Juniper was left standing alone, thinking about his new friend. His thoughts turned to Gio and what he meant by adding 'communicators', as if they were going somewhere together for a date.
Juniper's face grew warm as his mind ran wild. He patted his face trying to get rid of that feeling. He then realised that the communicator was still in his hand, still with his thumb resting on the side button. Juniper felt silly suddenly and decided to go inside the Mall.
He wandered around the mall to explore, as always with an open eye, his senses alive and curious. Everything looked strange, from the ceiling to the floor. The place was full of people today; he saw a family laughing and joking, a couple walking through, holding hands, two old men chatting and discussing the weather, two boys, one looking older than him, talking excitedly about their upcoming summer trip. The mall was very bright, full of natural light pouring in through the floor to ceiling glass windows which looked out onto the streets beyond. In contrast, the walls were made of dark stone that blended into the night sky.
The building was massive and had many levels, but the main entrance was at ground level. There was a set of stairs up on one side that led to several levels above where the mall would be if it were outside.
This level had shops and places to eat. It had large benches and tables in between the shops for sitting and eating. Some of the shops were open and serving food while others were closed, and those shops would open once more when it was later in the day.
The whole area felt crowded and busy. The atmosphere was warm and inviting; there were even a few musicians playing their instruments at certain times throughout the day. A lot of people came here to sit and socialise or to just enjoy some quiet time reading.
Juniper found that his attention drifted towards a drink stand, which seemed to attract most of the customers. The drinks looked like little spheres with frothy milk and what looked like coloured jelly inside. He decided to buy himself one to help him cool down after walking around out in the heat of the midday sun. He sat himself on the bench next to the window overlooking the city, sipping his drink slowly, taking in the scenery.
At this time his communicator lit up to show an a call from Maynard. Juniper quickly tapped the screen and answered, "Hello?"
Maynard face appeared on the screen, looking as he always did. He had the same smile and friendly eyes.
"Hello there," Maynard said. "You seem to be out? are you enjoying yourself."
"Oh, yes. Very much so. I took a walk to the south area of the city and stopped at the Mall here, there are many new things here."
"Good! I'm glad!" Maynard paused for a moment before asking, "I was hoping you could spare some time tomorrow to head over to the Military base, Im curious to know what sort of genetic level and abilities you may have. Your identity is conflidential to the general public, so you would only show as being part of a normal fox clan however I had to notify higher officials on your identity as its not something I can hide.''
"Oh... okay. When do you want me to be there?"
"In the late morning, say around noon. There with be some other people joining us at base that may want to ask a couple of questions.''
"Okay."
"Great. I will send you some more information regarding your visit.''
The screen went dark.
***
Juniper finished his drink and took one last look through the windows, noticing some clouds had formed, which gave off a soft white glow across the horizon. Juniper looked out of the building, back towards the streets where he'd seen all those people. The sun was starting to tilt into the late afternoon now and many shops were closing their doors; there were still people walking about but it didn't feel too crowded at this time.
Juniper stood up and decided he should go home, after all, he wanted to see if Ciro would like to have dinner together.
As he made his way outside the mall, Juniper decided to send a message in advance to Ciro without noticing where he was walking. His communicator showed him a message from Maynard with some details on a meeting that he was to attend tomorrow, which included other individuals. Juniper then saw a message back from Ciro saying that he would be free for dinner.
Once Juniper looked up he realised he had walked quite far away from the mall and was in an unfamiliar place. It looked very different from the pristine mall he had just left. In fact, it appeared more run down than the other side of the city.
Here, Juniper was looking out onto a busy market street. The buildings were old and dilapidated; the pavements and paths were broken and potholed. The street was filled with people and stalls and carts which were pulled along by humans or animals.
Juniper found himself fascinated with the sights and sounds as he stepped into the market, feeling its warmth and smells, and being surrounded by the hustle and bustle. This place had a lot of people; they moved around him quickly. Some of them looked curious about him and others did not even notice him. They were talking over one another as they shouted out what they had for sale, shouting out words and sentences that made little sense to Juniper. They seemed to have a strong sense of community, laughing and joking.
Juniper was looking through a stall where they sold all sorts of clothing, hats, bags, boots, and other things. It was so busy inside the stall that Juniper decided to step back outside. He turned around, trying to get his bearings to find the direction he needed to get home when suddenly he was grabbed by the wrist. A pair of fingers wrapped around his wrist in a firm grip, tugging him forward and pulling him towards a small alleyway between two of the stalls.