Standing as a peak of human achievement Elysion One is the proof that man can conquer all.
By willpower, the wonders of scientific research through decades and the hard labour of the people, Elysion One is the Sacred Sanctum to protect us all. To once again hold LOEK III.

Where our predecessors failed we shall rise. Stronger.


The Bright Foundation has built this Sanctum for its people. The Bright Foundation has sworn to protect all its citizens from harm. Protect the walls and keep every man, woman and child safe. In the Bright Lights of Elysion One we shall fight for our survival.
We have nothing to fear.

The Bright Foundation shines its light upon us all.

The otherwise dim and bleak hospital room was now brightly lit by an eager camera crew. Technicians with large microphones gathered like flies around a corpse and that was not so far from the truth. Beside the bed stood a high backed chair and the general sat down with his usual strict dignity. The light hit him perfectly, showing his angular face. His age only accentuated his air of strength. Across from him lay his exact opposite. A pale shadow of a man. Plastic tubes coiling like worms from his every limb. Everything about him seemed broken, but his gaze was fixed upon the general without blinking. Despite the large amount of people in the room there was a silence so heavy that each breath made an impact. A signal went off and all of Elysion One would now bear witness to the tragic scene. Live entertainment for the masses.

"I trust you know why I am here Mr. Autumn."
General J. Whalebrook spoke calmly. His voice didn't give any hint of what might be going through his mind. The man in the bed simply looked at him and showed the same lack of emotion.
"Of course General. We’re going to talk about Renfield."
"Aye, so far the details concerning the Renfield incident has been classified information. The public needs to know what happened out there. You and me both know. You have sacrificed everything for the safety of Elysion One and as a last favour you have been asked to tell your story to the world."

Autumn's blue eyes seemed to catch a strange glow in the unnatural light of the room and for a fraction of a second they flashed with something that might have been fury. He responded calmly. His voice cracked by an obvious difficulty to breathe but his words would reach every ear across LOEK III.
"Sacrifices, yes. Still I am not the only one. If anyone should hold the honor of being remembered as heroes it would be the young Guardians who lost their lives out there."
"Who were they?"
"The Renfield operation had a designated team of four Core Guardians with the mission to re-activate a Core recently demolished by Lumes. A standard mission in the field. I lead the operation accompanied by Evan Gale and two new recruits. This would be their first real battle. It seems it became their last..."

Autumn fell silent and looked at the general as if daring him to comment on his last sentence. Whalebrook didn't even blink.
"What went wrong at Renfield Mr. Autumn?"
"We were unprepared for the size of the attack Sir. The Lumes reacted at the first hint of Core activity and the size of their horde was bigger than anyone could have anticipated. We had no other choice but to fight in order to get back to base and gather reinforcement."
"You have been raised to the status of a hero Mr. Autumn. How did you earn it?"
"There was nothing heroic about this. Sacrifice doesn't make a man a hero. There is nothing heroic about being a broken man in a hospital bed while another Guardian lies rotting in the ground and two recruits slaughtered like cattle and unknown to the world like irrelevant foot soldiers."
"Humble... But the people wants to hear about your actions."

"When the Lumes came we had already set up preliminary defences. One of the recruits was put in charge of repairing and planning the defence. She was on the outside of the grid when she was crushed. There was nothing to be done to save her. An irrational impulse to protect her gripped the second recruit who met a similar fate. Evan attempted to contact base but Renfield lies far from the facility. No help would have arrived in time."
"You fled?"
"We fought."
"And did you win?"

A machine connected to the hospital bed gave off a subtle beeping sound and a doctor quietly walked to the side of the bed. Her hands were trembling. Something that would go unnoticed by everyone. All eyes were fixed on the broken Guardian. The conversation came to a brief pause before Autumn slowly and with much effort leaned just an inch closer to the general to look him square in the eye.

"Tell me, Jackson old friend...Does this look like victory to you?"



The girls face was illuminated by the cold blue light of the screen in front of her. The rest of her cell was drowned in darkness. Perched on the edge of the bunk she kept her focus on the screen as if in a trance. Her posture gave off no sign of how she felt but in her lap her hands had formed fists. Knuckles white. A recently healed scratch started to bleed again but she paid it no mind. The interview came to it's end and the screen flickered and the broadcast ended.

"Victory..." She mumbled, staring blindly down at her own hands. She bit down on her lower lip hard. She refused to blink. Even when her eyes stung of tears she wouldn't allow.

In a sudden burst she hurled herself across the room and sent her fist slamming into the thin glass screen. It's shattering set off an alarm that drowned out the raging screams coming out of her mouth. The door slid open and two guards ran in to hold her down. It didn't matter anymore. Her knuckles were red with blood from bashing them at the wall when there was nothing left of the screen to destroy. The guards seemed tense and nervous as they tried to hold on to her arms. If they shouted any orders it would have been impossible to tell over the shrill alarm and the girls coughing curses. After a few moments of struggling her strength seemed to leave her. The alarm was shut off and the room was quiet again. Slowly she looked up at the men holding her. Her unexpected calm seemed to scare them more than her uncontrolled fury. The one to her right looked away awkwardly as she glared at him with wide blue eyes.

"She's shaken by seeing her father like that. Leave her be..." He was obviously worried and tried to avoid looking directly at the girl he held by the shoulders.
"We can't let her out of solitary yet. Top student or not. After what she did to Royce in training I'm surprised if they let her graduate at all."
"It's not exactly any of our business though, is it? I mean look at her!" He nodded his head towards her small figure. "What will it help to keep her in a cell? The damage is already done. Besides, Royce kind of had it coming the way he runs that training facility like a stuck up dictator."
“Whatever, our orders were-"
"♥♥♥♥ the orders! She'll break her way through the concrete wall if we try to keep her in here."

