Chapter 113 – Dead Ends

• “The ‘how’ of how all of these people get here,” Faiza says on a sigh, “is a more complicated question. Usually they slip through by accident. Or some are born here. But the why is not as difficult – the City of Life is the only place on this whole planet that isn’t a wasteland. I mean, you’ve got some people that live in the sad little town that surrounds your fancy palace,” she says, shooting a little glare Orion’s way. “But honestly, can you blame people for wanting to live somewhere that attempts to simulate the world that they left?”
• “No,” I say, the world coming out on a happy little breath as I grin, kind of delighted by all the variety of life here in this wasteland of a world. I watch eagerly as a little dog with eight legs floats by, carried neatly by three sets of beating wings that mean none of its eight little feet ever have to touch the ground. “No, I can’t say that I blame them at all.”
• “Don’t let her distract you, Princess,” Anton murmurs, giving me a little nudge with his elbow. “We’ve still got a job to do.”