Chapter One

What Cold Wars Leave Behind

To the doctor's knowledge, the girl who laid lifelessly in her silent bed, unmoving, and never to wake. The only thing that had kept her alive was the support of an IV pack and the aids of the doctors and nurses whom had had this burden placed over them so suddenly many years ago. The unfamiliar woman who wore the nametag over her wrist.

Miyako Shirawatari.

But there were some things that the doctor's did not know. Something that the woman knew only to the subconscious level, for when she woke, there was no possible way to tell what she would remember. If she ever woke, that was. No one was ever too confident.

As a nurse passed the room, oblivious to the woman's condition, her eyes slowly opened. Her eyes were an emerald green hue, crystal clear, like they could surpass the judicious behavior of a person, and yet, they were childlike eyes, ones that seemed as though they had set their first sight upon the world. The first light made her flinch, her body tremble, the bed screeched at her slighted motions.

Her hand rested over the wires placed into her arm, a stiff arm. An arm which had laid inanimate for eighteen years.

The heart moderator went blank.

***

Elsewhere in another room, there was a man and a fair-haired woman. The man laid in his bed, unable to move his arm, for when he had, a surge of pain rushed through it. He dared not move it any further. A splint was cast over that arm, twisted in an upright position. Below them, sat a dog. A white-fured husky, whose mouth hung agape and tongue dangled out, his tail swaying from side to side. He was happy-faced beast.

Though the dog wasn't allowed inside a hospital, but Xaden Wynn had made a strict request to bring him in, it had been a week, after all, since he had first arrived, and the animal had already begun to worry. Uri Hawthorne brought Nook in with his full consent, rather than the doctors, walking passed them and ignoring them. She even managed to body slam a security guard along the way.

However, along her way, she had passed a room. A depressing room. It was all white, and no one but a girl laid within it. Her black hair sprawled about the pillow her head rested gingerly over, eyes closed as though they were to never wake. There had been no flowers, no pictures nor any sign that anyone had ever been there. She might have just been a newly created corpse, laying there lifelessly, waiting to be carried off into the crematory without a family to gather the ashes. The solemn expression the girl had was depressing. Uri even stopped by there once, earlier in the week, and that morning.

She had pressed her hand over the girl's, though she did not move. There was a heart moderator displayed along the side, the only sign of revealing that she remained alive. Uri looked down upon the girl with a saddened look, staying there for a long time. As time passed, she had forgotten why she was here.

On her way out, the nurse had asked her if Uri had known the girl. Uri shook her head and told her that she just felt sorry for her. The nurse sighed, telling her that she didn't blame her, that the girl had laid in a coma for eighteen years, arrived at the hospital at the age of nine. No one knew what was wrong with her, or what she was dreaming about in her endless slumber. She told Uri that sometimes tears streamed down the girl's eyes and she cried in an inaudible whimper, her fingers moved, but that was all she was ever capable of. Uri asked her if she had any family or friends, and she shook her head despondently. The nurse then turned to the girl's room, checked her IV pack, and walked out without another word.

Uri paid her final respects to the pale, stationary girl, pressing a hand over her warm hand, a smooth, gentle hand, that felt silky enough to bring her to the thought that she hadn't been touched or harmed in a long time. Briefly she stayed there, watching her, before veering over to Xaden's room, where they spoke, often a little tease Uri gave to him, and then he'd remark her adolescent attempts to try and make him irritated, though frequently it worked.

Little to the hospital's knowledge, Xaden had truthfully been attacked, rather than getting caught in a hit and run accident. However, if they had consulted to the hospital of this, they would either have been told that they were probably hallucinating. After all, they had lied at first, so who would believe them when they decide to change their story? At least Uri knew better than that.

When this all blows over, it wasn't like Xaden had much to look forward to anyway. A nice, cold, underground shelter inhabited by seven other people, not included Uri, Nook, and himself. Nine people living under one roof, holding out after a nuclear war years back. He remembered that war real well, they all did. And every one of them had scars to prove so, as well. Xaden knew he did, and everyone else's scars were always different. Much different.

