Astra woke up at around 7:30 AM, to the bustling sounds of people roaming inside and outside the park.
She yawned as she surveyed her surroundings. Her eyes were still drooping and her movements were sluggish.
The blue sun's rays attacked Astra's dark skin as she massaged her blonde hair. The wind blew by, causing the lake's water to move slightly, causing waves.
She slowly allowed herself to get up and recalled what happened right before she went to sleep.
"I hallucinated again…it was surprisingly similar to what I saw before everyone was transported here. What's scary is how I felt…" Astra quickly remembered the uneasiness she felt which foreshadowed the cosmic event.
"Heh, I guess I'm still my weird self, still connected to the heavens, even in a different world." Astra smiled as she stretched. She then dusted herself off and headed toward the Department of Immigration on Elythra Avenue.
She approached the large entrance to the massive building and went inside. Unsurprisingly, there were many people walking inside.
The entrance was framed by two holographic pillars, each inscribed with glowing symbols of the starry night sky. It also had the flag of Morpheus, which was a velvet crescent moon in a black background with a blue star next to the arc of the moon. In between the symbols, there were words that continuously reshaped themselves, translating into different languages in real time. When the language was Dreamurian, Astra read it as: "Entry Beyond Borders, Verified Through God."
Between these pillars stood a semi-transparent gateway, appearing as both a doorway. This was a scanner that was able to verify the identities of anyone who passed through it to see if they were in the system.
Astra and many other people passed through this, with no hiccups.
"This is giving Dystopian vibes…" Astra sulked in English as she heard the noise from the other immigrants and citizens talking as they walked through.
As she passed through, she had now entered a blank corridor. Interestingly, the people from beside her had disappeared.
In front of her however, appeared several orb-like drones which hovered in synchronized patterns, their smooth black surfaces glowing with small circular lights. They monitored immigrant bands and the presence of anything dangerous, or any possibility for anything dangerous.
Suddenly, the orbs disappeared. And soon enough, so did the corridor. After a while, everything turned into darkness, with a faint ringing sound reverberating through the void.
…
"Where am I?" Astra thought to herself as she felt the silence and depth of the darkness enveloping her.
She moved around in the darkness, similar to how she moved in the void when she was in the process of leaving the previous Earth.
"I-"
A woman with pale skin and no eyes and lips instantly appeared in front of Astra. She had no face!
Her hair was pitch black, and her body was covered in black mist.
Astra instinctively jumped but ended up recollecting herself.
She had experienced something like this before!
"W-what? It's the woman…the woman from before?" Her entire body was shaking in fear!
The woman's face then began to transform into a door, and then into a majestic door gate. It began shaking, as if it wanted to open.
Suddenly, everything began to shatter, and Astra had the feeling that she was falling from the sky.
"Gah!" Astra propelled herself up once she had felt that she was on a surface.
Instantly, she was sitting on a comfortable reclining chair, in a seemingly normal looking room. The lights were off, and it was a rainy day. It reminded Astra of her days in elementary school, where her parents were at work and she stayed home working on her scientific projects.
A wave of nostalgia rushed through Astra as she looked around.
There was nothing off about it…
"You're normal, right? It's normal…everything is normal." An illusory voice rang through Astra's ears.
"You're not weird…you're not strange…"
"You are so amazing, so beautiful."
"So strange…so weird…"
The illusory voice got more and more distorted as it spoke. But Astra continued to take on an emotionless countenance, as if nothing disturbed her. As if everything was normal.
In the corner of her eye, Astra saw something move. Strangely, she didn't panic. She had no thoughts. She thought it was all normal.
She looked in the direction of the movement, and saw a pitch black doll, similar to the hallucinations from the banquet.
Suddenly, everything began to shatter again, and she felt a surface on her back.
Astra looked up and she saw a blank ceiling. Her eyes were widened, and her mouth was slightly open as she began to process everything. She quickly realized that the visions she had before were dreams, and not hallucinations.
She slowly sat up and began to survey her surroundings quietly.
"This looks like a therapy room inside of a spaceship for the stars…is this also a dream? Was everything a dream?" Astra thought in Dreamurian.
"No, Miss Sera. This isn't a dream." A deep male voice spoke, as if he was reading the lady's mind.
Astra gets slightly startled because of this, and looks in the direction of the voice.
She saw a handsome young man, no older than his mid twenties, sitting on a hovering metal chair opposite her. He was about the same height as Astra.
He had a black and white suit with slicked back black hair, a sharp face and intense but soft, deep black eyes. His face was Caucasian with a hint of yellow. He wore a smile on his face and had his legs crossed.
"I made you sleep for 30 minutes to determine whether or not you were hostile, or whether or not you had bad intentions. Congratulations, you've passed the second test." The man continued. "Heh, you had some strange dreams…but not the strangest I've seen."
"He made me sleep? He used a drug? No…it's most likely he used some sort of power to make me sleep. Otherwise, how else could he have known I was hostile due to my dreams? Plus, I remember that there was a monument dedicated to the 'God of Dreams…'" Astra thought to herself. She chose her words carefully, even in her thoughts.