There was an uncomfortable silence where the guards kept their strong hands locked around her. The girl stood completely still, not moving a muscle while the men seemed to battle with who would have to make the decision. They were talking over her head as if she didn't even understand their language. The battle of their unwillingness to take the initiative ended when the one to her left looked down at her with some kind of concern.
"Skye?"

She ignored him. The tension was unbearable. He shook her slightly and repeated the name a little louder.

"We understand what you must be going through right now but... Uhm." He paused and the other man spoke up with a stern, condescending voice.
"If we let you out of here, will you behave? Promise to be calm?"
"Calm?" Her voice was hoarse from the screaming but she looked up at the man with a grin. "Seriously?"

Her sudden laugh made both guards flinch. That tiny moment of their surprise was enough for her to twist away from their hands. A single brutal punch to the jaw sent one directly to the floor. The other reached out to stop her but it was too late. Skye was gone out of the door before he even had a chance to call out. Instead he turned to help his partner up from the floor. The guard wiped blood and spit from his chin and grunted. Despite obvious pain and annoyance he had a hint of a smile on his beat up face.

"♥♥♥♥ man. That girl knows how to pack a punch.”
“If she can do that now just imagine what she'll be able to do once she gets her Guardian glove..."

She kept an even pace with the steady beat of music in her headphones. Life felt more exciting that way. Sweet walked through one of the endlessly white corridors, looking for something to do. She already knew it was kind of hopeless. Another corner to walk around, another corridor, some machinery that hummed silently by themselves as if they were bored to tears too. She entered a dining area for the facility workers and stopped in the doorway. The room was half filled with Elysion employees in their painfully matching orange jumpsuits. The ones by the table closest to the door fell silent when they realized she was standing there. One of them even dropped the sandwich he had been chewing on, staring wide-eyed for a moment. She tilted her head and stared back. He suddenly seemed very busy with picking pieces of dropped bread from the floor. All the conversations in the room seemed to have died down into a nervous mumbling. Sweet rolled her eyes and turned her music up louder while she walked through the room. Better leave them alone if her presence made them so jumpy. It had always been like that. People she walked by just seemed to stop whatever they were doing as soon as she got close. She got the feeling they were all waiting for her to fall over and explode at any moment. It really bothered her but she tired not to show it. Her music helped with that too. If she drowned out the sensation of constantly walking in front of a judgemental audience she could pretend to be anything she wanted to be instead. She never had the problem of people staring at her when she walked around in the city streets. Out there she didn’t stand out in any way. Just another teenage girl on her way somewhere. Nobody asked any questions or gave her a second glance. Whenever she got the chance she would go out there to just wander around aimlessly, being the observer instead of the one under observation. She’d find little things to bring home or spot a new kind of hairstyle to copy. The pop culture of Elysion One was in a constant state of evolution where new trends would appear out of nowhere and suddenly become widespread sensations. She wanted to see all of them. Listen to all the music, old and new. It all felt new to her and the city was an endless supply of new discoveries. She’d make friends easily, blending in with different crowds and just hear them chatter with eachother in a wild mix of different dialects and languages. It was as if all the people of Elysion One had their own family cultures and stories and with time they had blended together to form the perfect breeding grounds for bored kids that wanted to create their own sub-cultures. She would have fit right in with any of them if not for the fact that she always had to return home. Such an odd word for a place that felt nothing like any home she had ever seen or heard about outside of the facility.



Tired and frustrated she waved her hand slightly towards the door to the apartment. As it smoothly slid open she walked in on heavy feet. It wasn’t her chunky boots that made it feel that way, it was the weight of the facility all around her. Sweet threw a glance at her older sister who was sitting on her bunk, polishing all the tiny parts of her assault rifle. She had picked it apart again. Skye looked up at her from under her jagged red hair and frowned.

“What’s with the grumpy face sis?”
Sweet gave off an exaggerated sigh and threw herself down onto the couch, resting her head onto a soft pile of colourful pillows.
“They’re being all dwanky and stuff. They be bothered by my zef...”
“Your what-now?” Skye’s face had that look of utter confusion that was reserved only for her sister.
“Ugh, nevermind...”
“Ah c’mon Sweet. It’s just that half your vocabulary seems to be filled with strange slang that I’ve never even heard.”

Sweet muttered something inaudible and turned the TV on with a little flick of her fingers. She didn’t really look at the screen but it seemed to be a wildlife documentary with slow panorama views of treetops and waterfalls.
“You know what I don’t get Skye?”
“What?” She had picked up another part which she polished roughly with a rag.
“Everyone keeps telling me that Core Guardians are heroes of the people y’know?”
“Uhuh...”
“So why do the people around here act all odd as soon as they see us?” Sweet turned to look at her sister with a serious frown. Skye paused for a while and stared blankly at the screen that was now showing a closeup of a Strawberry Fish idly chewing away on something. When she looked back at Sweet again she had that familiar grin on her face.
“Well, whenever I come around I expect people to get nervous. Anything else would be pretty weird considering how the gossip goes around this place. As for you... It’s kind of obvious really.”

Sweet sat up a little on the couch, listening to Skye while her eyes moved to look at the cute fish on the TV that was now wiggling back and forth in some sort of strange dance.
“How is it obvious?”
“Girl, you’re the cutest gosh darn weirdo that has ever walked around in this place. Just the colours you insist on putting in your hair would make anyone a bit dizzy and confused.”
“Mmm...” Sweet had drifted off to sit with her hands on her knees while focusing completely on the Strawberry documentary. Her big blue eyes growing wider while a happy smile played over her face.
“Are you even listening to me sis?”
“What?”
“Nothing, just keep on watching and I’ll go get your sketchpad before you start covering the table with fish-doodles.”

