>>175227Rain starts just before entering the car on the trip into town. the journey is not unknown to Posey, but neither is it wholly familiar, with both familiar landmarks, like the brick factory near the river, and elements that before had gone unnoticed, like the firehouse at the edge of Locust Promontory. It's later at night than the previous visit, and there are far fewer ponies populating the night than before, and what few there are in a zombie-like state, like the soldier, wrapped in a trench coat, who sleepily checks Posey's ID at the first stop. Only a lone truck driver that Posey sees going the other way seems acclimated to the night. What Posey does see, however, is a number of batwinged ponies, whose eyes reflect golden in the dim light, and who most populate the streets so late at night. They form the majority of the military garrison and even the police patrols, and they can be seen in the lit loading bays of factories and warehouses as they wait for trucks to load.
Most of the city is closed, with near every tenement block window unlit and curtains closed, and every schoolhouse dark. Most of the shops are closed, save a few late night cafes and coffee shops whose few patrons form dark silhouttes against a bright background. And yet the city is far from dormant, as the machinery of the city drones on. The whistling of steam, the rotation of lathes, and the idling of diesel engines can be heard long before the edges of distillation towers, or the looming brick facades of manufactories can be seen in the dark, clouded night.
Passing a second checkpoint, Posey sees more creatures on the streets, and these are mostly the kaftar, the crocutta, diamond dogs and a cat-creature Posey isn't sure she's seen before, though even these stay close the sides of buildings so as to best avoid the rain. Posey passes a large armored truck with a machinegun on the top, with soldiers who hide in their trench coats from the rain, but keep watch on the darkness, firmly holding their rifles. But it cannot be the rain alone that causes such furtiveness, as even those inside are more tense than the last time Posey came through.
Mason parks the car. There is something off an issue: it appears there are soldiers by the entrance used the last time to get into the enclave.