Starlight: The Dawn of Silver

Prelude

Prelude

 

Atlantic City, North America   22nd Century

 

 

        Nine o'clock in the evening is bedtime for most people, but for Atlantic City, that's not the case; it is just the beginning of the day.

       Atlantic City, built on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, is one of the youngest cities in North America, built only thirty years ago. However, the pace of its development was so remarkable that it surpassed many of the older cities. Now, Atlantic City is the second richest city in North America, lined up closely to Capitol City, the capital of the continent.

        During the day, Atlantic City is like all the other cities; fast-paced and busy, with millions of population hurrying off to work. Not much unique, except for the Ultratrain, one of the fastest trains in the entire world. The city installed it three years ago, which bought envy to the other cities. After all, only seven cities in the entire world have the Ultratrain. The others use the old Supertrains.

        As said, no difference from the other cities throughout the day, but at night, the entire city turns into an uproar.

        Night markets, shops, clubs and cafes are open throughout the night, filled with costumers of all kind. Casinos, arcades and restaurants are also open for business while movie theaters and big malls are simply crowded. The night for a normal citizen kind of looks like this; spending two hours in the theater, watching the newest 4D movie and then go grab some snacks; maybe a game of snooker at a club and then buy cheap stuff at a mall. If this guy is one of the crazy people, he'll probably go to the arcade for a whole night video game. This is how one out of nine million people spend their nights. 

        Atlantic City is a city for the rich, and the rich owns it. They do not have to do much work in the day, because most of it was done by robotics. They do not have to sleep much too since three-hour sleeping pales were invented decades ago, providing humans the ability to sleep for only three hours. The rest of the "saved" time, was obviously used for having fun. So, as you can see, the life is very comfortable and luxurious in the 22nd century. But that of course, are only for the rich.

        The city may seem quite lively and wealthy on its surface, but below the well-furnished buildings and colored lights that never go out, lives the poor. Since all of the hand-labor jobs were taken by the robotics, those who couldn't find a job lives in poverty. They are mistreated and disrespected in all ways; some rich citizens even consider them sub-human. They wander through dark valleys and underground stations during the night, waiting for the rich to finish having fun and then "cleaning up" what's left of their mess.

        Today is Saturday and many of the city citizens are arriving back to the city after spending a wild day at the beach. The lights are already on and the sound of rock music filled the streets. However, unlike other days, as soon as the sun disappears behind the tall skyscrapers, the temperature is beginning to drop at a very fast speed. This is very unusual for Atlantic City, since it is a coastal city. Even in December, the temperature rarely drops below fifteen degrees. But today, the temperature seems to be so low that water puddles on the streets seems to be frozen. 

        Somewhere in the city center, a black suited man stepped out of the door of a skyscraper and paced down the crowded street. He soon noticed the chillness of the weather and started rubbing his hands rapidly. He walked faster, desperately trying to slip into crowds of people for warmth. He turned at a few corners and eventually stopped at a crossroad. He reached into his suite and pulled out his Digital Smartphone.