The One-Light Directory

He descended the next set of stairs, nodding to another respectful and reverent pair on his way. His new destination was below, far below his office, and he cursed the architects within the confines of his mind. He had partly lied when describing Ardiseg Hall, a habit he'd developed over the years to shut down conversations he didn't feel like involving himself further in; there were plenty of those. He sighed.

Apart from its nineteen stories built into the sky, Ardiseg Hall also had an expansive presence below ground level. The complex stretched for another nineteen into the rock and sediment of the Gaiss Hollow's underbelly, making the true number of Ardiseg Hall's floors thirty-eight. 

After a miniature eternity of walking, his legs moving in a repetitive motion down step after step--though he knew it couldn't have been longer than a few minutes, he came across a large, swinging pair of doors, set deep into the walls. Anyone aware of the Directory's frugal expenditure of scutumsteel would find themselves in quite the shock, should they travel this far. For the entirety of the wall in front of him, almost as tall and wide as a Titan, not to mention the doors, had a composition of scutumsteel, from the external layers to the core.

Tastefully, the utilitarian rounded corners and the blank surfaces were nowhere in sight. Painstakingly carved imagery adorned the doors and surrounding walls. As always, his eyes discarded most of the somber images and traveled up; they went so high his neck assisted, leaning back. They stopped at the corner of the wall and the ceiling, where, jutting out like a cancerous growth, was a bulbous mass of scutumsteel. The circumference of its body where it joined with the wall and ceiling was lighter in color, a clear sign of an added afterthought, as opposed to emerging via carving from the existing scutumsteel like most of the imagery.

He was glad that, even if as an afterthought, the architects included it. He had never seen the sun; no one had, not for centuries. Not a real one. The Ninth's extensive archives of data held plenty of material for the imagination: pictures, diagrams, paintings, sketches, recordings…but none of them conveyed the warmth of a real sun.

The one above him now didn't either, but he felt closer to it than all the others he'd seen. He felt a strong urge to touch it, brought upon by a twisted thought. He'd never see a real sun, much less touch it--why not settle for this one? It wouldn't take much. He could call over an assistant or two with a portable ladder, or request a custom anti-grav node for his skinsuit.

But why hadn't he done it sooner if it were so easy and important to him? This wasn't the first time he'd been down here; it wasn't even the hundredth. He shook his head, humoring the thought with a bemused smile, and approached the doors. Upon sensing his closing proximity, a part of the door split open, and a small slit opened. He pulled off his band and dropped it in, listening to the soft whirs of the machinery inside the door while he waited for the automated intelligence in charge of the space's security to recognize his identification.

A beep, not dissimilar to the one his HUD used, sounded from the door. His band launched out of the slit, and he fumbled to catch it; it was a game he'd made for himself after visiting so many times. Returning it to his bicep, he leaned back to watch the doors part, silent in their motion like the doors above, and almost in contradiction to their immense size. When the gap between them grew large enough for two of him to slip through side by side, he did so, letting fingers trail across the carved shapes like wisps.

The inside of the Chamber of Meet had two sections. He found himself in the outermost of the two, the greeting space. Aside from some basic furniture which provided less comfort than the items in his office, there was little here. There was no one here either, so he continued on, following the path until he came across the innermost section.

Raised rows stacked upon themselves like a colosseum, divided by higher stands; each was a speaking dais. Each section had enough space for a seat and to stand, with a gentle glow cast from hanging orbs dispersed throughout the larger space, offering a gentle feel. The people already inside, however, removed that impression fast. A voice called to him before he had made it five steps, wondering if he could sneak to his dais without anyone noticing. Quiet, yet echoing loud throughout the Chamber of Meet's isolated halls. "You're late, Prime Beacon."

The others turned silent, their words dying in their throats as every occupant of the stands turned to him. There went that idea. He nodded, walking forward until he reached the center of the room. "I apologize for my tardiness, representatives." He addressed the one to call him out. "I hope I have not inconvenienced today's discussions and held up the Directory, Fifth Headman."

The leading representative of the Fifth Ray nodded, accepting the apology in public even if his eyes screamed rejection. "We discussed only small matters before your arrival; nothing needed your input. There is no reason to trouble yourself with such thoughts."

None of his own people disputed the statement, so it must've been true. He bowed. "I understand."

He crossed the space and climbed the steps leading to his dais. Halfway up, he glanced at one of those standing, a lithe woman still free of the signs of age. He raised an eyebrow, and she winked back.

"Please, continue then. I made you all wait, so it wouldn't be right for me to insist on skipping the smaller decisions needing settlement. It wouldn't be right." Funny. He apologized for never receiving a warning before today's meet. After his declaration, it took a few seconds for the others to resume their talks, voices rising in volume until they once again echoed throughout the chamber. He sat behind the dais, eyes traveling around the room as he waited for the smaller discussions that didn't "need his input" for resolution.

The One-Light Directory was the government of humanity's remnants, which was to say, it was the administrative body managing the Last Light, humanity's last true city. But it was more than that, so much more. The Directory divided its responsibilities among nine Rays, each responsible for furthering humanity's advancement in specific areas or ensuring sustainability, preservation, and continuity in others. And the representatives of each were within the Chamber of Meet, discussing "small matters."

There was his own, the First Ray of the Military and Defense. All the soldiers, officers, and sitesmen within and beyond the Last Light's walls composed its ranks and those of higher positions. The Beacon Outposts, as were the Titans, were wholly staffed by members of this ray. Though the entire Directory had a say in their deployments and actions, the First held the final say in what the Titans did, and any military movements against the Aud.

The Second Ray of Energy was the most important of them all. Its people developed and distributed power cores, mobile energy units that every ray depended on to function. More than this, they supplied energy to the Last Beacon and regulated its usage. Without the Second Ray, it would be safe to say humanity would have already lost its war against the Aud, and further, its fight to survive.

Fifth Headman stood to speak, his voice, once a soft, respectful tone, growing in volume and deepness, until it felt like the entire chamber belonged to him and him alone. His chin resting against his clasped palms, he leaned forward to contemplate one of the many in this chamber that opposed him. The Fifth Headman, In-3, represented the Fifth Ray of Industry, Manufacturing, and Development. This ray, since its inception, had taken upon itself and its staff the grueling task of building the Last Light and the Bastion Outposts from the ground up, an impressive feat. Aside from its architectural concerns, the Fifth Ray also controlled the railskippers, commerce, and the city's economy--as small as such a thing was.

Aside from those three, there was the Third Ray of Public Information (and Propaganda)--though the latter part wasn't known to the general public, the Fourth Ray of Agriculture, the Sixth Ray of Exotic Pursuits, the Seventh Ray of Genetic, Reproductive, and Developmental Affairs, the Eighth Ray of Home Security, and the Ninth Ray of Education and Past.

He considered the First, Third, and Eighth Rays among his people. Not because they all busied themselves with the martial protection of humanity before any other consideration--though they were--but because he could trust the representatives of those rays, not to mention the staff, to have his back in these meets. His eyes moved from seat to seat. From his high position near the rear of his side of the chamber, the most he could see of his allies was the backs of their heads. Despite this, he could recall from memory the face that belonged to every single one of them. As In-3 sat, everyone stood, ready to vote on some new restrictive legislature about acceptable energy usage when producing bulk commercial goods. He hadn't given the actual discussions much attention up until that point.