Sun Tower

The robotic flying rickshaw lands on one of several thorn-like protrusions circling the upper part of the Sun Tower, four stories below the base of the protective dome and the docking bay above. The protrusion is flat on top with a guard rail. There are four other rickshaws here loading up passengers and a small line of people waiting for a ride.

A family of four approach Doc's rickshaw; a young, perky lady with green hair and gold piercings here for the campus tour with her bored, whining ten-year-old brother and two gray haired, buzz-cut and stylish hyper-color sunglass-wearing mothers in unfortunately revealing bathing suits. Doc climbs off and they climb in with hardly a smile or a nod.

The blue-lit balcony door is open to the interior of the white tower. Inside, there is a long hallway which curves around the inside circumference of the Tower. Floor-to-ceiling windows and intermittent columns line the outer wall of the corridor. The corridor ramps almost imperceptibly upward clockwise, and seems to be one long hallway wrapping around the entire tower from tip to base.

Strangely, though he can see the slope of the hallway from outside, as he steps into it he loses the sense of it. He gets that slight butterfly feeling in his gut as the pull of gravity changes across the threshold. Inside, it's no extra work to walk one way or another. The spiral appears to be perfectly, impossibly flat.

The inside wall is also windows, each displaying the goods and services provided in the stores on the other side. Between every other store is a small arcade leading further into the interior of the tower. There are many people moving through the area in and out of the stores, through the arcade, and up and down the corridor. Many of them scoot along the outer hall on personal hover scooters, some rather quickly. Most of the people here are families also here for the "summer" tour. A single, unarmored security guard idly paces the arcade area.

There are four stores across the corridor within Doc's field of view. Furthest up the corridor to the left is a clothing store laden with the color changing shirts everyone seems to be wearing. The next store down is selling campus merchandise; shirts and hats with OUE in block lettering, many of which also change colors but tend to cycle between orange and blue, the school's team colors. One shirt displays the mascot, a Capricornian star goat taking a bite out of the Earth. To the right of the arcade that splits the four stores directly across from Doc is a health food store advertising smoothies for "only ten credits!" The last store on the right appears to sell phones, pocket computers, and other small electronics.

The arcade across from Doc is sort of a lounge area with plants and benches and trash receptacles along the walls. Animated billboards above the benches portray the fun of campus life, the value of diligent study, and the advantages of certain health foods. Beyond the arcade appears to be another hallway and a bright blue column of light.