Outfit

The stars are dying.

-05.29.102,015

The cry of the first siren was the sign that morning would soon commence. Everyday the siren would wail loudly for everyone in the city to hear. Nia was no different than the rest and begrudgingly opened her eyes to stare at the ceiling before her. Also like everyone else, Nia wished the council would have picked a more pleasant sound instead of the shrieking sound they had chosen.

Slinking out of her resting Nia looked over the view her room gave. At that time of the day the view was the same as any other room at her level, black. There was nothing to light up her vision, no sun and no moon. What little stars were left gave off such little light that it counted for next to nothing.

It would be another fifteen minutes before the lights were and she would be able to see anything outside. Nia hated the darkness. She wasn’t afraid of it, she simply hated it. The darkness just reminded her of all that had been lost and all that they were losing.

Seeing no point in staring at blank space Nia decided to quickly start her day. She would shower then eat, after that she would attend school before heading down to work. Once work was over she would take her elevator back up to her apartment before going to bed and beginning all over once she woke up. It was a rather monotonous schedule.

As she was standing under the warm shower water Nia leaned her forehead against the wall and thought of the lecturing notice she would receive in the mail. She knew there was no way out of it. The council would not even look at any reply that she sent so she would not even waste her time in trying to explain what had happened.

The elevator which she normally took from work had broken down and caused her to be late for curfew, that meant a strongly worded letter from the council about how important such things as curfew were. She would probably just throw it out after opening it.

Nia had no reason to worry about receiving a scolding later on for doing so. The council had a way for finding out whether someone opened their letters or not, but they could never tell if they were read or not. Nia had already received two letters so she had it down to a science. There was no law against staying out after curfew, but it was frowned upon by the council.

For Nia there was also no reason for her to worry about her parents to scold her. Nia lived on her own. Her parents were fine and lived just a few levels below her. She had made it a point to move out the day that she turned eighteen, the day the council sent her the option of moving into her personal apartment.

Most first time apartments were lower in floor levels, but Nia was one of the lucky few who had a higher up living arrangement, all thanks to her looks. Her apartment was rather spacious  and even though her job offered a better living space to her she decided to simply stay where she was. She saw no point in moving when she didn’t need the extra space for only herself and her cat.

She was lucky enough to be able to live on Level 915 meaning there were only five housing levels higher than her while there were two hundred and fourteen levels lower that were for those with looks less desirable than hers. Of course there were other buildings that held housing levels, but hers was known to be the nicest so none of those really mattered to her.

Once she had finished preparing for the day Nia quickly made her way to the elevator closest to her that was still in order. There were so many people making Nia add looking for a different elevator to her to do list.

The second the elevator doors opened Nia pushed her way out of the small box like vehicle. She was never one for small spaces and large amounts of people. Not to mention how ugly some of the people in there were. Some of them looked like that had never sat under a sun lamp in their lives. They were unsightly.

Nia didn’t really see herself as someone who judged people too harshly for their appearance, but she also hated slobs. People who couldn’t spend a few minutes a day making themselves look better were simply not worth her time. She herself spent more than enough time making herself look even better than she naturally did.

Even though she did think they should at least try to make themselves better, she also did not agree with how society treated the ‘undesirables’, as they were called. When the world started growing further from the ground they also began growing their need for beauty. Now if you were not considered ‘desirable’ enough you would automatically end up at the bottom, both figuratively and literally.

Anyone who was of importance was beautiful, stunningly so. These people were deemed ‘desirable’. You brain was not what matter it was all about looks. If you held a title of power then you were obviously going to be a ‘desirable’, it didn’t matter if you were smart enough for that position.

No one cared about how smart you were as long as you were desirable.

That was one of the things she hated the most about the city. Sure she judged people, but she kept her judgements to herself for the most part. She also had no clue how someone could be put into a position they had no clue about just because they had a nice smile when others worked for years to get to their positions and ended up in the background just because they were not as desirable. They were disgusting.

Feeling a tap at her shoulder Nia turned to see it was one of the ‘desirable’ males that had class with her. He was tall with a bright smile and kind eyes. He was paler than Nia prefered, but many said it gave him an ethereal air so that was dismissable for them. His most striking feature was his sharp jawline that, most said, if you touched would cut you. The male was nice and Nia prefered him to many of the others she had to deal with on a daily basis.

“Hello, Sehun.” She greeted nodding to him before making her way towards her friends or rather trying to do so. However, Nia was stopped by a light grip on her upper arm. Turning back she was unsurprised to find it was once again Sehun. “What can I do for you?” She questioned trying to be polite.

Polite would be a struggle with the morning she was having.

“I just wanted to say that you are looking extra desirable today.” Sehun complimented as his face turned a light shade of red. The stony face Nia was wearing lightened up, just slightly. That was the only reason to even try to be polite with him. He was actually decent unlike so many of the ‘desirable’ males.

