Chapter 29

Brill and Jeren had left the complex, instead of hanging around to listen to the Fold priest proselytise people. Neither of them had an interest in religion and, if either did, they certainly wouldn't let the other know.

Out in the city proper, the day was heating up. They were far from the equator so did not have to worry about the sun problems that Rain did. Most people in this region had a paler skin colour than Hammer, but still not as pale as the skin of those who lived at the poles. White, snowy skin like Rain had. No, both Brill and Jeren had an olive complexion.

The weather here was milder than further south, where tempests raged throughout the year and every evening was greeted with tropical rain, storm clouds following the sun around the globe, like a baby monkey chasing a pig.

It turned out that the power was out all over the city. The only people who seemed to be able to use any technology were the Fold, and even then, only in a limited or unusual way. People were growing suspicious. There were rumours that the Fold had caused the outage to gather more power for themselves. Who else was gaining from the situation? No one.

People had not yet begun to panic, though supermarkets were running low on fresh and cured food, despite it being so early in the morning; people needed to eat and all the restaurants were closed.

Brill and Jeren reached the front of the line at the lightless Telert's Supermarket annoyed at how long the line had been. They were informed they had to pay with cash, an idea which neither of them liked as cash was now rare, the authorities having attempted to phase it out over the previous ten years. Their receipt was hand-written. The other customers were bothersome and the checkout kid had frayed nerves. Brill and Jeren's nerves were becoming frayed.

They went outside to a park and sat on a bench to eat, the sand between the grass making a faint hissing sound as they walked towards the bench. The morning without electricity was actually quite pleasant, once they had left the stressful atmosphere of the supermarket. The hum of the city was different. No subtle buzz hummed in the background from power flowing along countless wires.

“It's weird that the power is out and notepads don't work,” Brill remarked, “it's like everything electronic has just stopped working.”

“Yeah, it's strange. I'm sure the authorities will work it out,” Jeren replied, his words slightly mushy by virtue of having to pass around a mouth full of bread and spiced pastrami.

“I suppose.”

Neither noticed the bright light shining in the sky, plummeting down. If they had, the distance would have made it appear to fall softly and slowly, landing with an almost gentle grace.