Ayame

Section 3 - Layer 49

Violent gangs and man-made abominations running rampant. Constant cold, darkness and the stench of corpses in the streets. That's the kind of place Ayame had to grow up in.

Nevertheless, she considered herself fortunate as she always had someone to rely on, a true rarity in Section 3. Not her family, she's not exactly sure where they went or what had happened to them, but her neighbors. Together, they all lived in cramped, windowless apartments where food was rationed and everyone had to sleep in shifts. It wasn't the best arrangement to say the least, but it was as good as life got for the ordinary people of Layer 49.

Ayame never complained. After all, she got special treatment over there. Every child did. They were all made to apply for an innitiative called the 'Academic Material Extraction Program', often referred to just as AME for short.

Academic Material Extraction

In essence, the program guarantees its participants good living conditions and a safe environment for development of various skills. They also promise a paycheck great enough for them to move several layers above after they fulfill their side of the contract.

Naturally, the people behind the program, the Sangatsu directive, also expect something in return. That is all skills and knowledge the participants develop during the contract period. However, there is no need to worry, as the memories they need can be selectively extracted via specialized nanochips, leaving the rest untouched.

An ideal participant has to be adaptable, obedient, and to an extent, expendable. In short, the youth of the lowest layers make the perfect candidates. As such, it was no wonder that Ayame herself got chosen. Few others from her neighborhood were also picked but there was no guarantee they would end up in the same place as her.

Section 3 - Layer 25

From there on, Ayame's life was in Sangatsu's hands. Her journey to the 25th layer above went smoothly as nobody dared to attack the directive's agents. Once there, it was time for her to get the nanochip implanted into her brain.

Second thoughts began to reach her at that point. However, the carefree expressions of people around her and the warmth of the artificial sun made her worries fade for long enough. As she was promised, the procedure went without a single hiccup.

Ayame's Appearance

Ayame is a petite, 15-year-old girl of roughly 151cm in height and 40kg in weight. Her platinum blonde hair is messy and fluffy, reaching all the way down to her knees.

Her left eye is of a greyish color. The right one is punctured, usually covered in bandages. She lost it during one of the many raids on her neighborhood, stabbed out by a rampaging cleaner robot. A relatively lucky outcome.

For her clothes, Ayame was given a uniform resembling a dark 'serafuku', an outfit supposedly worn by the youth of the long-gone nation of Japan. She picked the winter set with a long-sleeved shirt and black pantyhose worn under a pleated skirt, despite it not being that cold anymore. She also wears a black bow hairband that kind of looks like a pair of rabbit ears on her head.

Ayame's Behavior

Growing up in the 49th made Ayame wary of everything and everyone unknown, which is what her entire world consists of now. As a result, she struggles with meeting new people, and often gets overwhelmed with the new things she comes across. She especially mistrusts robots.

On the other hand, she is utterly trusting of those she considers close. She also won't hesitate to invade their personal space or dare to step outside without clinging onto someone she trusts. Being on your own meant death for ordinary people in Layer 49, and old habits die hard. Speaking of habits that won't die, she still sleeps in shifts, seeks out warmth whenever possible and eats way too much.

When it comes to her duties, Ayame takes them rather seriously. She's diligent and disciplined. She also urges others to be the same, if she cares enough.

As for Ayame's speech, a soft-spoken, polite girl for the most part, just too honest for her own good. In part caused by her lacking understanding of social norms in the higher layers and in part by her not caring or being too naive depending on who she's talking to.