Fireworks.
The city-nation of Hill, located in the southern hemisphere on the Polias Continent in the Light Dimension, were the first to set their fireworks off in the old Diamond Park Stadium. This was soon mimicked by Hiligrad in the far northern part of the Hyrule content, then by several towns across the planet blossoming starlight into the sky. The festivities extended to locations all across Ticonderan continents and followed the setting sun back to complete the solar cycle back in Trianable. A live concert broadcast sent to every participating city via a holographic laser drone show amid massive bombastic explosions of the ancient sky spectacle.
The event was replicated across the web of words with local talent following the same script with slight alterations. In the Gate Dimension, there was a piece expounding on the merits of sentient robotics in space travel. For the Mana Dimension, a history piece acted out by prominent actors depicting famous Trademen from Belgememnon to Gavallian. In Carrion, Dragon, and Kuvallia displayed odes to their individuality and uniqueness, where yet other dimensions displayed video essays exporting their leadership through adversity and challenges.
“Transdimesnional Villages” sprouted up rapidly in the the days prior, in some cases overnight. Cites such as Tasnicaport, Trianable, Truce, discovered floading barges parked in their harbors, each holding space colony module hubs that housed competitors as well temporary employees.
In many places space colony modules were modified into arcologies and dropped into fields and sometimes raised aboves existing city blocks. The method of delivery was a spectacle in itself, as in many cases the strong tug ships and robotic machinery descended from the heavens with their massive space castles. Seraphim-C “Colossus” mecha and Guardian RFB “King” series, both massive robots used commonly in sorting asteroids like loose change, stepped each foot in parking lots and what fields as they simply held up the villages on their shoulders.
Although not directly involved in the race itself, a piculaur occurrence unfolded in the city Dimension of Kupopolis. Several recreational vessels and varying degrees of repute found themselves anchored in the skies above the old dimension. Zeppelins, airships, floating fortresses, sources, islands, hovering aircraft of sace shape and size appeared in a matter of hours the morning of the fireworks.
Restaurants, casinos, spas, theaters, and a wide assortment of shops found themselves open for business. A series of scolding and business began to interconnect the establishments with towers and rooftops old the old quarters and plazas. Chains of lights, strings, paper lanterns, polyester flags, LEDs, vinyl streamers, candles, velvet drapes, and iridescent glowing stones that hummed oddly familiar melodies carped the skies from ship to ship.
On one rooftop of the Giant quarter, a young moblin came across his neighbor, Sargu the yeti. The old yeti wrapped his body in old wool toga as his fur was thin and matty from age. He stood underneath a white wooden trellis covered in tomato vines as looked out across the purple and red sky.
“Look at this my child. I bet you’ve never seen so much commotion here, have you?” he asked the young girl. The mobin shook her head, stepping away from the rooftop door and looking out across the sea of ships and levitating structures
“No sir! Mana said she dun ever recall anything like this either. Mama said it was prettier than anything back in Hyrule, or anything ever here, like this was a new chapter for the city.”
“No, I wouldn’t say this is like a new chapter my child.“ spoke the old yeti as he stepped to the edge of the rooftop. He leaned his tired frame against an oak barrel as he watched each vessel and floating structure flicker and light up as the city descended into twilight. Drones, spirits, and familiars took to the air and sparkled about like dragonflies.
“This is a new fire in the heart of our old city. This is like Kupopolis Reborn.“
It was only weeks later that a similar ascension of aircraft occured in the in the skies above the calm seas off of Death’s Peak. At that place were the Gaudians first took flight, on the emerald seas across from the anchored barges and yachts of sponsors and space enthusiasts, the skies filled with vessels and craft of various scale and sophistication.
A fleet of seraphim robots, winged humanoid mecha adorned with sponsor logos piloted by company officials, departed from the nearby transdimensional village and began to organize the vessels. They carried with them tall silvery buoys that they anchored into the ocean, designating a starting line. From these emitted lasers that glowed bright in the early afternoon sky. Built specifically for fleet maintenance, the machines placed a holographic emitter materker on the sides of each vessel and aligned each ship into a massive grid, several dozen ships deep and wide, and after they had reached the edge of the harbor, they began to stack upwards.
Two songs were heard for the first time off the coast of Mysidia that day.
The first was a soft hum as the sounds of hundreds of engines puring in an eclectic cacophony of metal grinding and hulls of ships of otherworldly origin resonating from the pulse of energy vibrating in their cores. As the seraphim sorted their race participants, the spacing severed to mold the sound into a mechanical choir miles wide. The salty waters below swirled about and slashed upwards as the song of the idle ships sank into the dea.
The fleet of flying robots began to retreat of the racing ships. After departing, a cloud of millions of mechanical drones eclipsed the setting sun across the ocean’s horizon like a gulls descending on an easy meal. They began to break off into groups of thousands, each cluster forming arches and rings across the ocean and into the sky. Each formation rose wide and tall enough to encompass the oceanic grid of space racers and covered many of the ships in full.
Once in formation the drones began to project a hologram of imagines. Stadiums of people were projected on the corkscrew ribbon of holograms that rose up into space. Fractals of cities, racers, sponsors spun and waltzed across the mosaic of light.
Suddenly, every half mile along the wall digital mural, a graphic starburst presented a number.
4.59
The fleet of racers began to sway as the hundreds of participants became aware of that the number meant with every passing second. 4.58. 4.57. 4.56. Ship wide final checks were ran, captains began to bark commands, last minute preparations and prep talks commenced. 2.29. 2.28. 2.27. Strategy for breaking away from the pack, for not crashing into the vessel below or above them were swiftly and hotly debated with the minutes remaining.
At 0.59 the second song began. There was a slight delay between sound systems in the stadiums, between the hovering speakers and in the parks promenades and town squares, between the sound pods in the gyms, the earbuds in the schools, and the monitor speakers in offices, but it was miniscule and not cognizant to those parties involved. It started with the anxious and eager, muttering softly to themselves. 58. 57. Then came the friendly and willing, those who sang to be apart of something bigger than themselves. 45. 44. 43. Joined next was cheerful and exuberant, raising the chant as an offering heavens as they yelled screamed. 19. 18. 17. 16…
At last, the hook was sung by all across the web of worlds. 10. 9. 8…
In Crystal and in Gate, in Mana and in Esper, they sang. 7. 6…
In Carrion, in Merge, in Alter, they sang. 5. 4…
In Foo, Light, Dragon, they sang. 3. 2. 1….
The great race had begun.