You are nearly flung to the floor when the train picks up speed WAY faster than you expected. The damn thing goes from a slow crawl to what feels like a bullet train on crack. Maruyama had already grabbed onto a nearby metal pole while Kiara slams face first into the floor. <span class="mu-s">CLANG!</span>
"owie." A tinny whimper escapes the android.
You grab onto your seat like your life depends on it. Maruyama merely snorts at the two of you being this disoriented by the sudden speed difference. "As usual, A-Corp. cares about being flashy over being safe." He looks down at Kiara. "You okay?"
"yeah." Kiara pries herself off of the floor and sits back in her seat. There's no real damage done to her face despite smashing head first into a metal floor. Both of you turn your attention to the blurs outside the window as the train picks up speed.
The three of you sit in silence for what feels like twenty minutes at most before the indistinct blurs outside the window turn into something you can make out. Your eyes lighten up when you see what the new district you're stumbling into looks like.
https://youtu.be/V7tGh1dstig - DISTRICT 1
If you weren't still hundreds of miles from the District, you would've been blinded. An infinite sea of neon lights blankets the sky in a blur of magenta and cyan. Billboards, screens, and neon signs litter every building you can see with advertisements of some new show or product. The skyscrapers that you can see stretch on way taller than most of the other buildings you've seen in District 6, 7, or 8.
You have to narrow your eyes when the train gets closer to it. Neon light floods into the train car, coating the whole damn thing in neon pinks and cyans. If you focus your ear enough, you swear you can hear music and voices from the advertisements all the way over here.
"It takes a while to get used to." Kiara grips her knees tightly with her hands. "It's best not to stare too hard at that. I've heard some rumors of people here becoming colorblind from sheer exposure to the lights."
"Never liked this district." Maruyama huffs. "I always preferred District 14 or 20. Those were clean. Quiet. Not this rowdy mess meant for brain damaged teenagers and stunted manchildren." You notice he doesn't have his eyes open. Not like you can blame him.
"Better than District 8." You half-heartedly respond. At least there's no smog. "Fair." Both your allies nod their heads in unison.
You're given something of a break when the train pulls into station and only because it seems mostly abandoned at this point. Same as your train you got on, even. It was hard to notice thanks to the lights blinding you before but there's no one besides the three of you.
The train pulls out of the station, leaving you three behind at the abandoned station. The ticket booths are empty with no staff in sight. The chairs have more dust on them than chair at this point. The only source of light is up a set of stairs past some turnstiles.
