Valemount: Expanding Horizons

Chapter 1: Fhion

In the state of Ontario, Canada, lies a city named Valemount. This city is located near the coast of Ontario, only about a 30 minute drive away. The city itself is large, with many many facilities within, such as gyms, multiple schools and colleges, parks, libraries, garages, and an incredibly large shopping mall near the centre, among other things. The population of Valemount is pretty average for a city of its size, about 40,000 people spread over 340 square miles. The city is quite bright and sunny, both in weather and general disposition. Valemount as a city commonly rates highly on the general scale of happiness. The city is mercifully mostly free of potholes and most criminal activity, many different residents of different backgrounds and working lives have told surveys that they are "happy and hopeful" for every day that happens. While the city may not be very recognizable in the outside world, such as having no mega-successful sports teams and such-like, the city's governing council are never-the-less pleased with their progress in terms of keeping crime to a minimum and the general populace happy.

The buildings of Valemount get older as you get closer towards the centre of the city, with some exceptions as the occasional building is demolished and replaced for safety reasons. The entire west side of the city is residential, with a mixture of suburbs and countryside homes on the outer reaches, and apartment blocks as the terrain becomes more urban closer to the centre. The south side is primarily used for tourism purposes, featuring hotels on the south-west side, as well as nice shops and the primary entrance to the Valemount Shopping Mall, the entirety of which being almost 10 miles in each direction, making it possibly the largest mall in the world, housing staff in over the thousands, and featuring hundreds of different shops, including three supermarkets, an amusement park, gaming stores, hairdressers, coffee shops, underground and overground parking, and even a large garage and mechanic's shop on the east side of it. Despite its size, it continues to grow to this day, as more planning arrangements are made and more space is set aside for it. Valemount Shopping Mall is easily the biggest source of revenue for the city, if not for the sheer amount of shopping that takes place, then for the tourism it attracts.

The east and north sides of Valemount are a lot more normal, despite the size of the city, featuring different shops, businesses, homes, apartments, and the like. The entire city is connected via the numerous roads snaking throughout the city, as well as underground train systems, overground tram and bus systems, and lots of cycle-stations. The city has a lot of clean-energy options, especially with the public transportation systems, but also supports less clean transport with numerous garages and mechanics around the city.

Living in an unremarkable home on the east side of Valemount is a young woman named Fhion McCoy. A motorcyclist, gamer, and all-round happy-go-lucky gal, Fhion races with her motorbike almost as much as she washes her own hair. Currently, however, Fhion was not racing down the streets of Eastern Valemount, taking corners at breakneck pace and laughing all the way. Instead, she was currently walking casually down the street in her biker gear: a red, black and maroon bodysuit with orange gloves and a black jacket that accented her yellow-orange eyes nicely. Her bold red hair was also quite the statement, hung in lovely pigtails. Her most recognisable trait however, was her... well, her bust. Each breast was quite a bit larger than her head (though not larger than her ego), and wobbled quite significantly when not held in her clothes correctly. Thanks to the bodysuit, however, they mostly stayed still, unless she moved suddenly for whatever reason, such as jumping or running. Regardless, they were large enough to almost be seen from behind, and drew quite a few stares from tourists. Asks for dates or phone numbers were somewhat common, but she turned them down. Not because she was mean, but because she was kind: Fhion knew that the only reason that a lot of these people were asking for her was because of her looks and not "who she was", so she didn't want them to feel ruined. Plus, she was single, and happily so! Just because she was single didn't mean that she was always looking for someone to be with!

So, why was Fhion walking down the street, on this gloriously sunny Thursday, unconsciously attracting stares from passers-by? Well, she was heading for a building that she hadn't seen before: a large, LARGE library, not as huge as the Valemount Shopping Mall (nowhere close to that size), but still a decent size for a library. The sign on the front door to the building read "The Grimoire" in clear, easy-to-read lettering. Fhion was looking for some information on motorbikes. She knew a lot about them, but a lot of that knowledge was self-taught, so having cold hard facts on the matter would be greatly appreciated in the future.

Fhion entered the library, and looked around. The lobby area she entered into was cool, a lot cooler than the unnaturally hot summer day of the rest of Eastern Valemount. The carpeted floor was soft under her boots, and the wooden walls looked aesthetically pleasing to the eye. There were a few people about, sat in chairs or at desks and mainly attracted to their books and research than any newcomers to the Grimoire, but she still attracted a few stares to her body.

A clerk walked up to her, clad in a plain but smart beige uniform with glasses and smiling.

"Welcome to the Grimoire, Miss. How may I help you?"

Fhion looked over, a joyful smile on her own face. Her voice was just as happy as her expression.

"Hey! I was wondering if you had any books on motorbikes? How to maintain them, how to care for them, stuff like that? Specifically old books, or books on old stuff and stuff?"

"Certainly Miss. Right this way."

The clerk turns and leads Fhion towards many, MANY rows of bookshelves that seemed to stretch on for ages. They passed several seating areas, with spaces for homework or laptops and other things researchers may need, but the clerk's attention was solely on navigating through the shelves the best she could. The lighting here was darker, it almost felt like something out of a movie, when the hero of the story asks the great wizard a question, leading them down the rabbithole of an archive. Eventually she comes to a section, almost identical to all the others around them, and directs Fhion to it.

"Here. This section is all about cars, motorbikes and other automobiles. It should have what you're looking for."

Fhion thanked her, and the clerk left, leaving her alone among the shelves.

She looked slowly at the spines of the books, quickly finding one on motorbikes. She takes it and turns to go to a study area...

And finds just more shelves.

She turns around again, her bust squishing into the shelves a bit but not even moving them, but again Fhion has no idea where she is.

"... Um... hello? Anyone..?

Silence was the only reply.