1 1:Andromeda City

Andromeda City, Egypt

"Andromeda City, a lush and vibrant oasis in the center of a desolate desert. The creation of which is the result of the tireless efforts of Pharaoh Adomieah during the thirteenth century. Through groundbreaking sciences and a unprecedented work force Pharaoh Adomieah managed to create a paradise where there was only hope. Home to the world famous Andromeda College, the world's foremost Splicing college." I read aloud from the travel guide. I found the thing sitting in the seat of the taxi when I got in, left behind by another tourist.

"Vibrant oasis! Ha!" The taxi driver chuckled. Looking out the window I could understand his skepticism.

The neighborhood we were currently riding through was just one step away from being a slum. Most of the buildings in this neighborhood were abandoned and covered in graffiti, the windows either broken out or boarded up. The buildings that had people living in them weren't in much better shape, many had rotting or missing siding, patchwork roofs made of multiple questionable materials, and gutters barely holding on to the roofs.

The taxi came to a stop at a signal light and while it was waiting a I saw a little kid come running down the steps of a apartment building and start playing on the sidewalk with no shoes on. A woman, who I can only assume was his mother, stuck her head out of a window in the first floor and yelled at the boy. The boy yelled a reply back and judging on the look on his mom's face it was the wrong one. The woman yelled even louder and while I can't be sure what was said since I don't speak Arabic I had to have been a serious threat seeing how fast that boy raced into the building.

I chuckled to myself as the signal changed again and the taxi rode off. The scene bringing back fond memories of my childhood.

"So you're a splicer." The taxi driver said suddenly. I eyed him suspiciously and answered.

"What makes you say that?"

Looking back at me the driver chuckled. "No need to get defensive. The only people that come to Andromeda City are splicers. Plus the address you're having me drop you off at is the front gates of Andromeda College."

"Oh…" I muttered feeling a little stupid for getting so suspicious. "Sorry I'm not really used to someone noticing I'm a splicer."

"Well with other splicers it's a lot easier, they're usually showing off those weird crystals they have on their bodies, unless it's somewhere you can't really see. Not that it'll stop some people, gave ride to a woman that had her crystal on her hip, she literally had the shape of the crystal cut out on her hip just to show it off!" The driver laughed at my shocked expression.

Back home a splicer does everything they can to hide the fact they are a splicer. Some even going to extreme lengths to hide their crystals. I nervously scratched at the crystal on the back of my right hand through the black leather glove I wore to hide mine.

"Well you'll see a lot of that pretty soon, we're almost to Andromeda college." The driver said. Looking out the window I could see a big chance in the scenery, there were no rundown or abandoned buildings. Every building looked new, vibrant, and elegant almost to the point it could be called artistic. People actually walked the streets at a glance anyone could/ they were wealthy.

I saw more and more taxi's filling the street, many more waiting on the sidewalk or at steed feeding stations waiting for their next fair.

"Hey kid you can see the college from here." The driver said as we finished at turn. Way off in the distance a grand golden wall slowly came into view, behind that tall ivory spires glistening in the afternoon sun as if adorned by precious gems stretched high into the sky; the tips of many disappearing into the clouds.

"That's it?!" I gasped.

"Yep! That's Andromeda College, the real lush and vibrant oasis in the center of a desolate desert!" The driver replied with a hint of distain in his voice. "It'll be another thirty minutes before we get to the gates, traffic permitting."

I nodded in response and stared put the window. The closer we got to the college the more expensive looking buildings became and the more wealth people started displaying as they walked the street. I quickly noticed that all the wealthy people walking around were splicers, like the driver had said all if them were displaying their crystals. The only normal people I saw were the workers, taxi drivers, and shop clerks.

"We're here!" The driver exclaimed morosely as the taxi came to a stop. "But it might take you a minute before we get to the gate."

I poked my head out of the window, the taxi was at the back of a long line of vehicles all waiting to get drive up to the gate. I could just barely make out the vehicle at the front. It looked like it was a custom steed stretch limo.

"You can just let me out here." I said and grabbed my bag from under the seat.

"You sure?" the driver asked.

"Yeah. It'll be quicker to walk from here." I replied. "How much I owe ya?"

"Fifteen credits."

I pulled out my wallet and counted out his fare. It took me a minute since I wasn't used to using universal currency yet. We'd only just changed over to universal currency in America last year. After handing it to him I hopped out of his cab.

"Thanks for the ride!" I said waving to the driver then looked towards the steed that had pulled the taxi carriage. Steeds were one of my favorite Evo's; the result of Splicing horse DNA with a cheetahs then enhancing their bone density, they were incredibly strong and fast with even the most common steed able to pull several tons and still able to run at sixty miles an hour. While all this was impressive what I loved about them was their calm disposition and general love of humans.

"Thank you for the smooth ride too!" I said softly petting the steeds head. While a mix of both horse and cheetah DNA, steeds mostly looked like horses. Some had black spots or rounder faces, a few had paws instead of hooves or sharp canines that poked out their jaws but those were rare attributes that were added in by splicers to show off their splicing prowess or so I was told. The steed in front of me was your run of the mill steed though.

The steed purred softly in response to my pets then hearing the his owner click his tongue and yank the reigns trotted off. Throwing my bag over my shoulder I looked up at the imposing golden wall that surrounded the collage and sighed, the reality of where I was finally setting in.

'Well Chase Kingston here you are! Andromeda College, the best splicing Collage in the world…let's try not to fuck it up!'