Author’s note:


    This is Sae’s backstory and it is long.


    A.D. 8711


    "Tell me something I don’t know,” he grumbled.


    A man was reading his messages in front of a desk. He was a secret agent from the intelligence bureau. He came to the planet, New Earth of Podlezl system, in order to investigate the currently growing unrest. The Ark back on Earth of the Solar system initially dismissed such a possibility that there might be a full blown result. However, evidence was increasingly stacking to a point that they could no longer ignore the matter anymore.


    "Do they think I am a fool?"


    He raised his voice angrily and stood up, going to the balcony of his hotel room and looked down. Sighing, he leaned forward and rested his arms on the balcony rail.


    “These fuckers are delusional,” he muttered, looking down on a relatively busy street of New Earth. He was currently in the capital city of the planet. “Well, this place is no different from any other cities.”


    When the first wave of colonists were sent, they all signed contracts which had numerous conditions and clauses. One of them was that they’d be forbidden to form any political parties and any attempts to form a government would be met with harsh punishments. The colonists understood that many of their rights were taken away. Still, they went for it for better lives. The first generation of settlers didn’t cause much, if any, troubles. They knew what they signed up for and were too busy to care. However, the second generation, who grew up in a much better and civilized environment, started to resent the contract. It was voidable, but the lower chamber at the Ark flatout refused to even discuss the possibility. This was understandable from their point of view due to the sheer amount of credits required for such vast colonization projects. They had yet to recoup even half of the cost after hundreds of years. At the same time, from the colonists’ perspective, the contract was becoming more and more unbearable. It wasn’t at a breaking point yet but it was becoming uncomfortable.


    “What do they expect me to do anyway?” he muttered.


    He did find evidence of illegal political parties forming. It wasn’t even that hard. The colonists appeared as if they didn’t care whether they were found out. In fact, they seemed to have enough confidence that they would be able to fend off the Earth Defense fleet. He did report his findings earnestly, but his report was met with skepticism. They even wanted him to eliminate those who were trying to form political parties. He scoffed as he recalled his new order.


    “I may be an esper but I am just one person, and they’ve got espers, too.”


    With a long frustrated sigh, he looked up at the alien sky. New Earth was very much like the real Earth back in Sol. Of course, it didn’t mean exactly the same. A day was 22 hours. There was no sodium in the sea, basically making them large lakes. The sky wasn’t blue, either. It had a green tint. It felt alien. Well, it WAS an alien planet after all. Not all things were bad however.


    “No mosquitoes,” He snickered. “Or even bugs. Fuck, whatever, I am gonna have some fun.”


    Just like any other human settlements that were large enough, New Earth also had a red district. He went there for some sightseeing. He soon noticed a lot of prostitutes as soon as he entered the red district. Since he wasn''t a bad looking man, some women attempted to score. He wasn''t interested in having sex however. He went there for sightseeing rather. This was his idea of “fun”. While he was walking through the street filled with prostitutes, he noticed a child. At first he thought the child was just somebody''s daughter, but he soon realized the child was, in fact, a prostitute.


    "My word," he mumbled and muttered, looking flabbergasted. "A child?"


    He approached the child who was seducing an older man, apparently a customer for her.


    "Hey, kid," He held her little arm, pulling her away from the old man in a subtle but forceful way.


    The girl glanced upon him and said, "Sir, if you want me, there is a line."


    It was a high-pitched voice as expected from a girl of her age.


    "Hey, I am not here for that. Do your parents know what you are doing?"


    She nodded and pointed at a saloon behind her. "She is the owner of that saloon,"


    "Oh...crap." He frowned. It was one of very famous saloons called "Mosaic love". As expected from such a famous brothel, the place was grand with a very large neon sign on top of it with flickering monochrome colors. He turned to the old man who was going to "rent" her and spoke to him in a threatening voice. "Old man, fuck off."


    "What." The man was drunk. "I was here first, man."


    He used his ESP power and electrocuted him weakly. "Bug off,” He warned.


    "All right, all right, geez," The man walked away reluctantly while silently cursing and swearing, swaying slightly left and right as he walked. Meanwhile, the girl didn’t seem to mind as long as she had a customer. Therefore, she turned to him with glee. "Ok, I guess I will please you then. Honestly, I like you better than that old geezer anyway."


    From how she sounded, it looked like she was used to this.


    "What is your name?"


    "Sae."


    "Ok, Sae, I am not here to do ...um, well, you know."


    She crossed her arms, looking angry with a pout. "What, you are not a customer then. I am going to look for a customer. See you around, dork. Thanks for nothing, loser!"


    He held her arm, retaining her from walking away. "Wait, I will still pay the money."


    "Oh." She turned around to face him and beamed a professional smile at him. "No problem then. I am yours for an hour. Do whatever you want to do for me but only for an hour. If you want more minutes, you will need to pay more. My rates are…”


    “Hang on, hang on, little missy.” He pulled out a prepaid cash card out of his pocket. “Will this be enough?”


    Her eyes widened. “Three thousand credits?!” She jumped joyfully. “I am yours for a whole day!” And she added, "I can handle bondage, oral, anal. No front though."


    "Ok, okay, stop!" He was sweating. The girl was really a professional. "Let''s go eat something first."


    He surveyed her clothes. He realized she was wearing barely anything. She was wearing a large white T-shirt and that was it. But the shirt was long enough for her to cover her lower body to knees. He even wondered if she was wearing underwear. The T-shirt was at least big enough for her to cover all private parts and then some. She was quite a cute girl with light brown straight hair with ocean blue eyes. She also had refined facial features. Even at her young age, it was clear that she was going to be a beauty.


    "I will buy you some new clothes first. Come with me."


    “You are paying right? Just to make sure.”


    “Of course…”


    He had a hard time going around with Sae once they were outside of the red district because she was wearing nothing but a top, people were staring at him. He did manage to get her a pair of shorts and a tank top. He wanted to buy a normal shirt and pants, but she insisted on a tank top and shorts. Amazingly, she seemed to have learned some etiquette. She knew exactly how to behave in a high grade restaurant.


    "Where did you learn all that?" He asked while looking at her eating like a lady.


    "From mother."


    "Is she ....," He wondered again. "Really the madam of the saloon?"


    She nodded.


    "..... What is her name?"


    "Tanweer."


    He frowned. That was the madam of the saloon indeed. It seemed to be certain that Sae was her daughter. She was known to be the queen of the dark side in the red district. What interested him more was who the father might be and why she did decide to have the baby. It wasn’t really his business in the end, however. He asked her if she knew what she was doing. Sae didn''t seem to realize that selling bodies was a job that was normally frowned upon. Perhaps, it was understandable since she was working to sell her body from early life. She was seven years old at this point. After the meal, he took her to a park and had a long conversation. It seemed she was smart. Although she had no knowledge of moral values, she did know very interesting things such as the current flow of stock market and political news. He asked how she knew all the knowledge. She answered that she overheard others. It seemed that the men she dealt with worked in the political or stock market area. He wanted to talk with her more, but she said the time was out and left at once. He was gazing aimlessly in the park. It was a whole new experience. He had never thought he’d actually have fun talking to her. In fact, he didn’t feel like talking to a child. She was able to articulate her thoughts properly in a manner that he felt like he was talking to a professional. That was certainly not normal for a seven-year old. But then, nothing seemed to be normal for the girl.


    Two emails were waiting for him when he returned to his inn room. Two different people from the same intelligence bureau contacted him with two very contrasting messages. One was about how a rebellion was not even remotely possible. The other was a very concerning message where he wanted further and more thorough investigation on the matter.


    “Make up your mind, dumbasses,” he muttered. “Whatever. I don’t care anymore.”


    He indeed did not. At the moment, he was interested in the girl she met in the red district. By not responding to the messages, he would be recalled eventually. He wanted to be recalled but also needed time to seek ways to get Sae out of the dark side. If possible, he wanted to bring her back to Earth although he knew that it wasn’t likely possible especially when she had a mother. He had a decision to make. Folding arms, he grumbled. He ended up replying to both messages to earn time. He argued with the first message and requested a reinforcement for the second message. Due to the vast distance between New Earth and Earth, it was going to take two days at least even with the subspace portal for his messages to be received and then he’d get responses. There was a chance that he’d be recalled now but he earned a few days at the least.


    “What do I think of the current political climate?” Sae repeated what she was asked. “You bought me to ask that?”


    They were in the same park as before and, yes, he purchased her time once more, paying her 3,000c.


    “Yes, give me your honest thoughts.”


    She was wearing what he had bought for her a day before. She did look nice in a rather revealing outfit.


    “Why do you even ask me? Are you an agent from the intelligent bureau or something?”


    His eyes widened, surprised at her guess. “What makes you think that?”


    “You are not obviously from New Earth. You are not a descendent of the colonists, are you?”


    “How can you be sure?”


    “It’s the way you behave, also the way you speak. If you were a colonist, you wouldn’t need to ask about the political climate because the answer is obvious.”


    “Fine, I am not from here but I am not from a government agency,” he lied to protect some of his identity although she didn’t look like she believed him one bit. With a visible shrug and grin, she nodded to accept his half-baked answer.


    “Why don’t you just ask Asperger? He must have all the answers you need.”


    “You… even know about him?”


    Asperger was a rising star in the politics of the Solar system. However, he was not an easy person to deal with and he frequently collided with others in almost all deals.


    “The most powerful esper in the universe, an enigma, etc etc. People talk about him even on this planet.”


