InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Fool's Redemption ❯ Throughout the Halls of Wonderland ( Chapter 4 )

A/N: This chapter contains a lot of setting, but most of it is necessary for later chapters.

Chapter 4 - Throughout the Halls of Wonderland

She awoke the next morning to bright sunlight streaming in through the windows. She had forgotten to close the blinds the night before, and when pulling the blankets over her head to block out the sunlight failed to help her get back to sleep, she gave up and retreated into the bathroom for a quick shower. As she emerged a few minutes later, dressed and wringing her hair in a towel, a steady thumping drew her attention to the windows, and as she walked over to them, a helicopter suddenly rose into view. It hovered there for a moment, then turned steeply and headed toward the ruins that lay off in the distance. Glancing down, she watched as several large bays in the ground opened up from under slowly retracting doors to reveal more helicopters sitting just below the ground's surface. One by one, they each lifted and flew off in different directions.

Must be more security, she thought. Alduray was a well-guarded fortress out of necessity. Sitting out in the middle of nowhere, without its security it was a sitting duck for the bands of gangs and marauders that still roamed the wastelands left over from the war. Try as the government may, it still hadn't managed to regain complete control of the entire country, and most outlying cities were responsible for their own security. She placed a hand on the glass and stared out as far as she could to what was left of the previous city.

Fifty-three years ago, before the wars, Norcross had been a small but steadily growing resort town, gradually making its wealth off of the tourists whose cruise ships docked in the coastal city of Redan that lie twenty-five miles to the southeast. During the atomic war, it had gone mostly unscathed, and had escaped most of the major after effects of the war. However, it was too remote and too reliant on trade from the major cities that had been wiped out to survive on its own for long. When business and shipping halted, the city quickly ran out of resources and most of its citizens evacuated. When rumors spread that radiation had leaked into the city's main water supplies, Norcross was finally abandoned completely.

It had remained empty but intact until the civil war that followed. The city had been the site of a major ground battle, with the result that almost every building had been leveled. Everything that indicated this place had once been a budding paradise had been marred somehow by the fighting. Even the ground had been ruined and parched from the loss of its trees. For a long time the entire area was thought to be completely barren and incapable of supporting life. That's when her father and her uncle had arrived with their ambitious plans.

A knock at the door pulled her attention from the window. Opening the door, she found Sango on the other side, and they greeted each other warmly.

“Ready to go?” the other girl asked.

Kagome nodded and followed her out, letting the door close and lock automatically behind her.

They exchanged pleasantries as they headed downstairs and stopped at a small cafe on the third floor for breakfast. They sat at a table out in front of the cafe, along the railing. Looking out across the atrium and down to the ground floor, Kagome noticed only a few people roaming about. “I'm surprised there aren't more people around. It's ten-thirty already,” she remarked.

Sango swallowed a mouth full of pancakes before answering. “Most everyone is at work by now, or sleeping. Our schedule is a little different from what you're used to. We work in shifts here. The hours vary a bit, but as a general rule the first shift starts at 7am and ends at 1pm, the second shift runs from 1 to 7pm, third shift is 7 to 1am, and the fourth runs from 1 to 7am. There's a separate shift that runs from 8pm to 2am, but that's just for the people who work underground.”

Kagome raised an eyebrow. “Underground?”

Sango gave a tiny, secretive smile. “You'll find out about that later. The shift you get depends mainly on the job you take. The early shifts are more normal daytime type work, and the night hours are mostly maintenance type jobs. You're going to have a morning shift. Is that alright?”

“You already have a job for me?”

Sango nodded. “I think you'll like it. It's an easy job, but one that's absolutely necessary to the productivity of the city.” She pointed out the tall window that ran the length of the atrium, to the dome outside. “You'll be running soil samples in the dome and greenhouses. I figured it would be fitting with your background in biology.”

Kagome nodded and chewed thoughtfully on a bite of pancakes. “That sounds good.”

“We'll go down there later so you can see where you'll be working, after I show you around the towers.”

They finished their breakfast and headed down to the ground floor. “I suppose you already know the history of this place, given your family ties to its founders.”

