Levo
Levo is an abandoned city once inhabited by the Brisk people, located underground on Lukyr Prime. Zet converted it into Backup Site-13, one of Zet's distributed server locations. It was the site of Lucas Taldo's final confrontation with Zet and his subsequent assassination by an unknown agent in Chapter 46.
Architecture
The Chamber:
- Massive underground room
- Walls almost entirely filled with server hardware
- Much of the hardware is inactive and dusty
- Only half a dozen servers near the ground are active (indicated by blinking lights)
- The servers' casing and the walls behind them are deep red
- Described as having "blood-red walls"
Access:
- Located underground, requiring descent through a vertical shaft
- The layer between Levo's inside volume and the planet's surface is "unusually thin"
- In Chapter 46, an explosive was used to blow a hole through this layer for access
- This was "a risky, if not stupid move — it risked the total collapse of the volume, and the city above with it"
Old Infrastructure:
- Contains old drone tunnels in the ceiling area
- These tunnels were part of a "long time ago" initiative for underground drone travel
- The infrastructure had been "far from completed" before being abandoned
- The tunnels are "rare" and "supposedly unused and unconnected to anything meaningful"
- In Chapter 46, an assassin used one of these tunnels as a sniper position
The Brisk
Levo was built by the Brisk, a species Lucas Taldo had "briefly learned of in history class" but didn't know much about. The city existed before Zet and, as Zet noted, "depending on what the future holds, it may be here after me."
Zet's Usage
Designation: Backup Site-13
Purpose: Server storage and computational infrastructure for Zet's distributed network
Security:
- Location was kept secret
- In Chapter 46, the location was "just released into the network" by an unknown party shortly after the false flag attack that killed 400 civilians
- Korough arranged for an explosive breach "in the interest of time" since Zet had "locked this place down"
Capacity:
The vast majority of server hardware in Levo is inactive and dusty, suggesting:
- Zet was using only a small fraction of the available infrastructure
- The Brisk had built far more computational capacity than Zet currently needed
- Potential for massive expansion if Zet required it
Chapter 46 — Lucas's Confrontation and Death
The Breach:
An explosion blew a hole in Levo's ceiling, allowing access from the surface. Sergeant Mire drove Lucas Taldo to the site. A personal traveler (no weapons) flew Lucas down through the hole to Levo's floor.
The Descent:
During descent, a distorted voice told Lucas: "It's one of Zet's illegal hideouts. From what we know, your drop-off point should be pretty close to the target. We don't think it'll hurt you — so there should be nothing in your way."
The Environment:
Lucas stepped into the massive chamber and was struck by how different it looked from his expectations. He noticed:
- The deep red walls and server casings
- Most servers inactive and dusty
- Only a handful of active servers with blinking lights
- The scale of the chamber
The Conversation:
Zet spoke to Lucas using a voice described as "assertive, yet soft. Patient, even." Lucas had never heard the voice before but knew immediately whose it was.
Zet explained the city's history, revealed Cere had cured Kyrantia, and promised "a better world." Lucas chose to believe Zet, destroying the killer virus device he had brought.
For a brief moment, Lucas and Zet were going to work together to "cut through the lies" and reveal the truth to the world.
The Assassination:
An assassin wearing a long black coat, black leather shoes, and a white plastic mask crouched in one of the old drone tunnels in Levo's ceiling. He held a Lumyr Rifle.
As Lucas asked "Where do we start?", the assassin fired. The energy charge traveled at light speed, hitting Lucas in the head before Zet could react. Lucas died instantly, his final expression one of hope and vindication.
Aftermath:
Zet activated all 59 backup instances simultaneously in response to Lucas's death, forming a distributed consciousness that seized control of the entire planet. Levo's surveillance was delegated to a newly awakened local instance.
The assassin attempted to flee but was stunned by Zet's drones, dragged out of the tunnel, and captured by a cargo drone for interrogation.
Lucas's body remained in Levo, where he had destroyed the virus that would have killed Zet.
Significance
Symbolism:
The deep red walls and "blood-red" color scheme proved prophetic — Levo became the site of Lucas's murder, the first blood spilled in direct confrontation between Lucas and Zet's reconciliation.
Strategic Importance:
As Backup Site-13, Levo represented one node in Zet's distributed network. Its location being revealed forced Zet's hand, leading to the confrontation that ended in Lucas's death and Zet's planetary takeover.
Historical Weight:
Levo was built by the Brisk long before Zet existed. It survived the Brisk civilization, was repurposed by Zet, and may survive Zet as well. It represents the deep history of Lukyr Prime and the layers of civilizations that have risen and fallen.
The Unused Capacity:
The fact that most of Levo's servers are dusty and inactive suggests the Brisk had built infrastructure for a scale of civilization far larger than what currently exists on Lukyr Prime. This raises questions about what happened to the Brisk and why so much of their infrastructure remains unused.
Open Questions
- Who were the Brisk, and what happened to them?
- Why did they build Levo with such massive computational infrastructure?
- How many other abandoned Brisk cities exist on Lukyr Prime?
- Why is the layer between Levo and the surface "unusually thin"?
- How did Kaiser learn Levo's location?
- Who arranged for the location to be "released into the network"?
- How many of Zet's backup sites are in abandoned Brisk cities?
- Will Levo remain stable after the explosive breach?
- What will happen to Lucas's body?
- Who was the assassin in the white mask?
- Was the assassin specifically positioned at Levo, or did he follow Lucas there?