    “I am not someone who can approach him or even dare to ask. Can you give me your thoughts? I’ve paid my due.”


    She chuckled. "No problem, no problem." She took a moment as if she was organizing her thoughts. “The United Solar System Federation stands no chance,” she eventually said. “All we have to do is destroy the subspace portal. Then our future will be secure for at least 1,200 years.”


    “They wouldn’t dare.”


    “They would if you folks push us into a corner. You gotta remember that we lose hardly anything from destroying the portal. It is you guys who lose, not us.”


    He remained silent with his eyes downcast.


    “In fact, by destroying the portal, we will gain our freedom. Yeah, I get that they signed the contract or whatnot, but you can’t expect such a contract to last hundreds of years without modifying it to fit the ever-changing situation that is life.”


    Was he really listening to a seven-year old? He didn’t think so. This girl …, this child was a prodigy.


    “Sae, do you want to come with me?”


    “Cum with you?”


    He coughed. That was a very unexpected turn of conversation. Of course, she was first and foremost a prostitute after all…


    “No, I mean, do you want to come with me to Earth? You deserve proper education and proper uprising.”


    She was a minor. She would have no right to challenge her parent, but he didn’t care anymore. He’d just take her away if she was willing.


    “All highly educated people are up there, yeah?” She pointed upwards to the sky.


    “Up there…?”


    “Up there in politics and whatnot.”


    “Well, you could say that. They all have impressive CVs.”


    “Then, no. I’d rather not. I feel like education makes people too predictable. I guess it’s like programming. Unless I am going to receive some unique form of education, I’d rather not. I’d rather be unpredictable than predictable.”


    He was flabbergasted because he didn’t feel that she was wrong. All politicians behaved very much alike, except for one …, Asperger. Then he realized that Asperger held no education degree of any sort. He was self-taught apparently. He was able to enter politics only due to him being a class S esper.


    “I see,” he conceded. He decided to leave her be. “I thank you for your time.”


    “You sound weird now. What’s gotten into you?”


    “No, nothing. I thank you for your time. That’s all.”


    He decided to go back to Earth and attempt to argue with his bosses about what he thought was inevitable rebellion. If nothing was done, the United Solar System Federation was going to lose the Podlezl system. She was right. They could destroy the subspace portal easily and be done with it.


    They were in the red district, not far from the Mosaic Love saloon. He was seeing her off.


    "The night is young," She said.


    "Huh?"


    "Do you think this is a shithole?"


    He hesitated to answer. In his mind, it was.


    "I think you do," She said with assurance in her voice.


    He still said not a word however.


    Sighing weakly, she shrugged with a grin and told him, "When you listen to the prostitutes, they always giggle, chuckle and smile."


    He looked at the prostitutes. Just like she said, no one had a grumpy face.


    "But smiling doesn''t necessarily mean they are happy," She exhaled a short laugh. "They are strong, stronger than you might think. Did you think getting me away from here would make me a better person?”


    She saw him right through. He had to remind himself that she was just seven.


    “Farewell,” was all he could say, for he didn’t need to say any more. The girl was wise beyond her years. She was probably wiser than most adults he knew. No, it wasn''t a girl. It was a woman, a young woman who had apparently been through quite a lot for her age.


    "Nighty night, I am off working." And she disappeared into a group of prostitutes.


    "You are indeed the daughter of Tanweer."


    Tanweer earned her fame for helping out other prostitutes. When she earned the trust of many "broken" prostitutes, she opened the saloon, Mosaic Love. She wasn’t exactly known for being kind however. She helped out broken prostitutes only because she had needs for them. She was known to be cunning and calculating. He felt as if he was seeing another Tanweer, only in a smaller frame.


    A.D. 8715 (Four years later)


    Sae was taking a shortcut after finishing a job. The alley was narrow and dark. Since she had been using this path for years, she had no problem navigating. Suddenly, out of nowhere, three men who looked like street thugs appeared in front of her. And two men showed up behind her. She seemed to have figured out what was going on immediately. Someone sold her out which wasn’t uncommon in this line of business. She had been doing too well apparently. She knew basic defensive moves, but it was no use against five grown men. Next thing she knew was that she was gangraped for God knows how long and they suffocated her to unconsciousness.


    “How much time…?” She tried to speak but was unable to. She tried to move but was also unable to. She soon realized something was very wrong. The liquid under her..., she thought it was just some water. It turned out it was blood. She managed to move her left arm and place the arm on her stomach. The arm… simply fell into something, something wet, sticky, and cold. Her internal organs were exposed and separated from her body, she realized. Below her breasts were completely ripped apart. It was a brutal scene and it was certainly too brutal for a teenager to see her own body mangled like so. She panted for the sudden fear of death. It was in fact a miracle that she was even alive and conscious at this point. However, she calmed down unexpectedly. She took a deep breath and recalled certain memories.


    Year 8712


    "You have ESS..." That was what a doctor said. She recently felt drowsy and sensed some strange taste in her mouth. Therefore, she went to see a doctor.


    "ESS? What is that?”


    The doctor sighed with his eyes downcast. "Eternal Sleep Syndrome. It is a very rare illness that makes you sleep more and more, eventually making you unable to wake up. It does not kill you. It simply puts you to sleep.”


    “What do you mean it puts me to sleep? I won’t be able to wake up?”


    “You will sleep more and more progressively. And at one point, you will never wake up.”


    “Never wake up…, meaning death?”


    The doctor made a pause before he answered. “There is not enough research on the illness. Whether you can have dreams while sleeping is uncertain, but when you are unable to wake up, you will eventually die of starvation.”


    She didn''t say a word for a while. It was sudden, the impending death was.


    "How much time do I have?" Her voice was calm as if she hadn’t grasped the gravity of the situation yet.


    "It progresses fairly slowly." The doctor gave her a moment of silence. "You have approximately seven years, give or take a few years. That’s generally how long before a patient with ESS falls asleep eternally."


    "Seven years..., isn''t that a long time? Shouldn''t I get some kind of treatment?"


    "I am sorry but there is no known treatment for this."


    "What? What are you saying? There is no illness we can’t cure, I thought?”


    "ESS is a relatively new illness that was discovered only a few hundred years ago. And only less than a hundred die from it per year, so there hasn’t been much research.”


    She felt as if she was showered with icy cold water. She was sweating cold.  She wished that she was more immature at this point and then perhaps she could have laughed it off and taken her progressive demise like a child. Alas, she could not. Seven years of time was all she had. She did not bother to seek any other doctors. Being a prostitute, guts were all she had. It was time to push herself forward as if nothing happened. Even so, she’d have nightmares every single night. She was going to die. Her physical growth also slowed down at this point.


    Year 8717


    "I''ve never considered you as my daughter. You are a result of my mistake. Don''t try to go over my head. If you do, I will personally finish you."


    That was what her mother, Tanweer, told her one day with a sharp glare and an icy voice. Regardless, she pressed on. As her limited time passed, she became more cunning and cold. Desperation and fear struck her which was vented through her job as a prostitute. It was only natural that she became more and more famous in the dark side.


    Back to year 8715 (The incident site)


    As she finished recalling her memories, her last bit of breath was released. She stopped breathing and her eyes lost their focus. Her consciousness was fading rapidly. Through the mist of her fading consciousness, she sensed someone was looking at her. Her eyes lost their visions but not completely. She was tired of being chased by fear and desperation. She didn''t care who it was. She just let herself go.


    "…Can you hear me?”


    She was speechless. She was dead already although not entirely brain dead. She had perhaps thirty seconds maximum before her brain would die as well. The person who was looking down bit his finger and let a few drops of his blood fall on to what was left of her cold dead upper body.


    Her vision suddenly came back as if a dark room had just been brightened, and she struggled as extravagant agony smote on her. She screamed out loud, as loud as she possibly could. She was screaming so hard and loud that she soon coughed with blood. The fact that no one came by to check out was how desolate the alleyway was.


    "Argh.., Ah...," She trembled from the throbbing agony afterwards for a while. After several minutes, her trembling died off, and she was staring aimlessly. She felt extremely peaceful. She touched her stomach. The wounds were healed completely.


    ".... Who are you?" She asked the one who was staring at her. Her vision came back but it was a bit hazy still. It was not someone she knew. She certainly did not recall serving such a person. Whoever it was threw a rag on her to cover her naked figure.


    "My name is Asperger."


    She raised her upper body and used the rag nearby to cover her almost non-existent breasts.


    "What have you done to me? I should be dead by now."


    She had no idea who he was although she recalled faintly that she had heard of the name before somewhere. He was wearing what looked like … a robe? It was a dark crimson robe. His attire looked very much like a medieval monk’s outfit but with a touch of modern era. His aura was very … peculiar and unpleasant. He had simple brown hair that was chin length. His hair style didn’t look like a man’s. In fact, she wasn’t sure that it was a he. Overall, due to the lack of decent luminosity in the alley, it was rather hard to make out his facial features.


    "I dropped a few drops of my blood on you. Your physical body should not be bound by time for a while."


    She was speechless and was vacantly looking into the air, perhaps trying to understand what he just said. Quite frankly, she didn’t understand any of it.


    He asked nevertheless, "Do you feel something inside you?"


    The answer was obvious for some reason. "Darkness," She replied nonchalantly even without any moment of hesitation.


    "Don''t be driven by the darkness. Obtain control of the darkness."


    "I don''t care...."


    He turned around. "We will meet again one day, probably on Earth."