Most of the males in his classification would spit out some vulgar pick up line to get her interested in them or even, lord forbid,  try and make eye-contact. Most people knew their places and never attempted such brash behavior, but some males and females just liked to watch her squirm.

Eye-contact was a social faux pas if not a taboo act that should be avoided, it was far too intimate to share with someone she didn’t even know. Once Nia had made eye-contact with one of Sehun’s friends, another nice male, his name was Joonmyeon, and both of them had nearly fainted. The poor male looked like he could have died from embarrassment, he had looked at someone of her class while he was far below her.

“Well, thank you then. You look good as well.” Nia returned his compliment with slightly less enthusiasm. He was good looking just not her type. She prefered people with slightly more color to their skin, ones who didn’t look like they were pale with sickness. His personality was rather redeeming as he had never once even hinted about any ill intentions or tried to create eye-contact. Alas, Nia just couldn’t find herself attracted to him and not for lack of trying.

“So, how about Professor Kang’s lecture the other day?” Sehun’s question was posed in a way that he could either be ready to mock the professor or to praise him. Nia knew what he was doing; Sehun was trying to find common ground. He had done it a few times before as had many others, but she never really cared much to try and help them out.

“It was alright.” She could see the imploring look on his face. He wanted more than just an ‘alright’. “I am not really interested in all the talk about plant life. It is not my thing.” She bobbed her head to the side as she looked on at him. She enjoyed his company, but with how short her fuse had become that morning she wanted to leave and not chance blowing up on the poor boy.

Quiet rang between the two and Nia could feel the stares between them. Nia knew people had been hoping she would at least become friends with the Sehun and his group, but they had yet to approach her. Nia may have been friendly, but she was never good at being the one to approach another person.

To her the gleeful look on Sehun’s face at the simple reply was worth the conversation. He was desirable and Nia knew it, just not to her.  He was a nice kid and Nia wanted to let him down easy. She may not have wanted to be with Sehun romantically, but he had potential to be a good friend to Nia.

“Listen, this has been nice, but I’m going to go over there.” Nia murmured softly motioning over to her group of friends who were staring at them. “I’ll talk to you later.” She added on upon seeing the crestfallen look cross his face causing his expression to brighten.

Sehun gave another bright smile before practically skipping back to his friends who welcomed him with pats on the back. It was the most anyone had received from her in a long time. Then again, no one aside from Nia’s own group of friends ever tried to converse with her.

Giving a slight shake of her head Nia gripped on to her books as she finally made it her friends. They didn’t even give her a second to breath before harassing me about the encounter. Then, they continued to try and pumle her when Nia told them, for the fifth time, that she was not interested in him.

“You may be a desirable, but you shouldn’t be so picky.” Nia’s friend Hana hissed slapping her shoulder playfully. “Who could you find that is better than Sehun?” Another friend, Minji, questioned as she chewed on an apple and sent the group of males a wistful look.

Minji was the one who was practically in love with the boy, but found herself too undesirable for him. She was a desirable, just not at his level. It was hard fact that she had long since accepted.

“Well, if you think he’s so great why don’t you go and talk to him?” Nia questioned haughtily flipping a few strands of hair over her shoulder. She could see the looks of shock mar her friends faces at her tone as she was known for being rather level headed.

Annoyed with the rather unceremonious greeting Nia dropped the books she was carrying down onto the table before taking her seat. Luckily from them, the brats caught on and piped down before taking seats near by. The professor was smart enough to have assigned seating so there was less of a chance for people to be talking with friends.

Even with the fact that the professor split them up Nia had no problem being sat by one of her friends. She looked at it as both a curse and a blessing. Normally she was the student who was always listening, but on those rare days in which she wanted to be distracted she had no problem finding someone to do so. It was not one of those days.

Instead of socializing with those around her Nia threw herself into what the professor was saying and tried her best to commit it to memory. She was not the brightest student in her favorite class which was definitely not the one she was in at the moment.

Nia forced herself to listen as the man droned on and on about some type of plant that could turn sunlight into life or something. She didn’t see the point in learning about it as all of their plants were living off of the fake sunlight that they had created. Any plant that couldn’t survive without sunlight quickly died out along with the sun.

Just like plant life Nia could never really find anything to really connect to. She had went most of her life just floating along and doing what made her happy at the moment. Then, when she was seventeen she found something that could really get her excited, Light. Many made jokes about her passion, but Nia knew it was something that she would always have an interest in so she ignored all of the negative comments.

Not surprisingly, after the bad elevator ride and the annoying moment with her friends Nia’s morning was ruined. By the time she had arrived to the level that Nia worked on she was subconsciously grumbling under her breath as she had yet again been stuck in an elevator filled with people, this time she didn’t dare to even look at them, not wanting her day to be even worse.

Before she could travel far from said cramped space a voice called Nia causing her to turn around. Nia found it belonged to Yuri. She was probably the only person Nia was not likely to murder at that moment. Yuri wasn’t Nia’s best friend for nothing.

