Welcome To Paragon!

[Fus ro dah]

6:30pm, on a Friday evening was when it happened. Every single television channel, every radio station,and every website began the announcement at the exact same time.


There was a blast of loud fanfare, which took only a few moments to have the intended effect. Almost every eye or ear was paying attention to the sudden announcement that had temporarily taken over the airwaves.


“The show has begun!” Announced a jovial, young adult male voice. “Ten years in the making, and the Wolf Lake Project is finally complete! Tomorrow morning at 9am, our Lightspeed monorails will be opening to escort -you- in luxury to the official opening of your new favourite place in the country. Paragon! Wolf Lake Incorporated will be running a competition at the opening to allow a group of individuals to experience Paragon without the crowds! For those lucky few, you'll be able to eat from the food courts for free, you'll get free rides at the amusement park and a shopping spree at a store of your choice! Every ticket to ride the monorail is a ticket to win!”


The fanfare plays once again before everything returns back to normal, leaving the country abuzz with this exciting news.


Just before 9am, Saturday morning.


"Let. Me. Through!" A high pitched whine exploded across the crowd at the large station at Rosecliff. The capital city was bustling even more than normal thanks to the announcement last night. The light blond haired teenage girl pushed through the crowd, her heels clip clapping on the pavement.


She was Christy Queen, and she was the daughter of Peter Queen; the second richest man in Rosecliff. Behind her back, Christy was called the living doll (and sometimes to her face as well) due to her extreme amount of body modifications. Her skin was taut, pale and flawless, her eyes were slightly larger than normal and tinted violet. Her figure had been sculpted to give her a figure not unlike a Barbie doll, her tiny waist made tinier by the expensive corsets she wore.


How she could still breathe and function, was anybody's guess.


"Finally!" She exclaimed as she reached the front of the line, batting her long eyelashes at the monorail attendant who gave her a flat glare. Digging into her stupidly expensive handbag, she withdrew her ticket and passed it to the man with a sweet smile.


It was pretty obvious a lot of people didn't like her.


One of the men beside her sighed and adjusted the glasses that were perched on his nose. He had a large leather satchel at his side and a pen tucked behind his right ear. He was Allen Markus, a 45 year old freelance journalist. He made his way through life selling the stories of people from all around the country to the newspapers and trashy magazines. Allen didn't make a lot of money, but this was his life and he enjoyed every moment of it.


He adjusted the satchel on his arm and glanced at the time on his watch, it wasn't long now.


The Silverly station was almost as busy, the medium sized city had a sudden influx of visitors from the surrounding area. Almost every hotel and motel was booked out with the excitement of the news. A brown-haired youth waited in line with his family, looking probably the least excited to be here out of the entire crowd. Old iPod in hand, earphones over his ears; he blasted loud music into his ears to block out the clamour of the crowd... and his family.


"Mathias!" His mother, Stephanie had tried to get his attention at least half a dozen times now.


Her son's brown gaze met her own hazel gaze as she waved her hand to get his attention. "What?" He asked, sliding his headphones off.


"It's time to go honey." The blonde woman smiled. "Come on."


Mathias groaned and nodded, sliding his headphones back over his ears as he followed his mother and little sister forwards in the line.


Angel, as she liked to call herself, stood in line with all the patience of a saint. A few fights had broken out at the Westacre station, but had quickly been broken up by security. A delicate hand reached up and twirled the bottom of her ebony ponytail, her white feathered wings fluttering in the breeze.


She had saved up most of her pay-checks to pay for those wings, it was just a shame she couldn't fly with them. Perhaps in the future they would be able to adjust her wings for just that.


"Shaeya?" A female voice called across the crowd.


Green eyes swung towards the voice, her red-painted lips curling into a broad smile as she saw a friend, waving. Although she was distracted as an announcement sounded over the speaker system.


"Those with tickets, please move forwards and present them! The Lightspeed shall be leaving shortly!"