    "...Earth?" She scoffed. "I can''t go there. Apparently, my ID is not good enough."


    Podlezl colonists weren’t allowed to enter the inner Solar system, which were Venus, Earth, and Mars. It was one of clauses from the contrast which all colonists signed and their children inherited.


    He threw an ID card to Sae. "Use that ID. It will let you go through."


    She said nothing but did pick up the card. It was an ID card meant for foreign guests and diplomats. He turned around and disappeared into the darkness of the narrow alley. She was too utterly confused to stop him to ask more questions.


    ''I feel like crap....'' She was in her room which was located inside of the Mosaic love saloon. It was a small room she barely visited ever. Since she normally spent her time in a customer''s house or hotel, she never really needed to return to her room. The room barely had anything but basic furniture such as a small bed and a closet which had nothing but the clothes which the strange man bought for her years ago. Those were her only normal clothes. Her short memories with the man was the only time she felt like a normal person. Opening the closet and staring at the clothes was something she did from time to time. She was doing exactly that at the moment.


    "What happened to me…?” Sighing, she closed her closet and collapsed at her bed. She was dead and then brought back? She wasn’t sure. Everything was hazy. Whatever really happened, she just wanted to get some sleep. Normally, due to her ESS, she was hesitant to sleep. However, on this occasion, she just wanted to fall asleep and forget about everything for the time being. However, she couldn''t get any sleep. She didn''t feel tired at all. She wasn''t tired or at least that was what she thought. The more she concentrated on sleeping, the more she felt awkward.


    "Damn it!"


    She had ESS. She was supposed to sleep more than usual. In fact, before the incident, he was sleeping about ten hours a day which was four hours more than usual. There was something wrong with her and, as soon as the sun came up, the first thing she did was visit the doctor she saw before.


    "Oh, my Goddess..." The doctor was speechless.


    "Huh?" She was curious about the result. She certainly felt fine despite her disease. The doctor cleared his throat and looked up and down at her. His eyes were full of curiosity as well as excitement.


    "ESS is harmless to you now. It appears you''ve become a host for it."


    Of course, she had no idea what he meant. As if the doctor read her mind, he tried to explain and his voice was slightly shaking for some reason.


    "I believe you are the first case of this. ESS will not harm you. It thinks you are their house." He suddenly held her hands and said, "Would you please let me examine your body?"


    She forced his hands off the doctor''s hands. Due to her profession, “let me examine your body” was a common phrase used by her customers. While she let them have their ways since they were paying customers, she was always creeped out by the phrase.


    "What are you talking about?"


    "Your blood, your current condition, you may be the key to the ultimate cure for ESS. You could be the cure for those who die every year."


    The doctor was using sympathy to convince her. However, having been living on an edge for her entire life, sympathy was one thing she could ignore easily. In fact, she was largely apathetic about almost everything.


    "Get your hand off me, you perv!" She was leaving. "I don''t care about their death."


    "Wait!" He chased her down. She found it annoying and thought out loud in her mind that he should be blown away. And then the doctor was actually blown away from her violently all of a sudden, crushing into a wall and even leaving a dent. He groaned painfully as he fell to the ground rather slowly. She raised her eyebrows in shock and stared at the doctor who was in agony. She then ran away. She ran and ran. She was going to run until she was exhausted. However, she was not getting tired, not at all.


    "AHHHHHH, WHAT’S HAPPENING TO ME?!" She screamed out loud in the middle of the street. But no one around her cared or even stared at her as if it wasn’t rare.


    A few days passed by during which she didn’t have any sleep at all. She took pills for insomnia with no avail. She was up twenty four hours a day, and it wasn’t pleasant. Sleep was a soft reset for people. Being unable to have the reset button was a problem although she was getting used to it. Another issue was having too much time in her hands. As she was getting used to the new lifestyle, she noticed that she was stalked. They wouldn''t appear and get her, but a few people had been shadowing her. It was bothering her. However, she let them be, hoping that they’d put an end to her at last. She had ESS anyway. Therefore, she was going to die and she didn’t believe the doctor. She was eventually surrounded by about ten men in a narrow desolate alleyway, just like before. Having had a similar experience before, she was calm this time. She looked around. There was no way out. They appeared to be professional from the way that no one had any emotions on their faces.


    "What''s the occasion?" She asked calmly.


    "We need you dead," One of them answered in a husky tone. He was a very toned and rugged man. By the difference in physique alone, it looked like he could snap her neck easily.


    "Do you take counter offers?"


    "No." It was another firm answer.


    "Who are you associated with?" She crossed her arms. "My mother?"


    They did not answer, therefore she figured she guessed right. She had a hunch that her mother wanted to get rid of her. She didn’t know why exactly, however.


    "What if I leave this planet? You guys seem to be professional. I will leave this planet quietly in a few hours." She didn''t want to fight. She was no longer afraid of being killed also. Since she had no fear at all, she was calm and was acting very mature in the situation.


    "We cannot believe you." They were closing in slowly.


    "Then you get me off this planet. And tell my mother that I am dead. Send me anywhere you wish."


    Normally, they wouldn''t have listened to anyone who was begging for their life. But, in Sae''s case, she wasn''t exactly begging. She was like proposing a solution in a calm manner. And she was right that they were professionals. They had no pleasure in killing. If they could, they let their targets disappear without killing.


    "All right," The rugged man with a husky voice responded. "Follow us quietly."


    They led her to a shuttle port and bought her ticket to planet Dawn. The planet Dawn was one of few rogue planets that were located on the edge of the Cassandra belt which was basically the outskirts of the Podlezl system. It was also a safe haven for hardened criminals to get away from civilizations. Irregularly, some transport vessels from the planet would come. In other words, it was a remote planet where ordinary people didn''t want to go. She had no choice. Perhaps, she did but she did feel that she wanted to embark onto a new life.


    "Thanks." So, she took the ticket.


    "You are the most interesting target we''ve encountered so far, fearing no death and calmly making a proposal. And all of this coming from a kid." The man with a husky voice patted her head with a remorseful smile. "I feel unfortunate that you have to go to a living hell. But it will be better than being a corpse."


    She grinned. "In a living hell, prostitution should be in a high demand."


    The man with a husky voice gave her a bitter smile. Leaving her memories behind, she left New Earth. A new fresh start was something she desired. Therefore, she had no problem with this. The journey to the destination was going to take approximately 14 days, and each passenger was given their own room. The ticket included essential meals, thankfully because she had absolutely nothing on her.


    "So, that is Dawn ...," Sae mumbled while gazing through a thick window in a transport. It looked to be a dark gray planet with an artificial dome. A man’s voice sounded in her room. It must have been the captain.


    “We’ve reached our destination. Please do not forget to get your belongings, and … good luck to you all.”


    He sounded apologetic for some reason. She never left her room during the journey, so she had no idea how many were aboard this transport. She found out that there were six more people abroad which didn’t seem that many for the size of the transport. They were all pale as if they were walking toward a slaughterhouse. For her, she was business as usual. In fact, she felt a bit excited for a whole new life ahead of her. With two very contrasting emotions on her and on others, they exited the transport into what could only be described as a ruin. The supposed shuttleport was nothing more than a rundown structure.


    “What the crap?” she uttered.


    “What did you expect? This is Dawn,” one of the passengers replied back. It was a guy with sunken cheeks. “We will be lucky to survive day one.”


    “Why are you here then?”


    “Debt,” he replied as he closed his eyes slowly while dropping his head. “If I survive for 30 days, my debt will be cleared.”


    “That sounds like a game to me.”


    “Yeah, a game for fucking rich bastards.”


    She said no more, understanding the purpose of this planet quickly. They chose this specific planet to send her for a reason. It was clear that they expected her to perish here.


    “Too bad,” she whispered. “I am going to make it out of here.”


    She felt confident without any reason to back it up. As soon as she departed from Dawn shuttle port which was basically a rusting piece of shit, she immediately sensed some people''s stare at her. Ever since she was resurrected by Asperger, her senses were enhanced greatly. She could eavesdrop others from miles away if desired.


    "Six men are ... staring at my breasts and butt." She whispered to herself as she hurried elsewhere. But a matter of fact was that she had nowhere else to run. She was forced to come here without any kind of preparation. She didn''t even have any credit. Her job was selling her body for pleasure, but finding someone who could afford to pay for her service was in question after seeing how bad it was on the planet. She inhaled and looked up. What she first saw was a crude rugged tower that appeared to be made of metal pieces. It was the only tall structure she could see. The rest of the buildings were less than three-story if they were standing at all. The whole place was basically in ruins. How people were living in this literal hellhole was questionable. Upon closer inspection revealed that the first floors of buildings were largely intact, and it appeared that some businesses were running.


    “So, it begins.”


    The first order of the business was losing attention on her. She quickly ran to a narrow alley between two buildings. She had many stalkers on New Earth. Therefore, she knew better than anyone how to get away from those kinds. As soon as she entered the narrow alley, she quickly ran through there and turned left and went into another narrow alley. After repeating it a few times, she finally lost the men. She leaned her back to a dirty wall with a long sigh.


