The city’s grip fell away as they drove, the landscape transforming before them through the windshield. The Shepherds glinted against the afternoon sky, watching over pastel-hued vegetation that swayed beneath their watch. Through the glass, Juniper watched ancient scars bloom into new life, the once-scorched earth now fertile with promise.

Elevated aquifers threaded through the terrain like strings of plasma, connecting field to field in defiance of gravity. Sweet potatoes nestled in smoke-kissed soil along the roadside, while skyward streams pulsed life through the sprawling farmland. As the last skyscraper faded in the rearview mirror, golden sunflower seas emerged on verdant slopes beyond the farms, their faces turned skyward in eternal worship.

Shifting the subject while maintaining a thread of relevance, Juniper spoke up. “They say the wildfires from… I think 40 years ago are what fertilized these fields. That it was the event that inspired the birth of the city.”

“Yes, you can see the flower fields over to the east…” Daniel’s head turned, guiding her gaze.

Juniper followed the direction of his eyes, momentarily confused by the cardinal direction but impressed nonetheless.

“It was these very gardens that brought all the money here once the longevity was extracted,” he continued, his voice taking on a reverent tone.