"General, the woman has arrived in the carrier and is ready to be woken up. Shall I install the modernizing chip into her Ramnode by her nape? This neural port should support it." The figure at the end of the carrier inquired.
"I shall permit you to do so, brother. The children were genetically modified to herald important information relating to the ancients. The chip should assist her well enough with her daily biddings in Chimera. When completed, surrender her to Gainas⬡ before she awakens immediately."
"That is noted, General."
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Two months after Lilith's awakening, she trudges through the cramped streets of Gainas⬡. She runs through the dark tiles of the area, as she makes her way to the Gainan Central Plaza for the vital ceremony that is held within every region once a month, the Rise of Aperture. This event feeds the people's hunger for sunlight through four large glass dome-like apertures that are embedded onto the ceilings of each of the four regions within their plazas that rise up to the surface, allowing for sunlight to enter. She hears the masses chant louder and louder as she approaches closer to the center. The masses chant in an undignifying manner, as they all await the sun.
"Gather around my children, gather, gather!" Yells a figure as he appears slowly from the shadows, stationed by the upper railings near the control center of the aperture. He is covered in tattered robes, and holds the Gainan insignia ⬡ on his chest. As the aperture approaches closer and closer to the surface, rays of light begin to seep in through the cracks and rinks of the mechanism, presenting just enough light to tell the shape of the man's face, but not his features.
With the light gradually seeping in, the masses rushed to absorb every ray they could, forming disgusting and grimy mosh pits within the center. By the time Lilith had arrived to the center, the aperture had fully ascended, sending down a large pillar of light, completing any person who had gone under, and filling their eyes with color and joy. It was a drug, it felt like a drug, it was a drug to Chimera. Despite Lilith's difficulty to understand the circumstances, she ran, ran as fast as she could without thinking, she ran, as if it was instinct dragging her along.
It felt good, it felt enlightening to be under the aperture, to absorb all of its shining glory. Vendors grew all around the center, feeding those who hungered for food after tasting the light. Lilith was confused, she was new, she didn't understand the importance of the ceremonies and cultures of Chimera, but strangely, she felt like she understood it just as much as she needed to start living within its processes every day.
"For all those who hunger, taste the light, the light of Gainas⬡! May Chimera be free! May the prophecy of the final child of Ver'As free us from the bondage the Enlightened have submitted us under! May those who've been lost during the wars bless us with the light the ancients had lived through every day! Glory to Gainas! Glory to Chimera!" the shadowed figure chanted by the railings, as those who heard followed through his words.
"Ver'As? Enlightened?" Lilith asked herself profusely as she helplessly tried to understand the world she was submitted into. She kept on thinking, and thinking, until she was interrupted.
"Uhm, good.. evening Ms, would you care to purchase some Skän?" a child vendor asked as he pulled her aside.
"And that would be…?" Lilith asked, unknowing of what the item was.
"It's… Skän, Ma'am, and always has been Skän…? The pride of Gainas, jam paste with bits of vermin…?" After hearing the ingredients of what could barely be recognized as food, she wanted to vomit.
"What even is this…? Why are these poor people eating this..?" She asked herself, but she didn't want to come off as rude, and politely shrugged the kid off her arms instead.
"Please! Ma'am! If I don't meet my quota of 50 jars… my family won't be able to eat today! Please! Please!!" The child tugged on her rags. Full of pity, she eventually caved in.
"Okay, fine. How much would that be?" She asked.
"15 Ticks." Eventually, Lilith handed over the amount needed, and warded the kid off. While she never truly understood what "Ticks" were other than the surface-level understanding of it being the currency used in the slums, after two months of living within the dark halls guided mostly by the strange conscience acting like her natural instinct rooting from her nape, which she could never fully shake off her mind, she felt that she could blend in just enough to not seem odd to the others. It was terrifying, death-defying terrifying, as she was placed in an unknown part of the world, and relied on her "instinct" to guide her through it.
After the interaction and sudden attack of conscience, she returned back to the center where she caught the masses still fighting to hog sunlight. As she stared up into the aperture, her nape buzzed, shocking her with pain as she stepped aside. She grabbed the back of her neck, but felt nothing. Thinking that she's had enough light, she made her way back to her apartment.
She never really understood how she got this apartment, it was always… there with her. Food was always stocked inside the refrigerator, and her clothes were always kept neat at the start of everyday. It felt… perfect… for someone like her, who just came in and never understood anything. It felt too… perfect… as if something, or someone was watching her.