The Hidden City

by Adrian Tanase

  The tall man was the chief engineer on the site, and he oversaw all the operations on all the water towers in the City. Margaret and Philip were looking amazed at all the perfectly cut emeralds. Margaret touched them slightly, and she felt their smoothness. They were cut on-site with very precise tools, that were using some sort of yellow beam to perfectly cut through the bigger chunks of raw emerald. Philip joined her, and started to touch the crystals.

  “I feel some sort of tingles in my fingers by touching them,” he quietly whispered to Margaret’s ear.

  She smiled.

  “Well, they’re the same emeralds like our amulets have, but a few times bigger. I think they’re treated in the same way, that’s why,” she replied, looking amazed at the cleaning ring, that was now filled with all the emeralds. The workers were now placing the cylindrical orange crystal stone in, which was sustained by transparent thick threads that looked very solid, keeping it in place, securely.

  “So, this is the first level of cleaning, I assume. Are there going to be more cleaning levels to the tower, or is this the only one?” Philip asked, as the workers were making quite a loud noise at the moment.

  Tal’jin, who followed them wherever they went, responded promptly.

  “Well, that is a good question, Philip. This is, of course, the first layer, and this tower has 7 layers. The cleansing is done at each level, of course. You see, each layer is designed in the same way, and the water has to travel from basement to level 7, using special water pumps, that pushes the water to the top of the tower, only to fall back down again, through a clear pipe, made of a special alloy, which bridges with the pipe system of the whole city. The water will travel through the first seven levels, and every month, the round screens that we put near the seals of each level, will need to be cleaned of the impurities that deposit over time. We have 20 towers of water in our city, this being the 21st. We do not only clean the water in them, but we also store water in special tanks, that exist in each level of the tower.”

  “I understand,” Philip said. “Is there anything I can be useful with, today, do you think? Ever since we arrived, I’ve been just looking around … ”

  Tal’jin looked around to see if there’s anything that he could do.

  “Well, maybe you could help out holding those water pipes that are being soldered together right now. You can go there, where that strange equipment is. Tell them I sent you.”

  Philip was really happy he could give a helping hand. Indeed, being part of the people who were building the City was a rather unique experience, that everybody was praising. The energy that the workers felt from their amulets, was clearly an incentive for them. For the next couple of hours, Philip immersed himself in helping around the workers, and no one could get him out of there. Margaret chose to stay and watch everything that they were doing.

  She felt so happy that she finally decided to ask an Elder for any assignment in the city. Assisting in the construction yard made her feel worthy again, and that gave her a feeling of inner purpose. She was elated to feel through her heart the discipline and hard work of every person present on site, and she loved the joyfulness of each of the people working on site. She spoke to Tal’jin, from time to time, whenever he had some time off from the busy construction yard.

  “These amulets are wonderful! In the silence of our guesthouse, I can experience the quietness and peacefulness of the city, but here, a lot of feelings go through me: I feel all of a sudden strong and courageous, a certain mixed feeling I have never experienced before. I assume all these feelings come mostly from all the people working at the site?” she asked, softly.

  Tal’jin approved.

  “I hope you are not feeling overwhelmed, Margaret. In case you do, we can fly around at a lower altitude with the little dragons for a while, to unwind and put a rest on your feelings.”

  “Actually, I do feel strongly, but I’m enjoying it a lot,” she said, with real joy in her voice.

  “Well, the things is that you don’t have to worry about anything here. You feel like this, because we work here, and because you still wear your blue robe. Being really young in our city makes you feel everything more intensely, but the further you go away from the construction yard, into a more quiet area, you will experience everything in a more diminished and relaxed way. That’s why people enjoy their time working together, gathering in the markets, and at night, in squares where concerts are being played,” explained Tal’jin, with a calm look on his face.

  “You do also have artistic events here? I didn’t know … I should have imagined … ” Margaret said, startled.

  “Yes, we actually do. There are a lot of us that are talented and that can exhibit a concert here. People with the same talents gather here in the City and form unique groups, that express themselves freely, as a way to contribute to the City’s cultural heritage. I think the Elders did not have the time to tell you about every little thing that defines our City, but I bet that the joy of discovering it bit by bit, by yourselves, is really a nice experience.”

  Margaret nodded and put her hand on the amulet. A warm feeling of joy passed through her, like a jolt.

  “I told you, Margaret. Working here in the City or being active while in a group of people, even if it is hard work or light work, really amplifies what we all feel, as the ethereal connection through our amulets is much more intense, and each day in the city is different,” he said and bowed to her, respectfully. They continued chatting for about an hour, about the many things that Margaret had discovered so far in the city, and she learned about a lot of new things, that she didn’t know about.

