For three centuries, the Grand Atrium of the Unbound served as the physical and spiritual core of the Kylosian Institute of Advanced Physics. Designed during the peak of The Great Inquiry, it was deliberately constructed without walls or doors. This architectural choice symbolized the Elegaran belief that knowledge should be freely accessible to all. Scholars from across the sector convened beneath its massive crystalline geodesic dome.
Within its open air, they passionately debated complex subjects like unified field theories and xenobiological ethics. It was in this very space that the groundbreaking First Theorem of FTL Stability was publicly proven. This pivotal discovery significantly advanced the entire sector's understanding of the Spike Drive. The Atrium was truly a beacon of intellectual freedom and scientific progress.
However, this era of open scholarship came to an abrupt end twenty-five years ago. Following the Diplomatic Annexation, the Atrium's original meaning was forcefully inverted. The Red Sun Dominion, considering the free exchange of ideas a threat to its Imperial security, designated the plaza a Class A Re-education Zone. This marked the beginning of its transformation into an instrument of control.
System Overseer General Kaelen Thorne swiftly ordered the construction of a permanent garrison at the Atrium's north end. The famous floating lecture podiums, once symbols of free discourse, were grounded and bolted to the floor. The former center of learning was thus transformed into a stark panopticon. Its very purpose was now to monitor and control.
Though the space remains physically open, it has become a sophisticated trap. Advanced audio scrubbers and algorithm-based conversation monitors meticulously analyze every spoken word for sedition. Despite this oppressive surveillance, the native students, adhering to The Axiom, treat the Atrium as an intellectual battleground. They ingeniously exploit the architecture’s unique acoustics, whispering mathematical ciphers that the Dominion’s crude surveillance AI cannot distinguish from background noise, keeping the spirit of inquiry alive through subtle insurgency.
The Grand Atrium of the Unbound now operates under martial surveillance, bubbling with intellectual insurgency and barely contained paranoia.
