System

18. Life without a Soul

The rain was falling heavily as the young couple left their grey apartment building. The man pulled his coat around the girl and they ducked under the shade of a rusty metal walkway.

Neither of them noticed the two damp figures who were sheltering in a nearby doorway.

'You do take me to the nicest places,' Swan grumbled as the water dripped from his hat.

'At least we're dressed for the weather,' Watcher replied. 'It could have been worse.'

Both men were wearing long black waterproof coats with matching hats. Swan suspected that they either looked slightly sinister or very silly. He hadn't decided which yet.

'When you picked up that wedding ring, I was hoping for a nice sunny day, an old church and a white dress,' he said wistfully. 'I wasn't expecting a damp night in... Where are we anyway?'

'Estuary City,' Watcher replied as he took his friend by the arm and dragged him into the rain. 'It's an urban sprawl which stretches along the route of the River Thames from northern Kent to central London.'

Their feet clanged on the metal walkways as they followed the young couple. The sound was muted by the falling rain and the rumble of distant thunder.

'Rising water levels have drowned a number of low-lying regions, but the population has also risen so places like this have not been completely abandoned.'

They passed beneath another walkway and through a gap between two tall towers.

'Cities like this have sprung up all over the planet,' he continued. 'They're built on the ruins of the old towns - cheap accommodation resting on pontoons, stilts and rubble...'

'This place could certainly do with a lick of paint,' Swan commented as they passed some peeling poster. The text was unintelligible.

'This is where the poorest people live,' Watcher replied. 'No smart city ships for these people, just rust and dirt.'

Swan didn't respond, but tightened his coat. It was cold, wet and getting darker. Wherever they were, it didn't feel like home.

The young couple made their way through the corridors and alleyways of the city without stopping, and the two men sometimes had to run to keep up. They passed shops, apartments and workshops before reaching a small alcove in a side alley. Swan and Watcher paused for a moment before opening the door and following their quarry inside.

They found themselves in the foyer of a small church. There were twelve plain wooden pews, a simple metal font and a few paper notices pinned up at the back.

The young couple didn't seem to have noticed them, so Swan guessed they were inside some form of recording - possibly a memory or dramatisation.

He shook the water from his coat, reflecting on the fact that it wasn't really water and he wasn't really wet. Somehow this didn't make him feel any less damp, so he was grateful that there was an old heater by the door.

Watcher took his coat off and hung it on a peg by the door. Water dripped onto the floor, and Swan wondered for a moment whether anyone would ever mop it up.

He kept his own coat on, but followed his friend down the tiny aisle.

A dark haired priest in a clerical shirt greeted the young couple warmly and lead them to an old wooden table that had been set set up near to the front. There were papers strewn on top and a battered old computer was already turned on.

'Take a seat,' he said to his visitors.

The man took his partner's coat and helped her to sit before removing his own and resting them on the floor. The woman had medium-length blonde hair and a pale face. She was wearing an old dress and had bright earrings. The man was thin and had dark brown hair. His skin was marked by patches of green scale which began near his eyebrows and continued down the length of his neck.