Spectral Radian: Strife of Altered Souls (Chapters 1-10)

Four: Erase

As Ruuka steps back out onto the cold open air of Avestella's streets, the beautiful rainy light show above her now fills her with a sickening sense of dread. The Avestella Peace Keepers were most likely still looking for her, their persistence in hunting and catching lawbreakers making them nearly impossible to escape. Despite that, the majority of APK is machine labor, with only a few humans managing and operating within its sector.
As she hears the faint noises of drones and the ambient sounds of transit and foot traffic, she feels a sense of calm that she hasn't felt in a very long time. Her emotions rapidly shift between moments of calmness, stabs of anxiety, and a feeling of emptiness as she starts to make her way to the residential sector of the city.

- months ago -
A knock at the door, a simple statement made. "We came to you because your daughter has the potential to help greatly advance the study of spectrum." A refusal, resistance, followed by the click of a safety and a simple statement in a much harsher tone. "I don't believe I made myself quite clear. We will be taking your daughter, to advance our research. We've been given permission from on high."
A young girl, taken from her parents, carted away to a facility claiming to be a medical research center.
Needles, spectrum, pain... innocence torn away, until the only thing remaining was pain...

- current day -
I'm proud of myself for at least remembering the address. Ruuka opens the always-unlocked front door, only to be greeted with emptiness. Not just a lack of people, but a lack of...any sign that someone ever lived in this house. No furniture, no wall decorations -- there wasn't even a lightbulb screwed into what was supposed to be the living room light. "Sis...?" She gently called but was met with no response. "Dad...Mom..." Her echoes answered her and she slowly sank to the floor. She'd survived a kidnapping, torture, experiments, and nearly getting jailed for simply attempting to escape the hell she'd been resigned to, only to he met with an empty house, as if her life before they came for her never even existed.

Ruuka grabbed at the bracelet, intent on ripping it off. If she couldn't even have her family after everything she'd been through, this city wouldn't know peace. But...she began to think rationally. They probably just moved out. It happens all the time...maybe they didn't want to stay because of the memories.

Ruuka stood up, careful that her face was concealed, and decided to backtrack to Shiren's place. She'd memorized the route and decided that it was best to take him up on his word.

After some walking, she found herself back in the more populated IRIS sector, being sure to pay extra attention to the drones that were now swarming the area. Luckily for her, they were looking for her previous signal of abnormally high spectrum, and now that it was suppressed, she was better able to blend in with the other pedestrians. Just a few short blocks later, Ruuka found herself at Shiren's building.

"I...honestly did not expect you to come back at all. Especially not the same night."
Shiren pours a cup of tea for both himself and Ruuka, eyeing her with a sad expression. "I don't know where you went, but you look horrified... what'd you see out there?" Ruuka took a sip of her tea, and responded, "Nothing. Everything was gone. Mom, Dad, my sister, everything we ever owned, the fucking floorboards -- everything was gone. It's like they never fucking existed."
Shiren's eyes widened and pain filled his face. He coughed and swiveled toward his desk, searching carefully through folders until he found one labeled...