Article by: Flynn Brickshelm
As one of only two citizens from our town to have visited the Upper Level, Elsie has asked that I be the one to cover this week’s Brick by Brick segment. I am happy for the opportunity.
In the last letter, Elsie talked about the Lower Level and the various sections that the level is divided into. The Upper Level is designed much the same, though the difficulty in reaching it has limited our exposure to the area.
Overview
The section labeling continues from the Lower Level, at least according to the schematics. So, while Section 06 is the highest number down there, Section 07 is the starting point in the Upper Levels. The sections of the Upper Level are listed as follows:
- Upper Level
- Section 07: The Plateau
- Section 08: Unknown
- Section 09: Unknown
- Section 10: Unknown
- Section 11: The Isles
- Section 12: The Hub
- Section 13: Unknown
As you can see, the schematics give us a shape and size, but they do not list out names for each section, or give us any way to visualize what might occupy the space. As a result, our rendering for the Upper Level is a bit bland in comparison to what we can produce for the Lower Level.
Section 07: The Plateau
This area of the Upper Level is the most visible, studied, and understood by our Explorer Group. This is also the site of the Explorer One tragedy that nearly ended my life on this World Ship! The 3D image might not show it very well, but the white space next to the Core at the center of the map is actually open air that goes all the way to the Lower Level. It is through that space that we initially flew up to the Upper Level.
The surface here is dry and arid, like a gray sand, but water runs throughout the zone, the same water that pours down through a series of waterfalls to feed into the Willow Creek water system of the Lower Level.
Section 08: Unknown
The ship’s schematics leave us no details on this place, but we know it to be one of the smallest sections of the World Ship. We believe it likely holds systems for the water recycling that takes place in the Upper Level, but there is surprisingly little data available for us to access. There is a theory that the information pertaining to this area of the World Ship may have been deleted from the Grid systems, though we can’t confirm such a deletion was anything other than an unfortunate accident.
Section 09: Unknown
A larger space, almost identical in size to Section 12 of the Upper Level. We may never know what awaits us in this section of the ship, as the massive bulkhead that we would need to access to reach this location appears to be permanently shut, though we can’t isolate how or why the door lost its functionality.
Section 10: Unknown
You might be bored of hearing it, but this massive section of the World Ship is a total mystery to us. Unfortunately, like Section 09, the bulkhead to this area of the World Ship has been closed off, and it seems unlikely that we’ll be able to force our way in any time soon. There’s a lot of conversation about those bulkheads, by the way, but that’s a conversation for another day.
Section 11: The Isles
This area of the World Ship is exactly as described. A deep ocean, pristine sandy beaches scattered across dozens of large islands, and a tropical vibe that could make any citizen forget about the concrete walls of our town.
A fun fact, is that we know David Nash traveled through this area extensively after the Explorer One incident.
This section we have learned, is largely populated with a variety of citizens, just like us! While they have lived a life that has been wildly different from our own, we have every reason to believe that each and every one of these individuals could easily be a part of our community on the World Ship.
Section 12: The Hub
This single section of the World Ship is the most important discovery we have ever made. We have learned that Section 12 is home to a literal metropolis, filled with citizens that have lived here on this World Ship as long as we have, if not longer. We also know that this city was where our friend Ronin, and our not-such-a-friend Thresher, originated.
Our old friend and amazing commander, David Nash, currently resides in the Hub, as they call the city, helping the citizens there learn more about us, and teaching us more about life in the Upper Level.
Section 13: The Room
We’re still not sure about this section. What we do know about it comes directly from the citizens of the Hub rather than the files in the Grid. We believe that this section of the World Ship houses an entry to the Core, just like Section 00 in the Lower Level. This knowledge would explain how a second population center grew away from town, and it also reinforces the fact that we are all interconnected with one another.
I’m sure that Elsie Lamarr will have the Explorers crawling all over the Upper Level in the years to come, and I will eagerly be awaiting their findings.
So there you have it. It’s not as robust as Elsie’s lesson on the Lower Level last week, but honestly, that’s because we have yet to learn a quarter as much about this unexplored space as we have about our home. As time continues to pass, I fully expect our citizens to be taking brave new adventures and eventually returning to the Upper Level to explore these new sections and seek out the uncharted wonders that we have yet to see.
Next Time…
Now that we have a strong overview of our town, it’s time to start diving in a little deeper. In the next few episodes we’re going to feature one or two of the sections we’ve discussed, from either the Upper or Lower level, and we will try to shed a little more light on what we do and do not understand about our place here.
As Elsie always writes, continue living your best lives!
TechnicoolDad 