NYLON - 2

The metal under Cody's boots groans with each step, echoing in waves that seem to chase after Lilian.

She’s fast, but not fast enough to outrun him. Not when he knows all her hiding spots.

He finds her at the edge of the Patch, near a broken railing that overlooks the lower floors—one of the few places in the Sub-City where you can see more than ten feet of open space. Down below, Cody spots some people walking about, and even a small group of children playing in a garbage dump.

Lilian is standing completely still, both arms gripping onto the railing as she looks out into the darkness. Cody slows as he approaches, careful with his steps. He finds a spot next to her and sets the bags down. He doesn’t say anything at first, just staring out into the distance thinking of what would be a good way to break the silence.

“Are you okay?” Cody finally asks.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Really?”

She turns to face him, her face fierce and on the verge of tears. “No. I’m not.”

After a moment of silence, she keeps going, quieter now.

“I just wanted it to be real. I think . . . at the back of my mind I always knew. I always knew that Nylon isn’t the perfect place I always wanted it to be. But is it really that wrong to have hope?”

She continues, “I just . . . want to see it for myself. Won’t you let me go?”

He shifts his weight. Stares at the floor.

“You’re your own person,” he mutters. “You can do whatever you want.”

Lilian lets out a frustrated breath and throws her hands up. “You always say that, but you never mean it. The second I leave, you’ll be angry. Why can’t you just support me?”

“First of all, you don’t have nearly enough credits to even consider the idea.”

She looks up at him with hopeful eyes. “So if I find enough credits, you’ll let me go to Nylon City?”

“That’s not what I said.”

“Come on, Cody. You said the only reason is that I don’t have enough credits to do anything up there, but I can just go to see what it’s like!”

Don’t go. You’ll end up like Rylan.

This thought immediately appears in Cody’s mind, but he doesn’t say this either. Instead, he shuts her down with an angry look. Lilian is visibly saddened, but this routine happens a lot. Still, no matter how sad she gets, Cody can never let her go to Nylon City. She’ll never be ready.

“Okay. How about this? If I can find enough credits for me to survive in Nylon City, you’ll let me go for a visit. If you agree to this, I’ll never ask about it again.”

After thinking for a moment, Cody finally says, “Fine. It has to be a lot though.”

Lily’s expression slowly brightens until she’s in a full-blown smile. No matter how many times he sees it, Cody just can’t get tired of that smile.

“I just realized.” Lilian looks at the bags. “We still need to trade all this stuff for credits.”

“Oh yeah. Almost forgot.”

They immediately start heading towards the trading post. As they rise in elevation, they seem to be getting closer to Nylon City; they even hear some music bleeding through the ventilation shafts and stop to enjoy it for a moment. Putting his ear up against the dirty vent, the sounds feel almost alien to Cody. The songs are upbeat and silly, and there’s a buzz of cheerful conversation behind it. Only in Nylon City could people be so ridiculously happy.

Finally, the two of them reach the servoid trading post. It’s a stark, boxy structure, half-buried in concrete and metal like a stubborn building that refuses to be swallowed by the Sub-City. It thrums quietly with the hum of machinery and flickers with dull neon lights above the entrance. An enormous sign reads above the doors: ‘TRADING POST SECTOR 3’. A handful of people linger outside, clutching battered bags and worn crates, eyes wary but hopeful.

“Let’s go make some credits,” Lilian says, and Cody nods in agreement as they walk in. Inside, the air is thick with the smell of oil and recycled air. A tall, angular servoid stands behind a counter, its glowing blue eyes watching them enter without a flicker of emotion. Every time Cody sees the servoids, he gets a little spooked. It’s pretty much built to look like a human, with long arms and legs, and even uniform clothes to match. Yet its face is stone-cold and heartless.

“I am trading post servoid J-10. Please state your account name and items to sell,” it speaks in a smooth, metallic voice. Lilian walks up to the counter with a swagger in her step. What the heck is she trying to do? Cody wonders as he watches her look at the servoid confidently

“J-10? I think I’ll call you Jaden. I’m Lilian Carter. Since there’s eight of them in the database, just pick the prettiest one.”

It ignores her statement and does a facial scan to confirm her identity.

“Lilian Carter. Tier 5. Current balance: 126 credits.”

Cody glances around at the room inside. There’s four other servoids interacting with other people hoping to barter, and there’s a few other Sub-City residents waiting in line. Most everybody is waiting outside, though.

