Welcome to Gaia! ::

∞ Ephias Sagine

Sunlight bled over Alternia's horizon, washing the sky with the colour of a dark bruise. Silence settled over Chittentown all at once, the noise of the night before snuffed out like a candle in the wind the moment a sliver of sun appeared above the skyline. Even the space tower, a place of seemingly limitless energy and toil, had undergone a drastic transformation. Hallways packed with trolls only an hour before now stood empty, swathed in darkness. Workstations had been abandoned, numerous sectors barred off with metal grills until the next twilight. Only the occasional clomping footsteps of an infrequent security personnel gave any indication that the tower was simply sleeping.

Garbed in black from horn to hoof, Ephias crept through the deathlike halls, away from the volunteer respite quarters. As usual, sleep evaded the redblood, leaving him with only his thoughts to keep him company. He had long since resigned himself to enduring the lonely hours of the day in solitude. His life was one of quiet observation. To watch. To wait.

He did not wait now.

Something had changed when he had joined the initiative. Though he continued to stagnate in the swamp, swallowed up by despair and bitterness, he had never forgotten that first step. It had been a rash decision, one that had derailed his life forever. He would always remember the grief he caused his friends and his lusus with that small moment of impulsiveness, daring to try to be a part of something greater. However it was a step. His values still held, despite the tumultuous emotional battering they had received over the sweeps. By blood, he was meant to wait. By pusher, he knew he couldn't.

In the dimness of the hall, Ephias spotted movement up ahead. A group of four trolls, barely discernible in the shadows, likely returning from a late mission. Ephias edged back and into a door frame. He let his breath out in slow, controlled increments. His blood pusher continued to beat steadily in his chest, and had he noticed, he would have wondered why he remained so calm. His thinkpan held nothing but thoughts of the mission underway.

After about a minute the figures shuffled past him and further down the hall. Ephias emerged from his hiding place. He spared only a moment to glance down the hall, before continuing on his way. Even with the cover of darkness he avoided the gaze of the cameras, too wary to leave his trespass to chance. The elevator would have been quicker, but he mounted the stairs instead, climbing several flights, until he had reached the near top of the tower. A turn of a hallway found him outside a locked door, marked aggressively with the words “AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY”.

Retrieving the stolen keycard from his back pocket, Ephias swiped it through the door's magnetic reader. The light on the front flashed blue, and then he heard the click of the latch. Still cautious, he pressed down on the handle and opened the door a fraction. A dark room with glowing lights lurked within.

Ephias Sagine

Ephias slipped inside the darkened control hub, allowing the door to swing closed behind him. The air hummed with electro-biotic energy, as two dozen machines slept through the day. Lights blinked on and off in syncopated rhythm, like the steady breathing of a den of resting beasts.

Making his way over to the nearest terminal, Ephias shrugged off his shoulder bag. He initiated the power and the display crackled to life. The military emblem flashed across the screen, an ominous symbol that burnt its way all the way to the back of his retinas. He ignored it, hunkering down beside his bag. He rummaged through its contents for a few moments, before retrieving a large grub drive. When he stood up again, the login window hovered in the centre of the display.

“PASSWORD:”

Ephias slid the grub drive into the frontal port and watched as characters began to race across the display. Within seconds it had moved into octuple digits. Ephias slid his hands into his pockets and leaned back. From here on out, it could be a while. Maybe even several nights. It would have been easier to steal the whole terminal and try to crack it back at a safe location, but that would have alerted the enemy. Secrets were best used while someone still believed them secret.

Suddenly, Ephias heard the click of the door latch. Without even thinking he grabbed his bag and ducked around the central pillar. A shaft of light spread out into the darkness, just a few inches away from where hid. He peered around the column of terminals. A troll stood silhouetted in the door frame with the angular cut of a military uniform. Holding his breath Ephias turned his gaze up towards the ceiling for guidance. He reached down at his side to grab the handle of his shears.