Rina found her heart pounding. The feeling of blades in her lungs forced her to slow as she walked through the streets of the city. The thickened air filled her throat with dirt and grime, like the puddle of pungent greywater in front of her. A gritty iridescence caught her eye on the small of water. Oil. The air smelled of it.. a scent that filled her lungs with a dry, searing pain in her chest. Of course, she thought, passing over the puddle, ignoring its existence, grabbing the light pole in front of her, and staring up toward the rusted sign above her.
I haven't been on this side of town in a while... hm.
The few people who were out were hurrying into their apartments, the only haven from the polluted air. ever since it's become uncomfortable to live, people have forgone dawdling and embraced the day-to-day rush. The luxury of enjoying the outside air was a thing of the past. An option only for those able to ake it past the grit of the air outside of those filtered zones.
To live here is to hurt.
The city itself was a painful reminder not everyone was built equal, those of the world blessed with asthma were immediately under watch. asthmatics had the right to get specially engineered masks that allowed for an extensive four hours of filtering before being automatically switched off.
Like that was a blessing.
Rina was not one of the lucky few to get one of these masks. If anything the fact she has perfectly healthy lungs is plenty of reason to keep her from any access to these life-masks. She let off the light pole and walked forward toward the corner adjacent to her, a dwarven cybernet was speaking on the phone near the corner.
"It's not like It's that bad... I mean, at least for us. I don't know about the fleshies." his eyes shot over her with inflection. She's still looking around the area. She was looking for anything to keep her
"Ugh, of course, you'd choose a term like that, you f-... idiot." the words stumbling from under her breath as she walked past him. his face glaring toward her, contorting into a face of confusion and aggravation, as he took the phone from his ear.
covering the phone's microphone, he spoke with a snort. .
"Who... the hell are you talking to little lady?"
it was a sad excuse for a cyborg, his rolling hunchback said much more than any words from her mouth could. Still, she spoke
"No one that matters. Which way is the courthouse?" Even if the guy was a sarcastic jack-ass, he could still provide something basic, right?
"Just keep going straight, it's not that hard." his aggravation exchanged with annoyance. the hunchback raised the phone back to his ear.
"Oh, thanks."
Her response was blunt, like cutting meat with a butter knife as she looked toward the pointed direction he said. The bitter taste of the conversation lay on her tongue.
looking down the towering alley the man pointed her toward, the shouts of a few people stuck out to her. While not directed at her the shouts affirmed the direction she was given. She started to walk closer to the crowd, the shouts becoming louder and more in unison. a negative energy flow hits her body, turning her feet into bricks. it started in her feet, the pitted fear filling her stomach and tracing its way up her throat like an invisible vomit.
She lifted one leg at a time. the crowd scared her, not because of what they stood for; she agreed all the way; But what the group meant for her future.
The future was always on the edge for her. Before her life began, she didn't know where she would end-up next.
That's when she felt the pressure of a hand on her back, those same cemented feet giving out at the hand meeting her back as she fell to the ground. her knees stung in a dull, blunt pain.
"F-fuck." she cursed. She rubbed her aching knees as she stood. the crowd's disturbance subsided as it seemed to thin out.
I guess the doors are open, huh? She dredged toward the giant building in front of her—the overtly grand building outshining the brownstone surroundings.
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The crowd filed into the large Whitestone building. She watched as the once loud, disruptive group left from outside and into the large shell. she dragged her feet as the structure in front of her grew large.
It became more dominant over her as she forced her feet up, climbing closer and closer to those perturbed doors. Their aura made her want to crawl onto the floor and cry, yet she still felt her feet moving forward.
The footprints leading inside fueled her fire to continue,
"If they could do it, I could too" She cringed at the thought, it was so basic but also forced her forward more. this may be the only time she'll be able to do anything before they change everything.
The world's nature was obsolete, now the people may be aswell. she can't be one of them.
"Order!!"
the guardsmen yelled. People pressed themselves up against the berm placed in front of the stand. the seats behind the separator were empty for now. the last seats being filled as she walked into the large courtroom. Rina pushed and crawled her way to the front of the dense crowd of cybernetics and humanoids. the cold touch of metal components chilling her skin as she brushed past.
Once there, the crowd felt suffocating. the different people all in the same place made for uncomfortable sounds, and accidental bumps to occur as people got more impatient, a violence washed over the crowd.
Suddenly, a horn sound rang out, and everyone's impatient violence subsided as the main chapter of the civilian safety commision started their preach to the citizens.
"Hello civil people of Aswain!" His voice boomed through the top half of the room, darting down and into the ears of all below. It hurt. "Welcome to the annual meeting for the CSC, we know you all are waiting patiently to see the verdict on the Jargarieon v Liverstood planetary safety case, and we have reached it."
He paused for a minute, adjusting the microphone in front of him.
*Cough*
"We now declare that as of the verdicts reached in favor of Jargarieon, the planet will be under continuous lockdown for the next 300 days."
He paused for a moment, looking over the antsy crowd.
" Now, I know a few of you may need some time to get used to this, but it's only until we can guarantee this planet's safety from outer threats. At this time, the local government trams and Max-security ships will be the only functioning transport on Aswain."
Those who relied on the trams were relieved, those of us who walked knew they only kept those open because a lockdown would hurt people's feet, and complaints wouldn't look good.
Not like they would listen to the civil words of the public anyway.
The pain of anxiety bubbled in her fists, she couldn't believe it. Stuck here, with nowhere else to go, for the next however long it may be. The promises were never held up, they always went longer.
She was still waiting on the "Green project" to take up that was promised to her, and the tortured lungs of those around her. her aura was pulled from thought as the crowd around her strained as she felt a reddened darkness pass over her brain, like a malicious fog taking over.
She couldn't control what was happening; the panic fell over her, falling down her chest and thighs like a painful, uncontrollable wave of heat.
searing pain, her skin on pins and needles as the crowd's riot pushed her up to the front, where her vision started to fade more than when the crowd originally started to jerk.
She felt it blur and fade.
and then.. nothing else. darkness. a pit of unknown shadow.