Living in an alien controlled region was hard and difficult, but after a decade of surviving in an OCR, Bethany felt she could face and overcome anything the aliens threw at her.
The aliens had segmented the residential regions into tiers or districts. The A-district houses the new elites of the humans. Its inhabitants were those the Crugi had chosen to serve as diplomats to the masses. They accepted the policies of the occupation and tried to convince their fellow humans to do the same. In the eyes of others, they were traitors of humanity, yet they enjoyed certain privileges and were also put in charge of all the companies and industries that survived the invasion.
The B-district and C-district were relatively occupied by those who had surrendered early to the Crugi. They were given spacious residences and had access to some basic amenities too.
District D to F was occupied by the 'unfortunate ones', as Bethany termed them. The humans there lived in what was known as crate-houses; single rooms with thin walls and cramped space. The walls were so thin, that one could almost hear the conversation going on in the other room without necessarily eavesdropping. Most of these houses were built on top of one another like blots of flats, while others were terraced together. The crime rates in these districts were high and armed Myrixs patrolling the area was a common sight, daily. The Resistance had its roots in these areas and there were frequent random house searches and suspect parades by the invaders almost every week. People died daily in these districts that living to see the end of the day was a great blessing or an answer to unsaid prayers. If one was able to survive the blasts and minor assaults from Myrixs' weapons, they would find themselves at risk of death from the warring human factions in these districts. These factions were formed by desperate and influential people who aimed solely on providing for themselves and their followers. Small gangs as they were, they fought for scarce resources, residential space and authority. They operated solo without aid from the Resistance, and didn't associate or have faith in the Resistance's beliefs of sending the invaders packing. They refused to join forces with the Resistance, despite several pleas to end the bloodshed and come together. Most deterred from provoking the Resistance and their members while others gave information to the Crugi for money, rations or arms.
If the residents could also survive and escape the wrath of these factions, they would find themselves in the grasp of starvation. People compromised on their values in order to survive. Many joined the Resistance, or one of the human factions, while others became informants to the Crugi government.
The E-district was mainly the outskirts of the city and humans were forbidden to enter or be caught within the area with the consequence of being shot on sight. It was filled with mostly decimated and abandoned buildings that were struck during the TakeOver. The Crugi stationed several outposts and any deserter caught, was executed on the spot.
The extraterrestrials gathered personal data on everyone living with the Occupied Region(OCR), through the aid of the high tech gauntlets which they placed on every human from the age of twelve. The gauntlets were made out of Imperium, an alien element which was non-existent in the Solar System and one which was indestructible. This made the gadget safe from any sort of damage including fire, water and even steel. The devices were also impossible to take off; it had sharp needlers that pierced its owner and thus, became permanently transfixed. At first, many tried to take off the gauntlets but after all attempts failed, they gave up. A few die-hard ones went as far as severing their left arms with axes and machetes and then moved around, declaring themselves free from alien tyranny. The 'Freed Men' with their one forelimbs, declared a movement and began cutting the left arms of people; those who believed in them and those who resisted their movement. Their freedom and revolution was, however, short-lived as they were captured and promptly executed. Their deaths would be something, humans themselves, were grateful for, as everyone lived in constant fear of losing an arm.
The gauntlets also prove to be of great advantage and use to the humans as well as the Crugi. With the internet being shut down during the BlackOut and all the satellites being rendered unusable, there was a great need for a new network. Mobile phones, computers and PCs were useless and couldn't be used in the way they were originally designed. The Crugi now had the copyrights of every existing entertainment; movies, television shows, music, books, arts, and every single work. All these were available in their database and were only broadcast on the gauntlets and televisions. This implied they controlled everything that was watched or heard. Bethany herself, stopped watching the television as all the broadcasts were about laws and regulations, messages that threatened those who antagonized the new government, and live broadcast of executions and verdicts. All the entertainment, despite the fact that it was hand-picked by the Crugi, were available on the gauntlets. People could watch any show they wanted, without any cost and in privacy, thanks to the gauntlets.
They also replaced smartphones as they became the medium for calls and messages, be it audio or visual. These too, were regulated by the Crugi, and every conversation was privy to censorship by the invaders. This caused the humans to converse and chat in codes which the Crugi couldn't decipher. Bethany learned most of these codes and was able to use them.
The gauntlets were also the bank of its owner as human currencies were disbanded and bank buildings shut down or converted to other use. The Crugi introduced the new currency system of tokens and every single transaction was made using the gauntlets to transfer tokens from one's gauntlet account to another, using unique gauntlet numbers.
Life on Earth ceased to be the way it used to be , and the humans were trying to adjust, Bethany being one of them.