The Overcity

The subway station saw massive amounts of foot traffic every single day. It wasn’t unusual for its walls to see more than their fair share of businessmen and lawyers rushing back and forth to their boring office jobs, as well as all of the artists, enriching the atmosphere with their sweet music and paint fumes.  

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There, on one of the many benches, an old woman sat. Day in and day out, she rarely moved from her spot. 

 

She rarely spoke, just knitted and fed the birds that flew into the station by mistake. No one sat with her, but it never seemed to bother her either. With the abundance of people surrounding her at every moment, she couldn’t possibly feel alone. 

 

Except one day she allowed someone to sit with her.  

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An unfamiliar young man tripped over his shoelaces in front of her.  

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“If you keep tripping up, you might as well take the rest of the day off so nothing else gets tangled,” the old woman said.  

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“Hello, what can I get started for you today?” he asked out of habit.  

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She waved her hand, and all action around them rolled to a near halt. “Sit with me, child.” 

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He stood and brushed off his pants before sitting next to her. He eyed her bag of bird feed warily.  

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“Take some if you like,” she said. 

 

He took a handful and ate it. 

 

If this was wrong, the woman said nothing.

  

“Who are you?” he asked after a moment of silence, watching a lawyer take a step at slower than a snail’s pace. 

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“You may call me Nana.” 

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“Okay.” 

 

“Tell me your story, child,” Nana said. “Who are you to be falling all over the place?” 

 

“I work a shift in the inner city during the evening, a second job on the outskirts at night, a third one at the factory in the morning, and an unpaid internship on the side. This one is pretty new, but I really can’t be late. That’s how I lost the job I had before this.” 

 

“Can’t help your train getting delayed,” she reasoned.  

 

“No,” he said. “I wasn’t on time, so I shouldn’t come at all. It was my fault, I needed to be faster.” 

 

“Faster at what?” 

 

“Just faster.” 

 

She nodded sagely. “Do you have a name?” 

 

“I think it’s Isaac.” 

 

“You think?” 

 

“It might be Isiah or Elijah or Izzy. Depends on what my boss yells at me when I walk in the door.” 

 

“What would you like to be called, boy?” 

 

“I only ever refer to myself as I, so you can call me that.” 

 

“Okay I. Tell me your story.” 

 

The lawyer finally finished taking a step, and I flinched. “If we start walking, we might be able to make it in time for my shift if you don’t mind coming with me so I can tell you my story.” 

 

Nana packed up her knitting and her bird feed and stood. “Then onward we shall go. Where is this job of yours?” 

 

“The diner on the corner of Third and Reagan.” 

 

“I believe I know the one. Is it still called Stacks? They had the best waffles in the city when I settled here.” 

 

“It’s still called Stacks. I wouldn’t know about the waffles though, we can’t eat on shift without it coming out of our paychecks.” 

 

“Shame. What do you do if you pass out from starvation?” 

 

“Die. Or worse, we get fired,” I shivered. “I really need this job or I’ll lose my apartment. It’s a studio, but you wouldn’t know it with my three roommates.” 

 

The two emerged above ground, and I blinked owlishly. Nana tapped on a pigeon that had been slowed midflight, and it seemed to spring to life, landing on her shoulder and feeding from her hand.  

 

“Perhaps we can take a detour,” she suggested. “Have you seen the city yet?” 

 

“Who has the time?” 

 

“Anyone who knows how to use it wisely,” she said. “Let me show you something.” 

 

Nana snapped her fingers, and the world went dark.  

 

“Where are we?” I asked.  

 

“In the same place we’ve always been,” she answered. “There once was a man who controlled everything you see.” The streets were lit up the way they are in the middle of the night. “All of this was his.” 

 

“Of course you know how large this city is,” she continued. “No one man can control it all on his own, so he hired a number of us to manage the different sectors. There was someone in Uptown, Downtown, and Midtown, and the like. There was even someone designated to watch over the Undercity.” 

