Shanghai's Survivor: Harvey's Journey through a New World Order

The sun rose over the horizon, peaking over the skyscrapers to illuminate a city that was once a power house of industry and commerce.

In an age of steam and steel, when goods were delivered by far-flung outposts across the globe, Shanghai had been the fulcrum upon which the world turned. It was a place where goods were produced, goods were bought and sold and goods were invested in. It was a vibrant, living thing. It made its own gods and heroes and it remade itself again and again in the image of its people. It was home to the rich, but also the poor. It nourished them all with the fruits of its labor. In this age it was a city not unlike New York or London or Tokyo.

But times changed. The Industrial Age passed away into memory, steam engines were replaced by clusters of servers that hummed with electricity, not coal. Manufacturing took on a new face: prefabricated materials from giant 3D printers where physical things could be printed as easily as documents and designs could be shared digitally. Goods still needed to be shipped but their transit was measured in hours or days instead of weeks or months. With an increasingly global market, Shanghai found itself on the wrong side of history: too far from Europe for convenience and too close to Japan for comfort; too old fashioned for Americans yet so modern and exotic for Indians and Koreans. Its factories closed down one after another until none remained. People left in droves seeking more opportunity elsewhere. As a result Shanghai became less a city than a shell: a museum filled with history that seemed irrelevant in this brave new world.

And there it lay forgotten until now...

"Hey kid." A voice came through an intercom above his head followed by a burst of static that reverberated through speakers placed throughout the square he sat in. Harvey ignored it at first, thinking it just some automated announcement broadcast on loop until he heard his name called again, "Harvey! Get your ass up!"

Harvey looked around confused: who would call him here? He didn't know anyone in Shanghai anymore; well he didn't know anyone anywhere anymore really since he'd been kicked out of wherever last was... Home? Not really sure about home anymore given how long ago that word meant anything real to him... Anyways since he'd left it behind... OK point is he didn't know anyone here so who would call his name? He finally looked up towards where the voice came from only to find one of those robotic security guards staring at him from atop its six wheeled platform looking down at him with what he assumed was curiosity only to find himself struck dumb by what he saw next... The guard tipped forward as if falling before somehow righting itself on two wheels while its legs folded up closing in on itself until it looked more like an armadillo than anything else before rolling away on its two new wheels leaving Harvey wondering what had happened only to hear his name called again...

"Harvey I am talking to you!" Came another voice from just behind him making him jump half out of his skin.. He whirled around only to see someone dressed like some kind of monk holding up some kind of glowing white orb before his eyes before suddenly materializing standing right beside him looking down at Harvey like some kind of disappointed parent who just caught their kid doing something they weren't supposed to be doing but didn't want to admit they were wrong about...

"Who are you?" Asked Harvey trying not to sound nervous even though he had no idea what was going on let alone how said unknown person had just teleported right next to him seemingly out of thin air.. This wasn't normal "I don't talk to strangers," He added looking nervously around seeing if anyone else noticed either event... No one seemed to notice though which was weird because normally someone would have taken an interest given how loud those robot security guards were... Then again there are reasons why someone wouldn't take an interest in this particular scenario such as being dead drunk or high or both considering how many people Harvey had seen stumbling about today... But then again if this person could teleport then maybe...? Nah probably not

The monk simply stared back at Harvey for several moments before responding, "My name is Juniper." His accent sounded strange even though it sounded familiar at the same time... Something about it reminded him of home but he couldn't quite place it which also made him think about home which also made him feel sad which brought him back round full circle back to Shanghai's current state... A city that used to mean something now nothing more than a museum showcasing what used to be so important but now nothing more than a relic forgotten by everyone except those too stubborn or stupid or crazy enough not to leave behind everything they knew and loved for something better somewhere else... So while all those other people ran off chasing golden dreams elsewhere like idiots, he stayed here because why go anywhere when everywhere sucks equally so? Why not stay where you're least likely to get killed by drunken drivers or mugged by some idiot hopped up on uppers? Why go somewhere else when you can go nowhere? Why move when you can stay still? At least if you stay still you won't end up having to deal with all those annoying people trying to sell you shit because no one wants to buy anything these days anyway... You see there are reasons why someone wouldn't take an interest in this particular scenario such as being dead drunk or high or both considering how many people Harvey had seen stumbling about today but then again if this person could teleport then maybe...? Nah probably not