Underground

One year passed before most people realized how much Helmarte had changed.

The capital no longer resembled the enormous construction site that had once swallowed entire neighborhoods behind fences, scaffolding, and clouds of dust. It had become a city transforming before the eyes of its people, one district at a time.

The endless trenches that had dominated the eastern districts were slowly disappearing beneath newly paved roads, broad pedestrian walkways, and carefully planned avenues lined with young maple and oak trees. Every month, another section of the capital reopened cleaner, safer, and stronger than before. At the same time, another district vanished behind construction barriers to begin the same process.

The work never stopped.

Neither did the city.