Arrival in Gigas

[bravenewmods]

The City of Gigas is unlike anything the people of Union have ever seen before. The city is immense, a sprawling metropolis that covers the land as far as the eye can see. Built up primarily around enormous centralized towers, unlike Union these towers are dark concrete buildings, covered in glass windows. The buildings seem to serve any number of functions, and have a startling variety in construction, style, and even size, creating a unique skyline that is breathtaking to behold. The city is connected with roads of asphalt, upon which whiz smoke-belching steel carriages at frightful speeds, the engines (and piercing, constant horns) creating an ever-present din that engulfs the city in loud, chaotic sound.

“Downtown,” as the Gigans know it, is a huge collection of stores, apartments, and businesses. Apparently, the larger homes are built in Calderan-style but tend to be further from the main commotion of the downtown areas, of which Gigas citizens assure Union citizens that there are several, each with their own district name and culture. The technology is quite advanced as well, full color televisions are standard in every home and built in devices so slim and with such sharp images that they seem decades ahead of Union’s own technology. Pokemon are still quite present in Gigas, many people riding flying types and the buildings having huge perches to accommodate them. As with the vehicles below, however, Gigas seems to regulate air traffic to individual lanes and the birds seem well-trained as they convey their trainers to and fro.

Humans are just that, here, Human. No unusual shapes and sizes like the Enlightened and Earthkin of the Union Alliance, and those displaying unusual traits receive odd looks. Like many civilizations to the east, Battling is a common sport though in this place it’s more like the combat arenas of old. Several stadiums dot the cityscape, the sounds of Pokemon Battles and cheering crowds echoing for blocks all around, and it’s a stadium where humans are not welcome. Unless, of course, they want to make a show and spar against a Pokemon, of course.

This is Gigas, the City of Reclamation. Union civilians have free rein to explore this grand city as councillors are invited into the massive capitol building to negotiate with the Gigan leaders. Gigas civilians, for their part, are polite, friendly even. While many of them are caught in the bustle of their daily lives they regard Union citizens with interest and curiosity, willing to talk about their city, extolling its virtues while complaining about the noise, the crowds, the lines, and the expense all the while. One thing is clear though, the people of Gigas are proud of their city and their accomplishments. This is their home, and they are eager to show it off to the world.

Comments

[soulofmagus]

Apparently the long metal ones stop along the city and drop people off at different locations.

[ A shadow appears over Waver's shoulder, the broad rimmed sunhat adding some shade that the towering buildings don't quite manage. There's a bleepbloop from her porygon at knee level too. ]

Everyone seems to have a device that shows where to go, but I was told there should be a map on some of the stop points.

[untalented]

Yes.....that's the 'public transport' it seems.

[He looked up at Sophia, eyes alight with interest and curiosity.]

I think I saw some of those stops on the way here, and I'd like to get my hands on a map to bring back to Union. It's interesting-- and elements of the idea might be useful for helping people not get so lost in the city.

[It was terribly easy to get lost in Union if you weren't used to the twists and turns, and it would be nice if they could find a way to mitigate that problem for newcomers.]

[soulofmagus]

It is pretty ingenious. And those metal carriages never seem to tire, either. Though this city appears designed to accommodate them. [eyes twinkle a moment] I don't think we could fit a 'public transport' along one of Union's streets without some renovations first.

[But colour coding and route maps - that, she could get behind. Gigas is certainly very organised!]

I did pass one sign post with a shelter back that way. We could look and see if it has a map, and perhaps prices for riding it. [because everything in Gigas has a price tag attached, apparently]

[untalented]

And hope that the prices aren't too high, so we can catch a ride.

[There was an edge of annoyance in his tone when he was reminded of how expensive everything in this city was. Although his family never wanted for anything while he was growing up, he knew in his gut that they couldn't have afforded half of the conveniences in this city. Union was far more reasonable...

Even though the Rangers gave him a decent paycheck, some habits take far too long to die.]

If it looks like we can swing it, we should ride it at least once and brainstorm ideas. Then maybe we can convince someone with connections to the Council to bring it before them, and add it into whatever the plans are for rebuilding in Union.

[soulofmagus]

Perhaps we could take one ride and sit on it for the entire journey. See how far it goes before it comes back here?

