NOVEL WEB Chapter 3: Sympathy
I was ready to take my first real step into the city. I had everything I needed on me plus a pretty weird leaf in my pockets. I named it Leafy. Creative, I know.
The Earth Gate was not only one of the three major stations, but it also was an important transition hub on the southside of the city. Its streets filled more cyber steeds and busses than I ever saw in the largest towns in the frontiers, combined. I wonder how many people died in the mining colonies to still the hunger of this ever-growing behemoth-like metropolis. Auntie, as the local sheriff, regularly towed folk into these modern camps of slavery. The politicians called it an opportunity to pay back their sins for the good of mankind. Only to line their own pockets with the profits. Not many survive their so-called penance, but even the ones who do, end up as a shadow of their former selves.
No point in lamenting others’ misfortunes though. I have my own to face. For example, finding the right bus to Sympathy. “Meadow, get yourself together. Just ask somebody. You can do it!” I pumped myself up.
“Excuse me!” I approached a lady in a business costume.
“Get away you filthy thing!” she sneered at me.
I sniffed myself: “Filthy? I showered this morning!” Might just have been a mean lady. It happens. Let’s try again. This time I walked up to a plump man in a violet polo-shirt. Now, that guy looked like the conversational type.
“Excuse me, mister. Could…,” I tried again. But he squeaked and fled as fast as his plump legs could. What the hell? I rummaged through my backpack. Ah, here it is! My mother’s antique compact mirror. I’m not the vain kind of girl but I usually try not to scare off folks with my looks.
Oh well, now I understand. I was a bloody mess. No, I’m not cursing. I literally had blood splatter all over me. How did I not notice? You can’t underestimate the high, adrenaline gives you, eh? Who needs to smoke sutra if you can get zonked for free. Just become a witness to a murder. Sounds fun.
I’ve got no time for jokes. I wanted to fall into my bed and never wake up again. But how was I supposed to get to my dorms in this condition? No choice then, I had to walk. I really don’t want to give you the feeling that I hate the idea of using my legs. I enjoy a good stroll once in a while. All I dreaded was squeezing through the masses of Heaven’s Gate. It was no problem though.
Who knew that all that gore would enable me to divide the ocean of people like the famous cultivator of old. You know, the one who wasted his talents by talking with burning bushes. Anyway, the feeling of not having to bump into someone was like being a young bird finally able to fly, or so I thought.
I strolled through the main street with a smile on my face when, out of the blue, a small red cyber steed appeared. It drove on the sidewalk as if it was some kind of slalom race track. Scared that it would run me over, I rolled to the side only for it to have stopped a foot in front of me. I dodged right into a pair of disgusting smelling trash cans. The day gets better and better.
“Hey! What are you doing in the cat litter?” asked the red uniformed person in a white helmet while dismounting his cyber steed.
“Shit! Shit! Shit! I fucking hate this city!” I cursed.
“Not your day, huh?” He removed his helmet. A young man, only a few years older than me, emerged. Wavy blonde hair fell disorderly on to his face, making him look cooler than he probably is, “here, let me help you.” He offered me his hand. I wanted to push it aside and storm off but at this point, I was too tired for that, “thanks.”
“So, what were you doing in the trash?” he repeated his question.
“You were driving so fast I thought you’d run me over! Where I come from, it's illegal to drive on the sidewalk!” I reprimanded that careless driver.
“Oh, it's illegal in Heaven’s Gate as well. But people are used to delivery guys like me parking on the sidewalk”, he pointed at the label on his uniform which reads as ‘Uncle Hong’s Eatery’, “Because we are always in a haste… Ah, shoot! Wait here for a moment!” He retrieved plastic bags filled with spicy smelling delicacies from his steed and sprinted over to the apartment building beside me. I didn’t need to wait long. He was as adept in skipping steps as in dodging people with his steed.
“Sorry, if I had delivered cold food then uncle Hong would kill me. Well, where were we? Right, you were telling me you were new in the city?”
I told him that I enrolled at Eimei Academy and wanted to move into the dorms at Sympathy but didn’t know exactly how to get there.
“You aren’t bothered by the blood?”
“Me? Nah, I’m born and bred in this city. People who only know fancy districts like Earth Gate would be scared, of course. Most of them were born with a silver spoon in their mouth. The others are merchants or other business people. The only beasts they duel are numbers”, He shuddered, ”I prefer my lifestyle. If you ever visit the Kongtong Neighbourhood or the Kunlun Depths you would be in a much rougher shape than you are now.”
I made a mental note to never ever visit these parts of town. They smelled nearly as much trouble as I did smell like catpiss.
“You seem to know your way around. Could you please tell me which bus I should take to get to Sympathy or at least how far it would be by foot?”
“I can do you better. I can give you a ride on my cyber steed. How about it?
“Is that okay?”
“‘Course it is! Uncle Hong's restaurant is at Zhang San. It's only a bit farther to Sympathy. Also, walking would take hours.”
He hopped on his scarlet steed and motioned me to follow his lead. I smelled my shirt again and contemplated killing myself out of embarrassment. I was too tired for that as well.
“Here, take my helmet”, he offered me his only piece of protection.
“Oh my, what a gentleman!” I accepted it with a grin and a curtsy. He responded with a smile and a slight bow.
After I put on the helmet I jumped not very ladylike on his steed. “Let’s go, my trusty mount!”
The man in red neighed like a horse, revved up his engines just for a moment, then put his pedal to the metal. The city lights became a blur. The wind blew through my hair and for the first time I thought the city was beautiful.
“Thanks for the ride”, I said when we arrived in front of the Sympathy dorms. I jumped off his steed and returned the helmet.
“Sure, no biggie. By the way, what's your name or should I remember you as catpiss?” He asked while brushing off some lingering cat litter from me.
I ignored his light-hearted jab: “You can call me Meadow.”
“Nice to meet you Meadow. I’m Feng. If you ever are in the mood for spicy food then order at Uncle Hongs! See ya around Meadow!”
I was glad that he didn’t linger. I had other priorities than idle small talk right now: A bath!
I found the dorm custodian. Her face got even wrinklier when she saw the state I was in: “Child, what happened to you? No, don’t answer! This granny doesn’t want to know. Before we find your room, go get cleaned up! Here, take this.” She handed me a towel and a pair of plain grey clothes in roughly my size.
“Thanks, senior!” I bowed hurriedly. She just waved me off, so I hurried into my well-deserved bath. It was like I washed off all the pains I encountered today. I closed my eyes and started to meditate. Rebalanced my spiritual and mental energy. ‘Cultivation needs a strong heart and a steady mind’, Dad taught me. I resolved to pay back the kindness I was offered today.
The grumpy custodian was waiting for me outside the bath. She shoved a lunchbox and keys with the number 1102 on them in my arms. “Don’t forget to put your filthy clothes in the wash!” she trotted away without looking back.
I smiled. For a moment I felt very blessed.