Helena Bern from Valmont didn't get out very often, she worked from home which kept her very busy. It was worth it though, she made a decent wage and was able to finally become the cat-girl she'd always dreamed of being. Two copper coloured fluffy cat ears perked forwards as a man announced for passengers to board the monorail, and her tail, which was the same colour as her ears and hair, swished slightly.


"E-excuse me.." She asked meekly, trying to make her way forwards.


That was the other reason she worked at home. Even at 30, she'd never grown out of being painfully shy. Not making eye contact with anyone she didn't need to, Helena had her ticket checked and she quickly found a window seat.

 

[Houndstooth]

To be entirely honest, Evelyn had no idea how she had come to be standing in line for the Lightspeed, ticket in hand. When the announcement had been made the night before, she had merely dismissed the notification on her ROTI and had gotten back to her book. Grand openings weren’t really Evie’s thing, better to let the excitement die down for a month or two and then go when the crowds weren’t so frenzied. She was already starting to bristle from the way the writhing crowd kept brushing up against her, nearly knocking her coffee from her hand for the umpteenth time. She had had no intention to come out here this morning, she had been enjoying her shut-in vacation; doors locked, music cranked, and curled up with a good book. If she had to guess, it was probably the phone call from her mother last night that facilitated this whole mess. “You’re always working dear,” her mother had said, “it would do wonders for you to go out and meet more people.” The conversation had been longer than that of course, but right now Evie didn’t feel like replaying the eon long guilt trip in her head. Her mother had nagged and whined and ‘helpfully’ suggested her daughter buy a ticket for that new center they had just announced on the news. 


And of course, Evie didn’t really have an excuse for not trying to get a ticket. She lived less than a block away from the central train station and it wasn’t like she had planned anything else for her week off. Ultimately, unable to shake her mother’s needling voice from her head, Evie decided she would stop by the train station in the morning and try to buy a ticket. She would take her time getting ready, she’d walk two blocks past the station, pick up a coffee, and on the return trip they would say, “I’m terribly sorry, we’re sold out of tickets.” And then she could tell her mother that she had honestly tried and the woman would leave her alone for another few days. Except, they hadn’t apologized for the lack of tickets, instead they cheerfully told her the price, watched her wave her hand over the terminal to pay, and handed her her ticket with a perky “Good luck!” 


“I should have just lied,” Evie mumbled to the rim of her coffee cup before taking a sip of the frothy latte. She glanced about the platform around her, the tide of people continuing on for miles and miles. Granted, Evie was pretty short and could really only see a few feet in any direction at the moment but she assumed that there was an ocean of people around her. “Let. Me. Through!” Came a shrill whine somewhere over Evelyn’s shoulder, briefly followed by a petite blonde brushing past her. “Excuse you,” Evie scoffed, holding her coffee over her head so it wouldn’t be knocked from her hand in the scuffle. She watched the strangely molded girl continue on to the front of the line, either not hearing Evie or not caring. 


‘What a bitch,’ Evelyn thought, pulling her sunglasses down from the top of her head and settling them over her eyes. It wasn’t bright in the terminal by any means, but Evie had found that giant mirrored aviators worn inside were a pretty efficient way of telling strangers ‘don’t talk to me.’ 


“And now you’re acting like a brat,” Evie chided herself under her breath, letting out a heavy sigh. ‘This isn’t the worst thing to happen to you, no one twisted your arm here. You’ve already bought the ticket, just make the most of it.’ She glanced around the terminal again, taking a few deep breaths to relieve her anxiety and giving a small smile to the first person to look her way. ‘There, that wasn’t so bad was it? Just try to make a friend today. If nothing else, there’s going to be some great sales for opening day.’  Her inner monologue had managed to improve her mood enough that by the time the announcement came through for ticket holders to proceed to the train, she had pulled her sunglasses from her face and tucked them back into their case in her purse. 

