After Xu An finished thanking them and took her ID card, she pushed the cart she had pre-registered and the group left the rental center.
Following the directions, Xu An and her companions walked to a platform. As soon as they stepped onto it, she realized that the platform was not solid.
There were only a few people around, all well-dressed, with expressions of leisure and contentment, a stark contrast to the miserable crowds Xu An had seen in the relief shelters.
Xu An guessed that these people were likely the "original inhabitants" of the lighthouse.
"Ding~ Please swipe your card to ride the levitation train, 10 coins/ride."
As the prompt sounded in her ear, Xu An swiped her card, and the platform slowly began to ascend.
Upon arriving at the levitation train station entrance, Xu An and the others boarded the train with the surrounding crowd.
"Little girl, is this your first time riding the levitation train?" a gentle voice inquired.
Xu An turned her head to look in the direction of the voice and saw a middle-aged man in casual wear, wearing a pair of rimless glasses.
"Yes, is there something you need?"
"Haha... no, I just noticed you looked new. Are you here to rent an apartment after your probationary period? Then you must be quite capable to afford to rent a place in the 'light screen'."
Xu An wasn't particularly interested in chatting with a stranger. It was her first time on this levitating train, and while she found it novel, she also felt a bit carsick.
However, the "light screen" mentioned by the man piqued her curiosity.
"May I ask what the light screen is?"
The man glanced at Xu An and chuckled, "The so-called light screen is actually the entrance to the first level."
"When you new arrivals log in, you pass through a corridor and see the fountain garden. Many people mistakenly think that the circular shopping malls around are all the shops on the first level, but that's not the case. Those are just basic public facilities, like the trading hall and rental center."
"In reality, passing through the light screen is the true first level. Compared to the old society, it's even better, perhaps... perhaps it's more fantastical," the man paused, carefully choosing his words, "I also took about a week to get used to it."
As he spoke, the speeding train passed through a wall of light. Looking through the window, Xu An saw that the previously bustling circular hall suddenly opened up, revealing a vast, prosperous city ahead.
Xu An was astonished. "Is this the light screen?"
"Yes, it's a special technology that forms a giant barrier with light. You can see out from inside, but people outside cannot see in, similar to the two-way glass in an interrogation room."
"And you can only enter and exit this light screen freely by taking the levitation train. You can't pass through it on your own."
"Why?" Xu An asked curiously.
"Because the light screen is three-dimensional. You can't walk through it with your legs; there are obstacles inside."
Xu An: "..." She was too stunned to speak.
Although she could understand that this was to stimulate consumption – without the ability to walk, people would have to take expensive levitation trains to get around – knowing about it and being forced to accept it were two different things.
"The space inside the lighthouse is different from what you see from the outside. I heard it was specially developed by experts in anti-gravity and spatial mechanics. It's a 'tower-like' structure. The first level appears flat, but it's actually multi-dimensional, which is why there are levitation trains. This is no longer the conventional 'spatial dimension' as we defined it before."
Xu An listened, feeling quite confused, and Xu Yan also looked bewildered. As a liberal arts student, even though the man was explaining in a comprehensible way, she still didn't understand.
After listening for a long time, she only grasped that passing through the "light screen" was the first level, and there was also a three-dimensional level.
After some small talk, Xu An and the man exchanged names. She learned that this refined gentleman was named Song Jing, and before coming to the lighthouse, he was a top botanist in the country.
After learning about Song Jing's identity, Xu An gained a new understanding of the structural divisions within the lighthouse.
"Ding~ Dawn City Station 234 is arriving, please prepare to disembark."
"Uncle Song, we've arrived."
"Alright, we're not far from each other. I live at number 068. If you need anything, you can come find me. Oh, and there are communication devices in the lighthouse. If you have the spare funds, you can buy a communication phone. The lighthouse has an internal network," Song Jing instructed with a smile.
"Thank you, Uncle Song, we'll consider it."
After saying their goodbyes, Xu An and her mother got off the train. The door closed behind them. Xu An looked back; the silver-white train sped away, gradually shrinking into a point of light and disappearing into the distance.
"I feel like this lighthouse..."
Seeing Xu Yan hesitate to speak, Xu An asked, "What?"
"Is a bit different from what I imagined, it feels a bit strange. Perhaps I'm overthinking it."
Looking at the dreamlike scene before her, she murmured, "It's also different from what I initially thought."
If she had known in her previous life what life would be like inside the lighthouse, she wouldn't have let that boy return to the lighthouse unharmed.
Sometimes, after living in darkness for too long, one cannot bear to see others exposed to the sunlight.
Some genes are ingrained in the bones of Chinese people: "Are kings and generals born, or made?" Why should some people live safely in the lighthouse while survivors on the land struggle in desperation? Rebellion has always been a "traditional virtue" of the Chinese nation.
And now, with the roles reversed, she wouldn't be so saintly as to judge whether the lighthouse's decision was right or wrong.
Xu An wouldn't dwell on such things. Once she became a beneficiary, none of it would seem wrong.
She took her ID card, swiped it through the card slot, and the transparent door in front of her slid open from the middle with a "shua—" sound, retracting to both sides.
A young lady with a sweet smile walked out.
"Hello, I am the housekeeper for Building 234. You can find me for anything you need. My name is Xiao Ai."
Then, the girl named Xiao Ai led Xu An to their room.
Number 234 was not a room number but a building number. Xu An and her mother followed Xiao Ai to room 2018 on the second floor.
"This is your room. We wish you a pleasant stay." Xiao Ai said, then turned and left.
"This service, back in the day, would have been comparable to a five-star hotel," Xu Yan muttered softly, watching Xiao Ai's retreating figure.
"Don't you think the name sounds familiar?"
Prompted by Xu An, Xu Yan inexplicably remembered the smart speaker xx classmate from home.
"No wonder, I always felt like the name Xiao Ai sounded familiar..."