Chapter 2 On a planet where time passed more slowly than in the rest of the universe—a planet that had never known a living soul—two beings now stood upon its reddish, rocky surface. One was a tall, slender synthesoid. In place of hair, thin tentacles spread down its back. It was assembling something—or, more precisely, sculpting it. Veron stood behind it, keeping his distance. He made no sound. He even controlled his breathing. The object beneath the synthesoid’s hands had taken shape some time ago: a humanoid head. The hollows of its eyes and the outline of its nose were already visible. Yet it remained unfinished, resembling a rough first sketch more than a completed portrait. An enormous machine towered before it, assembling components. The synthesoid picked up another piece and examined it carefully. Then, slowly, it set the humanoid head aside, approached the machine from the left, and returned the piece to a container. It gave the machine a revised set of instructions. While waiting for the replacement, it turned toward Veron, who remained motionless. When Veron noticed its gaze, he smiled. There was pride in his smile. Pride and happiness. His expression held the innocent wonder and delight of a small child. The synthesoid’s face, however, revealed nothing. No emotion showed, and its expression never changed. With that same frozen, unchanging gaze, it broke the long silence. “It will be perfect.” Veron’s eyes filled with tears. He clasped his hands and cried out in a trembling voice: “Let it be the end—and the beginning of a new world. A world that will not even remember those flawed, wretched beings.”
Cut to
On the planet Sinithor twin brothers were born Veron and Niro.
Their mother died when they were ten. An illness had taken her.
Veron could not walk. His legs would not carry him. His arms could not even lift him from where he lay.
Niro was healthy.
He carried his brother on his back. Wherever Veron needed to go Niro took him.
Whatever he needed Niro brought him.
He never complained.
Veron spent his days studying. Books lay around him drawings unfinished designs.
His body could do little but his mind seemed to have no such limit.
Niro brought him books. Then tools. Then materials neither of them had worked with before.
Veron knew what to do with them.
And that was enough for Niro.
While Veron was working on a new design Niro began to feel ill.
At first it was only fatigue. A mild fever.
Veron barely noticed.
Carrying another person every day would tire anyone. And his work was almost finished.
There would be time afterward.
Niro continued assembling the pieces.
Veron watched him work. Told him where each screw belonged how far to tighten it which joint to move which part to take apart and assemble again.
Nearly a week passed before Niro understood what lay before him.
Hands.
A pair of hands.
When they were finished Veron explained what he needed to do next.
His own arms had to be removed. The new ones would take their place.
Niro looked at his brother. Then at the tools.
He was frightened.
Veron was calm.
He explained the procedure again. Slowly carefully.
And Niro did as he was told.
For the first time in his life Veron moved his own fingers.
He watched them open. Close. Pick up a tool.
Niro watched too.
They were stronger than his hands. Faster. Even their smallest movements were precise.
Veron began working on the legs.
This time he could assemble the pieces himself.
Niro still helped him.
But he tired more easily now.
The fever had not gone away. And he had begun to cough.
Sometimes Veron stopped working and waited for the coughing to end.
Then he returned to the legs.
When they were finished he explained the next procedure.
Niro listened.
Again he did as his brother instructed.
Veron stood.
For the first time his own weight rested on his own legs.
But Niro was no longer standing beside him.
Now Veron carried his brother.
He brought him whatever he needed. Took him wherever he had to go.
And when Niro slept Veron studied.
This time there were no hands on the table. No legs.
He was searching for what was killing his brother.
Something was changing Niro from within.
His flesh was losing its form. Becoming something else.
Veron examined it studied it searched for the cause.
An unfamiliar energy.
Radiation.
He kept searching.
It had reached them before they were born. While they were still inside their mother.
Perhaps it had killed her too.
In Veron it had left arms and legs that would never obey him.
And a mind unlike any other.
In Niro it had left something that took longer to appear.
For years he had seemed healthy.
For years he had carried his brother.
All that time something inside him had been changing.
Veron understood it now.
He could explain what was happening. Could trace it back to its beginning.
But he could not stop it.
Niro died.
Afterward Veron continued studying.
Biology. Radiation.
The books changed. The work changed.
His mother had died of an illness. His brother had died in his arms.
His own body had never been able to carry him.
Yet the hands he had built still worked. The legs still carried him wherever he wished to go.
He came to believe that flesh itself was flawed.
Too fragile. Too easily changed. Too easily destroyed.
As long as people remained as they were they would never be safe.
Sometime later Veron heard of a new ruler.
The Grey Emperor.
A man who believed human nature could be cured.
Veron went to him.
He offered his knowledge. His hands. Whatever he could build with them.
The Emperor accepted.
From him Veron learned more about the energy that had reached his family.