  The food came around 2 o’clock, brought by a few women that came on a group of blue dragons. Everybody paused what they were doing and gathered around, greeting the cooks and joking. Lunchtime was always a celebration, as everybody was starving, after the hard work they have put in today. It was a hearty and fulfilling meal, prepared by the women themselves, and everyone enjoyed the fresh, hot, and spicy food with delight.

  The work at the first layer of the tower was going well, and the workers were now installing finally the end of the pipe on the first floor. Because she was a woman, she didn’t have to help out with anything, and she mostly watched the men work and chatted with Tal’jin. At some point, she went closer to Philip, who was helping the others, and asked him.

  “Phil, do you think they will let us wander the city if we ask? We could ride the dragons or we could just go back on our feet home.”

  Tal’jin overheard them and said.

  “Unfortunately Margaret, you are not trained yet to ride the dragons by yourselves. But don’t worry about them, they will follow me back to the Council’s building, and I will bring them back to you, tomorrow. You can go home at any time that you want,” he said. “Oh, wait for one second,” Tal’jin said and went to get his bag. He searched inside for a few moments and got out what appeared to be two black and slim boxes.

  “Here, I have been instructed by the Elders to give you these two Mappers. They are some little devices that we use in the City to point us in the right direction, and they have been built with a very detailed city map and a lot of other options. Everybody has one,” said Tal’jin, handing them the two simple and light devices with a screen made out of a thin but very durable plastic.

  “Hey! A mobile map of the city!” Philip said enthusiastically.

  Margaret thanked gratefully.

  “Thank you, Tal’jin! We’re really happy that you took us here today.”

  The two devices were pretty simple. Tal’jin explained them how to search and activate the endpoint location, and showed them quickly a few other useful features that they had.

  “These things really look like our personal transporters, only that they are much more lighter. I wonder what kind of technology is being used,” Philip said.

  “For sure some really advanced one, as they feel very light, and I bet they recharge through thin air,” Margaret replied, looking curious at her
device. “Now we can finally explore the city as we always wanted, without worrying when to return home.”

  They saluted all the workers at the site and waved at Tal’jin, who bowed to them with a lot of respect. Then, they selected the City Council as the final destination and they left the construction yard. Walking slowly, they took the time to see everything that they walked by. Sometimes the arrow was pointing multiple ways through which they could go, and Margaret was always betting on this as she took the most random path to go further, to get more and more lost on the winding streets of the city, that she has not seen before. She always liked to experiment, or to go through the less explored paths, deviating from the main road as much as she could, so that she would see more of the unknown side of the City.

  “Here, these houses look like the old part of London,” Margaret said, admiring a group of houses built in stone, that had dark red bricks on the forefront of the house, and large ivy plants that grew upon them. She marveled each time she saw something new, as they had not visited this part of the City so far.

  “The look of these violet-tinted windows is amazing. Look, I guess this is a new book shop, that I didn’t see before,” she said, stopping every time something interesting arose in their path, and marking it down, carefully, on her Mapper.

  “Well, why not have book shops here? They look lovely and people seem to enjoy reading them a lot, as I have seen,” Philip said to her in a rather queer British accent.

  Margaret noticed and turned her face with a funny grim.

  “That’s right, Philip. Why not. And that … that is definitely an ice-cream parlor of some kind mixed with a … bakery, with funny looking pink and blue muffins in the window. Do you think we can get some sweets from there?”

  Philip stopped and scratched his head.

  “But then ... what about the credits, Maggie?”

  She looked at him and said with a twinkle in her eyes.

  “My intuition says that we’re going to get some for free. I bet you 20 green crystals,” she said. She reached and opened gently the glass door with a wooden frame, on which it was written with round letters “Mary’s Fresh Pastries”.

  The old-style bell, resting upon the door, rang once. Inside, as it was expected, it smelled like an old bakery. Other than that, a simple wooden room, with dusty wooden floors, probably from all that flour that they were using in the back of the shop. The shop owner came quickly behind the counter. She was a rather old lady, dressed in an orange robe, with a tall white cap, that was showing clearly that she was in charge of the place.

  “Hello. We’re quite new here. Can we get some help around?” Margaret asked politely.

  “For sure. From the way you look,” the old lady said, “I bet you are new in town. Maybe a few days, or maybe even a few weeks, who knows,” she giggled. “But let me introduce myself: my name is Mary, Mary Windsor. I come from Earth, particularly Britain, and that’s why I personally decorated my store like that, at the exterior. I bet you didn’t see the sign out there, “Mary’s fresh pastries”, because of all the little colored muffins I have on display. It’s alluring, I know, and most of the people don’t see it because of them,” she said, with a clear British accent. “Everything here is hand-made and most of the recipes are personal. Some are indeed from some friends I have here, but most of them are from my grandmother, and I like to keep them all secret so my place here is favored by most of the people that live nearby,” she said and smiled approvingly.

