Zachary picked his way through the rubble-strewn streets, taking extra care to watch for anyone waiting to ambush him. He remembered that in the first few days it hadn't been so dangerous, as most people were yet to get into the mindset of anarchy. After that, once people realised that they were stuck there and supplies were short, and Conduits got to grips with their powers, the streets became much more dangerous. However, over time as people died off the chance of encountering someone who wants to kill you dropped too. However, that doesn't mean it has vanished, and the Conduits who remain are more powerful, so it always paid to be cautious.

On this trip the caution was fortunately not needed, and Zachary made it to the Wall without event. He stared up at the massive structure. From where he stood he could tell that it was made from Warshiran steel. Although nowadays (or at the very least a year ago) enough is known about metallurgy to make steel of the same quality anywhere, it was still only done in Warshire because they had the best foundries and it wasn't worth building them elsewhere. It was also MASSIVE. No, really, it dwarfed literally everything. It was built higher than Sovereign's highest skyscrapers. And it had risen from under the ground? What could have possibly done that? He was so awestruck that the murder performed earlier that day was pushed out of his mind.

Zachary checked both ways to ensure that he was alone, as bandits were known to roam the Wall and there was also the occasional military patrol. But this time the coast was clear, so he approached the Wall, took a deep breath, and tentatively laid a hand on it. Suddenly his senses went dull, although not entirely, as his mind was filled with an image of the Wall. Slowly it rendered itself, piece by piece, and after a few seconds Zachary could see the inner workings of the Wall in all its glory, and what a glorious sight it was. The first thing he noticed was cores the size of buildings. Zachary was staggered at the sheer scale of them. The Wall was merely coated in steel, the inside held massive kinetic cores that stood multiple stories tall, and Zachary could feel that they resonated well with each other. He had never seen any cores of that size! The military must have been stockpiling them from mines for decades. Zachary reasoned that anything powerful enough to get through a kinetic shield that big would first tear apart all that was left of Sovereign. He tried moving some of the power distribution piping using his powers, but the kinetic shield prevented anything from moving, even inside the wall.

But Zachary was an engineer, he cared for more than just the sheer scale of it. He noticed that triggering the kinetic cores were large lightning cores, which appeared accessible from the outside. Of course, the kinetic cores themselves would have technically finite power, but as they were so huge they would last for a very long time, especially if it wasn't under constant barrage. Zachary would do the maths later to calculate their expected lifespan, which would be helped by the fact that he could identify their current capacity, which was still near full.

He also noticed another system in place, a long row of smaller cores under the base of the Wall. At first glance he couldn't quite recognise them, until- [i]Oh my, are those steel fibre cores? There are so many of them! And they're meant to be rare! How could they get so many? They must really want to keep everyone inside.[/i] Zachary continued looking, but he noticed no other systems and no faults in the Wall, and his view was too restricted in distance to see the aerial shield, or deep underground where the Wall had risen from, although he could see that the Wall went pretty deep. He was amazed at the engineering and expense that must have gone into creating such a structure. He also noticed no mechanism which could allow military to pass through the Wall in that area. Zachary concluded that the way out must be at a single location, and was probably a physical gate. As such, it would also be insanely heavily guarded, but to idea of heavy military guard was not enough to fully suppress his curiosity.

Zachary released his connection to the Wall, stood back, and looked up again. For an engineer, it was a marvellous sight. However, the marvel was tainted by the fact that the Wall turned this ruined city into a prison. [b][i]You've got to find a way out of here some how, to get home,[/i][/b] Kaa'is said. What Kaa'is said was true, he did want to go home. He just wanted to return to a normal life, tell his family he was okay, write a thesis, do engineering and not be stuck living in ruins for the rest of his life stealing to survive. [i]We'll have to find the gate. What Wall doesn't have a Gate?[/i] They were in agreement, and Zachary turned to leave with a new spark in his eyes.