The rhythmic sound of the tram accompanied Nik's thoughts as the carriage slid along the tracks, cutting through the city. The automatic doors slowly closed and the world outside resumed its flow. He was going for a walk in the city centre, one of his pastimes since he returned to Florence. Sitting by the window, Nik watched his own expression reflected in the glass. Faint dark circles, slightly messy brown hair, eyes glued to the world without really looking for anything. He thought freedom would feel lighter. The tram slowed down, approaching the stop. The metallic voice announced. "Next stop: Rosselli."
Nik stood up calmly. The carriage was half empty; for some reason, most people were in the other carriage. Surrounded by the typical silence of the morning. He got off, crossing the sidewalk with a neutral expression, hands in his pockets and a light backpack on his shoulders. The air smelled of sun warmed stone and the scent of bread from open bakeries. Florence was a city that spoke in whispers, but every corner had something to say, if you knew how to listen. Walking toward the center, Nik let the streets guide him, dove into alleys where the past still seemed alive, suspended between cracked walls and wrought iron signs.
"This city has always known where to take me to wander. I wish it would do the same for my life."
He passed a shop window full of old black and white photographs. A child smiled, probably a picture as old as his grandfather, with the Chatedral in the background. Nik smiled faintly. Then he looked up. Brunelleschi's dome towered over the skyline with its usual, familiar majesty. Every time it seemed new. Every time it seemed to challenge you to become something more. When he reached the Chatedral square, the sun had begun to filter through the clouds. Tourists with guidebooks huddled together, snapping photos, as the city woke up with distant honks and boots on stone."Hey Nik! Long time no see."
It was his old high school classmate Tobia, now happily stuck in a garage on the city's southern outskirts. They both entered a nearby café and started chatting. "Oh, so you're alive! What happened to you? Didn't you disappear to some other city?" Tobia said, looking up with a half smile.
"I… quit my job. Couldn't handle working in the garage anymore. I resigned a few weeks ago. Too repetitive, too closed in, too… something else. And yet, now that I've done it, it still feels like I can't quite breathe."
Tobias listened and then asked. "And now? What are you doing now that you're officially a luxury unemployed person?"
Nik took a sip of the coffee he had ordered. And, remembering how expensive cafés were in the city center, he tried to enjoy it as much as possible. "Walking. Breathing. Waiting to feel like doing something."
Tobia snorted and leaned back in his chair. "I told you you were too much of a philosopher for these things. I'm doing great: oil changes, clutches, no hassles. They pay me, Saturdays off... what more do you want?"
Nik nodded, without judgment. He was glad Tobia was doing well. It's just that he didn't see himself in that life. "Oh, maybe one day you'll wake up and start climbing Giotto's Bell Tower, go on!" Tobia said with a smile, pointing out the glass with a dramatic hand.
"Maybe something higher." Murmured Nik, almost to himself. It was in that instant that everything shook. A subtle shiver, like the world had coughed. The cups on the counter rattled, and the sound of chairs paused. Silence, for a second. Then, from outside, a chorus of confused voices rose. "What the hell is that!'
"Is it coming out of the ground!?"
Nik and Tobia jumped up, running to the exit. The square was in turmoil. Some were recording with their phones. Others stared with mouths agape. Where once there was only stone, now stood a black structure, maybe 5 or 6 meters tall, shaped like an archway. Like an ancient portal, but perfectly smooth, carved from a material darker than shadow. In the center, a pulsing void. People stopped at a distance, hypnotized, but no one dared approach. Nik felt a strange sensation. It wasn't just amazement, it was as if an invisible magnet was pulling his chest. A hypnotic, almost physical impulse, as if the very air around that arch was trembling. His breathing became short, and for a moment he had the absurd certainty that that thing was there for him. Only for him. A part of him, asleep for too long, had just awakened. He took a step. Then another.
"Nik?! What are you doing?" Yelled Tobia from behind, his voice already far away. He didn't answer, he reached out and touched the portal and the world shut off. Darkness. Then, a blue light. Cold, geometric, like a mechanical thought etched in the void.
***
[TOWER INTERFACE INITIALIZED]
Candidate Detected: Nicholas
Suitability Trial: Pending...
Standby.
***