    "Phew..., geez…"


    She wasn’t sweating at all though. She decided to dirty her current clothes. They were too clean on Dawn. By rolling around on the ground, the job was done. It was time to study the place and try to find a job of some sort. Living conditions on this planet were far below standard. It had been a few days since she got here, and she hadn''t seen anyone with decent clothes. Drawing from that, she was sure that no one would be able to afford her services. She had to find another way to make some money. The only advantage she had was that she wasn''t getting hungry. Ever since she was resurrected, she hadn''t felt any hunger and her period also stopped. In the end, she found herself a shelter which was a steel garage dumpster bin. It was surprisingly comfortable to stay in due to the fact that barely any food waste was inside. Having no need to consume food and sleep, time was all she had. Therefore, all she did was survey the city from her dumpster bin, waiting for some sort of opportunity to come by. She was fully aware of slim chances she had, but then again time was all she had.


    About 30 days passed by, and it looked like a chance she was waiting for arrived. An old man was holding dirty bread in his hand and was eating them fast even while he was being beaten right outside of the dumpster bin she had been hiding. It showed how desperate people were on this planet.


    “A gang, huh,” she whispered, observing the violence through a tiny hole inside the dumpster bin. Given the fact that it took a whole month for this opportunity to arrive, she couldn’t let it go by. It was time to get herself involved. Opening the lid, she shouted at them.


    “HEY!”


    They turned their heads to where they heard her voice, finding a girl out of a dumpster bin.


    "What do you want? Get lost before we beat you up, too!" One of the men threatened her.


    "Take me to your boss," She sounded arrogant. And it was her intention to sound like that.


    They laughed at her. "What are you a lunatic?" But then they realized that she wasn’t bad looking at all. The glimmer in their eyes changed suddenly and she knew exactly what kind of thoughts they were having; they had hunger for sex. They were about to gang up on her, but she stuck out her hand forward. It magically made them stop.


    "Sure, you can have me, but promise to take me to your boss."


    They looked at each other. One of them said, "Our boss is out of town right now."


    She crossed her arms and pouted. "Then forget it."


    They booed. Not being denied outright of their desire for sex, they suddenly became obedient. One of them told her in desperation. "Our boss is not in town, but our vice-boss is. She''s as powerful as our boss."


    The fact was that she was running out of her options. This was her very first chance and could be very last chance, so she decided to take on her chance. After almost an hour of intensive gangbang sex, she was taken to their hideout. There, she was given a new suit of clothes and some food. She ate the food not because she was hungry, but because she missed the taste of food. When she was almost done with the food, a woman came into the room she was locked in. She was tall and looked mature with a nice rack to boot. She figured that the woman was another sex machine for the men in the hideout. She had mid-length brown hair that reached down to her shoulders with brown eyes.


    "I heard what happened. I must say you have some guts." The woman told her with a sneer.


    "You are?" She asked her with food in her mouth.


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    "It''s none of your business. I want you out of here after you eat that food."


    She threw a bag to Sae. Inside, there were her original clothes.


    "I am not leaving until I see your vice-boss or the boss."


    "Are you crazy?" The woman raised her voice. "Do you know what you''ve gotten yourself into?"


    She nodded innocently. "Yes, I do."


    The woman narrowed her eyes. "Don''t tell me you are experienced? You look so young.”


    Not only was she experienced, she was once known as the best. She grinned back at her with a cunning look. The woman looked shocked for a moment.


    "I see. I guess you haven''t had an easy life, have you?"


    "I am not sure about that. I don''t know any other kind of life to compare to." Then she continued eating.


    "I am Amenda. The boss you are looking to meet is Amon, my older brother."


    "Oh," She finished the bread and cleaned her mouth. "They told me there is a vice boss. Can I meet her?"


    Amenda chuckled. "The vice boss they told you is me."


    "Oh, I see. How does this gang work anyway? I''ve been on Dawn for about 30 days now. I found no way to make money."


    "Why do you need to make money?"


    "To get out of here of course."


    She let out a short laugh. "Money won''t get you out of here. You will need connections. By the way, how old are you?"


    "It''s improper to ask a lady her age."


    "I don''t think you are older than how old I think you are."


    Sae chuckled. "You are probably right on that."


    "And you are a prostitute?"


    "Yes, I am."


    Amenda sensed no hesitation or any kind of shame in her answer. She found it amusing and had a thought crossed her mind. "How long have you been a prostitute?"


    "I don''t know. I''ve been doing it as far as I can remember."


    "You do know it is a bad thing to do, right?"


    "In what way is it bad?"


    "Selling your body isn''t a bad thing?"


    "If my body is the only thing I can offer, how is it a bad thing? Furthermore, I don''t think you have the right to judge me right or wrong from your position.”


    Amenda narrowed her eyes. Sae provoked her just now. She wondered if she was really hearing that from a young teen prostitute.


    "Fine."


    "Fine," She said right back. "Tell me about your gang though."


    "We are a gang on the surface and actually we are traders inside. We need to be a gang to survive on the surface. It''s just like how you got here. We beat up people and secure our territory."


    "I didn''t see many women. Are they treated like how I was treated?”


    "There is no law on this planet. Women are usually treated as sex toys. I suppose they are hiding for their own sake. I am surprised you haven''t been raped already by others and were taken a hostage.”


    "I have my ways," She chuckled. She did have her ways. She had a lot of stalkers back on New Earth. She learned ways to lose them. "Would you like to hire me?"


    "What can you do?" Amenda sneered.


    "I can fight."


    She didn''t reply. She was considering it. A small body with the right skill would make a very agile fighter. But her fear was that she might be bluffing, so she decided to test her.


    "Sure, if you pass a test."


    Sae nodded. "All right."


    Before she could even finish her nodding, Amenda threw a fist at her face. Sae was very used to sneak and surprise attacks, so she dodged and evaded Amenda''s fist with ease by jumping off the chair she was sitting on. On the surface, it looked like she fell out of her chair by accident.


    "Aw, that hurts," Sae muttered as she landed on the ground violently with her hips.


    "So, you are agile at least," Amenda smiled.


    "I can bend like a sheet of steel as well."


    "And that helps with what?"


    "Nevermind." She giggled.


    Sae was hard to read, Amenda thought. She seemed to be awfully relaxed. It seemed clear that she wasn''t an ordinary person. It took more than just guts to act like she did.


    "I won''t test you anymore," Amenda claimed. "Instead, I will let my brother deal with you."


    "Goodie, awesome. I handle guys better than gals."


    "He should be back in about 15 days. Until then, I want you to work for the gang temporarily."


    "Work? What work?"


    "Can you cook?"


    "Nay."


    "Learn then."


    "Alright."


    Amenda was somewhat concerned that Sae didn''t seem to be taking anything seriously. Her appearance was a kid''s as well as her behavior was although her words carried weight from time to time. For a few weeks, she had been in charge of food. Her first attempt ended up miserably, burning down almost an entire kitchen. She became gradually better at cooking, and she was slowly accepted into the gang. When 18 days passed, the gang leader, Amon, returned.


    "Welcome back, bro," Amenda proudly welcomed her brother who was imposingly entering a hall flanked by four bodyguards. Sae had a good look at Amon. He didn''t look like a gang leader. He looked rather like a businessman. One thing seemed to be clear, either way. They were blood siblings for sure. They looked so much alike. It didn''t take long for Amon to spot a newcomer in his gang. Pointing at Sae, he asked others around him.


    "Who is this?"


    "Sae, the name is," Amenda replied, "A newcomer."


    "A kid?"


    "She seems to be capable and smart."


    "Hmm...," He scratched his chin carefully. "I will believe your perception and judgment, sister."


    So, just like that, Sae was formally accepted into the gang officially. The gang did not bear a name, but people seemed to refer to them as "The Goons". The Goons claimed a small portion of the only city on Dawn. The city, being the only city on the planet, did not have an official name. Most of the time, it was referred to as "the city" or sometimes it was called "Dawn". The gang was relatively small compared to other gangs in the city. However, due to Amon''s business senses, the gang had held a firm position over trades. In fact, the Goons controlled the most vital commodity, bread.


    Amon did not show any interest in Sea, and he was not present most of the time. All she had been doing for the past nine months was cooking and sometimes cleaning. She did not complain though. Although her new life and role were less exciting than what she had before, it was peaceful and easy-going. She grinned sarcastically as she thought she was having a peaceful time. Her almost a year of peaceful life was about to an end when Amon was urgently carried back to the base by his guards. He had gunshot wounds on his back. She was watching her carry him somewhere.


    "What''s going on?" She got a hold of a gang member who was busy running around. He told her that Amon was trying to make a big deal successful but he was betrayed. Amenda acted as a doctor in the gang. After looking after her brother for hours, she came out of his private room. She looked tired and beat up.


    "What''s going on?" She asked Amenda who just came out.


    She did not answer her question. Instead, she asked a favor.


    "Amon was going to attend a big deal, but he cannot now," She explained. "I want you to go on his behalf and finalize the deal."


    It was weird that she was asked to go, however, because she had no standing within the gang. She was just a slave essentially who cooked and cleaned. Regardless, she had no reason not to go and therefore accepted the task. She was given seven gang members and a briefcase of money for the trade.


    "Be careful out there. They may not have good intentions," Amenda added.


    Sae and her gang went to the said site. It was an abandoned building downtown. Another gang was waiting for them. They were a group of over thirty thugs, armored and armed fully as if they were going to a war.


    "You are the dealer?" A thug spoke out while Sae and her gang were preparing to make the deal. "Is this a joke?" Other thugs started to laugh after him.


    She was used to such comments, thus she proceeded with the job without minding. She stood in front of her gang who were guarding her as well as watching their surroundings for any unusual movements.


