• Seth led Dawn down various side streets and back roads, trying to avoid any military presence as much as possible. The two walked in silence, making Dawn a little nervous. She knew nothing about this man, yet she still went with him. While he was pretty obviously her only hope, why did she trust him? Dawn decided to break the silence with a question.
    "So, where are we going?", Dawn asked.
    "The Suburbia district.", Seth replied quickly.
    "Suburb... what? Where's that?", Dawn asked.
    A look of major annoyance crossed Seth's face. "UGH! You Inner Telios people are so sheltered that you don't even know how hard the rest of us have it. Suburbia is pretty close to Inner Telios, but it might as well be a slum. If you don't live near the White Spire, Nikolai just forgets you exist."
    "What are you talking about?", Dawn inquired. "Nikolai is a hero, he protects all of us and provides for us!"
    Seth spun around and grabbed Dawn at the shoulders. His expression was nothing but pure rage.
    "ARE YOU INSANE?!", Seth yelled. "HOW CAN YOU STILL SAY THAT AFTER WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! YOU PARENTS ARE DEAD BECAUSE OF THAT MONSTER!"

    Calming down, Seth let go of Dawn and motioned her to follow him. "Listen...", Seth said in a solemn tone. "Nikolai is nothing that he seems to be. I've never met him, but there can't be anything human about him. He is truly a monster. Anything that gets in his way, anything that is unsatisfactory is eradicated. He killed my parents too, you know."
    Dawn stared at Seth with a shocked expression.
    Seth continued with his story. "I don't even know why he did it. All I can remember are the Chimeras breaking into our home and slaughtering my mother and father."
    "What's a Chimera?", Dawn asked.
    "You really don't know anything, do you?", Seth rudely asked. Dawn gave him a look of annoyance. "Alright, those men that killed your parents? The ones with the gold eyes? Those are Chimeras. They're stronger, they're faster, and they're ruthless. They are Nikolai's special forces, his assassins, you name it. They are demons.", Seth explained.
    Dawn remembered the emotionless stares of those two men. How their horrible eyes seemed to gaze into her very soul.
    "So if those two came after us, we wouldn't have standed a chance.", Dawn guessed.
    "Probably not, no.", Seth answered. "I once heard a rumor about how they get like that. Nikolai takes them from their parents when they're not even a month old, and he kills the parents to make sure the child never happens to meet them. Then he takes the infant to a lab where he does... something. It's said he adds another "code" to the infant's DNA that causes them to develop into what you saw today. In any case, look alive. We're at the door."

    A huge wall stood before them, with a huge iron door separating the Suburbia district from Inner Telios. Dawn looked ahead and saw Talons operating the door. "How will we get through?", she asked.
    "Don't worry, only recruits operate the doors. They aren't told about high-ranked stuff.", Seth told her. They two walked up to the door, where a Talon soldier addressed Seth rather casually.
    "HEY! Seth, how you doing buddy?", the soldier asked.
    "I've been worse. How're you, Max?", Seth asked.
    "You know this soldier?", Dawn asked.
    "HAHA, me and Seth go WAY back, don't we?! Known him since we were in kindergarten! Man, we must've been friends for 15 years now.", Max replied.
    "And you're still as loud as ever.", Seth commented. He then grabbed Dawn's hand and motioned toward the door. "Now if you don't mind, my girlfriend and I would like to get back home.
    "Seth, how could you not introduce me to this beauty! And who would you be, miss?", Max asked.
    "I-I'm uh... I'm Dawn.", Dawn answered.
    "Hey, I know I act strange for a soldier, but that ain't no reason to be nervous!" Max told her.
    "Max, it was nice to see you, but we really have to get going.", Seth explained.
    "Yeah, I understand, you two must have important business, eh? EH?!", Max asked while jokingly nudging Seth with his elbow.
    "Max, open the damn door.", Seth demanded, a look of embarrassment and slight annoyance on his face.
    "Alright, I'll stop joking around. You two don't have TOO much fun now, alright!", Max told the two with a hearty laugh. After inputting commands into a large control panel, the huge door slowly opened. Seth and Dawn walked through it hand in hand in order to keep up the ruse.
    "Thank God that was Max. We would've had a harder time getting through otherwise.", Seth commented.

    Meanwhile, a lone man watched the two from a far away rooftop. The man was wearing a Talon outfit, but wore an iron mask on his face that only permitted a single golden eye to look out. The man pulled out a radio and began to speak into it.
    "Father, they are going into the Suburbia district. Should I give chase?", the man asked.
    "No.", the voice on the radio commanded. "Pull back for now. I will have the Talons handle it. Such force is not needed for an operation like this."
    "Understood, Father.", the man replied. Putting away the radio, he walked away and jumped off the nearby rooftop. Smashing into the ground, he immediately recovered, walked onto the main road, and became lost in the crowded street.