Project 070 - 2nd draft of opening

Project 070

Prologue:

The year is 2065. The global population has reached critical limits and total chaos has erupted across vast swathes of the globe. Entire countries have been swallowed and destroyed by economic collapse, social regression and the epidemic of a virus known as Ragnarok. There are 3 designated safe zones left in the world that are free from infection and considered to be the last bastions of hope for the survival of mankind. The largest, in Japan, is Sector 7. This mega-city stretched from Tokyo in the east to Yamanashi in the west. The entire city is walled off and an artificial sky is displayed on a ceiling which stands over a kilometre above the ground. The air is pumped in through a colossal system of vents and ducts throughout the city which were made by converting disused water mains. Silus Corporation spent trillions improving the city and making it an impenetrable fortress. Due to the nature of the city, vast networks of piping are used across the city and in poorer districts of the city, this pipework is placed above ground for ease of access. This level of industrialisation has led to many areas being declared unsafe for humans which in turn, led to these areas becoming rundown. Drug dealers, criminals and general scum use these areas for their illicit activities and even with the heavily armed police, they often get away with it.

There are other safe zones in England and Canada but neither are as well developed or protected as Sector 7. These zones were made, protected and controlled by the union of The E.U and The U.N councils in a last attempt to preserve order. Ultimately, there goal was to create areas of safety for many of the worlds’ brightest and best to live until a cure for the disease was found. That was over 40 years ago and very little has changed since then.

There is one major company that controls the vast majority of what is left of humanity, The Silus Corporation. They were originally part of a group of scientific research companies that first discovered the virus and began working on a cure. Seemingly overnight, The Silus Corporation was able to buy out all of its competitors and become the largest company in human history. More recently they have taken over nearly every private military, scientific and administrative job in the world. They are the chief law enforcers in Sector 7 and they employ 92% of all personal in the city. Although many of their jobs are purely above-board, they control major shares in a scientific development known as, The Lazarus Project.
Officially, it is a research development project looking into preserving human life and trying to prevent the spread of Ragnarok and only a select few know of its true purpose. The Lazarus Project was indeed started with the noble goal of prolonging human life, but in the process they created a gene that allowed a certain percentage of the population to become completely immune to Ragnarok and it gave them extraordinary abilities. Many were given incredible speed, superhuman strength and telepathic abilities. The effects are as yet unknown and require further study, so all knowledge of its existence is kept far away from everyone.

Chapter 1: Unbridled Aggression

It’s 6:55 on the 19th of August and curfew was about to come into effect. Hinaka Shiato was running late, and she knew that if she didn’t hurry, she’d never make it home in time. After her train arrived she rushed through the deserted train station and nearly fell over the steps out front. The air was crisp and a breath of wind slithered down her spine. She shuddered and carried on running. All of the streets were empty as she got closer to her home just on the outskirts of District 7. The neighbourhood was middle-class and generally peaceful, but tonight it felt eerie due to the lack of any people. Normally there would be people rushing to get home before curfew, but tonight there was not a soul to be found. Her footsteps grew louder as the clock ticked on. 6:58. She had just two minutes to get to her house before she was locked out. She stopped dead as she heard a solitary footstep thud far behind. Her breath quickened and the wind lulled to a whimper. Another footstep. Hinaka started walking again, noticing the footsteps begin to follow. She began to lightly jog, and then run. As the footsteps grew louder she rounded the corner just before her house. Hinaka let out a sigh of relief before noticing the ominous figure standing before her.

“E-e-excuse me. Can I help you?”. The figure inched closer. Hinaka started to back away but bumped into something. As she turned she saw another hooded figure. Fear gripped her intensely. What could she do? If she tried to run they would just grab her. If she screamed, no one would hear her or be able to help. Her watch beeped, it was 7:00. The doors around her beeped and shutters rolled down everywhere. She was helpless.

“Looks like we found a pretty one tonight! Shame she just missed curfew. I guess we’ll have to teach her a lesson!”. The men grabbed Hinaka, she began struggling but one of them clubbed her with a gun. Her arms fell limp to her sides.

“What the fuck did you go and do that for?! You killed her you dumb fuck!” The man pulled back his hood and revealed a shaven head, littered with scars and several tribal tattoos. The other man dropped Hinaka and stood over her, gently pressing his hand to her neck.

“She’s not dead you moron. She just needed a little persuasion to come with us, that’s all”. The man drew back his own hood. He had a gaunt, slender face with scruffy stubble and numerous pockmarks. His long black hair flicked to one side as he knelt just over Hinaka.

“You know, she’s actually kinda’ beautiful like this. I could use a new wall mount to hang by the others” The man flashed a devilish smile and licked Hinaka’s face. Both men laughed and began hauling her body to a nearby van. The door slammed shut after the dumped the body in the back.

“Do you ever think that we’ll get caught one day Hiroshi? You hear stories about guys like us found by the sides of roads with their faces all mashed up, guts spewed everywhere and fucking huge chunks missing. It’s gruesome. My cousin knew a guy who found one of these bodies. Apparently, he saw this black figure shoot off out of the corner of his eye. Scariest shit he’d ever seen!” The man with the long black hair turned to face his shaven friend.

“Genji, I don’t know what your cousin was fuckin’ smokin’, but I seriously need me some of that shit!” Both men laughed and Genji started the van.
A flash of light erupted and a loud crash stunned the men.

“Hiroshi! What the fuck was that?!” Both men looked around and found the back of the van burst wide open and Hinaka was nowhere to be found. “What the…”

Genji turned to look at Hiroshi but his seat was empty and the door had been pulled off.
“Hey man! Don’t fuck around with me like this! Seriously…I’m warning you fucker!”

“Who’s messing around?” A gentle, unfamiliar voice paralyzed Genji. He quickly turned around and was faced with a completely black face. No discernible features, but still clearly a face of some kind.

“Who….who are you? Where’s my friend?” Genji tensed up as the figure slowly climbed into the front of the van through the open window. Limbs seemed to break and reform with each movement, moving like a spider it pressed up against Genji.

“The more important question is, what were you doing here after curfew, and with such a beautiful woman in the back? You weren’t going to do anything illegal now were you?” Genji felt warm breath on his neck. His body pressed close to this figure, he could feel that it was a woman. He felt a bit easier and smirked.

“Well now, maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t…” He slowly reached down for the gun he hid just beside his seat. “What could you do about it anyway, little bitch?”

His fingertips just brushed the gun when a sharp pain flooded his body. A cold stab burst through his chest and he looked down.

“Well I could always just do that to you. Couldn’t I?”

A black, metallic object pierced Genji’s chest and slowly tugged at his lungs. He felt the breath slowly ebb away as an icy hand ruptured forth and dragged with it the remnants of his organs. The woman leaned in close and whispered softly.

“Maybe the next scumbag I kill will have a little more heart than you did”. She buried her hand in Genji’s chest once more and tore out his heart before splattering it across the inside of the van and vanishing off into the nearby industrial district. A thick fog enveloped her figure, and she was gone.

Chapter 2: Rather Macabre

It was 6:00am and Inspector Shiro was rudely awoken by the incessant beeping of his shutters opening and his alarm going off. Inspector Shiro Ikeda was a thirty-two year old man with no wife, no kids and his appearance showed it. He stood six feet tall, square jawed with day old stubble and a hangover that would incapacitate most men but as always, he put his job before everything in life.