Most cities of any size will gather legends about what can be found beneath its surface.
Abandoned train stations stuffed full of improbably well preserved late Victorian elegance… giant rats and albino alligators… mazes of tunnels through which an adult person could walk, unbowed, for days… societies of “mole people” who shun the surface, either through choice or necessity…
All legends, of course.
Inspired by (and in turn, inspiring) these legends, semi-scholarly books have been written about the supposed networks of tunnels which exist beneath major cities, connecting subway lines to utility access hatches to storm drains to extensive sub-basements to unnecessarily spacious sewers. These modern-day labyrinths, the books claim, are home to equally elaborate societies of the homeless who have relocated permanently to the more temperate climes found down below.
When these claims are investigated from any angle—whether through historical records, architectural plans, or first-hand investigation—reality invariably fails to live up to the legend.
In the city of Jericho, legends were a bit closer to reality, which meant in turn that reality was that much closer to the legends. There really was no good reason for a drainage tunnel to connect a subway platform to an abandoned and unfinished water tunnel that had been carved out of bedrock… and yet, that’s exactly what this one did.
It isn’t that things were never done for no good reason in other cities… but somehow, they didn’t happen often enough or precisely enough to allow the conditions described above to come about.
The would-be water tunnel was twenty-five feet in diameter… though rounder in some places than others… and thirteen miles in length, running across a good chunk of the city and beyond to the northwest, where it would have been connected to the reservoir if it had been finished.
Unused and dry, it served instead as a highway for those individuals who had become permanent dwellers in the darkness, a granite highway that carried John deeper into the Kingdom of the Blind.
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OOK!
Fwee! Void Dogs and Tribe! Yeah, babay! Thanks, AE.
I live caves, but the idea of living in dark underground tunnels, gives me a shiver – seems quite grim.
Yay!! Got on the wi-fi and I’m checking tribe from vacation in Paris. Got to read 4 updates at once. Kinda nice to get a decent chunk of the story in one sitting.
well, finally caught up with this, now to see if the 3 seas is updated.
The odd thing is, that through tribe, i found talesofmu … strange huh?
AE: you know what would be great? in the my works section a way to know which one is updated… maybe a updated date? and old next to star harbor implies that it’s old (not that is has an old version…
anyway, if I’d know which one is updated, i could go there immediately. maybe it can be on a seperate page? (or just on talesofmu) with direct links to all updated webserials.
about ads financially, i also wonder if it would help you to actually click on the adds? or would setting an auto-refresh help? or does it help more to have other people looking at this page.
What i’m saying is: what helps you more financially? clicking the add, auto-refreshing the page or having someone else click on the page?
@AL13N
Check the Master Feed for updates. It’s not always updated immediately, but that’s where AE puts links to all her works when they are updated.
@annoying
i know what you mean, but i thought that if there was a page which listed the updated dates (automagically), it would be more insteresting for her, because of the ads on that page?
@AL13N
Well, there are ads on that page, so checking there should help AE. But, you have a point, if she can find a way to have it update automatically, that would make things easier for her.
Was that a reference to Downsiders”?
“When these claims are investigated from any angle—whether through historical records, architectural plans, or first-hand investigation—reality invariably fails to live up to the legend.”
Ha! You topsiders are so naive. I don’t suppose any of you ever come down to check out the legends. Why don’t you, and bring a charger for this discarded laptop I found? Have fun being scorched by that ’sun’ thing up there!
I’m upset to see that there hasn’t been an update in a while. I get back into town, see I have a large chunk to read and that’s it. I guess she made good on her promise stop writing if readership didn’t improve. damn shame really, this was the best story she wrote.
@pikachu42
i hereby second that.
I attempted to put a linky on my signature on the one message board i frequent, but the boards were having issues with code for links.
i haven’t gotten to try again, but if the story goes kaput i don’t think i shoud bring people here without some kind of ending.
Star Harbour and Void Dogs are un-updated as well. It makes me sad.
*sniffle* Wandered over from MU, and I find, this story hasn’t seen light in three weeks! Bah, no matter, I shall return! And see if I can’t squeeze this sucker in to my signatures.
(P.S. I knows dat And was wrong. D’not kill me, grammar pedant! XD)
Never fear, AE is just taking a well deserved break, and should be back to writing after a week off. For MU for sure; for the rest; not sure when. But it should be soon enough.
More now, please? Has one rested enough in the past month?
I really think she has just given up on this. You might want to start finding other stories to read.
But this is so damn good! Its like a nerdcore Pulp Fiction!
There are other good stories that update regularly.
Defeatist! That’s a terrible reason to give up on a good story. I’ll still wander through in hope every so often.
It’s not dead yet.
ghzsc8mst7db8dzf
sigh
“The would-be water tunnel was twenty-five feet in diameter… though rounder in some places than others… and thirteen miles in length, running across a good chunk of the city and beyond to the northwest, where it would have been connected to the reservoir if it had been finished.”
Oh, is that it?
If you want a *real* underground tunnel system, look up Tokyo’s drainage system sometime.
hi
6fitura0az3tzf7u
good luck
hi
6fitura0az3tzf7u
good luck