Chapter 28: Chapter TWENTY EIGHT

The gathering took place between the Pupil and the Fovea at the level of the river, completely opposite the location of their hosts' house. Suffice it to say that there was a great distance to cover and that cutting by the Heart was not authorized. The city seemed reasonably sized when just venturing into one side of it, but when you factored in the other side, it was immediately more imposing, especially with its circular urban structure that Mia had never seen before.

"How are we going to get there? It's a long walk, isn't it?" ended up asking the blonde after five minutes of walking.

Mia had never been a great sportswoman. It was for this reason that she loved the city since the public transport network always allowed her to avoid walking as much as possible. She had grown accustomed to the natural side of Istarea since she had never had to travel long distances before, but she couldn't help but miss the public buses right now.

"We're going to take the subway," Irina announced.

"The... the subway?!" Mia cried excitedly. "Incredible, tell me it's the same as in my world!"

"What is a subway?" Ethan questioned, lost.

It was almost funny to see him overwhelmed by the technology of his own world, as it was familiar to the young human. The more time she spent in the city, the more she felt like she had landed in a parallel universe. It made you wonder what scientific and technological feats could be achieved on present-day Earth if they had access to magic like here.

"It's an underground means of transport. I'm not sure how to explain it... You're not going to understand the terms without seeing them. It can transport hundreds of people at the same time all around Callis," explained Irina before turning to Mia who would better understand the rest. "There are three different lines, one for each district. They form a closed circle, with two lanes, each going in one direction. It's magically powered, and best of all, it's free."

"Impressive! I can't wait to see it," she exclaimed hastily.

Ethan didn't agree. The idea of ​​traveling underground didn't seem to thrill him particularly. Yet, upon seeing his soulmate's enthusiasm, Mia felt him relax by her side. And that was good since the group had just reached the stairs that would lead them to the metro station. The organization was the same as in her world since she could see on the other side of the cobbled streets of the Pupil another subway entrance which, unlike the one they had entered, ran through the lane counter-clockwise.

The station was illuminated using magic that powered sort of round paper lamps similar to Japanese lanterns hung from the ceiling to allow travelers to walk serenely. Unlike on Earth, there were no access barriers since the metro was free, only benches along the stone walls on which dozens of inhabitants of the Pupil piled up to wait for their transport. In this world too, you just had to look in front of you to meet the gaze of people waiting for the metro in the opposite direction.

On either side of the tracks, a huge clock sat above the benches. It was bisected by two circles, one taking up eighty percent of the frame to indicate the time, and the other inside, which Mia didn't fully grasp. Judging by the way the needle was moving, the circle represented an hour. The hand receded like a countdown, announcing twelve minutes remaining.

"A stopwatch?" she thought aloud.

"Ah, you mean the clock?" answered Irina. "Good guess, it's a stopwatch showing how long to wait for the next metro. It takes thirty minutes to make a complete turn of the Pupil."

"Why isn't it showing thirty minutes then? How is it getting back on time? And if the subway is late, how does it work?"

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The elderly couple laughed at the many questions from Mia who had just lost herself in her curiosity. Ethan was trying somehow to follow the conversation, and although he seemed to understand this clock thing, the lost look he cast on the tracks and the station opposite revealed his dismay and his ignorance perfectly.

"All the clocks of the Pupil stations are connected and record the arrivals and departures of each metro and then communicate them with each other. The needle is magic, of course. It is the same for the Fovea and Macula lines. As for the measurement of time, a question of accessibility. It's easier to read the time on a one-hour measurement than on variable measurements that would change on each line. The Macula metro goes around in an hour, you know."

"I'm starting to think that using magic to make this all work is a kind of cheating," Mia laughed. "At home, we had to manage without these shortcuts."

"And that's what's particularly amazing about your world," Adam said. "When we learned that you were more technologically developed than us who have access to magic... Many thought that without magic, your world must necessarily be more primitive than ours. They fell from a height when Campbell offered us all his knowledge."

"I suppose the existence of the subway here comes from him too," she affirmed.

"Yes. He really rocked everything with his knowledge."

And again, these pieces of information date from the 90s.

The station was gradually filling up as the metro approached. The locals surely knew the regular schedules by heart. Anyway, if the whole structure worked entirely by magic, something told her that delays due to malfunctions or other technical problems were rather rare.

Soon, Mia could hear the distinct sound of the subway approaching through the tunnel. She was eager to find out what the metro was like in this world, and she was not disappointed. The wagons were similar to huge metal cans, similar in shape to the subway on Earth, though looking slightly more primitive. There were large windows for observing the occupants, and the doors opened at the push of a button from inside or outside. The wagons were more like trains in the seating arrangement that followed the direction of travel, but the path to passing through them was much wider than any wagon on Earth. There were two seats on each side, and the walkway made it easy for two more people to walk or stand on it. Callis' subway was incredibly wide compared to the one on Earth, but that was surely made possible by the magical workings. This allowed a lot more people to be seated, which Mia didn't mind.

"What is that…" Ethan said with wide eyes. "Are we really going to get in there?"

"Come on!" ordered the blonde, taking his hand to pull him inside after their hosts.

Mia couldn't tell if it was the uniform they wore, their very presence, or the older couple everyone respected, but the individuals tended to push each other in their path to allow them to move on. Some nodded their heads in a quick greeting, others gave them outright hand signals.

"I feel like a celebrity. I guess it's not going to get better with the meeting."

"Indeed," confirmed Irina with a smile.

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