Tale of The Broken Sword

Chapter Twenty : Transpose

24th September, AD 2056

Melbourne, Australia

We arrived at Melbourne the next morning. It was dark when we depart from Detroit, but in here, the sun’s glaring from directly above us. Following the rest of the group out from the carriage and into the terminal building of the Surface Station, I had to cover my face from the intense heat. Thankfully, the enormous megacity was bordered by seven Towers which control the temperature and filters light intensity within the city itself.

The whole ride down from the city of Detroit and crossing the core to ascend up towards the surface of the Earth on the other side of the planet was rather quiet, with each of us preoccupied with thoughts and questions. After arriving at the Surface Station, we were ushered through security checks.

The guards stayed close to us the entire time, eyeing towards the crowd as they talked and whispered among themselves. When we were given clearance to go forward, a guide escorted us through the crowd of curious peoples and into the next hallway. Warren was following behind me, trying to ignore the angry stares of several conspirators as we passed, and keeping his face forward the entire time.

The Science Forum is an annual world event was spans across the entire planet. Surviving countries of the previous War that engulfs half of the world with fire participated in the event, proudly displaying their latest findings in the scientific field. Even so, political problems often managed to seep into this event that were originally planned to foster good relations among nations. Now, it seems that the true purpose of it deviated from a peace-inducing meeting into a battlefield for superiority in scientific advances.

Now the seven of us, including Warren and Janice, stood inside the spacious elevator, travelling down into the Main Lobby at ground level. Inside the elevator, a screen beside the entrance doors displayed the current weather and temperature both in the city and the outside lands.

“Thirty-five degrees versus a hundred and four.” I compared the temperatures on both environments. “That would’ve been killing if we’re on the outside.”

“True. I heard that, those who stood outside of the barrier got burned pretty badly due to the intense heat and some of them had died.” Warren said.

Exiting the elevator, we strode into the Main Lobby. The inside corridors were well maintained, with careful attention to the details. The ceiling was designed similarly to the Renaissance styles. With majestic columns and bizarre arches give a sense of a grand and dramatic, avant-garde aesthetic.

Janice leaned closer to me. “I didn’t know that the Aussies took a great deal in furnishing their Surface Stations. Look at our back in Detroit, plain and furnished with nothing but modern machines. It’s time for the pencil-pushers back there to loosen up.”

“What she says is,” Warren interceded. “To. Be. More. Romantic.” He punctuated every word of it.

“Hey,” Janice slapped Warren on his shoulders.

“Guys, be serious now. Simmons is counting on us.” I said to the both of them.

As we exited the Main Lobby, I fidgeted with the gray bag slung over my shoulders. I wondered how the things that we’ve brought in –all of them are illegal, or course– had managed to make it through the security undetected. A pistol, a retractable short rifle, and a handful of explosives, just in case things go for the worse safety tucked into the bag. Simmons sure knew what he was doing.

The glass doors pulled open and we walked out into the crowded streets. We marched along the pavement at a hurried pace. The whole team ignored the stares and praises chanted by some of the people among the huge crowd that gathered around the contained walkway.