Territory Dispute (12)

The loud electronic music reverberated so loudly that it hurt my ears.

Under dazzling lights of every vivid color, people with all kinds of distinctive appearances swayed this way and that, each intoxicated by euphoria.

“Wow.”

An exclamation that slipped out unconsciously.

Maybe it was because I had lived a life that had little to do with clubs, past or present, but the sight of waves made of flesh and metal chaotically mixing together was quite shocking.

Putting aside the fact that this was a mishmash punk world, it felt like an entirely new experience.

Most of the patrons inside the club seemed to be tourists enjoying themselves with their own bodyguards in tow.

Judging by the violent sight of people injecting unidentified purple drugs into the insides of their elbows in real time or spraying rainbow-colored smoke in every direction,

they looked exactly like the kind of people who would come all the way down to District 49 to go clubbing.

Some were even tangled together in nothing but bare skin……...