Full Circle (I)

  The four sectors of Babylon were interconnected by an intricate railway system that slithered through the city like a predator. It took a full decade for the United Kingdom to clear the Genesis Gate that appeared in London, and during that time, the city was essentially reduced to a stronghold where battles could break out at any moment.

  As a result, there was a need for secure routes to serve as supply lines for the resources being sent to support the war effort. The railway system that now encompassed the city was initially developed for military purposes, but they were later modified for civilian use once the war came to a close.

  The system wasn’t particularly obtrusive; in fact, the rail lines seamlessly blended into the high-rise backdrop, thanks to the clever use of both suspended tracks and underground subway stations.

  Since Ravenspurn was an educational sector, it naturally contained the highest pedestrian population in the entire city, hence the various railway access points scattered throughout its respective districts.

  Given that level of accessibility, it was only natural for one of those access stations to offer a direct route to Dunwich, Babylon’s largest commercial sector. After being dropped off at the nearest station, it only took Cyril and Angelica two minutes to board a monorail that had arrived earlier than expected.

  The moment she stepped onto the vehicle, Cyril watched as Angelica’s face lit up with childlike glee. She was filled with immense elation from simply stepping onto public transportation—a feat none of the other passengers on the scarcely populated vehicle, including himself, would consider as anything special.

  But to her, it was a dream come true.

  The ride lasted around forty minutes, the entirety of which they spent standing. Angelica gawked at the high-rise view for the duration of the ride, while Cyril, uncertain as he was, decided to play along and point out key locations as they passed by.

  Cyril pointed out several key features as they traveled, one of the most interesting being the water diversion structures that appeared sporadically along their route. Given Babylon's foundation atop a significant part of London, its proximity to the Thames posed unique engineering challenges.

  To address this, an intricate system was developed to manage the river's influence, employing both magic and technology. These structures, resembling sluice gates in their design, acted as diversion points, channeling water through artificial waterways that branched throughout the city – the very streams Angelica might have noticed earlier.

  Before long, forty minutes had passed, and the monorail came to a smooth stop at an elevated platform in District Four, the most popular location for students visiting Dunwich. Renowned for its extreme levels of accessibility, it was a place where one could buy just about anything, from dungeon spoils to school supplies—making it a modern-day market.

  The vehicle’s automatic doors split apart with a low sounding shroom, welcoming the lively bustle and chatter drifting through the commercial sanctuary.

  Designed to facilitate all manner of commerce, the city's architecture was a study in balance—though not in the way one might expect. Rather than any one style dominating, the districts of Dunwich each specialized in different trades.

  While the bustling industrial zones bore the unmistakable marks of modernity, other areas retained a more gritty, old-world charm. Forges and common item shops lined the streets, their steampunk-inspired designs melding seamlessly with places dedicated to the crafting of magical artifacts.

  “Ohh?!...so this is what the commercial sector is like?!” Angelica gasped as she stepped onto the sidewalk, her eyes glinting as she stared around in wonder.

  “Have you really never been to a commercial area before?” Cyril asked, his expression failing to reciprocate a single ounce of her enthusiasm.

  She spun around, beaming delightfully.

  “O-Of course, back home my parents wouldn’t even allow me to go to school normally—I was picked up and dropped off everywhere, including my etiquette classes. Besides my assigned duties, everything was always done by the maids and the staff at the estate.”

  “You have personal staff...?” Cyril repeated, elongating the last word.

  “Yes, we need people to maintain the estate all year round, and that’s where some of the other clan members come in. They’re all wonderful but... sometimes it feels like they’re a little too good at their jobs.”

  “Haha, I couldn’t imagine.” He shrugged playfully, much to the girl's displeasure.

  He saw her blossoming cheeks slowly inflating from the corner of his eye and swiftly decided to switch gears. “Alright, young miss, where would you like to explore first?”

  “Heh~ You’re still committing to the act huh?” Angelica’s accusing finger swayed wildly as she chuckled herself breathless. There was some genuine humor to be found in Cyril’s poor attempt at a formal bow despite this being his second try.

  He wanted to ask her what she found so amusing about his posture, but decided against it at the last second. I just need to make sure she’s satisfied with the tour, Cyril thought to himself.

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  “Technically I am filling in for Yelena so it’s only natural I play the role.”

  Wiping away a tear, Angelica calmed herself before speaking. “Okay, then I’d like to take a look at some of the artifacts they have here. I’ve heard rumors about some really nice spots for gear fishing.”

  “Oh, that’s simple enough. There’s plenty of stores around here with high-class items.”

  Spinning on his heels, Cyril merged into the steady stream of people flowing down the tiled sidewalk. They were no longer in Ravenspurn, which meant that a traffic jam this early in the day was nothing unusual.

  The road cutting through the district center buzzed with vehicles of all shapes and sizes—some for personal use, others more specialized. Case in point: a massive convoy of heavy-duty trucks rumbled past, their cargo of pulse crystals stacked high and gleaming brilliantly under the midday sun.