It came from somewhere.
There was a source.
And the source had a name.
Veron promised to build him an army.
The greatest army the universe had ever known.
But he asked for something in return.
When the Emperor’s work was finished when his goals had been achieved they would go to the place from which that energy came.
EPISODE 2 HEART
Renaissance picks up a core that pulses with light.
He places it inside the humanoid’s chest.
“Its mind will be here,” he says. “In the chest. Beside the power source. Protected.”
Cut to:
Numinous.
In the quiet of their home, with Nessa asleep on the couch and firefly light filtering through the windows, Ethan kissed Kate.
Firmly, so that she could feel his love.
A kiss that was both gratitude and apology. A promise and a vow.
When their lips parted, he pressed his lips against her ever-rosy cheek.
“I love you, Kate. I love you and Nessa more than anything. Nothing matters without you two in my life.”
He looked at Nessa.
“Now I know I would burn the universe for her.”
He turned back to Kate.
“Do you believe me?”
She looked at him with those green eyes that had been empty for so long, now filled with tears.
“I do,” she said quietly.
Kate was appointed Sayer, a role that suited her perfectly. She was given the second half of Franco’s restaurant to manage—a position that came with housing, purpose, and community.
Around the same time, S.U.N. assigned a new resident to Enclave 5.
An alien child.
The name of her species was unpronounceable. Her features were delicate and strange. Her parents had died in Death Valley during the battle against the General’s forces.
Trotsky the wolf—the beast who had once tried to kill them—adopted her without hesitation.
She was blue.
Vibrant, luminous blue. The color of Earth’s oceans.
So they called her Blue.
She and Nessa spent their days together, playing games that mixed human and alien rules, building a friendship that transcended language.
Ethan watched them sometimes, and the sight filled him with something that felt almost like peace.
But time is a thief.
Slowly, inevitably, fear replaced the joy in Ethan’s eyes.
He was coming.
Nessa and Blue were playing in the park.
Kate was watching them.
Ethan loved watching the way Kate smiled when she looked at Nessa. The fact that one person could be so happy simply by watching another filled him with an inexplicable sense of warmth and hope.
But now something had changed.
He noticed sadness in her green eyes.
“Kate,” he said. “What’s wrong?”
She looked up at him.
“I just…” “It’s hard, Ethan.”
“From the moment she was born, my dream was for her to have a better life than mine. For her to live a life in which she could fulfill her own dreams.”
“And now…”
Her voice trembled. Her eyes filled with tears.
“She has to be locked up here. Like a prisoner.”
Ethan wiped away a tear.
“No, Kate. She’s not a prisoner. And neither are you.”
“I promise you, everything will be alright. Eli and I are already working on a device that will allow you to spend long periods outside the city.”
Kate shook her head, as if she couldn’t believe the promise.
“Outside the city? Where there’s an apocalypse? Aliens, armies, and zombified people?”
Ethan swallowed the words he had been about to say.
“I know what’s happening right now feels more like madness than reality. But… let’s think about the good.”
“We have each other. Nessa has everything she needs. And if something happens in the future, we’ll deal with it then.”
“Alright?”
“Alright,” Kate said.
She smiled, as if a spark of hope had been reignited.
With that smile, Ethan’s mood lifted too—as if he were bound to her, as if his emotions were only a reflection of hers.
He took her hand.
“You know… I just realized we’ve never actually had a proper date.”
Kate laughed.
“You never even asked.”
Ethan smiled guiltily.
“I think I know a place you’ll like.”
Kate gave him a teasing smile.
“I trust you.”
Ethan’s eyes lit up.
“Evgeny,” he called. “Can you watch Nessa for an hour?”
Evgeny was sipping a cocktail and staring at a fold-out tablet. Without looking up, he raised his thumb in approval.
Ethan didn’t waste another second.
He programmed the portal’s destination into his wristband.
Kate declined his suggestion that they dress formally. Instead, he took her hand, and they headed toward the gate together.
Kate opened the portal door.
Blue light spilled out to greet her.
The room beyond was minimalist: bare walls, clean lines.
At its center stood a table Ethan had prepared himself.
A vast glass wall offered a panoramic view of the planet below.
Kate stepped closer.
Beyond the glass was a balcony, with stairs descending from it.
She couldn’t find words for the beauty before her.
Her hand reached out, searching for Ethan.
He took it instantly and stepped beside her.
They were inside a chamber embedded directly in the frozen wave of an eternal ocean, illuminated by a distant blue star.
“Ethan,” Kate whispered. “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”
She looked toward the star.
“It’s blue,” she said softly. “Just like your eyes.”
Ethan never grew used to Kate’s compliments. She never held them back, and they always caught him unprepared.