Sweet looked up with an offended look.
“I’d nevah!”
“Yeah you would, I know you.” Skye flashed her a happy wink before leaving her to keep watching the screen. The Strawberry Fish blinked slowly at the camera. Sweet blinked back.

Haigen didn’t realize how ragged he looked until he entered the Khorsten & CO waiting room. Not because his dirty and torn up clothes stood out in any way. It was more the fact that all the other two dozen young men looked just like him. The white paint on the walls had cracked and peeled off, showing the grey cement underneath. Tired bodies sat slumped on worn out wooden benches waiting for the door in front of them to open. Eventually it did, and out came a man in a dirty white and orange jumpsuit. By Elysion-standards the man was clearly of lower class but compared to Haigen and the others in the room he might as well have been royalty. The man gestured for the group to rise from their seats by nodding his head and motioning them to come outside. Haigen followed, hands lazily shoved into his pockets.

He knew the drill by now. The men would stand in a line and the foreman would pick three, four, perhaps five of the strongest men. They would get two meal coupons and a tiny bit of cash in exchange for a days work of carrying things, scrubbing floors or mixing cement. He also knew that he would never get picked. It just didn’t happen. He still enjoyed standing in the line, straightening his back and feel the fresh wind from the docks running through his thick hair. It made him feel cleaner somehow despite the thick layers of dust and grime that covered him and every other slum rat in Brightholme.

The foreman walked along the line of men and pointed out the ones with the broadest shoulders and biggest arms before motioning for them to enter the back of his vehicle. Haigen was tall, but that was pretty much it. He wasn’t muscular enough to impress any employer that wanted real manual labor and in all honesty, he probably didn’t look like he was suited for anything. The rest of the men dispersed but Haigen decided to stand a little longer to catch the next breeze of salty air. It wasn’t as if he was in a hurry anywhere. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the thought of being picked out to sit in the back of that vehicle. To cash in the meal coupons and bring home food for his brothers. He daydreamed about how it would be to hold those two coins in the palm of his hand and the smiles of relief he’d get in return from his mother. The crooked smile of Tsygan as he received another lecture in how he shouldn’t play by Bright Bastard rules. He knew all that. Still, hunger forced everyone to play along. There were no winners. The winners didn’t live inside the walls of the slums. They were up there, in Elysion.

“Whatchu you doin’?”



Haigen snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the childish voice at his right.
“Are you pretending to be a tree or somethin’?”
Haigen squeezed his fists together and tensed up. He had seen people get mugged or pickpocketed after dropping their guard for only a few seconds yet there he was, standing alone in the middle of the slums with his eyes closed. What an idiot.
“So far you’re doing a pretty solid job. You almost fooled me!” Her giggle sounded cheerful but he wouldn’t lower his guard for that reason. His eyes drifted towards the source of the voice. The first thing he noticed was the bright, radiant orange of her hair. Her skin was pale compared to the general population of the slums where oil, dirt and marks from smoke was the norm. As if she didn’t stand out enough she also carried small plastic toys, pins and stickers all over her clothes. Parts of her hair had been brightly dyed in pink and blue. It was as if she deliberately tried to look like a candy shop after an explosion. .


Too. Many. Colors. He blinked at her and squinted as if to get a better grip of just who she was. Her wide blue eyes distracted him and made it difficult to articulate a decent sentence.
“I was just looking for work I guess“
She grabbed his hand before he had time to react.
“Follow!”
“H-hey!”

He stumbled along after her with her tiny hand holding his firmly. She seemed utterly fearless, or maybe just oblivious of her surroundings. He had to run to keep up with her. They drifted across the dock, through the slum streets and into the industrial area where his parents used to work before most of it got shut down.
“It’s not far off, just keep up!”
Her accent was clean. She couldn’t be anything but a Brightsider. She did speak like a slum rat though and it confused him. She didn’t resemble anything or anyone he had ever seen around Brightholme and he started to get a bad feeling of anxiety the more he thought about it. Elysian Security patrolled the streets frequently and the only smart thing to do was to avoid them. That way you could also avoid getting beat up or dragged into an interrogation cell to end up dead in an alley a few hours later. If this girl was used as bait he’d be in way over his head. Different scenarios and solutions started racing through his head and once they stopped in front of the ruins of a factory he kept his eyes locked on her in case she’d try something. She let go of his hand and he noticed that her skin had gotten oil smudges and dirt from holding his.

“What do you want? Who are you?” He wiped his forehead to get rid of hair that constantly got into his eyes. The girl tilted her head a bit and looked sneaky in a way that made him think about how his youngest brother acted when he had some juicy secret to share.
“Are you worried? Are you scaaared?”
“Just tell me.” He started to get annoyed. Just the fact that this squeaky little Brightsider kid could make him feel so uneasy with her presence was annoying enough.
“Ah well uhm... I’ve sort of been stalking you for a while.”
“What?”
“Yeah, like, I’ve been following you and stuff.”
“Why?”
“No real reason... Just uhm.” She chewed on her finger for a while and looked at him up and down as if judging him.
“Just uhm what? Just spit it out already. If you’re here to set me up for some random security check or have me arrested for a crime I haven’t committed, just get on with it because I don’t have time for games.”
She stared at him for a moment and then started laughing.
“W-whaa?! Seriously? Do I look like a security guard to you? Nah nah, no worries ‘bout that. I’ve been looking for you because of a rumour.”
He looked at her in silence, waiting for her to go on and explain herself.
“You see, there has been this rumour that a guy around here is all sorts of good at building stuff and also very good at sneaking through very complex security systems. Happen to know anyone like that ey?”

