1 Mission 1: A whisper of the past

PROLOGUE

• Year 2075 •

• 1st Sanctuary, 1st Ward •

With a jolt of consciousness, her eyes fluttered awake.

Groggily sitting up and allowing her eyes to adjust to her surroundings, she was welcomed with an unfamiliar setting. A room of white. White walls, white ceiling, white floor. The room seemed completely empty except for the small bed in the middle where she was currently in.

Furrowing her brows, she started gathering her thoughts. 'Where am I? What am I doing here?' But the more questions she asked herself the more confused she became. She could not remember anything. Her mind

seemed completely blank. Nothing

She tried lifting her arms but they felt heavy as if she hasn't used them in a while, as if they too were asleep. Her legs felt the same.

After a fierce battle and desperately shaking her legs and arms awake, she finally hopped off the bed.

Gravity seemed to hit her instantly and she crumbled to the ground in a heap of useless limbs. "Ah" A voice cried in surprise. she looked around but she remained alone. That must have been her voice. It was the first time she heard herself speak.

"H-hello" she tried. Her voice came out hoarse, barely a whisper as if it too had just awoken after years of not being used.

'Just how long was I asleep?' she thought to herself.

slowly, she stood up again, this time steadying herself with the bed's edges. She walked towards the wall nearest to her. She traced her hand along the wall not sure what she was looking for. 'If this was a room then there had to be a door somewhere.'

With that in mind, she continued to trace her hand along the wall. "Huh?!" She gasped in surprise as a blue light suddenly started shining along the wall, tracing the palm of her hand.

"User Verified"

"System Code Disabled"

"Containment Facility Number 0007 Unlocked"

A female voice rang inside the room. She could hear gears shifting behind the walls before the wall split in half creating a door. With trembling hands, she took the first step out of the room. A thick white mist seemed to appear beneath her feet. She felt herself shiver. She just realized how cold the white room was. "Keep room temperature at -75°C", the numbers on the side of the door read.

Pivoting her heels, she noticed how big the new room she entered was. With ceilings as high as the sky and walls as far as the eye could see. The room was filled with glass cylinders as big as hers with uncanny blue liquid inside.

She drew closer to the glass cylinder, noticing a shadow moving inside. She tapped her finger against the glass and to her surprise a finger from inside tapped back. It was a boy about the same age as her. His skin was a pale shade of white, His pitch black hair framing his face appeared to be a luminescent blue because of the blue liquid. It was a peculiar feeling. The girl felt her heart beat faster and it was as if a thousand tiny winged animals were fluttering in her stomach. And his eyes...

It was the most beautiful shade of gold she had ever seen, staring back at her in a catlike manner. She felt drawn toward them as if they were slowly pulling her in. She stared at him, mesmerized by his unworldly beauty, not noticing that she had already placed both her palms against the glass.

The boy in the glass curiously mirrored her gestures tilting his head to the side as their hands aligned from either side of the glass.

It was then that she noticed. How peculiarly frail this boy had been. How thin his arms and legs were. How his body was covered in blue and violet bruises. How he was breathing through the tube injected into his neck.

Her brows furrowed unconsciously, she didn't understand why he looked so...abused. She noticed the boy beyond the glass furrow his eyebrows in return once again mirroring her. 'Cute" she thought to herself as she reached out one of her hands to touch his forehead through the glass to tell him to stop frowning.

As he gave her a warm smile she couldn't help but stare at his eyes once again. They were simply too captivating for her young heart. But she saw something in his eyes that she failed to notice before. Loneliness?

No, it was fear.

As if on cue, the alarms started blaring and red lights flashed across the room.

"Warning"

"Warning"

The girl panicked as she saw men in black suits enter the room along with more people with white lab coats. "Put the whole laboratory under emergency lockdown. You must find her at all costs" A man in his mid-thirties with glasses shouted.

She saw a small child banging against her cage near the men. Wait, cage? She glanced round the room and true enough she saw dozens of children her age. Some in cages cowering in fear. Some with dozens of tubes and IVs connecting them to a machine. What is this place?

A small red-haired boy squirmed in his cage and bit one of the men in the leg. The man's face contorted into pain as he cursed at the child.

Bang!

The next moment, the red-haired boy was lying unconsciously on the ground, blood blooming from his white hospital gown.

Her heart was thumping against her chest faster. But it was a different feeling than the one she had earlier. It was suffocating as if being there would forcefully take the air out of her lungs. 'This must be fear' she thought. 'Is that what they're going to do to me when they find me?' She had to get away from here. Her instincts were telling her to run as she saw the men slowly search the room. She felt her body tremble and her knees quake. She backed away slowly.

