Chapter 361 - We Built This City

The hum of an alarm sounded, invoking a stirring from the bed. Idly, an arm reached out from within the covers to pick up a phone, a thumb making a sliding gesture to deactivate the noise. Silence returned to the room, but for only a moment. It was another workday after all. A Monday to start off the week.

Slowly, the figure climbed out, put on his glasses, and reached for some clothes. Cleaning up and getting ready for a new day had become a routine. The swishing of a brush against teeth, the splash of water against a face, and the warmth of a hot shower – it was a ritual to feel human again.

Before long, he had prepped himself and looked presentable enough to walk outside. Heading out the door and down the elevator, it was a short walk through the lobby to the front revolving doors. Outside, he basked in the warm sun, enjoyed the chirp of birds, and let his eyes wander to the rumble of engines on the road. Even the scent of burnt gasoline had a lingering sweetness. He was starting to appreciate the little things in life again.

He waved at the security guard posted in front of his apartment complex. He was an elderly gent, Asian in decent and retired from the force.

“How’s the wife and daughter, Zhang?”

“Doing great! The girl’s having fun at college, not checking in with worried parents… You know the drill.”

“That’s splendid! You have a great day today, you hear?”

A cordial wave to the guard and he was off again, mingling with a crowd of people on the street. It was the morning rush, but even as he was carried by its flow, the man smoothly broke from the stream and entered a shop.

The aroma of baked goods seemed especially enticing compared with the smells of the city. He quickly moved to the counter, eyeing the colorful morsels through the looking glass. The choices were many, but one captured his attention immediately. Stripes of frosting laid across a shining ruby center, submerged in a fluffy housing.

“Cherry Danish, please.”

“Coming right up! And a drink as well?”

“The usual please. Extra cream, low on the sugar.”

The girl at the counter nodded, cheerful as could be. Golden locks flicked on either side of her head in excitement as she gathered the order. A smile beamed from her, a complete package when it came to service. She was as charming as the flower named after her.

Taking the items, the man paid for them and went to an empty table. He couldn’t wait to dig right in.

A hefty bite into the pastry caught the tip of the jewel, striking the tongue with a tangy accent of fruit. This was balanced with a swig of coffee, the mild bitterness layering with the tartness before it overstayed its welcome.

Wandering eyes while he ate landed upon a set of twins in one corner, eagerly browsing on their phones. Gestures of impatience from them spoke that they had somewhere to be even before either one had said a single word.

“Where was the venue again? C’mon, we have to get there early to claim a spot!”

“Don’t push me! Can’t you see it’s loading? Ah, there we go! Two blocks north, and one… east. Better haul ass before there’s a crowd!”

The twins bolted from their chairs and raced out the door, leaving their scraps behind. With a sigh, the man finished his danish and went over to sweep the left behind trash onto his tray before emptying it in the proper place.

“Ah, that’s right by work,” he mumbled aloud, recalling the directions that they had yelled out.

But brushing that thought aside for now, he continued toward his destination, past the business districts and through a park. He enjoyed this shortcut, less dense of people and greener. It wasn’t that he disliked company, but he had grown accustomed to valuing it from a distance. The signs of life signified a healthy environment, one that he had always wished for.

“Care for a melody?” he was suddenly interrupted with.

A quick glance in that direction showed an aspiring artist, violin on the shoulder and bow at the ready. Each gesture carried a magic of elegance, vibrant enough that it promised a tune reserved for private audiences.

“I’m good for now. I have to be in the office.”

Politely declined, the artist went off to ask another pair, pitching his talent to them instead. A smile lingered on the man’s face as he continued walking.

“Almost there,” he whispered, not directing it to anyone in particular. It was only reserved for him.

At the end of the park, a giant building rose above others, as if it was demonstrating its grandeur. The man walked right up to it casually, pulling out a key card to flash at the door keeper. This was where he worked, the heart of the city supporting the livelihood of its people.

“Ah, just now getting in? A bit slow today, don’t you think?”

A woman approached him, dressed sharply for field work. She gave off the aura of someone who couldn’t wait to bait another person into signing a contract. The man just smiled and gave off a pose like he was fashionably late.

“A few minutes isn’t going to hold up anything. Not when it’ll take years more to create what we have.”

“True enough. Innovation happens at the pace of research, which is controlled by ‘squints’ like you. Off to the lab with you. I have to make my rounds.”

