Redolent

Prologue: The Results

Her breath began to fog the screen as she bent down to read the words across the black screen, the dim backlights brightening as it powered up.

The results are in.

Her pulse quickened at the message. Wordlessly, she stepped back as the sleek black machine began to whirr softly. A thin, glossy ebony envelope rose to the surface of the screen and sent ripples across its border. Placing her delicate hands into the holographic screen, she withdrew her envelope and hurried away out of the iridescent building. Outside, the streets were as smooth as plastic and filled with inky darkness. Everything in the mysterious city was black. Black as night. Black as clouded, stormy skies. As black as the souls of the populace.

Obsidian City.

The lights glimmered in the nothingness, bright flashes of neon against the swallowing abyss of the great technological fortress. Everything was digitalized, from the identification chip in her eye, to the clothes on her body. The skin tight suit was made of comfortable, form-fitting polymer with strips of pale silver against the achromic kevlar. Except, the kevlar was different now, it was as thin as cotton, yet breathed as easily as silk and twice as strong as titanium. But of course, in Obsidian, even metals were outdated. Shimmering buildings and machines were built out of Mecha. The sleek black substance was as glossy as glass, the futuristic alloy of metal and plastic gave Mecha the futuristic look that was the trademark of Obsidian. It surrounded the city with the aura of complete immenseness.

Obsidian was an abyss of darkness.

You could never escape it.