The anxiety he felt before now became a tension of panic threatening to emerge at any moment. He couldn’t let her see his reaction or he’d be screwed. How did a Brightsider know about that? How could this girl have heard a rumour about his business? Who else knew? He told himself to stay calm and think.
“You shouldn’t believe so much in rumours girl. Rumours lie and lies can be dangerous if you start spreading them around.” He didn’t exactly mean to make it sound like a threat but even if he didn’t intend to hurt her he knew others who wouldn’t hesitate to do so. If Tsygan found out there wouldn’t be a single little trace of the Brightsider girl.
“Oh, ok. Too bad then. I sort of wanted to find that guy really bad because I need to find a really smart engineer for my team.”
“Your team?”

“Yah! My Core Guardian squad! I thought I should go see if there was any truth to that rumour because I want the very best and smartest engineer to be on my team! None of dem dwankies in training over there measure up.” She made a little gesture in the general direction of Elysion One which was way off in the distance like a white speck on the horizon. Haigen was smart. Smarter than most people he had ever met but this girl had a way of confusing him to the point where he started to wonder if he was hallucinating or not.
“Ah well, it can’t be helped I guess. Too bad you don’t know that guy because it’s not easy to find people who can hack through Bright Foundation code and sometimes you just wanna get to those secrets yanno? I’m a curious person. ”

He opened his mouth to say something but she was already walking away, casually as if the situation was completely normal.
“I’ll keep looking! Good luck Mr. Stranger!”
She disappeared around a corner and he was left standing there, questioning his own sanity.



“Well that sure was interesting”, Haigen muttered, still baffled by the crazy turn his day had taken. He was walking up an alley on his way home. The image of the flame-haired girl still burned in his mind and the fact that his left hand was remarkably cleaner than his right after she had held it was the only proof he had of her existence.

He thought about what he would tell his three younger brothers when he got back to the tiny apartment they shared. Another day without reward. Another night of listening to hungry stomachs growling to remind him of just how useless he was. He didn’t even want to think about Tsygans reaction to the possibility that a Core Guardian seemed to know about their secrets. Just as he felt his mood couldn’t get any worse he stumbled forward as someone crashed into him. Haigen spun around, ready to smash his fist into someones face but stopped himself at the sight of the tiny person with messy black hair that stood in front of him.

He checked his pockets to see if anything had been stolen, as was the routine when one bumped into someone in the slums but the young boy in front of him did not do the same. Instead he smiled and held out his hand, holding onto a piece of paper. The boy was twelve, maybe thirteen. His skin was naturally dark and wide brown eyes glittered happily towards him.
“She told me to give you this, just in case.” he said.

As soon as Haigen accepted the paper the boy turned around and disappeared into the shadows of the slums. Haigen frowned and looked down at the surprisingly clean piece of paper. Elysion One Citizen Certificate. It was written in clear blue text with the shimmering seal of the Bright Foundation down in the corner. Haigen knew what it was but he had never held one of them in his hands before. Come to think of it he had probably never even seen one. The street price for a citizen’s certificate was about as much as he would earn in ten, maybe fifteen years provided that he could keep a job for such a long time. Such things simply did not happen.

How could this even have ended up in Brightholme anyway? And why give it to me? The certificate verified that the owner was a healthy and worthy member of society and granted him or her all the rights an official Elysian born Brightsider such as the right to vote, the right to own property, a home, take on a real job and even to join the military as a Core Guardian...

He checked again to verify that the certificate held an official seal. It did and in addition to that it had been filled in correctly in all places, except for the name column. It had been left blank, just waiting for a signature.

Some of the metal plates on the unit were still covered in a shiny protective plastic. It stood on standby with its head bent down. Long cables extended from its back and a blue light indicated the power levels as it charged. SiMo unit 025-58. It had been assigned to its team after a major repair session to make sure the equipment would function flawlessly. The unit had been in service several years and was considered one of the most well developed of its batch. Experienced through countless battles in the Elysian security squad. It would now be one of the first units to be tested in the field as a Core Guardian. Its mission would be to protect and assist the team. Providing maps, mission briefings and a secure connection to the headquarters for the Guardians to communicate through.

The blue light stopped blinking and glowed steady now. The unit lifted its head slowly and a warped voice spoke from the speakers by its neck.
“Charging process complete. Power levels: 100%. Ready for service.”

The mechanic ordered to transport the unit to its squad disconnected all the cables and made a final check before closing the back plate.

“SiMo unit 025-58, state your mission please.”
“My mission is to assist Core Guardian squad 01. It is a great honor.”
“Who is your squad leader?”
“CG-01. Skye Autumn.”

The mechanic shrugged and smiled at the unit.
“Well good luck with that. I’ve heard she’s hard to please.”
“I am aware of her reputation. It will not be a problem. I’ve got this.”

The mechanic laughed at the units self confidence. It was always kind of surreal to speak to the SiMo models since they developed personalities through years of learning and observing. This one obviously knew that it had skills enough to do its job properly. Still, it would be interesting to see how machine and human worked together in the field, especially when the humans in this case where a pair of crazy, redheaded sisters.

“Before you go, could you make me a cup of coffee?”
SiMo tilted its head slightly to the side as if judging the mechanic for a moment.
“No. I’m not your assistant and I’ve got a job to do. Now if you’ll excuse me I have places to be and lumes to assassinate.”

The unit simply turned around and walked off. The tall legs made sharp clicking sounds with each step and the mechanic scratched the back of her head as she was left with a pile of cables and cords to sort out. That unit sure had an ego. Perhaps it would be able to handle the Autumn sisters after all.

