Reiji was strolling through the sky float when the barrage hit. He had been enjoying the breeze as he walked through the shopping malls of the fourth level district. The fourth level district was a platform that floated next to the SunSet Corporation headquarters building. It was a relatively peaceful place. Families were enjoying the sunny weather. Nearby, a girl and her parents sat on the bench licking ice cream and an immature boy had managed to catch onto a patrol bot as the device tried to fling him off.
All around, technology was on vast display. Innovated by the advancements in aetheric engineering, humans relied more and more on technology. Reiji had even heard of people who had had their whole body below the head replaced by metal. Of course, only regulars would do such a thing. Reiji and all the regulars possessed no magical essence. If an arcaner were to lose that much of their body, they would also lose the magic essence imbued within their being. Because of this difference between regulars and arcaners, society tended to value arcaners more. Sometimes this resulted in revolutions led by commoners, plots to overthrow the system in place.
Many arcaners opposed the ideal too, but nothing much was done about it. The academies always scouted out kids with arcane ability. They needed no permission or consent, simply taking them from their families under the guise of providing a better life. From there, the kids would be indoctrinated with lies that they were higher beings than the regular peasants.
The same had happened to Reiji's sister. She had displayed arcane talent when a fire had started in the neighbors apartment next door. She doused it with water that she hadn't known that she could augment. Reiji remembered the event vividly.
"Don't worry Reiji," said Mia. "They agreed to provide you with everything you needed if I went with them. You'll be fine on your own won't you?"
"Please don't go Mia. I'll miss you…" he had begged with tears in his eyes.
"You're almost eleven now Reiji. I know my baby brother will be able to handle himself while I'm gone."
That was six years ago and the memory was still burned in his brain.
Reiji had reached the edge of the platform and put a hand to the transparent wall, a dome created to stop people from falling off the platform. From up here, he could see the vastness of the city of Aster, populated so densely that humanity was forced to build upwards, thus the sky float. His view stretched into the horizon, but the only thing that could be seen was the city. Cars and people lined the streets with the rush of daily life.
He could see everything up here. It was serene and calming which was why Reiji loved the place so much, often coming here on weekends which was when he wasn't working for Miller, the man who the academy got to employ Reiji. The old man got him to dig around for scraps in the city's junk yard. Day after day, he would search through the junk parts and old machines looking for anything valuable that could be repurposed. Miller managed a machine parts factory that was contracted to provide components to Rand Corporation. It cost a lot to make the components for a corporation like Rand Corp that dealt with military weaponry and technology. For Miller to save money, he employed a few people like Reiji to dig through the junk deposit north of the city for parts that could be used.
Reiji was reminded of his heavy labor when he put his hands to his hips. He winced at the blisters on his hands and swore to himself that he would one day be the person managing others like Miller did. No, maybe even higher. He wouldn't have to accept such low pay and have to destroy his body searching for scrap metal. He would rise up to be more than that, but at sixteen years old, that dream would have to wait.
Once again Reiji took in the beauty and a sense of peace washed over him as the thoughts that plagued his mind vanished.
"Incoming! Incoming! Emergency Code Three!" blasted a voice through the Klaxons. "Evacuate Immediately!"
As the Klaxons repeated in a loop, Reiji stared up in shock and couldn't believe what he was hearing.
'It must be a false alarm. It must be.'
He looked around at people. Besides the klaxons, all were silent. People looked around at each other not sure what to think.
The threat levels were common knowledge that was taught in elementary school. Threat level one meant that there was something wrong with the structure of the float. Things like cracked structures or maintenance would be considered a threat level one. Threat level two was a level that indicates a much more dangerous situation often involving loss of life. But threat level three was the most severe of all. It was an armageddon of destruction. It could mean one of three things. The massive float was suddenly falling apart, the float was being attacked, or both.
Reiji peaked over the edge again. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Everything was still functioning.
'I knew it wasn't real.'
And at that moment he looked up.
'No...'
Balls of fire the size of trucks blazed towards the SSC Towers. On a direct course towards the upper levels of the tower, nothing was going to stop them.