Chapter 7: Entry
Well, that was false…
Even though Genesis City was supposed to be a place where even simple life could live forever, Atlan witnessed the death of grass.
A simple life form it may be, but it was still a life nonetheless.
Inside this dome of protection of Genesis City, there wasn't supposed to be any kind of death. Lizzie even said so. This was another form of evidence to the theory that Angels really did go extinct.
However, the people of Genesis City either refused to believe it's true and continued their ignorance.
Or…
They could have purposefully kept this information under wraps. Who knew the chaos that could unfold once people found out that their bubble of safety already popped like a balloon.
For now, Atlan was the only one sure of this fact.
Should I be happy? Atlan wondered. After all, he did get more powerful with more deaths…No. I don't like suffering. I hate blood. I am a pacifist, he reminded himself.
The truck continued its journey through the (decaying) meadows and towards the reinforced steel walls of Genesis City.
Atlan saw towering buildings made out of metal and clay popping up out of the walls, with varying architectures. He also saw black spires throughout the City, going up to a sharp point.
The truck stopped just a few meters away from the giant wooden door that was almost as tall as the wall itself.
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Atlan found it weird that the entrance to the City itself was made out of wood instead of steel like the rest of the walls.
"This wall is made by an Operator, you remember what they are, right?"
He nodded. "The Saviors in the backline."
She chuckled. "Yeah, some of them don't only fight Canzers, they can also contribute to the City itself.
A group of Operators constructed this entrance that can literally root intruders into place. They wouldn't even be able to take a step inside the city."
"There's intruders?"
"Of course, there are." She looked proud of that fact. "This is a magnificent City! Anyone would want to live in this paradise.
There are some citizens from smaller Towns and Villages who try their luck to get inside. But, most of our intruders are those from the Unclaimed Lands."
Atlan went silent when he heard that. Even though he had never done that, nor seen anyone do it, he wasn't surprised. There were a lot of desperate people wanting immortality.
"Now, let's go inside and you'll finally see the beauty of a City!"
She took out her high-tech tablet and inputted the proper protocol when returning from the Unclaimed Lands. It was basically just a formality to confirm her identity as a citizen.
Usually, it would only take a few seconds and the verification would go through.
Lizzie frowned. "Why isn't the entrance open yet?"
The tablet in her hands kept showing her an error, saying that the system was unable to verify her identity.
This is weird, she thought.
Just then, a smaller door to the side of the main entrance opened. Two men came and approached the truck.
The two soldiers wore the same skin-tight black uniform as Lizzie. Except, they had more padding all over their bodies.
Lizzie got out of the truck and walked towards them. "What's the problem?"
One of the two soldiers, the skinnier and taller one, saluted towards her by bumping his chest with his fist two times.
"I'm sorry, Miss Lizzie. The Entrance System's been having an error ever since that solar storm hit.
No one's been able to properly enter the City ever since.
The merchants have been giving us a hard time about it, but what can we do? We're not Operators…and you know how they get when we try to rush them."
The soldier was exasperated, with his eyes sunken in and his hair disheveled.
Lizzie thought that this was unusual, but an expected outcome from that freak weather event. However, Atlan, who knew the truth about this solar event, thought differently.
Is their entrance system related to Angels? It was possible…
Atlan did remember Lizzie saying that Angels followed every citizen like a shadow, never leaving them alone.
Is that their way of verifying their identity? Through the invisible angels that followed them?
Although it was just a guess, Atlan felt that it was close to the truth.
"Is there an E.T.A. on the hotfix? It's already sunset and I really need to get our new recruit to his dorm.
He's a B class prospect as a Porter."
The two soldiers never even spared a glance at Atlan before. He was a kid from the Unclaimed Lands. How talented could he be?
They even thought he was part of a charity work, like adopting unfortunate kids from the Unclaimed Lands.
But when Lizzie mentioned his class. Their eyes changed into one of amazement.
It was rare to find someone with a B class talent, but it was even rarer to see that he had a job as a Porter!
Their temperament changed.
"It's estimated that the error will be fixed in a few hours, but if you really need to enter, then we can bypass the system to open the door."
"That would be ideal," she thanked them.
And with that, the two soldiers went back to their post and used their authority to bypass the main entrance. They manually pushed the door from the inside and the giant door opened with ease.
Of course, this wasn't advisable to do when the visitor was an unknown and unverified person like a foreign merchant. That would get them court-martialed.
But since it's only Lizzie and the genius prospect, they decided to let them pass.
Soon enough the two giant wooden doors swung open, creaking from the friction in the ground. It only opened just enough for the truck to be able to pass properly.
"Thanks, guys!" Lizzie copied their salute and bumped her fist in her chest two times as she passed the guards.
When the truck finally passed through the gate and onto the main City, a whole new world opened up to Atlan.