The Last City

The rain continued to fall.

Faron lifted his head and glanced at the sky. In this world, the distinction between day and night had long since lost its meaning. Even during the day, the dense clouds never showed any sign of parting. Whenever anyone looked up, all they could see was an oppressive mass of dark clouds; as for the azure sky, the warm sun, the bright full moon, and the countless stars—they had all faded from memory. The only way now to witness such things was through recordings left from before the “Great Cataclysm.”

But by now, that meant nothing to anyone.

The only way people distinguished day from night was that during the day it was marginally brighter outside, while at night, the darkness was so absolute one couldn’t see their hand before their face. Apart from that, there was no difference between the two.

Last night’s diversion hadn’t been half bad.

Thinking of the young woman now sleeping soundly in his bed, a smile played on Faron’s lips. It had been a most delightful night for him; her reactions were naive, tinged with shyness. From their brief encounter, Faron could tell she wasn’t a woman who lived by selling her body—she might even be someone’s fiancée or lover. But that didn’t matter to Faron. He had enjoyed himself, and that was enough. Whether she would find herself in trouble because of it was not his concern.

Now, it was about time to take care of business.

With that thought, Faron took a green data cube the size of a baseball from his pocket and pressed it lightly. At once, the cube unlocked, and lin