They were all the same, yet everyone had their own part, their own importance. Xaden ran it all, made sure the group did their job. He'd take part in the fighting. It wasn't like he was a violent person, he was just a little angry, and used violence to let his anger out. Violence was his only savior, his one way ticket out from being stuck in the world of guilt. Xaden had been tired of living a life where he let others do things for him, he was sick of bottling up the invisible emotions which screamed to be let loose. He was trapped inside of a cage, unable to be released. No one knew the true side to Xaden, whether if he be on the battle grounds or in a regular conversation. This man held something dear behind him.

And that was when a dog came into his life. Sure, Nook had to have been over the age of fifteen by now, but that animal was still jubilant and vigorous like he were still a pup. He remember, when Xaden still lived nearby ruins of the city of Chicago, that an animal appeared on his doorstep. A dog. He started off brown and black, but after Xaden had given him a thorough bathing, he turned into the most sleek, snow-colored animal he had ever seen. He named him "Nook," due to the fact that he seemed to enjoy playing a game when he was still young, hide-and-seek. Xaden used the term mentally in having to search inside every "nook and cranny" in order to find him in the most unobvious places. Vents, closets (how he could open and close the door in order to get into that situation was still a mystery), storage facilities, one could name a thousand of them. In spite of everything, Nook had proved himself very dear to Xaden's life, hence the reason why he wanted the husky to come and visit him.

Uri Hawthorne was different. She wasn't angry or violent, neither was she rapturous and triumphant, but caring and motherly. When she was in college, she had studied to become a human doctor. However, she never completed her fifth year, thus, not having the full potential to ever live up to the expectations of hospitals and practices. Which was why she managed to track Xaden down, and help him out. They had been friends since childhood, and she watched over him much like a little brother, seeing that she was two years older than him, and Xaden now lived to be of thirty years. She may act as, what Xaden would call, childish, but she only did this to lighten spirits. It was best to do so these days.

He even had an office he was going to have to return to when he comes "home," a place he doesn't fear calling it so, either. Since no one had any other places to go to, there were other rooms built within the shelter, so everyone, a new family of nine living in a rather large shelter with much more room that it looked like it was capable of. Xaden was always proud of himself that he was the one who had designed the place, hidden underground, disguised as a subway. They were called E.R.O.S., which stood solemnly for Extermination and Resistance Occult Structure.

There was a time when a person could walk about the streets and not have to fear for their life, but those days had sadly died in the days of gray. These were darker days, where people were being killed by something that people weren't aware of at first, but the killings became more and more frequent, which was why there had been an electrical barrier placed over most cities, supposedly preventing any outsiders from entering the premises without identification. However, there became reports on child killings, people falling asleep and being attacked by some creature that no witnesses could ever come to recognize. Things started to spin out of control, and no one knew what to do about it. The police were too stubborn to believe it true, and laughed at those who called in, complaining about what's happened to them, only to be mocked and laughed at, being told how "loony" they were. The governments tried, by putting up the barriers which didn't seem to work. They didn't like the fact that some "creatures" were coming into the people's homes and killing their citizens off. Since they couldn't afford such an outbreak that would involve things such as rumors and other widespread of chaos , they tried their best.

That was when Xaden decided to take a stand; five years ago. After dealing with thirteen years of living on his own, scrounging whatever he could for money, though he saved the rest, his real assets, within a vault at the bank. This had been the birth of E.R.O.S., and Xaden had officially become a hunter of the hunters.

Xaden worked alone at first, only buying the guns he could at gunsmiths, simply enough he was then to realize how feeble his weapon's powers were, as well as his control over them. He wasn't accustomed to using a firearm, and it took him months to figure it out, and then a man named Reuel walked up at his doorstep when discovering about Xaden's "profession." It had been the two of them who designed and built the shelter together.

Reuel was older than Xaden by eight years, he was a stern looking black man who feels that his lack of hair is needed for his own self image. He never understood why Reuel prefers to go about shaved, yet felt that it wasn't his place to ask. Reuel always wore loose fitting pants with gun holsters attached to his belt. Mainly he wore a jean jacket over them, and then wore either black or white, short sleeved shirts. He always carried around some sort of handgun with him, and Xaden never understood why. Reuel was a strange person, and never did favored much to talk about himself.

