Mung sat on a rock near the perimeter looking out at the first rays of the forbidden sunlight. He had a good hour more before the intensity became harmful, and there was always the cave in case of an emergency. Of course, getting trapped in a cave meant that his chores would go undone and Momma Ralo would hit him on the leg with her stick, but that was better than dying. Mung looked under his biomech for signs of sun poisoning on his flesh, but found only goosebumps from the chilly breezes of the Abyss.
             I watched from my post in the tower. It was my job, among other things, to protect Mung and the other Children. My Children.
             "Mung," I said into my microphone. "The sun is coming up. You'd better go home." The man nodded and began to run, racing to go faster than the rays of the poisonous sun.
             Momma Ralo beat Mung well with her stick, but he did not cry. He knew he deserved the pain. Later, he sat tending the wounds as Momma looked on.
             "That's what bad children get," said Momma. "You could have died out there in the sun. Or worse."
             "Worse, Momma?" asked Mung. "What could be worse than death?"
             "I went there once," she said. "There was a place worse than death, but I can't remember where it was."
             "Perhaps it will come to you, Momma." Mung glanced down at his hairy legs. He felt like a child, but his body spoke otherwise. Stubble formed on his chin where he'd forgotten to shave it, and his arms and chest were hairy beneath his biomech. He was roughly thirty years old, but that was a useless fact. Age was forgotten among the Children.
             Mung sat on a rock near the perimeter looking out at the first rays of the forbidden sunlight. He'd been going through this routine every day for weeks now. He'd extended his biomech to cover more of his skin, thus allowing him a longer stay in the sunlight before sickness ...