MetaWars: Fight For The Future

Chapter 22

The streets of Moscow were broader than those of London, but just as crowded.

It seemed, however, that fewer people were on wheels. Most were trudging along the pavements with their shoulders stooped, sparing barely a glance for each other.

Of course, Russia still had oil and therefore public transport, although Jonah had blanched at the price of four single tickets from Sheremetyevo Airport to the Savyolovsky Rail Terminal on a clapped-out, sighing old train.

Bradbury had paid with a dog-eared plastic card, the same one with which he had bribed a weary airport official to overlook Jonah’s lack of a passport. Jonah decided not to ask where the money was coming from, or indeed if the card was genuine.

They had waited an hour for a train, which had had standing room only and had proceeded gingerly along poorly maintained tracks. By the time they had reached the city, it was early evening and there was a distinct chill in the air. Jonah welcomed the fading of the day. He began to feel almost safe, anonymous, among the crowds.

Jonah had been to Meta-Moscow once. It had been better than this: an idealised version of what this city had once been. In real-world Moscow, as population levels had soared, the fairy-tale towers and domes of old had been crowded out of the skyline by massive concrete housing complexes. They passed snaking queues of people waiting for handouts at mission halls, watched over by armed guards.

They had walked for almost an hour and a half when Axel announced they had reached their destination. Sokolniki Park was neglected; overgrown, like other real-world parks, those that hadn’t been built over. The fast-food stands around its entrance were untended, paint peeling from wooden shutters. A rusted Ferris wheel towered over the park. It reminded Jonah of the London Eye, a giant wheel that had once loomed over the Thames before it was felled during the food riots and sank into the river.

Jonah’s dad had taken him on the London Eye on his sixth birthday. ‘If you like this,’ he had said as they had soared high over London, ‘you’ll love flying for real!’

‘He’s late,’ said Axel, presently.

‘He’ll be here,’ said Bradbury. ‘He knows how important this is.’

‘Are you sure we can trust him?’ asked Sam.

‘He’ll be here,’ Bradbury repeated. ‘Dimitry believes in a free Metasphere as much as we do. Regulation is bad for his business.’

‘Business?’ said Jonah, warily. ‘What business?’

No one answered him, and Jonah decided not to push the question.

He passed the time by trying to meditate again, as his grandmother had taught him. He closed his eyes, tried to empty his mind, but he couldn’t do it. Jonah was too aware of the real world around him. He couldn’t fully relax.

He realised that Bradbury was staring at him. ‘Any lead on those other three Corners yet?’ he asked. Jonah shook his head quickly.

‘We know where one of the Four Corners is,’ said Sam. ‘That’s something.’

‘Enough to protect a quarter of the Metasphere,’ said Axel.

‘If we can procure the Chang Bridge,’ grunted Bradbury, ‘and if we can get it to that Corner before the Millennials.’

Any further discussion was forestalled by the sound of an approaching engine.

Bradbury was the first to his feet, his shotgun drawn again.