 

[Dapper Bunny]

Mark Zhilov Tasković: Currently at Rosecliff station, interacting with his Sister, Ekaterina "Katya" Tasković



It was no surprise to Mark, he was awoken early by his sister for the big Wolf Lake Project, something she had heard over the radio the previous day, lucky tickets, she had told him, one in a thousand chance even. At least he couldn't blame her, he had worked extra late most days, just to give support to their brother back home in Kreivosa and their elderly mother, Katya insisted that they should spend some of the savings for a ticket each, she would be ready to contact Nikolay if either of them won, So Mark gave up and accepted to follow his little sister to the Station. "Come Mark, look there are so many people here, must be a magnificent place, ya?" It was quite a sight, honestly, Mark and his sister lived quite some distance from the station, not many would want cars when they could take a monorail, at least a busy city like Rosecliff did get him some average income, still he was more keen on saving it, like his father had saved money for medical bills, which was quite lucky for Mark, a faint smile spread on his face as Katya left his side to buy tickets. 


"Let. Me. Through!" Wailed a childish voice in between the crowd, thankfully, Marks height did allow him to sorta glimpse out who it was, Queen's daughter, he never had done any work for Peter Queen, doubt a rich person like that would want some Mechanic that lived in his workshop to work on whatever money-ride he had. "I got the tickets, here's yours!" Mark's thoughts were interrupted as his sister came up besides him again, holding one of those small tickets out as he took it, almost on cue, the speakers came alive  "Those with tickets, please move forwards and present them! The Lightspeed shall be leaving shortly!"


With those words, Mark moved forward, using his size to pave a way through the crowd, while mumbling half-excuses, he held a tight grip on Katya's hand. Having made his way up to one of the attendants, he held out the tickets, it was a rather quick and redundant action, the attendant looked them over and opened the monorail doors, Nothing fancy as his sister talked about, but maybe that was something in Wolf's Lake, Mark thought shortly before following his over-eager sister to a spot with a good view.


"Katya, I am not sure if this is any good, the crowd at the event may be thrice as big as this one here at the station." Mark looked at the other passengers as they came in, idly studying them to see if he saw any customers he had been acquainted with. "At least stick close to me, who knows what kind of people would take the opportunity to do theft." None yet, mayhaps they were boarding another segment of the monorail, turning his head briefly to his sister as she spoke back. "This isn't like back home in Kreivosa, I doubt people are going around purse-snatching, Mark, everyone is excited to see this place." Mark shook his head lightly. "Not everyone, Who would take care of business if I in the unbelievably chance got in?"


"Well, Nikolay and mother have saved up, they could come over and stay at the workshop, Nikolay knows a bit about the trade, since you taught him." With another defeated sigh, Mark acknowledged that he just couldn't win this one.

 

[Danimalz]

Geoffrey was in his office by the docks, just finishing up payroll when the announcement came on.  He had already been in contact with the Wolf Lake people about providing their restaurants with the exotic seafood his company was known for.  He had been waiting for the announcement and opening day for quite some time.  The first shipment had gone out yesterday and one would go out every day from now until his temporary contract ended next month.  If the company liked the product they were getting, they said they would renew the contract for two years and pay double what the initial contract did.  


While the dock was a short haul from his home, the train station nearby.  Saturday morning he arose before the sun, as usual, and began everyday how he had for the past eight years.  The docks were full of fishermen, bait, traps and now Mr.McCabe.  He walked to the end of the docks, making sure to address each and every one of his workers.  Once at the end, Geoffrey made his morning statement, "Friends!..." he bellowed, "...today we begin to fulfill our greatest dreams...." cheers erupted as he continued, "... today our contract with Wolf Lake will take off and it is our job to supply them with the freshest and the best of what we catch!"  the roar of approval and agreement was overwhelming, "... after our contract is up next month we know they will be begging to renew!" more cheers and fists were raised, "... and with it our pay will more than double!"  at this point it sounded like a small army has just let out a battle cry as they went to war. "Wolf Lake will provide for us, only if we provide for them, so let's get out there and get do what we do best, FISH!"  every man and woman on the dock jumped into their boats as dozens of engines roared to life.  Geoffrey watched as they sped out of the harbor one by one, each looking to impress their boss with their catch.  While the fishing was competitive, they knew that they were all in it together.  Early on in the company, Geoffrey had to settle disputes between families that had been finding for decades over fishing grounds.  Now they are being paid more than the they had ever been and they know that everyone works hard to satisfy their boss and his clients.  


