Courier

Goodbye familiar sky. I took one final look behind me as the gate closed. The guards finished their checks on me. Coulen was finally opened wide to me. A bit of a smile curled up in excitement.

A polite nod to them and I tugged on my pack. My car parked safely in a mostly barren lot. Everything was in order.

The heavy metal gate behind and offices of the inspectors to my left framed most of my early impressions of the town. I couldn’t even see the sky with an overhang that stretched the whole length of the town’s limits. A fairly boxed in first view, but not too surprising.

Before me was a new town. I couldn’t wait to see what it was like this time. Each had a different, what I liked to call, fingerprint and it never stopped being exciting. Though I guess I have only seen a few, so maybe eventually that would be the case, but not now.

Freed from the hall of the gate, I could finally look up at the sky for the first time. It took me back for a moment. While I hadn’t seen many skies. This one was the most unique I’d witnessed.

Wires or beams stretched across the visible canopy like a web of metal spun by a spider. At the center a large artistic representation of the sun sat drawn in like ink. It even had its name marked “Sol” within the circle. And like a compass of ancient seafaring maps, the cardinal directions marked off the sides of the sun.

Moving in a nearly stop motion effect, painted clouds crossed the faded cream skies. They slowly looked to gather near the horizon where high rise apartments cut them off. Such an interpretation left me even more curious to what the night sky might be rendered like. I never imagined taking the vast projection from the Corpus to recreate art.

This was a very curious town. I wanted to know more!

The view taken in full, I began walking down the main road. As the road rose and fell, I couldn’t see a direct view of the Corpus, my destination. I knew following it would lead there eventually. I couldn’t rightly settle into my stay until I finished my contract.

Out on the street, most remained inside still with the work day still going. Not going through a crowd should mean I wouldn’t have any trouble making my delivery. Standing around in the lobby of a Corpus wasn’t my idea of a great first day in a new town.

For the afternoon, the market district to the left looked packed. I’d have to pass by at a later time. A thinner crowd would be best. While I made it down the first city block the buildings already started to stretch upwards. It had a squeezed in feeling as though it used to be a metropolitan space before the Collapse. Not all Corpus towns fit that bill, it depended on the situation.

Coulen Bio-electronics likely didn’t have the direct resources it required. It probably heavily imported for its industry. A former city would fit better. Certainly a rare opportunity for me. None of the previous towns had such history. I wonder what of the past I might find here?

Walking through the street towards the town center, I saw more people out. A river of purple uniforms flowed steadily, heads down. Everyone in a different world than me. I wasn’t getting any answers. But I did have something to complete. Can’t let myself get distracted, yet.

Around me, the apartment rose past ten stories, cutting off most of the sky for me. The artificial light still gave me little shadows. As I came out to the intersection, a large shadow washed over me for a moment. Out of reaction, I thought it might have been a bird. It was too large for that and the rough thrumming of engines as it flew past corrected me quickly.

I caught sight of a small freight ship cruising past. It had Corpus markings on it, a purple and yellow flower of simple geometric design. The freighter spun off the right in a sharp ninety degree angle before bolting fully from sight.

Once the hovertrain finished crossing, I continued forward block by block. Older buildings with roughly attached paneling and piping gave way to clean rounded structures. Greenery tucked into cream concrete compounds that spiraled upwards. Each building looked like the seed of a tree planted and freely grown untended. It was a surprising lack of unity. I pondered on my walk to the town center why they didn’t pick a more repeatable architecture.

It certainly made for a more enjoyable vista. The last town I stayed in everything was hard edges and metal everywhere. I had to dodge pipes more than people it felt like. But even in the chaos, I could see each building had a modular kit that they molded everything from. It was made efficient, even if it was annoying as hell to walk. A bit of charm in that, in hindsight.

Though I found myself pausing an extra light at an intersection just staring around. I tried to find one repeated building. Even just a form that had to be copied. But no, nothing repeated anywhere. White and green covered everything. And in the background, a river shaped by the same material. It looked less like a river and more just another element of this organic city design. Like it was all made from a single canvas.

