had heard enough about hollow cities to imagine what they would look like, but she’d still expected a tight, dimly-lit structure. After all, they were, as the name implied, built within the massive hollow within the underwater portion of the ‘berg.
Reality proved her imagination rather dull. It was a cloudless, sunny day below the surface.
If I didn’t know better, I’d think we were on land! she thought with amazement.
A false sky above—whether it was created by magical valkyrian science or a simple trick of the light—was as brilliant a shade of lavender as the real Yidaran sky.
The attendant called everyone to order and gave them instructions on how to find their apartments at the nearby kiosks and told them to wait for their guides.
“3-100-1048, floor 100...” Dassah turned her wrist so the holographic screen of her WristComp showed through her skin like a tattoo and opened the Project: TheirWorld app to get the information she needed, then stepped over to the scalloped rail of the park and took in the view.
White cliffs were draped in blue and pink trees and dripping with deep blue ivy dotted with little orange flowers with long yellow stamens. Between the cliff walls, where most of the living spaces had been built, were high columns topped with parks similar to the one they were currently gathered in. Some were topped with mini biodomes, and others held small gardens.
Everything was linked together by a network of pedestrian bridges and monorails. These constructs seemed to have some living spaces attached to them as well, in the form of cocoon-like structures—likely homes for flying races such as the blee and earar.
“People... made this?” a tivarys girl next to her asked.
“Incredible, isn’t it?” Dassah said.
“Yeah,” the girl answered. “It’s almost scary. But also so pretty!”
“It is,” said Dassah, leaning over the rail to look down. The ground below looked like a forested park where people were walking and playing.
“Hello, hello!” a female jikak attendant dressed in a slick black and white outfit came up to them. “My name is Bariela Zoth, and I will be your guide today! We will be receiving many waves of new arrivals, so you may, or may not, be the first to arrive at your designated apartments,” she said. “Apartments 1000-1500, please gather your things and follow me! Try to keep up!”
Dassah and the others who had gathered around the sign along with her—the tivarys girl with copious amounts of luggage, two valkyrian men, a stout jikak man with thick glasses, and an earar girl who showed up last minute—grabbed their belongings and followed their guide down an enormous staircase. The guide spouted off facts and statistics about how the Hollow City was organized and pointed to locations with a speedy, professional patter.
The guide had everyone board the elevator and then typed in their desired floor number. When the elevator came to floor 100, they unloaded into a small shopping district. Roughly two dozen small shops and restaurants buzzed with activity, and their guide rattled off a dizzying speech about food credits and events at a breakneck pace.
Hardly giving the group time to adjust the guide continued: “From here, everyone’s apartments will be to the right. Are there any questions? No? Very well. I hope everyone will enjoy their stay here, inside the Hollow City of Io.”
Dassah and the others exchanged looks as their guide disappeared into the elevator without another word, and suddenly Dassah realized she was surrounded by strangers.
But… they’re going to be my coworkers, right? So… it’s okay? Though she was trying to convince herself, she actually wasn’t sure—but given that most everyone else seemed just about as lost as she was, she scrounged up the confidence she needed to pretend to be sociable. Just pretend you’re in TheirWorld already, she told herself. And these are all players on a quest.
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“Um... Was she... a robot?” the jikak man asked, breaking the silence.
“I guess we're supposed to find the rooms on our own then?” the earar girl said meekly, her wings shuffling as she rechecked her information on her WristComp.
The tivarys crossed her bark-skinned arms. “Can't be that hard, right? I'm in room 1039. Anyone close?”
“We are 1043.” A valkyrian men with tanned skin and black hair exchanged glances with their fair-skinned, red-haired fellow.
“You already know one of your roommates? Jealous,” the jikak pouted. “I hope mine are quiet. I'm in 1025.”
“What about you guys?” the tivarys asked Dassah and the earar.
“I’m 1048,” Dassah said.
“1039,” said the earar girl with a voice so soft it was hard to hear.
“Really?” the tivarys girl asked, standing on her tiptoes to get a better look at the other girl's face. “That’s. So. Fantastic!” she cried, taking the timid earar’s hand and giving it an energetic shake. “I'm Antihirrinum Geed — but you can just call me Ri.”
“Shen...” the earar said in return.
The jikak scratched his bald head. “Do we know what number the first apartment is?”
Dassah pointed to a sign next to the elevator with a map of the immediate area. “It looks like I’m closer to the end.”
The black-haired man nodded. “Shall we start heading down, then?”
But as they turned towards the apartments, Dassah heard a familiar sing-song voice ring out: “Dah-ah-sah!”
Dassah turned to see a young valkyrian woman with wild hair and vibrant red lips waving a finger in the air.
“Stella!” Dassah exclaimed as Stella strode over to her, her red heels clicking loudly on the floor as she placed her feet perfectly, one in front of the other.
“You. Are. Late!” Stella said. “I’ve been waiting for literal hours!”
“Sorry! I got… hung up,” Dassah apologized.
Stella was a valkyrian from the mainland, but she and Dassah had become unexpectedly fast friends during orientation. For all her charisma and energy, Stella had a calming aura that helped get Dassah through several stressful situations—and Dassah was thrilled when she offered herself to be one of her roommates.
“That’s fine, just give me the deets! You have a reason for being late, right?” Stella asked with a suspicious grin. “Was he cute? No... You’re more into the ‘hot’ type, aren’t you?”
It took longer than it should have for the gears in Dassah’s head to click into place, but when they did, she snorted. “Someone has an overactive imagination. I just missed the train stop.”
“Boring,” Stella told her, wrapping an arm around Dassah’s shoulder. The other people around them looked vaguely amused as she winked at them and motioned for them to follow as she started walking. “Unfortunately, the guides chose the elevators closest to the 1000th apartment, so we’ve got a good ten-minute walk from here to get to ours.”
“That’s good for me though!” the jikak man said happily. “I’ll be the first in.”
“I’m so far down...” Ri whined, trying to keep up with everyone as she pulled along her two massive suitcases.
“Let me help?” The red-haired valkyrian man offered, holding his hand out to take one of her cases. Ri’s eyes filled with tears as she dropped both to throw her arms around him.
“You. Are. So. Nice!” she cried into his stomach. The black-haired man laughed as the other looked at him in confusion. Sniffling, the tivarys girl backed up and patted the man’s shirt apologetically. “Sorry. Yes. Help would be lovely. I’m Ri, by the way,” she told him, shaking his hand.
“I know,” the redhead replied, as he picked up one of her suitcases. “I’m Jake. He’s Onyx.”
“I’m Kleary!” the jikak volunteered.
“I’m Stella,” Stella raised her and Dassah’s hands in the air. “And this is Dassah!”
“And we are all friends now!” cheered the tivarys girl as she pointed forward. “Come, friends! To battle!”
Kleary snickered as he walked past her, his flat snout wiggling happily. “We aren’t even in the game yet.”
“I didn’t know finding an apartment could be a fight,” Onyx said.
“When you have legs and arms as short as mine, everything is a fight!” Ri went, making a muscle with her arm. “That’s why I’m so strong! Gotta keep up with all you tall people!”
“That’s the spirit!” Stella shouted.
“You guys are so loud!” Dassah hissed at them, more than a little taken aback at the instant friendship they’d developed. “We have other neighbors, you know!”
“Eh, it’s fine. Probably,” Jake shrugged..”
“Still!”
“Oh, stop worrying!” said Stella with a wave of her hand. “Now, let me tell you how things will work around here...”
And so they made their way down the path to their new homes.