The Belly of the Beast

Ch. 46, The Fall and Rise of Ark Nations

When Earth fell, the systems of government fell with it, leaving room in each ark for a new system of ruling. In the Beast, the Admiral began as an individual elected by the Top levels. However, after generations, the same family was elected again and again, making the elections obsolete, and the position passed to the Admiral's eldest child on his or her 21st birthday.

Like earth royalty of old, the Admiral's role became two-fold: to lead and to inspire. Though the Council of B's was established to help advise the Admiral and manage the many complex systems of the Beast, The Admiral has the final say and rules with the absolute power needed in a closed system such as the Beast.

The Admiral is often the only figure that some will ever see from another level (excepting the K-guards of level K, which I discuss more in Index 43). The Admiral serves to communicate the news that affects the entire Beast, and serves as a rallying point and commonality between all levels. In addition to being the most powerful man or woman on the Beast, the Admiral is the only person who may move to and from the highly secretive A level, the only level on the Beast that is fully separated from the fellow letters of its section (being B, C and D on the Top).

The one exception is, of course, the seven times a pair of Letter Trial winners have progressed to the Top Letter Trial on Level A. Many rumors have circled why only male and female pairs have progressed to the Top Letter Trial, but as none have ever returned, even I cannot say why. What level A contains is a mystery even greater than what Old Earth was once like, or what Second Earth holds for humanity. Rumors range from a utopia, to a wasteland, and everything in between.

- The Fall of Earth and the Rise of Ark Nations