“This isn’t the planet’s native star,” he said.
Kate turned to him, her eyes wide with curiosity.
“Then whose is it?”
“This planet was once entirely covered by an ocean,” Ethan explained. “It was very far from here. Most likely, a wandering gas giant tore it from its home system.”
He pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her waist and drawing her against his chest.
“Frozen, it drifted for a long time,” he continued, “until the gravity of that blue star finally captured it.”
“A lonely, frozen planet,” Kate whispered.
“Yes,” Ethan replied quietly. “It’s far older than the star that holds it now.”
Kate turned and kissed him passionately.
Ethan gestured toward the table, where flowers and champagne awaited them.
He handled the bottle clumsily but managed to pour without spilling, then handed Kate a full glass.
She noticed immediately.
He was struggling with something, wrestling with words that refused to come out.
“You’re holding something back,” she said softly. “What is it, Ethan?”
At last, he gathered the strength to speak.
“I keep thinking… more and more often… about what happened.”
“I can’t let anything happen to you and Nessa again. I have nightmares every night.”
“I know, Ethan,” Kate replied gently.
He seemed not to hear her.
“I feel like I have to do something.”
Kate laid a hand on him.
“Take a breath, Ethan. The city is the safest place in the universe. Isn’t that what you said?”
Ethan nodded.
“Yes. But you’ve seen the kinds of beings that exist out there.”
“And now this synthesoid…”
“I think he was worried, Kate. And if even he’s afraid of someone… Can you imagine?”
There was fear on Ethan’s face, and it appeared on Kate’s too, like a reflection.
He fell silent.
For a moment, he thought. Then he spoke again.
“Kate, tell me… Will you love me?”
“Will you still love me if I have to do something terrible?”
Kate was taken aback.
“What kind of thing, Ethan?”
He lowered his head.
“I don’t know. I…”
She interrupted him.
“I will always love you, Ethan. Always.”
“But tell me this. Will you still love yourself?”
“Do you remember what you told me about Noah?”
Ethan nodded, his eyes lowered in shame.
“That’s the person I’ve always known you to be. Someone who would swim toward another person to give them hope.”
“And if you…”
Kate paused too.
“If you do something like that… I don’t want to watch you come to hate yourself. To lose your respect for yourself.”
Ethan looked away.
“To hell with me. You and Nessa are what matter.”
Kate grew angry.
“Ethan, please. I don’t want to be your justification for cruelty.”
“Don’t you dare.”
A pause.
“Can’t you see another way?”
Ethan lowered his head again.
Slowly, he shook it.
“Unfortunately, Kate… Cruelty turns out to be part of this universe.”
“An inventor could avoid it. Hide from it. Ignore it and go on living.”
“But a Sentry can’t.”
He looked up at his wife, his sorrowful eyes filled with tears.
Cut to:
Aboard his ship, Cinereous approaches a planet with Hanzo and members of his elite army.
A voice announces:
“Destination reached. We are now officially within a region of intense gravity.”
End of episode.
EPISODE 3 SEARCH
Cinereous and Hanzo landed on a planet where they found only an enormous device emitting an energy signature.
The same signature had been detected on thirty-six planets in the region.
“It’s a trap,” Hanzo said. “He’s trying to buy time.”
Cinereous nodded slowly, calmly.
“But we have no other choice.”
Flashback:
The mutant was weak and alone.
It occupied a shallow depression in the terrain—a creature that had clearly been surviving rather than living. It did not advance when Xeid appeared. It simply held its position, its eyes tracking him.
It seemed frightened.
It lunged at the Grey Sentry only when he stepped too close—a brief, panicked burst of movement, defensive rather than predatory.
Xeid killed it quickly.
The movement was efficient and final.
He straightened. Something tightened in his expression. He turned and walked back toward the jet.
He was nearly at the ramp when he stopped.
A ship in the distance. A black hull. Imperial markings.
His expression changed.
The frustration on his face faded, replaced by something that surfaced slowly.
His jaw relaxed. The red of his eyes seemed to cool without dimming.
Something that had been waiting a long time to surface.
He boarded the jet. His hands moved across the controls with deliberate calm as he steered toward the Imperial vessel.
Below, a city spread across the terrain. Its streets were narrow and irregular. The inhabitants had been driven out into them.
They knelt in rows beneath a burning sun—men and women of different ages, their bodies bent in enforced submission.
Imperial soldiers moved among them with practiced efficiency. Their grotesque helmets gave every soldier the same blank face of authority.
Xeid descended.
He understood their shouts now.
The soldiers were preparing to punish the inhabitants for failing to pay the imposed tax. A tax that had been doubled, then tripled, until paying it had become impossible.
