Page 112 of Godslayer
“What is this?” I ask, nearly breathless from the shock of unsettling sameness.
Finn doesn’t answer right away, simply turns in place, taking me with him because we’re holding hands. Finally, after we make a complete circle, he shrugs. “It’s all the same. They’re all alike.” He looks at me, his blue eyes worried. “What does it mean?”
I shrug, buying myself a few heartbeats so I can search for an answer. “Maybe… it’s… some grand design?”
“Grand design?” He laughs.
“What? What’s so funny?”
His blue eyes search mine for a moment, then he looks away. “Ya know what? It doesn’t matter. It’s… a game. That’s all.”
I have no idea what that means, but before I can ask any more questions, he’s moving forward, one hand holding ontomine, the other holding his PPD out in front of him, trying to follow the map to the restaurant where we have dinner reservations.
I skip a little to catch up and leave the shock of unsettling sameness behind at the tower doors.
Because I like that it’s almost exactly like Tau City. At least it’ll be easy to navigate. Because right now we’re strolling what appears to be the Canal District shops. And even though the fashions on the other side of the windows are not anything I’ve ever seen before at home, these shops are. The canal is. The beaches.
I fit in here. Even in this somewhat inappropriate sexy dress that shows the front of my legs from mid-thigh down.
“Here it is,” Finn says, pointing the PPD up at the building we’re now in front of.
We both look up, because it’s a massively tall tower. In fact, it’s the Mayor’s Tower. Not as tall as the God’s Tower or the Extraction Tower, but definitely taller than the Maiden Tower.
“Look.” Finn points to the brass plaque over the doors—which don’t have handles and open and close all on their own as people approach. “The Provost Tower.”
“What’s a provost?”
Finn shrugs. “Hell if I know. But who cares? Let’s eat. This thing says our restaurant is on the top floor.”
We both look up.Waaayup. Then smile at each other. “Should be some view.”
“Come on,” he says. And we walk through the doors that open automatically when we approach.
There’s an elevator here, which is something I recognize, at least, and we take it all the way up. Dreaming, perhaps, about what will be on the other side of the doors when we step out.
But when we actually do that, nothing has prepared me for what I see.
Finn, either, from his silence as we walk over to the floor-to-ceiling windows and peer out.
“Holy shit,” Finn says. “What is all that?” He’s pointing to the sprawling city that covers every bit of desert as far as the eye can see.
“It’s a… city? I think.”
“It must be,” Finn says. “But it doesn’t look like any city I’ve ever seen.”
“What is it made of? Glass?”
“I don’t know. It’s shiny, though, right?”
“It’s like a mirror,” I say. “You can see the whole sunset in them.”
“There must be hundreds,” Finn says.
I jump when his PPD beeps and starts talking! "Welcome to the Grand Sprawl, the seamless urban expanse connecting Rho and Xi—two of the most advanced and exclusive cities in the known world, into a singular entity you know as RhoXi! This vast metropolis stretches across the desert, spanning over 150 kilometers of interconnected districts, engineered to provide a harmonious blend of innovation, infrastructure, and controlled expansion.”
Finn looks at me with raised eyebrows. “What the hell?”
I have no clue, so all I do is shrug and try to keep up with the talking thing in his hand.