Crash!

She had tripped on a chair behind her, causing heaps of paperwork and several vials to fall along with her. This caught their attention and before she knew it all the men were running toward her. They were 100 meters away she could still make a headstart if she started but his body seemed to protest. Her feet were frozen in place.

She saw the boy banging against the glass. Perhaps he wanted to help her? But it was a futile attempt and she could see him slowly giving up in her peripheral. Just when she thought he had given up, the boy yanked the tube from his throat forcefully causing him to choke on the water from the sudden lack of air.

The people in lab coats instantly panicked and rushed toward the boy in a desperate attempt to save his life. 'He must have been someone important for them to act that way' she thought to herself.

The boy's sacrifice did not go in vain. There seemed to be fewer men chasing her.

She sped past the large computer screens, gigantic glass cylinders, and children crying for help. Her heart was beating agonizingly against her chest, cold sweat was forming on her forehead and she could feel her hand trembling as she ran.

She could hear the loud thumping of the men's footsteps closing in. The deafening echoes of them shouting "Capture her!" and "Kill her!" reverberated across the white corridors causing her knees to tremble. The red flashing lights and the deafening alarms showed no signs of stopping and everyone seemed to be in chaos.

She must have tripped more than once while running and there was a blue bruise forming on her right arm from her fall but the pain seemed to be drowned out by the fear threatening to eat her from the inside out.

She craned her neck to search for an exit. The nearest one was at least 10 meters away. She could make it if she ran.

"Containment breach!"

"Containment breach!"

"Containment breach"

"Proceeding to Emergency Lockdown"

"No!" she shouted unconsciously as a steel bar started to appear in front of the door. She almost couldn't recognize her own voice. It was so high pitched and sounded so desperate, so afraid.

With a sudden burst of adrenaline, she used all remaining strength in her body and rushed towards the door barely making it out in time.

The frigid winter air welcomed her frail body and bit painfully against her skin. She took a step, and another, and another but it seemed as though the snow was pulling her down, stopping her from escaping. Her feet throbbed painfully as if screaming in protest. But she had to keep moving

The forest was basked in darkness, only the light of the moon helping her pave her way. She looked up, comforted by the sight of the moon. The moon graced the sky as if it had some bright idea, something brilliant needed to shine upon the Earth

Soon, she heard howls and barks from a distance. She hasn't gotten far from the building and her footsteps would make them find her easily. She tried moving faster but her body was no longer listening to her.

She shivered, rubbing her hand together for heat. She could see her breath against the cold winter air. She started to lose her sense of touch as her hand started to feel numb.

Red liquid started blooming against the white snow whenever she walked. Her feet were bleeding from walking on the snow barefoot. Her eyes started to feel hot with tears but they seemed to freeze before reaching her cheeks.

The men's footsteps drew closer, the dog's barks grew louder and soon enough they emerged from the shadows with a triumphant smile.

"No, please!" She cried but her voice sounded like a whisper. Her throat was becoming hoarse due to the cold.

Before the men reached her, she heard a rustle among the trees and a man in his mid-fifties appeared behind her with an annoyed face. He looked different from these men. His hair was a mixture of white and black, like salt and pepper and he wore a thick black fur-lined coat.

A spark of hope lit up inside her. "Help me!" She tried to run towards him, holding out her hand to him but but as soon as she took the first step, her body gave up. Causing her to fall on the cold unwelcoming winter floor.

"Close your eyes and cover your ears," The man told her as he picked her up. She welcomed the comforting embrace. He smelled like a burning campfire on a summer night or a warm furnace on a winter day. He smelled warm and comforting, he smelled safe.

"Who are you? Give us the girl and we'll let you live" One of the men shouted. Her face contorted into a mixture of fear, sadness, and guilt 'Oh no! Is he in danger because of me? Is he going to die because of me? Am I going to die?" Such thoughts filled her head and tears unconsciously streamed down her face.

As if reading her mind, the man patted her head and gave her a comforting smile. "Don't worry. Just close your eyes and cover your ears." This time, she nodded, pressing her tiny hand against her ears and shutting her eyes.

"Wait isn't he...."

"No don't....."

"Save me...."

She could hear some muffled voices and inaudible sounds but couldn't figure out what was happening.

When he put her down the men were all on the ground red blooming from their black suits and onto the white snow.

"What's your name?" He asked

"I don't know...."