Suspended over the abyss, the life of Octavia’s inhabitants is less uncertain than in other cities. They know the net will last only so long.
Note
Octavia rests on nothing. It is a net strung between two ridges, and everything the city owns, houses, hammocks, lanterns, swings, hangs beneath it, over a void of cloud.
Here the net obeys a simple physics: every knot pulls on its neighbours, every weight is felt far away. Whoever crosses the catwalk bends it under their steps. Touch it, and the wave runs through the whole city.
Its inhabitants know the net will not hold forever. If you stay and watch, now and then something comes loose and sinks, soundlessly, into the mist. Perhaps it is this certainty that makes their lives less uncertain than elsewhere.
Quotations are brief excerpts for the purpose of commentary. The full text is available in published editions. The Cities of Ottavia, Valdrada & the soundtrack are inspired by "Monument Valley" from ustwo games.