Ihave always wondered how someone in the habitats felt when their feet touched Terra's surface for the first time. What must it have been like to have only known life within an enclosed space, no matter how expansive, only to be confronted with what I imagine to have felt like an unfathomable expanse? To have gone from vertical travel to strictly horizontal?

How must it have been to understand the seasons only through the shallow portrayals of a video depicting the changing lengths of light and darkness, missing the complete physical experience? How must our ancestors have felt, living in such a calm and unchanging environment for generations, and then being exposed to nature in all its manifestations? They would have experienced the wind in all its guises, from gentle cooling breezes to stronger, more destructive forces, as well as shifts in temperature from day to night and from the height of summer to the depths of winter.

What emotions did our ancestors experience when the genuine warmth of the sun touched their skin for the first time? When they could feel the difference when a cloud came between them and a sunbeam? To stand upon the shore of an ocean, taste the salt in the air and hear the steady drum beat of the waves crashing onto the sand! How I wished I could live their experience!

One evening, after a day spent in a village located in Dike's north, Alexandra seemed in a receptive mood. We were three days into our time here, which meant the adulation surrounding her visit had calmed, and the discussions were at last becoming serious. Our guest house was comfortable; some village cats decided to join us around our small fire, and I could see Alexandra beginning to relax. I had learned it was in times like these, when she might be inclined to tell a story in response to a carefully phrased question.

I knew her response would be different than any other I could glean from the ancient archives, but it was still worth hearing. My intent behind the question, "What did you experience the first time you ever returned to the surface?" was to explore her remembrance of once again setting foot on the world our ancestors had destroyed.

In retrospect, her answer shouldn't have surprised me; she answered my exact question. Instead of learning about the experience of stepping back onto a surface not lived upon for hundreds of years, I learned about the history and technical details behind the Foundation's introduction to the outside world.

The Pharos Project had been timed to the imminent probability of a human"made catastrophic situation. Responsibility for the project fell to the easternmost habitat in the central portion of North America, NAHE, since its recruitment region encompassed the nation's capital. Those responsible for the project chose to lay temptation before all the officials elected to represent the residents of every state and territory, luring at least a few into a situation so ludicrous it garnered worldwide attention. (1)

The Foundation used land it already owned, located close enough to the habitat to run regular construction crews, yet distant enough to obscure what must be hidden. Woodville, West Virginia, was sparsely populated at best, and the actual site was far enough into a thickly wooded mountain area to discourage any accidental sightings. And so, on the Terran calendar date of January 20th, 2018 (pc), crews began building the stage.

Since the plan targeted elected members of the government, other aspects of the plan began to unfold before construction of the set even began. Foundation members mapped all network location addresses to congressional offices, enabling the identification of any elected officials who succumbed to the lure. Media and documentation were created and planted to gamify the system and establish the legitimacy of any overheard conversations.

By 2019, young members of the Foundation were participating in congressional internships and later joining the staffs of senators and representatives from both political parties.

Once everything was in place, the Foundation cast its bait upon the waters. On occasion, a few of the implants would have an easily overheard conversation regarding a luxury bomb shelter six or seven hours away from their location. Other implants in offices were used to confirm some information, and if they also worked in the offices of someone who had already taken the bait, they could report back anything overheard in return.

The aim was to entice those who chose themselves and their comfort over those they had been elected to serve. The Foundation was politically neutral and provided equal opportunity in this respect. When a search in the area contained specific phrases, we added our links to the results, allowing those targeted to find the materials we planted. Once the identities of those who took our bait were known, the same search results would also appear if they searched once they returned to their home states.

No one had to act on the lure dangled in their path, but over the years, some continued to access the breadcrumbs. And true to the Foundation's initial hopes, those who did so regularly were among the worst of their kind. They thought only of themselves, angling for comfort, money, position and power. They used lies as cudgels, exposing the truth about themselves while trying to project it onto those opposing their grim, authoritarian vision of the world they wanted to bring about.

In June 2023, construction of the set was completed. It was then that Alexandra, along with other members of the Pharos team, traveled to view the completed stage before the other participants arrived.