Chapter 3: A Rundown Town

In the depths of the land known as Eden, humanity's last refuge, awaits a city filled with a maze of dirty and unmaintained buildings, not far from a sprawling slum. Inside those streets awaits a line of people so long you can't see the end. At the front of the line, a small government building is handing out rations. The officials are clearly underfunded as the building is rundown, and their food supplies meager at best. Those waiting in the line are malnourished, many of them nothing but skin and bones, and their clothing in desperate need of replacement. The line is anything but quiet, and the environment is hostile and tense. A rock is thrown. Then another. Blood begins to spill.

In the center of the city lies an area walled off from the rest, its buildings in perfect shape and their materials a glistening white. In one of these buildings, a group of people tinkers and adjusts a complex device. After finishing their preparations they exit the room and enter another filled with measuring equipment, its wall a sterile white with one glass window that peers into the room they left. Inside that room lies a large device with an ovoid capsule around 9 feet tall in the center surrounded by two pillars parallel to it.

"Test 9548 authorized, begin in 3.. 2.. 1.. start."

Soon after that, the two pillars startup with a whir and begin to spin around the capsule, slowly gaining speed. Soon the pillars have gained significant speed and electricity begins to arc between the pillars and the capsule. Earsplitting crackling occurs as the electricity gets to a blinding level. At the same time, every room in the city besides the one where the device lies experiences a blackout as the two pillars start to slow down and eventually stop.

"Test 9548, success, the future is now ours to mold."

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As Sophie retraced her way out of the city. She had to avoid the supermarket as she heard a few too many crunching noising coming from within. After a minor detour, she stepped back into the dunes and started towards a nearby market.

She had a long walk ahead of her, it was about a half days journey to the market but she may have to head to another after she got there as her current location was a rather remote location within the borderlands, where the human presence was not very significant.

Sophie's current location was in the far north of the borderlands but wasn't that close to the land beyond the borderlands that few dared to tread. Typically in the borderlands, the further west you went, the more people and oases you could find. Eventually, it stopped being the borderlands and became the land known as "Eden". Eden got its name from the much higher amount of livable land within compared to the borderlands.

If Sophie wanted to travel into Eden she would have to travel for a few weeks and would also have to pass through the border built by the powers inhabiting Eden. It was notoriously hard to pass the border and it was strictly controlled. Even within Eden resources weren't plentiful as any wasteland was still a wasteland, no matter how liveable, and this contributed to the reluctance to let people through.

Sophie made her way to the market without incident, and with her quick pace managed to make it there as night was falling. The town ahead had less than thirty buildings and a market that was currently closed. Many towns like this centered on a market and inn where wanders, scavengers, and the like, could stay in and trade without having to travel too far from ruins. Towns like these typically only had a few actual residents, the rest were going through or merchants trying to buy scavenged goods for cheaper, like a convenience store, but for selling things. This town in particular had a large old brick home that was kept in relatively good condition that acted as an inn. Sophie jogged up to the inn and entered.

Inside the inn was a tall room, dimly lit by handful candles made from lower-tier mutant fat. On the other side of the room behind a wooden counter was an old man fallen asleep in his chair. He almost seemed dead, if it wasn't for the loud snoring sounding out from him. On the left and right were doors leading to other areas of the house and directly to the left of the counter was a staircase that led to the second floor with a balcony overlooking the entrance.

Sophie walked up to the desk and rang the bell on top of it. Upon pressing the button, nothing happened as the bell was broken. Frowning Sophie lightly grabbed the man's shoulder and shook him a little. Blinking awake, he rubbed his eyes without an ounce of hurry and noticed Sophie waiting there.

"Oh, a customer, I assume you'd like a room? 5 coppers per night, 5 coppers per meal." He said in an uninterested tone.

After a bit of shuffling, Sophie pulled out 5 small coins brown coins and handed them over.

The innkeeper took the money and after opening a drawer, dropping the coins in, and closing it asked, "Any room, in particular, you'd like?"

"..." Sophie blankly looked at him without saying a word.

The innkeeper stared for a moment before leaning down to grab a key and handing it over. "Alright then, up the stairs 2nd room on the left." he simply stated before leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes.

Sophie took the keys and went up the stairs into her room. Locking the door she paused for a moment before taking the room's chair and putting it against the door as well. Looking around the room there was a bed with the bare essentials, a small table without a chair, and a single candle atop the table. Sophie put her bag beside the bed and laid down on the bed. The bed felt nearly no different from laying on a wooden board and the blanket was see-through. Despite the shortcomings, this inn was pretty good for being so far out in the borderlands. Sophie closed her eyes and shortly fell asleep.