Gunpowder

A warm gust of wind wafted over Axis’s face as she opened the front door to her house, her shared house.

It was a nice day for late fall, not nearly cold enough for frost to form. The sun hung directly in the center of the sky, not being hid by any clouds, as there were none dotting the sky.

“Are you ready for this?” she asked, looking to the left of her, where her roommate was standing quite apprehensively.

“I never imagined it would be this big. It all looked so small on the computer,” Poppy responded, her awed gaze locked on the sprawling horizon.

“It’s huge, bigger than you could ever imagine. But I somehow know every nook and cranny of it. Sometimes I even surprise myself. But, it must be the same with you in the out-lands,”

“Yeah, must be,” her roommate mumbled in response.

“I can only show you some of it today, as there is simply not time to show you it all. But, I think you will like what you will see,”

“Do you really think I can walk that far?”

“We aren’t walking. You’re legs are not healed enough for such a journey. Even I get tired out just walking about the whole place,”

“Then.. how are we gonna get around?”

A small hint of a grin formed on Axis’s face. She knew that Poppy would love this.

“Watch,” she said simply, before taking a tiny compressed metal cube from her pocket. She haphazardly threw it in front of herself, underhand. It hummed for mere milliseconds before springing to life. In only a few seconds, a shiny, metal and rubber, equine stood before them, its eyes large and waiting.

“Woah,” was all that Poppy could make out in her amazement, “Is that-?”

“Robotic horse, robot-horse, they don’t really have an official name. But we use them all the time. Come on, just follow my lead,”

Axis mounted the animal, going slowly in an attempt to demonstrate it to the woman who was obviously alien to the concept. She made sure to leave room for her, scooting forwards towards the animal’s withers.

Poppy nervously came close to the machine, eying every part of it. She eventually decided that it seemed safe, and braced one foot against the animal’s side, as Axis had done just seconds before. She gripped her hands around its neck and, using all the strength she could muster, swung her leg over its side. She toppled into the other rider a bit, but still managed to find her place on the robot’s back.

“Alright. Let’s get going! I’ll go slow, but if you need me to stop, just tell me,”

As if Axis had some sort of philological connection with the machine, it began to move at a placid pace. Every step made it sway sideways, but only slightly, not so much that it bothered either of the riders.

The taller woman steered the animal-shaped automobile down the driveway of the house and down the street of the neighborhood. Every house was the same basic shape, but every residence had its own touch to it. One was decorated with the flags of the rebellion, while another was decorated with Christmas lights, even though the holiday was still a month away. One house even had a small, white Pomeranian bounding about its lawn, squeaking with a little chew toy as it ran. It was all so.. quaint.

“Are you sure this is legal?” Poppy inquired as they began to leave the neighborhood.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, well the ankle bracelet. Wouldn’t it stop me from leaving the house?”

“Of course not. It is set to allow you all around Nagari,”

“But, this place is huge!”

“Yes, it truly is. Huge and magnificent. You must remember that we are not like you loyals. You are not a true prisoner, simply monitored under the law.”

“You truly are strange, all of you rebels,”

“You could say that,”

As they spoke, they headed out of the neighborhood and into a large, commercial district that seemed to border it. In the center of the district sat a large, grassy, plaza, with some kind of advertisement threaded into the green stalks. Going out from the plaza in all directions were wide roads, made of a kind of alloy instead of the normal quartz paths that were used in most places.

Lining these roads were sidewalks, which were lined with little shops. They were all quite diverse, ranging from little family diners to large equipment-rentals.

“What is this place?” Poppy asked, staring in wonder at every little thing.

“A commercial district, full of shops,”

“Distribution centers?”

“Shops, where people exchange currency for goods?”

“Oh, yes. Currency, such an uncommon word. Such an uncommon type of area too, I assume?”

“Not really. This one is quite big, but there’s bigger ones, and of course there’s smaller ones.”

“Interesting,”

“We could go into one of the shops, if you would like,”

“Um... is there a shop for, pet cats?”r

“There’s a pet store if I remember properly,”

“Could we, uh, go there? I’ve never seen a pet cat before,”

“Sure! I’ll just have to find it,”

Despite the ride’s longevity, it did not turn tedious at any point. The two women traveled up and down each rode, searching for their destination, until they at last found it.

The pet store was a large, dome-shaped building, with a clearly painted on glass texture to it. Both riders dismounted the robot-horse, and the taller of the two reverted it back to its cube form before they entered.

The inside of the store was quite small, leading Poppy to believe that its size on the outside was some sort of optical illusion. There were cages stacked high in the back, a few shelves stocked with pet food and cat litter, and a single check out isle, which was quite near the entrance. A large cockatoo flew overhead, sprinkling feathers all around, before landing on a perch that hung from the ceiling.

“May I help you?” came a slightly hoarse voice from behind them. It came from an older woman, whose skin was quite folded in wrinkly, though it was held up by the smile she kept on her face. She looked quite hesitant about saying the simple sentence. Her eyes were locked on Poppy fearfully, as if the technician might lunge out and attack her at any moment.

“Not now,” Axis responded, walking along to the back of the store. The cages there were stacked five-high, and contained all manner of animals.

Many of the enclosures housed smaller dogs: Terriers, Chihuahuas, Beagles, Corgis, Jack Russels, pugs, dachshunds. But that was not what had captivated Poppy.

The short woman’s eyes were locked onto a smaller section of the cages, which housed many cats of all shapes and sizes. Some were tiny and some were large, some were fat and some were no more than skin and bone. Almost all of them were asleep.

Poppy was particularly interested in a single cage, which housed a large fluffy black and white cat, sleeping under its bed, purring softly. Its fur was sleek and smooth, hanging off of its body slightly.

“I’m gonna steal this one,” she said, poking her finger through the cage bars.

“Poppy. Poppy, no. No stealing cats,”

“Aww,” she responded sarcastically.

By then, the cat had seemed to take notice of the two woman speaking. It stood to its paws, stretching and throwing the bed off its back. It groomed its tail for a brief moment, as if it wanted to look presentable to the visitors, and approached them. It apprehensively sniffed Poppy’s fingertip, then licked it.

“Axis. Axis it loves me,” Poppy said happily as the animal began to rub against her finger. It was purring up a storm, even letting out the occasional meow.

“I guess it does.”

“I love this city,” she said as the animal began to play with her finger as if it were a toy. She sounded like a child, excited over whatever thing had caught their interest.

Axis smiled, “I do too,”