The dirt was soft. Its soil making its way between Elisah's fingers, bringing a shallow tickling sensation. She didn't particularly care for it, but it was very rare for anyone to do this safely. All the grime and thrash thrown about in Rogue city made it extremely dangerous, lest you actually wanted to catch a brand new disease.

The earth slowly turned into mud, as the rain kept bouncing off of the plants at the dry spot Elisah was standing in. It was beneath a huge tree. She had little to no knowledge of flora, so she could only guess at the nature of the plant life around her, but one thing was obvious. The plant life thrived. The abundant greenery of trees, bushes and weeds reflected the growing light with the wetness brought about by the rain.

It had been about ten minutes until the rain subsided and about ten more until Elisah felt it safe to leave her dry spot. The artificial skies had cleared out already and the sound of birds chirping and signing resonated throughout the small valley.

No matter how many times she saw it. Such a serene scene hit her to her very core. Never could she even imagine a place so tranquil, clear and safe. She was lucky to have been chosen.

After a little walk, she had arrived at the small village that she lived in and was greeted by a hulk of a man, carrying about six logs to the center of the settlement.

"Hey El, you alright? We worried you know." he flashed her a look with his deep blue-to-gray eyes. His blond hair swaying in the wind. Elisah had to calm herself, before she could even answer.

"The rain caught me, I didn’t want to get wet." she replied, ruffling her brown hair out of nervousness.

"Aye, ain't got no more medicine left. It would suck to get ill now. Anyway, where is…huh. Never mind." he hefted another log out of the pile before him, then he set out to move them to the bonfire. The annual celebrations were to take place in the next week, so the preparations were already long on their way.

"I won't keep you then." she ran deeper into the village before her cheeks flushed red again.

Her house was a small building with a humble kitchen a well-furnished bathroom and a surprisingly spacious bedroom. All in all, it was almost luxurious for one person.

She changed her slightly wet clothes to a dress that was bathing itself in the UV light and cleaned her feet. Then she rushed out the house again. Her brother would be at his usual spot, so she ran there.

It was a small hill with an apple tree at the top. The whole scenery looked like it was taken out straight from a painting. The grass was perfectly green, its hue radiating of life and energy, the tree was bent and rich in branches and fruit. The apples unnaturally red and juicy. The clouds behind, far above in the made up sky were travelling slowly and a current of wind touched her with a chill.

Her brother sat up in the tree branches, kicking his feet and pouting as usual.

"Hey ya!" she shouted while still running. Her brother just turned to look at her, then resumed his bored activities.

"Come on, come down!" she yelled at the base of the tree. Even from the distance, she could make out him rolling his eyes. Then he stood up and carefully descended the tree.

"Where is…What do you want sis?" he asked her as if he had important things to do. He was still drenched, no doubt sitting in the tree even during the rain.

"Still think it was a mistake?" she asked weakly.

"No," he said confidently, looking at his sister. "Not anymore at least. It's not like there are things waiting for us out there." he gestured with his hands. Then he picked up a small rock and threw it to the distance.

The rock smashed into one of the screens, making the video spasm and flash before it calmed into the serene picture again.

"Doesn’t mean I like it here any better though." he said dryly.

"Still better than the slums we were before though." replied his sister, the enthusiasm of today gone.

"Maybe. But we at least didn’t have to pretend what we were out there. Here?" he kicked another rock into the border screens. "We are like rabbits, stuck in a lab."

"It's for a good cause, even you have to concede there."

"Every scientist always thinks it's for a good cause." he stared into the newly refreshed screen.

"Johny, always the optimist," Elisah jabbed sarcastically "Stop pouting and lets go. We should help with the preparation."

"Alright," he replied as his sister tugged him closer to the village. "But I ain't hauling anything."

"Come on slowpoke!" Laughed Elisah at the sight of her struggling brother. For his less than average stature, he had a good weight on his back.

"Heavy…" he heaved in between his ragged breaths. He was moving slowly, one step at a time.

"It's just over the corner. We are almost there!"

"You," he almost tripped and fell, but he managed to keep his footing. "Said that twice already." he complained.

"It's true now. I can see the pile just over there!" she ran before her brother, hearing only irritated grunts behind her.

The small village plaza was bustling with activity. The young and strong hefting heavy loads, be it logs for the fire, benches, stones, everything needed for the solemn celebration. The older men were putting the tents with food together, along with setting up the seating and celebratory areas. Young women were hauling pots and food in baskets. The older women taking care of the small number of children in their community, as well as feeding them sweet dried fruit. There was a smile on every face, as each and all looked forward to setting the pile of wood ablaze in the name of successful colony survival.

