Displaced

Chapter 88

"Quite something, isn't it?" Sofie asked as she glanced out the window at the growing Otharian capital below. The glow of the crystal street lamps lit the strange metropolis against the night sky, highlighting the strange fusion of future and feudal that the city had become. Only, it wasn't so much a seamless blend of the two as it was two towns from different times occupying the same space. Railroad tracks and smooth, paved streets with light posts and public bathrooms dotting the way stood right beside old, archaic wooden and stone buildings that looked to be ripped right from the Middle Ages, with little to bring the two together. And in the middle of it all towered Blake's fortress, gleaming in the light of the moons. "Not what you were expecting?"

"Not exactly, no," Arlette admitted as she stared at the cityscape beneath them, the zeppelin slowly approaching the city center. "I thought I knew what to expect after riding in this thing, but I guess I was wrong."

The mercenary, or now perhaps former-mercenary, continued to peer down from the flight deck with interest.

"So those long lines are the "railways" you were talking about?" she asked a few moments later, pointing down at several well-lit tracks running through the city, including a new series that ran a circuit around the city itself. "Do people use them?"

"Some do. More every day," Sofie replied with some happiness. She didn't feel the pride in the train system that Blake did, but she couldn't deny she enjoyed watching progress unfold.

Arlette frowned. "What are you doing about the crossroad towns?"

Sofie returned the frown with a puzzled one of her own. "Huh?"

"Many small towns rely on travelers making their way from one city to another, providing lodging and food to merchants and whatnot," Arlette explained. "It's that extra income that, when combined with farming, pushes them into the realm of livability. At least, that's how it is elsewhere, and I see no reason why it would be any different here. But now, you've gone and reduced a many-day trip into a single day excursion that bypasses all these places. So what are you doing to stop these towns from collapsing from the sudden loss of income?"

"Uhh..."

Arlette's frown deepened. "It never even occurred to you, did it? You were too blinded by the shiny light of progress to even see the downsides."

"Well, I mean, it's not like any of this is my job..." Sofie deflected, scratching her head self-consciously.

"Whose job is it? Lord Ferros's? Has he put any amount of thought into this problem? What about all the other 'improvements' he's championed?" She let out a tired sigh. "I'll have to bring this up with him then..."

"A word of advice: don't. At least, not until he hires you," Sofie warned. "He's very... protective of his inventions. Short of just straight-up attacking him, telling him his projects are problematic is the surest way to not get the job."

Arlette grunted. "If the two of us can't work together, it might be better to cut it off before it can even begin."

"Arlette, are you having second thoughts about this again?"

The Scyrian shook her head. "Not entirely. I just need to have a real conversation with him before I can commit wholeheartedly to a contract. I need to see who he is for myself. Is he simply the man who told me and the Eterians that he couldn't care less if we died, or is there more to him than that?"

Sofie chuckled softly at that. "He's... he's quite a character, that's for sure. I doubt he's what you're expecting."

"And what, exactly, do you think that I'm expecting?"