He left the dock and grabbed his coffee before heading to the station, his business casual appearance of a burgundy red Polo shirt, straight legged jeans, and tan boat shoes was just the right amount of business for the fishermen to know he was the boss, but casual enough to let them know he was still one of them.  Upon arrival at the station he looked around as the crowd was about as big as he had expected, not very considering the size of the place.  He did take notice of Miss Burn, it was hard to miss her really with her Cat ear and tail mods. Seeing her slightly uncomfortable he walked over to her and smiled, "Good morning Helena, I see you've bought yourself a ticket."  he held up his to show that he too would be attending the operation ingredients day ceremony.  Just then the announcement came for ticket holders to board the Lightspeed.  Turning to his cat-like station companion he bowed slightly and gestured towards the train, "After you, I insist."  he smiled as he enjoyed the view of her tail darting back and forth as she got closer to the front, where the train was getting ready to depart.  Out of no where a voice had cried out something about zombies, to which he simply shook his head, "kids..." he thought. At the front of the train stood a heavy set man checking tickets and held back the crowd as he allowed Miss Burn to have hers checked and enter the monorail.  Geoffrey's ticket was checked and as he boarded, he turned to look at the crowd, it had certainly gotten bigger...

 

[Vol]

LOCATION: Valmont Train Station
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STATUS: "All aboard the train to Paradisegon~"
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Jumin was an early riser, back at Kokuru and here too in Valmont. But arriving at the train station at 7:30 AM didn't make a difference. He wanted to go here much earlier. Actually, he had intended to camp out in the station yesterday, ever since the 'Paragon' commercial had aired that evening.


From the mesmerising images taken of the amusement park and the opportunity to try all sorts of the things that it had in store there for free (a possibility, if he managed to win the competition stated in the advert), obviously would have had thousands or even millions of people from this city storming the station to take the Lightspeed monorails to Paradise. It had him stay up nearly all night, spamming about it to his friends back at home. However the idea had been shut down by the power of persuasion from his chat-group and he had forced himself to sleep. 


About 2 hours had past and his phone vibrated at the turn of a new hour: 9:00. Even now he regrets listening to their advice.

 
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. . . . . 
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'Ugh, its like everyone keeps multiplying -- there's just too many people here!! ' He thought to himself, alarmed, as he was practically swept up by the bustling herd of humans crowding in wait for entry into the Monorails. He was extraordinarily irritated and uncomfortable by how his personal space became literally non-existent so easily. It was annoyingly HOT too, especially when everyone was so tightly packed together. What he was wearing didn't help his temperature at all, but it didn't exactly bother him, it was just the amount of friction he was getting against other people. He was quite easy to push and shove around since he was such a short man, but boy did he have a voice.


"IF YOU ALL KEEP MOVIN' LIKE A HORDE OF STARVED ZOMBIES, PEOPLE LIKE ME ARE GONNA DIE JUST TRYING TO GET THEIR TICKET CHECKED!!" 


That outburst didn't trigger a path to open up for him, to his dismay, but it did manage to distract a few.


Jumin squeezed, ducked and weaved his way through; ignoring the feeling of stares behind his back and the mixture of indecipherable muttering and muffled chortles.


Being short had its perks.


Once inside the Lightspeed, he was greeted by the embrace of the blissful air conditioned atmosphere. He quickly sat himself down next to a free window seat before unleashing the entirety of his relief. He threw a hand up in the air before resting it comfortably atop his white locks. He used the other one to remove his sunglasses and drop it neatly into the breast pocket of his trench coat. 


"Yes!! This what I love about this country -- it just keeps surprising me." He whispered to himself, excitement tingling his bones."Ah right, right. Gotta tell everyone that I'm on my way to Paragon!"


Jumin took out his iPhone and proceeded to contact his chat-group. Fortunately he had a wifi plan installed in his phone. Before he could begin a text, a slight movement of red caught the corner of his eye. Still facing his phone, he leaned to his right a bit and realised that it was a tail swishing by a seat near his row. 