    She put down the briefcase on the ground carefully and slowly. "Here is the money," She declared. She knew that the “money” in the briefcase wasn’t real money because physical money ceased to exist thousands years ago. It was probably drugs or something equivalent in value. The thug who made fun of her earlier walked forth and inspected the briefcase. He glanced at Sae a few times as he inspected.


    "Good," He said eventually. "Full amount is here including the girl."


    She tilted her head. "Including the girl?"


    There was only one female in the whole area, and that was Sae. Thethug made a clicking sound from his throat. At the very same moment, a plasma discharge sound roared from what appeared to be a high-precision rifle.


    "Uh-" She felt something on her left chest. It was a sharp pain. As she looked down, she saw a hole in her jacket. She slowly uncovered the portion where the hole was. There was another hole on her shirt.


    "What''s the meaning of this?" She demanded while looking down on her chest.


    The thug looked at her with doubts in his eyes. She was supposed to be killed in an instant. The sniper''s bullet went through her left chest, heart, directly. Yet, there she was standing with a gun wound on her left chest. Instead of pouring blood, she was radiating hatred toward the gang.


    "I said," She raised her already high-pitched voice. "What is the meaning of this?"


    "Uh...," The thug tried to speak.


    She turned around violently and looked at her own gang.


    "What the hell is this?!" She demanded, yet no one replied to her as they looked at each other with confused eyes. She already figured out the answer. Apparently, she was sold out. She wasn''t exactly sure what the deal was, but she was to be killed by them, and that was a part of the whole deal. It was just that she had crossed no one on Dawn. Unless ...


    "My mother again?" She mumbled.


    Another shot was made while she was confused. A second hole was made on her left chest. She narrowed her eyes and frowned. She felt strong urges to kill them. Her irises began to turn bloody crimson, they started to glow in red progressively from bottom to top as if red fluorescence liquid was filling.


    Motherfuckers. YOU WILL PAY.


    Both of her arms were beginning to be enveloped with a dark aura. The thugs in the area had no idea what was going on. All they could see was Sae mumbling a few words vacantly.


    "Let''s kill her," One of the thugs said. "I don''t know what happened to her wounds though. She may be an esper."


    Other thugs agreed with him and approached Sae with their knives drawn out. She was looking down and was standing like a drunken person but she suddenly stood firm. Her eyes were weakly glowing still, giving off a very unpleasant aura.


    "Time for all of you to die," She declared aggressively. A thug who was nearest to her was killed then. His chest exploded. He simply exploded for no apparent reason after she ran into him. She repeated it to other thugs, and all of them exploded, spouting blood, ribs, and their internal organs. It was a bloody carnival.


    She killed even the thugs from the Goons. She knew they probably had nothing to do with the dealing and they weren''t probably even aware of the deal, but that did not matter to her. She just wanted to kill everyone, including the sniper. The sniper was in an abandoned building nearby. When he saw Sae rampaging and killing everyone, he abandoned his position swiftly and escaped. When he was about to exit the building, he saw her blocking the only exit.


    “Going somewhere in a rush, motherfucker?!”


    The sniper reacted quickly. He aimed his loaded rifle at her forehead and shot her. She recoiled as she was shot in her head but she regained her balance quickly and ran into the sniper. There was a vivid burnt bullet hole on her forehead, releasing smoke still. In the end, the sniper died as his chest exploded along with his heart. She was looking down on the messy corpse. Her breath started to calm down. She touched her forehead and found the bullet hole closing slowly. The holes on her left chest were already gone.


    "So..., I am a monster."


    She grabbed the suitcase. It was full of prepaid cash cards. She believed that she could buy a way out of this planet with such an amount of money. She also went through all the corpses and looted them. She found a few pistols and lots of knives. She took two knives and three pistols with her and, of course, the briefcase. Taking the briefcase with her would expose herself to unnecessary dangers. Therefore,  she hid the briefcase elsewhere and took only a handful of cash cards. All of her senses were extremely perceptive and she made sure that no one was around when she hid the briefcase. She knew where to go for a ticket. There was a famed pawn shop near the shuttle port. The shuttle port itself did not sell any tickets because it was a well-known fact that almost no one on Dawn would be able to afford any tickets. Instead, there was a pawn shop nearby where one could purchase a ticket in exchange for valuable goods. However, the pawn shop was run by the major gang on Dawn. The gang called themselves the Beholders and claimed that they were watching over everyone in the city. They held the majority of the city under their control. The Goons acted often on their behalf when it came to trading.


    "Hmm..."


    Sae was looking at the pawn shop. It stood out from other buildings because the shop was the only place that had neon signs in the area. There were also two muscular guards by its entrance. As she approached the entrance, the two guards moved and blocked the entrance.


    "Sorry, kid. No kids allowed."


    She was not going to argue that she was not a kid. Instead, she pulled out a few cash cards.


    "Interested?" She said to them.


    The two guards looked at each other and looked back at her. "What is your business?"


    "My business is private, but I assure you that it is genuine."


    The two guards looked at each other again. "Fine, give us the cards and we will let you enter."


    She was skeptical if they would keep their words, but she had no other choice but to trust them. After she handed them the cards, the guards verified them and moved away from the entrance.


    "You may proceed," One of the guards said.


    "Thanks."


    As soon as she entered the pawn shop, she was bombarded with loud music. It was also fairly dark. An ordinary person would have a hard time seeing. It wasn''t a problem for her however. She could clearly see. The place looked basically like a pub with countless stuff hanging on the walls. There were tables with various items. She couldn''t identify most of them. As she walked toward the counter, she saw a man behind bars. He was counting cash cards casually, nodding along with music.


    "I''ve come to ..." Then she realized she couldn''t hear her own words. Therefore, it was unlikely that the man could hear her. She considered a few ways to grab his attention. She pulled out all of her cash cards in possession which seemed to have failed. She took off her clothes and became naked, which didn''t seem to work. Finally, she stared at him and recalled the moments when she was betrayed by the Goons. Her eyes started to glow weakly. The man paused counting his cards and lowered the volume of music.


    "Who are you? He asked.


    "I am Sae."


    "Alright, Sae, what is your business?"


    "I''ve come to purchase a ticket that will lead me out of this hellhole."


    The man looked up and down at her. "You are serious, I can tell. But I wonder if you have what it takes."


    She pulled out a cash card.


    "That ain''t enough," He responded.


    "Hundreds of these," She replied.


    The man twisted his head, confused slightly. He wasn''t sure whether she was serious in her offer.


    "I am serious.”


    "Bring me the cards, only then I will talk."


    "No," She shook her head. "You prepare a ticket for me. Only then I will prepare my payment."


    "No deal then. Leave."


    "Fine," She turned around and started to walk away from the counter. When she was about to open the door outside, the man called her.


    "Wait."


    She turned around slowly. "Deal then?"


    The shopkeeper claimed that he needed three days to come up with a ticket that will get Sae out of the planet on their next transport. The Beholders had complete control over the only shuttle port on Dawn. The deal was to exchange five hundred cash cards for a ticket. Each cash card was 1000c worth. Of course, she had been through enough mistrust to expect a scam. Still, there were little choices for her. She just had to go with the flow and hope for the best. During the three days of wait, she hid herself in a dumpster. It was also where the suitcase was hidden. She stayed there during the wait and had done nothing which might attract attention. After three days passed uneventfully, she crawled out of the dumpster slowly. She had the briefcase with her along with two knives on her waist and pistols attached around her upper arms. She appeared as if she was partaking in war. She stood before the pawn shop. The two guards weren''t present which was unusual.


    "God..., don''t you hate this." She looked up at the sky. The sky wasn''t blue. It was just black with thousands of white dots. She had a feeling that she''d fall into a trap as soon as she’d walk in. She hated that she had no other choice but to walk into a trap straight. She opened the door and walked inside into darkness. Her vision adjusted for darkness instantly, and she spotted familiar faces, a lot of them in fact. Amenda was there along with her gang. The shopkeeper was still behind the barred wall but he was armed and armored.


    "So...," She shrugged. "This is how it turns out." She glared at Amenda. "Why did you sell me out?"


    Amenda was wearing night-vision goggles. "I don''t know what you''ve done and how you came here, but someone wants you dead pretty badly."


    "Indeed," The pawn shop keeper added.


    "Was it Tanweer?" Sae asked, "The client."


    "Yes," Amenda answered. "So, I guess you know your sins."


    She recalled her memories. The only "sins" she could recall was being born by the woman.


    "The woman placed a big bounty on you," Amenda said.


    "It wasn''t just big. It''s huge," The shopkeeper added. "Wait, it''s more than huge. I don''t know the word for it."


    "One hundred tickets," A thug added, "She offered."


    Sae placed the briefcase gently on the floor and slowly pulled out her two knives, wielding it on each of her hands. She didn''t have any training for close combat, but she felt like she could do it. It was a strange urge of confidence she was receiving from her guts.


    "I guess all of you want me dead?" She asked the obvious question.


    "Sorry, girl," Amenda said. "It''s nothing personal."


    She closed her eyes briefly. She kind of liked Amenda. She felt like she was a big sister while she was with the Goons.


    "I guess... there is no other way to resolve this..."


    Then, she dashed toward the thugs.


    The fight lasted a good fifteen minutes. Sae dominated them all eventually. She did not kill any of them, which was why it took longer. Everyone was down on the floor. Sae was the only exception, who was leaning against a wall in a corner. Her knives were bloody but they spared lives. The keeper of the place seemed to have disappeared however.


    "How in the world...," Amenda blurted out, "What the hell are you?" She was bleeding from her waist, but it wasn''t a serious wound.


