Days Past: The Beginning of Days

4: Valmecha's Guardian

Kaden sat comfortably in the towering skeletal remains of an old skyscraper. All around him were hundreds of despondent buildings from the past that now formed an apocalyptic forest of bygone urbanization.

In a city as large as Valmecha, replacing an old and out-of-date building with a new one was an almost weekly occurrence somewhere in the massive area. However, the towering skyscrapers were much too tall to be demolished and rebuilt on site. The unused space alone would cost the city millions of bolts a day and construction would take years even with advanced building techniques.

There were also the complications that came with the standard process of large-scale, intercity construction like the logistics of moving the heavy construction equipment to various parts of the city, the removal of the waste from the old building, not to mention the risk of damaging other nearby buildings.

The solution that was thought up by the Lombaxes was a simple one. Within the confines of District Twelve, new buildings were pre-constructed to the city's and its districts' specifications. Then, when it was time to replace the old one with the new one, the two were swapped via teleportation. Even Kaden didn't know what technology could allow the economical teleportation of two entire buildings, but that was how the city did it. The new tower was moved to the city site and the old tower was sent here, to the thirteenth district, to be dismantled for its building materials.

If there was one place within the confines of Valmecha City that Kaden could expect the Guard to bring out their big guns, it was here. He only hoped he'd pissed off old Lexi enough to bring him out of his rocking chair. Even if his instigation had worked, however, it would still be a while before anyone showed up, so Kaden had landed in one of the buildings to have the lunch he'd stashed inside it.

With his legs hanging out over the windowless ledge of what he guessed was probably the three-hundredth floor, Kaden eagerly opened his Crimson Commander lunch box and reached inside. He then pulled out a thermos followed by a simple peanut butter and melliculis jelly sandwich that his mother had made for him. He swiped his finger across the thermos' lid, which caused it to glow softly, before he set it down on the bare concrete floor.

After licking his lips hungrily, he dug into the sandwich with ravenous gusto thanks to the appetite he'd worked up from the morning's activities. He had almost eaten half of it by the time the thermos beeped, indicating that the liquid inside had been heated to the right temperature.

However, Kaden stopped chewing not because he wanted to, but because he began to choke on the food that was in his mouth. Dropping his sandwich and beating his chest with one hand, he reached for his thermos urgently with the other. With the push of a button, a small spout popped up from the top and he took a long swig of the hot chocolate inside.

It was true that with all the physical activity that was likely in store for him, hot chocolate was probably a bad choice, but he couldn't say no to the thought of drinking liquefied chocolate essence on this special day. As for the rest of his lunch, it consisted mainly of his favorite sandwiches and snacks. His mother had clearly known that today warranted a special lunch.

Even so, she had still tried to sneak in a Saluber root sandwich among his spread. Kaden gagged on the mouthful of food and spat out a wad of weed and crust. He lifted the top of the sandwich he'd nearly inhaled heedless of seeing what was inside.

His face scowled at the trickery of his mother and the ruination of his sacred lunch. He wasn't happy about it, but he blamed himself for thinking he could get away with a vegetable-free meal for one day in his life.

He quickly reached for his thermos once more, but in his haste to wash away the foul aftertaste, Kaden had knocked over the container and spilled a small amount of his precious drink onto the dusty concrete floor.