Dreams of a Red Horizon

4 - Jon

The Ferry smoothly slid into place. "You have arrived at Level 5 East. Enjoy your day," the monotone female voice announced as the gates slid open.

"Here we go," Sonja mumbled and started the prowler's engine. The vehicle hummed to life and lifted from the ground. I turned back and signaled to the vehicles behind that would follow us back to the Citadel.

The city opened up around us as we left the Ferry station. Tall buildings shot up like obelisks, and multiple layers of traffic flowed through the streets. Airways and byways coalesced into a network of metal and glass life. Figures wearing clothing cut in designer shapes scurried around elevated sidewalks and across skybridges that connected buildings. Unlike the destitute level we had come from, this city was alive with artificial life.

Sonja flashed the prowler's emergency lights and entered a lane of traffic that headed towards the blue tower that stretched high into the other level. An icon in the windshield's corner displayed the route to the Citadel on a three-dimensional map, as well as traffic reports, time, and a feed of active calls being responded to by Control personnel. The sharp lines and contoured interior of the prowler was a mixture of design and function as analog gauges meshed with digital readouts. The engine issued a soft electrical hum, while the hovering and propulsion systems made slight hisses that could barely be heard.

Had I cracked my window my ears would be immediately assaulted by a cacophony of traffic, people rushing around their business and the loudspeakers on electronic signage and ad screens begging passerby's for them to purchase the next big product that had come out - so I chose to keep it closed. Some of my former partners liked to listen to music or news reports while they patrolled through the city, but Sonja liked the silence as much as me. I enjoyed that about her.

As we approached an intersection, I noticed that traffic was stopping and the flashing lights of barricades ahead. "What's going on?" I wondered aloud.

"Shit. I forgot," Sonja cursed. "There's a corporate parade today. That's probably what this is."

"Great, we're going to be sitting here for half an hour at this rate. Can we go around maybe?"

We both looked backwards to see that at least a hundred cars behind us were trapped in a similar situation. "Of course not," Sonja said in frustration, cursing again.

As I turned to face forward I saw the first members of the parade walking through the street, throwing strips of paper into the air. They wore red and white and black, the colors of the Company that owned the city, ran its government and public services, and through its many subsidiaries employed most of those who lived in it. Wade Group Incorporated. Most just referred to it as 'the Company,' since there was really only one anymore.

The parade continued as an army of the Company's PR reps danced, twirled, and marched down the street as public personalities rode in floats that slowly crept along the causeway. Many wore costumes in the Company colors, while those that did not wore red armbands with the Company logo emblazoned on it. Huge balloons formed into bizarre caricatures and shapes filled the sky as images of dancers and performers were projected on the side of the buildings like moving art. Most of the parade held banners stuck to poles boasting the image of the Company's president, Seth Wade. On one of the last floats of the procession, the man stood.

As he came into view, every visible ad screen and billboard suddenly changed to the logo of the Company as an excited female voice proclaimed "Ladies and gentlemen, please give your attention to President Wade, who will now address you."

The logo was soon replaced by a video feed displaying a close-up of Wade. He wore a white suit, over a red shirt and tie. Pedestrians craned their neck, and some on the lowest level of traffic stepped out of their vehicles to get a better view.