The same uniforms. The same grotesque helmets.
The same design he had seen when they had held his head still and forced him to watch.
There were only twenty of them.
It took minutes.
The last soldier lay on his back in the dust of the street, the sun beating down on him.
His helmet lay to one side.
Without it, the face beneath was simply a face—young, pale with shock, covered in dust.
Xeid’s boot rested on his chest.
“Please. I have children to raise.”
Xeid looked down at him.
His eyes burned steadily. His face was very still.
“Children raised by you will be no better than you.”
The soldier opened his mouth again.
Xeid did not wait.
His weight shifted forward—a slow, deliberate transfer of force through the chest plate.
Until he felt the ground beneath his boot.
Cut to the present:
The next planet was frozen, but just as empty.
They found another device of the same design.
Unlike the first, however, this one bore an engraved symbol.
A metal reptile.
Flashback:
The Emperor’s palace.
A man lay in bed.
Ill. Dying.
Cinereous sat beside him.
“You were the first to show me kindness. Friendship.”
A faint smile crossed Rogar’s face.
“That was worth more than any power.”
Xeid listened in silence.
Rogar’s breathing was shallow now. Uneven.
Xeid remained beside the bed, unmoving. He did not look away from Rogar’s face.
For a long while, Rogar said nothing.
Then, quietly:
“Do you remember our first mission together?”
Xeid let the silence linger before giving a single, slow nod.
Rogar’s smile grew slightly.
“I remember it better than anything. When I first saw you, I…”
He swallowed with difficulty.
“I didn’t know what to make of you.”
His gaze drifted toward something far in the past.
“When it finally fell, I thought it was over. I thought we would leave it there and go home.”
“But you stood on its head and told me to burn it.”
“And I did.”
“I watched the flames climb. I watched them consume the air, the ground, the body. Everything.”
His eyelids lowered.
“And I watched you stand there in the middle of it.”
His fingers curled weakly into the sheets.
“You didn’t even shield your face.”
Rogar released a thin, trembling breath.
“And in that moment… I realized something.”
Xeid said nothing.
“I realized that whatever pain the fire could cause you, you had already lived through something worse.”
His eyes opened again.
Glassy with illness, but clear.
“That was when I stopped seeing you as a commander and started seeing you as someone who had survived something the rest of us couldn’t imagine.”
A faint smile touched his lips.
“That’s why I followed you. Not because you were strong.”
His gaze met Xeid’s and held it.
“But because you were still standing.”
Silence filled the room.
Xeid remained where he was.
After a long while, he rose to his full height and looked down at Rogar.
“Rest, Rogar. You are not alone anymore.”
He turned and walked toward the door.
“Xeid.”
He stopped.
Then turned slowly.
Rogar’s face had changed.
The peace had given way to something raw and unresolved.
His eyes were wet. Tears began to fall.
“I know I’ll die soon. There’s something I have to tell you. My conscience won’t let me rest.”
His chest heaved.
“I… I tried to go back. After you escaped. It took my powers Took everything I didn’t know what else to do.”
His face twisted with shame.
“I told it I would give it information about you if it let me return.”
“I even offered…”
“To kill you.”
“I said you trusted me. That I could do it.”
His sobs overwhelmed his words.
“Forgive me, Xeid. Forgive me.”
Xeid’s expression did not change.
He returned to the bedside without hurrying and stood beside Rogar.
“And what did it say?”
Rogar moved his head weakly against the pillow.
“Nothing.”
The tears continued.
“I don’t want to die without asking for forgiveness.”
Xeid raised his hand and rested it gently on Rogar’s head.
For a moment, he remained like that.
Unmoving.
“You are forgiven.”
He even smiled.
“I wouldn’t be here if a simple betrayal could hurt me.”
“Goodbye, Rogar.”
He slowly withdrew his hand and left.
That evening, the medical staff found Rogar dead.
He had taken his own life.
The grave was simple.
No marker. Only disturbed earth on a hill overlooking the research complex.
Xeid stood before it for a long time.
Then the Emperor knelt.
He laid down bread and fruit, following the tradition of his people, and arranged them with care.
His head lowered.
His eyes closed.
Cut to the present:
Renaissance was not on the next planet either.
But this time, twelve graves were engraved on the device.
Flashback:
The mining moon.
Twelve Sentry graves.
Cinereous had just finished burying them.
He knelt before the graves, resting his weight on his knees.
Silent.
As though he no longer had the strength to rise.
Some distance behind him, an old man sat on a rock.
He appeared strangely enormous.
“I saw you kill them,” the old man said.
Despite the distance, his voice sounded close.
Xeid did not turn to look.
“Who are you?”
