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What If? MetropolisTravelogue (Ernst Haeckel)

After trekking through dense forestry for days, you stumble into an immensely tall barrier that

blocks your path. As you reach your hand up to touch it, you realise how warm it is and then, holding

your hand there longer, you feel it pulsate and hastily remove your hand from its surface. This must

be the wall of the city you were looking for. Looking either side of you, the wall stretches into thedistance, it must envelop the entire city. You walk the length of the wall until after some time you

come across the city entrance. At first glimpse you realise it is made of the same material as the wall

itself, only more translucent. It seems as though it is a liquid suspended in position and perhaps the

idea is to simply walk through it. As you begin to, you realise that it is much easier to move through

than you thought it would be. The liquid is moving around you to let you through.

-Inside the City-

Emerging on the other side you are immediately taken aback by the sudden change in light and

when your eyes finally adjust, you see the reason. Suspended above the city, joined at the top of the

walls you encountered earlier, is an almost invisible transparent barrier that completely seals the

city off from the outside. The light is streaming in especially brightly, painting shadows everywhere

you see and almost everything in sight is a shade of orange and blue. Everything is very quiet.

From where you stand you can see some very small cylindrical buildings that seem somewhat

skewed but as you look down the main street you see the buildings getting more and more

developed the further you look in. You can see grass-like poles at the sides of the street over 8 ft.

high with what looks like a strip of neon running down them. You can only assume this is how the

city is lit at night. The street itself is a dull brown and looks more like compact mud than stone or

concrete. After taking this all in you begin to walk down the main street and towards the centre of

the city.

-The City Streets-

The walk towards the centre of the city is long and the further you walk in, the more you see the

difference in everything around you. The changes were subtle at first and you only just realise how

much more structured and complicated all the buildings around you have become. They have grown

taller than those at the outer edge of the city and where those buildings had a dull shade of brown

only slightly lighter in colour than the street itself, these begin to shine with hues of pink and orange.

More complex features start to protrude from the buildings basic form. Even the poles at the street

edge are curving and beginning to join together into arches and in the distance you see a large dome

begin to loom. Itsalmost as if this city is growing.

-The Inner City-

The dome you were beginning to see earlier is now much more distinct and it is very clear that it sits

in the very epicentre of this city. The dome itself is suspended above the centre by long curled

tendrils that become thicker the closer they are to the centre of its base. Within the dome you can

see a solid mass of purple that seems to pulsate in a similar way to the citys outer walls and, every

time it does, the mass illuminates itself in a bright neon purple. The outer shell is more translucent

and shines a light blue in the light. The more you stare at it, the more you realise its distinct

similarities to that of a jellyfish.

The cylindrical buildings on either side of you are now covered in ornate, curved shapes and features

and you can see them pulsate strongly to the rhythm of the dome that looms over you. They stand

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ever taller with the tendrils from the dome wrapping and weaving around them for support, or

perhaps some kind of connection.

-The Inhabitants-

Where are they? You havent encountered a single person and the only sign of life comes from the

city itself. This is all so bizarre and there are more questions than answers. Perhaps some answers

can be found in the centre, where this strange dome rises above the city, stopping just short of the

clear barrier above.

-The Dome-

Now that you have reached the centre, you see three other streets identical to the one you walked

stretch out to the edge of the city, which you now realise must be a complete circle around this

peculiar dome. Standing underneath there is a warm glow of light everywhere around you.

Everything hums loudly and you hear a loud pulse like a drum beat. Every time you hear it, the light

around you erupts into colour and its almost overwhelming. Your eyes open wide and you are

completely captivated by this strange sensation. After a few minutes in this state you snap back to

reality and retreat fairly hastily from underneath the dome. This bizarre experience has made this

city seem a lot more sinister and youre not sure if you feel comfortable here anymore. You decide

to head back.

On the walk back out, down the same street, you try to piece together this strange city and its

mysteries. Perhaps this city is automated, some kind of machine maybe. Why are there no people?

Did something happen, are they all dead? Then you realise that there were no doors, no windows in

any of the buildings. Perhaps this city is an organism of some kind. An animal? A plant? A cell?

-The City Limits-

As you get back to the edge of the city and to the wall itself, you notice buildings that werent there

before right by the wall. They look identical to the rest of the buildings but they cant be more than 3

ft. high. Did these just grow? This city must be alive, and itsslowly growing and evolving.