[ IP ] Humanity survives only in Towers . Tell any story that takes place in this world .

Threef pressed his cheek against the hardwood floor as he peered under the large bed. He sneezed, sending whirls of dust floating in the still air. Through watery eyes he saw a bare space. He grunted and pushed himself to his feet, then reached up on the pink bedspread, stood on his tiptoes, to glimpse nothing on the bed. Further searching of the room uncovered nothing new. Threef brushed the dust from his sparse beard and wiped the moisture from his eyes with the rough sleeve of his smock. 
 
 The rest of the second floor provided nothing for Threef either. The third floor was similarly barren. Threef paused at a window to look outwards. The house was near the Edge, with the stationary Angels standing vigil between the edge of the streets and the blue sky beyond. He tilted his gaunt head. Some impulse made him scramble up onto the sill. He looked out into the endless blue and sat for a long, long time. 
 
 The deepest gong sounded. A powerful tone that made stomachs vibrate and teeth rattle filled the city, as it did every midday. The sound startled Threef just enough for him to lose his grip and fall outwards. He hit the ground head first with a dry crack. 
 
 The skinny figures in their smocks walked around the bundle, casting only cursory glances as they headed for the midday feeding. Shining, lithe white metal tentacles emerged from the city center and wrapped around the broken figure with the `` 3400811132-57'' on his arm and dragged it through the street. 
 
 At the city center the horde of figures lined up silently and waited as the Feeder dispensed Soup. The great shining black Feeder stood tall in the middle of the plaza, the great machine nearly as tall as the Eater next to it. While the others ate, 3400811132-57's body was dragged into the opening door in the Eater. The doors whirred closed, so seamless it may as well have been a part of the massive walls themselves.
