It was made up of buildings miles high, and some so wide that they occupied entire blocks. Parks, sports fields, green areas, swimming pools, everything in the central region was within the huge structures.
Several cars flew to great heights, in a highly organized way, rarely occurred any accident. And yet the truck was near the ground.
Also, between the buildings it was possible to see transparent ducts of pinkish tone, through which the aerotrains circulated at high speed. Corel parked near one of these pipes at ground height that climbed up to the sky.
The boy, after saying goodbye, made his usual journey to a large elevator surrounded by the same translucent pink glass. The elevator led to a platform where he waited for the train.
There were already a few people standing in the wagon, but Aiden went through a man's legs and managed to pick up a seat near the window that had just been vacated. From there, he could see the numerous skyscrapers and a much larger structure in the distance. The Ziggurat-City of the Pharaoh.
There was an entire city within the large purple metal walls that formed the ziggurat. The Pharaoh and a series of the chosen lived there, some without ever putting their foot out of the structure.
The people in the wagon were of various types and styles. Some young people with colored hair and various piercings, other salaried workers wearing the classic asymmetric suits, some individuals with mechanical prostheses in place of their limbs, all highly concentrated in their pocket technological appliances. At each stop a good amount of people left and were soon replaced by a new crowd.
In the window, Aiden could see in the nearby buildings several neon screens and advertising holograms, which mostly showed pharaoh's political advertisements.
Aiden had seen that face so many times on television that he was already nauseous, never becoming interested in politics in all his ten years of life. He just knew that the God-Computer gave this man the fate of being the Pharaoh of the whole Gardenia country and the destinies were never wrong.
Pharaoh Tess had a sand-colored skin and voluminous dark brown hair, as well as deep green eyes. He always dressed very well, with colorful tunics full of details. At the time of the advertisement, it was yellow with long sleeves and had symmetrically patterned triangular shapes along the arms.
Upon seeing Pharaoh, Aiden wondered if his fate would be as great as his. He dreamed of becoming a Guardian of the Order, but being Pharaoh began to seem very tempting to him.
Lost in his imagination, he almost missed his station. Thanks to his agility he managed to dodge people in his way and get out one second before the doors closed. Most of those who came down were young, all going to the educational building.
The skyscraper was large not only in height but in width. Sports courts, libraries and dozens of classrooms were fitted on each floor. It was the educational building of the whole region. Each floor was occupied by several different classes, from children to young adults.
Aiden's room was about 20 10-year-olds. All student desks had digital screens, serving for annotation and reading. The slate was also digital, with classes already pre-recorded. The teacher present in the class had the function only of answering the doubts.
As soon as Aiden sat the android teacher, a more modern version of Corel, went to him.
“Today is your birthday, isn't it? A government explanatory video awaits you; you are allowed to miss the first few minutes of class seeing the explanation; however, you must return as soon as it is finished.”
Aiden just agreed with his head, and put the headphones attached to his desk. His classmates entered the room and prepared for class when the video began.
The screen showed a man in a military suit. He did not look more than 40. His hair was black and short, and her brown eyes showed a severe expression. By the number of medals in his blue uniform, Aiden knew that man was high-ranking, he didn't even want to imagine what the soldiers had to go through following that stern man.
However, what caught the boy's attention most was the lack of the man's right hand. What was visible was a very polished and clean metallic prosthesis. Aiden has seen artificial limbs before, but that seemed to be tip-of-the-line, and probably too expensive.
Without delay the man began to speak.
“I am General Roy Pardalis, and if you are listening to this, the great day of receiving your destiny has come. Since the beginning of time, the great God-Computer blesses us with the wisdom of destinies. Most people receive a common destiny like 'caring for the family', 'becoming a scientist'. In my case,” he raises his mechanical arm and holographic blue glyphs projected, initially intelligible, however, soon become the following words of the man “'you will become marshal of Gardenia'. I have not reached my destination yet, but I'm on my way.
You can also be elevated with the great honor of the Order! If the glyphs on your arm are translated into the word 'order', you will receive special training and serve as God's personal guardian in your Air Temple. Unfortunately, the opposite is also real and may receive chaos, people who do not follow the laws of fate. There is nothing to worry about, even if you have this misfortune, our Chaos Containment Centers will give you comfort while preventing disorder from dominating our civilization.
As soon as the glyphs appear on your arm, immediately go to any government establishment to inform your way into society. This is necessary to maintain the organization of the country. Good luck and may your fate be peaceful."
Aiden already knew most of that information, the video served only to increase the boy's fear of