The old man answered without hesitation.
“Change. Progress.”
“It is like a mysterious box. You do not know what lies inside until you open it.”
“You might find heaven. You might find hell.”
“But hope compels people to open it every time.”
“The hope that change means something better.”
“That is why they bowed their heads to you.”
The image changes:
Cinereous walks toward the throne.
Soldiers kneel before him.
The former Emperor lies off to one side.
Cinereous passes him without even looking.
The old man’s voice continues:
“Do you know who you are, Emperor?”
“Are you hell?”
“The apocalypse?”
“Or heaven?”
Cut to the present:
Cinereous stands on another planet.
This one is not empty.
But neither Renaissance nor Structor is there.
A creature stands before him.
White. Tall.
Its expression is childlike and gentle.
It is gazing at a female being resembling itself.
Only half of her has been assembled.
The creature turns toward Cinereous.
Its voice is soft and calm.
“He said you would come.”
“That you could finish creating her.”
“Will you?”
End of episode.
EPISODE 4 CONNECTIVE TISSUE Renaissance binds the nearly finished organs together with connective threads. He pauses. Something seems to interrupt his concentration. He turns toward Structor, who stands nearby. “He is close.” Cut to: Arthur brings Ani and Iona to Niten Dōraku. They are still young. Iona excitedly tells him that he has heard of him, but thought he was already dead. Niten teaches them slowly. Methodically. Arthur watches with a smile.
As days go by NITEN makes them do the task In which Ani is very good but Iona keeps having trouble Ani receives praises Iona is not Iona is upset that master is dissapointed And ani comforts her Saying if u want I will fail next time too Iona gets bit more upset No i want to learn And hugs her Ani kisses he's head and says Let me teach how I do it Iona smiles and agrees They spent rest of the night practicing In the next day NITEN says : go and enjoy the day “you learned the lesson I intended
They smile and hug Iona is happy
Time passes. Now Sentries who have undergone fusion, they return to Niten. They have discovered kinetic abilities similar to his. Ani quickly masters an element already familiar to Niten. Iona needs more time. Together, he and Niten explore the limits and possibilities of his electrical abilities. The process is slow. But through his diligence, Iona becomes Niten’s best student. With technological assistance, he adapts Niten’s signature antigravity technique—the one that allows him to control his weapons with his mind—to his spear. Arthur also tells them that they are not Niten’s only Sentry pupils. Hanzo was his first pupil with powers. But he betrayed everyone. Everything. Now Niten searches for him, intending to end his former pupil’s life with his own hands. Cut to: Years later, in the mountains of Svaneti, Iona trains Ethan in hand-to-hand combat. Ethan struggles even in his suit. But slowly, he learns. After training, they eat and rest at an elderly woman’s home nearby. The conversation turns to power. “It’s a strange feeling,” Ethan says. “Going from being paralyzed to having this kind of strength. I don’t even know what to think.” “You shouldn’t think of it as… Well, strength. Or power.” “What do you mean?” “Think of it as a tool. Like a car. You use it to travel—to get where you want to go. Not to run people over.” Ethan furrows his brow, looking almost offended. “Wow. Does the philosopher in you wake up whenever you eat? Is your name Iona or Nietzsche?” Iona laughs heartily. Ethan joins him. “Oh, come on.” Still laughing, Iona gives Ethan a friendly slap. Without his armor, Ethan feels as though his shoulder has been knocked out of its socket. He tries not to show it. “It’s the same in The Lord of the Rings,” Iona continues. “If you don’t want power to drive you mad, don’t put on the ring.” “Alright, alright. I get it.” Then Ethan grows serious. His expression changes completely. Quietly, he says: “I know.” Cut to the present: Iona is spending his free time in Burghausen, waiting for Elias. His phone rings. It is Ani. She says their master is in trouble and asks him to come to the coordinates she sends. Iona immediately takes a ship. He leaves Elias a message saying he is going to meet Ani and will return later. At the coordinates, he finds a field surrounded by hills. It is empty. No one is there. He steps out of the ship and calls her. The call will not connect. He tries the R.O.C.E , which should allow him to contact another Sentry anywhere on the planet. That does not work either. Suddenly, Renaissance tears through the ship and rushes at Hellados. He seizes him by the throat and slams him into the ground a hundred meters away. Behind them, the ship explodes. Iona slips free of his grip. But Renaissance gives him no time to catch his breath. Nor does he allow him to reach his spear. The explosion hurled it from the ship. It now stands embedded in the ground nearby. Hellados manages to draw a cartridge. It detonates in his hand as he strikes Renaissance, blasting