A New Night

Sky City’s Most Wanted

I pulled myself up from the concrete ground and stood. Before us was the Sky City, grander than anything I could have imagined. Though only a square mile or so, there was a full-blown metropolis. The towers that comprised the city were unlike anything I expected. Instead of a mix of steel and glass, they were patterned with colors. The neatly kept greenery built into the architecture blurred any sharp building edges.

The Sky City was surrounded by miniature forests, a beach, and even an artificial ocean—complete with waves. This water, only about a twenty-foot drop from the wall we stood on, was the only thing that separated us from reaching the city.

Beyond the buildings was an enormous glass tube reaching far into the sky. The way the light hit the tube now revealed the insides of it clearly, while the rest was like a reflection. It was no wonder I had been unable to see it, even from the Wall. Inside the tube, there was a line of colorful lights and shapes. I watched in awe as some entered the city while others seemed to be leaving. Were these … space ships?

I studied the tube and tried to find where it connected to any ground. It was only then that I noticed a sort of hovering glass dome around the entire city. Looking up, I could not see where the open air ended and the dome began. Was this how it was so warm here? It was a giant greenhouse … a biosphere.

I returned my attention to the body of water below. It spanned all the way until it became a beach. There, I saw hundreds of colorful shapes moving around. It took me a moment to realize that there were people. A few seemed to be enjoying floatation devices on the water. These waved at us from the distance; I just waved back in a daze. But these were not the only recreational-looking crafts. Above the water, triangles similar to hang-gliders floated lazily—more slowly than I thought gravity and physics would have allowed.

I watched the beings on the beach, in the air, and on the water. It took me a bit to discern that some were human-like while others were completely inhuman beings. However, there were no Night People, no Hunters, and no … no robots. I felt my heart sink deeply into my chassis—my figurative heart that I literally felt.

So deep was I in that moment of self-pity that I did not even notice Romalla flying toward a green hang-glider. “Romalla?” I said—lamely coming back to my senses. I screamed her name a second time.

However, it was too late! Romalla was already flying faster than I’d ever seen her go.

“Romalla!” I screamed again. I looked desperately at Dro, hoping he could do something, but the Hunter just shook his head. “I’ll get her and then find you.”

Dro shrugged while Scraa nodded several times.

Without another thought, I jumped off the wall. This was proceeded by a renewed terror of the sensation of falling for a moment before I hit the water. I instinctively tried to hold my breath and then just watched as I sank to the sandy bottom of the artificial sea. My vision became slightly distorted—the sunlight refracted on the surface of the water above me. A few bubbles rose around me, but they were surprisingly few.

Somehow, the thought never occurred to me that I wasn’t waterproof. It didn’t register until I was trying miserably to swim my heavy frame back to the surface. However, I did not fizzle out and die that instant. In fact, my body gradually began to float. As I rose, colorful fish approached; but I looked away from them irritably in favor of the surface.

Then, with a splash, my head was above water! In the distance, I could see Romalla—following the green flying craft toward the city. I tried to swim forward like a human, quickly learning that this was pointless. However, something in my back began to churn like a quiet motor. I began to move forward … even if at the speed of a paddleboat.

The people I had seen before watched with minor looks of interest as I slowly made my way to shore. Like with the fish, I deliberately ignored them. The instant my feet touched the shallows, I awkwardly ran.

Romalla and the green hang-glider were now soaring over the colorful buildings.

I ran—first picking up speed when I was no longer in the water and then again after running past the beach. I glanced down and realized that I was running on a cobblestone street.

I returned my attention upward as the craft and Romalla seemed to land on the top of an earthen magenta tower.

My claws extracted, and I leaped onto the exterior of the tower. Whatever the soft substance comprised the outer part of the tower was, it was easy for me to climb. Yet, it didn’t feel fast enough. Minutes passed as I moved my quickest up the building. Once I reached the top, I looked around in a panic.

However, they were no longer there! It took me a moment before I spotted Romalla and the craft flying toward the next building over. I internally berated myself for having misjudged their destination. Then … then I realized that there was not much space between the building I stood on and my destination. If … if I wanted … I could jump it.

I stumbled from a sudden bout of vertigo and then shook my head angrily at myself. Then, with nausea that should have had me heaving, I forced my trembling legs to sprint. Then I stopped in my tracks. “No, no, no, no!” I screamed, loathing my legs for having stopped me. But I couldn’t; my fear had been pushed to the limit.

A buzzing right next to me caused me to jump in fright. I turned to see a floating yellow bucket about half my size. It had yellow flashing lights and a few arms with devices I did not recognize.