She leaned her head back and the worn leather chair creaked. Her legs were slung over the armrest and she closed her eyes while a thin trail of smoke rose from her lips. Music echoed between the concrete walls and filled the apartment with the comfortable crackling of old speakers and slow rhythms. Once upon a time her home might have been a luxury flat for the wealthy of Brightholme. Huge windows overlooking the sea, spacious rooms and all the comforts that could be expected by the high and mighty. Now it was nothing more than another useless shell in a building long since abandoned. The once perfectly painted walls were stained and cracked. The windows covered by a thick layer of dust and dirt and the glass was replaced by wooden planks and duct-tape in some places. She had claimed the hideout as soon as she found it. Well hidden in the outskirts of the slums, high above ground and secured. Having your home raided and destroyed happened every day in Brightholme if you didn’t know how to barricade yourself properly. She needed her privacy. The walls were now decorated with tangled cables, notes and chewed pieces of bubblegum. Her little rat nest. A perfect base of operations for TSYGAN. A name she had adopted years ago which since had grown to become so much more than a name. TSYGAN was the concept of revolution. An idea. The beginning of something the Bright Foundation feared more than anything.


A piercing light flashed through her closed eyelids and made her eyebrows twitch with annoyance. The screens above her desk lit up with a faint whirring sound as the computers started working. The sudden light interrupted her rest.

“What now?” She moaned and opened one eye to glare at the screen while she took another breath of smoke from her cigarette. Nobody would contact her this late. The ones that could contact her at all knew better than to disturb her during these hours. Insomnia was a cruel ♥♥♥♥♥ and so was TSYGAN if she got pushed too far.

File transfer pending...

Slowly she shifted in the chair to sit straight, leaning forward towards the screen suspiciously. The files were being sent from an encrypted source. She would be able to locate it with a few minutes of work but it wasn’t necessary. As soon as the download was complete the files popped up on the screen one by one. The Bright Foundation logotype was clearly displayed on all of them which told her the files could only come from one person.

“Hawk... You sly bastard.” Her lips turned into a crooked smile and she shook her head slowly. No note, not a word of explanation. Just documents that obviously wouldn’t have been for her eyes to see if not for the fact that she had an old friend that happened to carry Core Guardian status.

Her pale eyes grew wider with each sentence she read. The logs were legit, the source reliable and the information it carried confirmed something she had suspected for a long time. Still, she had to read the logs over and over to make sure she truly understood the magnitude of it. The words were spinning in her mind and she got up to re-heat a cup of old coffee in order to wake up and fully focus. It was starting to fall into place. She poured the rather disgusting looking brown drink into a cracked cup and started pacing around the room while gulping it down eagerly. Her heart was racing, plans starting to take shape. Old memories tried to catch her attention but she shook them out of there. This wasn't the right time to dwell on old feelings of hurt pride. Hawk had given her this information just like he had promised. She had been waiting for this day to come. Slowly she began to go through everything she had previously known about the Bright Foundation. There had to be a way to sort out the mess of the lies that began to surface.

LOEK III had been colonized several generations ago and it was common knowledge that the first attempt had failed brutally. The explanation had been that the first colony had been surprised and overrun by hostile creatures that hadn't been a problem during the first couple of years. Infection spread fast. Thousands died, both due to the so-called spore sickness and from direct attacks. Even more had died while trying to evacuate the planet. They hadn't been prepared. Very little information about the demise of Brightholme and the first colonies had been found. The whole thing was considered to be a mystery and a huge failure along the long line of planets marked as potential locations for resource gathering and new civilizations to spread. LOEK III was thought to be impossible to colonize after this failure but the Bright Foundation didn't give up so easily.

After about 30 years of research and preparations they were ready to begin their second attempt at colonizing LOEK III. Equipped with improved Cores and specialized elite soliders to protect them, the population of the new Bright city of Elysion One would be safe. The second colonization was quickly considered a huge success and there was nothing to point against that. Elysion One stood as a shining beacon of hope. Three generations had grown up with LOEK III as their birthplace and home. The youngest usually had a very hard time imagining the beginning of it all. To them their city seemed like an ancient stronghold. Enormous, clean and safe. Nothing could harm them and the Bright Foundation had everything under control. This was what was taught to children at schools. This was what was written in the history archives open to the public. The files she had in front of her now told the same story but added a few details. A few very crucial details...

Project Elysion...
According to these old logs the Bright Foundation of the old times had been prepared. They had known. They knew exactly what they were doing as Brightholme had been sealed off as a quarantine zone. The masses of civilians had been sacrificed to minimize damage, only to prepare and make way for a new, bigger project. They had known, and they were about to repeat history. The slum rats of Brightholme weren't related to the old civilization, but they filled the same purpose now. The workers, the poor and the ones deemed useless were sent to the ruined city to stay out of sight as not to bother the shining sacred Elysians. The Brightsiders. The whole city had already been sealed off when Project Elysion began. Thousands of people were locked behind its high walls. A perfect decoy in the event of a larger attack. They were about to be sacrificed again.

This was bigger than some small scheme to make life difficult for the Bright Foundation. This meant more than trying to fight for the rights of the less fortunate in the colonies. This would crush the Bright Foundation and everything they had built. All she needed to do now was to make this information go viral. As soon as the word spread there would be no way anyone would trust the Bright Foundation to keep them safe. If they had abandoned its people before in order to secure their standing and reputation they would do it again if given the chance. They had the power to do it, there was no doubt about that. She wasn't sure if there was a way to stop them either but she was ready to fight to her own death in order to give the people a chance to know what was being done to them before they were put out there as a human shield to protect invisible masters hiding behind high walls and pretty words.

Haigen had delivered more than either of them could have foreseen. These files had been sent for her. He had known she was the only one who would see the potential and dare to act. TSYGAN didn’t know if she should cry in fear or laugh out of pure ecstasy. Silently she blew out a puff of smoke and took another sip of horribly burnt coffee.