She was excused from all preparation, as she was in the wedding age. Her role was to pretty herself up, dress in the finest clothes she can find, as well as bathe herself in flower essence. She did not mind the anciently traditional gender roles. She liked being the average woman, enjoying her beauty. Although It felt weird even for her, that the community was told to act so. She just shook her head and summoned her smile again. The true reason she came here before preparing herself, was to see what the man she wanted to impress today was doing. She did not find Hector anywhere, which was surprising. Then she remembered she met him just when she was entering the village, he was working from the very first rays of light.

He was probably resting now.

She ran back to her house. She had to be as perfect as she could make herself be, because she felt this night would be a night that should be remembered forever.

Elisah donned on her favorite red dress, that prolonged her legs, made her waist slimmer and showed off more of her hips. She added the primitive lipstick she was able to make out of plant oil and beeswax, its color coming from crimson red berries. She made herself dark eyeshadow, from a powder of dried out blue berries. She smelt of a combination of rose hip and lavender.

In a silver plate - the only thing that reflected her at least somewhat - she could see she was stunning. She could feel it to. An unknown confidence rising through her body.

Stepping out of the house, she strived with confidence, but still gracefully.

Eyes followed her on the way, of men, boys and women alike. Everyone gazed at her unearthed beauty. It flattered her, though she still waited for the one man she really wanted to look at her.

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Already at the yet unkindled bonfire, she looked around for the special man. Yet he was still nowhere to be seen.

"Wow sis, looking good," said Johny nodding. "Miracles can really happen huh?"

"Oh please," she answered with a laugh. "You'd jump me already if we weren't related."

"Why you have to make it weird?" Johny looked disgusted, though his face turned to a smile quickly enough, as he gazed into the plaza.

"Something is happening!" Elisah shouted. "I haven't seen you looking like that for a month and a half!"

"Shush is sis." he replied, scratching his head. She followed the path of his gaze, falling right at the group of girls giggling about something. She could see one of the girls flashing glances at him. She wore a blue long dress, her long blonde hair flowing from behind her, adorned with flowers and vines. She was beautiful, and John would definitely agree.

"So, are you gonna invite her to dance?" she asked her brother, nudging him with a shoulder as well as her words.

"Maybe." he replied resolute. His eyes unmoving from the girl. It made Elisah happy to see her brother enjoying himself at least a little, as was rare nowadays.

Though her thoughts still lingered on Hector, looking for him in every corner she could see, waiting for him.

These thoughts stayed even when the bonfire's flames were reaching their highest point, enough to glitch out some of the ceiling monitors.

The celebrations in full swing, laughter and songs sounded about. Mead was spilt, food eaten and men and women found their partners as was the custom.

But Hector was nowhere to be found.

Somewhere among the endless waiting, her mood turned sour. She didn’t care about how pretty she was anymore. She was glad her brother was dancing with Emilia, but her heart ached at the sight. She wanted to be dancing tonight too.

She had enough, whatever Hector might have been thinking, Elisah would not let him get away with ignoring or avoiding her like this.

Stomping her way to his house, she was getting more and more angry. Imagining all the various things she would say to him. How she did this for him, how he did not care, how he made a mistake.

She stopped at the front door and realized. She still did want him. There would be time, when she would get to complain and berate to him about today, but she didn’t want to sully the day any more than it already was.

She slowly opened the door, making a screeching sound as she did. The room was empty and silent.

"Hector?" she tried silently, when no answer came a part of her resolve came back and she tried louder "Hector!"

But no response came. As scary as all of that might have been, her inner fire was still fueled by the rage and disappointment of today, so she invited herself in. All of their houses were build and furnished very much the same, so she found a candle with no problem. The light it gave off showed a her a sight she didn’t expect.

A sight of horror.

Signs of a struggle were everywhere, the floor was scratched, leaving a trail of blood, the chairs and tables were in splinters thrown about the room. She followed the blood trail leading to the bedroom, while holding her breath.

The bed was upturned and a hatch was left opened where the bed stood prior.

She stared into the abyss that was the hatch, hearing familiar sounds of machinery and beeps of control light she haven't heard for some time. Her mind were blank as she stepped down into the dimly lit room. She extinguished the candle, not wanting to bring any attention to herself, and continued through the narrow tunnel.

The trail of blood slowly vanished, leaving her to guess where to go. Fortunately, there was only a small number of forked paths on the way, so she kept a mind map of the places she had already visited.

As she walked, a noise started to grow in volume.

"…go! You evil…" a man's voice sounded. Not just any man's, for the voice was unmistakably Hectors.

