City of Dreams
Part 1: Reinstated
Bonnie floated into her favorite Asian restaurant after a long day teaching residents to play gravi-ball. The place was packed, but a few heads turned in greeting. She was well known in the City of Dreams, where anything was possible if you believed.
She led daily meditation and magic seminars for new residents. Greenhorns had a lot to learn, coming from the outside, and they cherished her guidance. Chances of survival in the world outside the walls had been bleak since nuclear war covered the Earth in smoke and dust.
She levitated over the crowd in her usual lazy position, feet first, an arm cradling her head as if on a sofa. Once she found a chair she raised her arm for a server. The restaurant went silent.
Bonnie looked around and saw every single person in the restaurant frozen in place. The diners started shuffling outside like zombies.
“Huh?”
A high pitched ringing struck her ears. She curled up and covered her head as the ringing grew louder, turning her thoughts into white-noise. It left her gasping, but her faculties returned one by one.
A hallway formed in the wall beside her. Codes of conduct started pouring into her mind. Oh great. Not again.