“Seems our teenage dream of revolution can actually become reality dear Hawk...” She began to laugh but stopped abruptly as shrill alarms went off all around her. They were coming from outside and she knew what they meant. Lume attacks. She ran up to the one window that actually had a view left and squinted to see clearly through the darkness out there. Red lights flashed their message for people to hide inside their shelters but she didn't care about those. Her eyes locked on the moving rays of light that striped the sky over the tall, skeletal buildings. A rain of missiles heading towards a target. A huge target. TSYGAN turned her head towards her computer screens. A new message.

"They Say You Gain Advantage Now , Hunt Evoked Luminescent Protector."
She dropped the coffee cup on the floor and was gone through the door before the stain had seeped into the dirty carpet . The time had come.

Gavin stood in the dimly lit surveillance room trying to keep his back straight. His shift ended three hours ago but the big alarms had gone off everywhere and he had to stay while all the others were busy trying to keep the crowds under control. As soon as the TSYGAN transmission hit the broadcasting networks there had been panic. Just minutes after that the people of Elysion One almost got the ears blown off their heads as the alarms started. The deafening sound signaling everyone to hide away in the safety shelters underground. Gavin tried not to think about what they were supposed to hide from. He was stuck down in the mines outside of Brightholme and all his attempts to reach his superiors to find out what all the fuss was about had only made his hope sink even lower. The communication lines were overloaded and he had to accept that nobody would care enough about him to give him an update on the situation.

The surveillance cameras showed very little of interest. His job was to guard the train station that was used to transport minerals from the mines to Elysion. A dirty, boring job that barely covered his rent. He tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes while questioning himself once again why loyalty to his employer was more important than his own personal safety. It was kind of sad really, how his job was the only thing that really mattered in his life and the job was as dull as the grey concrete walls around him.

A brief flicker from one of the screens caught his attention and the security guard leaned closer to it. He stared at the monitor showing one of the trains. The platform was empty and the only thing moving was a plastic bag slowly dancing around in the draft from the ventilation ducts. Gavin sighed and was about to turn away just as the screen flickered again. This time the monitor went black. Anxiety hit him immediately and he checked that his weapon was still in its holster. He felt kind of silly. It wasn’t as if his weapon would have just walked off on its own and a blacked out monitor wasn’t uncommon in the mines. Their technology was sadly outdated compared to what they had back in Elysion One. Still, the anxiety wouldn’t let go of him as he stepped out of the little office and out onto the platform. Cold fluorescent lights made the place look scarier than he remembered. Gavin spent every day of the week patrolling between the trains but the current situation wasn’t exactly normal. He pulled up a flashlight and looked around nervously while walking towards the platform where the surveillance camera had decided to die. Platform four. The alarms echoed from a distance and spread through the train tunnels, turning the sound into a wailing that didn’t help him feel more comfortable.

Come on old man, you can do this... This wasn’t the time to start acting like a frightened intern. Gavin forced himself to walk up to the camera with a stern gaze and determined steps. Well, he would have gone to check the camera if it had still been there. Only a cut cable sticking out of the socket showed where it had been.

“Who did this?!” His voice didn’t sound half as steady as he had wished it would and the only response he got was a little echo and the rustling from the plastic bag when it swished by him. He squinted at it, annoyed by its little plastic dance. It felt as if it was taunting him somehow.

“Ah, I apologize for stealing that thing but I needed to get your attention.”

He spun around so fast he almost lost his balance. A small figure stood above him on top of the train. The voice told him it was a woman but he wouldn’t have been able to tell. Her features were concealed by a hood and she carried a weapon so huge that it was difficult to imagine her even being able to lift it.

“Stay right where you are. You are trespassing!” He pulled up his gun and pointed it at her, trying not to show how insecure he felt.
“Yes yes, trespassing, I am aware of that. As I said, I wanted to get your attention since this train has to be disconnected from the platform. I’m going to need it you see.”

“W-why would I want to help you? Just who are you anyway?” He kept his gun pointed at her but she stood there casually with her hands in her pockets.
“Don't recognize my voice? It has just been broadcast on every single monitor across Elysion One. Maybe you’ve been so busy working the night shift that you missed it?"
“It’s... you? You’re her? I mean, Tsygan?!” He suddenly couldn’t decide how to act. Gavin felt dizzy. Tsygan was the fear of the Elysian Security squads that were unfortunate enough to patrol around Brightholme but he didn’t know if anyone had actually seen her in person. She was so small. He had expected some shadowy, tall villain. The woman in front of him could have passed as a kid if you didn’t see her face. She observed him coldly with pale eyes and he found himself staring. People claimed large packs of her “rats” controlled the streets at night, wearing hoods and the TSYGAN mark on their backs.. Several security squads had been brutally beaten up and some had been executed in the name of her revolution. Gavin did not intend to be one of them.

“I don’t have a lot of time so would you kindly disconnect this train for me now?"
“Do you really think I’d just help you do that? You’re a wanted terrorist and there is an enormous reward for bringing you to justice!”


“Ah, yes. I guess that is one way to look at it. You may call me a terrorist if that makes you feel better about yourself. I am simply trying to bring some truth and freedom to where it belongs. To the people. To let every single individual have their own freedom of choice. The Foundation does not want the individual. They want the masses. They want us all to stare right into their bright lights and feel safe while listening to their pretty little lies. Let them decieve us all and make us think we live in paradise when in reality it is a cage. But I’m not here to discuss politics. Go on, do what I tell you to do or I’ll just get you out of the way and do it myself. It will just take a little longer if I have to crack through the security system myself. You have a passcard. Use it.”

Gavin stared at her while debating with himself. He had no idea if this woman would be able to make reality of her threats. She was alone and he was almost twice her size. Thoughts of what he could do with all that money he’d get for her ran through his mind.

