In the year 2095, humanity's ambition to conquer death unleashed a force could never be controlled by anything. Scientists named it the Adaptive Unknown Reanimation Organism Revenant Agent also classified as A.U.R.O.R.A Virus, a virus engineered to reanimate the dead, adaptive in nature, and capable of unpredictable mutations. Those revived returned bearing the shadow of life, but at a devastating cost. The virus spread quickly, like a contagion carried through DNA contact, transforming mind and body alike. What was meant to be humanity's triumph became a global catastrophe.
Over the next thirty years, Earth itself was reshaped. Cities crumbled, overtaken by forests or swallowed by rising waters. Civilization fractured into pockets of survival, fortified laboratories, and scattered settlements. The infected, later called Oradryn, were not the mindless husks humanity first feared. They had began moving with intelligence, patience, and a terrible awareness, turning ruins into hunting grounds and remnants of humanity into prey.
Amid this devastation, rumors circulated of something unusual, an unconfirmed presence moving unseen among the ruins.
Survivors whispered cautiously, unsure whether it was threat or salvation, a shadow that could change the course of what remained of their world.
Rain lashed the streets, drenching toppled towers and turning streets to mud. Lightning split the sky, illuminating overturned cars and shattered signs. In the heart of this ruined city, Yondai pressed onward, coat soaked, boots squelching with each step. Purpose drove her forward, though the storm seemed determined to slow his progress.
Ahead, faint lights flickered against the horizon, outlining the fortified walls of the Aegis Oradryn Defense Force headquarters. Inside, scientists and soldiers worked tirelessly, studying A.U.R.O.R.A. and defending humanity from the threat the Oradryns presented. The rumors of unusual entities were enough to keep every guard vigilant, though few dared to speak openly.
Yondai's eyes swept the desolate cityscape. And somewhere beyond the gates, danger waited.
CLANG!
Two guards stood at the gates menacingly, their two spears overlapped each other perfectly forming a symmetrical X shape.
"What is your purpose here child!" The first guard's voice booming.
Yondai stood there, shivering, cold, determined. She looked up at the guard, her eyes burning with determination.
"I have come here to become an AODF Agents"
She spoke with raw, pure determination. Willing to do what it takes to get inside. Even if it meant revealing her true identity.
The guard laughed hard and then spoke.
"You! An agent!"
He laughed again but ended abruptly, because his partner told him to be more serious with his job.
"I am truly sorry for my partner's insolence. As an apology you have been given permission to enter," The other guard said kindly
"Th-th-Thank y-you m-mister." She couldn't speak properly due to her current condition.
The guard stepped aside, pulling the heavy lever beside the gate. With a deep metallic groan, the massive doors of the AODF headquarters began to open. Rusted hinges protested loudly as the gap widened, warm light spilling into the rain-soaked street.
Yondai hesitated for only a moment before stepping forward.
Inside the walls, the world felt different.
The storm still roared beyond the gates, but within the fortress the chaos was subdued.
Floodlights illuminated concrete courtyards reinforced with steel barricades. Soldiers moved between watchtowers and supply crates, their boots splashing through shallow puddles left by the rain. Some carried rifles, others long spears similar to the ones held by the gate guards.
Everywhere Yondai looked, there was movement.
A group of medics hurried across the courtyard pushing a stretcher. Scientists in heavy coats argued beside a transport vehicle stacked with sealed metal containers labeled A.U.R.O.R.A. BIOHAZARD.
Loudspeakers crackled overhead with faint announcements she couldn't fully make out.
This place wasn't just a fortress.
It was a war machine. The main headquarters of AODF.
The kind guard guided Yondai under a metal canopy near the entrance checkpoint.
"Hold there," he said gently. "Standard intake procedure."
Another soldier approached with a small handheld scanner. Its faint blue light flickered as it powered on.
Yondai instinctively stiffened.
"Relax," the guard reassured her. "Just making sure you're not infected."
The word hung in the air heavier than the storm outside. The Oradryn. Everyone feared them. Everyone hunted them.
Yondai lowered her eyes slightly as the scanner hummed softly as it passed over Yondai's arms and shoulders.The device hummed quietly, analyzing checked for the unmistakable genetic markers and other symptoms such as low body temperature of the A.U.R.O.R.A. virus which are present in every known Oradryn.
The machine hesitated for a moment before flashing green. To the machine, she was human.
"Clear," he muttered.
Yondai exhaled slowly, a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. The kind guard smiled faintly.
"Looks like you're safe. Now, about becoming an agent…"
He studied her carefully. Up close, Yondai looked younger than most recruits who came through these gates. Her clothes were soaked through, her hands trembling from cold and exhaustion, but her eyes still held that fierce determination.
"Training isn't easy here," he warned. "Most don't last a week."
Yondai lifted her head.
"I will."
There was no hesitation, no doubt in her voice, only resolve.
The guard exchanged a glance with his partner before nodding.
"Very well. Follow me. Recruitment office is inside the east wing."
As Yondai stepped deeper into the headquarters, the massive gates behind her slowly began to close.
The massive gates slammed shut behind her with a heavy metallic thud, the sound echoing across the courtyard like a final seal between two worlds
.
For a moment, Yondai turned and looked back.
Beyond those gates lay the ruined city, Lightning flashed against the clouds, briefly illuminating the skeletal outlines of collapsed buildings in the distance.
Then the thunder rolled, and the view disappeared again behind the iron barrier.
Inside the headquarters, the air felt different. The wind no longer tore through the streets as It did.
Yondai slowly exhaled.
She had made it inside.
"Come on," the kind guard said, motioning for her to follow. "Recruit processing is this way."
Yondai nodded and walked beside him across the courtyard. Floodlights bathed the compound in a pale glow. Soldiers moved between watchtowers and supply crates, their boots splashing through shallow puddles left by the storm. Some carried rifles slung over their shoulders, others the long spears used by the gate guards.
Armored vehicles rushed past them, engines growling as they rolled deeper into the compound.
One transport slowed briefly as it passed and for a split second, Yondai saw the cargo bed.
Large reinforced cages were bolted to the metal frame. Heavy tarps covered whatever was inside, but the shapes beneath them shifted faintly.
The guard noticed her glance.
"Captured Oradryn," he said quietly. "Patrol brought them in an hour ago."
Yondai quickly looked forward again.
And ahead of them stood the main structure of the compound, the towering concrete building reinforced with steel beams and thick cables that ran along the walls like veins.
Above the entrance, bold letters were painted across the surface.
AODF
Aegis Oradryn Defense Force
The guard pushed open a heavy door and gestured for her to step inside.the warm air washed over Yondai instantly, sending a shiver through her frozen body as feeling slowly returned to her hands.
The interior was alive with activity.
Bright lights illuminated wide corridors filled with soldiers, technicians, and scientists moving quickly from one room to another. Large screens along the walls displayed surveillance feeds from watchtowers and drones scanning the surrounding ruins.
Several monitors showed maps covered in blinking red indicators. Oradryn sightings. Yondai stood silently for a moment, taking it all in. This wasn't just a fortress, It was also a battlefield command center.
And now she was standing right in the middle of it.
Somewhere down the hall, an alarm briefly chirped before falling silent again.
No one around her seemed surprised cause the war outside those walls never truly stopped.
And whether anyone here realized it or not, Yondai's sudden appearance will not just affect herself but everyone.
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A/N: Than you all for reading the second novel I have published on this profiles. I cannot make the promise of getting better at writing. You might find some chapters might be of lower quality than this one. But I do recommend trying my other novel Yokestu's Odyssey: Nightfall. And I was unable to change the cover, sorry about that. So we shall meet again next week. Bye.