It wasn't so much that Reuel was ever a "grumpy old man," as Uri called him sometimes, but just the fact that he's gone through so much, and lost everything he had. The war eighteen years ago made him cold, and there wasn't anything wrong with that, as far as Xaden was concerned. Reuel just had his problems, just like everybody else.

Together, Xaden and Reuel fixed up a closed shelter on the outskirts of Neo Angeles, a long forgotten subway used for the old trains. However, since nobody used trains anymore, they closed all subways. They had SkyRiders within the present time, so the use for trains was no longer needed. The shelter was capable of holding more then nine people, since Xaden had it completely remodeled, giving it more of a homey atmosphere. The funds he had in his bank went mostly into the remodeling, grateful that he didn't spend it all. Then, he moved out of his apartment and went to live in the shelter, it took a while for Reuel to decide to as well. He said he didn't like the actuality on living where he worked.

Uri showed up not so much afterwards, and it had just been the three of them. But over the years, Uri had met a few people when he and she had parted their separate ways after Chicago had been destroyed. Some of them were gunsmiths, and a couple were hackers, and had access into getting them some computers. If it hadn't been for Uri, then E.R.O.S. wouldn't have gotten started like it had. Things had changed for the better after that.

Customized weapons were made, stronger than the ones Xaden had beforehand. Bekah, Fia, and Ragnar fashioned their own weapons, Teji and his little brother Taj helped with the computers and equipment, and Teji was even into creating mechas (robotics which a person would be able to fit into, and control with the motions of their moving limbs.). He had made a few that was unsuccessful, but ended up creating some that could get him somewhere. One was actually able to get a mile before it broke down, rusted. Nickoli set up one of the rooms into a training center, aided by Reuel, who seemed to have gotten along with Nickoli in a strange way.

For some means, Nickoli's frequent nickname had been "Taz," due to his untidy auburn hair, which he seemed never to brush. Bekah discovered it for the first time they'd met. She'd been calling him Taz since.

They were like a family. None of them had a home to go to, or a family to give them any concerns, without the exceptional few; like Teji and Taj's mother in northern California. However, Taj was able to get through school a year earlier, he was considered now a high school graduate, and decided to put off going to college for another year. Teji had gone to college for five years before he graduated, though not knowing what to do with his knowledge. He took some extra classes on computers, and went off from there.

Xaden sighed in relief as Uri entered with a smile. She waved and gave her entrance, bringing in Nook by her side. She walked up to his bedside, where Nook jumped up over the edge and relaxed his old, weary self across Xaden's legs, looking up at him with content, smiling. Xaden smiled and told the animal that he missed him as well.

The hospital was quiet, other than the faint sound of phones ringing, the murmurs of people conversed to each other with either remorse or nonchalant discussions. The tapping of one's footsteps as they ambled down the hallways and the creaking of a trolley or a stretcher, everything was beyond peaceful, it was just plain disturbing. Though it didn't bother either of the two, the stilled atmosphere was rather serene, compared to what they do on a regular basis, this was nice.

It was peaceful enough for the two to engage in a quiet conversation without being interrupted, except for a nurse who walked in to check up on how they were doing. Uri often thought about that girl in the room, and wondered what it was about her so much that seemed to have attracted her attention. Perhaps it was just that they were so prone to helping people, and just by seeing someone who was in need of help, Uri felt awkward being unable to do something about it. Not being able to help the girl, speak to her and aid her through her problems.

He tilted his head when he watched her daze off once more like that, "You know, you keep thinking with a look like that on your face," he told her, "you are going to look like an old lady."

"Hm? Oh?" Uri turned back to him. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"No problem. Something on your mind?."

She wanted to tell him, but restrained herself from doing so. Uri looked away, turning to the window and gazed out of it blankly, seeing her jeep parked outside. She loved that jeep, it was all hers. A nice, reliable, forest-green vehicle that lasted for her over the years. It was enough to carry five people, not including the dog.

"No," she told him.

Xaden didn't believe her, this much she knew, but he just nodded, and said nothing more of the matter. "Alright. So then how has everybody else been holding up?"

"They're doing okay. No reports of any attacks lately, so you haven't missed much."

"Attacks have been getting less and less frequent," he said thoughtfully, leaning back in his comfortable bed, resting his head on the soft pillows. "I wonder if we are actually starting to make a dent in their cycle."