He looked up and took note of the mop of fiery red hair that had a set of fluffy pointy ears protruding from it. Cat ears.


The young fashion designer grinned childishly and returned to his original task.


He had sent a selfie to his group-chat with a messaging saying:

In the train now! Ready 2 have sum fun and all that jazz!! Wish you all were here wit me tho. Also Eun, there's sum one in the train that has ur mods! But they r red, not black, LOL. I think I like theirs better than urs -- lol jks.
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[SecretRock]

Kala: On the train


She hated being up early, but it was an unfortunate part of life for everyone, so Kala knew she wasn't getting any pity from anyone. Several other people on the station seemed to share Kala's view on mornings as they stood, bleary eyed, waiting for the train to take them to wherever they were going. She knew that some of them would be getting on the same train as her, going to the new Paragon. She didn't want to admit it, but it was exciting. There was no doubt that half the shops there would be far too expensive for her, but Kala knew that she'd be able to afford things from some of the shops, maybe the theme park that they loved advertising. It would be far from a wasted day.


Walking forward, Kala shoved the contents of her bag aside as she felt around in it for her ticket. She remembered putting it in there that morning, so she knew it was in there somewhere. She she searched, she heard Christy Queen complaining. Keeping her eyes on her bag, she resisted the urge to roll them. Knowing the diva, she'd probably see somehow and sue her. Given that Kala blew at least half of her savings on the ticket to this place on the day it opened, being sued was not high on her list of priorities. She pulled her ticket out of her bag as she got to the front of the line herself, handing it over to the conductor and taking in the rail as he checked over it. It sure did look fancy on the outside, and what she could see of the inside looked posh too.


The conductor handed her ticket back and wished her a good journey and Kala stepped onto the train, moving to the seat written on her ticket. She looked around as she sat down. Maybe posh had been an overestimation, but it was definitely one of the cleanest trains she'd been on in a while. She took in the other passengers as well, a large variety of people. She could see all sort of modifications too. A girl with cats ears was sat opposite her and a boy with a bionic arm next to her, both of them looking down at their phones, busy doing something, lost in their own little world where whatever they were doing was the most important thing at the moment. 


Knowing it was going to be a long journey, Kala pulled a file out of her bag. It was the project she was currently being paid to work on, just some written translation. The main problem she was having was finding an equivalent to the idioms used. The literal translations didn't make sense, and the explanations sounded too boring. She needed to find the right way to word it without losing the meaning. With her aim in mind, Kala settled back in her seat, chewing her lip as she focused on the word in front of her.

 

[Fus ro dah]

Helena had just offered her usual shy, quiet smile to any who spoke to her, before taking her place on the monorail. As did the others, although Christy was less than impressed; there was no first class. Everyone was equal on the monorail. The heiress quietly pulled out an e-book reader and began to read some of the latest e-zines. It took just under an hour to get everyone on the monorails across the country, people were talking amongst themselves, some on their phones. At exactly 11:00am the doors to the monorails closed and a pre-recorded announcement began to play over the intercom, after a loud ding to get the passengers attention.


“Lightspeed welcomes you aboard this evening. Please remain seated until further notice. Complimentary wi-fi is active, there is no password needed for access. The rear of the Lightspeed Monorail is home to a child-care centre, complete with faux grass for the children to play on. We have professional, fully trained child-care staff to take care and help keep your children entertained whilst on their journey. They also have beds for younger children to nap on during longer journeys. The cost of this is covered with the purchase of family tickets.


Each of the seats are plush, seated 3 either side of the aisle. Each is fitted with a reclining function, as well as inputs for headphones. For a small fee, you can purchase a set of headphones for music or for an added fee; a screen to watch a movie on. Each seat is also fitting with a call button on the underside of the left armrest, which when pressed will call one of our helpful staff members to fetch you anything you need. Meals and snacks will be available shortly, the cost is covered by your ticket. Thank you and enjoy your journey.”


