The (Abridged) Absence of Complete Dark

Chapter 2

Transportation in Basodin was mostly facilitated by walking in its larger cities, but larger cities meant large distances to cover, at times. Sonusia, the city that Yidarica lived in, was no exception to this, and to walk to work would require an excess of time allotted. Some seventy or so years ago, the government recognized this was an issue, and created a solution: the communal transportation system. Called the Comtran for short, and operated via cable trolleys on land and ferries over the water, all one needed to do was register for the service, and look up the schedules for when the nearest station was being served. A rather convenient institution.

Historically, one could also travel via the piloting of large transportation leaves, which floated upon the air as whimsically as their smaller counterparts. The aptitude tests to obtain a license to own one of these were notoriously difficult and laborious, though, so many people never bothered with them, and the skies were never congested with people traveling, which was nice. Learning to use them required a level of balance, sturdiness, and generally low levels of anxiety that Yidarica could never reach, so she had accepted a long time ago that this would not be something she would ever utilize.

As the Comtran traveled on to its next stop, Yidarica gazed at the scenery around her. She'd moved into this apartment about three years ago now, but even so, the commute had yet to lose its magic; she loved to watch the scenery, especially on days like today where minor detours were needed (this time, it had to be because of the past week's weather; there was a nearby hill that always made the surrounding avenues a muddy, non-traversable mess if it rained enough). Today, they were passing by one of the small parks near Yidarica's building, one she often passed by to get groceries or to visit any of her friends. Since it was so early in the morning, it wasn't very busy, but she could still see a couple of people jogging along the pathways.

It's a good day to jog. All that rain brought refreshingly cool breezes to the area. Plus, the clouds aren't going to completely clear up until late afternoon, so they'll give a brief relief from the sun. If I was more of a jogger, I'd have chosen this morning to do it.

Gracia would be coming by to visit around lunchtime, so the two would still have plenty of time to enjoy the day after Yidarica gave her the tour. They could venture around the park, but with as much as they needed to catch up on, they'd probably settle in somewhere more stationary.

Approaching the city center, Yidarica reminded herself that even if she lived in constant fear of the Dark, she had been very fortunate to have gotten a position at a very prestigious company without completing all of the schooling that was usually required to do so. Her position itself wasn't at all glamorous, but she was grateful that she didn't have to spend her days miserable in the name of earning a living, which seemed to be the fate that befell many of her fellow non-graduates. She often felt like she didn't belong at her job, but knowing how much worse it could be, she'd rather feel like she didn't belong than worry about a high stress, low pay job that drained her of her will to live at all.

Thanking the conductor of the Comtran, as always, Yidarica waved before heading into the huge skyscraper that housed her place of employment.

In this day and age, it was almost impossible to meet someone who had never heard of Mega Flare Industries, and for good reason. There were a lot of intricacies that came with life in Basodin, and this was one of many companies that aimed to make these intricacies more navigable. Whether it be weather prediction, travel, food sources, or anything in between, Mega Flare Industries was there trying to figure out the most efficient way to make life easier for the average citizen via technological advances. Or so they said, anyway. Often, Yidarica wondered if the company's meddling made things more complicated than they had to be in some ways, but she never thought about that for long. After all, if they didn't meddle, she'd be out of a job.