pryzmkess's profile

There were two options for getting home: the public transport system or my own feet. Taking the suspended cable trolley the runs over the Inner Sea of Gideon would be faster, but I felt like a walk. So when I exited the shower room in my street clothes, I passed by the elevated rail station and headed for the long bridge that ran between the Outer Ring and the Inner Ring. Both of the rings were composed of massive ferroconcrete blocks; the rings were largely independent of one another, save f...

My nights aren’t usually this interesting, I thought as I looked down at the corpse. She was pale and gray, though she hadn’t been in the water long enough to destroy her skin. And I know all about how salt water affects dead skin; I saw the results in the mirror for weeks after my crossing. Her black hair hung limp and stringy; her face was dragged down into an empty mask by gravity’s pull on her muscles. The once-bright yellow dress was wrinkled and lank against the concrete floor. I couldn...

There are nights that I appreciate what I do for a living. There are also nights like this, when the wind howls off the ocean and Gideon isn’t the City of Promise, but a cage of safety. Sounds messed up, but when you can’t leave somewhere for fear of your life, then it is a cage. Below my dangling feet, the ocean splashes and churns, spinning the hydraulic fans that help power Gideon. I can just see the top one of the ten-foot fans rotating gently under about twenty feet of ocean, but the bla...

She walked in darkness, and the others never understood why. Duke understood her; that was why they worked so well together. But it was a little difficult for a dog to explain to other humans things like night vision and the perils of light-blindness. And so while Wicker’s flashlight was a yellow beam in the night ahead of her, and Jolle’s was cutting through the dark behind her, Beth walked in darkness. The Osage night was hot and thick, full of dust, stars and endless night noises. Those ti...