[ WP ] Space is inverted . Civilization exists within a small bubble while the ground extends outward infinitely . One day , miners discover another bubble

The miners have been dying as fast as they can be replaced. They leave from the tunnels on the sixth level and each day a handful do n't return. The ones that do are changed; their eyes are distant and pensive and they talk of creatures a hundred times the size of our cats and dogs. `` Take the right elevator,'' my dad warns me as I gulp down a spoonful of cereal before school. They'll never let me live down the time I took a wrong turn and wound up on the second level, lost amongst the ancient stone houses built thousands of years ago. 
 
 I glance out the window at the generic whitewashed homes of our neighbors and the elevator towering upwards, reaching towards the next level whose construction is just beginning. In the lowers below, the wealthier families live in customized houses built many years ago before the current regulations. 
 
 `` Did you hear about the other bubble?'' I ask curiously, wondering if perhaps he had any more information than the rumors racing around school. He nods curtly. The memories are fresh in his mind and perhaps a bit tender; the mandatory years in the mines are not recalled fondly by the survivors and he's no different. `` Is it true?'' I insist. He peers up from his toast before grimacing and sighing. 
 
 `` I hope not,'' he says simply and I frown. Excitement is hard to come by within the sterile, inflexible confines of the bubble. Near the outskirts, one can see the Outside and the roots of the green beasts they call trees or occasionally the tunneling of a curious mole. Upwards, beyond the last inhabited level and in the heights we wo n't reach for another thousand years, they say the Surface can be seen. Now and then a miner wanders into that cursed realm and without exception returns mauled and broken or perhaps never returns. 
 
 `` Have we ever found another bubble before?'' He nods half-heartedly. 
 
 `` The books mention one found long ago but it had been overtaken by beasts from the Surface. They rushed the miners and tore through the mines and destroyed most of this.'' He waves his hand around vaguely and I remember the scars that the walls of the lower levels bore, signs of a war fought generations ago. `` All signs point towards this one being empty so do n't get your hopes up,'' he responds simply, taking the last bite of his toast and standing abruptly. He turns as he reaches the door. `` And if it's not, we'll all be wishing it was.'' 
 
 ***** 
 
 This prompt is a super-cool idea but so weird to think about... 
 
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