The sun was shining brightly on the
morning of the Farewell Celebration, adding an extra sparkle to the eyes of the
Invites, the most beautiful Gens of the New Empire. The Farewell Celebration
was more than a celebration, it was a chance to mingle with the gods, being
selected for an official celebration like this almost guaranteed the students
a chance to make the sorts of connections needed to land an exciting new
opportunity in the New Empire. Many of them clutched their portfolios, many
of them had prepared four-minute pitches in case the perfect opportunity came
their way.
Bubbling
with excitement and barely able to contain it, Bella followed the students onto the ship. For Bella, this
would be a chance to meet Mel. She had attended seminars and special workshops which Atlan's most renowned hairdresser had hosted, but this was different, this was a chance to actually meet
her, away from the formalities of the salon.
She studied the blonde
locks in front of her as she walked up the boarding ramp, recalling her lessons on 'bounce'; her curls were perfect. The truth was, the
baby goddess in front of her probably wanted the same thing as she did; an
apprenticeship with Mel at Dion's Salon. She studied the ebony tresses beside
her, flaxen no less, pondering her own unique assets. Perhaps her curls lacked bounce, however not many Gens had the rosy hues she had, perhaps a unique asset could elevate status all on its own?
She
caught a glimpse of the sunlight bouncing off her own hair as it reflected in
the ship’s window and paused to admire how extra rosy it looked in the morning
sun. At that moment, she knew she had something special, something special was
all it took to get noticed, all she had to do was make personal contact, her
hair would do the rest.
As the sun bounced off blonde curls in
the excited world above, Torus and Halios made their rounds below to oversee final security measures being installed. The Underworld had grown unusually
quiet as the city shut down for the Farewell Celebration, all that was
operating below the surface now was the Gourmet Chamber, the Breweries and the
Maintenance Operations, all of which were in need of being replaced by
new facilities and could afford to suffer any unfortunate consequences of a war. The only lives left underground were staffing bare-bones operations. As
per Orius’s advice, everything of value was being moved into the storage bunker
as a precaution against unwanted fallout. This was a tight security operation
and perhaps one of the most important preparatory operations of all.
As
the train neared the station in Fina, the tunnel became illuminated with work lights, sounds of tools and construction activity was minimal, a sign
the work was done. The new gates installed across the tracks would protect
Atlan in case of an Underworld invasion from Fina, everyone was aware of the
dogon problem here, Atalon wasn't cutting any corners this time.
As the
train lurched to a stop, Halios inspected the work while Torus took care of
business with the Foreman, handing him the Farewell Celebration passes for his
crew. The gods then returned to the train and reversed down the track, back to
the Hub, then down the track toward Lochia. There, another crew had been
installing the same gates. Atalon hadn't left a single loose end. With all access tunnels to the islands gated, the citizens of Atlan could focus their energy on winning the war instead of defending themselves
from rabid dogons.
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