[ As someone who's income was limited to the stipend from the Rangers, and with no other money to fall back on, being thrifty is definitely proving difficult in Gigas. She's rather glad that only Elhaz is the big eater of the three pokémon who accompanied her, and cheapest to feed besides. ]

That Councilman, Palpatine. He seemed to be rather forward thinking, and has worked with Union for many years. We could talk to him about it, if we can put enough of a proposal together.

Come on, it's back this way!

[she starts moving forwards, or rather, back up the street from whence she arrived; behind her, Ymir shimmers into view at her back for a moment, then disappears again - someone's hopping in and out of shadows on bodyguard duty.]

[untalented]

Ah! We don't want to miss it!

[Waver followed her, grabbing onto Orpheus so he wouldn't get lost in the hubbub while he fumbled with his wallet for funds he had exchanged out. Hopefully there would be enough to spare a round trip on one of these thing without impacting his food budget for later...]

Let's just take our notes and come up with a plan first, then we can talk to Mister Palpatine and see what he has to say.

[soulofmagus]

They seem to run regularly. If we miss one, then we need only wait for another.

[ In the heat. In the crowd. Ugh. Maybe Waver has a point with that display of haste..

Keeping her bag clutched close to her and to the front, there's a light touch of metal against her back as Ymir reassures her. He's hating every minute of this, but he's here anyway. ]

Sounds good to me. Though I'm certain he'll be happy to listen to us. [He just gives off that sort of grandfatherly vibe. Not that she remembers what having a grandfather was like..] Ah, there it is. And looks like we're just in time!

[ One of the long transports is pulling up to the curb, a number and destination brightly visible above the windows set at the front. Hopefully there will be room (and no extra charge!) for the pokémon as well, for all that the largest one present was Ansuz the Porygon. ]

[untalented]

[Not that the Porygon itself was much bigger than a piece of luggage to cause much of a problem with space, even if they were charged extra. Thank the gods they weren't-- it seemed as though the population of Gigas knew that those outside of their city weren't necessarily fond of pokeballs and didn't make common use of them. Although they received a few curious looks for their travelling companions, they were able to get on without much trouble...]

Thank gods, [Waver huffed, sighing in relief as he flopped into a seat on the transport carriage. Though he didn't have any particular weakness to the heat, he had the athletic inclinations of an academic from Sanctuary.

That is, none at all.]

Do you really think that man will help? [He asked as they started moving.] I've been trying to stay far away from anyone on the Council after the....bad impression some of the Magi left on Union. No need to make a problem worse, right?

[soulofmagus]

[ Ansuz fits himself quite snuggly into one of the luggage compartments next to the seating, making sure to extend its head from time to time to observe the passage of humans within the transport, and the scenery without. It also keeps a steady count of how many humans carry pokéballs. (While assured that his Trainer would never stoop to such devices, it can't help but occasionally chirp queries no one can understand: how are pokéballs made, how are pokémon placed inside them, can humans travel in a pokéball too?)

[Sophia's hat is pulled down from her head, revealing not the twisting braid around her head but a singular plait of aquamarine hair, the tail of which currently rests over one shoulder. She's not wilting, but she does withdraw the bottle of water from her bag - one she's been reusing steadily. Buying drinks here? Is far too expensive.]

Ahh. I wonder how they manage to keep the temperatures so cool within here. One would think the sort of engine required to run it would make it hot here too. [An engineer's line of thought, rather than a mage's.]

The worst he might say to us is no. [or laugh at them. but he didn't seem the sort, really..] You live in Union now. And you'd not be approaching him telling him how to run his city, but something to add to the rebuilding that could make life better in the long run.

If we find it useful. It could prove more confusing in practice than not.

[untalented]

That's why we need to take this for a test run, [Waver commented, scooping his little Foongus off his shoulder to sit on his lap for safety's sake when the carriage started moving. Orpheus himself wiggled around until he could get a good view through one of the windows and watched with intent interest at all the people and places as they zipped by, seemingly impressed by the sheer novelty of everything he was experiencing in Gigas.]

If it's too confusing, then we scrap the idea and don't bother with it-- it's pretty simple.

I still can't help but think that there might be something we can learn from the people here and bring back to Union with us.

[soulofmagus]

I think we've already learned quite a bit. But a little more wouldn't hurt in the long run. [maybe]

[ There's the faintest hint of metallic dissent from Ymir. Sophia frowns, glancing around for him, but he remains out of view. His negative attitude is beginning to wear a bit on her nerves, save for the fact..well. She can't help but feel a little uneasy, even now. ]

If the ceasefire can be maintained, this may not be the only chance we have to visit this city. But we should take advantage while we can. So. Where have you been so far?

