(Just a note but there isn’t access to phones since the city is kind of a dystopia. Though you’re fine with the middle part of the city being more rich/desirable the contrast is good.)
(Don't know why it double-quoted like that lol)
Nina shrugged, her optimism growing slightly. This was the closest they'd had to a plan since she'd woken up in this strange world, and that was enough for her. Even if the plan was just to go to an unknown "Travel Station" in the center of an odd, alien city full of cold, unhelpful people, it was still something.
Squaring her shoulders with as much confidence as she could muster, she strode forward, leading the way into the city center. To her great relief, the original sign hadn't been the only one. At nearly every street corner stood another sign, sometimes with words, sometimes only consisting of a large, glowing neon arrow, pointing onward. She fell back a bit so she was walking beside Damir, rather than stomping along out front, all by herself and painfully aware of it.
"I'm glad there are more signs," she said, finally breaking the silence. "I was a little worried that I'd have to find it all on my own, which would've only ended in disaster 'cause I have a terrible sense of direction." Laughing a little, she relaxed slightly, only to become anxious again when she realized that the light had changed; dusk was approaching.
A sound began to reach Nina's ears as they drew nearer to the middle of the Safe Zone. It sounded like the rumble of distant thunder, permeating the air around the two companions and humming in their ears. Over it, she could hear and feel the slowly increasing rate of her heartbeat; her anxiety was growing with each step. As they walked, the scenery also changed. The grime-encrusted sidewalks and cramped alleyways had given way to wider roads and trash-free streets. The buildings were slowly becoming taller and more windowed, exhibiting warped reflections of their neighbors like giant, heat-damaged mirrors. Even the directional signs had been upgraded, with clean, sharp lines and fresh, unmarred paint that seemed almost freakishly smooth. It was a stark, slightly unsettling change from the dingy little shops of earlier.
Then they turned the final corner and entered into full view of the Nucleus. Nina immediately came to a stop, feeling her jaw drop at the sight of the monstrous thing.
It was a huge, perfectly circular dome of glass, resting on top of an almost Colosseum-like building. The translucent glass of the dome was bent up and down; it was dimpled, like unruly waves, and colored a light purple-blue color. The base building was made of a white material that reflected both the artificial and natural light around it, with Roman columns and architecture evident in the design. The entire building glowed from within, rising from the concrete like an enormous, shiny Kraken and leaving a shadow of light over the two people standing outside; a gaping, doorless archway beckoned them to enter. Large tunnels snaked away from the walls and disappeared into the earth like tentacles under waves. Emotionless, hurried people rushed in and out of the building, some with phones to their ears, some with suitcases and watches that they checked constantly. Suddenly, Nina identified the thunderous noise she'd been hearing: it was the roar of dozens of trains clunking over tracks simultaneously, combined with the constant muttering of thousands of different voices.
Shaking her head in disbelief, Nina finally spoke, still trying to take in the large building in front of her. "Well," she breathed, "I guess that's the Nucleus."
(Ahh sorry this is so long but I got swept up in the Nucleus's description lol)
(I'm going to continue without the tech. Also, the description is really cool!)
The inner city was breathtaking, compared to the more derelict parts they had been trudging through previously.
Poverty-stricken streets had been changed into expensively clean walkways, clear of rat-infested garbage. The dim, flickering lights had becoming bright, white lights, illuminating every corner of the city. The people, too, had gone from old rags, laced with holes, to cleaner and obviously more expensive clothing.
Even more breathtaking was the Travel Station itself. The pure white architecture, the purple glass that faded into a deep blues, the blinding light, it was like nothing Damir had seen before.
When he finally overcame the awe, Damir noticed the people around them staring, almost in disgust. It gave him the chills, even more than it had with Zahara.
"We should look inside," Damir said quietly, taking a few steps towards one of the stairways that led down into the station.
He took a few steps down the stairs, using the handrail to steady himself as he made his way to the bottom. The stairs, like most of the other things in the inner city, were pale stone.
Inside the station was completely abandoned, aside from the chrome trains whizzing by. It was still clean, like the city outside, it was just devoid of people.
The stairways, that led back up to the city, came from many directions, surrounding a central line. Small bridges arched over the train lines, connecting the two platforms. Railing surrounded the edges of the platforms and bridges, leaving only a gap for boarding. And huge, circular lights, spead across the open ceiling, left no place for shadows to hide, beaming white light down on the shining floors.
"Woah," Damir breathed, his feet tapping gently across the floor as he walked closer to the trains that raced by.
(Feel free to change any descriptors.
@LittleBrownie - I'm assuming Evan hasn't arrived yet?)