the synthesoid backward. Hellados’s eyes now shine white. His strength and speed increase. He reaches toward Zeus. As though it has acquired a mind of its own, the spear pulls free of the earth and flies into his hand. “Who the hell are you?” Renaissance says nothing. Hellados releases Zeus. It does not fall. It hovers in the air, its point aimed at Renaissance. Hellados attacks. Zeus flies in the opposite direction. While Iona engages Renaissance in hand-to-hand combat, the spear circles behind the synthesoid and hurtles toward him like lightning. It pierces his abdomen and passes straight through. Standing before him, Hellados catches the spear as it emerges. Without letting it fall, he drives it into Renaissance’s chest. Renaissance staggers. He grips the spear protruding from his chest. Pauses. Gathers energy. The light within his pores intensifies. A brilliant white beam erupts from his hand and pins Hellados to the ground. Its heat and force tear a scream from him. Renaissance pulls the spear from his chest. And snaps it in half. Hellados rises. The white light in his eyes has gone out. Neither the close combat nor the beam has left him unscathed. His face is bloody and misshapen. His right eye is almost swollen shut. His nose is broken. The upper part of his chokha is burned away. Burns mark his neck. His breathing is rapid. His right arm is broken. He removes the R.O.C.E. transmitter from his ear. It is bothering him. But more than that, it does not work. No one answered his repeated calls. Calls that sounded increasingly like a farewell. “Ani. Arthur. Ethan.” “Ani, I need help. Can you hear me?” “Ani, I love you. Take care of yourself.” “I…” With the Sentry’s translator removed, Renaissance addresses him in his native language. “Your end is inevitable. Stop fighting.” Hellados stares at the ground. Then he looks up at the sky. Finally, he meets Renaissance’s gaze. He steps one foot back. Prepares himself. In a hoarse voice, he says: “Never.” He launches himself forward. Black screen. End of episode.
Ep5
Everyone receives the messages at the same time—the messages Iona had been trying to send.
Renaissance now allows them to reach their destinations.
A brief panic follows. But knowing that it is Hellados reassures everyone.
Ani is visibly the most worried.
Still, they begin searching.
Ani spots Hellados’s cold body lying on a raised hillside, his position making him look as though he is sitting up slightly.
She is beside him in an instant.
Only after a few seconds does she notice that he is not breathing.
She caresses his half-burned, disfigured face. Io…” “Io, what’s wrong?” “Ethan, something’s wrong with Iona.” “He’s hurt.” “Io…” We just need to get him to numinous...
Slowly, the unthinkable presses harder and harder against her mind.
Ethan cannot believe his eyes either. He has already understood what happened and kneels nearby, sobbing.
Ani clings to her brother’s body.
Soon, the others arrive: Arthur, Elizabeth, Elias, and NITEN.
---
Numinous
Iona’s body has been washed and prepared by Arthur.
He now lies on a couch outside, in the street.
S.U.N. has already expressed its sorrow—and its inability to help. But, as always, it has remained present.
It glows a short distance away, watching everything.
Ani still holds Iona against her chest. Her sobbing is quiet now.
Beside them lies Ani and Iona’s dog, a Caucasian Shepherd named Devi. His whimpering makes his grief known to everyone.
Arthur addresses Ani.
“Ani, my child. You must make the decision.”
“Let’s bury him beside our parents.”
Her eyes remain closed, her head still resting on her brother’s chest. Her voice has changed, worn hoarse.
“They must have missed him,” she adds.
Arthur gives a slight nod and wipes away a tear.
Ani continues.
“I can’t come.”
Her hand tightens around Iona’s chokha.
“I can’t watch them lower him into the ground.”
Arthur accepts her decision.
“As you wish, my child.”
---
Svaneti — Cemetery
It is past noon.
The day is bitterly cold. The sun hides behind the clouds.
Heavy rain is about to fall.
All the Sentries and Sentients have gathered beside the graves of a young couple, whose intelligent eyes look out at the mourners from their photographs.
Most stand toward the back.
At the front are Arthur, Elizabeth, Ethan, Elias, NITEN, and the elderly couple Iona often visited. Ethan informed them of his death.
The coffin is open.
Iona’s spear lies beside him.
The grave has been dug by NITEN, Arthur, and Ethan—an act of respect for the dead in Georgian tradition.
They have also carried his body to the grave by hand.
Arthur wants to say something.
But he cannot.
His tears choke him.
The three lower the coffin into the earth with ropes.
Then, following Georgian custom, everyone takes a handful of earth from the pile beside the grave.
One by one, they scatter it over the coffin.
A final farewell.
Then come the shovels.
NITEN and Ethan begin filling the grave.
Every shovelful brings a sound that tears at the soul: the distinct, hollow thud of earth striking the coffin.
The mourners begin to leave.
