First Impressions

Day 1: Arrival in New Liberty

I have seen cities across the Terran Core, but nothing could have prepared me for New Liberty. I arrived just as the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a golden light across the towering skyline. I had read about this place, a beacon of human achievement on Terra Secundus, but seeing it in person felt surreal. The city rises endlessly upward, a forest of glass and steel where vibrant digital advertisements pulse like neon constellations against the darkening sky.

The mass transit skyway carried me to my apartment in the Quartz District, and the entire ride felt dreamlike. Hover vehicles drifted between buildings, their polished hulls reflecting the glow of enormous holographic billboards. Every few moments, a sky bridge would appear, linking tower to tower, as people moved past in quiet rhythm hundreds of feet above the streets below.

High above, two of Terra Secundus’ three moons glowed faintly, casting an ethereal shimmer across the city. They gave everything an almost mythic quality. In the distance, the third moon, larger and darker, hung like a silent observer. It is strange to think that something once invisible from Earth has become part of daily life here.

Day 2: Exploring the Streets and Skyways

The streets are a blend of the old and the new, echoes of Earth’s heritage fused with architecture unique to Terra Secundus. On the ground, the city hums with life. Vendors serve food from every corner of the Terran Core, street musicians play instruments I have never heard before, and people of every background move with a sense of purpose.

The mass transit network feels like a city within a city. Sleek maglev trains glide along invisible lines between buildings, moving with effortless speed. I boarded a transit pod to the Central Plaza, and as we soared through the sky, the view was breathtaking. The skyscrapers below caught the pale light of the moons, their mirrored facades flickering with rolling waves of color and light from the endless advertisements—fashion, art, interstellar technology, and things I could barely recognize.

The sky bridges are more than just walkways. Many are lined with digital art that shifts with the hour, serene patterns in the morning and abstract lightscapes by night. Some even respond to footsteps, glowing softly beneath each step, creating the illusion of walking on water.

Day 4: Evening in the Pulse of New Liberty

Tonight, I witnessed New Liberty in its full brilliance. As the moons climbed higher, the city came alive. Entire skyscrapers became canvases for cascading light displays, some showing scenes of distant colonies and others weaving intricate patterns that rippled across the skyline. The entire metropolis seemed to breathe, its rhythm pulsing with the life within it.

I made my way to a viewing platform in the Sapphire District, where the city stretched endlessly beneath me. Hover cars darted through the air, their lights tracing ribbons that mingled with the glow of digital billboards. The sound of the city was constant, a deep, resonant hum that felt almost alive, as though the metropolis itself were whispering.

The moons shone brighter than ever, their pale light mixing with the neon glow below to create colors I had never seen before. Cool blues, silvers, and soft violets merged in a way that felt both ancient and futuristic.

Day 6: Reflection

Each day, I find myself more captivated by this city. There is a harmony here between nature and technology unlike anything on Earth. New Liberty may be a machine, but it breathes. Its people, its towers, its lights all move in perfect rhythm, a living entity shaped by human will and imagination.

Terra Secundus was once barren, yet now it holds a city that could rival any capital in the Terran Core. New Liberty is more than a settlement. It is proof of humanity’s persistence and vision. As I stand at my window and look out over this gleaming labyrinth, the moons hanging silently above, I cannot shake the feeling that this place, with all its strangeness and wonder, is exactly where I am meant to be.

— Lian Vega