Chapter 9

• A flier slices through the wind as it takes Caroline to work. Looking out of the window, she can admire the city as it processes kilobytes around her; the sky remain fairly clear except for a few mass transit fliers. Private fliers were outlawed a few years ago after congestion led to horrendous collisions that would kill the occupants. Also the falling debris would take out people on ground level as well. Now the skies were a lot clearer and it was much safer to walk.
• From such a high vantage point Caroline could see all the way to the edge of the city. Sitting grumpily in the atmosphere were the Cleaners; large blue egg shaped ovals a few metres around. Suspended in the air by the same propulsion system as the fliers, Cleaners did exactly what the name suggests; dirty air would get sucked into them, and then nanobots would go to work, removing all dangerous substances until the air came out as clean as a whistle. Every now and then a man on a mini flier would check on the Cleaners to make sure they were functioning properly and replace defunct nanobots.
• Skyscrapers dig a line right through the middle of the city. The windows have now been specially designed so that images can be displayed on one side. If a person looks through they can see perfectly, but from the other side only the chosen display can be seen. Adverts for the newest X-shows play on the side of skyscrapers attempting to entice travellers to sneak a peep during work. Others make claims of the properties of soft drinks and brand names designed to entice the weak willed.