Underneath The Hidden Stars

Chapter I

"And don't forget dear citizens: work hard, live well and you will rise!" a loud, monotone to the point that it seemed almost robotic voice echoed through the rocky halls. Like every single day without skipping a beat, the morning announcement rung at exactly 5am. And like every single day, the people living on Level 4 opened their eyes and started getting ready for a day full of work. As the echo of the morning announcement faded, the halls started filling with chatter.

"Mira, wake up!" a girl said, throwing her pillow onto her sister's bed.

"I'm up Terra, I'm up, can you like not throw pillows at me every single morning? At this point your pillow throwing annoys me more than that Vetos forsaken PSA every darn morning!" Mira replied, without hiding the obvious annoyance in her voice and on her face. She threw the pillow back at her sister, perhaps with more strength than was intended and left the room.

"I'll tell on you Mira!" Terra shouted after the pillow hit her straight in the face. The girl got out of her bed and followed her sister out with a faint smile on her face. They both got ready and went to get breakfast.

"Hey dad," Mira said without even glancing at her father. "What's new today?" she inquired after getting no response to the greeting. After the question, the man sat up in his chair, rustled his newspaper and looked at his oldest daughter. Although both him and his daughters had the same coal black hair, his was noticeably greying, looking almost white near his temples. He coughed and looked back to his paper.

"Well," the man started, "the higher Levels are still living in unbelievable prosperity." he sighed. "While everyone in any Level lower than 5 barely have enough food to avoid starvation." He folded his newspaper and gestured towards a pot on the counter. "So nothing new in that department." He watched his daughters put spoonfuls of rice into the bowl when his stomach decided to display the mating call of a rather massive marine animal. He coughed to hide the sound when Mira glared at him with a questioning look on her face. "Oh, I already ate, don't worry, that's all for you two." he said in a carefree manner as his stomach continued to rumble.

"Dad, it's definitely too much for just the two of us, just have a couple of spoons-"

"What? No, I'm not hungry. Plus look at the both of you - you're just skin and bones! And Mira you're almost an adult, you need to eat more to finish that growth spurt! And Terra - look at you! For an 11 year old, you're way too small. You need to eat more to grow taller." He lectured the girls while they were eating and then almost theatrically looked at his wrist. "Oh dear, wouldn't you look at the time! I am very much late!"

"Dad it's not even 6 yet-"

"Very much late! See you both in the evening!" He nearly shouted as he hurried out the door, leaving both of the girls with confused looks on their faces.

"Why does he always leave like that? He does know we know his work only starts at 7, right?" Terra asked, pushing her spoon into her mouth.

"Yeah, I think he must know, right?" Mira responded while skimming the newspaper her dad left behind. Suddenly an article caught her eye. "Hundreds dead after ferocious attack... Explosion at Level 5... At a primary school? What in the world?" She threw the newspaper at her sister with the article still open. "Hey, look at this." Mira said while chewing a mouthful of rice.

"Ew, that's disgusting, chew your food before you speak, you lawless bastard." Terra replied but took the newspaper from her sister's hands and looked through. "Wait, Level 5? That is way too close for comfort. Just a floor higher, jeez..."

"I know right, maybe your school's the next one on the radar. You should stay careful and look around for bombs when you get there-" Mira started saying in a teasing voice but was interrupted.

"Yeah well if my school gets blown up I hope it happens with me inside it so I don't have to see your annoying face ever again." Terra replied with a scornful look on her face. The girls both finished their meal in silence, with the occasional exchange of mocking and rather silly faces. They both stood up, cleaned their bowls and started getting ready to leave for school when Mira froze for a moment.

"Wait a second... dad doesn't even have a watch, why in the world would he glance at his wrist?"

Mira walked to class and sat in her usual spot in the back. She took her books out and placed them neatly on the edge of her desk. She took of a rubber band off her wrist and raised her arms up to tie her hair. She combed her hair with her fingers into a neat ponytail and ruffled her bangs. Her long, dark hair fell softly on the back of her chair. She coughed a few times and glanced out the window. Through it, she could see almost the whole level. She saw the rocky walls that encapsulated it, separating it from other levels. She saw the entrance to the coal mines in the far distance and for a moment she swore she saw her dad walk through the archway leading to them. Mira sighed and place her head on her desk when the teacher walked into the classroom.

"Miss Fader, now is the time to learn, not to sleep. You should've slept at night time!"

"Sorry Mr. Snell." Mira replied in an obedient manner. "It won't happen again."

"You've said that every single day for the past month Miss Fader. If this happens again I'll have to call your father in to discuss your sleeping habits." The teacher replied and the whole class started to giggle. "Silence, you all are no better. Miss Fader at least has the brains most of you giggling fools lack." he said and the whole class went quiet. "That's exactly what I thought," he said, smirking.

Mr. Snell was a rather large man. He always wore a light grey suit which beautifully complimented his dark skin, making everyone wonder whether he wore the same one all the time or if he was simply rich enough to afford multiple suits. Him being rather well off was no secret, though. Most teachers were from higher levels who came down daily only for their job and returned higher up to their luxurious apartments. Mr. Snell himself was a rather peculiar man. Although he was born and grew up in the mere Level 2, by the time he was in his mid-twenties he had not only gone up 5 Levels and had a flat in Level 7, but he also had a job as a teacher a few Levels down and a beautiful wife to keep him company.

"Now, kids. As you are all aware, exams are coming up soon-" Mr. Snell started saying but was interrupted by a wave of sighs. "Okay, look, it's not my fault that things are the way they are in here, but if you want to live a better life you really gotta prepare yourself for the examinations. Unless you want to stay in this Level forever and die of a lung disease from all the coal dust, or even worse, get lowered down, you'll want to work hard on this." He fixed up his tie and sat down. "Now some of you might have to study less than others," he said as he glanced at Mira, "but you should study nevertheless. Also, don't forget to check if you can claim any additional points, especially if you're an orphan or have lost any family members in the past couple of years. Right, enough of this blabbering. Let's get back to math."

As the final bell rung, indicating the end of the lessons, Mira stood up from her desk and placed her bag on it. She started putting her books into it when a short girl with bright red hair ran towards her, gave her a note and ran out of the class. "Her parents must have been lowered down," Mira thought to herself and threw the note into her bag without giving it a second thought. She threw the bag on her shoulder, looked through the window, and left the school.

She walked through the street like halls of level 4 and started day dreaming. "What if I pass all of my exams with flying colours and get a chance to rise a level? What if I get to rise two?" Mira wondered, as the possibility of having enough food for her whole family seemed like an impossible dream. "I'd probably stand out a lot. Even Mr. Snell has told us of many rude encounters on the higher levels and he's only slightly darker than most of them are! My dark hair would definitely stand out between all those blonds and redheads..." She thought to herself as she walked on the stone paved street. "I'm gonna try my best to go up there. I have to know how everything looks there-" Mira thought when a loud voice coming from the speaker beside her made her jump.

"Dear citizens, it is now 7pm. The stars that our Goddess Vetos protects will soon show up and it will be time for all of you to rest. Please make your way home until 8pm. And don't forget dear citizens: work hard, live well and you will rise!"