You Forgot 'What If?' (Solarpunk Protopia Fiction)

Part 5: Sink Station

All the local trams arrived, at varying intervals, on one side of Sink Station, while the regional trains arrived and left from the other side. The building itself resembled a cut gemstone, made from ocean-blue-tinted glass, with elegant angles built into the upper floors. The upper stories, I knew, were filled with vertical vegetable gardens and fish tanks. It was a great place for a key food store; regular freight trams made it easy to deliver fresh vegetables and fish across The Sink.

Stepping onto the platform, I made my way down the curving ramp to the hallway leading to the main station. The porous pavement gave just a bit as I walked on it, absorbing the sound of my footsteps, and those of the other train station visitors. Yet another unique innovation that made our Sink Station famous; the first basement floor was made of soft, living pavement that helped to filter rainwater as it rolled down the ramps from the platforms, and healed itself of cracks and graffiti. It also kept the heavily-trafficked first basement floor pleasantly cool in the summer, and warm in the winter.

Checking the arrival boards, I saw that Sinclair's train arrived five minutes ago. I guessed he would have just made his way off the platform and into the main station area. Striding down the underground hallway at a gradual rise, I made my way towards the main station. As the massive chamber came into view, I saw the broad, welcome sign first, suspended from metal beams holding up a glass walkway above.

Welcome to The Sink—The World's Largest Carbon Sink Community!

We're Glad You're Here!

Underneath the message in English, the sign gradually changed to display the message in Spanish, Chinese, French, Russian, Arabic, and 10 other languages. Even though I lived here permanently and had seen the sign hundreds of times, I still loved seeing it.

Sunlight poured through every surface of the main station building, showing every extraordinary detail. Dozens of white pillars rose into the upper stories of the all-glass building, with hundreds of plants spiraling around them. Glass walkways supported by white metal beams criss-crossed above, creating an almost MC Escher-like dreamspace. Gentle music played in the background, in between train announcements, chatter, footfalls, and the faint sound of running water, trickling down the plant pillars.

I saw Sinclair immediately, and smiled. His suited figure was alone in the middle of the enormous room, his head tilted back, staring up at the ceiling, taking in the room, mouth open.

"Hey, stranger," I greeted him.

"Oh." He snapped back from his reverie. "Hello. Mi--"

"Just Evan," I interrupted. Honorifics still made me cringe. Besides the unnecessary gendering, it always felt like a way to address my grandparents, not me. "Coffee?"

"Thank you." He took it and took a sip. His eyebrows shot up. "Oh, wow. That's really good."

I smiled. I knew the coffee would make a good first impression. "I'm glad you like it. How was your trip?"

"Pretty good. I have to say, this building is really something." His gesture took in the glass, the walkways, the towering plant pillars.

I watched him for a moment as he looked around the building again. I had to admit, Sinclair was good-looking. With thick dark hair and finely-trimmed, dark brows, a strong jaw and high cheekbones, his countenance was striking. In his light brown eyes, as they returned to mine, there was weariness, though, and an analytical sharpness and cynicism that certainly belonged to a journalist.

"It's amazing," I agreed. "A lot of train stations have amazing architecture. But we're the only one that produces hundreds of pounds of food each month. And look," I pointed to the glass floor, where fish swam between lily pads below. "No other train station has a fish pond in the station, either. At least," I laughed, "not as big as ours!"

"Amazing." He took another sip of coffee. "Are they decorative?"

"Well, they're nice to look at it. But we also eat them." I gestured towards the plant pillars. "It's a complete aquaponic system. Fish feed the plants, plants clean the water--"

"Yes, I know what aquaponics are." He looked around the pillars. "It's very impressive." He looked back at me. "But, I thought you were all vegan."

"A lot of us are, but not everyone. I guess this is a good place to begin the tour, yeah?" I shot him a crooked smile. "I think there's a lot of things that'll surprise you."

...