The rain starts.
Only six remain.
Ethan holds an umbrella over the elderly couple.
Arthur and Elizabeth embrace.
NITEN stands alone.
---
The cemetery is empty now.
The rain has stopped.
Ani approaches the grave slowly.
Devi follows behind her.
She carries candles and lights one at each grave.
Her face has changed.
Her eyes are wet, but her expression cannot conceal her fury.
Anger and bitterness dominate her gaze.
She kneels.
As she lowers her eyes, tears spill from them.
---
Flashback — Abkhazia, before the war
The electricity has gone out.
By lamplight, Ani reads Nodar Dumbadze’s Hellados to Iona.
She reads the farewell between Jemal and Hellados, who, after fighting each other, have become like brothers.
Iona’s eyes fill with tears.
He hugs Ani.
“I don’t want Hellados to leave. Why is he leaving?”
Ani puts down the book and strokes him gently, comforting him.
“It’s a book, my little one. Don’t worry.”
Iona wipes his tears.
“Keep reading, please. Does Hellados come back?”
Ani smiles, kisses him, and says:
“Yes, he comes back. And he and Jemal are the best of friends. Forever.”
Iona laughs.
---
Next scene
Ani stands before S.U.N.
“I have to kill him.”
“You cannot defeat him, Ani.”
“Then give me an army.”
End of episode.
### Episode 6 — The Trap
### Opening Scene
The group prepares for an assault.
S.U.N. has detected the same energy signature on planet KP-22b.
Thirteen Sentients, including Elias and Edward Doss, along with the entire contingent of Earth's Sentries, have been deployed.
After a flight of approximately twenty minutes from the nearest planetary portal, they disembark from their ships onto the planet's surface.
Among the Sentries are Invariant, Parallax, Achilles, Niten Dōraku, and Nox.
This time, Nox has replaced her bow and arrows with a sword. Her uniform has changed as well.
Devi accompanies her.
The planet is peaceful and quiet.
The energy signature originates from somewhere inside a mountain.
Then, suddenly, it disappears.
The Sentries stand spread out across a valley between the mountains.
An army approaches from behind.
They immediately draw their weapons, but to their surprise, this enemy has not come to fight them.
It is Hanzo, accompanied by the Emperor's army.
He informs them that before Cinereous entered the zone, he had instructed Hanzo to take precautions in case Renaissance managed to escape.
He also tells them that they now share a common enemy.
Niten, who had been prepared to end Hanzo's life on the spot, points his sword directly at him.
Niten: "Your reason for being here prevents me from doing what my honor demands.
I will not lay a hand on you today.
But know this.
Your life will end by my hand.
Traitor."
Hanzo simply nods in acknowledgment.
At that moment, creatures of different shapes and sizes begin crawling out of cracks in the mountainside.
Some possess such terrifying strength that they tear through the solid rock itself.
Ani draws her sword.
Ani: "His army."
Beside her, Invariant prepares to attack and replies calmly.
Invariant: "His trap."
But this is no ordinary trap.
It is an army of augmented Sentients and Ferals.
Augmented by Structor himself.
His methods could make an ordinary human so powerful that even a Sentry would think twice before confronting them.
And now, he has created actual monsters.
S.U.N. has already warned them about this.
Yet the Sentries gathered here possess a certain pride.
They know they are considered apex predators.
And beyond that pride, they are driven by a terrible, insatiable desire for revenge.
The battle begins.
The ground trembles beneath it.
Lasers, fire, and blood soon engulf the entire valley.
Niten, wielding his two swords, cuts in half anything that approaches him.
Invariant shatters bones with his lasers and his fists, encased in unbreakable armor.
Ani's sword does not kill.
She inflicts mortal wounds, leaving her victims lying on the ground before immediately seeking out the next one.
She does not want them dead.
She wants them to suffer.
Devi tears chunks of flesh from their bodies.
But he does not kill them either.
Those are Ani's orders.
In the midst of the slaughter, Ani drives her sword through another mutant's body.
A horrifying scream escapes its throat.
But there is something in that scream.
Something that even Ani's mind, now consumed by an almost animalistic fury, cannot ignore.
The scream is familiar.
She has heard it somewhere before.
It compels her to look down at the mutant lying beneath her, almost completely drained of blood.
And she sees the impossible.
It is the same mutant who led the sabotage on the planet where she and Ethan had been stranded together.
Ani freezes.
Almost involuntarily, she mutters:
Ani: "But you... You died there. That day."
The mutant responds with the same hideous grin.
At that very moment, a Feral sinks its teeth into Ani's shoulder.
The attack snaps her out of her thoughts.
She drives her sword straight through the creature's face, forcing it to release her.