The monorail whirred to life, the noise quickly dulled to a mere whisper and across the country, the vehicles began their journey towards Paragon. The world began to pass by in but a blur, those traveling further moved at a faster speed to ensure everyone arrived around the same time. Once all the monorails were at the station and unloaded, the opening ceremony would take place. A few minutes into the journey, trolleys were pushed along the aisles, laden with food and drinks. 

 

[Dapper Bunny]

Mark Zhilov Tasković: Onboard Rosecliff's Lightspeed Monorail: Accompanied with his Sister Katya. (Slightly colored Katya's speech, while she's around for the big Event. Not really noticeable tho)



The monorails was not something Mark used often, he remember how he first got on one, not to Rosecliff though, Kreivosa didn't utilize the Monorails, it wasn't really able to fit amongst the factory-city, at least not ten years ago, it was almost like a children first seeing a candy-shop as he stepped off the Storm Coast passenger train and seeing a Lightspeed Monorail... Mark's train of thoughts were interrupted as the loud ding ringed out, with a voice speaking the standard message.
"Mother wishes the best of luck to us." Mark's sister spoke out, still looking at her phone, almost as if she didn't even register the ding, the message or the monorail beginning to move. "And Nikolay is already making plans to move over once we've gotten in." Giving Mark a smug smile. "Don't sell your ox till you've found a horse, Katya." Mark replied in his old fashion way, which gave way to a short chuckle from both himself and his sister, although he did keep contact with his brother Nikolay, and their mother, it was still somewhat uncommon, he had a lot to do, not only did he take care of cars, electronics and mechanisms that people brought to his workshop, he did venture out and did side-jobs as a handy-worker mostly minor odd jobs to help save up, but it did mean less overall time to keep contact with his family back home.


Mark relaxed back in the seat, might as well enjoy it while he could, at least the Queen's girl didn't whine out loud, it was as quiet as it could possibly get on a Monorail to a big special event. innately, Mark rubbed the wrist of his left arm, a few thoughts fluttered around his head if it wasn't him that it had happened to, how this whole Wolf Lake event would have sounded then. "You know, if all goes well, wonder if the'd make more places like 'Paragon' if this is a huge success? Might look into nudging a few points for a place to work in it, Katya, you're studying for a Hotel Management, eh?" said Mark as he looked at Katya. "If I get in, or if you get in you could put words in for me, right? All the things I hear and read makes this place a Utopia." Katya replied back. "But first, could you get us something to drink?" Now that it was said, Mark was getting a bit dry in his throat, having to stand and wait for the announcement and then the Monorail to start moving.


He looked down the aisle, as a trolley was coming down his way. Mark raised his hand to get the attention of the Staff. " Two bottles of water, and some brand snack pack. Mark handed out the required coins, he knew asking if there was any place he could take a smoke was probably out of the question, it was called Lightspeed monorails for a reason, but he did at least give it a try. "And excuse me, you've got any designated smoking area?" His question came with a small bump to the side of his shoulder, Katya never did approve of his habit, she hadn't lived in Kreivosa as long either. Mark gave his sister a short and simple glare as he handed over one of the water bottles and the snack pack, before looking back to the Staff Member, mostly just to get the standard 'sorry, smoking-free aisle.' Or something along those lines.

 

[Houndstooth]

Evie breathed a heavy sigh of relief as the crowd around her began to condense down to a line trickling onto the monorail. The press of people bearing down on her from all angles finally alleviated, she could at last reclaim some of her personal space, enough to let her arm dangle haphazardly at her side anyway. She took another swig of her latte, giving the cup a small shake and frowning a little at the dismal amount of precious coffee she had left. ‘I’m sure they’ll have coffee on the monorail, and who knows, maybe it’ll be french press. Wolf Lake better spring for more than that instant crap,’ she thought to herself before draining the last of her latte in one gulp. 



It took longer than expected to actually get on the train, but with so many people trying to board at once it wasn’t hard to see why. Evie passed her ticket over to the attendant, allowing him to scan it before taking it back and tucking it into her purse. Evie was quite impressed with the monorail, the interior was impeccably clean and the seats looked comfortable enough that you could actually get a solid nap in during the trip. Admittedly, it wouldn’t have taken much to impress Evie, the other trains in Rosecliff were a bit outdated and had certainly had had enough use to make them more than a little filthy.


