Metro-West

Nekane wiped off her lips and pulled her cardigan close to her body as she stepped into the cool crisp evening. Since she had stayed late, she missed the train to her apartment and since it would be another half hour wait for the next one, Sergio had called her a cab. Half the time she worked she called a cab anyway, but Sergio didn't need to know that if he was paying.

It wasn't that she couldn't walk the distance. In fact she had once or twice. It wasn't even a mile and even though Nekane might not have been particularly athletic, but this was pretty easy stuff. All but the very worst parts of the city had well maintained sidewalks and the change in elevation was negligible. However, walking around the city wasn't especially safe. It wasn't particularly unsafe either. But the world she lived in could be described as.. morally ambiguous.

Nekane stepped into the taxi and spoke to the short haired brunette sitting in the drivers seat.

"1000 Osage Place please"

The driver had barely acknowledged Nekane as she entered the squat rectangle car and didn't respond to her address either. All registered taxis had a solid glass pane as a divider between the front where the driver was and the rear passenger area. Conversations and instructions were transmitted through a series of microphones and speakers and sometimes if the system wasn't working great the driver wouldn't be able to understand. But the taxi started moving immediately. Looks like the driver just wasn't interested in any social pleasantries today. The car entered into a heavy traffic, the remnants of rush hour, and smoothly steadily headed towards her apartment. The cabbie

She wasn't born in the city, but it had been her home for the past five years, and it had grown to be home. Maybe not home forever, but home for now at least. It was one of just five Metro class cities on the planet. There were smaller settlements and rural developments of course, but they didn't interest Nekane nearly as much as the politics and intrigue offered here. This was where things happened. Where contracts were awarded, where treaties were brokered by powerful people, and where secrets were peddled and transferred. Where culture was made and people fell in and out of love and the reasons for living were discovered. This was home. This was Metro-West.

Of course, the city was also where other things happened. Less savory things. Even as her mind turned that direction she could see the very thing on the streets outside. A young man pressed up against the dark wall of an alley by two other men, both wearing a black shirt with a single yellow band around the left sleeve. As they drifted out of her view, she saw one of the two punch the first man in the stomach. The last she saw was him reeling over. If she tried, she could probably view a similar scene two or three more times in the 15 minute ride home.

Of course the young man had probably done something to offend the other party in the first place. That was the thinking of most people in the city, and she imagined, the world. You get what was coming to you. If you minded your own business you'd be fine. The statistics backed it up too. Random acts of violence and crime were actually incredibly rare.

The problem was it was impossible to mind your own business without being a recluse. Everyone was a part of some family or some gang or guild or faction. Life was a game of navigating relationships and remembering who's who.

It was a game that Nekane savored.

And the scene playing out in the streets of her ride home was deceptive: violence and physical strength was only one way of leveraging power in the Metros. In fact, most would say it was the basest and least effective way of getting what you want. Anyone well respected wouldn't even think of threatening violence as a solution to their problems. Nevertheless, it existed, and was a way of life for a significant population of the city.

Nekane's apartment was on the other side of the street. Had she been watching that side of the street the whole way home, she might have thought she was looking at a different city. Couples walked hand in hand down the street. Street vendors were selling trinkets and food even as the sun set. The denizens North of Osage Place were all young professionals, with good enough connections to stem any unpleasantries from spilling into their direct view.

"Thank You!" Nekane said as she stepped out of the taxi.

Once again, the taxi driver said nothing and the yellow box merged back into the street.

Nekane said hello to the doorman and went straight to the lobby elevator and hit number 9. When the elevator doors opened, she turned left and walked to the end of the hallway. She pushed her finger up against the door labeled 9D and pushed open the door. She dropped her purse and work items and went straight to the living room where she turned on the news. She doubted that there was anything on that she didn't already know, but she listened anyway as she headed to the kitchen. She wasn't particularly hungry so she threw together a sandwich and sat down on the couch to eat it and finish her news program.

Just as she expected, nothing that she hadn't heard about at work today already. Nekane started to walk over to her desktop computer. Sergio had given her some homework for the weekend, unfortunately it wasn't going to be a very restful one. Before she could dwell too much on her task at hand, she heard a knock at the door.