The sky was calmer than usual. Night was slowly approaching. Coming back from work, Marcus suddenly searched for his gloves. They were nowhere to be found. I had kept them under the table, he thought. After a thorough search, he realized he was already wearing them.
After finding his gloves, he urgently left the house, the door shutting with a bang. It was the first day of October. The roads were awfully lonely. The evening sun was radiating red light. His house stood far from the city, where the glow of neon faded and the shadows grew deeper.
The car he drove was one of the cheapest models available at that time, the "Zephyr V-9". Even though it was cheap, it was way faster than older models. Its maximum speed was clocked at 400 km/hr. The roads were unknown to city lights.
Two hours after leaving home, he reached the outskirts of the city. It was already night. The sunlight was already gone. Unlike the rural areas, the city was filled with light. Marcus drove the car at 350 km/hr since it was a straight road passing through the center of the city. Traffic was also low.
Buildings here were built with a highly durable nanomaterial called Aetherium. In the entire world, Virelia had the highest production level of Aetherium. It caused the city to be more engineered than a rocket from 450 years ago. At night, pure Aetherium emitted a blue light. Some buildings, which were made of pure Aetherium, thus gave the city a blue artistry.
The car stopped in front of a medium-sized building. The building didn't glow blue. It was a bar. Marcus stepped outside the car. He checked his pockets and pulled out a card. He showed this to the guard standing beside the door. He was given permission to go inside.
Upon entering, a long helical pathway led to the underground floors of the bar. There were more than 70 floors within that medium-sized building. 60 of them were under the ground, which made it seem smaller than its original size. On the side of the helical pathway, there was a lift. Its speed was greater than 10 times the speed of sound. He stepped into the lift and started to descend towards the last floor. He was alone in the lift. There was a field generator within the lift which kept the passengers to the floor even with this acceleration. The force field adjusted itself while descending, ascending, and before coming to a stop or starting to move. Thus, people inside the lift didn't feel any acceleration.
The lift reached the 70th floor. The door opened. There were two Blaster-bearers. It was currently the most popular and effective type of firearm. They looked at him with cold, neutral eyes and asked for identification. He took out another card. This card was different from what he showed to the guard at the front door. The guards suddenly showed him respect. They moved aside.
Marcus walked straight. His mind was determined, but an anxiety lurked. He wore a brown jacket, its fabric carrying the faint ruggedness of long use. Beneath it, a plain white baniyan clung to him. Combined with his cream-colored pants, it gave him an understated presence.
While walking, he thought of the answer he was going to give Kael. His feet came to a halt. There was a door in front of him; it was made of one of the hardest materials ever known to mankind.
The door was red in color. Around the middle of the vertical axis of the door, there was a newly designed touchpad and identity verifier. It was the latest biometric scanner that had been released two days ago.
Marcus, who seemed to have been dazed for a moment, pressed his thumb on the touchpad, which was the size of a palm. Within an instant, a metal alloy made up of a seemingly normal material covered his entire body, leaving just enough room for a finger. It only took a moment before a green light radiated from every direction from the body-shaped alloy.
Verification was completed. The door didn't open, but he was already inside.
A man with bronze tanned skin, with a light V-shaped beard which was taken care of with the utmost importance, appeared sitting on a black chair with his legs put on top of the table. His hair was combed back,
highlighting his big forehead. A black tuxedo accompanied his seemingly well-built body.
The man with the beard laughed lightly and asked with a corrosive voice, "Long time no see, Marcus. Have you decided on the matter?"
"Yes, your wish will be granted, the world shall start fearing its new Basileus," Marcus replied with a hoarse laugh.
"No, Marcus, the Prophecy of Nyxora will come true, people of this land will find happiness again. Virelia always had its politics, suburbs where the blue light spectrum gets dissected, nights where people preach about an upcoming prince. It's all good to hear till you know the truth. That truth is where priests kneel down, and a king's crown starts to shake."
With that said, Kael and Marcus split ways for the time being. Marcus returned outside the bar and turned his head with a gaze that contained depth, a depth that's often interpreted as lifeless.
He didn't take too long before returning to the car and driving to the alleyway beside the bar. There was a house with a blue glow. This was a house where Marcus and his friends often gathered. The car didn't stop there; it continued its path. This was a journey he never thought he would take. There was no coming back. Not with life, at least. Only corpses have a return.