It seemed every few steps, Simon was pausing to pinch himself. The buildings were immensely tall, and though the height was not uncommon wi that he had seen on Osiris and Ariel, the materials the buildings were made of, the dilopitated architecture. They were wrong. There was no pattern to the city. It seemed more a conglomeration of a dozen different eras, some badly mimicked, and others too carefully put together.
The other thing was the level of filth. The skies were shrouded in smog, and Simon could practically feel the pollution in the air as he walked. The red medical kit in his hand, he clutched tightly. It was the only thing he had that was of any real value to him, the only thing he wouldn't let go of. He was tempted to get a pair of gloves from the kit, to let him move around this city is some semblance of a hygenic manner, but it seemed more reasonable to hoard what supplies he had. Who knew when he might need the gloves he'd just wasted on keeping his hands tidy.
The green place he'd found seemed even more out of place within the city. What did you need a tiny patch of ecology amid this urban sprawl? The patterns made no sense. But at lease the area supplied leisure locations. Simon pulled himself to one of the benches and sat, weariness in his bones and in his gut from the bullet still lodged within.
He pressed his hand there, hoping the bleeding had slowed enough. The shot of adrenaline he'd given himself shortly before the doors had opened and Riven had vanished just as the wall behind her collapsed was starting to wear off. Simon didn't know if he'd fallen asleep or simply closed his eyes and opened them here instead, but his wound had only the emergency bandaging he'd instructed Inara to wrap it with. When he pulled his hand away, it was stained pink. Great. Some of the blood was seeping through again.
"You know rest is better, Simon, that's what you tell all the rest of them." He was speaking to himself, mindless of the bench's other occupant, as he pulled out another shot of adrenaline from the kit and prepared himself to take it. "Tell all the rest to sit down, but no, not for you. You get to find River. Do whatever it takes, find River."