Memories of Earth (Sonny - Aftermath 1) https://youtu.be/XxIr_gXszgM

In the blue hour, in a field of gently swaying grass, an old man stood, listening quietly to the cicadas screaming for pussy. He smiled at the thought. Insects were very amusing creatures and it was their music which gave voice to heat and the evening.

A cool breeze blew and it felt good against his weathered face. The old man was not used to such a peaceful, tranquil atmosphere. For the moment, he felt as if he were... safe? Yes, safe. For the first time in a very, very long time.

He closed his eye. He could imagine being there, in his old hometown, walking through the streets and the places he grew up in. Another time, another place, like a memory adrift in a sea of grass and eternity and the sounds of an eternal American summer.

But this was all... A fabrication.

And actually, so was this entire scene.

Zoos, after all, are the built realization of man's favorite illusion: control over nature.

The old man's jaw clenched. He sighed a really deep and disappointed sigh out of simultaneous shame and frustration. Tilting his head upwards, he saw the shimmering of the light panels across the vast dome of the sky as it touched the earth. Under his feet, he could feel the subtle rumbling of hidden machines working tirelessly. Through his bones, weather generators blew colder than a moment they did before. None such detail would escape him, nothing ever did.

The inhabitants of the zoo could never comprehend the engineering and human imagination invested in this place, but it was the old man's awareness of these things which damned him. He was too old and too jaded, too far in his Fallen state to partake in the ignorant bliss as much as he could receive the Heavenly grace. Something old, dark, and chthonic gnawed at his heart which was treacherous and full of deceit and the taste was bitter, bitter.

He simply could not go home again. It was quite impossible.
Memories of clear skies had already faded away.

Gently shaking off the dust from his feet, the Arm of the City stepped into the cabin of his personal car and bade its return to the Seed known as White Sands. The engines shuddered as the shuttlecraft took off from the orbital station and burned through the night. His right hand man had given him an all-day pass to the Metazoo with only the best of intentions, but alas, alack, such a gift was wasted on the likes of him. He hadn't even seen a single stupid animal or Pokémon during his entire visit, what a fucking ripoff.

Even though he shouldn't, the old man was going to have some very harsh words with his friend when he came back home.

And on the planet of SUNROSE below, a completely different and totally unrelated story is taking place...