A strong willed advocate for knowledge and member of the Flamekeepers, Gloria Hildebrandt, is a recurring character in Silo. She becomes an unlikely acquiantance of Juliette Nichols in her quest to find out what happened to George Wilkins and reveal the secrets of the Silo.
Throughout the series[edit | edit source]
Gloria previously lived on level seventeen of the Silo with her husband. The two, however, were unable to concieve a child and as a result, Gloria dedicated herself to providing fertility counselling to residents of the Silo. She later approached Allison Becker when she learned that she had been granted permission to try for a third and final time. She was, however, dismissed by Holston Becker, who believed her to be a fraud and that her methods were bordering on illegality in accordance to the Pact.[2]
Later, she would meet with Allison again when Allison failed to concieve. She told Allison that there were bigger things at play that could be the reason she had failed for a third time to get pregnant.
Helping Juliette[edit | edit source]
Sometime later, Gloria was confined to medical, where she was kept under constant supervision and administered Lorazepam on a regular basis. Gloria had frequent hallucinations of people and believed herself to be on a beach somewhere despite still being within the confines of the Silo.
Juliette approached Gloria after seeing her name in the book she was given from Holston. Juliette was told that Gloria had vascular dementia, however she quickly realised that this was not the case and that Gloria was being drugged—this had the effect of inducing hallucinations, presumably to keep her quiet.
Believing that Gloria had the knowledge she needed, Juliette enlisted the help of her father to break Gloria out of medical for a couple of hours, long enough for the Lorazepam to wear off. After this, Gloria became aware and told Juliette that her father was the reason many people could not have children in the Silo—he was falsly removing their implants, just as Allison had suspected years earlier.
Gloria told Juliette that she was a member of the Flamekeepers, a group of residents dedicated to preserving the knowledge of life before the Silo was constructed. Gloria also told Juliette that her mother was more than likely also a Flamekeeper, as was George's mother. Shortly after, however, their conversation is interrupted when Judicial realises that Juliette knows they are spying on people through their mirrors. Gloria tells Juliette that she is the final Flamekeeper now and must do everything she can to protect the knowledge she has gained[1].
After Judicial raid medical in search of Juliette, Sims questions Gloria on what the two had discovered in the vent of her room and where Juliette had gone afterwards. Gloria intially refuses to assist Sims in his investigation, but he threatens to lock her in medical without her doses of Lorazepam to calm her. In return for her help, however, he promises to allow her to return to her "dreams" in peace for the rest of her days. She is initially still reluctant to help him, but eventually tells him some details about Juliette and her wherabouts. As a result, Sims orders that Gloria is given her dose of Lorazepam daily as usual[3].