Excerpts from Chapter II of "Levels" - Next Level

A head suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and it seemed at first to be floating in thin air. (Page 30)

"What happened to all those people?"
The Revered One's answer was immediate, concise, and utterly terrifying: "Most of them died." (Page 40)

"I don't care what the Revered One says. I am slowly becoming a Changed One!" (Page 46)

Back in Main Level, replacement clothing and footwear had always appeared on our sleeping pallets as if by magic. (Page 49)

I was convinced that some terrible catastrophe must have struck while we were sleeping that had caused the Revered Ones to lose their sanity. (Page 54)

After one mini cycle, the aches and pains were barely noticeable. Our bodies were beginning to harden, and we no longer looked upon the various forms of exercise that we participated in as torture. (Page 56)

Throughout our entire lives, any environment to which we had been exposed had always been neat and orderly. That which we now gazed upon was totally alien and impossible to comprehend. (Page 58)

"Edward, you can talk, can't you?"
When Edward just nodded and smiled, Alfred continued the interrogation. (Page 67)