Skye City: The Darkness of Emmilyn

The Arcade Dome

Mid-afternoon we escape the mutant-infested dome, eat lunch at a restaurant and ride a taxi ball back to Coket Park Primary School. It seems strange how quickly I calmed down, like my heart racing into panic is just normal now and it knows how to fix itself. Shit my heart would freak out if it went a few days without experiencing trauma. My lovely new clothes are smelling like fish and I am unimpressed by my ordeal with the plesiosaurs, but at least I will get to see my little brother again. Spending the day without him has been tough and yet I did not even know he existed twenty four hours ago. The thought is mind blowing.

As the taxi ball parks near the school entrance, Mother says, 'I won't be a minute, just wait here.'

'Can I go in? I'd like to see,' I say.

'Sure, that should be okay, I think. Just wait in the lobby until the teacher sends him out,' Mother says. 'If you have any problems, just come and get me.'

As the passenger door rises, I climb from the taxi ball and head through the doorway into the metallic superstructure where hundreds of parents have gathered. Hexagonal holes are fixed into the walls like a multi-coloured honeycomb and clusters of hexagonal seats are dotted around the squishy blue floor.

Lines of children march down a corridor, led by their teachers and they gather in the lobby, looking cute and smart in their uniforms. Kyan stands in a line as his classmates are released by their teacher, one by one, and his eyes brighten as he spots me waiting, pointing a finger. 'That's my big sister,' he tells his friends and I beam with pride.

Kyan reaches the front of the line, then runs over and wraps his arms around me without objection from his teacher, but I guess the risk of abduction in a place like this is zero.

'Hi, how was your day?' I say.

'Sooo boring, I've been waiting all day to see you,' Kyan says.

'Me too, but we can have fun now, eh?' I say as we leave the school hand in hand and enter the taxi ball. The seatbelts slide across our bodies and we chat about Kyan's 'boring' lessons, struggling to extract details as he demands to know where we are going, but our mother keeps saying, 'Wait and see.'

As we near an access tunnel, holographic writing above the entrance reads: The Arcade Dome and Kyan shrieks, 'Yes!' We cruise through the tunnel and at the other side, I gaze through the taxi window at rides and stalls and videogames and flashing lights, hearing upbeat music and bleeping sounds. I do not even know where to look as we exit the vehicle – this place could trigger epilepsy.

The taxi ball cruises off as we merge into the crowd of smiling families carrying balloons and candy floss and cuddly toys. Our mother approaches an orange booth, purchasing tokens from a service droid and she gives a handful to each of us.

'You'll need these to pay for the rides,' Mother says as I place the tokens inside my trouser pocket.

Kyan rushes over to a merry-go-round without checking for permission and climbs into a chariot pulled by two horses with fiery tails – their tails are literally composed of flames. I jump into the chariot alongside my brother and hand tokens to a droid, then the ride starts and we spin around at lame speed, but hey, this is for the six year old and he is giggling so I am having fun, kind of. We bob up and down and I eye the more exciting rides and stalls until the merry-go-round finally stops. Thankfully Kyan does not demand a second turn.

We depart the chariot, rejoin the others and queue at a stall to buy candy floss which our mother pays for with her Citicard. We stuff our faces as we wander from the stall, but Otess stares at his mass of pink fluff and pokes it repeatedly. 'You're supposed to eat it,' our mother whispers and he frowns in confusion, then watches us eating and rams it into his mouth, screwing his face. I guess the tribesman does not have a sweet tooth.

'I want some more!' Kyan says as I pick hardened candy floss from my teeth.

'Erm, that's enough sugar for one little boy,' Mother says and Kyan frowns as we place our packets in a bin then approach the next attraction.

We wait at the side of a large arena until the action comes to an end and then we eagerly jump into dodgem cars. I team up with my little brother who drives straight towards the others who are going it alone. Otess repeatedly yells, 'Please stop bashing me!' as he struggles to figure out how to drive, which just makes us bash him even more. 'Get him, Kyan!' I yell as the tribesman races away, crashing straight into a barrier which sends him spinning.

The vehicles automatically come to a halt and the tribesman looks concussed as he steps from his dodgem car, walking slowly out of the arena. Next we take a spin on a waltzer, then we visit a coconut shy and lose, and then we come to the foot of a towering rollercoaster with thunderous carts and a surprisingly short queue.

Now I have never been a fan of heights, but my experience with the shard has definitely helped me in that regard. Logically it should have put me off heights for life and yet I am intrigued by the challenge of this ride because I can totally face my fears now, unless the task involves handfeeding mutants.

'Kyan is too small for this one,' Mother says. 'I'll stay with him while you guys ride.'

'No, you go,' Dynah says, gawping at the track which almost reaches the top of the dome and twists and loops. 'This one looks scary.'

'Nope, you're young and you need to experience a rollercoaster at least once in your life. Now go!' Mother grabs our shopping bags and drops them at her feet, then she pushes Dynah into the queue. Otess and I join her side and she stares nervously through bodies at each passing cart as I feel the rumbling of the track in my bones.

A few minutes later, we reach the front of the queue and Dynah, Otess and I climb aboard a four-seater cart with gun turrets at each seat. We pull the harnesses down and they click into place, meaning there is no going back now. Fuck.

'What are the guns all about?' I say as we pass tokens to a service droid.

'To help you survive the onslaught... Now please zip your pockets and secure any loose belongings,' the droid says and the cart creeps forwards as I check the zips on my pockets, ensuring my tokens and Arturo's wallet are safe. We climb a steep slope then follow a straight at slow speed and the height barely fazes me. So far so tame.

As I admire the dazzling theme park from my bird's eye view, something floating in the distance drags my gaze sideways. 'Holy shit! You see that? It looks a friggin' sea serpent,' I say as a huge reptile slithers over a red and blue tent, coming right towards us. 'I guess that's what these are for.' I grab the gun turret, aim and fire laser beams until one hits the beast in the face. The reptile roars and thrashes but keeps flying towards our cart which is speeding up, making it harder to aim. 'Otess, fire your gun!'

Otess swivels his turret, roaring, 'Die, foul beast!' as laser beams streak through the air. Dynah cannot assist because her gun turret is fixed to the other side of the cart, but I notice a red glow in her eyes and say, 'Now is not the time to use your powers!'

Swoosh! We race downwards and I scream as the track twists and turns, jerking my body left and right. As we level out, the serpent comes so close I can see huge fangs and a fork tongue and then a blast of fiery breath. We fill its gaping jaws with laser beams before we are burnt to a crisp and our foe writhes and thrashes, falling groundwards.

'Whoo! We did it, Otess!' I turn around and hold out my hand to high-five the tribesman. 'Shit!' The cart swooshes upwards then suddenly I am upside-down and then the right way again, but my insides are the wrong way and I cannot remember how to breathe. We race forwards, snaking from side-to-side as a huge octopus swims towards our cart. 'Shoot!' We spray laser fire, howling until the damn thing plummets and this time I do not attempt a high-five as I spot an upcoming loop.

I brace myself by gripping a bar, then I am thrown upside-down, quickly grabbing my gun again as we level out, blasting the shit out of a monstrous lobster, then a colossal shark, then a giant walrus, then a... another big ugly thing with huge teeth. We race up and down and twist and shoot until I feel dizzy and when we finally step off the rollercoaster, I hold the guys' arms to steady myself, wondering where the hell the monsters came from. Strangely we could not see flying creatures while we were queuing, but that was quite a ride...

'I can't decide if that was the best or worst thing I've ever done!' I gasp.