Ember walked through the inner-city streets in a daydreaming state, his eyes lost in the tops of city skyscrapers, all climbing the hill of land to extend their height. These hills would elevate each circular row of high rises another few stories, all leading to the largest skyscraper of them all, President Neo's castle.
The pilot was running through a number of thoughts in his mind as he stared up at the imposing kingdom like structure, his dissasociative state being broken once he heard the sound of a holographic billboard puncturing his ears. Ember's eyes would sharply turn to meet the gaze of a digital reporter extending it"s reach into a 3-D effect, the well dressed man wearing a deep red blazer with slicked back blonde hair.
"Today see's the day that our next generation of pilot's send their lives away for a king who only want's to fill his own pockets. One such man being the son of the late Ashe Chain."
Ember's eyes shot wide, feeling his stomach turn as he was halted of his trance.
"This can't be happening..." Ember whispered, slowly removing his sunglasses.
"This would be twenty-one year old Ember Chain, graduating top of his class through a broken system rather than affordable education. Instead, he is going to be selling his life away in the hopes of getting enough money to scrape by for a government that doesn't care if his family lives today, nor dies tomorrow..."
Ember's mouth would be agape, eyes glued on the photo of himself that had been taken when he completed school, the reporter's words cutting into him without mercy, all to prove the truth of his leader.
Ember grew up around the various pundits tasked with either tearing their leader apart or praising him as a god sent to protect his people. The boy never put much thought on his new place amongst them all, as his mission simply didn't change Ember's goal; finding his father. Not that he didn't have his opinions, but becoming a pilot was the most pragmatic approach to finding the whereabouts of his father.
Now he had to hear a reporter describe his dad as dead, with Ember himself following a similar fate. The new pilot frowned, staring down grimly as the reporter went on.
"But Ember is only one of around a thousand pilots who are facing a similar fate, all for minimal benefits that leave the survivors traumatized with no assistance to make them better, left to live paycheck to paycheck until they either kill themselves or let the streets take them instead. But what does our president Neo feel about this?"
Ember was still in a state of shock, processing all of the hardships that stacked on top of him on the day of his inauguration. The screen would flash to the inner-city street's being ravaged by those outside, all living in similar ways as the pilot. They released their rage, throwing bricks into windows or setting city patrol motorcycles on fire. Some would be screaming, cursing their president or their enforcers, while others ran away, inntears as they dragged their loved ones away from incoming tear gas.
Ember began walking again, the reporter's voice fading and the sounds of footsteps replacing it, most of the people in the city too busy on their phones or rushing to work to pay attention to the newscaster nor the graffiti spread across the many buildings that filled the city after the previous riots.
Ember's mind had been darkened by that broadcast. Any attempt to get his head in the game deterred by thoughts of the true fate of his father and the feeling of isolation that came with being the only one who thought he was still alive.
Many motorcyles zoomed past Ember, their wheels hovering just above the ground as the pipes on the vehicles rear propelled the many drivers. Others drove hubs, round white vehicles contained by a half bulb of darkly tinted glass, hovering albeit a slower speed but with a similar hovering technique.
Ember ignored the traffic of both the streets and sidewalks. His goal at this point was to just get through the day, eventually reaching the long extending Aviator's deployment base. He trailed through the front doors where a young woman sat at the administrator's desk. The pilot greeted her, flashing his badge when asked and making his way through the left entrance doors.
Once through those doors, two armored patrollers stood at the next doors at the end of hall, Ember repeating the process of greeting the two and showing his access card, the young pilot then raising his arms so one of the guards could search him. Finally, Ember was allow inside the base of the Noir City Aviators.
Ember reached his locker, accessing his backpack that he kept filled with his belt of tools as well as a couple bottles of water. He tossed it over his shoulder before venturing into the maze of hall's that eventually led the pilot to the base's auditorium; held for events such as Captain's speeches or briefs, but this day particularly being for this year's inauguration.
Ember stepped into an already filling room of fellow pilots, his eye's avoiding Enzo as he could see the man in Ember's periphery laughing with Leech. At least it seemed they were cleared of any wrongdoings from last night.
The young pilot took a deep breath before finding his assigned seat at the front row, the boy being treated as a college valedictorian for his perfect effort getting into the position he had earned on this day.
Ember sat down, placing his backpack in his lap before he turned to find none other than Alec Leech sitting beside him, the captain's son still stained on the cheek by ink from last night's game. Alec was pouting, avoiding Ember's gaze as he crossed his arms and sunk into his seat.
"You're a valedictorian?" Ember asked with raised brows.
Alec huffed, turning away in a childish manner.
"Yeah, I am. And no, not cause of my dad. So shut it."
It was clear Alec was still bitter due to Ember's headshot, the smokey haired pilot smiling a little due to this. The fact that Alec was still oblivious of the other things that happened last night made Ember feel a little better.
"You got it." Ember responded in a snarky manner, his proud grin clear as he stared back ahead, only furthering Alec's irritation.
Suddenly, the front stage lit up, fifty foot tall velvet red curtains running away from eachother to reveal the all too familiar Counselor Karma standing within a podium. Ember's expression softened, eventually growing more serious as his mind drifted back to the speech he would have to perform. This anxiety only furthered by the flashes of cameras that ensued from reporters throughout the crowd.