People in the settlement have many ways to earn money — like working in the factories that produce bullets. They can also start their own shops if they can afford to pay the rent. Some go outside to collect useful things, but most people actually work in one main place — the Generator House.
The whole settlement is underground, so it needs light. To get light, electricity is required. While light could be brought inside through other methods, the Generator House is the main source of electricity. People pedal cycle-like structures to run the motors. How much and how long they pedal decides how much money they earn.
There are also a few large batteries in the settlement to store current, but it will not sufficient to run whole settlement so the Generator House will be functioning all the time . The advantage is that when the demand for electricity is high, the Generator House offers more money. When the demand is low, it pays a fixed amount based on how much a person generates.
The only rule in the Generator House is simple — a person must keep pedaling when they sit on the machine. If they try to rest or slow down, they are thrown out.
Srini and Manu went to the 3CG floor, where their house was located.
"Should we repay the money we owe to other people?" Srini asked.
"Oh yeah, I forgot! Even if I earn money, I still need to repay what we borrowed for food, the rent due, and the amount we owe at the hotel, electricity bill and water bill. How could I forget all this?" Manu taught.
"Yeah, but do you still have money left to repay?" Manu asked.
"I sold many of the things we brought from outside. Because of that, we earned more money than we ever imagined," Srini said.
"But you spent everything on me, right?" Manu asked.
Srini was silent for a few seconds.
"No, the doctor was kind. He asked for only a small amount for your treatment," Srini said, smiling.
Manu was still thinking about how to earn money quickly.
"Come on, don't worry about it. You just need to recover your strength," Srini said.
Then they both started walking. They reached a wide pathway made of blocks, beside which there was a large board that read:
GROUP 5
"Now we've reached our group. You need to rest at home — don't worry about anything," Srini said.
They started moving inside.
The whole area was rectangular in shape and a large open space which was also rectangular was at the center, with a stage-like structure built in the middle. The open space was connected to eleven street roads, each named from 1st Street to 11th Street.
But the interesting thing was on the ceiling — exactly above the open area, there was a circular object emitting bright light. It wasn't powered by electricity but was actually natural sunlight.
From outside the settlement, several circular shafts were built to direct sunlight to the lower floors by reflecting it.
The lower floor (3CG) had seven such reflecting structures, but one of them was much larger than the others. This led to fights among the groups — everyone wanted control over the biggest one.