She found herself drawn into the conversation, her passion for the subject overriding her initial reservations. “Yeah, it’s amazing how below us somewhere, steam from the fusion heats these fields… Built for easy access along the highways.”

As they crested the hill, the repurposed medical facility now chartered as a school came into view, sprawling and solitary, with residential populace scattered behind it as far as the eye could see. A gateway to a village - a community.

The facility stood amidst perfectly manicured grass, interspersed with sections of low-cut brush and small trees. Birds wheeled overhead, their flight patterns restricted to these natural oases, protecting the delicate homeostasis of the town.

The leaves on the trees still displayed hints of autumn’s touch. It was a reminder that even in the city of perpetual renewal, even in this area powering the entire region where the outer ring of Helix Park got its name, they remained subject to the cycles of nature.

As they crossed the threshold into the city, the mechanical song of the elevated aquifers faded into the distance, their silver pillars dissolving into the horizon. The persistent buzz of monitoring Shepherd’s grew fainter, replaced by the gentle whisper of wind through triple-parasol leaves that cast dancing shadows on the earth below.