Flashes of memories floods Lira's mind while sleeping as she grew more and more restless and uncomfortable. "Knowledge is corruptible" she said to herself while sleeping as she smiled a little and relaxed. In her dreams, she could remember how her story started with learning at a young age in school with guardians and teachers alongside other students learning also, being taught on how the ruins which was called the wasteland, and the sky city were divided with the help of the Chronos Syndicates who created the sky city after the silent war, saving what was left of the remaining civilization of human through the help of advanced tech with years of building and development that could sustain the humans and keep the city afloat, suspended in the air away from the wasteland and keep people from the toxic environment of the surface of the earth since after the silent war, it became in habitable leaving millions of people to perish as the earth heals itself. It was given the name 'The Silent War' because it is a war we don't talk about and can't remember, a forgotten past for a better future. The Syndicates offered salvation during humanity darkest times and in order to maintain a
stable utopia in such time, they offer to help humanity with the aid of Dr. Veyra develop a cerebral device to help people get rid of negative feelings to move on faster and sad memories of the past for a better future. A new world in the sky were people can no longer feel threatened with how they look,their race, culture, religion, physique, relationships, politics, jobs, crime, injustice. A perfect world
where everyone is equal, and living and earning enough together led and controlled by the syndicates. Lira adjusted herself as with her eyes still closed in sleep and her dreams continued. She remembered a lecture being given about 'The Dark Knowledge' which they referred to as a virus that corrupts man's program and it disrupts their normal function leading to evil like crimes, racial discrimination,
corruption, greed, murder, war just like the very one that lead to the global catastrophe leading to a radioactive world in most corners of the world. The syndicate identifies this virus as a corruptible program that must be eradicated from every citizens of the sky city in order to prevent and control the mind of everyone to keep the safe. Everyone goes through a cleansing process where they are evaluated and any form of the dark virus is purged of the memory. The control of items that also contains the dark virus is called relics and is seriously scanned and rebrands to prevent any form or spread of the virus at the archives. Lira continued dreaming on how happy she was on her first start at the archives went, with the friend she made and growing up in Dr. Veyra's care and watch was everything for her. The archive, one of the biggest and enormous sections of the city and heavily guarded with lots of special workers and syndicates guards. Lira smiled once again while still sleeping. It was day time, she was up pondering about her consistent dreams, visions sometimes, flashes of memories even with the cleansing procedure often than others, still persistent and she knew this could be a problem if it gets worse, she have heard rumors about people who got sent out of the sky city to the polluted wasteland because of this persistent dreams and visions which are signs of the dark virus attack the city is trying to tame. She then remembered a question she once asked Dr. Veyra, " Isn't it also great if we can have a link with the past to know and learn from our mistake, it would be a perfect guide not to repeat such" " That's very presumptuous of you darling, but dark virus have can't be dealt with the easy way. Yes, the past is a tool for correction and that's why both of us are standing here today unable to live freely in our world below us. If the dark virus is permitted to dwell and grow among minds of people, history repeats itself. Why do you think history does repeat itself? People don't learn from their past, they believe they are in control but they are ruled by the higher entity that bends them to their will of destruction, and that's what brings us here today. I've heard humans sells themselves for wealth and fought a world war, and no! They didn't stop there, they kept going on and on till where we are today because that virus was in their DNA down through generations. They believe they are in control and they have no idea they are living an already programmed doom just because a sneaky little knowledge is left untouched. That's why we bring libration from this curse to save the coming generation". Dr. Veyra narrated. "That's why I get more cleansing schedule more than everyone because I am very attached to the dark knowledge since it's in my DNA more" Lira answered. "Depending on the hold or