  The road was wide enough for four lanes, but because this particular district catered primarily to foot traffic, the sidewalks were unusually spacious by design to accommodate the dense rows of shops lining the street.

  “We’re going this way,” Cyril said as he pointed in an eastward direction. “I know a pretty good smith shop around here; we just need to make a few turns after going straight.”

  “Lead the way.” Stepping forth with swagger, Angelica calmly assumed her position on his right as they wove through the crowded streets. Her weapon, a rapier emblazoned with silver linings languidly dangled at her side. It wasn’t strange to see a teenage girl bearing arms anywhere in Babylon, not when there was no telling where a breach would form.

  Her sentiment was shared by the other pedestrians moving alongside them seeing that the vast majority were boasting sharpened blades and loaded quills.

  “Wow, everyone here really is armed.” Angelica mused aloud, her eyes catching the reflective glint of a longsword strapped to the back of a nearby hunter.

  “It’s only natural, breaches are uncommon, but their formation patterns are much harder to predict than a typical gate, so it takes longer for the grid to detect them, that’s why everyone that enters this city is made to sign a waiver. As of right now, it's one of the major setbacks of the Babylon Grid.”

  Even if someone possessed supernatural powers, it didn't directly correlate to them being effective in combat. That was the reason why Longinus existed, a division specifically devoted to maintaining public order, whether that entailed warding off criminal elements or, in some rare instances, stray monsters they happened to come across if there weren’t any hunters present.

  “Babylon Grid? Ah, you mean the system that connects the towers, right? I heard a bit about it before coming here, but to be honest I’m not too sure how it works. My old school never really went into any details.”

  “I’m sure they haven’t,” Cyril said, “I’m not really familiar with what goes on outside this place, but so long as gates don’t appear anywhere else in the country, the people on the outside probably aren’t going to have much incentive to understand how the grid works. The issue of gates and dungeons is a problem exclusive to the people inside these walls.”

  Smiling earnestly, Cyril glanced up at the towering stalk of iron in the distance as they made the first right turn.

  “Well, you seem curious enough so we can use this little explanation to kill time while we walk,” he said, glancing over at her.

  “Feel free.” Angelica assented with a nod.

  “Each district has a localized network formed by the towers strategically placed within it. Ziggurat is believed to overlap our dimension, and gates appear where its dimensional influence is strongest—hence why they manifest as cracks in space. The Babylon Grid acts as a dimensional map, created through the synchronization of these towers. By exploiting unstable dimensional connections in the early phases of gate formation, the Grid can influence where and how gates appear.”

  "Hmm," Angelica murmured, her eyebrows lifting as she tilted her head. "I understand the basic principle... but I've always been curious – does that shed any light on why these gates lead to such peculiar places? It's so strange how some are direct links, and others drop you in completely different biomes. Could that all be connected to the Grid?"

  Frustration was buried beneath her question, but Cyril didn’t mind—it actually made him chuckle.

  “No, the Grid has nothing to do with that. Ziggurat isn’t a ‘planet’ in the traditional sense; it’s a ‘world’ that operates under different physical laws. Think of it as a collection of pocket dimensions clumped together. That’s why there’s no telling what you’ll find when you step inside one.”

  The easiest way to imagine the interplay, he thought, was something like a sheet of paper with damp, wet spots. The wet spots represented areas where Ziggurat’s dimensional influence seeped through—places where gates would spawn. With the Babylon Grid, these ‘wet spots’ could be moved to deserted areas or manipulated to buy time for evacuations.

  Gates functioned like natural overlaps that could be predicted, whereas breaches were more akin to small tears forcibly opened by monsters during the earliest stages of an overlap.

  The towers primarily responded to the large mana fluctuations that seeped into the world as an overlap began to align. However, this wasn’t the case for breaches. They were far harder to detect because they didn’t follow the natural overlap process. Instead, a weak spot in the dimensional wall was forcibly torn open—usually just wide enough for a single creature to slip through.

  Thus, as things currently stood, breaches could be detected but not controlled.

  Angelica sighed deeply.

  “I know, I know. It’s not healthy to think about this stuff too much. Even after all this time, we’re still struggling to understand exactly how that place works. My heart goes out to all those M.I. researchers—they must have it rough.”

  “That’s true...” Cyril agreed, recalling the face of a certain researcher in his mind.

  “But!” He perked up. “It’s not all bad. Thanks to this system, all the gates end up forming inside Babylon, keeping everyone outside these walls a lot safer. Plus, we get to have all the action for ourselves. Although, now that I think about it, there was a theory going around that this was the main reason the monarchy allowed Babylon to establish itself as an independent state in the first place.”

  It was a valid point—one worth considering.

  If a nation, any nation at that, had the option to gather all its superpowered individuals in one place—alongside the dangerous interdimensional threats that came with them—behind a two-hundred-foot concrete wall, it wouldn’t be a hard choice.

  Even if there was some resistance, such a move would work wonders for easing public unrest.

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