Kagome nodded. “My father and uncle built this city together. They came here a few years after the war, when everyone else thought this area wasn't capable of supporting life anymore. My uncle engineered and built the towers, and my father worked on the dome technology that would provide the things that the city needed to survive on its own way out in the middle of nowhere, without having to rely too much on outside support.”

Their goal had been to create a new kind of city, one that was free from the post-war banality that seemed to grip the rest of the country, without the strict rules that had been enforced in most places after the war. They wanted to create a retreat where people could live peacefully with the freedom to express themselves in whatever way they chose, where everyone was held in equal status, and were able to work and provide for themselves. In short, they wanted a place where people could take pride in and celebrate their lives.

Her uncle and father had been charismatic leaders and lucrative businessmen, both bringing to the table the skills and leadership needed to make such a monumental task possible. Enlisting every contact they had, and nearly exhausting the whole of their own bank accounts, they managed to build the towers, the dome and the first greenhouse within two and a half years. At first the only residents had been mostly the small army of people who had helped to build the city, but within four years the population began to steadily grow. People came from all over, intrigued by the ideals of the city's creators.

At the time the city was built, the entire country was having difficulty providing enough food for its inhabitants. The soil in most of the metropolitan areas had been tainted and ruined by not only the constant ground fighting, but also by the chemicals of weapons that had seeped into the soil, destroying the ability to cultivate the land for food production. Kagome's father had made it his life's goal to find a way to reverse the damage that had been done, and the dome technology was the result of his hard work. The ground could be restored, but only through the use of the domes and greenhouses, which served to purify both the land as well as the air within them. They could be built in any size and shape, on almost any kind of terrain, and through a special process that he had invented that sped up the production abilities of the soil, crops could be produced twice as fast and twice as big as they could using normal methods. And since the greenhouses were climate controlled, crops could be grown year round in a comfortable environment.

It was through the lucrative contracting of these buildings that her father and uncle truly began to make Alduray thrive, constructing and leasing out the domes and greenhouses for several major cities wishing to provide the same kind of prosperity to their own people. Within five years, the two men had recovered all of their losses incurred in the building of the city, as well as established a tremendously profitable trading business, selling exotic produce that was hard to come by, and which her uncle still held a monopoly over to this day. Now entirely self-sufficient with the exception of meat and some grains, Alduray was one of the most prosperous cities in the entire country. Its rowdy reputation aside, the city enjoyed civil relationships with its neighboring communities, mostly due to the trade of both the produce as well as leading-edge technology that the city's scientists and engineers were famous for creating.

“We'll start at the beginning,” Sango said, heading into the elaborate foyer through which Kagome had entered into the city the day before. “Normally there's a `holding period' for people who are new to the city. They stay at Belle Drift, which you came through yesterday, for two to three months, where we make sure that they're… right for this place. We do a background check and watch any new prospects closely to make sure we don't have any criminals or militia coming in. It's kind of a smaller version of Alduray, with the same kind of lifestyle. If people are going to decide that this isn't the life for them, we'd prefer they do it there rather than waiting until after they've already settled in here. Because of your situation and the need to get you out of Eona as quickly as possible, we decided to let you skip that part, especially considering you're the king's niece and all. Belle Drift also serves as the major shipping and transport hub between Alduray and most of the northern cities.”

They stopped in the middle of the room and Sango pointed at the stairway that led down to the front entrance. “You probably remember our security. That door is manned 24 hours a day. I'm sure you know how dangerous the wastelands are around here. Anyone is allowed to go outside through that door if they want. And anyone is free to leave any time they wish. But unless they make prior arrangements to be flown back to Belle Drift and taken to a major city from there, they leave at their own risk. I can't imagine why anyone would want to wander out into the wastelands, anyways.”

That last part was spoken more as if Sango was musing to herself, and for a brief second the older girl's face looked troubled, then cleared again with a nervous little smile, as if she had been talking about something she shouldn't have. She pointed to the corridor on the right, the one with the statues that held an authoritative look.

“You've already been back there. That's where all of the administrative offices are: your uncle's, his two main assistant's, as well as a few others.” She pointed to the other side of the room at the opposite corridor, the one with the solemn looking statues. “That's where we conduct legal matters. The rules for living here are simple. Cause no harm, and never break an oath.

