2 Crowds

Arthur knew that he had a busy day ahead of him and that his schedule didn't exactly leave room for time to waste, but that conversation with his brother earlier had really shaken him, right to his core. He felt cold, regretful, and powerless. But mostly angry. At himself. He desperately needed something to take his mind off his niece Mya, and off Damien's eternal damnation.

Luckily, the sun was shining, the air was still, and the temperature was at a perfect hundred and twenty degrees. This type of tame weather was getting rarer and rarer these days, and it seemed to him that a breath of fresh air might help calm his tortured soul. The sun was hot on his skin, and beads of sweat momentarily began to form on his brow, but only until his suit began to adjust. A blue 'C' icon began flashing on his EyeView dashboard - which was located in the top right corner of his vision - indicating that his suit had switched into auto cooling mode. Jets of cold air began to shoot towards his face from the seams of his collar, his shoulder-length brown hair fluttering upwards in the artificial wind.

Chatter filled the air, along with the sounds of thousands of boots clicking against the pavement. Men and women from all walks of life bustled this way and that along the walkways of Los Angeles. It almost seemed that every living person in the city wanted to take advantage of a nice day out, and well he could hardly blame them. Especially since most were unemployed, and likely had nothing better to do.

The endless sea of walking bodies was so crowded that he almost felt bad for them. They walked shoulder to shoulder, leaving little room for comfort or movement. The scene almost reminded him of mass protests from the days of the ancients. But this was no protest, no, just one of the few days a year that mother nature wasn't trying to kill them.

Arthur didn't have to worry about the crowds today, for the sea of men and women parted before him like Hermes' fifteenth miracle. He wasn't completely certain if they had moved because of the military-grade Nina unit that walked a few paces ahead of him, or if it was the fact that they recognized him and wanted to stay away. He caught a glimpse of a purple-haired young man dressed in a transparent suit staring at Nina with bewildered, terrified eyes. Yup… it's definitely because of Nina. Folks sure are scared of her. And who could blame them? If I saw a machine capable of killing thousands, perhaps I'd be scared too.

Of course, Nina was not just the murderbot that these people saw her as, but she was so much more. She was a partner, an ally, and even a friend. Light glimmered off Nina's silvery back, her humanoid robotic limbs whirring as she moved forward, metal feet clanking against the pavement. Almost all became quiet as Arthur and his entourage of one passed by them. Most looked down at the ground, not wanting any trouble, others gasped in awe. It seemed that almost no one noticed him, but the few that did were even more mystified. It wasn't every day that a single Nina unit could be spotted on the walkways, but important political figures often had entourages with dozens of Nina units marching about, so it wasn't the strangest of sights to see one out in public. However, he imagined that seeing the most famous man in all of the worlds casually strolling past might be a little distracting. Won't be long until someone stops me.

He wasn't wrong, for indeed moments later a woman with an absurdly long green mohawk stopped him and asked for a picture. She was at least three heads shorter than him and wore a completely transparent suit that left most of her body exposed, save for an 'S' logo at her nether regions. Although Arthur fancied himself to be a man of culture, he had never found himself to be a fan of this new minimalist trend. In a way it made sense, clothing at its essence was created to provide humans with warmth, and if your clothing could keep you warm or cool you down at will and without the need to cover up, then why would you? It was a sound argument, one that apparently has a quarter of LA's population convinced. Nevertheless, Arthur found the outfit ludicrous.

With some effort he forced himself to smile back at the woman, even though on the inside he wanted to weep. He'd always been good at that. Pretending he was fine. When in reality he was far from fine.

He brought the woman close, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. And with a thought, Arthur directed Nina to take a picture. Nina immediately turned, her round eyes covering half her metallic face and glowing with a vibrant green. They flashed briefly, and the woman thanked him as she received the image through her EyeView. She then kissed him on the cheek. He never quite understood why people thought they could be this… touchy with him.

He hated being famous, but what he hated more was the fear he noticed in the eyes of those who knew who he was and moved away from him. Yes, he was a celebrity, but at the same time, he was one of the highest-ranking law enforcement officials on the face of the planet. Keeping his two very real personas in check was a delicate balance, one that Arthur grew more and more comfortable with each passing day. Still, those fearful eyes haunted him. Don't they know my job is to protect them?

From his peripherals, he couldn't help but notice his own reflection in the glass exteriors of the countless Cloudrippers on either side of the walkway. Dressed in a fine Italian suit, hands in his pockets, standing tall, and with his head held high and pointed to the sky. Some of them look at me and see a hero, he thought. When all I see is the man who failed his family. He turned away with disgust.

The Cloudrippers stood majestically all around him, and unlike the skyscrapers of ancient times, the enormous Daenarium-alloy structures stood at two and a half miles long, extending to the clouds and beyond. These residential Cloudrippers were incredibly close together and were separated only by the thirty-foot wide walkways, much like the one Arthur now walked.

He continued to walk through the wavering crowds and the endless jungle of glass and metal. He was stopped by admirers at least a half dozen times, and each time, he would put on a smile and pretend. Thankfully, none of them were discourteous enough to try and kiss him or invade his personal space as the first one had.