D007

One

The frosted grass began to melt as the sun slowly rose. Jordan had been walking since the previous night and was grateful for the sliver of light. He started sweat as he picked up his pace. If he didn't arrive at the next quadrant soon, surely the Officials would intercept him. Using his free hand, he wiped his brow.

It was lonely without Robin. It hadn't truly hit him yet. The full effect of his death had come crashing down yet. Jordan only had the swirling wind and crunch of leaves under his feet to give him company. He took his bottle from his pack and drank the last of it. It became more apparent that he needed to reach Zyro soon before he ran out of supplies.

His clothes were grimy, covered in mud and ashes from falling into a fire pit. He smelled like smoke and coppery dried blood. Robin's blood still stained his hands, mixed in with the brown dirt. Though it had only been a few weeks of travelling, the days seemed to drag on. He looked like he had been scavenging for years with the dirt and grease on his face. It felt even longer without Robin.

Not far from where he stood was the notorious border that surrounded the city of Zyro. If he washed away the blood, he could manage to pass through their gates without suspicion. The Zyrion council was apart of the Enlightened, meaning they were fully aware of the crystal's arrival but there are still traitors in any corner or the world.

The only city that was not apart of the Enlightened was the dwellers that lived in Dominion, his home. It was a broken government that was harsh and unforgiving, they wanted to collected the crystal to power their generators. They held a century long grudge.

Dominion was a rough country full of rough people and civil war was constant. It had once flourished with its technological and scientific advances that aided each of the quadrants. When the powerful governor, D000, was assassinated — things only got worse. Dominion was once a strong, complex city that fell to the ground without their strong leader.

Many small parties controlled Dominion for years with constant changes to the laws and political instability. Hope of rebuilding the city was lost long ago. It seemed like a city built on science and technology crumbled beneath the weight of uncertainty. Though the people had lost their leader, they had no lost their skill. People forged weapons of their own, defending themselves from each other and those that wanted to take what was left of the decaying city.

Jordan knew a man named D067 who crafted his own flame thrower. Jordan fought with his hands.

Officials betrayed their own people to protect themselves, they were the people who worked beneath D000 before his death. Now they became corrupt and rules for themselves.

Dominion used to be a country of complete order. Each person had their own number and specific role. My number is D007 and to this day, few remember my real name. This string of numbers became our identity and was used to access different buildings and areas but also as a way for the Government to track us.

There was two other quadrants, Tempest and Ravaged. Both completely different to each other. Ravaged was built on land full of natural resources including coal and iron. Ravaged bore few trees, most being ripped out to make way for new mines.  They were the leaders in the trade of resources between quadrants.

Dominion used to trade valuable technology to Ravaged before the downfall, now Ravaged only traded with the other quadrants. It was a dark land where many men go to die down in the mines, it was far more corrupt than Dominion. People where greedy with their money and spent their lives protecting their wealth of resources. Many people attempting to cut through Ravaged to reach the centre died by the hands of their merciless men. A barren wasteland.

Tempest was more peaceful, being the least inhabited quadrant. Though it too was filled with valuable resources, much of the land was unexplored. It was full of trees that reach high into the clouds and nature that ruled the land. There was no working technology in the quadrant. Meaning—if you got lost, there was no way of coming back.