Tuesday, 5:51 a.m.
Screens all over Arcelis flickered. For a long moment a white loading bar hovered against the stark black backgrounds, accompanied by a faint hum as the Sky City's network booted up. Few noticed. The tower's residents were still asleep. Those unlucky souls who weren't paid it no mind; the morning broadcast began at 6:00 and everyone knew how glitchy the paper-thin screens were. New technology developed for the Wireless Age cities.
Then the video loaded. The view was serene at first, showing the twilight sky around Taneka, one of Arcelis' Japanese sisters. It refocused to show a dark splotch against the darkening horizon. Taneka's tower lights suddenly blinked on all at once. The plume of smoke appeared close, enveloping the cameras in a thick haze. The view refocused again, this time near ground level.
There was no sound; the video would remain on mute until instructed otherwise by a human. Another lesson learned the hard way.
The smoke came from a dozen burning vehicles and buildings, police cruisers among them. It obscured most details aside from the distinctive flash of gunfire and the epileptic strobing of siren lights all around the district. An unmanned camera drone nosedived past the tower cameras, tail aflame. At least one human-sized form lay crumpled in the street.
The news ticker began to scroll across the bottom of the screen.
SkyNet Emergency Bulletin
Kisho district near sister city Taneka under siege. Casualties reported. Arcelis Threat Level: Yellow. Stay tuned. More details to come.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks