The survivors living at Outpost Three are broken into two social classes: the Purples and the Grays. The former are decked out in lavish Victorian-era formal wear, flouncing to dinner in satin gowns and lavender brocade suits. Unfortunately for the Grays — Mallory among them — they're the Outpost's "worker ants." They wear drab, all-grey outfits as they scrub the floors, tend to the Purples, and go outside to scavenge for messages from the ever-silent Cooperative.