Finally recovered from jet-lag, I felt enough energy to go out and visit the city. I had heard of New Francisco a lot, but actually didn’t really know what it looked like. It was a pretty young city since it had been colonized about forty years before, but all I could remember from my geography class is that it had expanded very quickly, until becoming the capital of Aldrin IV. It is therefore a very populated territory and a lot of things happen there, even today. I actually like its diversity. Of course, there are a lot of humans, but I noticed some Gatians, Muskians, Trumpians, and obviously, native Aldrinians. That’s the topic of today’s story.
New Francisco is a nice place to visit. Of course, as an area where nights last for six months, the flora isn’t much diversified. However, the cityscape is quite impressive. There are actually two main parts: Uptown and Downtown. Uptown is basically everything located at more than 1200 feet above the ground. Everything under is called Downtown. Uptown is quite fancy; that’s where rich people live, mostly Earthlings. The upper parts of the skyscrapers are luxury apartments, business offices, hotels or elegant restaurants. You actually won’t see many human beings in Downtown, as people use aerial transportation and bridges to travel through the upper city and across the different buildings. Uptown looked nice, but all I could afford was a cheap hotel in Downtown, or as many locals like to call it, DirtTown. Downtown is the part of the city that you don’t see in documentaries. The air is not very clean, and it is extremely poor. When Earthlings discovered the zone of New Francisco, it was a vast territory where natives lived almost as savages. Earthlings quickly realized that the air was better for them in the higher part of the atmosphere, which explains why they destroyed the pre-existing constructions and started to erect huge skyscrapers in order to live in the
higher parts of the newly-born city. Nowadays, Downtown is mostly populated by natives and immigrants from other planets. Despite the bad reputation of the neighborhood, I actually found it beautiful. When looking up, you have an awesome view on Bleedös, a large red moon occupying most of the sky, which is partly hidden by the huge towers. Looking in front of you, you’ll have this nice view on the lower parts of the buildings, hosting mostly shops, restaurants, and clubs surrounding this long river of gluum, a pink sticky liquid that you can only find in this area of the galaxy.
I wanted to start my day in a good way so I went to a small bar next to my hotel. It’s the kind of popular and typical places of the area, with big vintage LED lights on the front, people playing Gloudarr—a traditional card game from this planet—and drinking local drinks such as Poudraq or Roastkrock. So I ordered a Coca Cola. That’s where I met John Smith (born Gnolioos Braaamönl) for the first time. As his original name indicates, he’s a native Aldrinian. For people who have never seen one, people from this species are quite short with four legs and three arms on the side (on the left for males, and on the right for females). They have light-blue skin and one big eye at the center of their faces. John was wearing blue jeans with a white E-Shirt, and was drinking a glass of a blue liquid (probably Twamka Juice), while typing notes on his book. I approached him, trying to initiate a conversation, but he didn’t answer. To him, any people coming from the United States of Earth is a colonizer and does not deserve his respect. Of course, at this moment, I didn’t know yet that his notebook actually contained his plans for the incoming Aldrinians’ Great Revolution of 2529…