Trains had stopped working all around the city; a scattering of incidents to both the vehicles and lines themselves. A breaking malfunction took two lines out of operation, electrical failure took down another. Debris on the tracks forced the north loop closed, while underground flooding led to suspension of the A-line. The arsonists came after. So did the gas pipe rupture. But in the strangest incident, a train had been bisected completely down the middle – the only one that hinted at anything other than a string of strange coincidences.

Some huddled onto crowded public buses, elbows in the rib-gaps of their neighbors. But most couldn't be bothered with all that mess. And their worlds got just a bit smaller. No more trips to the market across the river to get groceries. They learned to rely on jumbo sacks of grain and rice from the discount shop on the corner. No more lingonberries and dragon-fruit. No more cardamom bread. No more luxuries.