 

“Where’s the Undercity?” 

 

She grabbed his hand, and they floated through the street to show the people moving in the tunnels below. “The Undercity is where it has always existed, under the city.” 

 

The tunnels reeked of something stale and sour, like urine and vomit and the unmistakable stench of dead rodents. It was a familiar scent to anyone who worked in the city, but I gagged. Even a moment in the gasoline fume filled air of the streets was enough of a reprieve that having to smell it again was upsetting.   

 

They rose to the surface again, and nothing had changed.  

 

“So if there’s an Undercity, is there an Overcity too?” 

 

“I was getting to that. Now hush, we do not have the time for interruptions.” She paused to make sure I would not speak again, and then went on. “The Controllers were meant to live in the Overcity. It was an area of great importance, so anyone who lived there was understood to also be of higher standing.” 

 

“Why?” 

 

“Why must you ask so many questions? We will be there in a moment, and you shall see.” 

 

“You’re taking me to the Overcity?” 

 

“Though here, my boy.” Nana directed him into a cellar, which was damp and dark and dingy. “Watch for spiders, that means we’re close. Be quiet now. If you scare them, we may never find our way.” 

 

As they got further below the surface, the tunnel widened out considerably. A few miles in, it was spacious enough to fit a house.  

 

Then Nana started muttering. 

 

“Itsy bitsy, Itsy bitsy, come on out. 

You’re already washed away by your spout 

Itsy bitsy, don’t you see 

You’re the only one who has the key 

Itsy bitsy, Itsy bitsy, you’re not far 

Come on out wherever you are.” 

 

“Nana?” a new voice whispered. “Is that you?” 

 

“Who else would it be, my dear?” 

 

I clapped a hand over his mouth to keep himself from screaming. The spider was a million times the size of any he had seen before.  

 

“You have another with you,” said the spider, who turned one of her many eyes onto I to inspect him. “Human?” 

 

“I believe so. As much as I would like to stay and chat about my human and your beautiful silk yarn, we really must be on our way.” 

 

“Upstairs?” she asked. “Are you going upstairs?” 

 

“Yes dear. Would you mind getting the door for us?” 

 

“Of course, of course,” she said, addressing I, “What has she told you about Upstairs, dearie?” 

 

“That someone powerful lived up there. And that he controlled the whole city.” 

 

“Yes, yes,” she hissed. “That he did. Make sure you show your respect so that you might be able to work for him someday.” 

 

“I thought Nana said he was-” 

 

Nana shushed him. “You needn’t worry if the Primary needs any more helpers, my dear. Leave the boy alone so we can be on our way.” 

 

“But we all should be honored to serve him. Maybe we can learn how to become more like him." 

 

“We could,” Nana agreed. “That’s why I’m taking him upstairs so he can decide for himself.” 

 

“There is no more blind faith. You simply need to believe you would be better under him,” the spider whispered, but a door behind her came swooshing open regardless.  

 

“I will keep that in mind, ma’am,” I said, if only to appease her growing displeasure.  

 

“Good boy,” she hissed. “Very, very good.” 

 

“You’ve been talking about the Controllers in the past tense,” I said. “Are they still around?” 

 

“She used to work for the Primary Controller,” Nana explained without answering. “He kept her around for what she could spin. She still guards his doors and tries not to let anyone see what her webs covered up, but as long as you keep her happy by talking about yarn, she leaves you alone.” 

 

Nana started down a flight of spiraling stairs, leaving I to follow. Soon enough, they approached another door, and Nana didn’t hesitate before opening it and stepping out into nothingness.  

 

“No need to watch your step. Look out over the city and see the Controllers’ domains.” 

 

 “Is that how big the city really is? There’s so much going on.” 

 

“And that’s why the Primary Controller needed so many helpers to keep track of it all.” 

 

“If everyone is gone, why are there still signs of life?” 

