Gears of Eternity(old)

A Walk in the Park

         You were right about Rati being a physical person, even after you two got off of the train she wouldn't let go of your arm. It wasn't until you got to Vauxmore Plaza that she finally let your arm go to set up her camera. You almost wanted to ask her if you could take it apart, just to see how one would be able to capture the world around them with such a compact device. Rati set her camera up on its stands in front of an old oak tree. 

        From what she said on the train, the city was planning on tearing it down and putting a gazebo in its place. The news outlet she worked for wanted to do a story on it, and they needed pictures for it. She said it would be on the front page of the paper, a sad distraction to what was happening in the lower districts.                                               

        A distraction for the plague, starvation, and riots that are happening down there. Not a lot of people talk about it, much less news stations. You doubted if anyone that lived in the middle and upper districts even knew about it. Sometimes you wished that you didn't know about the suffering, ignorance is bliss like they say. That ignorance is what you wanted most of all, but that was never an option for you, not when you lived in that suffering.                                                                                             

        "This place is pretty, of course not as pretty as you." Rati snapped you out of your dark thoughts with her velvety voice. "It is sad that they are chopping down this old oak, but I can't wait to see what the gazebo is going to look like here. It should really tie this place together."                                                                                                                      

        "I suppose, I am just surprised that your station is doing a story on it. I wouldn't really say that it is newsworthy." Of course it isn't newsworthy, who would care about an old tree getting replaced?                                                                                                      

        "You are right about it not being newsworthy, but something has to go on the front page. And this is a much nicer story to tell then the ones that are actually important, darling" At least she is aware of it, you can't really blame her anyway. She is just doing her job, if she didn't then she would be out in the streets, just like all the others. Still, the way she spoke about it sent cold air down your spine. It was like she was living a distance memory that never even happened, like she was above it but somehow was in the middle of it.

        Before you could add anything more to the conversation, she clapped her hands. "That is enough of that, time to work my magic." She took one picture of the colossal tree, then inserted the glass plate with all the chemicals on it. The specific model of camera that was she using was one of the newer ones from Sterling. Those ones were expensive, only the top news stations would be able to afford them. There were only three that you could think of; The Citizen Mirror, The Legacy Register, and The Inside Reporter. She must work for one of them if she has that camera.             

        "Say, what news station do you work for? You never told me." You really couldn't understand what made her feel so trustworthy, in hindsight, it really wasn't a good idea to trust her so easily. She might be trying to dig something up on you, something like a copper skinned boy named Elek.

         Rati looked up from the development of the photo. " I was wondering when you were going to ask that." She stated with a small laugh. "I work for The Inside Reporter." Of course she works for them, The Inside Reporter is a favorite of the Sterlings and the government. They only do stories that make them look good, it was one of the most corrupt news stations out there. Coming with her was a bad idea, if the Sterlings have even the tiniest of suspicions, it would make sense for them to send someone to talk to you.