The world felt distant and blurred as Arvin began to come to. There was a musky smell and after a few moments, Arvin recognised it as coming from scented sticks. His head began to ache and he raised a hand to it.

“Argh.”

“Hey, you’re awake,” came a voice as a stranger’s hand moved his own away from his head. “You’ve hit your head, so just try not to touch it.”

“Why? Where am I?”

“You’re in Auksand, and you’re in my house on tier 10.”

“Tier 10?” Arvin asked as he opened his eyes. He saw a woman kneeling in front of him, about his age. She had fair skin and brown hair. “Who are you?”

“I’m Talia Marston, and you are?”

“Arvin. You said this is Auksand?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Right, Auksand. I must have drifted further west than I had first thought.”

“What do you mean drifted?” Talia asked as excitement grew within her. “Are you from outside?”

“Yes, I’m an aeronaut,” Arvin said with pride, and he watched as Talia’s eyes light up.

“Do you own an airship?”

“Yes.”

“Oh my gosh! An airship, an actual airship!” Talia squealed and Arvin smiled as he watched her. “I can’t believe you actually have an airship.”

“I do, and she…” Arvin said before he frowned. Where was his airship? “How did I get here?”

“You fell out of the sky. I was up on the second tier getting supplies when I saw a crowd in one of the gardens. People had found you unconscious and tangled up in a rose bush. Some thought that you’d gotten drunk and fallen into it in the early hours of the morning, but you fell from the sky didn’t you?”

“Yeah. I crashed.”

“Why did you crash?”

“My airship, she got damaged in a storm and I was hoping to get her home in order to repair her. She must have, argh,” Arvin groaned again as he tried to sit up.

“Here, put this on it,” Talia said as she rested an ice pack against his forehead.

“That’s good. Thank you.”

“It’s my pleasure. My father picked out some clothes that might fit you. Yours got a bit ripped when you fell.”

“Oh. Well, thank you again, that’s very kind.”

“I’m here to help,” Talia said and Arvin smiled.

“The stranger’s awake,” Nicola said and Arvin turned to face her.

“Yes. Hello, I’m Arvin,” Arvin greeted her as he put his hand out.

“Nicola,” Nicola said as she shook his hand. “How are you feeling?”

“Not bad. Have you been looking after me?”

“I have. I’m a nurse and Talia’s in training, she’s a healthcare assistant at the hospital at the moment.”

“Oh, very good,” Arvin said with a smile before he glanced at Talia. “Your daughter’s been very nice to me.”

“I’m glad. We try to teach all our children to be kind to strangers.”

“He’s an aeronaut.”

“Is he really? Well, that explains a lot, and did you really fall out of the sky as my daughter thinks?”

“I did.”

“Well, you’ve got out quite lucky as you fell into a rose bush.”

“Indeed. Although your daughter has already informed me of that.”

“How is your head? Have you got any double vision or a headache?”

“No, it’s just a bit sore.”

“That’s good. I just want to have to look and make sure that there’s nothing else going on if that’s ok?” Nicola asked and Arvin nodded. She inspected his head and concluded that he didn’t have anything major like a concussion. “Great. Aside from the bang on your head, you’ve just got a few cuts and bruises.”

“Fantastic. Am I ok to find my airship then? She needs some repairs.”

“I think you should rest for a bit before you go flying off. It sounds like you’ve had quite the day.”

“Aha! The stranger’s awake. I’m Adrian, I see you’ve met my wife and daughter,” Adrian said as he came into the room.

“Yes. I’m Arvin.”

“It’s lovely to meet you, Arvin. Nicola, I think that’s the dinner is ready.”

“Oh yes,” Nicola said before she got up.

“Do you think you’ll be able to eat something?” Talia asked and Arvin nodded.

“Yes.”

“Ok. The table’s just over here,” Talia said before she helped Arvin up and they went over to the dinner table. Looking around, Arvin saw that the house was neat, very neat. There was no clutter on the floor and not even a crease in that carpet that you could trip over. He’d been to many cities, but never inside of someone’s house. He took note of two uniforms that were hung up by the door. One was a nurse’s uniform and the other was a policeman’s uniform. They had both been carefully ironed and they were simple, yet elegant designs.

Within a few minutes, Nicola served a beautifully cooked meal and they began to eat.

“Tell me, Arvin. How did you manage to fall out of the sky?”

“I was on my way home after finishing a job when my airship got caught in a storm and she was damaged. I thought that I could make it back, but then I crash-landed here.”

“My. You have an airship?” Adrian asked. “We’ve only got a statue of one on tier 13, and I thought that they didn’t exist.”

“I do indeed. Almost everyone at home has one, and their parts are made in the workshops here.”

“You mean the parts that they make in the workshops are actually used in airships?”

“Yes. That’s why they’re made,” Arvin said before he frowned.

“I knew they were making money, but real airships? In the sky?” Adrian asked and Arvin wondered how such a grown man could seem so much like an innocent child, with no idea what was happening outside of the city. “That’s absurd,” Adrian said innocently, but with a tone of disbelief. “How can trust something that’s so volatile and dangerous? You fly using the wind, but none can predict the movement of the wind on the surface.”