level of growth of the virus, determines your schedule plans. There might be others in the city that goes through a million procedures". Dr. Veyra spoke laughing as she tried cheering Lira up. "For real?" Lira asked anxious and not understanding the joke. "No, I was only exaggerating, but you know what I mean. You have me, always remember that!" said Dr. Veyra. Dr. Veyra is the head of the archive of the sky city which one of the most important places in the city which determines which relic get delivered to the city or has high level of dark knowledge attached to them and a kept for research purposes and one of the most important figure in the sky city. These were Lira's motivation that since Dr. Veyra is her more than a mentor but just like her guardian and always looking out for her while she was being raised in the syndicates care, it would be almost impossible for her to be driven away from the sky city because of her constant dreams and vision which Dr. Veyra keeps as their little secret as she was told by Dr. Veyra. Lira sat there pondering in thought with a
grinning look worn by her face, when she snapped out of her thought and looked above her bed on the ceiling was a digital clock and she jumped off the bed. "Shit ….shit.shit…." She ran into the bathroom and swiped her hand over her head right and water started pouring as she showered and at the same time, a device was in her mouth cleaning up her teeth and tongue , cleaning off bacteria and washing it as it illuminates inside her mouth with a bright yellow light. After getting out of shower, she realized she was out of underwear when her wardrobe and cloth box immerged from the wall. This was an advance tech people of the sky city uses alongside others. She took some dirty under wears and smelling them which is wearable. She finally settled with one and got dressed. Her apartment wasn't really as big as expected but it was to her preference. Some sections of the archive are heavily guarded by syndibots, Ai robots that constantly guards the delivered and supplied relics. Lira came out to the balcony of her apartment which was on the highest floor of the building of two hundred and fifty-six floors. She took a moment to admire the beauty of the city and never gets tired of the view, the moving objects in the sky, drones, and flying automobile pods that transport people anywhere in the city. These mobile pods were designed to be very comfortable with a least of three passengers. Some with drivers and others are self controlled. Numerous buildings and activities, sounds of busy streets from the city to the woods and river which she have visited countless times and gone on business trip to the woods and town, met different people, she loved her life. There again another smile on her face as she stares down to the city and looking at the beautiful sky and cloud.
Then a flying pod approached her and she got inside. There was no driver and an Ai voice spoke. "Off to somewhere ma'am?" "The archive please" she answered. "Please scan your ID above you to confirm identity" it requested. Lira did. "Enjoy the ride ma'am" and it took her away flying through the city, as she stares with a grin on her face at the city from the pod window.
The pod arrived at the Archive. She got, and started running her way to into the enormous building, almost entirely made up of glass. "Late again, are we?" asked one of the Syndicate guards, letting her in. "Tell me about it" she answered, they both laughed. She kept on running and then collided with someone. They both fell to the ground as some relic items fell off him due to the impact and he
immediately picked them up before anyone could notice. "I'm so sorry {noticing is suspicious reaction as the relic fell off him} Is everything okay?" she asked trying to get a good look at him. He kept his face away and replied "I'm good" without looking at her and walked away. She found this really suspicious and followed him and held his arm. "What's that you've got there? Saw you earlier with
some item. You are not taking anything from the Archive, are you? Or do I need to call on the security?" She threatened. He removed his arm from her grip, looked at her and she got a good look at him. He drew closer to her as she took a few steps backward. "Aren't you running late? If you haven't noticed, and whatever you've seen isn't a problem for anyone, or for you to worry about." he answered and walked away as she watched him leave, speechless and motionless. Then, she snapped back and started running. She arrived at the corner of the hallway, where a squareshaped metal platform was mounted on the floor. Nearby on the wall was a digital screen displaying
floor numbers. This was 'The Glitch'. Lira stepped onto it, entered her floor number, and instantly transported to another Glitch on her designated floor.