  Meanwhile, Margaret and Phil were listening and looking from time to time at a rather funny-looking collection of yellow and blue muffins, that looked delicious.

  “Would you like that one you’re looking at? It is only one credit for you,” the old lady said with a smile.

  Philip looked at her.

  “One credit...”

  The old lady looked at them with an inquiring look.

  “I don’t know how new you are here, but yes, even if we all have our own needs met in our houses, being given a food dispenser and free clear and freshwater, our city also uses a currency based system, that is in case you didn’t know. It was introduced recently, I can’t remember the year. I think it all began … some time ago, but it is being used as an incentive, so the city can develop further. It is purely the decision of the Council, not mine,” she said and smiled.

  Margaret knew they had no credits, but still, she had to try.

  “Well, we are relatively new here, and … we are still getting to know the city more. Today we got our very own Mappers,” she said, trying to find her words.

  Mary looked at her, nodded, and accepted.

  “Ah, the fresh first few months, I remember those ones. The Initiation, the way that you’re being told that you are “special”, right?” asked Mary, raising her eyebrows. “You two must excuse my cynicism, but at my age, you sometimes see things differently, than at your age,” she said, giggling.

  They both nodded and laughed. From what Mary looked like, she was quite voluble.

  “I was told the same thing, that I have been chosen to live here because I was special. But if you ask me, there’s nothing in particular special about me. Maybe aside from all the recipes that I know from my grandmother that came in quite handy here,” she said and chuckled. Then she came closer above the glass counter, and she whispered.

  “I think they just tell you so so that you feel you are different than the others, the ones who were not chosen, I mean. In that way, they make sure your life in the City would be your getaway ticket to a peaceful place, where you forget everything about the Universe we all came from, and immerse in their “unique” society that they built here. But this is just another theory of mine, you don’t have to follow it if you don’t like it,” she said, with an enigmatic look.

  She paused for a while, and then she continued.

  “You can imagine that our motivation to keep and create new types of buildings and things resides in having a local currency-based economy. If you are interested in knowing more about our currency-based system, I know that there is also a local Financial Council that works every day toward improving our financial system, that exists in the City. There’s also a City Planner Council that oversees the actual extension of the city, regarding each and every new building that is being raised, but you need an orange robe for that, which, at the time you don’t have, I presume.”

  She paused, arranged a few of her fresh muffins in the glass counter, and continued with a kind voice.

  “But since you are so new here, I imagine you have no credits yet, and perhaps you still live in your guesthouse. I can always give you one blue or yellow muffin for each of you, for free. You get to choose. What do you say?”

  Margaret was intrigued by this English lady. She looked like she didn’t particularly enjoy the city that much at her age, but again, it could have been just her way of expressing her feelings in the most straightforward way.

  “We’ll take the yellow ones, thank you very much!” Margaret said and poked Philip with her elbow.

  Mary gave them two of her praised muffins, bowed, and touched her emerald amulet.

  They bowed and touched their amulets, and Margaret said, with her hands in prayer.

  “We thank you very much and we hope next time we are here, we will have enough credits to pay for our purchases...”

  “You will, at some point, my dears. You cannot stay forever in your garden house, looking at the stars or tending your garden, unless that is what you want to do with your whole life,” Mary said, with a lower voice. “I myself thought I could too, but at some point, I realized I needed to do something around here. And here I am, embracing my usual occupation.”

  She came closer up over the counter and said silently to both of them.

  “The rumor has it that the Financial Council has decided to create a network of cities on our planet first, and maybe, later, who knows, extend it over to many other planets, if that would be possible, I’m not sure. I know a girl that works
at the Financial Council that told me so, she comes to my shop every few days, or so. She said that the plan is that our city will be the main central financial hub of these cities, in the future, and we would need to train as many people as possible in doing whatever they need to do to support their own city: be it they work with their hands, be it they create art, attend repairs, or work as engineers. And this is only the beginning … but this is a rather long story and I remembered that I have some cookies baking in the oven.”

  She quickly saluted the two and went in the back of her store, where one could hear funny noises while she was checking on her fresh baked cookies.

  Margaret and Phil silently got out of her shop, not before checking again the window full of baked goodies. When they exited the door, the bell rang again, to let Mary know they have left.

  “I told you we could get some! I have saved her location in my device,” Margaret said, with a lot of joy in her voice. “Just for future references, if I want to check in again in her store because her pastries are delicious,” she said, biting from her yellow muffin that she just got for free.

  Philip agreed while he was biting on his cake.

  “We really have to do something about these credits, Maggie. There are so many goods in the city that we can’t get, just because we’re not working here yet.”

  Margaret nodded with a serious look.

  “You are totally right. I have been thinking about this too. I have to talk to Prival. I think I can make a fortune here for both of us, while you can relax and help me out with shopping,” she said smiling, looking at Philip, and taking his hand in hers.