Quoted By:
<span class="mu-r">“...I like to keep my options open! I'm studying for multiple fields, you know.”</span>
“Max... if you like it itsch fine, but you know that the only people who get promoted are really good at schtuff, right? You schould probably focus on one thing.”
<span class="mu-r">”Well, then in that case,”</span> You say casually, with a smile, putting your elbow up on the nearby bookshelf. <span class="mu-r">”Then I do it just so I can see you more!”</span>
Nancy looks a little taken aback. “Wha- me?” She lets out a little mouse-like <span class="mu-i">eep!</span> of surprise, and instantly blushes at the unintentional sound.
<span class="mu-r">”Yeah! My favorite librarian!”</span> You say, to defuse the situation.
“Oh!” She crosses her arms, angrily, not liking what she now percieves as a joke, at her expense. “Why'd you have to go and make me do that!?”
<span class="mu-r">”Oh come on Nancy... I was just fooling. Will you help me find this book?”</span>
“You know the schelves by now... Nonfiction, Aisle 4. I tschink it's on the bottom schelf.”
<span class="mu-r">”Thank you~”</span>
You don't mind flirting with Nancy. It's harmless, at least in your eyes. To compare yourself to her you think you're a catch, but come to think of it, she might only have eyes for your alter-ego. Why have boring old <span class="mu-i">Max</span> when she could have the <span class="mu-i">Mask</span>? It must be all the exercise boosting your testosterone or something; you'd never be this confident before. Or maybe it's just because you don't have the same kind of feelings for Nancy as you do for Cheryl...
You manage to get the books you need from the library. Information on the deep infrastructure of the city is sketchy at best; but you did manage to get the kind of schematics you needed. You are trying to find a way to <span class="mu-s">move between different levels of the city</span>, and you might have just found it.
The city of <span class="mu-s">Panopolis</span> has the structure of a layered cake. Each level of the city is basically an independent city on its own built on top of each other; each specalized to fit the needs of the population. Level 5, your level, is the largest and lower level of society; filled with the “dregs” like you who survive on government assistance and charity from the upper levels. Many are resentful, but in a way, it's very freeing and peaceful. However, allowing the poor and rich to rub shoulders wouldn't make sense; so the city is segregated. Each level's population is controlled, and not allowed to move between levels easily. Those from higher levels can to a lower level easily, but the opposite requires very special permission. The only way to move between levels are through government security checkpoints which will turn you away if you try to move to a level you aren't supposed to be on without a good reason. Many on Level 5 have never even <span class="mu-i">been</span> to Level 4, and have no idea what it's even like or what life is like there, leading to much resentment but also mystery.
