A Guide to Surviving Meteor City

Nacita Ittis was the most precious experimental subject of an illegal research organization. From birth, she was kept under strict surveillance. Before she was five, she wasn't even allowed above ground, and she had no idea what the sun and moon looked like.

The innocent little girl politely asked the companions imprisoned there with her, "How can I escape?"

So Nacita's fellow subjects, a world-class con artist, a master magician, an expert in psychological crime, a hypnotist, and a fun-loving prankster, helpfully recommended a collection of books: Magic and Illusion, Criminal Psychology, Psychological Suggestion, The Art of Deception, The Art of Conversation, Hypnosis in 100 Days, Psychological Profiling and Observation, The Original Sins of Human Nature, and various other odds and ends.

They also said that if she had any questions, she could ask them anytime. They'd be happy to help.

Nacita looked at the expectant faces of her fellow subjects, solemnly accepted the reading list, and said, "I understand." Then she began her studies.

At last, when she was five, she found a chance to leave the island where she'd been born, during an attack that caused heavy casualties.

Then she arrived at a place piled high with garbage, supposedly called Meteor City.

Nacita: I don't know where Meteor City is, but it sure doesn't look like a good place.

The people of Meteor City were deeply unfriendly. Murder, arson, and robbery happened every day.

On her first day in Meteor City, she couldn't get used to the tough bread and failed to finish it in time. Her peers beat her up and stole her only food.

On her second day in Meteor City, the kids she was living with shoved her outside. A strange adult pinned her down and took her away. She spent the whole night playing a strange game of hide-and-seek with five or six adults who wanted to abduct and sell her, and only managed to run back afterward.

On her fourth day in Meteor City, people threatened to take her only daily bread as tribute. She tried to resist, but was crushed by their superior strength.

On her fifth day in Meteor City, she had nothing to eat.

On her sixth day in Meteor City, she had nothing to eat.

On her tenth day in Meteor City, she decided to stop being human.

On her eleventh day in Meteor City...

The girl sat on a discarded shipping container, swinging her legs as she munched on an apple. She coldly watched the people in the distance, fighting because of a few words she'd said. Heads with their eyes still open lay everywhere. Blood splattered, staining the earth and moon red. This was a living hell, where everyone was a demon.

The girl turned around. Not far away, a stranger with an inverted cross tattoo on his forehead was looking her way. It seemed he gave her a smile. The little girl blinked, jumped down from the container, and disappeared from view.

A Guide to Surviving in Meteor City:

1. Don't waste food.

2. Backing down is no different from suicide.

3. If you don't pull up the roots, the weeds will grow back when the spring breeze blows.

4. Everyone is an enemy.

5. Stay! Away! From! The! Spiders! (P.S. If there's a third party around, you can try to get them to fight each other.)

Theme: For the sake of the tomorrow we long for