Sam was led by the mayor to the railing on the platform looking down to the soft red walls of Vulgina many stories below. There were no buildings or people on the ground in Vulgina, it was something Sam had wondered about for a while. Looking at a platform below, he saw a number of workers all dressed in waterproof clothing with breathing apparatuses, all holding long pipes connected to tanks.

Sam turned to his side as Mayor Sal handed him a small cup of white liquid. As the mayor sipped at another cup he held, Sam followed suit. The liquid was rich and creamy. The flavour was almost sweet and it felt surprisingly filling.

"Milk delivered all the way from the Grand Boob-Ei Mountains. You should really go see it some time. The mountains may not be as large the ones you are used to back home in Sphink-Tiari, but the city is pleasant, and the tunnels are like a labyrinth, each passage providing more sweet beverages like this!"

Sam looked down at his new clothes as he sipped his warm milk. He felt like he was using up a lifetime of luck in one sitting to experience all these luxuries in one day.

"Vulgina isn't able to provide the same materials as other cities." the mayor explained breaking the silence. "We can't harvest methane like Sphink-Tiari, we don't fight disease or harvest interesting foods like Den-Tal or the Diges Sea. We don't have luxuries like Scal-Pah, Ear Point Canal, Nos-Trel, or Boob-Ei. We are known for three main resources however. The first are the great redwoods of the Red Pubia Mound as you saw earlier. While they aren't as luxurious as the clothes of Scal-Pah, they are very useful for building materials. The third I will show you later at the end of our tour. But the second great resource we provide is about to start now.

People cheered as the rhythm of the slowly shifting walls began to change. People banged on drums and danced to the rhythm as the ground began to shift more and more.

"Ahhhhhhhhh...." the voice of the goddess could be heard as the shifting began to increase. The interior grew brighter as the great gateway began to open wider than when Sam had first arrived.

From deep within the depths of the tunnel, a loud rumble could be heard. Outside, the goddess' voice continued to rise more intense as the walls began to pulse all the harder.

"It's coming!" the people cheered as they all danced and kissed and played as chaotically as the world around them.

Desperately Sam attempted to cling onto the railing as he noticed the air was rapidly becoming hot and humid. A warm air with a strange scent blew through from the depths of Vulgina. Just as he was about to ask what was going on, a small river of thick white fluid came streaming down along the ground. The walls, the people, everything was coated as the strong torrent rushed through below us. The workers with pipes began working to suck up the thick fluid as the walls began to settle down again.

"Well, that's about as much as we can generate with just the Gate Control Center." the mayor replied as Sam looked amazed at the small river which had formed.

"This is nectar." he explained. It can be manufactured and turned into cement, lubricant, or even affordable food bars. I am sure you ate more than a few of them where you come from."

He was right. Sam remembered eating the sweet/salty bars that his mother used to serve back in The Pit. He had always wondered what they were made from, but his mother would only say "The goddess provides us with all our sustenance."

"It is an incredibly flexible material." the mayor continued. "It is thanks to it that we are able to settle cities so far away from The Cavern of Den-Tal or the Boob-Ei mountains! I wish we could produce more to meet with demand, but unfortunately the great floods our ancestors created is now a lost knowledge to us."

Watching the workers down below Sam had been amazed at all I had witnessed in Vulgina City up until this point. "What is the third thing Vulgina is known for producing?" He asked curious.

"I'll show you." the mayor replied. "But first, let's take a shower before this nectar dries!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It felt good to take a shower. All water was collected by those who lived on the exterior of Rae-Chial and had somehow found a way to manage to survive the torrential downpours of bubbly slippery water that would batter the land occasionally. Back at The Pit, they would burrow deep into the mine during such storms and praise the goddess for the protections her mountains provided. Any rain that did reach them was usually slowed down by the mountains as well as the pulsating entrance to the pit, and it could be collected easily for a non-salty equivalent to the kinds of water they usually harvested.

Perhaps it was from the heat generated during the flood, but the water was wonderfully warm, and felt amazing as Sam washed the nectar off of his body. Once he exited the shower he found his clothes had already been washed and prepared for him. He got changed and left to find the mayor waiting for him outside.

