Luminescence

Seven.

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As we exited Priscilla's small, isolated bedroom, the hallways were now flurrying with life. People scattered in each direction, each with different tasks on their mind.

Trying to navigate through the crowds, on the other hand, was a completely separate story. Bumping shoulders must have been pretty common at this base, because even Priscilla was ran into a few times by hurrying soldiers with weapons. And don't even get me started on all of the double takes I had received. I looked particularly out of place as I wore a simple, dirty t-shirt as the crowds around me were in some kind of military uniform. Eventually I started to ignore them, yet people still looked at me as if I were a pesky fly.

"I'm sure you can tell it's busy as hell in these hallways. That's because the air hangar for our military is just down that hall," she says shouting over all of the commotion. "They are about to take on a squadron of Plague guards, hence their heavy armor and ammunition."

I caught a glimpse of the air hangar just meters away, and to say it was massive would've been an understatement. Hundreds of airships were lined up neatly in all shapes and sizes, some so large they could've been the size of a full island. I had never seen an underground facility so large in my life.

As we turn the corner, a line of dozens of soldiers all march in formation towards one of the larger ships, on their way to fight a battle.

I stick closely behind Priscilla, as she slowly makes her way through the large crowds, pointing out different ships which I had all seen in the junkyard at some point. Some of these ships cost millions of orbs, which made me wonder—where on Earth did they get their funding from?

We now turn into a new hallway, which thankfully wasn't as crowded. A large holographic clock on the wall read 14:02, which was a shock to me because my mind had assumed it was the middle of the night. My time perception was apparently very different underground.

"Right over here are the dining halls, where four meals are served daily." The dining hall was massive too. A heavenly aroma of bacon fills my nostrils, as a lady standing outside of the room happily offers me a sandwich to take on the go. Priscilla waves at the lady and gives her a warm smile. "The cafeteria ladies and gentleman are all very nice," she says cheerily. "That's my best friend right there!" Priscilla waves to her one last time before moving on.

"Over here are showers, dressing rooms and locker rooms for all of the soldiers and employees who are off duty. Separated by genders of course, each are cleaned every day to ensure the best quality of hygiene in our base."

I raise my eyebrows, impressed. I surely would be coming back for this later as I saw only a few people currently occupying the showers. Alex and I had to bathe in the city river each day in order to stay refreshed. Being scavengers wasn't the easiest life to live, yet somehow we made it through.