x
Three years had passed since Evelyn shut down the EDEN system. The world was left not only with scars but with the lingering fruits of a revolution that had cost thousands of lives.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIW0XoPNqjr
Most believed the fall of EDEN's central facility had marked the end of everything. But like poison creeping through the veins of the Earth, what had been born there continued to leave its trace.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs1V4HNmbJ5
More than 217 children had been fully "altered" before the shutdown. They were called The Awakened no longer entirely human, yet not machines either. Engineered with advanced comprehension of languages, mathematics, weaponry, and military systems they were left without a place to call home.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6duSP6UsaF
Governments couldn't claim them. Human rights organizations were divided: Should they be protected... or feared?
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtzR5tXG9gg
But then something terrifying began to unfold.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeT8hOrimF5
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ9zwOVaB4Q
Berlin, Germany
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGiYbVVtigS
On the night of March 7th, the St. Klaus Orphanage burned to the ground. Carved in blood on the scorched walls was a strange insignia:
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLubc5v5tew
"EOS."
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6rgNw5h6f1
One minute after the fire was reported, Jayden received an anonymous email.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKFkz6dgQC7
"You can't stop what was born in blood.
We listened. We learned. Now we want our world.
EOS is not a movement.
It is a generation. - M."
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGzRPPTcfrd
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhlPJnxz8QW
Jayden stared at the final letter:
M.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAaUFkR1bo9
Something about it felt familiar like a shadow from a forgotten nightmare.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFv8fGTEZ5R
That same night, he called Rhea, now the director of the International Human Defense for Scientific Ethics (IHDSE).
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUARmNyDZE
Her voice was tight with tension. "We've received another report. Seven of the EDEN children, previously missing, have been seen together led by a young male. Operational name: Marius."
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2kJh7mqdkr
Jayden's pulse stopped for a beat.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJz3V0hm9z
Marius.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0eT8Dd3dfF
He had been one of Evelyn's early prototypes a boy from Bulgaria with staggering intelligence and a chilling gift for violence. He had once killed a training instructor using nothing but a twig. Evelyn had expelled him from the program. Everyone believed he died...
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG6Y4UlKP6w
They were wrong.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYtxOgLR9LP
Marius had survived and now, he was leading an entire generation in a war of vengeance.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4dsqW7OZYR
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6qJoQCnSzi
"We Must Understand Them Before We Fight Them."
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfcPSDXoWrH
Jayden traveled to Oslo, Norway, to meet with Kemi Langat. They had been granted a rare opportunity to speak to one of the Awakened captured during an attempted weapons heist.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWE8Nai5j2s
Her name was Anja.
Fourteen years old.
Icy blue eyes.
Silvery white hair.
Silent, but her mind was razor-sharp.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ50oGpNKrtE
Jayden approached her gently.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFQwJp8YGxj
"We don't want to hurt you, Anja. We just want to understand why EOS exists."
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe0dpQqfHTb
She smiled a cold, unreadable smile.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGnqBSQ3oEj
"It's not about why we exist. It's about why you refused to see us as human. You wanted weapons. Now you have consequences."
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLHPkCaHqhK
"Evelyn shut everything down " Jayden started to explain.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNqbCNKE5vY
Anja laughed faintly.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkbkC384uv4
"She was our mother... but she betrayed us. When the system died, we were already awake. We opened our eyes and the world called us monsters. Are we not allowed to fight for a place to live?"
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR9MHqSIGdX
Jayden fell silent.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLaFlA9mkGp
This wasn't a war between good and evil.
This was a clash between two generations.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6bD4wcph6m
One built to obey.
The other rising to reclaim identity.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgncZTUfyWa
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8bsqchEUSN
EOS - The Exiled Order of Saints
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2XCHY9vchu
Intel reports confirmed that EOS had evolved into a global underground network. Over 130 members survivors of EDEN experiments had gone off-grid. Some hid deep in the Amazon rainforest. Others in the hills of Kosovo. Some even in the neon maze of Seoul.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx8VPRXmXNa
They had learned from Evelyn.
But they had chosen their own doctrine.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW0MBEBWev5
Now, they sought to build a nation
A Nation of the Saints of Pain.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡihS0VekFI8
Connor Black moved through the streets in disguise, searching for whispers.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFuQ9JXui7e
One afternoon, a small boy approached him, handed him a folded paper, then vanished.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCN6Qrqm1Sg
Written in delicate handwriting:
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW0jTwMxegz
"We have a chance.
Will you save us...
or destroy us?"
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUi3TEfEAXV
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnto2caWlXR
That question stayed with Connor through every sleepless night.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡepuR0x14Ce
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY2GMRUhz6b
Difficult Choices: The World Takes Sides
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAk2yAWlBcd
The United Nations Council held an emergency assembly.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgt9XHFvPbo
Some nations advocated for the recognition of EDEN children as human citizens. They proposed sanctuaries, education, even rehabilitation.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnGFX3HKgU4
Others disagreed:
"They are weapons.
And weapons do not belong in society."
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu4ppO3EUfc
Rhea stood firm.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCmaV2cRDk9
"Fear cannot govern justice. Let's not repeat Evelyn's sins. These are our children now."
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw70bx8w22W
But in the shadows, Marius was raising an army.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMtAxyYG799
"No one is coming to save us," he declared.
"We will be our own salvation."
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa3MBBKfPXl
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoKujOgLesV
End of Memories. Beginning of War.
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡONzHSh8pEX
Jayden, with a heart heavy from memory, sent an open letter to EOS:
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPAvRAJWKMr
"You carry our pain.
You carry our blood.
But you also carry the power to write a new history without turning the world into a grave.
Don't use pain to justify destruction.
Transform it into light."
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ99AW4neK4q
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Sk9zT3jQS
The reply from EOS was swift.
Just three words:
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiW28OgiTyN
"Light is for dreamers.
We are awake."
32Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuis8vhoXzx
