Maruyama yammers on with an excitement you haven't quite heard from him before. "Cheaper than Y-Corp teleportation at least."
For some reason you feel an odd sense of dread from the train ticket he described. Hm. "Well! See you over there, then!"
"See ya-"
"SEE YOU NICOLE LOVE YOU BYE BYE." And you get hung up on.
You hope she just meant that in the platonic sense because you do NOT swing that way.
You eventually arrive at the station and, lo and behold, more fucking white. You step out of the train and take a look at your surroundings. Aside from the mostly white architecture, you notice that there's a lot of candles and light bulbs hanging around the place. The candles are the only main splash of color throughout the station.
Yellow, black, green, blue, purple, pink, indigo, red, maroon, jasper, and hundreds of other colored candles your brain ran out of space to remember the names of every color they're in.
You hand your train ticket over to the brightly dressed man behind the booth so he knows you're actually allowed to be here. He offers you a smile before holding something out to you. It's a bright pink candle lit with a purple flame. "Just like your eyes, miss. It's proof that you're allowed here. Once it burns out, you have to leave."
[SCHOLAR OF THE CITY] Their candles are one of their main selling points. The wick is impossible to put out when lit and most of their candles last for 8 hours exactly.
[PERSON OF INTEREST] Isn't that a safety concern?
[SCHOLAR OF THE CITY] Apparently not! From what Kiara remembers, the lit flame doesn't produce any heat. Only light. That and the wax doesn't burn you.
[SCHOLAR OF THE CITY] You doubt that the people who live here have to do this ritual but it's a common custom for visitors.
You nod as you grab onto the pink candle before heading out of the station and onto the streets of L-Corp's district.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeYl069xeDg - L-COMPANY
The streets are quiet. Beyond quiet, it's almost like silence itself has overwritten any other sound nearby. Even as the brightly dressed men and women with candle wax medals pinned to the chest walk around you, you don't even hear their footsteps. Yet you can't help but to relax and smile upon seeing it.
A small kid with blonde hair walks through the streets, holding the hand of his mother. As he turns his head to look around, he spots you. He immediately rushes up to you with a pair of beady blue eyes.
"De...er." He points a small, stubby finger at you. "Pretty. Touch?" He opens his tiny hand out. You kneel down in front of him, almost by instinct. You nod. Immediately, he wraps his tiny little hand around your antler.
"Cold. Brrr." The kid shivers but despite this, he's smiling. His mother rushes over with a glow of panicked embarrassment in every motion she makes.
"S-sorry, miss. Uh, haven't told him about augmented people like you. Sorry, sorry." The young mother mutters a slew of apologies at you.