“The first one is pretty self-explanatory. The second one refers to our oath system. We use oaths for a lot of things here. For deals, contracts, settling disputes. Pretty much anything where an agreement must be reached and then acted upon is dealt with by making an oath.

“For example, if someone feels they have been wronged by another, the situation is mediated, and if it's found that it's a valid complaint, an agreement for some kind of compensation is made. Then both individuals have to make a public oath before a small three-person tribunal, stating the reason for and expected outcome of the oath. It's a legal, binding contract. Once it's been made, it can't be broken until the terms of the oath have been satisfied. If the person on the compensating end does not follow through with their end of the oath, the other person may choose further mediation and a new oath, or they can have that person removed from the city.”

Seeing Kagome's shocked expression, Sango smiled. “Don't worry. It's a very solid system, and it's nearly impossible to abuse. Only a handful have ever been asked to leave. Being made to leave is an option that's rarely ever used, because most people just aren't willing to give up the life they've built for themselves here, so they do what it takes to stay.”

Kagome nodded and looked again at the solemn expression of the statues that framed the door. She wondered if she would ever have to step beyond them in order to make an oath to someone.

“Moving on,” Sango chirped with a cheerful expression, seemingly anxious to lighten the mood. They walked back into the towering atrium. By now it was almost noon, and the sun was just beginning to peek into the atrium from its midday position. They paused and looked up.

“This tower is sixty stories from the ground level up” Sango began. “There are four pairs of elevators: north, south, east and west. Here on the ground level is our main restaurant, the entrance to the eco-dome and greenhouses, our public baths, the entrance to the middle tower, our engineering labs, and our med center. The second story is all shops—clothing, home stuff, that sort of thing. All owned and operated by residents. They rent out the space and they're allowed to sell whatever they want. Lots of clothing stores, almost all of it designed and created here.

“On the third floor is where all our services can be found. Anything that doesn't count as retail. That's where the cafes are, as well as the public kitchen, which is huge and has pretty much everything you'd ever need for cooking. The services desk and workshops are there too. We have all kinds of people who make all kinds of things here. All you have to do is ask at the desk and they can find a craftsman to do whatever it is you need.

“There are a total of 1,960 residential rooms on floors four through fifty-nine, with thirty-five rooms per floor. On the fifteenth floor there's an observation deck that overlooks the dome and greenhouses. The 60th floor is where the king and the princes live. One of the few perks they get with the position is getting a nice loft on the top floor—nothing huge and grand, but they are nice. There are also lofts up there that the public can rent out for a night or two. They're kind of like vacation suites. And there's an observatory that has an amazing view of the night sky.”

Pointing to a large open area to the right, she said, “The restaurant over there is the busiest one, with the widest range of food. There are a few cafés upstairs like the one you and I ate breakfast at, but most of your meals will probably be eaten in there, unless you choose to make your own in the public kitchen upstairs. To the right of the restaurant is the entrance to the medical facility. Any problem you have, they can take care of it there.”

Next Sango turned to the left and pointed to an elegantly arched doorway set into the wall on the other side of the elevators. “That's the entrance to the baths. Down there you'll find thermal Turkish, roman, and Japanese style baths. There's a small fee to use them, but they're wonderful. I go there all the time.”

She pointed straight across to where the long window that ran the length of the atrium met the ground in a set of huge Victorian arched windows. Large glass sliding doors sat at its base. “Through there are the greenhouses and the dome. We'll go there later.”

Sango started toward the opposite side of the atrium, but Kagome paused for a minute, looking back at a passageway that the older girl hadn't mentioned. Unlike most of the other passageways on the ground floor, this one was more of a square shape, and about ten feet wide. She couldn't see very well from their distance, but she guessed it was decorated around the edges with some kind of foliage, and though it all looked very dark, she could catch a hint of a sparkle here and there. A velvet rope blocked off the entrance, and beyond that the corridor was dark.

Sango caught her gaze and smiled. “You'll find out about that later,” she said, a hint of mischief in her voice. Kagome glanced at her, and seeing her smile, returned it with one of her own. The older girl was having fun with her secrets. Still moving to the opposite side of the building, Sango pointed to an entryway on their left. “That leads to the engineering labs. And right in front of us is the passage to the south tower.

