FOUR: and a city of lights

14

Raxen was rather old, but his experiments had success in almost every area, keeping him young mentally and somewhat internally. The underground bunker was a little run-down but he kept everything functional and worked with what they had. There were several rooms throughout the bunker, and it had enough space for at least a hundred lives.

He was a highly intelligent being, and was protected by a ring of scientists and their highly advanced technology, limited only by the lack of incoming supplies.  They had to scrounge for several years just to get their exterior defense system back in operation, but they managed with the help of a few travelers, that moved from their District to the others. Traveling in groups of three or four, they did whatever they could, to minimize potential suspicions.

"Sir, we have an incoming sky craft, about two clicks out." One of the men at the central hub reported, as Raxen made his rounds.

The blond male with white in his hair wandered over, to check the details. "Hm, it doesn't look like one of ours. Does it have markings?"

The man zoomed in on the bird with huge hovercraft like fans. "No sir. Could be undercover military, or a private craft coming in to harvest topside."

Every now and then, birds would pull up, to harvest from the wastelands. There were a few places to gather oil, and mining was somewhat necessary for Epsilon so they carried it out with cautious paid operations. They also would sometimes come down to harvest the trees, though it was unknown as to why. Perhaps this was due to the toxins having changed the chemicals in the trees. Or maybe they went for the ones untouched by them at all, so that they could bring them into the other Districts, and grow them for clean air.

"Sir, it's getting closer. What should we do?" The man asked, zooming in on the craft again. "This doesn't look like a harvester."

Raxen looked over the monitor, and watched the craft move over them. "Hm, don't activate the systems just yet. I want to know what they're doing first. If we reveal ourselves, they would just radio reinforcements, and that would be risky even with our shelter. We've cleared a path out, and we don't want it covered again."

"They're... passing us... Ah, well. Perhaps they're just mining towards the scraps." 

The scraps of the wastelands were the remains of fallen buildings. Everywhere surrounding them were bones, and other remains from the death wave. People, animals, and mixtures of the like. It was a very uncanny setting, and none of the Districts wished to lay eyes upon it. Toxins filled the air everywhere in District IX, so everyone that crossed over had to wear suits and masks to dodge breathing in the unclean air. There were some clear spots, but the closer they got to the fallen structures, the more potent it somehow became.

Raxen adjusted his glasses, and he watched the craft land off in the distance. "Is there a way we can get a closer look at who is coming from the craft?" He asked, unable to see more then the camera would allow.

"We could send a drone sir." Another man suggested, having overheard the conversation as he returned to the area. "I have the lab reports as well from D-3 if you're interested."

Raxen took the man's clipboard, and scanned it quickly. "Get the drone out, keep it low profile, I don't want them to notice us, is that clear?"

"Of course sir." The man quickly went to one of the computers in the room there, and started to call up one of the small drones. "Ready sir, moving drone up now."

"Sir, would you like me to activate the system if the drone confirms they're not harvesters?" The other man asked, his eyes still over the craft that had landed. It was behind a bit of rubble, but he was able to make out it's wing with the sun setting in the background.

Raxen watched the other man controlling the drone. "Patience dear boy, we need to make our choices very carefully..."

The drone hovered over the people that were getting out of the sky craft. Raxen's eyes widened, his interest deepening with every millisecond that passed on. He adjusted his glasses again, and then looked closer at the monitor.

"Sir, is that-"

"Interesting." Raxen interrupted, his eyes falling to the same creature that had stepped from the vehicle. "Our little dog has returned home." The scientist immediately recognized Umbra, but then a moment later, his eyes went wide with amazement and curiosity. "Well, well, well... is this not an interesting bunch..." Rax mused, his fingers over his lips in some form of shock. "Now... what would the great Khada Jhin be doing with such... strange souls?" He wondered.

The other man immediately recognized Jhin but also Stardust. "She's here as well sir. Stardust confirmed."

"I don't care about her, she's just a bio-human. What I really want to know, is why these strange beasts have landed here atop our home. There's not miners, and the one with the hat is a well-known bounty hunter. And then our infamous serial killer here... just what are they doing, together? Wait..." Raxen's eyes fell to a smaller creature, getting out of the craft. "And the mysterious angel has come too. I remember her from the news. She's the one that was found with our beloved killer, The Golden Demon. I wonder what his place is in all this?" Raxen's mind circled with endless possibilities. And all he could think of, was what each of them might look like in one of his tanks.

"You think he's their prisoner or something? Maybe the angel turned him in and the bounty hunter is gonna do 'em topside out in the badlands and collect his head?" One of the men asked.

"You watch too much Space TV." The other muttered.

Raxen smirked and smoothed back his hair. "Nonsense, that angel is attached to our dear Khada Jhin. Not entirely sure why, but she saved him from containment. They even took out a craft attempting to bring him in. The news showed him firing over her back, that is... true love." The man felt majestic in that moment, recalling what his eyes had seen. "Such power, such magnificence. If only we could create more beasts like her. With minds like his. Then we could rule Epsilon." He threw his fist up in an explosive gesture, the theatrics a bit too much for the two men at their computers.

"Why would an angel attach itself to a serial killer, aren't they good-natured?" One of the two men asked. "We've not had one in captivity in years, the last one died so... unable to understand all of their core behaviors."

"Perhaps he fooled her. Manipulated her. So she serves him now by default." The other guessed.

Raxen didn't buy into it however. "No, not a chance. Angels are highly intelligent beasts. No, there is love there. Look at how she stays close to him. The others keep their distance, but she willingly is beside him. They're here on the same mission, whatever it is that has brought this band of differents together, has unified them in something. The angel will be the most dangerous of them. Because she is the one of all of them that will put her life before the life of another. And, since she would do so for their group's largest threat, that therefore makes her, the largest threat."

"What do you want us to do sir? Also do you want us to bring the dog back to you? He's there too following the cowboy fella." The male controlling the air drone asked.

Raxen thought carefully, then chose his words even more carefully. "I want them all. Bring them all, to me."