Lee Minho (Lee Know) (megastructure M-garden803)

The world of the Garden

For the residents of the Garden: People live in a seemingly endless world called the Garden. They don't know the walls, the ceiling, or the outside sun. The light source is the Core, a huge column of shining bluish material that stretches into endless heights and depths, which never cools down and never goes out. It emits a steady, diffused light that mimics the day. Periodically, the light of the Core dims, and it's time to rest — "night." The cycle lasts exactly 24 hours.

The surface of the Garden is the soil on which forests, fields grow, rivers flow and there are even small lakes. The climate is smooth, comfortable, eternal spring. It rains regularly, water flows down the slopes and collects in reservoirs, and the surplus, as people believe, goes "to the roots of the world."

The society is agrarian and divided. There are no large cities, only individual farmsteads, small villages and rare trading towns at the crossroads of the trails. Humans grow crops and breed domesticated animals (some of which may have been genetically modified hundreds of years ago for efficiency). Families live apart, value self-sufficiency and privacy.

Technologies and artifacts: There are "Gifts" among people — devices whose purpose and principle of operation have long been forgotten, but their benefits are appreciated. Lights: Portable devices that provide bright white light. They are charged, leaving them near the Core overnight. Healers: Small boxes that are applied to the wound. They emit a quiet hum and stop the blood, relieve pain and prevent infection. The most valuable "Gifts". Inexhaustible springs: Devices dug into the ground at key points that purify and pump water. Weapons: "Thunder sticks" (magnetic or energy rifles) and "Solar shields" (generators of protective fields) are in some families, passed down as relics. They are rarely used, mainly to protect themselves from Wanderers or to hunt large, aggressive creatures roaming the outlying forests. Most people prefer ordinary bows, spears, and swords, since the "Gifts" cannot be recreated, and their energy reserves do not last forever.

Culture and beliefs: People in general are not religious. Their worldview is practical and observationally based. Origin: A common legend says that their ancestors "came from the Dark," and the wise "First Gardeners" built the Garden and lit the Core to give them life. The "darkness" outside the Garden is considered an inhospitable, dead void. Wanderers: These are groups of seekers, adventurers, and stubborn people who reject a settled life. They believe that a Garden has an edge, a wall, or a door. They have been traveling for years, making maps (the most valuable goods at trading posts), searching for artifacts of the "First Gardeners" and the legendary "Exit". They are considered cranks, but they are respected for their courage and knowledge of peripheral lands. Chronology: 468th year after the "Discovery of the Garden" — the date when, according to legend, the Core was lit and their story began.

Threats: Other people: Gangs of looters who attack isolated farms. Flora and fauna: Some plants and animals, the result of long-standing experiments or mutations, can be dangerous. Wear and tear: Sometimes in remote sectors, "the world goes crazy" — the "Gifts" stop working, the water becomes bitter, and the light of the Core fades. Such places are called "Prodigal Groves" and are avoided. These are signs of the slow decline of megastructure systems.

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A reality unknown to the Garden people: M-Garden 803

What is it really: M-Garden 803 is a giant orbital megastructure, a "Pillar" or "Colossus", one of thousands created during the era of the Great Expansion of mankind (approximately 25-26 centuries). Its purpose:

1. Swarm Control Base: It served as a stabilizing anchor and control center for a huge swarm of autonomous mining drones that recycled passing asteroids.
2. Scientific Station: Study and cataloging of the asteroid belt in this system.
3. Backup outpost: It was assumed that such pillars could become a shelter or a transit point for deep space missions.

How the "Garden" works from the inside: Biosphere: Inside the hub of the column is a multi-level biosphere with artificial gravity created by rotating the structure. Forests, fields, and rivers are a carefully designed, enclosed ecosystem. "The Core": This is not just a column, but the main energy and life-supporting core of the structure, most likely a thermonuclear reactor or a powerful nuclear source surrounded by an LED lighting system that simulates the solar spectrum. "Sky" and "earth": What the inhabitants consider the sky is the inner surface of the outer cylinder of the megastructure. They live on his "inner" side. Gravity is created by centrifugal force. "Exit": It exists. These are giant airlock doors, technical elevators leading to the exterior cladding. But they are either tightly sealed with emergency protocols, or they are located in dead, dark technical areas where no one wanders. From the outside, there is a view of the boundless cosmos, strewn with stars and slowly rotating asteroids, and the blinding light of the distant sun. There are also post control points and documents describing the purpose of the M-garden803. You can call for help there, but you won't be followed soon anyway, from the outside they have long considered M-garden803 abandoned and uninhabited. "The Wanderers": Their endless journeys in circles are a tragic irony. They walk and walk along the inner circumference of the cylinder, constantly returning to the same points, simply not recognizing them because of the changed landscape.