“By the way, Jaden—I feel like we’ve gotten so close in the past few minutes, so you can just call me Lily.”

“Please state your items.”

“Glad you asked!”

Lilian reaches inside her bag and pulls out the fork from earlier. She waves it in the servoid’s face and starts her spiel.

“I bet you’re wondering where that fork is from. Let me tell you, this festive from Gourmandia–”

The robot quickly swipes the fork from her hand. Then, it extends its scanning module, a thin blue beam flickering across the stained fibers. A few clicks later, it chimes.

“Value: five credits. Please state any additional items.”

“Are you serious, Jaden? I wasn’t even done with the story!” Lilian complains, but the servoid is completely unfazed.

“Undamaged utensils are worth five credits.”

Lilian grabs her entire back of forks and spoons and is about to take one out separately, when the servoid realizes what she’s about to do and snatches the entire bag out of her hands. She waits as it finishes analyzing all the utensils.

“Hey Jaden, will you tell me what this ball is for?” Lilian asks as she pulls out the Grafton Bouncy-Ball and puts it in the servoid’s metallic hands. After a moment of inspection it’s ready.

“This is a Grafton Bouncy-Ball, manufactured by Grafton Industries, a company that produces childrens’ toys. The ball is filled with elasticity-enhancing machinery that improves the bouncing efficiency of the ball. The purpose of the ball is to be thrown at hard surfaces for leisure. Value: thirty credits.”

As she hands the ball to the servoid, Lilian turns to Cody and smiles proudly.

“See? Leisure.”

Cody pulls out one of the small screens that she had found. It’s somehow still operating, replaying some unintelligible message repeatedly. The servoid inspects it.

“So what’s this?” Cody asks. Lilian leans in closer, curious about its worth.

“Communication device manufactured by Braxton & Co. Portable. Minimal exterior damage. Functionality: partial. Value: fifty credits.”

Lilian’s jaw drops. Cody raises his eyebrows.

“Please state any additional items.”

For the next few minutes, Lilian keeps digging out her various items, but none of them are worth nearly as much as she imagines. When the bags are all empty, the servoid takes all the items and walks back into the farther reaches of the trading post—likely where it will submit the items. As the servoid walks away, Cody remembers.

“Lily. You forgot the amulet.”

“Oh, whoops. I’ll just add it after. It’ll all be on my account anyway.”

The servoid returns in a few moments, its hands empty.

“Total: one hundred thirty-two credits.”

“Wait before you do that, can you inspect this amulet, too?”

Cody still remembers Old Benson’s fantastical explanation of it, but he’s not too sure of how accurate the man’s information is. Either way, Lilian seems too tired to even give a fantastical explanation of the amulet’s worth, so she holds it out silently. It scans it once, then twice, then a third time. Cody and Lilian just look at it, intrigued. Cody wonders if something in the system is messing it up.

“Pure gold amulet. Engraved with the crest of the Milanova Family. Has a direct connection to the Milanovas’ family account and can be used to purchase access Tiers as well as cover spending only within Nylon City. Value: five thousand credits.”

“Five thousand?” Cody exclaims, slamming his hands on the table, and suddenly all heads in the room turn to him. With an embarrassed apology, he slinks back a little, red in the face.

“Correct,” the servoid responds, “Will this be your last item?”

The servoid holds out its tray expectantly. Immediately, Cody can't help but imagine how much these credits would make their life easier. Five thousand credits. No more near-spoiled food scraps or dirty water. A place to sleep without mold or rats or the constant hum of desperation. For a week—maybe two—they could be more than just surviving.

He glances at Lilian. She hasn’t moved. Her eyes are fixed on the amulet, not seeing the five thousand credits, but something else.

“You said it can cover spending in Nylon City?” Lilian asks, gears turning in her head.

“Yes,” the servoid responds. “The Milanova family is also reportedly wealthy.”

“Lily?” Cody says, voice low.

She doesn’t answer. Doesn’t even blink. But something shifts in her face. Then she steps forward and speaks, her voice barely above a whisper.

“On second thought,” she says slowly, “I’ll keep this amulet.”

The servoid asks, “Confirmation for deposit of 132 credits?”

“Confirm,” she says, louder now. She reaches out her arm, a golden glow appearing on her wrist. Her account information is displayed in glowing letters and the servoid taps her wrist twice.

Once the credits are transferred, she spins on her heel and bolts from the post, the amulet clutched tightly to her chest like it’s something sacred.

Cody stares after her, stunned.

