The diner stood tall and pronounced against the sleek, modern city it clung to, its bright white lights illuminating the darkness that surrounded it. The people here were different, and that was precisely why Sophia had brought Juniper to this spot, to provide her with a change of scenery and perspective.

Through the scratched windows of the old train car, the city’s gleaming towers looked almost alien, their solar arrays and vine-draped façades, a world away from this preserved piece of history. The diner’s worn vinyl booths and flickering neon signs told stories of a simpler time, before the quarries had birthed the angular granite layered metropolis that now dominated the horizon. Sophia had chosen well - there was something grounding about being here, where the coffee was still served in thick ceramic mugs and the air smelled of grease rather than purified oxygen.

In the distance, the city’s silhouette loomed, but the quarries remained shrouded in darkness, the only light coming from the nearby mill, casting a faint glow over the roads.