Sanctuary

Chapter Four - Senna

"This place is HUGE!" Senna shouted as she bounded out of the auto and into the loading dock. She craned her head up, trying to see up the side of the building, but her view was blocked by the undersides of walkways and the distortion from the glass ceiling. Her ponytail bobbed behind her as she leaned from side to side, trying to see around the maze of tubes and blue glare of the city. "How many stories tall is it? Fifty? Eighty?!"

"It is only thirty stories tall, dear," Nami responded levelly, causing Senna to stumble. She pulled herself upright, her eyes wide and mouth hanging open behind the fabric of her face mask.

"THIRTY!? ONLY THIRTY? Mom, our house was ONE story! ONE. Even if every floor here were the exact same size as our house – which it isn't, it's larger I can tell – then that would be THIRTY TIMES LARGER than our house! THIRTY!"

"Yes, dear, I do remember basic arithmetic."

"It's not all a house, is it? I mean – it has to be something else, right? Maybe lots of little houses stacked on top of each other?" She turned as she followed her mother to the elevator, taking in a complete view of her surroundings. The driver was loading their bags onto a clear plastic cart, his eyes lingering on the thin layer of dirt that tinted the wheels and the paint of the auto a red brown.

"I don't remember the entire layout. It's been a good twenty years since I've been here. However, if I remember correctly, only the top seven floors are living space. The lower floors are for Government Services. Political meeting rooms, emergency services, that sort of thing."

"Seven floors of living quarters!?" Senna skipped a few steps to catch up with her mother as she strolled towards the elevator. The driver passed them silently, swiping a card and pushing a button to call the elevator for them. "Mom, that's ridiculous! This is ridiculous! Are we really going to live here?"

Senna followed her mother into the lift, stumbling again when her foot caught the ridge of the threshold. Her hands pressed against the doorframe as she caught herself and slid off to one side of the confined space.

"Of course, dear. It's only natural, considering that I am—" Nami began, but the elevator started upwards along the outside of the vast round skyscraper and Senna's attention was gone yet again. "—marrying Zed."

Senna pressed her gloved hands against the glass, smearing dirt from the Rim over the meticulously cleaned surface. The world fell beneath them as they rose, revealing more of the city with every passing layer. The walkways were like a network of arteries, pumping people like blood cells from one building to another.

"Wow! Look at that, Mom! Look! We can see the tops of those buildings! Hey look, there's people walking in that tunnel! Mom! Mom, look! It's lit with the moss! All of that blue light in the walkways is moss! How cool is that!? It's just like my necklace! Mom!"

"Necklace?"

"Hey Mom, where's the school? Can we see it from here? Oh, what about the University? That has to be a big building, too, right? Is it that one? That one's big! Will our rooms have windows, Mom? Can I see the school from my room? Oh, there's a shuttle tube! Mom!"

"Yes dear, I am from here, remember?"

The elevator coasted to a stop, the doors opening to reveal the bright white light of the well illuminated and vast front room. Spotlights shone on art pieces, from sculptures on pedestals to the large canvases on the wall. Senna squinted at the piece of art nearest to her, the bust of a man she didn't know. It was carved out of some kind of stone, but all mining operations had been halted when the domes went up, out of fear of infection coming in from underground vents or a cave in. Had the bust been carved out of a piece that had been lying around, or had it been carved during the Wireless Age?