“Alduray's population consists mostly of young adults, some with families, and a smaller, older adults community comprised mostly of people who had been part of the original building crew,” Sango explained as they walked into a wide, well-lit hallway that sloped downward, then leveled out and stretched out before them for a few yards before rising again. As they reemerged into the sunlight, Kagome found herself standing at the base of a tower nearly identical to the one they had just been in, with the only difference that this one looked to be a bit shorter.

Sango nodded at a woman in a guard's uniform sitting behind a desk to their left, then said, “This is the south tower, where all our families stay. I haven't mentioned it much, but you've already heard about our uninhibited lifestyle, and everyone pretty much agrees that that isn't something children should be exposed to until they reach the appropriate age. So this,” she motioned up at the surrounding tower, “is where those who have families can live without having to worry about exposing their children to anything they don't want. It also allows the rest of the community to exist the way it wants to without having to worry about kids being around all the time.”

She motioned to the guard. “Kids will be kids and try to go places they're not allowed, so we have a guard here to keep anyone under the age of eighteen from going into the main tower. Until they reach eighteen, which is the age we allow them to enter the main tower, they wear small bracelets they can't remove that will sound an alarm if they go beyond the door here. The kids here are very intelligent, but we don't want them to grow up too fast.

“This tower also houses our entire school system in its first six stories, starting at the preschool level and going all the way up to university level. We focus a lot on sciences and the arts here, with a huge music school, a concert hall for our orchestra, and recording studios. There are also two stories below the ground floor, the first one is for soft court sports, the kind you play on grass, and the one below that's for hard court sports.”

“They've thought of everything, haven't they?” asked Kagome, a little overwhelmed.

Sango smiled. “It's almost over,” she said understandingly. They headed toward the right of the atrium and down into another hallway, this one a bit longer than the last. As they emerged into the third tower, Sango said, “And this is where our older residents stay if they choose to opt for a more quiet lifestyle than the one offered in the main tower. When your uncle and your father built this place, they realized that as the population aged, they needed to provide a place for them to live so that they would feel that there was still a place for them here apart from the rowdier crowd. This tower was built about three years after the first two were completed and houses any adults who choose not to live in the other two towers. There's a much more laid back, quiet atmosphere here.”

Turning on her heel, Sango headed back into the hallway through which they had just come. “All towers have their own separate entrance to the eco-dome, but I like the middle tower's entrance the best.” It felt to Kagome they were making a big circle, and she remembered looking down on the city during her flight the day before. From what she could remember, the dome and the greenhouses all fanned out from the western side of the main tower, with the three towers lining the edge of the eco-dome on the dome's east, south, and southwestern sides.

They passed back through the middle tower and Sango veered to the left this time, toward a passageway that looked like the mouth of a cave. It was darker than the other halls they had passed through, and the air felt humid. Slowly, Kagome became aware of a dull roaring sound, and as they turned a corner, they emerged into sunlight that was almost blinding after the darkness of the passage behind them. The roaring now filled her ears. She looked up, blocking the sunlight with her hand, feeling a gentle mist on her face, and found herself standing at the base of a tall, magnificent waterfall, cascading its way from one tier of rocks to another and crashing into a wide pond with water so clear she could see the orange and blue hues of several large fish swimming within the pool's depths.

She sucked in an awed breath. She had never seen anything like this before, except in pictures.

“Watch your step. It can get slippery here,” Sango cautioned.

Kagome nodded mutely and followed her further into the eco-dome. Trees that appeared to be hundreds of years old towered over them as they walked along the stone path. The foliage looked wild but somehow well kept. The waterfall evidently served as the main source for a small river that snaked its way throughout the dome, flowing gently and quietly in some spots, and spilling loudly in swirling rapids through gorges and around massive boulders in others. The sweet smell of rain and ground moss hung in the air. Sango remained quiet, letting Kagome take in the wonder of the place on her own.

“It's amazing,” Kagome said finally. “I've never seen any thing like this before. It's like another world. It feels ancient.”

Sango gazed up through the trees proudly. “This is one of my favorite places.”

“It feels… almost like a temple,” Kagome said wistfully. “You said I get to work here?”

“This is one of the places you'll be responsible for, yes.”