“Lily, what the hell—” he mutters, then scrambles to run after her.

The neon glow of the trading post fades behind them as Cody chases Lilian through the winding tunnels of the Sub-City. His boots slap against the cracked pavement, the sound echoing off the damp concrete walls. Ahead, Lilian darts around corners with the desperate pace of someone chasing a dream that was once just beyond her fingertips, but is now within reach.

“Lily! Stop!”

She doesn’t slow down. She never does.

Watching her pull ahead twists something in Cody’s chest. This is how it always goes—Lilian surging toward some far-off light, him scrambling to follow. He tries to rein her in, to shield her from the fall he knows is coming, but she’s always faster. In the end, she wins. Every time.

She finally skids to a halt near a rusted guardrail overlooking one of the deeper chasms of the Sub-City. The air here is thick with the scent of mildew and distant machinery. Below, flickering lights outline the jagged edges of collapsed infrastructure, another forgotten layer of the underground.

But she’s not looking down– she’s looking up. When Cody reaches her, he’s gasping and panting, while Lilian stands completely still, staring off into the distance.

She’s never quiet. She fills the silence with chatter, complaints, or even a tune under her breath. But now, she’s completely silent.

It’s like she’s holding her breath, ready to take the dive. Her eyes aren’t glittering with wonder the way they usually do. Now, they only reflect a distant glow—dim, distant, and unreachable. Cody squints into the haze, catching the faint shimmer of spires and moving lights. Could it be? Nylon City? But he can’t be too sure.

Cody breaks the silence.

“What is this place, Lily? I’ve never been here before.”

“Yeah, it’s cool isn’t it . . .” she replies mindlessly, her eyes still fixed on Nylon City in the distance. Suddenly, she turns to him, the sparkle returning to her eyes, as if she just remembered something important.

“I have something to show you!”

Without another word, she leads him along the edge of the chasm, where the ground narrows into what looks like an old inspection path. It isn’t much—just a strip of reinforced steel built into the side wall, maybe once used by engineers or servoid crews. Exposed and half-forgotten, it runs a short distance across the yawning gap.

“There’s handles on the wall. Hold onto those and you won’t fall,” Lilian adds.

Cody hesitates at the edge, peering down into the yawning dark below. The drop is a bottomless pit of the Sub-City, filled with darkness, heat vents, and distant industrial groans. But Lilian’s already ahead, walking like she’s done it before.

In the middle of the span, halfway across the chasm wall, a ladder clings to the side of a column, bolted into old steel and concrete. It looks ancient, but the wear on the rungs betrays its use. Someone, maybe many someones, have climbed it before. Lilian grabs hold without pause and starts up, one hand over the other, boots clinking steadily against the metal. Cody gulps, glancing once more into the pit below. Then he grabs the ladder and follows.

At the top of the ladder, they emerge onto a wide platform. It’s a flat expanse of metal, the size of a room that’s been stripped of its walls and ceiling. It stretches out into open air, suspended above the chasm like a secret stage.

Scattered across the surface are forgotten remnants: dented crates with no markings, probably long emptied; rusted barrels that have cracked and leaked, leaving dark, oily stains baked into the metal floor. The whole place feels abandoned, but not untouched.

“Cody! Look up there!”

His eyes follow Lily’s finger pointed up in the air. For as long as he could remember, the ceiling of the Sub-City was the end of the world. It was the highest anything could go. There was no beyond, no higher ground, just concrete and pipes.

But now, standing here, everything changes. The walls of the chasm stretch impossibly high, like they’re trying to contain the world itself… but eventually, they stop.

And above them is Nylon City.

It’s only a sliver. A glimpse. But it’s enough. Cody watches in silence at the breathtaking slice of the glittering display of color and movement, alive with energy. He spots small dots that are likely servoids floating around, ready to serve their rich customers. And behind them, towering high, are buildings wrapped in neon: pink, blue, and electric white, shimmering brightly to keep everyone awake.

“It’s . . . amazing,” he says, unable to hide the wonder in his voice.

“Isn’t it, isn’t it?” Lilian says excitedly, “Rylan took me here once. Of course, now that he’s in Nylon City, he doesn’t have to come here to take a peek at it. It’s kind of hard to see, but there’s a little bit of sky behind those tall buildings. And sometimes it’s brighter and sometimes it’s darker. The sky changes all the time!”

Cody just keeps looking up, impressed. But he quickly shakes his head, clearing away the dream. He has to return to the matter at hand.

“Lily, Why did you bring me here today?”