The seats in the compartment were already mostly claimed, Evie could only pick out a few empty chairs amidst the sea of faces. She crept down the aisle slowly, carefully assessing potential seat and the neighboring occupants. ‘Not that one…he’s already dripping with sweat…’ She thought, creeping past the seat beside the man dabbing beads of sweat from his forehead with his already soaked t-shirt . ‘That one’s got a kid…I don’t feel like asking that one to move her bag…That leaves…Ah!” Evie perked up as she spotted an open seat towards the back of the compartment, her seat mates would be a pair of old women chatting comfortably, one of them contently knitting what looked to be the beginnings of a scarf. “Excuse me, is this seat taken?” She asked politely of the two women, both of whom shook their heads and waved her into the empty space. 


Settling down, Evie let out a sigh, tugging her purse into her lap and leaning back into the plush seat. ‘This is much better,’ she purred to herself, glancing across the aisle to the seats on the opposite side. The group beside her didn’t look too rowdy, just a woman and an exceptionally tall man who were busy bickering with one another in tones too low to be picked out in the din of the cabin. She watched them for a moment or two before her attention was caught by a flickering icon in the corner of her vision. She waved her hand slightly to the left, bringing her email stream up on the ROTI. There were a couple emails sitting in her inbox that she hadn’t gotten to yet, all of them from her coworkers. They were mostly inconsequential, questions about where a certain file was located or even how to reorder the filters for the coffee pot. She had been humoring her coworkers throughout her vacation by responding to these trifles but decided she’d rather enjoy her day out. “Roti,” Evie began as she pulled her journal from her purse, “please set my away message back up and disable my email notifications.” There was a light chirrup in her ear, a confirmation that Roti had recognized the command and her email was immediately whisked away from her vision.

 

[Fus ro dah]

As expected, the journey from each respective station was smooth and without any issues whatsoever. Children watched the land speed by in a blur, some napped, some played back in the creche area assigned for them. Teenagers and adults chatted amongst themselves, some reading, some surfing the net and taking advantage of the super high speed internet connection. Everyone had something to do, even if that something was napping or just blissfully doing nothing but watching the world go by.


Attention: Please return to your seats. Wolf Lake Station arrival in two minutes. Please gather your belongings and check the immediate area to ensure nothing is left behind. Lightspeed is not responsible for lost items. Thank you for traveling and enjoy your stay.


A sign also flashed in each long car for those who had music going or were hearing impaired. Although now days, that was easily repaired with medical advances. if you could afford it. Hearing aids were still used quite a lot, even if they were a short term solution. People did as they were bade, shuffling around to make sure nothing was forgotten as one by one, the monorails slid quietly into the huge station that was overshadowed by Paragon itself. People filed out of the monorails and followed signs, toward the distant sound of music and fanfare. Well dressed men and woman greeted and directed people through the station, each one smiling happily as their gaze met those of passers by.

Paragon was soon in sight as people wound their way up from the underground station and arrived at a huge courtyard area with wide, open spaces and perfectly manicured plants and trees. Bright flowers cast their sweet scents across the courtyard and a live band played a bright and cheery tune. People filled the courtyard, some pushing and shoving for a better view of where a huge silver ribbon hung across the middle doors that led into the complex.  Finally, the band quietened down and a tall, lanky platinum blonde man in a well-cut suit stepped onto a temporary platform. The crowd hushed  and he smiled already impossibly wide at the gathered crowd. 

"Welcome! Ladies and gentlemen! To the Grandest Opening you will ever witness in your life!" How dramatic! "Wolf Lake welcomes you all to Paragon! Shortly we shall draw the lucky winners! Those who are not picked, do not despair! There is entertainment aplenty in store for you all!"


