It was different from anything he knew before - living in a city at the bottom of the ocean. Such is the nature of Planet Marseille, where the few structures that reside on the surface belong to the authorities while the underwater cities are controlled by the Corsican Families, running them under their own set of rules. Violating these rules, of course, had severe punishment. People learned quick - what it meant to betray the families. Only the bold and the stupid dared to oppose them here. Fear is a powerful weapon in the hands of the underworld's leaders, who knew their way around it.
The young man was sitting in a spacious café with a rather decent view of the underwater city - some local fish, including a large whale-like creature were swimming by. There were a couple of other people in the café at this time of day - a black-haired girl in a green dress at the window; she was brandishing bright red lips and gently sipping from a cup of coffee. Another visitor was a man dressed in a formal suit, reading the news on his tablet and drinking what seemed like a strong tea based on the smell alone - not everyone was fond of the purely black coffee that this café specializes in.
Some catchy music was playing. Not the typical modern music that's full of energy yet lacking any taste, but old music - pleasant, slow and somewhat melancholic. The young man, Gerard, was not a connoisseur of music, but to his ears it seemed like a genre of jazz. Alongside the atmospheric music, there's a noise from the other side of the thick glass that's covered by an energy-film invisible to the naked eye. Listen closely and you might hear what sounds like singing from that whale-like fish - sounds completely unmusical, but just barely noticeable to anyone with a good ear.
Having emptied his cup of coffee, Gerard stood up from his seat and fixed his shirt. On his way to the exit, his eyes met with the clock on the wall - 11 AM. About time to get to work.
![[Image: Al4YGIQ.png]](https://i.imgur.com/Al4YGIQ.png)