"The second test? So why do I have to go through another test if I'm already in the system?" Astra asked.
"Because it's nearly impossible to get a house, or really—anything of worth—without going through here. Everything necessary for immigrants to become a proper member of society is present in this very building. Housing, jobs, education; this department takes care of all of that for immigrants."
"Why was it kind of difficult to figure this out for a normal person?"
"So, what more do I have to do?" Astra asked in a soft voice.
"Not much. I'm just here to make sure you're mentally sane. I'm also here to provide you with options for houses/apartments and jobs, and give you clothes and other necessities, while also giving you the information you need to be formally integrated. But before that…" The man inhaled and then exhaled greatly.
"Please take a shower."
"Eh?" Astra froze. She felt somewhat embarrassed! She had almost forgotten that she was very dirty and was beginning to stink!
"Don't worry, this is protocol." The man's voice began to waver slightly. "Everything is provided for you in the bathroom. Don't worry, I'll wait here." He repeated 'Don't worry' as if he needed to clarify something.
"Right…" Astra muttered as she slowly got up and walked towards the bathroom, which was near the bed.
30 minutes later, Astra came outside of the bathroom. Her shower wasn't much different from the bathrooms back on the previous Earth, and the bathroom had all of the necessities which facilitated cleaning. However, since it was much more advanced, everything Astra usually did was made faster. It also did not take long for Astra to fully understand how to clean herself.
Astra was wearing a long sleeved black shirt with a pair of blue short jeans. Her blonde, slightly curly hair was rolled into a bun and glistened in the pale white light, and her dark skin was smooth and clean again. Her band was still on her left wrist, and it was still slightly wet. She felt completely refreshed that she forgot that she was hungry and thirsty. Her mind was refurbished, and her worries evaporated, even for a little moment.
Upon seeing Astra, even the young man was captivated by her beauty and figure, if only for a second.
"I wish I could've stayed in there for longer…that was by far the best experience I've had in a bathroom, period! It was like the heavens came down and blessed me with their showers…" Astra thought as she sat back down on the bed.
"Ahem…How was it?" The man professionally recollected himself. "There are some snacks and drinks, by the way." A hovering table smoothly traversed the room and onto Astra's lap. It had chocolate chip cookies and milk.
Astra didn't waste any time and stuffed her mouth with the cookies. "It wasn't bad. I haven't had an experience like that in years." She finished the snacks in less than a minute.
"Great. I'm going to introduce myself. My name is Loken Izuru. But you can call me Loken. My last name is Westorian, that's why it sounds a little strange."
"Cool, I don't know what that means. Unless Westorians are Asians in this universe…" Astra sulked slightly.
"I am a part of the Dreamlanders, the main institution for the Dominion of Dreams, the protector of peace and the destroyer of madness in Morpheus. Nice to meet you, Miss Astra Sera."
"Nice to meet you too, Loken." Astra didn't react to the mention of the organization.
"From what we see in our system, you came here from the country of Vytheris. That's pretty unfortunate. I pray that the God of Dreams helps them. In any case, you escaped, and suffered some minor injuries in doing so. You also came here because you wanted to convert to the religion of Dreams. Is that correct?" Loken asked.
"Mhm." Astra nodded politely.
"Okay. That's the only thing in our system that needs confirming. Everything about you implies that you're completely clean. You're mentally sane, you have nothing harmful about you or on you, and you passed all of our tests. Once you choose a suitable apartment that can be leased to you, and a job of choice you're free to go. Unless, you have further questions."
"I have a few questions." Astra placed her hand on her cheek.
"Go ahead."
"Is housing usually affordable here? Also, why is the government so kind towards us immigrants?" Astra didn't ask about the energy source or about different religions, because she felt as if she would be able to find such information on the internet anyway. She also didn't want to be too suspicious.
"Actually, housing is maybe too affordable, we have a little too many houses," Loken chuckled. "Even though Luna is a city with over 250 million people, it has even more houses—twice as much!" Astra had no reaction to the mention of 250 million people in a city. She had expected such a number.
Loken continued, "As for why the government is so kind towards immigrants, it's because of the Visitor Act passed by the Orphean's Highest Order 50 years back. During that time, there was a terrible war between some major countries, and an influx of immigrants came to Morpheus. This was also the reason as to why housing is so affordable, we built too many houses!"
"So they're lenient because they have a housing problem. This is still much better than my previous place, though." Astra thought inwardly.
"Okay. That's all. Thank you." Astra nodded slightly.
"Great. Now, it's time for you to choose an apartment." Loken said while holding up his palm. Subsequently, a hologram came out.
It had a variety of options in different places and in different areas. All options were within the budget of 500 Veylars. Each option had a description of the apartment, who was living in it, and even photos of inside and outside apartment!
"Please note that internet, water, light, phone, mortgage and other utilities are included. Rent is not included, and you have the option to split it if you choose an apartment with someone living in it."
"It's good that basically everything is covered. Price shouldn't be too much of a problem considering that if I choose an apartment that has someone living in it, we can split the rent. It seems like the problem is the area. I don't want to be in a bad area, and I want to be in an area where I don't have to walk a lot for jobs. I also don't want to spend too much money, because I have to get a phone or a laptop. Or both."