“Ahhh, the perks of marketing. Plenty of exercise and vitamin D. Reimbursed meals as well. A complete package for the tastes of Milensea.”

“I would say that you could join me then, but I know that your work is more important than all else. Time’s a wasting, so I’ll be off.”

The sales rep trotted off, heels clicking quickly in rhythm. There was no stopping her once she sped off, spreading the hold of the company’s domain as far as possible. He could leave her to expand the horizons.

Taking the next elevator up, it stopped at a floor opening to a normal office area. The buzz of people discussing tech secrets out in the open, cheerful greetings while walking by, a tidy desk holding a modest amount of personal affects – it was a normal routine for the typical salaryman.

He had barely sat down in his personal cubicle and booted up his computer when a woman walked up and plopped a folder onto his desk. He stared up at the woman, her eyes devoted but strictly business.

“Here are the morning reports for you to review. Expansion of the boundary has shifted by 18% and holding stable. No reports of sector decay, nor discourse among the populace. Another uneventful week, but it is just how you like it – steady, measurable progress.”

“Thank you, Cielle. It seems the core has taken root. Now, it’s only a matter of time. It’s our task to watch over it, like we have always done. Until everything has returned to how we remember it.”

“Affirmative, Architect. Will you be meeting with Grendosa from Programming and Kazutora from Fabrication as scheduled?”

“Yes, that would be-”

Suddenly, the Architect stood up from his seat, walking over to the nearest window with an absent look upon his face. In the distance, a column of light appeared from the sky. He stared at it for a while even after it disappeared.

“On second thought… tell them to continue with their business as usual. Have them complete their tasks by the end of the morning, as we will be expecting some guests.”

“Yes, sir.”

Cielle spun around and proceeded to her next destination, leaving the Architect to go back to his computer and bring up his work. On the screen, a model of a planet was shown, a dot brimming with activity lit up. It only encompassed 5% of the surface, but it was nonetheless a reasonable start to the plans.

For the next few hours, he spent it diving into the blueprints of the small but expanding area, making little corrections here and there to the established environment. It was almost like he was playing a simulation game, but every action that was made to it synchronized with the world outside of his cubicle.

And only after he was satisfied, did he zoom out and move to an entirely different location, directing resources to it. It was another dot on the map, spaced a good distance away, but everything in this world was within his reach. After a while, he nodded and looked up at the clock, noticing that it was lunchtime.

“I suppose that will suffice. Not that anyone will really care to notice.”

He got up and walked through the office, now slightly dimmer than before. The screen that he left on showed a city running in autopilot at 50%.

The streets outside had noticeably less hustle and bustle. The people were a little less energetic, but still, they ambled around to their next destination.

He grabbed a sandwich and a drink from a nearby café, waltzed through the park, and noticed a live concert in the distance. The avid cheers seemed to be the one spark in a crowd of languish people, but that was likely due to the songstress on stage.

The Architect stood in place for a while, listening to the tune while consuming his sandwich. There was a simple joy in the slow times such as this, especially when one had spent so long not being human. By the time the song had ended, the food was polished off, beckoning him to move on with his day.

He took a few steps before staring off into the distance, like a thought had occurred to him. Loosening his collar and heaving a sigh, he looked back toward the horizon with changed eyes. They were no longer those of a simple researcher but glowing with power like an otherworldly being.

“Well, I suppose that I have to greet our ‘guests’. After all… they took the effort to come all the way here, even after I decided to leave them alone.”

Soon after he said that, a portal formed from a wave of his hand, which he stepped into. The surroundings of the park turned into a white landscape. A set of familiar figures stood in the distance before him.

They were hardly here to enjoy the city that he built, the lone haven of an otherwise dead world. Not after all that he did to them. He knew better than anyone that an old friend had stepped in and meddled once again. The purple auras coating their bodies told him all he needed to know.

“Oh, how time flies… even now, you still show your influence over me.” The Architect chuckled at his destiny. He had been prepared for it this entire time – for when Sistina would take revenge for being killed. And for an entire planet that he used just to regain Earth.

As he watched Sistina’s champions get into fighting stances, he couldn’t help but wonder if that was how the Demon Lord felt when he and his companions squared off so long ago. He chuckled at how the greed of humankind had not changed, all throughout the ages.

Now, it came down to who could protect their own planet, as it always had been. There were no gods in this world, only people who strove to become them. And it was the victors that would grant that existence.

It was no more than a game to be won. The victor’s trophy was the ideals invoked upon these worlds.