She sped up with her step, though she did not run, still careful of producing any sound that would alert them she was here.

Her mind raced with possibilities and options for her, her breaths were uneven and she felt like she could feint. But she couldn’t, who knows what would happen.

A grunt full of pain sounded from around the corner and she was scared what was happening to Hec…to whom?

She stopped in her tracks, confused.

Who was she running to help? There must have been someone…but who?

No. she shook her head. She was just checking what was in that weird hatch. That’s all.

With a calmer step she rounded the corner, and saw a man strapped to a machine, wires and pipes coming in and out of him. His chest slowly rising and falling with the man's breathing. It was as if the man was connected to the machine next to him.

She studied electronics and machines for some time, but this was much too far above her skills and knowledge. The man looked somewhat familiar, but she felt like she had to pay that no mind. Although having a cellar with things like these in an empty house was definitely weird. It may have been one of the tests in this project.

Still, this felt outside of the predetermined rules as much as it could have. They were denied the use of any devices while the project was undergoing and this did not fit the medieval esthetic at all.

She looked above at the monitor, where a bar was slowly getting filled.

Suddenly, she noticed the slow steps coming out behind her and turned to the side.

A man with a suit walked into the light of the room, his gray suit contrasting with the bright green of his hair.

"Don’t be alarmed," he said gently, stopping in his tracks. His face was clean shaven. He had a pair of mismatched blue and red eyes and he smiled at Elisah. "You have nothing to fear."

"What is this?" she asked, worry too clear in her voice.

"One of the facilities compartments under the 'world stage'. You weren't supposed to know of it, but well," he gestured towards her. "Mistakes happen."

"What are you going to do to me?" she yelled at the man.

"It's okay, you can calm down." he continued to speak slowly and gently. "Deep breaths, in and out."

She followed his instructions and surprisingly, she really did start calming down. Now with a much clearer head, her confusion gnawed at her the most.

"What are you doing here?" she asked looking at the man on her right.

"We are…producing." he said with a smile. "I know your file, you were a student and engineering and genetics right? Had you studied longer you would be able to figure out the basics. Here…" he pointed to the man on the iron table.

"Is a source of energy and we are trying to discover a means of harvest."

"From people? Why?"

The man smiled at the lack of concern in her voice, seemingly content with something.

"Because, what else is there? Imagine this, the world, as we know it, becomes inhabitable. We will be reliant of self-sustaining space or deep-earth manmade systems. Food and water? Both resources we can very easily produce or keep enough in the system to work. But energy is the problematic resource." the man pulled a chair from a dark corner and sat down. "Why do we need energy you ask? Well we don’t. But it would sure as hell help."

She stifled a laugh and continued listening intently, something in the man was keeping her full attention. Though the beeping of machines on the body to her right still irritated her somewhat.

"There are a number of ways to make energy, but all are in one way or another, reliant on natural resources. Those can run dry fairly quick. But life, life tends to multiply." His eyes took on a focused gaze, his smile deepening at the corners of his face. "So why not take the opportunity and use life? And what lifeform is the most annoyingly abundant form there is? You humans" his face contorted and stretched, and horns dark as can be appeared and grown to their full length. Wings sprouted from his back and a whole different energy was enveloping the laughing demon.

Elisah's legs folded bellow her, dropping her to the ground. Her muscles twitched uncontrollably and she felt her mind twist and turn. But she couldn’t avert her eyes. There was a sick beauty to the creature. She was struck with his image, unable to think of anything other than him before her.

"You humans…the center of the universe, in more ways than one. Even a being like me is dependent on your existence. Ironic isn't it? Me, a being with far superior strength of presence, with a much better understanding of his place, of everything really." he said, moving his hand in a fluid motion. There came a sound of heavy iron doors opening and a table, akin to the one before, slid out from the dark.

The poison green eyes turned to Elisah, their gaze piercing her soul and being through and through.

"Get on the table for me." he said, not a hint of a request in his voice.

She didn’t think, didn’t struggle. She did nothing, but her body moved on its own. She kept looking at the demon, even while walking towards the table, even when her skin met the cold, cold iron. As she laid down, the demon smiled at her from the corner of her room.

"What about my brother? He will find me here." she said, surprising even herself with the statement.

"He won't." said the demon. "He won't even remember you. Nobody will. All you will ever be from now on…" the demon came closer. Gently lifting her head by the chin with his fingers.

"Is my battery." he said, as she felt cold entering her body. She felt weak, she felt scared. But she would do anything for those green eyes.

She saw them long after the demon left her presence and she saw them ever since. It was all she saw and all she could think about. The green gems.