    Sae let out a laugh and said, "That doesn''t matter. I am victorious and that''s what matters."


    Amenda was trying to understand what she was trying to do. "Are you going to kill us?" She asked.


    "Sure, if that is what you want." Sae looked around. "The dude''s gone."


    Amenda looked around as well. "It seems so."


    "Who was he?"


    "He is the steward of the Beholders. He''s a pretty high ranking officer. He fled, and that means..."


    One of Amenda''s thugs spoke after her. "Our lives are forfeit."


    "Mind explaining?" Sae asked.


    Amenda covered her waist wound as she raised her upper body. "Argh," She groaned. "When we sold you out, we failed to kill you. That was our first failure. This is our second failure. The Beholders will not give us a third chance. They will hunt us down."


    Thugs who Amenda had brought started to murmur.


    "You may run," She spoke since she knew what they were thinking. "The Goons are done."


    A few thugs rushed out quickly. Remaining thugs were walking out slowly. There were only Amenda and Sae left eventually. Sae stood up and approached Amenda, giving her a hand.


    "No, thanks," She responded. "I don''t need your pity."


    "If you believe your life is forfeit, then lend me your ability," Sae told her.


    Amenda scoffed as she turned her eyes from her. "Yeah, right..."


    "I will help you to defeat the Beholders. In return, you help me get out of this hellhole one day."


    Whether Sae was being truthful or not, it was an interesting proposal. Amenda believed that the Goons were done for. She could attempt hiding and try to save herself and her brother, but it would become an awful life to have. In fact, death sounded more appealing to her.


    "You saw me fight. You know I am strong. It doesn''t matter how much I have to fight, I won''t be defeated." She proclaimed this because she realized that she could not be killed.


    "You can''t be serious." Having a hard time trusting Sae who she tried to kill, Amenda looked away from her hand. "Just leave."


    "Are you giving up?"


    Amenda was silent.


    "What a coward."


    "Everyone on this planet is a coward anyway," Amenda replied wryly. "It is just a matter of how cowardly."


    Sae changed the subject. "Do you know who Tanweer is?"


    The change of subject took Amenda by surprise. "What? Oh, no, not really."


    "Do tell what you know about her please."


    "All I know is that she placed a huge bounty on you and asked the Beholders to seek you out. They found out that you belonged to the Goons, so they asked us to take care of you."


    Amenda seemed to be speaking the truth. Besides, she didn''t have a reason to lie at this point.


    "What have you done to the woman anyway? It must be pretty bad if someone wants you dead and even chases you to this forsaken planet."


    Sae, again, considered what she had done wrong to Tanweer. And, again, the only sin she could think of was being born by the woman.


    "She is my mother," Sae replied indifferently.


    "Pardon?”


    "You heard me."


    She laughed weakly as if she was hearing a bad joke. "You can''t be serious."


    "I am, though."


    "You are saying that - your own mother - wants you dead. Are you her step-daughter or something?"


    "Nope," Sae shook her head. "I was born from her womb."


    "That is ... messed up."


    "I ask you this for the last time," Sae declared with a grim voice. "Choose to aid me or I can end your future suffering right here right now."


    Amenda started to calm down and narrowed her eyes, considering her options. The Goons were done. That was for certain. The first priority was securing the safety of herself and her brother. For this purpose, she needed someone, someone strong.


    "Fine, I will help you but you must help us with fleeing. We haven''t got much time now. The Beholders will soon raid the Goons."


    "I agree. Can you run?"


    She had some deep cuts on her waist. Her internal organs were fine, but she was risking severe blood loss if it wasn’t treated fast enough. She attempted to stand up. Frowning and groaning with pain, she stood up. "I can run. I can''t let these wounds stop me now. This is no time for that."


    They left the scene and rushed to the Goons'' hideout at once. When they arrived, Amenda was pale and had lost quite a lot of blood.


    "Amenda! What happened?!" Amon and his men rushed to take on Amenda who was about to collapse, then he noticed Sae. "I see," He added, realizing what happened.


    "I''ve ... failed," She said in a labored voice. "We must ... flee, bro."


    Amon''s guards took a few steps back when they heard her.


    "Run, run for your life," He told them. "I won''t blame you."


    His guards informed others in the hideout. Everyone evacuated the hideout soon after. Amon was performing first aid on Amenda meanwhile. When he was done, he looked at Sae.


    "I guess we are stuck with you now, huh,” He remarked bitterly.


    Sae replied with a shrug. "Pretty much. How is your sister?"


    "Just some flesh wound, nothing big."


    "Yeah...," Amenda replied with a lingering groan. "I am fine. We must go."


    They both knew that there was no time to slack. Amon and Amenda expected everyone to be gone because that was how things worked on this planet. When they turned around to have the last sight of their hideout, there were two people as in two real persons.


    "What are you two doing here?" Amon shouted at them. "Run while you can!"


    He didn''t know who they were. They must have been pretty new ones. There was a male and a female.


    The male spoke up. "We... would like to stay here."


    It took him a few seconds to get what they, or he, meant. Loyalty was not something that was commonly seen on the planet. He started to suspect that they may be spies from the Beholders. It was Sae who put sense back into him.


    "Heh," She snickered. "Of all your followers, only these two are the real ones."


    Amenda chuckled together with Sae. The Goons had roughly eighty members. Amon supported her sister to stand up. "You two..., what are your names?"


    "We are siblings just like you two. You took us in, you provided us with good food. We''d like to stick with you. My name is Flovien. This is my sister, Karen."


    "We won''t be able to provide you with good food anymore. We will be on the run. Seriously, run while you can."


    "Life won''t be much better out there, won''t it? We might as well go to the end with you."


    There was no time to argue, Amon thought. They must flee. That was their first priority.


    "Fine, whatever you want," He uttered, trying to get a move on while supporting his sister.


    "So, where are we going?" Sae asked.


    The siblings looked at each other briefly before Amenda spoke. "There is a hideout we used before setting up the Goons. We are going there."


    "A hideout ‘we’ used?" Sae twisted her head in curiosity. "Who are we?"


    "Just me and Amon, it was long before we created this gang," She added. "It should have essentials if it wasn''t found and looted."


    "Flovien, Karen," Amon called out. "Gather as much food as possible. You have 5 minutes."


    They quickly disappeared into a storage area. In 5 minutes, Flovien and Karen were carrying two backpacks full of canned foods. Amon was supporting his sister to walk while Amanda was carrying a portable computer. Sae was told to carry nothing as she was to act as a vanguard. At last, Amon made his final check and ordered everyone to leave the hideout through its backdoor. The city was basically full of abandoned buildings and corrupted sewers. The city was built inside a dome in a circular manner. In the middle of the dome, there was a tall, 121-story, tower that was currently occupied by the Beholders. Where the hideout for the Goons was in an outer area where the average height of buildings was three-story. Average height of buildings became progressively taller as it neared the main tower. However, nothing was as tall as the tower. Over 90% of buildings were abandoned, and the majority of them were being used as hideouts in a way or another. It was pretty much impossible to seek out someone through such a densely packed area. The only effective way was by using a bio-signature scanner which could easily be fooled still. The gang made their escape silently and swiftly. When they entered an abandoned building far away from the Goons hideout, they heard an explosion.


    "Looks like they are doing their job," Amon pointed out.


    Amenda took out her portable computer and initiated scanning the area. It was a rugged tablet computer. "A lot of bio-signatures here, let''s keep going. It will be hard for them to spot us in this area," She said.


    It was likely that they were spotted by unseen eyes already, but barely anyone on the planet cared for anything even if the Beholders would put a bounty on them. It took them two hours of careful proceeding to reach their final destination. It was a remote area where the average height of buildings was two-story. Population density was extremely low as well.


    Amon pointed at an abandoned two-story building. It was just like any other building in the city. All of its windows were broken, and the building seemed to have suffered great wear & tear.


    "I am detecting no one in the building, which is good for us," Amenda informed everyone before they''d proceed.


    "To the basement," Amon stated, "Carefully."


    There was a door to the basement. However, it was behind debris of construction materials. One could hardly spot the door and it would be impossible to reach the door without specialized equipment. However, Amon simply walked toward the debris; it was a holographic image. The door to the basement was locked digitally. As Amon entered a password, a heavy door slid sideways. The basement was basically a base. It had various computers in a small network designed to jam the area to counter scanners. It also had a few storage compartments below where food and water were stored.


    "This place doesn''t look like it''s been abandoned," Sae remarked. "It''s almost as if it''s being used regularly."


    "True, Amenda has been keeping this place in check," Amon said. "Just in case."


    "Only my brother and I knew this place. It should be safe for a while," Amenda added.


    Amon approached a console. "I am activating an additional holographic wall now," He stated. "It will create a fake wall in front of the entrance."


    "It looks like a lot of planning went into this place. This place is equipped better than your hideout," Sae remarked as she looked around.


    "There were only two of us back then. We needed these masseurs to keep ourselves safe," Amenda replied.


    They had a quick meal. After the meal, Amon was teaching Flovien basic operations of the consoles throughout the basement. Meanwhile, Amenda was showing Karen an emergency escape route. Sae, on the other hand, was leaning her back against a wall and was slacking. After a few hours, they seemed to have calmed down from the venture they just had. The basement was too large for mere five people. Sae worried that it might scratch sanity in these people if they stayed here for too long. The basement was powered by a primary and a secondary generator. The primary generator was connected to a sewer underground where it was generating electricity from hydropower. The secondary generator was operating the same way as the primary generator, but its location was different.


