The White Spire
Chapter One - Glass Mazes
Travelling along the tunnels in the new EM Cushion fast trains always made me queasy, my stomach leaping up to my throat with a slight fear. I've always had a fear of heights following me my entire life. These new trains hovering above the ground gave the sense to me of not being connected to the ground, of flying, but seeing the tunnel wall's whiz past so fast beside me completed the illusion. A small beeping sound caught my attention, "Now Stopping at Flagstaff Station, Please disembark the train before the double beep. Thank you for your co-operation".
I never liked those computer generated voices, even with the best engineers of the world trying to make them sound humane and natural, I could always tell they were computer generated, not a real person, which gave me a slight chill. It's something which has always confused me greatly, for I am a software engineer myself, and love that job dearly, but didn't like the output of what that job created. One day those radical views of mine will get me into trouble, I just know it!
The double beep sounded, and the train started to glide effortlessly out of the station into the darkness of the tunnel again, glow strips lined the wall. Showing that in fact something did lie outside of the train.
To my surprise, I saw smoggy daylight approaching rapidly, and the train shot out onto a large bridge, the Spencer St Interchange.
Not Spencer St, the Docklands Interchange, they changed the name of it 5 years ago, in 1999, but I still haven't gotten used to it or the changes that have came across Melbourne in the past half decade. The Australian economy, in a sudden boom at the turn of the Millenium, gave birth to a new Melbourne, one which was filled with heavy industry, the processing center of the world. But gone were the blue skies, the wispy white clouds of the heavens above. Now there was just entirely glass and metal, with a dark brown sky overhead. A very high cost indeed, too high perhaps.
I saw my destination in sight now, the White Spire Complex. It stood as the beacon of hope for Melbourne, combining the advantages of the boom, with the advantages of the old times.
The White Spire Complex, a structure sill under construction in the heart of Melbourne, an experiment of RevoTech Australia Corporation, was an engineering masterpiece. Designed to be easily extended to, it featured floors upon floors of offices and shops, a mall of the type that has never been seen before in the southern hemisphere, of split level design which incorporates large gardens, forests and grasslands into the complex, with layers upon layers of glass designed to let natural light propergate within the building.
Light filtered in from outside, keeping the way ahead of me clear of darkness. Such a rare treat, to see real live light. Not stuff generated from the glowstrips lining all the hallways and the tunnels of the subways, but actual light from the sun as it crosses the great dome of the sky each morning.
Walking into the entrance at street level, it was such a relief to be out of the heat of vehicles passing by, out of the pollution into the cool conditioned air that blew past in a strong current out the automatic door. In it lay the sweet fragrance of Eucalyptus tree's from the closest garden.
I had entered the White Spire many times in the past, but each time was just as new and exciting as the last, for the complex, while significantly built, was always being added to, changed to both be more environmental yet at the same time, be more efficient. Rumour has it that a large subway system has been installed along every floor along the tower, linking each segment to every other segment in a rapid manner. This was a true engineering masterpiece. Wandering around the lobby for a bit, I started to wonder to myself where Joanna would most likely be, for we agreed to meet here but since it's been a while since my last visit, I had forgotten or perhaps didn't know just how large this place could be.
After staring mesmerized by the artwork on the walls for a moment, a railcar pulled up and the doors of what I had originally assumed to be an elevator opened to a rather long carriage. The rumours about the subway in the tower were true!
This subway was totally different to the tunnels of the fast train network, instead of it being dark personality void tunnels, controlled entirely by computers, these were different. Artwork of a great waterfall adorned the walls of the small carriage. No windows looked out onto the world around, but some of my favourite music started to play to relax me as the railcar took me into the central tower Interchange.
I had been waiting for this day for weeks, to meet one of my closest friends, Joanna. A strange feeling of both excitement and anticipation filled me, but at the same time, felt heaps of butterflies in my stomach. It was unusual since I could defy the government to their faces, risking punishment by law, and not flinch at all. Could make a speech at a tech conference, where my outlandish theories would get riddled and thrown out as totally worthless when I believed passionately in them. And only feel a lil unsettled by their reaction. But when it came to meeting her, felt completely shy with nervous anticipation. What would she think of me I wonder to myself silently.
