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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQAeG26JHd2
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSw7hehUQk4
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnxpXYihVhv
Governments couldn't claim them. Human rights organizations were divided: Should they be protected... or feared?
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNtylqUv3at
But then something terrifying began to unfold.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8dgzYBLmRP
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9MEB9I8MWb
Berlin, Germany
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5CAzpaLdE1
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:
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ55QKjvRIaw
"EOS."
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLw5uTKwU88
One minute after the fire was reported, Jayden received an anonymous email.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7the5YggQ3
"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."
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxTXT0UBePX
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrb5Bce3GBV
Jayden stared at the final letter:
M.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMijNSswscs
Something about it felt familiar like a shadow from a forgotten nightmare.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUqLOuiu0yr
That same night, he called Rhea, now the director of the International Human Defense for Scientific Ethics (IHDSE).
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqsr3FKI9Dk
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."
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ62X9V4q6bc
Jayden's pulse stopped for a beat.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQTCp9Sjgjw
Marius.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBLVqEQfpLn
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...
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtstXGMs5mO
They were wrong.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUfD9WZCoxz
Marius had survived and now, he was leading an entire generation in a war of vengeance.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaHJsQXZcMr
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyzWCnZ9W3L
"We Must Understand Them Before We Fight Them."
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2aKsfT06rn
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx1wvoTBFQY
Her name was Anja.
Fourteen years old.
Icy blue eyes.
Silvery white hair.
Silent, but her mind was razor-sharp.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTa4cMhrWs4
Jayden approached her gently.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaTOfgSMgzG
"We don't want to hurt you, Anja. We just want to understand why EOS exists."
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkRLobDYbLn
She smiled a cold, unreadable smile.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3mAiBEBy96
"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."
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEXqXmKAUah
"Evelyn shut everything down " Jayden started to explain.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQy1vQTd7AO
Anja laughed faintly.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpJe1HLDJY6
"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?"
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUXT5AJPDEb
Jayden fell silent.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT1T8dGegOU
This wasn't a war between good and evil.
This was a clash between two generations.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2gsCuwMDhn
One built to obey.
The other rising to reclaim identity.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsc6Qaz1Yoz
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡanec7i8TRS
EOS - The Exiled Order of Saints
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRa4Ive90nU
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcWIEOJgBqI
They had learned from Evelyn.
But they had chosen their own doctrine.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa1E5xJvKzO
Now, they sought to build a nation
A Nation of the Saints of Pain.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDwLSI3yFnO
Connor Black moved through the streets in disguise, searching for whispers.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1SAJkpJ4VE
One afternoon, a small boy approached him, handed him a folded paper, then vanished.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1F0bSNLow5
Written in delicate handwriting:
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhr8ERONris
"We have a chance.
Will you save us...
or destroy us?"
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI3FGLOR7h8
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7teBb7YiUj
That question stayed with Connor through every sleepless night.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV0O6lZBu6U
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKcThOja119
Difficult Choices: The World Takes Sides
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhl3vqC4k8
The United Nations Council held an emergency assembly.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1WwixXKYk0
Some nations advocated for the recognition of EDEN children as human citizens. They proposed sanctuaries, education, even rehabilitation.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1T6dQkcOBa
Others disagreed:
"They are weapons.
And weapons do not belong in society."
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAZXa0fAtk3
Rhea stood firm.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ323D1fpAHh
"Fear cannot govern justice. Let's not repeat Evelyn's sins. These are our children now."
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbhfQscM940
But in the shadows, Marius was raising an army.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Qe42NCD2s
"No one is coming to save us," he declared.
"We will be our own salvation."
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXeGoeyLPk1
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu6cGzXo3pT
End of Memories. Beginning of War.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe2dfmpVQH3
Jayden, with a heart heavy from memory, sent an open letter to EOS:
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQI2uc89YEB
"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."
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrbYGl1t9cu
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDX4rXNbQkC
The reply from EOS was swift.
Just three words:
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp4HLbRWf14
"Light is for dreamers.
We are awake."
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdOLP3ACbaF
and then Add to home screen.