    "Man, this is literally a military base. Where did you get enough credit to accomplish this?" Sae was in awe. This couldn''t have been easy to make it happen.


    “A long story,” Amon replied.


    “All we got is time while stuck in here.” She made a valid point.


    Amon and Amenda’s parents were forced to flee to this very planet when they were still infants. Their parents never told them why they ended up on Dawn although it wouldn’t be hard to assume a few scenarios. Their parents were unable to adapt to the new lifestyle of Dawn and passed away after only a few years when the siblings could barely take care of themselves. Fortunately, Amon and Amenda held together remarkably well on Dawn. What little assets their parents left for them was safely stored and was used to build a hideout. They had to mature quickly and they did. Amon showed a talent for trading and he soon formed the Goons at age of seventeen. Amenda worked alongside Amon, assisting him to establish a firm ground on Dawn. For the next 20-something years, they had done fine. They were acknowledged by the Beholders as one of their sub-gangs and the Goons were given a clearance for small scale trading. Everything was going relatively well for them until Sae came along.


    “Well, I am sorry,” Sae said, shrugging.


    However, Amon seemed relatively content about how the situation turned up and showed no anger toward Sae.


    “I wasn’t going to be a Beholders’ dog forever,” He stated, beaming a bitter smile at the others, “I am a man and will go as high as possible.”


    “So you want to defeat the Beholders?” Sae asked, also smiling.


    Amon and Amenda’s silence answered her.


    "Well, I am invincible. Use me."


    Amon laughed weakly, he was still thinking that she was just joking. Then Sae grabbed a plasma pistol from her waist and aimed at her head. It was so sudden that no one knew what was happening. Before anyone could realize, she made a shot. It was a plasma pistol, so it didn''t make any resounding sound. An electrical charge was all that sounded in the confined area.


    "What the?!" Amon shouted out from the surprise and turned to his sister. "She killed herself!"


    Amenda grinned. "I guess she really wanted to make a point."


    He blurted, "What?"


    "Look at her."


    When Amon looked back at Sae, who should have been dead, was still there aiming the pistol on her head. What seemed to be her brain was splattered all over the cold concrete floor.


    "See? I am invincible."


    She clearly made a strong point.


    "Use me," She continued. "I suppose you have a plan in your mind? I don''t think you''d just rot here until you die of age."


    Amon was silent; perhaps he was trying to find out what she was. A powerful esper may not die from having his brain blown, but her case seemed different.


    "I am a one-man army that can''t be defeated,” She added.


    He indeed had plans, but she wasn’t a part of it, at least not until this moment.


    “I do have one condition before helping you out. Are you willing to listen?”


    Still silent, he gave her a careful nod.


    “I help you out to be on top of the food chain on this stupid planet. In return, once you conquer this damned planet, let me out of here. That should be an easy task to accomplish once you become the ruler of this planet, no?”


    That was where the deal was made. That was where everything began to change on Dawn albeit it was only for a short while. The Goons emerged to the surface soon after the deal was made, and Sae was actively hunting down members of the Beholders. No one could stop her because she could not be killed. She had rockets blasted on her back and survived. She had sniper shots through her head numerous times and still survived.  At one time, the Beholders arranged a plasma bomb and lured her into a trap where they detonated the bomb; she still survived. She made it clear that she was working for the Goons, and her fierce and brutal prowess started to change political balance on Dawn. People started to join the Goons either out of fear or admiration. Amon quickly restructured the Goons accordingly as their number soared. In the early stage of Sae’s rampage, the Beholders paid little attention to her and the emerging Goons. When they realized that they were dealing with a monster, it was already too late to change the whole situation. The Goons had already become a formidable opponent, and people on Dawn started to believe that a revolution was coming and that the era of the Beholder was gone. People wanted to overthrow the Beholders and they joined the Goons. With Sae fighting on front, the Goons joined her battle and declared war formally on the Beholders three years later.


    And a decade passed, the Goons had the Beholders on its throat. It took many years, but finally the Goons were about to complete the revolution. With only their HQ left, the Beholders were making their last stand. Unfortunately, leaders of the Beholders had already fled out of the planet and only a small portion of loyal members led by a high ranking officer were defending their HQ.


    Sae stood before the mighty tower of the Beholders. Its gigantic view shot through the sky; it was 121 stories tall afterall. It stood in the middle of the city and was a landmark of the planet. It had defensive turrets which were disabled at the moment due to lack of power. It was surreal to see she was standing in front of countless men from the Goons. She was leading them. She was their leader. The small, 10 year-old looking girl, was a leader of over seven thousand battle hardened criminals. No longer did they look at her as a bitch to sexually abuse, no longer did they bother her. They all saw how cruel she was when she massacred her enemies. They respected her and, at the same time, feared her. “The little Witch” they started to call her. Flovien and Karen stood right behind her. They became Amon’s trusted officers and were right below Amenda in the chain of command. Flovien and Karen had both seen great battles and their scars showed. Flovien had lost an eye, and Karen had lost her left arm. Everyone was quiet. Sae was in full command and she did not bother demanding surrender. Amon had always let her do whatever she wanted. This was no exception.


    “Today, the Beholders will finally fall! That tower will be ours!” Sae bellowed. She raised her right hand afloat and paused for a few seconds.


    ‘It will be over soon at last…’


    ‘It took so long…’


    ‘Too long…’


    She dropped her hand and charged forward. With loud roars, the men behind her followed onwards.


    The Beholders fell on that day.


    Celebration lasted for days and, for the first time in history on Dawn, free food was given away. People welcomed the Goons and its leader Amon. He ordered relocation of the base to the former Beholders’ HQ and praised Sae’s achievements. He even stated that she was a Goddess for the Goons. He did everything possible to please her. But she was not happy. She wanted to leave. That was why she chose to be ruthless over a decade. Although she didn’t speak aloud, she was waiting for Amon to grant her a free ticket out of Dawn. Therefore, she waited quietly and patiently.


    For over a year during a period Dawn became stabilized. But it did not happen. Amon never mentioned the free ticket out of the planet. Running out of patience, she asked Amenda to which she replied, “My brother has changed…”


    Yes, he had changed. Revolution may have been successful, but nothing was changed. The Goons became the next Beholders. And that was it. Finally, she decided to confront Amon himself in his chamber which was located on the 121st floor of the tower.


    “You promised!” She shouted out of desperation. “Keep your words! Let me out of this hellhole!”


    There was no response from Amon who was looking down on her from above in his throne. His guards aimed their plasma rifles at her. The chamber consisted of two open floors. The upper floor was where Amon and his elite guards were at. There was no physical means to reach the upper floor without proper tools. And Amenda was on the lower floor with additional guards.


    Betrayed again?


    Yet… again… ?


    AGAIN?!


    She noticed Flovien and Karen approaching from her rear. Everyone was fully armed and armored. Tears flew through her cheeks.


    “Damn it!” She clenched her fists. “Why!” She yelled, “Why?! Why does this always happen to me?! Why am I always always always betrayed in the end?!”


    Amenda shook her head in shame; it wasn’t directed at her. Rather it was directed at herself and her brother. Sae bit her teeth and her body started to shake in anger … or sadness… or something else. Her tears had stopped and her eyes were glowing red.


    “So be it.”


    She said firmly.


    “Fuck this, so be it!”


    She concluded.


    “I tried. I really did. I tried to trust this fucking world, but this world ain’t returning my trust!”


    Hot energy was flowing through her entire body. It was so hot that she had a hard time resisting the urge. Her arms started to leap in dark cloud-like substances. Her hands to elbows were fully enveloped in darkness and she ran toward whatever was there; she no longer cared who or what was blocking her path.


    “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh - !”


    Whatever her dark fists touched, it exploded in the most brutal and gruesome ways. Gunshots were doing nothing to her as the shots were simply blocked by an unseen field.


    “I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL! EVERYTHING! EVERYONE!”


    Amenda was the first casualty. She chose to be killed by Sae first which she didn’t hesitate to do. Amon seemed emotionless even when his sister’s chest exploded and she became two large pieces of cold dead meat.


    “Kill the target,” He ordered with a cold voice.


    She killed almost everyone in the chamber, including Amon himself. There were only a handful of survivors and that included Flovien. His sister, Karen, was brutally killed, however.


    With bloody hands, she walked slowly toward the remaining survivors. However, she did not kill the survivors. She felt too tired to bother killing anyone anymore. She just wanted to leave Dawn once for all. She simply had a look at survivors who were in fear and turned away from them. When she passed by Flovien whose wounds were great, he told her in a labored breath, “I am sorry that this had to happen.”


    He really did mean it. He also noticed significant changes in Amon but could do nothing to stop him. She didn’t reply and simply left the scene. She left the planet on the same day by taking over the only shuttle by force. And Flovien became the leader of the Goons soon after.


    As she set auto-pilot to New Earth, she sat back deeply in the pilot''s seat and shut her eyes. She wanted a legitimate way out of Dawn. As she battled the Beholders, she came to realize that, if she wanted, she could have just overtaken a shuttle port and steal a transport. She resisted her urge and decided to help Amon. She wanted a legitimate way out of Dawn. She wanted an accomplishment and wanted to be proud of it. Deep down below, she wanted to tell her mother, “Look at me! I got off the planet on my own!”


    Tears floated out of her eyelids in zero gravity.