Over GlobeCom, I knew myself to be a lot more forthright person, but besides that, am essentially exactly the same person as how I normally am. Even though the picture of me on GlobeCom represented me accurately, I knew that my appearance wasn't the best, far from it. It was in fact very scruffy. My family had come from the lower class of Melbourne, spending the 70's and early 80's scraping only the barest minimum together to be able to survive after abandoning the life of the country to seek their fortune in the city. Things such as appearance were never in the family values, inefficient, a total waste. Same as clothing, who needs fashion, a waste. The emphasis on making each thing last as best as it could, and instead of relying on material possessions for happiness, of relying on the inner child within us, of simply being crazy and joking to be happy.
Having been brought up with values such as that, it really made me start to wonder, never before have I ever worried about whether my appearance and minor irrelevant stuff such as that were good enough, why should it bother me now?
After staring at myself in a nearby metal panel, my long hair dangling over my shoulders, the scars along my body from the not so fantastic encounters with technology over the years, but still with a strong sparkle in my eyes of hope, something very rare to see in people these days. I decided that my appearance, was simply just me, and she likes me for who I really am, so therefore why should I worry about my appearance if it just reflects me?
With that thought in mind, my confidence returned, and I patiently waited until the RailCar started to slow down to halt at the Central Tower Interchange.
The railcar slowed to a halt, a slight hiss as the air pressure in the subway returned to normal, before the door slid open to reveal what lay beyond. It defied every description I had ever heard before. Layers upon layers of transparent transport tubes which serviced the railcar system lay crossing over each other for as far up as the eye could see. The tower was tall enough to escape the smog which choked Melbourne, so genuine sunlight shone through the upper roof, giving a fresh sparkle to the entire area. A giant waterfall cascaded down the sides of each tube, frolicking in the air as the water jumped down to the next tube below.
Wondering to myself again, where would she be in this immense place, which area would she love to be in most, and would wait for me there, and then it hit me, of course, the upper reserve - Tisvron Lake.
Sighting the pathway to the railcar tube that I needed to be on, I set out to walk towards it. It was a blue colour, but not one that stands out, but the shade of blue which Blue Gum Trees have, a silvery magical colour I thought to myself. A cold chill played across my spine. Something terrible would happen here I felt, but the next moment, the feeling was gone as if it had never been. Discarding the thought from my mind, I climbed into the waiting railcar, and started to patiently wait as it slowly, barely noticeably accelerated to a high speed.
The walls of the carriage were different to the last one, these were covered with a great mural of a forest, with even the floor painted with the ground. The roof was glass, so the sun in the heavens could shine in. The railcar rapidly rose up the tower, branching with a slight, but not uncomfortable jerk every now and then as it changed tubes, always rising.
"We apologise for this delay, some construction equipment is currently being moved" said a voice over the speaker system. It made me jump, not because I wasn't expecting it, but because the voice was an actual human voice with a note of sincerity in her tone. A decade ago, such a voice was common I remembered from my childhood memories, but now, it was all computers.
After roughly 10 minutes of patient waiting, the carriage started to ascend once more to new heights. A horrible thought crossed my mind, we are very close to the top of the tower, and it is still under construction, what if an accident occurred?
Banishing that thought as quickly as it came to my mind, there was just no reason for thoughts like that.
The carriage came to a halt and the doors opened to an unusual scene, glass shimmered in the afternoon sun. A giant lake lay in front of me with many gum-tree's growing by the side of it. I could feel the distant vibrations of construction, but no sound came to my senses at all from the construction. Some birds sung their song from a distance however, beyond the trees, and to the left lay a giant rocky incline.
A recreation of nature on the top floor of a skyscraper, such a thing was unimaginable when I was a child, but technology moves quickly.
Knowing in my heart that I had come to the right place, I shyly stepped out of the carriage. The doors closed behind me, the glass transport tube sealing itself, before the carriage took off back to the central complex leaving me standing there in the sun alone.
Scanning the surroundings carefully, I set out at a hike northwards, forgetting this was a modern tower, but believing that I was hiking through nature.
END OF CHAPTER