“Educator Model Alpha PSA. Please cease this dangerous action and allow us to speak while rescue workers come to your aid.” It spoke in a language very similar to that of the Night People. For coming from a robot, it sounded real—with a serious yet gentle tone.

I looked where Romalla had landed. She was hopping close to the craft, which had landed. Would it be for the best to let the Triumvirate handle this? There was something familiar about them … and I hadn’t gotten any red flags about them being some sort of violent civilization. But still, I had a disconcerting feeling that I couldn’t explain even to myself.

“She needs me,” I said with a shake of my head. I felt my body try to hyperventilate.

“Rescue services have noted your friend,” the drone said. “They will be working to help her.”

“But Romalla won’t-” How could I explain to a drone what Romalla expected to find here? Or that she was far stronger than she looked and would not be easily captured or talked down. No, I needed to be there!

With a shout of absolute fear, I ran and leaped with everything I was—off the side of the building. For a moment, there was nothing but wind and terror. Then I was landing. My feet touched the roof of the adjacent building; they buckled beneath me, and the rest of my body hit with destructive impact.

“Your rescue attempts have been judged too hazardous to allow,” the drone said, already at my side once again. One of its mechanical pieces began to glow with blue light. “Please stop, or I will be forced to stop you.”

Without another thought, I punched the drone with enough impact to shatter the glass and plastic bits while denting the armor. When I realized what I’d done, I yelped and repeatedly said, “Sorry, sorry!” I hoped there would be a way to repair it if it was some kind of security robot. But the matter of the drone did not keep my attention for long.

Romalla was there—standing over the now unmanned craft. She had said nothing and was not moving.

“Romalla…”

Romalla did not reply. I stepped closer and saw that her eyes were watering. Even more tears soaked the fur on her face. Her pointed pig-nose was wetter and paler than it usually was. “They’re not here.” Her tone was distant and faint.

Something in my brain told me that I needed to talk to her and say something reassuring. But that sentiment was being drowned out by the sirens around us. I said, “Romalla, we need to hide,” feeling panic overtake me. The padded compartment in my torso opened. When Romalla did not reply, I gently lifted her and placed her gently into my chassis.

Romalla didn’t fight this.

Once she was secure, I looked up and immediately saw a dozen more buckets with yellow lights flying directly toward us.

I looked down from the roof and saw an easily accessible balcony. I scrambled down, grateful it did not collapse under my weight. From there, a sliding glass door divided me from the inside of the building. I slid open the door and walked inside.

There, I found myself in a large room filled with furniture, plants, and colorful object that were utterly alien to me. I opened the first door, which led to what looked like a large closet with neatly stacked boxes. I jumped inside and crouched.

There, I waited. Minutes passed.

When I thought it might be safe, I opened my chassis and lifted Romalla. The blue glow of my face illuminated hers. “Are you alright?” I asked, my tone hushed.

“Everything I’ve ever believed was a lie...” Romalla said, still unable to look at me. “The gods in the Spirit Realm reside here alone. There are no Night People.”

I felt frozen; I had no idea how to console her.

But Romalla looked at me, her eyes full of pleading. “Why, Sleeping God? Have the gods rejected us, or are we simply not important enough that our spirits should be preserved in the afterlife? I thought you …”

“Romalla, you’re important to me,” I said, a new kind of panic building within and coming out plainly in my tone. “All of you are. But I don’t … I know know what-”

“Is that why you are rejected among the gods?” Romalla replied dully. I didn’t think she said it to be cruel, but her disappointment was unmistakable. “You fear them.”

“I tried to explain-” I protested with a voice that had very much cracked.

“I wonder if you even chose to come to the Night People.” Romalla continued in her monotone dejection. “Now … now I think you were cast out of the Spirit Realm. Your memories were not a sacrifice; they were taken as punishment.”

“I don’t-”

Romalla was lost by this point. She was shaking her head and rocking on her back legs. “What did you do? Is it your fault that the gods hate us? Are they punishing us for freeing you from your prison?”

“This … this isn’t a Spirit Realm-”

“Don’t,” Romalla murmured. “You don’t know anything. It’s all a lie. I won’t ever see my father or Krogallo again. They’re gone, and I’ll be alone forever—just like you.”

I was left with a desperate feeling like I needed to breathe, which I could not. What was more, I no longer fully trusted my thoughts. It really did seem that I was a reject among the Triumvirate or whatever these machines were. My memories of the man with the gun ... how did I know that he wasn’t justified in shooting me? Had it been capital punishment? Had I been imprisoned in that pod on purpose? Buried … and left to rot forever.

I truly was a reject from the Triumvirate. And now there was not even a place left for me among the Night People. Finally, my worst fear had come to pass—I was completely and entirely alone.