Uri nodded. "Yes, I suppose."

The two spoke a while longer, talking about how everyone was doing, he was worried how Uri had been treating Nook, making sure he had gotten the right amount of food and exercise and such. He even spoke of how little there was to do around there, other than eat, sleep, or watch television. She told him that that was their main intention. They wanted him to get as much rest as possible so that he would get better sooner.

"Speaking of which, I bought you something on my way coming here," she said, reaching over to pull out a book, and handed it to him. She grinned as Xaden read the title.

"Moby Dick?" he said, quirking a brow.

"Yeah," she said, shrugging. "I'm sure you've heard of it. About a man seeking revenge of a whale that was responsible for the loss of his leg or something. Its the generic pirate, you know? 'Arr, ye mates,' and stuff like that," she said, speaking the dialoged within a accent tone of sarcasm.

"Don't mock my intelligence," Xaden said with a sneer. "I know what it is."

"Good, then read it," she said, standing up. "I'll make sure you get to keep Nook here overnight. He's been driving us mad at the shelter because he misses you so much. Wanted to stay here with you until you get better, he says," she smiled warmly. "I better be going before someone like Nickoli or Taj attempt to tear up the couches again."

"Again?" he raised his eyebrows. "Please don't tell me they did it again while I was gone...."

"It was a bloody battle," she said cheekily, then winked and exited.

***

The woman ran a hand through her long, thick, raven black hair, looking into the mirror of a closet and stared into the weary eyes of an older woman, unlike the girl she had envisioned within the memoirs of her mind. She stared, looking harder, more intently, trying to make sense of what had just happened, only to feel her head ache, and her hands tremble.

Who was she...?

She looked down at the nametag that dangled loosely at her wrist. Miyako Shirawatari. It said that, but for some reason she held skeptics. A deep, gut feeling that told her that that wasn't her name.

Names are meaningless.

And then the word flashed across her eyes, a name, a person.... A child....

Undine, Undine! Please don't leave me! I don't want to be alone!

It's okay, Rei. I'm not going to leave you alone. Here, take my hand, and we'll leave together.

Rei.

Rei Emiko.

Was that it? Was that her name? It fit more than the name on the tag. Rei looked back up at her reflection, touching a gentle, smooth hand over her face. Her face was silky and tender, like a newborn's flesh. Her green eyes stared vacantly into her own face, trying to make sense of it all. However, it didn't. Rei, this woman who had been called Rei within her long, nearly forgotten memories, didn't understand a thing, she didn't know what had happened to her, why she was there, or who she even was.

She cringed, wrapping her arms around herself from an incurable chill. Never could she imagine such cold like this before, whether if she had a memory to recall it or not. There was a breeze came by and caused her skin to freeze and the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She found herself in the mirror wearing nothing but a hospital gown, a white and blue thin piece. Her tender, wobbling feet were bare, no slippers could even be seen about the room.

Rei sighed, pressing a hand over her sweat covered face, gazing back at her appearance. It had been like staring at a completely different person who mimicked her every move. She felt strange.

***

Upon heading back to the exit of the hospital, Uri couldn't help but see something missing in the room she had previously been into prior to her visit with Xaden. She looked into a vacant bed. Her heart skipped a few beats, before thinking that they must have moved her. Then she heard a faint, drawn out beeping sound, and discovered that it was the heart moderator, along with the equipment that had been attached to her, displayed over the mattress.

Concerned, Uri walked into the room to investigate, only to find the girl standing around the corner, gazing at herself before a mirror, looking at her reflection like one would to a complete stranger. She spun around at the slightest sound Uri made when she stirred into the room, glancing at the machines next to her empty bed, then back at her.

The two looked intently at one another, hers was something akin to a small, lost child, waiting for her mother to take her hand, and Uri just stared in a strange awe, recalling all what the nurse had informed her of about this girl. She said that she had been unconscious for eighteen years, and she just happened to wake up now? When she was here checking up on Xaden? This could have happened to anyone, and it had to have been her? Why would a high entity such as fate choose someone like Uri to meet this girl?

Or maybe it was just her ability to be at the right place at the right time.