 

“The Primary Controller designated each area of the city to another Controller,” Nana ignored him. “He lived there.” She pointed to a mansion surrounded by a wall. “All he had to do was step outside his gate, and he would be able to take in the city that was his.  

 

“Uptown lived there,” she said, indicating another massive, but not as opulent estate. “The people who lived in his sector were of higher priority, so he was given the most to make sure he got them to and from their destinations smoothly. The same was true for Midtown, the East Side, and the West End.” 

 

At first they passed even more large houses, but they seemed to decrease in size the longer they walked.  

 

“People from the outskirts need the most time to get to work, so their Controller was kept too busy to keep up with their house. That’s why it’s not as large, but it was manageable. They were kept away from the Overcity because of how hard they had to work to keep everyone moving. It’s labor intensive, not the nicest job, but they were a necessity.” 

 

“Then why isn’t their house as nice?” 

 

She didn’t answer. “Downtown is just ahead,” she said instead. “See the loft-style condos?” 

 

“Yeah. I think I walk past those on my way to my night shift.” 

 

“These buildings reflect ones in the world below,” Nana explained. “The amount of time each controller spends down there tends to influence how much their living spaces reflect their sector. It’s likely Downtown lived in your world more than he lived up here, and he chose to stay there.” 

 

I seemed to accept this. “I don’t see any other buildings. I thought you said the Undercity had a place here.” 

 

“She did. It’s a bit of a walk.” 

 

As they approached, I slowed down. “That’s my apartment building. How is my apartment building here?” 

 

“Say we were back in your world. Where is your apartment building? Is it near a subway stop?” 

 

“Sure, it’s almost right in front of one. It’s why I wanted to live there.” 

 

“The Undercity is so vast and filled with so many people at any given time that she never had the time to come and stay. This was more of a monument to her, the closest thing she could find to a home without only having a bench or a subway car.” 

 

I sat in silence for a while, admiring the structure in front of him.

 

“There’s no one left here, is there?” 

 

“No,” Nana shook her head.  

 

“Has the city changed so much that they’re all permanent residents there now?”   

 

“The city is the same as it always has been and always will be,” Nana said.  

 

“But what happened to everyone?” 

 

“Everyone answers to a higher power of some kind, even the Primary Controller. Not that he knew it at the time.” 

 

“Someone like God?”  

 

“God?” Nana asked, bemused. “Yes, I like the sound of that. Anyways, the Undercity arguably controlled more of the city than anyone, including him, because the tunnels welcome everyone no matter where they come from. She worked harder, faster, more efficiently than everyone else, and it was high time she realized it.” 

 

Nana grabbed I’s arm and checked his watch. “The minute hand has almost made its second round. We need to get you to work, my boy. Quick, into the apartment building. Find your door if you can.” 

 

I led the way this time, up the stairs, to the right, past where his neighbor’s cat always sat, fifth door on the left. His key still unlocked the door, and he stepped out onto the street in front of the diner.  

 

“Here you are, my child,” Nana said, gesturing towards the sign.  

 

“I’m early! That’s basically on time. Thank you, Nana,” I said, bending down to give her a hug.  

 

“Remember what you’ve learned, dear,” she said as he pulled away. “And take this scarf, the weather is sure to turn soon.” Nana pulled the scarf she’d been working on in the train station out of her bag and wrapped it around his neck. “There you go.” 

 

Nana waved her hand again and people started moving at full speed again.  

 

A bell rang as I opened the door.  

 

“Ishmael!” his boss barked. “You’re lucky you’re early today, or I’d have your job.” 

 

 “Everyone answers to someone,” Nana whispered again. “And everyone will eventually be paid their dues.” 

 

The door closed behind him before I could see her make eye contact with his boss who paused, watching her for a moment.  

 

Her stare unsettled him, like he knew her somehow, but before he could turn to I and ask who she was, she vanished into the crowd.