Seeing it from this angle , Sarah couldn ' t imagine how anything could beat the Purifier . The main structure rose towards the sky at a fortyfive degree angle . It seemed as though it had landed and planted itself in to the earth , like a spear thrown by a colossus , the butt of the shaft barely visible through the thick grey clouds above . The shadow cast by the factory had completely eclipsed the beach below it , although from the rubbish she could see lapped upon the shore she assumed this was a welcome sideeffect of its design . Sarah remembered hearing stories about the coast long stretches of sand and seaweed , dunes and rockpools , it sounded beautiful as a child . The sight before her now was far from the image passed down from previous generations , and the smell was even worse . This is number seventeen , grunted her guide between bites of his doughnut . E 17 . E for East Coast . I know , George . Thank you . replied Sarah , as sincerely as she could muster . What , does he think I haven ' t been briefed ? He seemed to have read her mind . It ' s just , y ' know , I wasn ' t sure how much you Inland folk knew about ' em , seein ' you don ' t even get to see ' em on the ' net or anything anymore . They can ' t hide everything from us . George stopped eating midbite . He misunderstood . Beside , I ' ve been briefed on the situation . They wouldn ' t want to send someone completely ignorant of The Walls . I know the basics , they ' ve shown me pictures and basic schematics . I just didn ' t expect them to be so . Big ? the old man laughed , spraying chunks of sprinkles across her freshly pressed suit . Lady , this ' s one ' ve the smaller ones . I grew up down by the border , y ' couldn ' t even see the tops ' ve the ones down there . His accent was starting to get on her nerves . Why did the department assume she needed a guide ? And why on earth out of every Coaster they could ' ve called upon would they choose George ? From the files included in the brief she could tell that he had worked on Purifiers since he was twelve , but as far as she could tell he had never been promoted or tasked with any serious responsibilities in his fortytwo years of experience . His age , she suddenly realized . Most don ' t live past twenty , this poor bastard has outlived all of them . No wonder he ' s the most qualified . Maybe I am just an ignorant inlander after all . The shuttle stopped just shy of the main security gate . The two guards by the checkpoint waved her and George over . She wouldn ' t have been able to tell them apart from the workers if not for the gasmasks and standard issue rifles the soldiers wore the same grimy overalls as the laborers . One spoke , the other aimed . I . D , pass and justification of entry his tone implied it wasn ' t a question . Sarah Stone , Office of International Relations . I ' m here to have a look around . Even with the mask , the guard somehow managed to look surprised . Shit , no one told us OIR were visiting . Is this about the George Morales , , interrupted George . They ' ve asked me to show ' er aroun ' theYeah yeah , we know all about you Buttercake . One more word and Lazlo here gives you another hole to eat with . The second guard tapped the butt of his rifle reassuringly . Place your hands under the scanner . Lady , you ' re new here so a word of advice , put your damn mask on and don ' t take it off , especially in the refinery . She ' d forgotten about the mask she had been issued for the assignment . She opened up her briefcase and rummaged around for it , but the smog had built up on her contacts making it almost impossible to focus . No wonder the they don ' t wear their uniforms , they ' d be ruined after a few hours . She rubbed her eyes clean her Personal Display lit up for a moment , and the words ' RECALIBRATING ' appeared blurred over each eye until they met in the middle as one clear image . Hey ! Squeeked George , What ' s with th ' glowin ' eyes ? They just change color or somethin '? The closest soldier slammed his hand in to the scanner . What ' d I just fuckin ' tell you George ? Keep . Your . God . Damn . Mouth . Shut . George kneeled over , cupping his twisted fingers . Jesus fuckin ' christ , haven ' t any of you stupid fuckin ' Coaster ' s seen a Lens before ? The other one laughed as he lowered his gun . The ads say ' Human Made ', doesn ' t that mean you coaster ' s make ' em ? , Yeah , replied the first again , Except the ones too stupid for that job end up here . Come on , get your ass inside fuckface . You too lady , OIR or not we haven ' t got all day . George led her through to the main worker assembly area , clutching his now purple swollen wrist with his other hand . I thought they ' d be giving me a security escort , thought Sarah , not using one to injure the little security I have . Laborers marched like legions across the ground level , each squadron with their own unique colored overalls , although all were so faded and grimy that they seemed more like different shades of grey and brown . The ground floor reminded Sarah of a stadium with a roof installed . The area seemed somehow both infinitely large and paradoxically claustrophobic at the same time . There were no windows , only giant floodlights in each corner , and the sounds of feet shuffling and people coughing echoed endlessly . Next elevat ' r leaves in five , I ' ll get ' cha to the front of the queue , just flash ya badge if anyone gets handsy yeah ? Thank you . Do you need to get your hand checked out ? I can wait . Pfft , George winced , suddenly reminded of the pain , No point . Already used up all ' mah injury breaks for the month . This ain ' t so bad , asshole just clocked me on the same damn hand I had squished few weeks back , t ' sall . I ' ve still got it , that ' s the important bit . Won ' t go on quarterpay if I still got both hands , see ? . He wasn ' t lying . Some of the workers were missing hands or in some cases entire limbs . They seemed to be the skinniest ones here . Sarah had no idea how George could afford his doughnuts , but he sure as hell wouldn ' t be able to without a hand he could pass off as working . Why on earth isn ' t this all automated ? . It suddenly occurred to her that her suspect might not be a pollutant terrorist after all , maybe they were dealing with a Worker ' s Liberator fanatic ? She had to keep an open mind . They rode the large open elevator with a whole squadron and two other guards all the way up to level 37 . She winced as at one point she leant against the handrail only to have it buckle and creak against her weight . The guard yelled at her for a moment for not standing in formation until he remembered she wasn ' t one of the laborers . She watched as a loosened screw tumbled downwards , bouncing off girders and light fittings until she could no longer see its glint far below . Unlike the ground floor , L 37 had large windows that stretched all the way from the floor to the turbines roaring above . She squinted as the bright orange rays spread across the room from the opposite direction than she was expecting . It ' s early morning , why is the light coming in from the East ? One quick view out the opposite window immediately answered her question . While the view eastward was clear and bright , the view of the ocean was obstructed by the thick black smog being pumped out and repelled by the Purifier . Through a smaller opening to the north she could almost pinpoint the exact spot where the invisible energy wall protected her country from the toxic international air . No offence ma ' am , but we ' s ain ' t here to admire the view , interjected George , moving her along with the crowd with a polite nudge . Come on , the other workers are gawkin '. As she turned her head she noticed the bloody footprints . Continued in next comment