“Yuri, what are you doing at this level? Shouldn’t you be heading home?” People that didn’t work there often never strayed to the lighting level. It was a level they liked to avoid, it was the thing that reminded them that their society wasn’t doing as well as they liked to think.

“I heard that you had a rough day.” Yuri responded a light smile on her face as she held out a small bar of chocolate. “Thought I would bring you a small snack to tide you over for the day.” She shook the small package telling Nia to take it.

“Thanks, I’m about ninety percent sure you are an angel.” Nia joked looking down at the small sweet. Chocolate was hard to come by as it was seen as a delicacy. Yuri being one of the few who were more desirable than Nia in their age range had the means to do and attain almost anything she wanted, be it a thing or even a partner.

Yuri gave her friend a gentle smile and a knowing look. She knew how Nia felt about most everything seeing as they had grown up together. The two girls disagreed about many things, but they bonded over what they had in common, which was far less in amount yet far more important in meaning.

“Don’t stay out too late okay.” Yuri was always the one to worry over the other. Nia knew Yuri followed the councils will so she did not worry much over her. Yuri on the other hand was always worrying over the slightly younger girl ever since she found out about her first notice from the council.

Waving the small chocolate at her friend she turned and began walking away. Nia let a small smile cross her face. Her body felt far less tensed now that she had taken part in a much less stressful interaction. Yuri was always the person that Nia could rely on to take away her stress.

Making her way through the dimly lit hallway Nia lifted a hand to trace it along the design engraved into it. It was a simple pattern with no real meaning behind it, but it was aesthetically pleasing. That was all the world seemed to be about, aesthetics.

Spotting the door with the words ‘Light Sanctum’ she made a turn into the room behind it and immediately slipped into her jobs role. Nia had a simple job, make sure none of the light that they had stored away was escaping or being wasted. It was an easy thing to measure and gave her much time to think.

Hours went by with the simple checking all the measurements and stats to make sure that everything was correct. The world had increasingly been using what little light that they had managed to save until then.

There had been a push to stop using so much light, but that was quickly forgotten when new light fixtures came out to make everything brighter and nicer looking. Everyone wanted the newest and best, even light sanctum workers.

Once her boss had come in and told Nia that her shift was over she began to pack up to return home. Only then did Nia realize that she had failed to look up another elevator that could get her there. Resisting the urge to slam her palm to her face Nia called out for her boss’s.

“Do you know where I could find an elevator guide?” Nia’s boss gave her a confused look, for a good reason too. Nia was nineteen and should have known the elevators by then, but the woman still pointed to the thick book sitting under dozens of others without making any criticisms about Nia’s lack of elevator knowledge.

Nodding her thanks Nia began the tiresome task of moving all the other books before making it to the one at the very bottom. It held the locations for all of the elevators in the city. Flipping to the page for her current level she looked through all of the elevators and looked for one that was near to her work and also near to her apartment.

After nearly ten minutes, Nia was able to find one rather close to her apartment. It was a bit further from her work than she would have liked, but she would deal with it. Having to walk a little more was better than having to walk less and deal with so many people on the elevator.

It was also the only elevator in the area which was a bit strange, but Nia wasn’t complaining it meant less people for her to deal with later. People loved surrounding themselves with others. Nia on the other hand would rather be left alone to her own devices.

Grabbing all of her things Nia made her way out the door without looking back. She was dead tired and just wanted to get home to read her stories before going to bed. Maybe she would watch a few of the shows that would be on or perhaps even the news. Either way the moment she laid in her resting she would not be leaving it.

While she was walking Nia noticed the lack of eyes and keepers. They were always there, but as Nia went the eyes went from there being three in an average length hallway to there being two and then one and after that she rarely even caught sight of any. There weren’t even any keepers by the time that she was halfway to the elevator.

Seeing the silver of an elevator coming into view Nia could feel her shoulders sag. Finally, the day would soon be over. She found it rather odd that she had never come across that certain elevator before as it was so close to her home, but chalked it up to the fact that she did not often travel in its direction.

Just looking at it Nia could tell that she was not the only one unaware of the elevator’s existence. It was somewhat dirty looking and had dust covering the top of the control panel. Perhaps she should call the maintenance crew in the morning and send them to clean it up.

Reaching out Nia hit the call button to have the elevator come and fetch her. A ding alerted her that it was already in use and would stop on its way up. Confused Nia’s brows furrowed, it didn’t look like an elevator many would use and beside that she was already at a level that was much further down than many people travelled.

Looking down at the panel to see where the elevator was coming from Nia could feel her jaw slacken. A loud gasp and the dropping of Nia’s bag and school books were the only sounds that could be heard in the vicinity. The screen had to be malfunctioning. It was impossible for what it said to be correct.

Level 00.

(A/N): This will most likely be the shortest chapter of the story as it was just a warm up for the rest! Also, the outfit does not really have to do with the story, just a better visual. Thanks for reading this far and I hope you continue!