“Actually, we have people who spend their lives learning how the weather works and predicting it. We can do it quite well actually, so we know which direction it will be going in and the speed that it will be at different heights.”

“How can you trust something that you can’t see or touch?” Talia asked with intrigue.

“I do see it. In the trees, in the grass and in my envelope.”

“Envelope?”

“It’s like an enclosed sail, where the gas goes to lift my airship off the ground.”

“Can you touch it? The wind?”

“No, but it can touch us. It plays with my hair most days but when it gets angry, it can lift people up and throw them off mountain tops,” Arvin replied to Talia, who looked as excited as a child eager to learn about new things. “That reminds me. My airship. Do you know where she is?”

“None saw an airship, Arvin. If they had, they would have reported it and it would be all over the news.”

“I might have seen it. There was something hanging off the edge of tier 1. It was white and hanging down, like a sail. I’ve seen similar looking things in paintings of boats.”

“That must the envelope.”

“So what do you do for work Arvin?” Nicola asked to change the subject.

“My work?”

“Yes, you said before that were on your way home after finishing a job. You’re a merchant or a farmer’s assistant perhaps?”

“I’m a weather warning operator. I fly to various places around the continent when severe weather is about to hit, and I warn people. Sometimes I have to undertake rescues, but that’s quite rare when I’m working solo. I do also help out with the rescue crew back at home.”

“Fascinating.”

“Now Talia, I’m sure that Arvin’s making it sound much better than it is. The world’s a dangerous place and there’s a reason why the cities have been built underground,” Adrian said as the policeman in him began to come through.

“It can’t be that dangerous. There are people living out there, it’s just a different way of life.”

“Indeed, and it’s beautiful. I especially love the mountains. When they catch the evening light, it makes them glow right up to the peaks. Then, when the glaciers move, it’s like thunder splitting open the rock and it shakes you to the core knowing that the very ground can move under your feet.”

“It all sounds very dangerous if you ask me,” Adrian said as he watched Talia’s eyes light up in wonder.

“It can be dangerous, and you just have to be careful.”

“Being careful does not translate into getting a thrill from the ground moving underneath your feet.”

“Thrill might be the wrong word,” Arvin replied. He knew that people in cities didn’t like the concept of risk, and especially those in Auksand, the city of healing, come to think of it.

“I’m sure you mean well Arvin, you just have to be careful how you describe your, adventures. I’m sure that they’re wonderful, but we don’t want to give anyone the wrong idea do we?” Nicola said as she placed her hand onto his and she looked across at Talia.

“No. It can be very dangerous if you’re inexperienced,” Arvin conceded so as not to upset Talia’s parents.

“Exactly the point that I’m trying to make,” Adrian asserted.

“Yes, sorry,” Arvin replied, feeling like he had stepped over the line. “So Auksand. Has it changed much in your lifetimes?” Arvin asked as he swiftly changed the subject.

“No. Auksand never changes. It never has and never will.”

“What do you mean?”

“Cities were built to keep people safe and together. They are perfect, so do not need developing. We only improve by making things safer.”

“What about technology? Surely that improves?” Arvin asked as he thought of his own airship. As broken as she was, she was much more technologically advanced than his father’s.

“We don’t need it to. Everything works as it should, and if something has to change, it goes through a lot of safety procedures first. After all, what’s the use of something new if it’s just more dangerous than what came before it?”

“Surely that’s how science and development works? You won’t know that it’s safer until you test it?”

“Let change the subject shall we?” Nicola suggested and Arvin glanced at her. He was making the situation worse and he felt like he wasn’t gaining anything by talking to them.

“I’m quite tired, would you mind if I go to bed?”

“Of course. I’ve made a bed for you in the spare room, so make yourself at home.”

“Thank you,” Arvin said before he made his way into the hallway.

“Arvin,” Talia said behind him and he turned to her. “Is it true? What you said about the outside? Is it really beautiful?”

“It is. It’s amazing, but also dangerous.”

“Don’t you worry about the dangers and the impact that it will have on the people around you?”

“The danger is always in the back of my mind. But what life is worth living if you can’t take a little risk? You can’t live your life just by living for others, that way you’re never your own person.”

“But we do live for others. My parents and I, and most people that I know, spend our lives helping other people to keep us all safe.”

“And where’s that getting you? Your father said himself that the cities don’t develop, they just are,” Arvin said as he felt frustration beginning to get the better of him.

“Then maybe, being just as we are is enough.”

“But it’s not. Don’t you ever want to push yourself? Be something more?”

“Why would I want to be something more? We still have a lot of work to do just to get people to live an equal life.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, it’s the way that there are no flowers on the tiers because some people are allergic to pollen. We still have stairs, and that’s unfair on those who can’t go up them. A good life is a fair life.”

“And sometimes life isn’t fair,” Arvin said and Talia’s face dropped.

“Well, it should be.”

“Goodnight Talia. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Arvin said before he went up the stairs.