Various speeches followed, thank you's and dedications. Although no one ever spoke too long Off to the edges of the courtyard and in the currently mostly empty open air carpark were set up a number of stalls and tents, rides and all manner of temporary distractions for those who had to wait to enter the megamall. The ribbon was cut to a large amount of fanfare and the blonde man took the podium once again.


"Now! Please, if your name is called. Move to the front!" A slender woman dressed in a low cut, revealing dress handed him a box with the winning names inside.  "Now, are you ready, everyone?"

The crowd cheered loudly and fell quiet as the names were read out, one by one.


"Kala Mahoe! Mathias Criville! Evelyn LaRue! Shaeya Rathby! Mark... Tasković," he struggled with that name, but continued, "Allen Markus! Christy Queen!" the crowd murmured, some of them not surprised she got in, "Helena Bern! Geoffry McCabe! And lastly..." he paused for dramatic effect, "Jumin Tae Song! That's all there is folks, if you are those people, bring bring your ticket and ID to the front so we can verify you before your adventure begins!

 

[Dapper Bunny]

Mark Zhilov Tasković: At the opening event of Paragon.



The ding ringed out with the same monotone voice speaking. "Looks like we've arrived, Katya." Mark said as the monorail came to an halt and people started to get up and leave. He of course followed with everyone else. "Ooh do you hear that? Music" His sister spoke, as they passed by very well dressed people who directed the crowd. "Sure is." Mark replied as he placed a cigarette in his mouth and lit it, they reached a massive courtyard where the crowd got bigger and bigger. A business man stepped on a heightened platform and welcomed everyone. Soon enough speeches and such bore followed suit, Mark had long since finished the cigarette, he and his sister of course looked through the stalls, something to drink, eat a few souvenirs, it was a generally good mood, and then the ribbon to Paragon was cut.


Mark folded his arms and looked at the blonde man speaking again. "You know Katya, every single person here bought a ticket, what chances are that either of us are going to get in?" He said as the names started to get read up out loud, then his name came after a small struggle with his foreign surname.


"Oh my good gracious! Mark! You are in!" Mark's sister almost shouted in his ear, true though right after four other people, it came as a surprise to him. "Go, go now get up there!" Katya almost pushed him forward, he did as forced, moving through the crowd up to the front. This is a joke, he must've gotten wrong didn't he? Surely a jest. Mark thought to himself as he reached down and took ID from his wallet and the ticket out.


"Can't believe it, what are the  chances?" He said mostly to himself in disbelief.

 

[SecretRock]

Kala: The Paragon, Outside


Kala glanced up from her papers as she heard the announcement that they would be arriving soon. She was surprised by how short the journey had been even with the new super fast monorails taking them. As everyone else got up and rushed towards the doors, Kala took her time putting her papers away. She would be fine being the last one off the monorail if it meant she avoided the crushing crowds at the doors. It also meant that she was at the back of the crowd, only like minded people stood around or behind her. It's not like it mattered anyway, if anyone around her was called people would have to let them through. There was a slim chance of that happening though. There were at least a thousand people there.


She watched as the man came to the stage, and followed his gesture to the fair set up in the car park. She looked around the stalls she could see, trying to see which would be fun. As much as she would have liked to enter the mall early, she didn't expect her luck to be that good. There seemed to be a few stalls selling tasty food, and lots of games she might enjoy. Her attention was pulled back to the stage by the crowd's cheering as the ribbon was cut. Like that, the Paragon, the biggest and bestest megamall in the country, possibly even the world, was open for business. For a select few anyway. The first name was called out and Kala politely clapped along with everyone else before realising that it we her name.


Getting over her shock, Kala started to make her way through the crowd, her hand tightly clutched on the straps of her bag. Her ticket and ID were in there, the things he said they'd need. He could hear some other people getting excited about winning, and she was beginning to feel similar. She would be one of the first people to get into the Paragon, to see what it was like, even if she probably wouldn't be able to buy much. Though, she wasn't sure what it would be like inside. There would be ten of them, and probably some staff. That meant a very empty building. Kala wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. If it would be creepy or relaxing. She didn't really have time to consider it as she got to the front of the crowd, feeling several eyes on her.