The passage led to a corridor lined with offices, five on each side. As she headed toward her office, one door opened, revealing a lady. "Late again, Lira," she said, approaching Lira with a warm embrace. Lira stammered, "It's…it's…err…ah," struggling to find an excuse. Her friend suggested, "Is this about the visions you told me about? Maybe Dr. Veyra could help."Lira replied, "What's the point, Sara? It'll just happen again. I'm trying to avoid drawing more attention." Sara reassured her, "You're close to Dr. Veyra; no harm can come to you." Lira smiled, "I don't want to bother her again; she's busy." Just then, a voice interrupted, "I think that's enough talk. Time to get working." Sara hastened back to her destination leaving Lira still standing. "Good morning Dr. Veyra" Lira greeted. "Late again, is that a new habit?" Dr. Veyra asked handling a file to her secretary while approaching Lira. "Whatever is keeping you late, I'd like to know, Lira. I am always here for you. Don't keep things from me darling. Are you really okay?" Dr. Veyra asked. "I overslept, I'm so sorry it won't happen again ma'am" she answered. "Off to work now" replied Dr. Veyra. Lira left, heading for her office immediately. Lira's office was a sparse, with only a newly rebranded Ergohuman highback swivel chair with headrest and an opaque glass-designed table. On it sat a cup of tea and bottle of water. She sat down, clapped her hands twice and an AI voice spoke from the corners of the office.
"Good morning Lira Myers. How are you doing this morning?" "Great, Teh. Let's begin, shall we?" Lira replied. "Beginning processing," Teh said, and the lights became dimmed slightly. Various items and appliances, such as sofas, flowers and a projector displaying events in the sky cities and waste land, emerged from the walls. Then she sat as a machine emerging from the ground, a green box containing different relics of the past that should be scanned, recycled and cleansed from dark virus, was placed on the opaque glass table the machine lifting and placing it up on the table and another one Lemerging from her right with a red box and placed on the glass table. Then Lira tapped the glass table twice and it displayed the text written 'Welcome Lira'. She retrieved her gloves from her pocket, put them on and prepared to scan the relics. To scan an item, Lira would slide it across the glass screen surface. If the scanner detected a potential trigger for the dark knowledge virus, it would display a red warning, and the item would be placed in the red box for recycling or disposal in the wasteland. Lira picked a relic, it was a glock pistol. "What's this" she thought and scanned it and it was flagged red, meaning danger and has high level of sparking the growth of the dark level. So, it was placed in the red box. She kept repeating this process over and over again. Any relic flagged green is placed in the green box for use and any flagged blue are irrelevant and considered a waste. She then will mark them with a tape and place them also in the red box so when it is ready to be processed which is not her department at the Archive, they will know which is irrelevant through the tape on them. She brought out a plastic bag from the red box and scanned it. It was flagged green to be in use without going through any process of making it suitable for citizens of the sky city which she never questions. Then lira brought out a small necklace tangled in a chain of rusted metals from the red box and she ommediately felt she knows and have seen this somewhere. She removed her gloves and held it. It strangely felt warm and suddenly there was a rush of visions and memories flooding her mind. A blurry memory of foggy shadows figures moving and she could hear and see blurry images of children laughing and playing. "Lira!" a voice called and she saw a woman which she could hardly see what she looked like. The woman came close to her squatting down and took her hand which appeared to be that of a child. She then removed something from her neck and placed it on her hand, she looked down as it and it was almost impossible to know what it is because the image was foggy. She rubbed the object against her palm trying to know how it feels when suddenly there was a loud explosion and people running, screams everywhere as the woman yelled at her, "Run Lira! Run!" She snapped out of her memory terrified. She has never felt so close to the past like that. She then inderstood this was the main purpose why the relics are being processed to avoid things of such from happening to people of sky city. "Could this be my mom? I was told my parent probably died during the fall and I was raised here in the city. Could this be a key to finding out what happened to them and how the event started, Should I let Dr. Veyra know about this? {She took a sip from the tea} No, I shouldn't, it will only complicate things and draw more attention and Dr. Veryra won't be able to save my ass if the board of the syndicates knows I stand against everything they stand for. I will find out….." she was immediately taken out of her thought by the sound of the door knob pressing down with the door, about to open. She immediately hid the necklace beneath her sleeves. Dr. Veyra entered. "Is everything alright Lira? You look frightened" she asked approaching Lira. "Yeah…..I mean, Yes! I'm good Dr. Veyra" she replied, faking a smile. Dr. Veyra kept staring at her and she felt
