Lachaskan

Nick is transported to another world. Just another short exploring things, it hasn't lead anywhere, yet, but it's a nice picture-piece.

Blue light and the whitewall static sound of a crowd. Voices, laughter. Nick fought off the disorientation that always came when he moved between universes. For a few moments the ground would pitch like the deck of a ship in stormy water, and he would struggle to keep his balance; then, abruptly, the world would give one last sickening tilt and everything would stop. This time Nick stayed on his feet.

He was getting better and better at this. Which was a damn shame, really.

New world, new dangers. Nick surveyed his surroundings. He was standing in the heart of a canyon; skyscrapers leapt towards the sky on all sides, narrowing it to a ribbon of clear blue far above. It was chilly in the deep shadow of the buildings. Nick stood at the edge of a wide sidewalk bustling with people�"real, human people, he was relieved to see. It was a welcome change after the scorpion people of Relgazac.

Years ago, Nick would not have guessed that ‘populated by actual humans’ would one day be optional.

A railing snaked between him and the street, waist-high and glowing blue. Beyond it, small sleek cars purred by in endless lines. Nick had never seen cars move through a city so quickly; the effect was somewhat disturbing, as if he were standing on the bank of a silver river in flood season.

“Bit overwhelming, right?” a familiar voice barked in his ear.

Nick grimaced reflexively. “Personal space, Ren. I have it, and you’re in it. Back the f**k up.”

Ren took an exaggerated step backwards. He was in human form, all ginger curls and toothy grin. “Ooh, extra testy today! How do you get by in life with an attitude like that?”

“Maybe something about you just brings out the worst in people. Where are we now?”

One thing Nick had learned about Ren: he was very susceptible to subject changes.

Ren clapped his hands in delight. “Welcome, my dear Mr. Beuman, to Lachas! Glowing city of the north! Most powerful country in this world by a mile! One of my favorite places. I have a lot of favorites, though, so I don’t know if that matters.”

Nick narrowed his eyes in confusion. “Wait, Lachas--city or country?”

“Both!”

“Both.”

“Both!”

“Oh, right, you don’t understand basic conversational cues. Please explain, Mister Fox,” Nick said, more mocking than polite.

Ren brushed it off. “Lachas is this city and the country. Sort of like ‘New York, New York’. They don’t usually make a big distinction. If you really need to specify, this city is ‘Lachaskan’, I guess.”

“Lachaskan. Right.” Nick glanced around again. He found himself relaxing against his will; strange as it was, Lachas was still a city, and that made it comfortable. Comparatively speaking. Nick had spent his entire life in cities. He grew up in a city. And this city had no odd-colored sky or creepy people�"it was familiar. The constant background murmur of people was incomprehensible but very human.