Lukas stepped fully outside and looked around.
The hall they had just exited sat at the top of a tower, and from this height, the city below laid itself out in every direction.
It had been built in rings. The innermost section was the oldest, consisting of low buildings pressed close together, with the streets between them narrow.
Then a circular wall rose around it, and beyond that wall, newer buildings had gone up, spreading outwards until they met another wall, higher than the first.
Then there was another ring beyond that, and another wall higher still.
The city had grown outwards in stages, each expansion adding another layer, until the outermost wall rose almost level with the tower they were standing in.
It was not a particularly large city. It was way smaller than sector four by a significant distance, but it was dense, built by people who needed somewhere functional rather than somewhere impressive.
And beyond the final wall, in every direction, the desert began.
