As Epsilon Three entered the doorway, everything came back to her. Her name, her memories, her family, this game...and the reason why she had chosen to enter, and risk losing her life. That reason... it was named Vivian Arrian.

Vivian Arrian was the second daughter of the Arrian family, a lover of bows and kittens and everything good in the world. A bright star of joy in anyone's life. She was also the younger sister of a protective young woman named Vanessa Arrian.

Vivian Arrian was E-3's little sister.

E-3, or rather Vanessa, felt the memories wash over her, re-living her life from before. One memory stood out against the others. The memory that had sparked her choice.

Vanessa, Vivian, and their parents had decided to go out to a theme park one day. They'd planned it meticulously, timed it perfectly so that they could do everything each family member wanted to do. They were just that kind of family. Vivian was just a youthful little girl at that time, barely five years of age, although Vanessa was much older.

They'd ridden rides all day, met with mascots, got Vivian a princess-like dress, and generally had a fabulous time. Vanessa had gotten to see some of the shows she'd wanted to see, and she'd even watched Vivian for a few rides, so their parents could ride something without a five-year-old attached to their arm. No matter how adorable Vivian was, she tended to squeal a bit on rides and cut off her riding partner's circulation with her death grip. (Apparently she actually really liked the rides, you just had to let her calm down after going on one.)

Vivian had her arm wound through Vanessa's as they sat on one of the benches and ate an ice-cream cone together, waiting for their mother and father to get off a water-ride together. While Vivian was focusing on keeping one of the top scoops from sliding of and onto her pretty new dress, Vanessa had noticed something with a bit of a sigh.

The shadows, lurking in every corner, were beginning to return. They had been gone for quite some time, and Vanessa had thought that maybe, maybe she was rid of them.

Seemed she'd been proven wrong. Even out in one of the most joyous areas she could be in, Vanessa still saw them, dancing at the corners, waiting to catch their next target. They meshed with the casual darkness caused by the nearly-set sun. Watching. Waiting for an opening.

Without really thinking, Vanessa tugged Vivian a bit closer, hovering over her like a mother bird over her hatchling. Vivian's face was a bit confused, but Vanessa just smiled a bit, and the younger girl returned to licking the ice-cream cone.

A few moments later, their parents returned from the water-ride, a slight spray of water clearing having crossed them. Vivian gave a happy wave and trotted over to them, careful not to drop her ice-cream. Vanessa was beginning to get up, brushing off her pants where she'd be sitting, and then froze. She noticed a figure lurking in one of the many alleyways, in between the building housing the restrooms and some wall-like hedges. She knew them. Even now, they still were waiting for her answer?

She looked back at her family, her happy oblivious family, and said in their direction, "I'll be right back, okay?" She gestured toward the restrooms, allowing her parents to believe the usually assumed thing about when someone points at a restroom. Her mother gave her a thumbs-up, and Vanessa darted away into the slight alleyway.

"What do you want, exactly? Why do you keep seeking me out?" She asked the figure as soon as she passed to under the cover of the hedge. The figures spoke of the darkness again, having noticed that she'd been watching them eariler.

They, having said their usual speech, finished with, "You can join us, you know...hmm, but I'll leave you for the moment. Seems you'll have some more pressing matters to attend to right now. I'll be back later, Vanessa." And disappeared again.

At that moment, Vanessa's mother rounded the corner, panic on her face. "Vanessa! Have you seen Vivian?! She's here, isn't she?" Vanessa gave a slight shake of her head, her eyes widening. Her mother gave out the beginning of a wail. "I've lost her! I've lost my daughter! Vanessa, we've got to go look! Come on!" And with that, the search was on.

Practically sprinting out from behind the hedge, Vanessa noticed that there was less shadows down one of the paths she'd seen eariler. "Mom, I'm checking down here!" She said, turning on a dime and continuing her run down the shadowless alley.

She noticed as she ran that the shadows may have thinned at the opening, but now they seemed thicker as she ran, as if they'd decided they didn't want her here and were going to try to stop her.

Heedlessly, she plowed through them, panic pulsing through her veins at the idea that her helpless little sister was lost out there, chosing the most congested path whenever she would come to a intersection. So many turns she'd taken, Vanessa wasn't sure if she'd find her way out again. It didn't help that the night had fallen, and the shadows were lurking here, there, everywhere. Out of the corner of her eye, Vanessa noticed drops of ice-cream splattered across the ground.

Suddenly, Vanessa heard a long, terrified bawling sound. Vanessa sped up as best she could, calling out as she ran, "Vivian! I'm coming!"

Rounding out to a dead-end, Vanessa saw her sister, her princess dress rumpled and a bit torn, cowering at the farthest point, sobbing. Her sister's head flew up, her eyes overflowing, and she practically jumped into Vanessa's arms when her older sister reached her, sobbing as she did so. "Vanessa! Vanessa! Where did all the monsters come from?! Why are there monsters in the dark?!"

Vanessa held her little sister in her arms, letting the little girl cry into her hair and shoulder. Vanessa knew now that her sister suffered from the same curse that she did. She could see the shadows as well.

Carefully, gently carrying little Vivian, the older sister made her way back through the shadowy alleys, following the thickest darkness as her path out, until she made it back to the opening.

Vivian sniffling and trying to stifle her cries by pressing her head into Vanessa's shirt, Vanessa called over a worker, who called the information counter, who used the intercom to tell the frantic Arrian parents that their youngest daughter had been found.

The reunion was full of tears, and the ride home more so. Vivian had been taken straight to bed, her mother holding her and telling her everything was alright, while Vivian was trying not to bawl while she trying to explain the monster in the shadows. Of course, thier mother thought it was just shock, although she remembered years before Vanessa telling her something similar. But that didn't matter right now, all that mattered was that Vivian was safe.

Vanessa stepped outside once everything had calmed down, sitting on her porch step, realizing her arms were shaking. They could have lost Vivian that day. She could have been lost to the shadows. The older girl heard a slight sound and looked up, finding the figure from before standing there in front of her.

It wasn't until the last line that Vanessa's eyes filled with determination and strength of will. When the figure said, "...mankind doesn't have to be the cattle any longer. Nor even prey with a fighting chance. Because people like me, people like you, have the ability to become Hunters."

She stood, and held out her hand, ready to sign up.

She wouldn't allow herself to pass up the chance to get rid of those shadows. She wouldn't let her sister get caught by them again.

Vanessa, now known as E-3, closed her eyes as the memory ended, and her voice finally cracked a bit as she spoke, the last thing she knew she would ever be able to say. Feeling herself fall apart, fraying at the seams, becoming nothing, E-3, formerly known as Vanessa Arrian, said quietly aloud, "I'm sorry Vivian... I'm sorry I could not chase away the shadows for you. I'm sorry...I could not make the world safe for you. I'm sorry...I'm sorry I could not chase away those monsters in the dark."