Science fantasy worldbuilding in Phoenix 3: A whole new world

They came in to Leo Five out of the midday sun. Around them, cars flowed in and out in orderly lines, their bodies gleaming in the golden light. On the radio, they could hear news stations full of chatter; the crackle and buzz of communications; the non-stop whirl of activity in the city ahead.

It was a relief to get going. After everything Lucky had been through, it felt good to breathe fresh air again; to feel wind on his skin, and sunlight on his face. He drank in the sights and sounds eagerly, relishing his first new city.

And Leo Five looked dazzling. The streets were drenched in rich golden light, and lined with tall buildings all lit up from within. Between them, the skyline was spiked by countless cranes, building even bigger structures. Words and pictures scrolled across their walls. Advertisements flashed by on enormous displays, faster than Lucky could read. Cycles and mopeds whooshed past them as they drove, an electric blur of motion, their lights like one continuous stream of flame.

This was the height of Human wealth, and it made the town where he’d grown up look like a toy town. It was astonishing to see all that energy burning in those buildings, powering this civilization.