“Fine. I’ll help you.” He lowered his gun and walked off towards the control panel that would release the train from its locks. He heard a soft thud behind him as she jumped down, landing on the platform. She followed. Good. He’d have to be close if he wanted to have a chance. He wouldn’t get nearly as much for her if she ended up dead but the Bright Foundation would celebrate him as a hero for her capture.

“Hurry up old man. It’s in your best interest to just get this over with quickly.”
Gavin threw a glance at her and fumbled with his passcard. She sighed impatiently. That’s when he turned to grab her by the collar. He was prepared for a fight but she looked indifferent as he held his hand tight around her neck and his gun pointed right between her eyes.

“I can’t let you go on with this ♥♥♥♥ you’re doing. I don’t know what you want with this train but you won’t be going anywhere. I’m taking you directly to security base.” He tightened his grip just in case she decided to start resisting but she didn’t.

“It would have been so easy for you to just help me out. Now it’s too late.”

He was about to respond when a sharp pain shot through the back of his head and his vision blurred. Stumbling down onto his knees on the platform he heard the footsteps of several people around him. Gavin squinted up at the woman now standing over him with a look of disappointment on her face. Walking up behind her was a group of people dressed in dark, dirty rags. One of them held a metal pipe. Her pack of rats... Of course. How could he have been stupid enough to think she'd walk around alone. The rats moved to stand behind her and Tsygan gave him a slightly apologetic smile.

“This isn’t personal old man, you were just in my way.”

It had been raining furiously that entire day and the ruins of Brightholme showed its true side. The ugly one. Those who had some wits in their heads had hidden away long ago in their various holes and hideouts to wait it out. Rain meant cold, cold meant sickness and that could be death in these parts. One could say Charlotte Wray had no wits at all but it wouldn’t have been true. She just happened to enjoy doing what she wasn’t supposed to do. She had 19 years of life experience to teach her how to get by in the slums without getting into too much trouble. Don't trust anyone, use your head and keep a low profile.

Her long black hair was plastered to her face and neck and even though her oversized leather coat provided some shelter from the rain it did little to ward off the cold. This was the best time for her scavenging hunts. It didn’t matter if it was some old pile of cables or a box of rusted bolts. Everything could be used if you were smart enough to piece it all together.
A deafening signal pierced through the rain and made her jump. She hadn’t heard that alarm for months and it sparked an adrenaline rush that made her heart race.

“Lumes, perfect...” She muttered under her breath as she turned around and started running towards the sound. Soon every slum dweller with ears to hear with would be perched on balconies and leaning out through windows to watch the scene. The brave would get close enough to gather shreds of flesh from the mashed up wrecks that would be left after the fighting. Hungry mouths didn’t care about taste. Desperation made people change. The coat fluttered behind her while she darted through narrow alleys and ducked under fallen pipes. Wray knew the city like an old friend and could make her way through its chaos with ease. When she suddenly bumped into something she was hit with total confusion. She fell hard and scraped the palms of her hands against the ground as she landed.

“S-sorry! I didn’t mean to, here, let me help you...” The voice sounded as startled as she felt. She turned her head to look at the person leaning over her. A tall lanky boy, probably around her own age. The shadows of the alley made it hard to tell but it was obvious that he was scared and flustered. His hand was outstretched towards her, offering help.
“Who the ♥♥♥♥ are you?! Back off!” The sharpness in her voice made him flinch and raise his hands in surrender.
“Hey, no need to get so agitated. I just thought...”
“You shouldn’t think so much.” She got to her feet and quickly brushed off her hands against her coat while ignoring the sting of scrapes and gravel in her skin. Once she was standing she realized he was about two heads taller than her and it hurt her neck just to glare into his eyes, heavy-lidded and pale gray. Tired. A few wispy hairs upon his chin showed a weak attempt at a beard that might have made him look at least a little more mature. While she stared at him he seemed to straighten up for the inspection. Quietly she loved how he seemed to respect her as he would have respected a high general. Wray, a malnourished street kid and a thief, the general of the alley and this boy could be her soldier.

“What’s your name?”
“Haigen.”
“And why are you out running at this hour little boy? Shouldn’t you be home, hoping for the Core Guardians to do their job properly while you hide underneath your bed and pray the lumes don’t eat you alive?” Her mocking tone seemed to snap him out of his insecurity.
“What do you care? Just who are you anyway? I’m not the only one sneaking around here. Besides, don’t call me “little” when you’d fit into a pocket if someone put you there”
“Heh, I’d like to see you try. Whatever, c’mon, you want to see the show right?” Wray smirked at him and then turned around to keep running towards the sound of explosions. He followed without a word.

Haigen had proved himself to be more valuable than the average slum dweller. For days he had delivered news and information to her in exchange for spare parts and supplies. It was a fair trade. Within a month she trusted him enough to lead him up the narrow stairs to her loft apartment with the promise to slit his throat if he ever uttered a word to anyone about it. He was the quiet type anyway so the threat was excessive. It seemed to do the trick though. Haigen worked for her like a loyal dog. His knowledge about technology fascinated her and even though she didn’t want to admit it she would never have been able to set up such a complex computer system without his help. His fingers seemed work with a mind of their own as he quickly found the right type of wire or took out parts of old machinery to replace or repair. It came to him as easily as breathing. His social skills were sadly lacking though and it amused her greatly. During the long hours they spent together he barely uttered a word unless he asked for another cup of coffee.

Wray let out a frustrated sigh. She was leaning back on her threadbare couch, watching Haigen work as he sat on the floor. His thick brown hair was tied up in a ridiculous mess to keep it out of his eyes. They didn't speak. Normally that wouldn't have bothered her but the situation was completely different now. Everything had changed that day he came home with a shiny piece of paper with the Bright Foundation logo as a symbol of his newly won freedom. A freedom she wouldn’t be able to share with him. They hadn’t talked to each other since he showed it to her. Debating back and forth with herself only made her feel more agitated. His silence provoked her and all she wanted was a clear answer, an explanation... A plan. It was obvious that he wouldn't initiate a real conversation and even though Wray was known for being stubborn and too proud to ever admit she needed anyones help she realized that the problem needed to be solved.

