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

[expertonshutters]

[Did someone say cameras? There may have been another guy standing a few feet away from the same display. He's looking at it very carefully before he leans away and looks at Mikleo.]

[The man himself is dressed subtly in Union clothing but with a Calderan flare here or there. He does appear to be earthkin judging by the bright red eyes and dark marks on the skin under them.]

The exchange rate is pretty outrageous and I'm pretty willing to call Taurosshit on it, honestly.

[But he might just be bitter for more reasons than most.]

[rulayracing]

[A bit blunt, but Mikleo can agree with the sentiment.]

Well, that's not too surprising. They've had to mobilize their military so an increase in prices and exchange rate is expected. It might say something about how foreign currency is viewed, but I'm hardly qualified to talk about socio-economics with any authority.

[He shakes his head and the Eevee at his side yawns like she's bored out of her mind.]

[expertonshutters]

[Oh man. He looks over at the kid with a surprised raise of his eyebrows. Well... okay. He was speaking logic and rational. He couldn't argue with that. He shrugs a little.]

That's a good point. [Maybe things would be cheaper if they stopped running off to conquer everything. He bets the blow in Sanctuary probably hiked their prices. heh, serves them right.]

I guess there's nothing to be done about it.

[A pause and he glances over at him.]

Do you want to see one up close? [He shuffles the plastic shopping back in his hand.]

[rulayracing]

[That's his job. Being logical and rational 24/7. It tends to keep certain people out of trouble.

Mikleo's hand rests on his hip, tilting his head in some interest.]

...Well, I can't deny that I'm curious about them. This isn't something I've ever seen before.

[Basically, yes, please.]

[expertonshutters]

[You sound like someone else he knows then.]

[But he grins. He nods his head to a bench near by so he can sit down and take the box out of the plastic bag. After pulling the box open he very carefully, very deliberately, eases it out. Which ...might seem almost too careful, but hey, maybe he's just worried about all the money he just spent.]

[Anyway, it's pretty snazzy.]

It sure is something else.

[rulayracing]

[Hey, Mikleo's not going to judge. He'd be doing the same thing.

He'll lean in to look at it with open curiosity. Mikleo just won't reach out to take it because, frankly, he doesn't want to damage it on accident.]

It looks like a fairly comfortable design. Is the picture quality anything like it's advertised?

[expertonshutters]

Its extremely compact. They've managed to shrink down the size of the lens to a ridiculous degree. It's about half the size of what I'm used to carrying around and mine was considered small by Union and Caldera standards.

[Sorry, he's a huge camera geek.]

I haven't had a chance to fire it up yet, but the pictures I saw in the shop when the shopkeeper was showing it to me were impressive. Its full color and as clear as looking through a window.

[rulayracing]

[He's more than fine with Hayato geeking over the camera, especially since it sounds like he knows what he's talking about.]

If that's the case, then I should really see about saving up to get one myself. That kind of detail and clarity would be amazing to have while exploring ruins. The best I can get right now is through sketches to capture the more intricate details.

[expertonshutters]

[He nods. Though he frowns.]

The unfortunate part of them, is that they require a lot more equipment to process than when we have already. They're "Digital" and the film is all stored on a little chip rather than film. It requires a "Computer" to develop and I'll be honest with you, I have no idea what half of what I just said even means.

[He sighs.]

If you brought it home with you, you'd have to make trips back out here to get them developed and the sort of battery it runs on don't look the same as what we use back home, either.

[He looks frustrated by this knowledge for a moment before he grins and shrugs.]

I'm hoping that by bringing this one home with me we can find a way to reverse engineer it and make it more usable back home.

[rulayracing]

[Aha, and there's the catch. Mikleo considers all that Hayato tells him.]

Mm, that's certainly a problem. Even if you could get a 'computer' for yourself, the battery would still present a major problem. Although, if it's all stored in a little chip, then there's nothing stopping you from getting more of those chips, other than money and perhaps some organizational problems.

[He shrugs, somewhat helplessly.]

Sadly, I'm by no means an engineer, so I can't really help much. I do hope that the ones in Union can make a camera that's usable without sacrificing too much of the quality.

[Then, Mikleo holds out his hand, looking slightly apologetic.]

I'm Mikleo, by the way. History, archaeology, and some magic are more of my expertise.