
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.
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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.
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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.
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Governments couldn't claim them. Human rights organizations were divided: Should they be protected... or feared?
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But then something terrifying began to unfold.
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Berlin, Germany
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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:
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"EOS."
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One minute after the fire was reported, Jayden received an anonymous email.
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"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."
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Jayden stared at the final letter:
M.
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Something about it felt familiar like a shadow from a forgotten nightmare.
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That same night, he called Rhea, now the director of the International Human Defense for Scientific Ethics (IHDSE).
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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."
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Jayden's pulse stopped for a beat.
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Marius.
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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...
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They were wrong.
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Marius had survived and now, he was leading an entire generation in a war of vengeance.
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"We Must Understand Them Before We Fight Them."
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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.
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Her name was Anja.
Fourteen years old.
Icy blue eyes.
Silvery white hair.
Silent, but her mind was razor-sharp.
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Jayden approached her gently.
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"We don't want to hurt you, Anja. We just want to understand why EOS exists."
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She smiled a cold, unreadable smile.
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"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."
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"Evelyn shut everything down " Jayden started to explain.
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Anja laughed faintly.
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"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?"
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Jayden fell silent.
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This wasn't a war between good and evil.
This was a clash between two generations.
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One built to obey.
The other rising to reclaim identity.
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EOS - The Exiled Order of Saints
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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.
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They had learned from Evelyn.
But they had chosen their own doctrine.
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Now, they sought to build a nation
A Nation of the Saints of Pain.
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Connor Black moved through the streets in disguise, searching for whispers.
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One afternoon, a small boy approached him, handed him a folded paper, then vanished.
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Written in delicate handwriting:
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"We have a chance.
Will you save us...
or destroy us?"
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That question stayed with Connor through every sleepless night.
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Difficult Choices: The World Takes Sides
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The United Nations Council held an emergency assembly.
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Some nations advocated for the recognition of EDEN children as human citizens. They proposed sanctuaries, education, even rehabilitation.
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Others disagreed:
"They are weapons.
And weapons do not belong in society."
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Rhea stood firm.
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"Fear cannot govern justice. Let's not repeat Evelyn's sins. These are our children now."
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But in the shadows, Marius was raising an army.
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"No one is coming to save us," he declared.
"We will be our own salvation."
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End of Memories. Beginning of War.
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Jayden, with a heart heavy from memory, sent an open letter to EOS:
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"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."
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The reply from EOS was swift.
Just three words:
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"Light is for dreamers.
We are awake."
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