[untalented]

[The temporary cease-fire had him wary as well, but he was well aware of what the people from Gigas were capable of-- both in their military might and in domestic affairs. He was sure that, so long as friendly relations could be maintained, they would be treated cordially in the city.]

The libraries, mostly, [he confessed, ] and a few restaurants. There's a little place by the hotel that makes pretty good krabby cakes for a decent price, if you want to try it later.

[soulofmagus]

Krabby cakes.. I'll have to remember to try some, that sounds lovely. [she's not adverse to meat by any means]

I visited a couple of libraries as well. With all of these digital records and photographs and those colour TVs, I wanted to see how far back their records went.

[untalented]

Between the digital archives and the technical reference books, I honestly couldn't decide which to focus on. There's too much. I'm a fast reader, but...

I'm hoping things go well. There's no way I can read all this in a few days.

[soulofmagus]

I don't think Union has the means, right now, to host digital archives of their own. Certainly nothing to the scale that Gigas has. But it could be worth inquiring on if there'd be interest in an exchange between libraries when we return.

[untalented]

With all of the scholars around, I think there might be. In any case, it's worth investigating, just to get an idea of how it's set up. Maybe we can talk to some of the Engineers back in Union to see what we can work up once we get back.

[soulofmagus]

I'd certainly be happy to help with that. [she'd been overly fascinated by the technology here, getting to follow up on that in Union was appealing] We'd have to find a suitable place to house the equipment, but I suspect any engineers who work with the signal tower would be able to advise on that.

[untalented]

Yeah, that'd make sense. The Signal Tower has the most wide spread access to help something like this run smoothly.

But, it's just an idea. I rather like how clean Union is over what it's like here.

[soulofmagus]

Union has found ways around their limitations before. I have no doubt we can find ways to power things that won't affect the world around us in this manner.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. [a smile]

[untalented]

I know.

[He offered a small smile in return.]

Let's just enjoy the ride for now and figure things out later. We've got a lot of time to plan.

[soulofmagus]

[ And what a ride! It takes at least 45 minutes to do most of the circuit to the 'end of the line', which doesn't appear all that far from where they boarded, and many passengers board and disembark during that time. Some even complain about the time it has taken.

The stops all have pillars beside them, marks with colours and numbers, and shelter from the sun - rain seems highly unlikely out here. There are also digital time tables with timed to the minute arrival and departure times, with live updates as and when required.

By the time they reach the stop they boarded at, Sophia isn't ready to get off. Partially because people watching has taking up her attention -- particularly the strangely subdued folks in greys and light browns who sometimes followed in the wake people of evident social stature. People don't even seem to acknowledge them, and they never meet the eyes of those around them..

But, mostly, because a different library is across the street four stops from now. It's one she hasn't been to yet. She turns to Waver. ]

Getting off here? Or staying a bit longer?

[untalented]

Well, we've made our circuit, but there's a few places that looked interesting that I'd like to stop at.

[He glanced over at her. Though their ride had been quiet and peppered with scattered commentary, he had noticed Sophia's preoccupation with certain people. Since it wasn't his business, he didn't say anything, but that sort of behavior seemed like a puzzle to be solved for another time.

There were too many other things of interest, like the digital time read outs and the impressive efficiency of this service.]

[soulofmagus]

[ It was hard not to notice them, in all honesty - or, rather, how the natives did not. An entire caste of invisibles. It's really for the better that Waver hadn't commented on it. She's not sure what she'd say about it, save that it left her feeling dreadfully uncomfortable.

A puzzle for another time indeed. ]

Stop 32b had a series of bookshops next to a library. I was thinking of getting off there, it's not too many along from here if I remember correctly.

[untalented]

Yeah, just two or three stops, [he replied, an odd gleam of interest in his eyes. He would respect Sophia's privacy for as long as he could get away with it, because she was a good woman with a lot of her own puzzles to deal with. If she wanted to speak, she would do so on her own-- he wouldn't push her.]

[soulofmagus]

[ She may confide. Or she may not. It's more likely she hasn't really noticed that her own preoccupation might be noteworthy.

But there are libraries and books to speak of. ]

Do you think they'll have many physical books? Given their digital records, I keep expecting to see more portable devices that could hold that information..