The Faux City

The world he had known all is life was not real.
The City of Flowers...the jewel of the desert. A vibrant place full of life and color. Towering buildings whose design was inspired by flowers and other plant life, it's skyline said to resemble a large rose from a distance. Walls decorated with flowery murals and planters filled with vines, ferns and and blossoms from across the world. The scent wafting through the air from both plant and food enchanting and soothing. Soft melodious music filled the ears form all around and massive fountains delighted the eyes with their dance of water. At night, the streets were lit up with neon lights, bringing a different kind of feast to the eyes.
Dotted around the city were feeding stations for the cattle, whom roamed freely around the city, somehow staying out of the way. Their occasional baying somehow fitting with the music that was played. He would occasionally see one go into a massive tube and disappear beneath the city street. To be processed into food for the citizens. No one paid heed to their fate, as they were only cattle.
As for the citizens themselves. They were all of similar size and shape, but different clothing marking their station. He was a simple sweeper, tasked with ensuring the massive curved streets were kept clean. An endless task, but one he was content with, for he had all he needed.
Today though, that had changed.
A freak accident, a piece of debris falling from above while he was working near the outskirts. It hadn't be big enough to cause any lasting harm, but it had damaged the hat all citizens were required to wear from the moment of birth.
At once, the world became different.
Things started to distort, both by sight and sound. It was bringing him discomfort, even pain, so he had removed the helmet. Only to see the world for what it truly was.
There was no more music, only the sound of silence that was occasionally disrupted by other citizens and the wind. No more pleasant scents of food of flowers, only a stale musk. Instead of colorful murals and countless plants, he saw empty planters and grey, decaying buildings.
And the other citizens?
They were not all alike save for clothing. Many were deformed in some way: a foot too big, a hand missing fingers...and so on. He looked at his own body and briefly sighed with relief at seeing it was normal...
...until he touched his face.
Along one side of his jaw was a large lump, hard and unyielding. An emotion he had never felt before started to overwhelm him, fluid filling then spilling from his eyes. It felt like a weight had been attached to his heart, a weight so great it threatened to pull him down to the center of the world. Was this sorrow? Despair?
A baying sound caught his ears. A cattle! Perhaps...oh please...let that be the one thing that was the same in this world. He rushed toward the sound, leaving his broken helmet behind, hoping to find one thing that was familiar, that was right!
He only found horror.
The cattle...they were people too. Grotesquely obese, sitting in mobile chairs, hands and feet amputated and replaced with metal cuffs. Attached to those cuffs were wires that flowed to the back of the person's head, where the helmet was permanently affixed to their skull. From their mouths was a tube and it was through this tube they were fed at the 'feeding stations'.
With eyes wide open in horror, he watched as one of the cattle suddenly moved to one of those food processing tubes....
...and disappeared down into it's depths.
He felt sick, his stomach churning. This had to be a dream. A nightmare. This can't be the real state of the world, can it?
A metallic clanking sound was heard behind him. He turned and dread filled his heart.
Approaching was the security of the city, a Thorn. He only seen them active a couple of times, for they only appeared when a disturbance was detected. Surprisingly, the robotic sentinel did not appear too different from what he remembered.
It was tall, easily ten feet, long spindly arms and legs with sharp fingers and a pointed head. It was still red in color, but what was before a bright red was marred by rust and flaking paint. It's optics were flickering yellow, but it was clearly looking at him. He was the disturbance.
For a moment he froze, uncertain if he should run or accept his fate. To run...where would he go? He knew nothing of the world beyond the city walls, let alone how to survive in it. Yet he feared what the Thorn would due to him even more.
So he ran. Ran toward where he believed one of the massive gates that lead out of the city lay, more and more Thorns activating around him and giving pursuit.
He skidded to a stop when he saw the gates, his chest feeling like they were on fire as his hopes of escape were dashed. The massive archway that had once hung over the gate had collapsed, blocking the way. There were three other gates, surely they were clear? His legs, however, were shaking, and refused to move.
A metal hand clasped around his arm and he found himself in the air as one of the Thorns lifted him up effortlessly. He screamed and fought, tried to pry those fingers loose, but even in it's degraded state, the Thorn was still much stronger than him. There was nothing he could do as he was carried along, the other Thorns returning to their posts. Where it was taking him quickly became clear.
He was being taken to a food processing tube....