Lilian replies, “I wanted to show you what Nylon City looks like, now that I’m finally allowed to go.”

“You can . . . finally go? What do you mean?”

She holds out the amulet that she never turned in to the servoid at the trading post.

“Remember what the servoid said? You can use this to buy stuff in Nylon City. That means I can finally visit Rylan! I can finally go to Nylon City!”

His stomach drops.

“Lily—”

“You promised,” she cuts in, voice trembling. “You said if I found enough credits, I could go.”

Cody’s jaw clenches. He always knew that Lilian’s biggest desire was to visit Nylon City, and rightfully so—the Sub-City is pretty bleak in comparison. While he’d envisioned this scene many times in his head, he never expected that Lilian would find such a perfect item to convince him. The amulet can only be used in Nylon City, and it has a great deal of credits attached to it. But what if the credits run out? What if the connection to the Milanovas’ account is severed? What if she loses the amulet?

But these problems only pale in comparison to what Cody is worried about the most.

What if Lilian decides to never come back?

“You’ll just be tricked!” he blurts out, and Lilian jumps a little. She looks at him cautiously, curious as to what he means. Cody takes a deep breath to calm himself. It’s already too late to keep hiding information. He has to tell her, before she leaves him behind forever.

“Lily, there’s something I’ve never told you about Rylan.”

“What is it?” she asks, her voice unsure, as if she doesn’t want to hear the answer.

Cody looks away for a moment, eyes fixed on the glowing skyline above them.

“He said he’d be gone a week,” he says finally. “Just one week. That’s what he promised me.”

Lilian blinks. “But it’s been—”

“Three months,” Cody finishes for her. “I waited. Every day, I waited. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to believe it either. But he's not back, Lilian. I think . . . something might have happened to him up there, and it’s probably not good. You know how he is—outgoing and easily excited, but also ambitious. Easily taken advantage of.”

Just like you. But Cody doesn’t say that out loud.

Lilian doesn’t speak. She just stares at him, hurt and confused. She’s spent the last few months thinking that Rylan was off partying away, and now that dream is shattered. Cody knows she must feel terribly betrayed and that’s why he never wanted to say it. But he had to do this, to make sure that she never wants to go to Nylon City ever again.

A silence stretches between them and Cody lets it.

He figures this is it—the moment she finally understands, finally sees why it’s better to stay grounded, to stop chasing dreams that’ll only betray you. He keeps his eyes on the skyline, waiting for her to say she decided to stay.

Instead, her voice cuts through the stillness—brighter, surer than ever.

“Then I have to go to Nylon City.”

Cody turns to her, startled. “What?”

“If Rylan’s in trouble, that’s exactly why I should go. I can’t just leave him up there.”

“Wait, no. That’s not—” He runs a hand down his face, exasperated. “You’re not hearing me, Lilian. I’m telling you this to stop you from going.”

But she doesn’t back down.

“He’s just as much of a friend to me as you are. I can’t just abandon him!”

Cody exhales slowly, the fight draining out of him. His shoulders slump, and when he finally speaks, his voice is tired and worn thin.

“I’m not trying to abandon him, Lily.”

He looks down at his hands. They’re clenched, even though he didn’t realize it.

“I just… I can’t lose anyone else. If you follow him up into that glowing city . . . I’ll be all alone.”

He thinks back to those days of scavenging with Lilian, and even earlier, when Rylan was still with them. The three of them were a great team, working together to dig through trash and find valuables. It was difficult and tiring, but at least he was with them. At least he had something to live for.

If even Lilian leaves him, there will be nothing left. His mind starts racing. What else can I do? What else can I do to stop her? I can’t let her leave.

But before he can say anything, Lilian grabs his arm, grounding him back in reality.

“Then come with me.”

“. . . what?”

“Come with me to Nylon City. You won’t be alone if you come with me while I look for Rylan.”

She smiles at him—wide, bright, stubbornly full of hope—and Cody feels his resistance start to melt. Maybe it was never truly there. Part of him always wanted to see Nylon, no matter how often he denied it. He just never imagined it would actually be within reach. But here it is, dangling in front of him like a frayed dream, and this time, he’s ready to grab it. Lilian’s still charging off ahead as fast as she can, but this time, Cody will follow.

“Do we have a deal?” Lilian asks, holding out her hand for a handshake. Cody hesitates—but only for a breath. Maybe this was what he always wanted. Cody shakes her hand with as much conviction as he can muster.

“Deal.”