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This is the first of the series of texts that i promised to my readers almost two years ago. As some of you, I suspect, have a really vague idea of what this whole thing is about, let me begin by telling you about this city. My city.
This city is old and new, shooting up into the skies and crumbling into ruins. It once was built on the swamps, and people believed it was cursed. No one really knows if it is true, but it sure looks strange these days, even thou nobody believes in curses anymore. I wont bore you with the history of how it was built, sieged etc. and come straight to the moment of separation. The columns, supporting the platforms, where the new city was built, were planted right in the middle of the old city. They looked like weird enormous skyscrapers with no windows or doors. They seemed so out of place back then... And then the platforms were built. It was a strange feeling, watching how the sky and what little sun this city sees gets blocked away. I once saw a sped-up video, made by some girl, who took the photos every day, for fifteen years. She was standing somewhere high, so you could see the city very clear. In this video the shadows get thicker and thicker, as the platforms are built, and in the end the whole old city is covered in darkness. Looked like a scene from a scary science-fiction movie, except we did it ourselves. News were funny back then too. The whole thing was passed as preservation of the old city. But the truth is - no one really cared. The materials got cheaper, and it was much easier to seal the whole thing down and build new city above it. People slowly moved out of the Dark City, as we began to call it. Some - to the Bright City above, those that had money, that is. Some - just out of the damn thing. You might not realize this, but it became a very depressing place. Imagine a city, full of old buildings, some of which are slowly turning into abandoned ruins. Imagine the faces on the facades, frowning or screaming in the dark. But this is what it was before the Bright City. The Bright City just turned the lights off. One funny thing thou, is that the sun actually reaches the Dark City from time to time. The sunrises and sunsets are the only few moments, when the edges of the Dark City get a little brighter. But the closer to the center you get - the smaller are your chances to see the sun. The rest of the city is lit by dim old electrical lights. The electricity is provided by the city above, since the solar panels provide a little more then enough. The amount is not huge, so to light the whole Dark City evenly, it was decided in the first ten years to use only one of every five street lights.
And you know what? People still live there. It is pretty cheap, squatters have lots of empty buildings. Some shops are still open, a lot of factories in the Dark City are still working, and so the Dark City lives. People are weird there, I won't argue with that, but let's be honest - you really have to lower the plank of normality when you are talking about an old creepy city, where the sun never shines. it is not a place for tourists, despite the fact that there are still many old museums (alas, empty, as all the paintings, sculptures etc. have been officially relocated Up). First of all - it is creepy. Second - it is dangerous. Just like a bad district, but the size of a city. The funny thing is, the popular perception, that the Dark City is filled with workers, beggars, criminals, crazies artists and anarchists is pretty correct. It just is more relative there. I wont tell that it is a good place to live, or that the people there are nice, because that is not true. But I have to admit, that there is something there, that I haven't seen so far in the city above. There is a talk in the Bright City, that the city below should be finally demolished, but it is a waste of resources that nobody ever going to approve without a huge cut. And I believe it is for good. i will write more about it later, and if I am successful - even get a few interviews, but for now, after living there for more then a year I will say this:
If there is anything Saint left in this city, it is down there, in the dark.
This is the first of the series of texts that i promised to my readers almost two years ago. As some of you, I suspect, have a really vague idea of what this whole thing is about, let me begin by telling you about this city. My city.
This city is old and new, shooting up into the skies and crumbling into ruins. It once was built on the swamps, and people believed it was cursed. No one really knows if it is true, but it sure looks strange these days, even thou nobody believes in curses anymore. I wont bore you with the history of how it was built, sieged etc. and come straight to the moment of separation. The columns, supporting the platforms, where the new city was built, were planted right in the middle of the old city. They looked like weird enormous skyscrapers with no windows or doors. They seemed so out of place back then... And then the platforms were built. It was a strange feeling, watching how the sky and what little sun this city sees gets blocked away. I once saw a sped-up video, made by some girl, who took the photos every day, for fifteen years. She was standing somewhere high, so you could see the city very clear. In this video the shadows get thicker and thicker, as the platforms are built, and in the end the whole old city is covered in darkness. Looked like a scene from a scary science-fiction movie, except we did it ourselves. News were funny back then too. The whole thing was passed as preservation of the old city. But the truth is - no one really cared. The materials got cheaper, and it was much easier to seal the whole thing down and build new city above it. People slowly moved out of the Dark City, as we began to call it. Some - to the Bright City above, those that had money, that is. Some - just out of the damn thing. You might not realize this, but it became a very depressing place. Imagine a city, full of old buildings, some of which are slowly turning into abandoned ruins. Imagine the faces on the facades, frowning or screaming in the dark. But this is what it was before the Bright City. The Bright City just turned the lights off. One funny thing thou, is that the sun actually reaches the Dark City from time to time. The sunrises and sunsets are the only few moments, when the edges of the Dark City get a little brighter. But the closer to the center you get - the smaller are your chances to see the sun. The rest of the city is lit by dim old electrical lights. The electricity is provided by the city above, since the solar panels provide a little more then enough. The amount is not huge, so to light the whole Dark City evenly, it was decided in the first ten years to use only one of every five street lights.
And you know what? People still live there. It is pretty cheap, squatters have lots of empty buildings. Some shops are still open, a lot of factories in the Dark City are still working, and so the Dark City lives. People are weird there, I won't argue with that, but let's be honest - you really have to lower the plank of normality when you are talking about an old creepy city, where the sun never shines. it is not a place for tourists, despite the fact that there are still many old museums (alas, empty, as all the paintings, sculptures etc. have been officially relocated Up). First of all - it is creepy. Second - it is dangerous. Just like a bad district, but the size of a city. The funny thing is, the popular perception, that the Dark City is filled with workers, beggars, criminals, crazies artists and anarchists is pretty correct. It just is more relative there. I wont tell that it is a good place to live, or that the people there are nice, because that is not true. But I have to admit, that there is something there, that I haven't seen so far in the city above. There is a talk in the Bright City, that the city below should be finally demolished, but it is a waste of resources that nobody ever going to approve without a huge cut. And I believe it is for good. i will write more about it later, and if I am successful - even get a few interviews, but for now, after living there for more then a year I will say this:
If there is anything Saint left in this city, it is down there, in the dark.