Ascend - Act I — Opening Number - What We're Building Here

[The Story — New Meridian, 2091. Cael Morrow rises from the Lower Grid to lead a revolution called The Ascending, seizes the Governing Council, and slowly becomes the very thing he overthrew. His oldest friend Lyra watches the drift. His enforcer Sable runs further than he authorized. And the people eventually sing his own words back at him as an indictment.] [Cael, Lyra, Ensemble — Tenor-Baritone, Mezzo-Soprano, SATB] [Intro] [Instrumental – driving electronic pulse beneath rising piano] [Verse 1] [Male Vocal] They drew the lines before we were born Split the city, split the seams Put us down where the lights don't reach And called it a system — called it a dream Said the grid is the grid And the walls are for order Said your place was assigned Long before you were born [Pre-Chorus] But I've been standing in the dark too long I know the weight of every wrong And if nobody's coming to fix this thing — Then let me tell you what we're building here [Chorus] [Ensemble] What are we building here? What are we building here? [Male Vocal] Something that wasn't given to us Something they never thought we could trust Ourselves to run, to rise, to decide — What we're building here is pride [Verse 2] [Female Vocal] I've watched you talk since we were seventeen You'd climb on anything — a crate, a wall You'd talk about the future like you'd seen it Like the city owed us something after all [Male Vocal] Because it does. [Female Vocal] Because it does. [Pre-Chorus] [Male and Female Vocal] And I'm not waiting anymore I'm not asking for a door They won't open — so we'll build the frame We'll burn the silence, speak the name [Chorus] [Ensemble] What are we building here? What are we building here? Something that matters — something that lasts Something to throw at the ones who held the past [Bridge] [Male Vocal] We're building a movement We're building a floor We're building a city worth fighting for And when the Council looks down from their tower of stone We'll let them know — They're not building alone [Final Chorus] [Full Ensemble] WHAT ARE WE BUILDING HERE? [Outro] [Instrumental – driving beat fades to abrupt silence]