Astra took 5 minutes carefully analyzing which apartment she would go into. She happened to choose a somewhat expensive option, and it costed 300 Veylars. It had an immigrant who had recently come from Vytheris, and it was a 2 bedroom 2 bath with a decently large living room. There was a kitchen, and a dining room. It was in the suburban area of Luna.
"Excellent choice. I have informed the young lady living there that you will be arriving later today. Now, do you have any jobs in mind? If you want, I can show you some jobs in the same area of the apartment you picked."
"That would be fine."
"Great." Loken then closed his fist and opened it back, and as if he willed it, the hologram appeared. This time it showed occupations. It showed the names of the company, the expected pay, the area, the ratings, the shifts, and the job that the company wants you to do.
She scrolled for 2 minutes across the hologram and eventually landed a somewhat dangerous construction job. It was the highest pay, and none of the other jobs had what she wanted, which was to explore more about the world and its energy source.
Furthermore, since it was a construction job, it was likely that maybe she'd find some item that can reveal some secrets about the energy source from the heavens.
After all, the architecture in Luna was almost short of otherworldly.
The only disappointing thing was that it was at night, and for 6 days a week. The shift also started tonight! This further disappointed Astra a little.
Nevertheless, she was happy that she was able to find an ID, an apartment, and a job all in the span of a day.
She almost felt like this was too good to be true!
"I will report to the company that you will be their new employee, and as such you will now be registered as employed." Loken then exhaled slightly. "That is all, Miss Sera. If you have any further questions, please call the Department's number, which should be available on your band." Loken closed his palm. The hologram disappeared after. "I will give you free transport to your apartment using a personal train embedded in this room. This isn't part of protocol, so consider this as a 'discount'." He said with a soft smile.
Astra was a little confused by this gesture, but she let out a slight smile and said, "Thank you for your generosity."
"A personal train…I'd like to see how this works! However, if it goes from here to the apartment, doesn't that mean that they are able to come to where we live anytime?" Astra thought.
"If you're wondering, we can't come to where anyone lives at any time. Even though almost all buildings and transportations are interconnected, there's a system in place that doesn't allow unwanted people to come where you live." Loken responded to her fears, almost as if he was expecting Vytherians to not have such technology.
"I see. Makes sense." Astra responded.
Whoosh!
As soon as she said that, a door appeared opposite the bed of the room.
"You can go inside that door, and the train will lead you to your destination." In Westorian style, Loken bowed slightly and placed his forearm over his stomach, putting his hand out toward the direction of the door with his other arm.
Of course, Astra did not have a clue what this meant.
Not reacting to the gesture, she walked towards the door and exited the room. As she did, the door behind her closed and she saw a faintly lit large capsule shaped object that seemed as if it was opened.
Astra slowly put her foot inside of the object and adjusted herself. As soon as she did, the capsule closed and everything turned dark.
Soon enough, Astra felt as if she was moving through space at high speeds, with many lights streaking past her, as if they were stars!
"Haha! This is fun! This world never fails to amaze me!" Astra felt as if she was a child on a rollercoaster!
After some time, the lights stopped moving and everything turned to darkness again.
She then had the feeling of being lifted up, as if she was in an elevator. The capsule then proceeded to open, and light shined in Astra's pupils. It revealed the suburban area of Luna.
The streets were wide and paved with a smooth, self-repairing alloy, embedded with faint luminescent lines that adjusted for pedestrians and vehicles. Unlike the busy heart of Luna, the suburbs had a sense of tranquility, with automated sky-trams gliding overhead and streamlined, glass-paneled homes lining the streets along with personal trains appearing out from the ground. There were also some vehicles driving on the roads through the suburbs.
The buildings in the suburbs retained Luna's signature architecture, but in a more grounded form. Some had hovering balconies, while others had rooftop gardens with bioluminescent plants that absorbed ambient energy to glow at night.
Most homes in Luna's suburbs had a clean, starry aesthetic with smooth, metallic foundations and smart-glass windows that adjusted tint based on the time of day.
Some houses embraced more relatively traditional architecture, built from reinforced synthetic stone and wood, while others featured curved, modular designs that could expand or retract rooms based on a resident's needs.
Unlike the ever-moving heart of Luna, the suburbs had a relaxed pace, almost as if it was deserted in comparison. It was obvious that a lot of the homes were uninhabited and were up for sale.
Astra continued to look around. She saw that there were digital billboards that displayed news, community updates, and artistic holograms that responded to nearby pedestrians.
"It's much, much different than the intercity…" She muttered to herself.
Suddenly, as if one was opening a drawer, the back of the capsule opened and 2 suitcases gently came out of it.
Once that happened, the capsule's back closed and, as if it was being swallowed up by the ground, it went inside the metal sidewalk as the ground opened up.
"They gave me supplies as well? This is way too generous!" Astra said as she headed over to the suitcases. She then finally decided to look at her new house.
It looked exactly the same as it was in the picture that Loken showed her.
It was a normal looking two story house.