The other side of the gate

I left Ryu at the hospital so he could stay with his mother for a little while longer and headed for the city centre.

I had to go to the gate to get to the other side and meet Araya. She is my only hope now.

We have to see each other for at least five years. I am sure she will not recognise me.

What am I talking about, of course she will not recognise me, I am a girl.

I guess I'll have to get used to that soon. I do not think I'll be able to revert to my original gender, as much as I wish I could.

After about thirty minutes, I arrived at the centre. The gate was nearby. The central fountain. I must confess that the fountain was beautiful. The water did not fall down, but flowed up. I do not know how they did it, and to be honest, I do not care. Just looking at it gives me a sense of accomplishment.

The gate was like a normal square door, except that it was three to four metres high. It was made of tarsion, a material that is even more valuable on our planet than silver or gold because its conductivity is six times better than silver. Besides the Tarsion, the gate is also built with Quantum MOFX (Micro Optical Fibre X), one of the technologies we received from the Beastmen.

Some say that the gate should be a bit more modern because it is one of the wonders of the modern world. I disagree, because I think it looks more magnificent with the cables around the structure and is a good way to show our current technological advancements.

I walked closer to the gate. There were five security guards. In general, the security there was very tight. And that's because someone who passes through the gate from either world, even if they commit murder or even genocide, they can just go on living in the other world as if nothing happened. And that is why security is so tight in both worlds.

Now you will say that I can easily escape and live my life on the other side. But I do not want to give up my life here, my family, my friends. I am not the kind of person who wants to save himself and see others suffer.

Under normal circumstances, I would be caught by the police right away, because they scan your face with some kind of device and can tell if you are a criminal or not. But now that I am a girl, there's no way for the system to recognise me.

Therefore, I got through pretty easily. I do not know how long I'll be absent, but at least I have Ruby to watch my mother and Hoyo, and if something happens, I'll be back quickly.

Now that I was close enough to the gate, I could clearly see the colours of the portal. It was a mixture of cyan blue and red.

I entered and the space around me slowly became covered in the same colours as the portal. I felt as if I had just woken up and my head was spinning.

I guess this happens because I have to use the portal for a long time. But this feeling did not last long, because shortly after I arrived on the other side.

It was still daytime. The day here lasts twenty-four hours and the night another twenty-four hours.

The first thing I saw when I arrived were the beautiful houses in front of me. Their architecture reminded me of the houses on one of the islands of our planet. What was the name of it? Hmm... Oh yes, it is called Jakyln. They are like the old houses from the manga and novels from that imaginary land of Japan.

But those are just the peasants' houses. The real city is underground. They wanted to protect the natural beauty of the planet, so all their big cities are underground, like the one Araya lives in, Harnej.

Harnej is just as big as NeonDown. But technologically much more advanced. Instead of a normal power plant like ours, they have a device that draws energy from the core of their planet, since it is a renewable energy source, and they call it the Core Gateway Engine, if I remember correctly.

However, the fact that they are more technologically advanced does not mean that their way of thinking is also advanced. They still have death penalties and slaves, which is a bit regressive in my opinion.

Their kind is mostly fox beastmen, but there are also cat beastmen, but they are in the minority, so most of them are slaves.

Around me are several guards with fox characteristics because in their world the same rules apply as in ours, so they do not want any criminal to escape.

I slowly walked away from the gate and took a walk through the village in front of me.

It was really peaceful here, no vehicles, no people shouting, nothing to distract you, just the birds singing on the trees.

I went to the centre of the village, right where the entrance to the town is.

It is a huge elevator made entirely of glass. I got in with nine other people and it slowly went down.

About twenty metres below the surface, the city began to become visible.

The city is divided into four sections, one below the other. At the top is the main part of the city with the mansions, the stores, the big companies, the skyscrapers and in general this was the place for the rich people. On the second floor are the houses and stores of the common and poor people, just the opposite of the first floor. On the third floor are all the factories and on the fourth floor is the Core Gateway Engine. Each floor is as big as one NeonDown. It's really a huge place.

After fifteen to twenty minutes, we finally arrived at the first district. The buildings were magnificent, too much wealth. This is the rich people's district for you.

I do not have much time, I have to find Araya quickly. If I remember correctly, her house was somewhere around here. I passed the skyscrapers and mansions and arrived in the centre of the city.

"Eyva, can you hack into the city's cameras and help me find Araya?"

"I think I can, what does she look like?"

"Um, she has black hair and a tail, fluffy black ears and red eyes."

"Alright, I'll start looking."

[Loading...]

[Hacking into the city's surveillance system...]

[Successful.]

[Searching for a girl with these characteristics...]

[Failed.]

[Retrying...]

I have to say that it was the first time I heard Eyva talk like that. I guess she really researched how she should speak. But why does this accent remind me of the systems in the novels? What exactly was she reading?

[Successful.]

"Shinji, I found a girl who has those characteristics."

"Oh really? I did not think it was possible with the information I gave you, to be honest."

"Humph, do not underestimate me."

Is she pouting?

"No, no, I never underestimated you."

"She is currently a kilometre away from you. I'll mark her location on your mini-map."

"Mini-map? What are you talking about?"

At that moment, a map appeared before my eyes in the left corner. I shook my head to see if it was in my head or a hologram. And it seemed that it was in my head.

I could see half of the city with it. I could also see a red dot on the map, which is probably Araya.

Well then, on my way to meet her.