Kagome grinned excitedly. “I can't wait.” Far off on one side of the dome she saw a tall rise with a cliff face, and she wondered what was at the top. Off in the distance at four points around the dome she saw tall, thin spires reaching up and curving into the air, and Kagome knew enough about her father's creation to know that these were what formed the thin barrier between the harsh outside world and the delicate ecology inside. The barrier was invisible now, though it would change colors depending on what kind of weather was being produced inside.

They continued on until they reached a pair of sliding doors leading into a massive hallway that was made entirely of glass, like a greenhouse, but more ornate. “This is the conservatory, and it serves as the main foyer for the dome and greenhouses. It leads into the main tower,” Sango said, pointing to the right at the large glass doors Kagome had seen from the atrium earlier. Sango paused at a white, windowed door and opened it. “This is the lab you'll be working in when you're not in the field.” Kagome followed her into a clean, spacious laboratory, fully stocked with brand new, expensive looking equipment. A small woman with blonde curls bounced over to them and cheerfully introduced herself as the head lab tech, asking if Kagome was the new girl. After she and Kagome exchanged introductions, Sango excused them and continued on into the greenhouses.

The first two greenhouses were, for the most part, completely identical—each one long and wide with a rounded roof. The first was used to produce vegetables. At the far end was another entrance leading to the greenhouse used to produce fruit. Sango pointed to a separate room in a corner far at one end. “That's the bee room. We use honey to sweeten almost everything here, so we're very reliant on the bees. During budding cycles they're let out a few times each week to pollinate. Don't worry, you're not responsible for that room,” Sango explained with a teasing smile.

The third greenhouse was used to grow grains and sugar. It was the longest and most massive of the three, one side run entirely with wheat and the other run with row after row of corn. At the far end were stalks of sugar cane reaching up to the roof. As they returned to the conservatory, Sango pointed to the farthest end of the glass hallway, where several people wandered about in construction jumpsuits and hard hats. “Down there, where all those guys are standing, is the entrance for the newest building. It's about halfway finished now, and will be used to house poultry, pigs, a fish farm, and…” she trailed off. “I can't remember if there will be anything else,” she admitted awkwardly. “It's a pain to constantly have to ship in meat, so we're trying to handle some of it ourselves. Come on,” the older girl said with a bright smile, heading back toward the main tower. “The boring part is over. Now the fun begins.”

Kagome turned to follow, then paused a moment, looking back at the group of workers standing at the construction entrance. A flash of white had caught her eye, and she stood searching the small crowd for a moment.

“What is it?” Sango asked.

Not seeing what she was looking for, Kagome looked back to the older girl with a sheepish smile. “Nothing. Sorry,” and with that, they continued on their way back into the main tower.

The `fun' turned out to be shopping. As a surprise, her uncle had provided her with a small card that could be used to purchase whatever she wanted from the main tower's shops. She wasn't really intending to buy much, but as they passed from one shop to the next, she found herself intrigued by all the different styles of clothing. From the traditional to the extremely eccentric, every style and color was represented. Every type of fabric imaginable had been used to create a wide variety of eclectic styles, though it was the more elegant styles that caught Kagome's eye.

“Where would I wear all of this stuff, though?” she wondered aloud.

“Don't worry about that,” Sango assured her. “You'll find out tonight.” She flashed that mischievous grin again.

Kagome ended up leaving the second floor with two bags full of brand new clothes, far finer than anything she had ever owned. After Sango had helped her hang all of her new things in her closet, the older girl advised Kagome to get some rest, and that they had a long night ahead of them. Kagome, still content to allow Sango to have her fun with her secrets, agreed and collapsed into bed as soon as she was once again alone in her apartment. She was asleep within minutes, her dreams filled with images of this fascinating new wonderland.

Continued in Chapter 5 - City of Light and Illusion

A/N: So much freaking atmosphere and setting! It was an absolute bitch to write. But it's mostly done, the setting has been…set, and now on to the fun part!

My beta asked what music I listened to while writing, cuz I rely a great deal on music to inspire me, and the suggestion was made that I include it in my author's notes. And it's also nice for me so I can remember which songs I used. So from now on, if there are particular songs or pieces of music I used in creating the chapter, I will include them in the end author's note.

Music for this chapter:

JOURNEY - Reira starring Yuna Ito, from Nana movie insert single Endless Story

Loop - Sakamoto Maaya