"There is one last stop we will make today." the mayor explained as he led Sam deep into Vulgina. "Originally it was not part of the plan, but seeing as you still haven't registered as an adult yet, I figured we could make the experience a little more memorable!"

"What do you know about where we come from?" the mayor asked.

"The usual I guess." Sam shrugged. "I was told that we are all created by the goddess herself."

"Well, that is certainly true." the mayor chuckled, "but we do have a part to play in it as well."

Sam was led to the furthest depth of Vulgina where there sat a massive wall. On the wall stood a large red ring, similar to the entrance to The Pit, but much smoother. Nectar still dripped slightly from it as Sam was led up a still slimey set of stairs to a small building that traveled through it.

Once Sam was inside he was led to a giant room of computers and machines. There were numerous small stalls all around me that looked like the building could handle hundreds of people simultaneously.

"Welcome to birthing room!" the mayor proudly announced. "This is a relic left for us by our ancestors. With this, we are able to keep on living in spite of our inability to reproduce ourselves."

"How does it work?" Sam asked amazed. In answer to his question, the Mayor led him to a large window on the far wall.

Sam could hardly believe his eyes. Before him was a massive red room. Possibly bigger than all of Vulgina! The room was mostly bare save for two holes, one on either side. From one of the holes, something seemed to be starting to come out. Workers were hard at work spraying the unidentified ball with some sort of spray.

"This is our goddess' womb." the mayor explained. Once a year our goddess provides us with an egg of fertility. Normally, the egg of a goddess, no matter how fertile she may be, would be incompatible with our DNA. But our forefathers left us instructions to create a solution. This solution transforms the goddess' gift from one egg into thousands. Once that process is complete, we can fill the egg with our genetic material to give birth to new citizens that will carry on our civilization!"

The mayor placed a hand on Sam's shoulder. "This is why citizens register to become adults in Vulgina. It is vitally important for the male population to donate their genetic material to the machine. It is only from these donations that we can keep our civilization going."

The mayor laughed as Sam looked up at him flustered.

"Don't worry." the mayor replied. "We are not asking you to become a father just yet. It is impossible to tell which citizen created which child in the machine. Because of that, children are distributed to families which volunteer based on which city needs more citizens. You'll have time for that when you are older!"

A bit more relaxed Sam looked back through the window at the massive cavern of his goddess. Completely unpopulated and yet so important to our civilization. It felt like an honor just to be here.

"So, are you willing to donate?" the mayor asked. Sam nodded to causing him to break out into a large smile.

"Great!" he replied. "Normally I would just ask you to enter one of those booths and let the process happen automatically, however, since you are an honored guest today, and it is currently activated... how about we try something a bit more... exciting!"

Sam was led up a set of stairs to a private room. The room was still small but far more luxurious than the floor below. At the far end of the room, a console with a small hole at waist height sat. On top of the console was a helmet and pair of gloves with wires sticking out of them.

"This is a device which is usually only reserved for royalty." the mayor explained. "But it has been many generations since anyone has had the right to use it, so I say, why not let the young have their chance!"

The mayor led Sam over to the console and handed him the helmet and gloves. "Another gift from our ancestors." he explained. "This device only works when the goddess slumbers. The wires attached to it connect directly to her. It will allow you to enter the subconscious of the goddess herself, and experience the world as she sees it."

Sam went to put on the helmet when the mayor gave him one last word of warning.

"You are about to enter the presence of the goddess herself." the mayor warned. "Even though what you will be experiencing won't be real, it has the potential to affect her entire body. Might I just warn you, treat her well."

With that warning, the Mayor left the room to give Sam some privacy. Sam took a deep breath. He was about to meet the goddess face to face. Him. Just a scrawny tall boy from The Pit. Did he have the right to do this? But the mayor had trusted him this far. Maybe it was time he did the same.

With the gloves on, Sam pulled down his pants and put on the helmet. As soon as the visor covered his eyes, his consciousness was transported to a higher realm.