    “Damn it… Damn it…”


    A decade was enough to have changed a lot of things on her home planet when she arrived at New Earth. She had plenty of credits that she took from Dawn and she used one third of it on new clothes. She preferred adorable clothes that were comfortable. The attire she ended up with was a light brown sweater with red and black checkered mini skirt. Over the years, she lost the ID card given by Asperger. Personally, she couldn’t care less anymore. She felt dull and empty inside. It was as if a rather large part of her mind was bitten away by continuous betrayals. At the moment, she had only one thing in her mind; it was to kill her mother in order to put a period mark on a phase of her life. The only reason she cared enough to properly dress was that she learned through experience that people had a great tendency to judge others by appearances. She chose to avoid being treated inadequately.  Her search for where she used to work, the night club bar that her mother ran, ended absurdly when she found out that it didn’t exist anymore. Apparently, the madam of the place passed away and the property was seized by the government since she had neither relatives nor a written will.


    “What the hell…”


    She stood vacantly before a love hotel where [Mosaic Love] used to be. She was in a red district and she was soon approached by a couple of men, asking for a service. Her answer was simple; she killed them brutally with bare hands.


    I kill because I can get away with it!


    For many years, her hatred toward her ill-intended mother had been growing, and it didn’t help that her mother still intended to get rid of her when she was thrown into the living Hell. The more she was betrayed, the more she thought that it was her mother who was the ultimate cause of her betrayals. At one point, she started to believe that everything was her mother’s fault and she swore repeatedly to kill her with her own hands. But her mother was gone apparently. The flow of time had taken her away from the land of the living. Her hatred had lost its target. As a result, she became enraged and went berserk. She lost herself and started to kill anyone in her sight.


    The police soon arrived only to find what they described as “Hell”. She had apparently murdered over fifty people when they arrived, and the manner she had killed them was too gruesome to describe.


    “We have an … esper on rampage here!” A policeman shouted at his communicator. “We need backup ASAP. Call the military!”


    Her dark aura had fully enveloped both of her arms. Anything her hands touched exploded violently. When there were no more people in the area, her attention turned to the police.


    “F, Freeze!” Policemen shouted in their defense which was simply ignored as she killed them. When the police came to a realization that they had a serious problem, She had already claimed over ten policemen. The police immediately called the military for backup, and over one hundred armed personnel arrived at the scene. Breathing heavily, she glared at the armed personnel. She laughed hysterically as she looked at them. She was no longer herself. She was completely consumed by her own darkness.


    “Surrender!” A heavily armored man demanded over a microphone.


    “Like hell I will!” Shouting, she jumped on them. Gunfire proved to be futile.


    Eventually, military equipment was called in; Tanks arrived in the red district and fired at Sae at will although all it did was destroy nearby buildings. She wasn’t even scratched.


    “What the hell are you?!” A soldier cried out as his chest was brutally exploded by her fist. Tanks also exploded in flames when she punched them with her darkened fists. She was simply unstoppable.


    At last, the military asked the council to approve usage of orbital strikes. It was their last attempt to take her out. It would also mean total probable destruction of the entire area. Understandably, the council denied orbital strike. They, instead, approved the military to use agents. Agents were private servants for the colonial government. They were entirely composed of skilled espers. However, none of the agents could last a battle against her for more than ten seconds. When over fifteen agents were “killed in action”, the council approved usage of an orbital strike.


    The military withdrew from the area at once in preparation of an orbital strike. With nothing to kill in her immediate vicinity, she stood alone in the bloody mess. Scent of blood and doom dominated the area. She suddenly sensed a presence behind her. Even before she had a chance to look behind, she was knocked away by a sneak attack. No attack had much impact on her, but this time it was different. The strike felt heavy and sharp to her. She passed out just as she was struck down on the bloody ground.


    ………………………….


    …………………


    ………..


    The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was a ceiling. A dark reddish brown wooden ceiling, it was. It was easy to tell that the construction of the ceiling was exquisite and high-grade. She couldn’t figure out what happened. She couldn’t figure out how much time passed, either. After having looked at her surroundings, it appeared that she was in an ordinary room. She wasn’t in jail or in a hospital.


    “You are finally awake.”


    A familiar voice sounded through a speaker in the room. She couldn’t figure out who it was, though.


    “There is your clothes for you in a corner by the door. Dress yourself and come down. I am in the garden.”


    That was when she realized she was completely naked. Dressing herself back up, she found her body to be extremely light. It was as if heavy weights had been lifted off her shoulders, wrists, and ankles. She was apparently in someone’s manor. It took her a moment to navigate to the garden, but the place wasn’t that large to begin with.


    “Greens…,” She mumbled involuntarily when she saw plants for the first time in her life.


    Greens were everywhere in the backyard of the manor.


    “Welcome.”


    Pointing at the person, she exclaimed. “Ah, you -!”


    “My name is Asperger.”


    She finally remembered that he was the one who saved her.


    “Do you remember what happened?”


    “Uh…” She couldn’t remember how she ended up here. “Wait, greens…” She looked around. “Greens! Does this mean I am on Earth?”


    Plant matters were very rare outside of Earth, and they were frequently referred to as “greens”. For her, it was the first time seeing such a vast amount of greens.


    “Correct.”


    “But how?”


    “You were completely consumed by your own darkness. I had to put a stop on you before you killed everyone on New Earth.”


    Sharp pain stung her head, and she staggered a bit, holding the side of her head. Although hazed, she started to recall fragments of her darkest moment.


    “Yes…,” She responded weakly. “I went to find my mother…”


    “But she wasn’t there. In fact, she died of natural causes,” He continued. “Have a seat by the way.”


    He was apparently having tea in the garden.


    “Am I really on Earth?”


    “Yes, you are.”


    After she took a seat, she looked above. Deep blue sky. Oh, yes, she was on Earth.


    “So, I am really on Earth. I thought people like me weren’t allowed to set foot.”


    “True, but you are here anyway.”


    She snickered. “True.”


    Both of them said no more for a while, and they went on their silence for an hour straight. For the hour, Sae recalled her darkest moment. She recollected her memories fully and understood what he meant by being consumed by darkness completely. At that time, she lost it. She had completely lost herself but wondered why she felt so light when she woke up.


    “Your hatred, or darkness, has cleansed you,” he said as if he read her thoughts. Startled by the sudden speech, she jumped up and down slightly.


    “What?”


    “Your hatred, or darkness, has cleansed you.”


    “What does that mean?”


    “It means what I said.”


    “I don’t get it.”


    “It will take time to fully understand. For now, you should rest. You deserve a break.”


    Looking at the deep blue sky once more, she giggled. “Fine, whatever.”


    She was free to do anything but wasn’t allowed to leave the manor. If she really wanted, however, she could have easily left since there was nothing that’d stop her. She complied nevertheless and stayed within the confines of the manor. Eventually, she requested to see Asperger one day and she was called to the garden. It was the heart of the manor. The manor was built around it. The garden was just large enough for a small pond, a few trees, and several flora beds.


    “What is it?”


    As usual, he was having tea when she arrived. There were a few subjects that had been bothering her although she had completely forgotten about it until recently.


    First of all, she asked why she became a monster.


    “By monster,” he replied casually, “I suppose you mean immortality.”


    She gave him a nod.


    “I do not possess healing abilities. I do, however, possess an ability to lock objects in time.”


    She was confused rightfully so.


    He elaborated, “What it means is that, when I spared a few drops of my blood on you, your physical status was locked. You were still alive at that time and you would remain locked to being alive no matter what.”


    “For how long?”


    He gazed into his tea cup he was holding. “I don’t know,” He eventually replied, “You are my first test subject.”


    Although shocked, she wasn’t angry or anything. She expected as much.


    Sighing deeply, she vacantly looked at the garden. “Well, it looks like I am stuck being a kid for a long time. I suppose I will learn to cope with it somehow.”


    “As far as your combat ability is concerned, I have nothing to teach you. You’ve mastered your own style. However, what you do need to be taught is maintaining your state of mind.”


    Recalling how she lost herself, she inclined to agree.


    “But how?” She asked.


    “Travel the world. See the world and feel it. Darkness is easy to learn and master; it’s active. Light, however, requires a progressive learning; it’s passive.”


    “Travel the world and do what?”


    “Whatever you want to do. You can be anything except for being a heroine.”


    “Why can’t I be a heroine?”


    “Because you can’t die. A hero needs to die in order to remain a hero.”


    She snickered. “I guess that’s true!” She replied cheerfully.


    “When you get to know the world enough, you will begin to understand why you were betrayed back on New Earth as well as on Dawn.”


    “Do you want me to leave now?”


    “No, stay here as long as you like. Once you leave though, you won’t be allowed to come back.”


    She couldn’t care less why she was betrayed anymore. Even though such memories were painful, pain was something she learned to cope with as she went through her rough life.


    “This will be my last meeting with you,” he declared, sipping his tea.


    “Okie dokie, thanks for everything, mister or miss or whatever. I can’t really tell.”


    It was a bright Earth day. She was leaving behind the old fashioned manor. As gentle breezing wind embraced her tiny figure, she beamed a smile and inhaled a deep breath. The air tasted nothing like what she breathed back on Dawn and New Earth. She couldn’t pinpoint how different exactly, but –


    “It IS different,” She claimed anyway.


    Inhaling another deep breath, she shouted this time, “IT IS DIFFERENT!”


    She took a transport to the Freedom colony on the same day. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to come back to Earth ever again. She was fully aware. In fact, she would never return to Earth, ever.