Eventually, I had to peel myself away from the sightseeing and resume the long journey. With a more open view, I could finally see the Coulen Corpus building in its entirety. An impressive structure that looked to be reaching to the sky as though to spite the heavens. Wires and lights that left the peak into the cartography became like strains of hair connecting the earth.

At least another twenty minute walk remained, in my hour march, I think if the sky counted time right. It still left me with plenty of afternoon to make my delivery. As if to remind me of my duty, the weight of my backpack tugged on my jacket. I pulled back on the straps to fix the balance. Thankfully, I could leave my car back at the gate for this job. Driving in a town just felt so wrong.

Couple blocks away from the campus, the streets began to get more crowded with people. For the most part a consistent quiet hung over everyone, but a loud bassy voice spiked through the throngs of townspeople. I knew better than to allow myself near such a disruption. I didn’t need that on my first day.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one with the same idea. Like a wedge splitting the river, everyone gave the man a wide berth. He staggered a step forward and then wobbled off to the left only barely keeping balance.

I only gave him a passing glance not even wanting to make eye contact. I didn’t need trouble. Please, not the first day.

“H-hey!” His words slowly started to become more clear. My heart thumped into my throat. Dammit, please! “Yo! Blue guy!” I tried to hurry my pace, but the crowd didn’t make it possible. “I’m talkin’ to ya!”

I gripped tightly onto my pack straps trying to shrink away. But the river I tried to swim through parted for me as well. It was pretty easy to tell when everyone walking was in purple uniforms. Even still I tried to pretend I didn’t hear them. My fingers rubbed on the pack straps trying to keep dry. I don’t need this trouble. C’mon.

Through the drunken stooper, he still managed to find me. A small gust crashed against me from his rapid sprint. A large hand gripped down on my shoulder. “I’m talkin’ to ya! Ain’t got no hearin’ for an outsider?”

That single word finished dispersing anyone else that might have still been near me. I exhaled a heavy sigh, already feeling him shifting around. Placing my right hand on his hand, I met him with a stern glare. For someone drunk and with twenty centimeters difference I doubt I looked that intimidating.

Out of my jacket a small shadow sprung through the air. They landed straight on the man’s face gripping tightly. “Sol of the sky?!”

The moment he loosened his grip on me, I clamped down on his wrist. A soft blue glow came out from the inside of my pant legs, highlighting my boots slightly. It gave me the boost I needed to leap a full two meters in the air and spin around.

I dragged his arm back as I landed kicking in his knee. Another blue glow came from the cuff of my right jacket sleeve as my hand tightened and pulled his arm back. I whistled out to the shadow as they bounced with energy pleased in their defense.

On my shoulder they came to rest, a small spider monkey thick in brown fur and large eyes. He rubbed up against my neck giving a calming touch to my spiked emotions. “You gonna turn off being drunk, so we can have a civilized chat? Or do I need to send you to the Basilica with a broken arm?” I pulled a bit more as the blue light flared slightly.

Pained yelps came from the giant of a man as he tried and failed to free his arm. It gave him more spikes of suffering through his chest. Then finally he relaxed and nodded. “Fine! Damn outsider! How the hell’d ya get in here? Sol’ll strike you down where you stand!”

His yelling drew in a lot of unneeded eyes on me. But he no longer sounded like he shouted from his chest. I flicked off his arm letting him have it as I walked around to his face. “Are we so rare that you can’t tell the difference?” I pulled up a necklace from under my turtleneck letting the metal and inlaid circuit catch the light. A simple but well established symbol of boots with a wing on the ankle.

“A Courier?!” That thankfully dispelled the crowd immediately. The only eyes left on me now were just the panicked man before me.

“That’s right and I’m on the job still. So unless you want me to report this to the Corpus, I’d suggest you go about your midday libations.”

The frightened man looked at my pack. My little friend hissed just to add more to his trauma. He swiftly made an instinctual five point gesture with his hands over his shoulder and head. “Sol forgive me!” I gave the monkey a light tap as we watched the guy sprint away with gusto. He certainly made use of those augments.

I turned back to the Corpus, my destination. One more sigh came from my lips. “So much for first impressions. Let’s get going, B!”