Starting from the bottom floors of the Golden Zone, Navia and Devin moved up higher to the next floors. First, they went to the third floor of the zone using the stairs. The lower floors were massive, with wide roads leading even under the towers. The floors above were supported by giant stone pillars, and other buildings were made beside them. The street was rowdy and full of people who enjoyed the sunny day. Restaurants and coffee shops were almost full, and there were lines waiting to enter a bakery. Even a small stand in the middle of the street got their attention.
“Beautiful place, isn’t it?” Asked Devin, but he didn’t hear a response. Once he turned around, he saw Navia staring at a puppet show. Two puppets moved on a small stage made of painted cardboard. Like many tales, it was about heroes and gods. “Do you like the show?” Devin was glad to see her taking interest in the wonders of the city, but on closer inspection, he noticed that it wasn’t the face of a person enjoying the show. Her eyes looked at the show, yet at the same time, they were far away. Her chest moved rapidly as she struggled to breathe. “Navia?” Devin touched her shoulder lightly, waking her up from some kind of nightmare, as she stepped away with a mixture of confusion and fear on her face.
Navia looked away, hiding her face as she was not feeling comfortable with her visible fear around Devin. “Sorry… I don’t have good memories with theater and plays…”
The president didn’t say a word as he thought it was unfit to make any more comments. It was clear that whatever had happened had left Navia traumatized. Even he was able to notice that she is not the same person she used to be, like a simple portrait compared to the real person.
“Ekhm… So… Where are we going?” Navia broke the uncomfortable silence, not wanting Devin to dwell on her past problems.
“We’re going to the head guard office on the middle floor. There you’ll meet the person who’ll accompany you to the other side of the wall.” Explained Devin, from time to time nodding his head toward the passing citizens.
Navia looked behind, and her gaze moved up the towering buildings placed on top of each other; she could barely see the top. “If we’re going to the central floors wouldn’t we be climbing up? Why do we go further away from the city center?”
“Because we have different ways of getting up than using stairs.” Devin stopped and turned his gaze to his left, a bit over the roofs of the buildings of this floor. Navia followed his gaze and noticed something moving above the roofs, up toward the next floor. “This is a lift. Gondola lift, to be precise. One of our inventions that you will only see in Liberin City. At least at the moment. We might have a deal with Beronia to make one in their land.”
Navia observed, stunned by the mechanism that pulled a whole cabin up, being only attached to a steel rope. Then a second gondola appeared, moving down, passing beside the one moving upward. “How does it work?”
“You know what we have too much of?” Devin asked, preparing the first lesson for Navia.
“Umm…” Navia looked around to think of the answer, even without looking directly at it, a blue color flashed in her vision. “Water.”
“That’s right. We’re using the water from the sea to power those machines. There are also faster lifts that use the same source of power in the center, but it isn’t as stunning as the view from those things.”
“You mean you use water mills to power it up?” Navia’s question made Devin laugh. To most of the world, what Liberin has is magic because that’s the only answer they know if something works in a mysterious way.
“No… God no… Haha…” Devin slowly calmed down his laughter and coughed before speaking. “There is a whole mechanism where we boil the water, and the steam generates the movement that supplies the machines with power. That’s the simplest explanation.”
“Could that power up the ships? It would make them less dependent on the wind or raw strength.” Devin didn’t answer, but he turned his head to show a grin on his face. “You already have one?” Asked, surprised Navia.
“Not yet. It’s in the making, but I have to give you credit for pointing that out. Because the steam engine was designed for ships but we ran into some problems that are now being solved. The lifts were an idea of the apprentice of the inventor. While the master continued to pursue his dream till the very end. There is an interesting book about it.”
At the edge of the floor, there was a wide building with holes in it, through which the lifts moved up the lines. At the front wall, there were at least ten double doors constantly being used. It was a very crowded place, like the rest of the streets. Inside, on the right wall, there were signs that described the destination of the lift, its number, and the time. Navia flinched as the letters began to change.
“That’s another invention powered by the steam engine. Behind the board, there are many letters that are being moved to change the writing. That way we can show people how long till their lift arrives or if there is any change in the route.” Devin explained as he looked for the information about the lift they needed to take.
Near the boards were benches for the people who were waiting for the lifts. Between them, there was one stall, or like a small hut built inside a building. It was a kiosk with newspapers, books, and snacks. An elderly lady sat behind a window, knitting a hat while she waited for another customer.
Most space of the building was taken by the platform on which the gondolas stops. Each wagon had thirty-six seats and railings to hold for the people who had to stand. Wide windows were on each side, providing a great view of the city while moving. The doors were opened by a conductor who checked tickets and operated the machine.
Between the crowd, they were barely noticed, but beggars sat on the floor with signs, begging for money. While passing to the platform, Devin dropped a few coins to three beggars. Enough for each one of them to buy some food that would last for a day. “I hope they will spend it well.”
“I didn’t know you had such a problem…” Navia said with concern as she pitied the poor souls without a home.
“Some of them were born in the Golden Zone and either lost their money by bad decisions and investments or… They went down with the alcohol. That’s why I give just a few coins so they can’t afford any strong alcohol, just in case. Some of them are from the Red Zone, found their way to this side, but had no luck in changing their life for the better. No one wants a worker from the Red Zone. They think it would bring them problems… They are only people…” The reality was eating Devin from inside; he wanted to help those people, but society had already thrown them away.
Once the gondola stopped at the platform, the conductor opened the doors and let people enter one by one once he stamped their ticket. Navia only then realized she didn’t have any tickets nor the money to pay for them. “No problem. I have a few tickets to spare.” Devin opened a wallet with one section of it full of yellow tickets. “Here, one for me and one for the lady.”
“Here you go, mister president.” The conductor stamped the ticket and let the two of them inside.
Devin pointed a finger toward the free seats. “Let’s sit in the corner.” As the two of them sat down, the wagon was getting full, and a few people had to stand, but they weren’t concerned about it. One man comfortably sat and took out a newspaper. Devin giggled with a smirk as he noticed another article about him on the back. Two old ladies sitting beside each other began to chatter about their day. It was a calm, pleasantly calm place. The conductor used a whistle and closed the doors. Once they got closed, the engine began to rumble as it was heating up for the journey.
The machine jerked for a moment and then moved smoothly upward. The engine was audible but not as loud as in the beginning. For the people inside, it was nothing new, but for Navia, it was the first time experiencing it like that. Her face was that of an amazed child taking in the wonders of this world. Compared to what she was about to witness, it was barely breathtaking. As the gondola rose, she could see all the streets and buildings from the top, even though she was on a high floor of the hospital, it was a much different experience, like standing in the air and looking down. Devin smiled warmly as he watched Navia's delight.
“I wish she could experience it one day…” Whispered Navia, not even realizing the words slipped through her mouth.
“Who are you speaking of?” Asked Devin, curious who might be so important to Navia, so she would think about sharing the experiences, as she had such a view in front of her.
“Umm…” The question was simple, but the silhouette of the person she was thinking of was constantly changing. She couldn’t clearly remember who that important person was. “Mirabell?” Navia answered, but because of her uncertainty, it sounded more like a question.
“Ah… That must be the person you want to save, right?” Devin asked another question, taking the opportunity to gather more information about Navia.
“Yes… She is.” The joy vanished from Navia’s face as she realized that while she was enjoying the views, Mirabel might be in a far worse place. Especially when she realized that the man had asked his servants to bring. They wanted to torture Navia as a welcoming party. “I have to save her… As fast as possible. I don’t know what might be happening to her right now…”