uncomfortable. "Is anything wrong Dr. Veyra?" she asked. "You've been acting weird lately, is there something I need to know, Lira? Do you need to be scheduled early for your cleansing procedure?" Dr. Veyra asked looking baffled and concerned. "I had a rough night, aside that, nothing's wrong" she assured. "Is that so? Then explain to me why your gloves are off? You are clearly aware it is against the rules, especially handling relics in the Archive. What's the dream this time Lira? You've been
seeing things haven't you?" asked Dr. Veyra as she stared directly into Lira's eyes with Lira staring back, searching for an excuse. "Dr. Veyra, I'm fine, seriously. I got too comfortable, my palms are all sweaty, but I am absolutely fine. And yes, I've been having some dreams, but nothing that serious". She answered praying she doesn't ask more questions and lose interest. "I've always been looking out
for you Lira and always will be. You don't have to be scared, telling me anything, but since you are fine, that's okay, but for your safety and the safety of the Archive its people, starting tomorrow, you will have a security presence in your workspace to ensure effective productivity, and I will check on you regularly". Dr. Veyra said. She looked at Lira, who said nothing but looked down. "Hey, she said as she gently raised her face up to look at her. "I won't do that if you don't want me to, but you know if they are aware how strong and growing these memories are, and how ineffective the cleansing procedures are to you, I wouldn't like
myself if they take you away from me. I am here for you, if you see anything, don't hesitate to let me know, and I'll know how I can help, okay?" she encouraged. "Thank you so much Dr. Veyra" she answered as tears rolled down her cheeks as Dr. Veyra wiped them off and hugged her. Lira hugged her tightly and didn't want to let go. "Okay, let go now, Lira" Said, Dr. Veyra as the both laughed
"Take care and don't do anything stupid" Dr. Veyra said as they laughed again. Then Dr Veyra left. Later that night, restless and wired, Lira kept thinking about the flashes of memories earlier that day.
She couldn't get her mind off it. Her next memory cleansing schedule was the following week, though she knows it doesn't take the dark knowledge symptoms away because she keeps getting memories of events in the past and every cleansing schedule tries to wipe off the ability to remember them but hers keeps coming back almost instantly. Others take months or weeks depends their cognitive ability. Her cleansing schedule is once a week, which made her a subject to be looked into and monitored by the syndicate ever since she was young. After constantly monitoring her since she was a child, she haven't been a real threat from this effect since she was young. Dr. Veyra was able to defend her as a subject
bonded to a traumatic past that makes her that way and vowed to help her and keep close watch on her in a meeting between the head of the syndicates and the council of the sky city. Overtime, Dr. Veyra grew to love her not only for her ability, but personality and everything just like she is her daughter.
After a cool shower, Lira wore her night gown and sat down on the sofa in her sitting room, a
fascinating well structured apartment. She sat, watching news about the plan of sending Syndibots down to the wasteland to recover some relics to help keep the sky city running. "That's means more work at the Archive" Lira said to herself a bit disgusted as she went to get a glass of milk and sat to enjoy the computerized projected news, very clear and vivid. "Switch on, Z" she spoke out and an Ai
voice in control of every appliance in her home responded. "How was your day Lira? What would you like me to do?" It asked. "Switch off the projection, I'm going to bed and turn off the lights" she ordered. The projected televised news was switched off as the sitting room light got very dim. She went to her room and the light switched on in the room. She arranged her bed and sat on it after she was done and brought out the necklace from her night gown's side pocket and held it tight, closed her eyes trying to meditate and get a more clearer vision like she did at the Archive but it was totally
blank. "What's wrong? Maybe it was a memory for someone else with the name Lira?" she thought and laughed about it. "Come forth now" she yelled, ordering the