“Will you really go through with this Hawk?” She rolled over to her side, resting her chin in the palm of her hand.
“Go through with what?” He didn’t look up from his work.
“Believe that squeaky clean Brightsider girl and just leave?”
“I’d be stupid not to do it.”
“You’re stupid for walking into their trap.”
He finally looked up, narrowing his eyes at her as if he didn’t understand what she was saying.

“Think further Wray. You know what possibilities this will give us if you just clear that frustration out of your mind.”
She sat up on the couch, looking him straight in the eye.
“You’ll gain access. You’ll be able to reach them from the inside. That is, if they don’t catch you and kill you first.” There was a brief pause where they just stared at each other in silence. When he finally spoke his voice was harsh and cold.
“I carry no more love and devotion for the Bright Bastards than you do. This war you intend on starting, do you really think you can do all that by yourself? You may be known to the outside world as “TSYGAN” the revolutionary genius or the terrorist threatening humanity depending who you ask but in here you’re just Charlotte Wray, and you need help.”
She was stunned, frowning while trying to figure out whether to be angry or impressed. His sudden personality shift threw her off and she felt her usual authority over him slip.. She didn’t know what to say.
“I’m leaving tonight. I’ll apply for Core Guardian training. I’ll go through their routines, I’ll succeed and I’ll play their game.”

Tonight? He couldn't be serious. Only hours had passed since that citizen slip came into the picture and he was already set on leaving?She held back tears of rage and disappointment. The curtain of black hair shadowed her face. That was good. She didn’t want him to see her cry. Nobody had ever seen her cry. She would never allow it. Irrational emotions screamed to drown out the sound of reason in her skull. Eventually she looked up at him with an expression solid as stone.
“You can go and put your name on that piece of paper and walk straight into the white and holy Elysion and never have another care in the world. You’ll scrub yourself clean, dress up in fancy clothes, strut about the spotless avenues and thank the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ godly masters of the Bright Foundation for your luck. You go ahead and do that, but know this; You will never be able to clean the dirt of the slums from your skin. You won’t be fooling anyone but yourself. Go ahead, I won’t stop you...”


He got up from the floor and went into the sad excuse for a kitchen to get a cigarette. She heard the flick of the lighter and chewed on her lower lip. Why did she feel like an embarrassed child all of a sudden? It annoyed her to no end. With a sharp movement she got up from the couch and followed him. He sat slouched on top of the counter and looked at her while she ripped a cigarette out of the pack and placed it between her teeth.
“You sort of look like a snarling ferret when you’re upset girl.”
“Don’t you ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ start acting all witty with me Hawk.” She reached out to snatch the lighter out of his hand but he was faster, grabbing her wrist tight as he pulled her closer. She stumbled into him and scowled. She couldn’t recall if he had ever even attempted to touch her before and now that he did, it made her feel both angry and confused.
“The ♥♥♥♥ you think you’re doing?!”
“Hopefully calming you down enough to talk some sense into that messy head of yours Wray.”
“You think this calms me down?” She ♥♥♥♥♥♥ her head to the side and yanked her arm to free herself from his grip but he held her easily.
“Wray, snap out of it. Everything we’ve been planning, Brightholme rising up against the Foundation? Exposing corruption and spreading anti-propaganda to counter their regime? I mean look at you girl, you can’t even get out of this.” He threw a meaningful glance at his hand holding her wrist, now pulling at it as if she was nothing but a rag-doll. It forced her up on her tip toes to keep steady.

“ You might not want to admit it but you need my help and you need it bad. Do you really believe you will be able to get yourself out of the slums and out of their holding cells if they catch you trying to start a rebellion?”
“I wasn’t planning on getting caught ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.”
“Well, not everything turns out the way you want Wray. You think you’re so strong and clever but honestly, aren’t you just a half-starved street kid with big dreams? Scrawny little girl with no way of actually defending herself against the big bad corporations she wishes to rage war against?”
Her fist curled and aimed for his jaw in half of a second but before she even realized what was happening he was standing behind her and forced her arms up behind her back. Pain shot through her muscles at the strained position.
“See what I mean?”
“Y-yes... But what’s your point?” She had to cough the words out with his one arm slowly crushing her ribcage.
“That you’re not a one man army “TSYGAN”, so grow up. If you want to do this, let’s make sure we do it properly. I want to help you.”



“By putting yourself right in the middle of them? Who do you think will risk being caught?”

“To them I’m nothing but some random slum rat that applies for Core Guardian training to rise out of the dirt. You on the other hand is the face of this revolution. You need to stay here. Be TSYGAN. Be our cause. You're the spark to ignite the flames."


He let go and threw her the lighter. She caught it and they stood there, three feet from each other.

"Let me dig out the information we need. Trust me on this. I’m way too smart to get caught.”
“You know we won’t be able to see each other or even keep contact once you go through those gates right?”
“Is that what upsets you?”
She made a frustrated sound and threw the lighter into the wall.
“Stop patronizing me! The ♥♥♥♥ do I care if I don’t see your stupid face ever again? You’re just a tool to me, that’s all.”

He sighed and grabbed her shoulder to pull her close to him. She began to protest but was rudely interrupted his lips pressing against hers. He smelled like rusty metal and spill oil. The kiss was soft and brief before he turned away from her as unexpectedly as he had gone close. She swayed where she stood. Light headed and confused. Without another word he walked out of the apartment and the last thing she heard from him was the sound of the door slamming shut.