She immediately searches for the mutant again.
But the advancing army has already surrounded and concealed him.
Ani is bleeding.
Parallax: "THEY JUST KEEP COMING OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN!"
Now standing six meters tall, Parallax tears limbs from the monsters surrounding him.
Achilles: "ALL THE BETTER!"
Achilles is delighted, swinging his spear with joyful elegance.
Above the battlefield, Nehem calls for assistance.
Nehem: "Arthur, we need help!"
elias: "ARTHUR! THERE ARE TOO MANY OF THEM!"
Invariant rushes toward the wounded Ani and begins fighting beside her.
From that moment on, he refuses to leave her side, not even for a second.
But instead of Arthur, S.U.N. answers their calls.
S.U.N.: "Reinforcements are already there."
Almost instantly, the skies fill with ships from Numinous.
Nearly thirty of them.
An army of Sentries descends from the vessels.
The battle enters a new phase.
The ships begin bombarding the mountainsides, targeting locations where additional energy signatures have been detected.
Eventually, the battle ends.
Victory belongs to the Sentries and their Imperial allies.
But it has come at a terrible cost.
Dozens of Sentries lie dead, with many more wounded. Elias searching through bodies to find any surviving sentient He founds none
Thousands of Imperial robots have been destroyed.
Hanzo leaves the battlefield immediately.
The Sentries return to Numinous.
### Several Days Later
The group is having dinner.
Ani turns toward Ethan.
Ani: "Remember that disgusting mutant?"
"The one from the sabotage? The one who kept talking about revenge?"
Ethan: "I remember."
Ani: "I saw him today."
Ethan raises his eyebrows.
Ethan: "But wasn't he dead?"
Elizabeth joins the conversation.
Elizabeth: "This army is different from the Empire's elite forces."
"They've been augmented with another, newly developed virus."
"And many of them are clones."
Niten: "And what does that mean?"
Elizabeth: "It means he could have thousands more mutants just like them."
Upon hearing this, Ani abruptly rises from her seat.
She pulls her clothes over her bandaged wound and leaves.
She steps through a portal.
The mountains of Svaneti greet her on the other side.
Before long, she finds herself standing at Iona's grave.
But this time, she notices something strange.
Something has been placed upon the graves of her brother and parents.
Unwrapped.
Something she has seen before.
But not on Earth.
It is the same kind of gift Cinereous used to leave on the graves of fallen Sentries.
Ani had seen it when she asked him to release her from service.
Before she can fully comprehend what has happened, a voice comes from behind her.
Cinereous:
"I'm glad you survived."
"I'm sorry I couldn't get there in time."
END OF EPISODE 6
### Episode 7 — The Confrontation
### Unknown Planet — Evening
The sound of a nearby waterfall echoes through the surroundings.
Raindrops fall gently onto the water's surface.
Cinereous sits on a boulder beside the river, dressed in his combat uniform.
Suddenly, his eyes illuminate the surroundings with a red glow.
Behind him, some distance away, Hanzo is barely visible in the darkness.
An Eternal stands near Cinereous.
A few seconds later, Renaissance approaches.
His body radiates such intense light that the entire scene becomes illuminated.
Now everyone is visible, including Hanzo standing farther away.
Structor takes his position directly opposite Hanzo.
Renaissance: "I'm glad you've met each other."
"Here, Xeid."
"The answer to your question."
"I call them Eternals."
Cinereous: "That wasn't your assignment."
Renaissance: "You're mistaken. That's exactly what it was."
He gestures toward the Eternal.
Cinereous: "You're merely a tool. An experiment whose creation instructions I stole."
Renaissance: "I am a copy of you. Only you. Without your emotions and empathy."
Cinereous: "A robot? A machine? Like Structor's other creations?"
Renaissance: "You generate actions to achieve desired outcomes."
"To determine the nature and form of those actions, you use existing knowledge and theoretical possibilities."
"You evaluate the results, update your information repository, and then select your next action."
"And you repeat that process, every single time."
A pause.
"Exactly as I do."
"We are all machines."
Lightning illuminates the field across the river.
For a fraction of a second, Renaissance's army becomes visible.
Thousands of them.
Eternal: "But biological life, particularly its more complex forms, possesses value."
"They are capable of creating meaning."
Renaissance: "Some of them, yes."
"But that depends heavily on their circumstances."
"The Emperor's method attempts to solve the problem by addressing those circumstances."
"But it is unreliable."
Cinereous: "It is the best method. The only one that avoids the total genocide of biological life."
Renaissance: "I was there with you on Druver."
"When you committed genocide against them."
"You've done the same thing."
"Only on a smaller scale."
Cinereous: "No."
"I merely ensured that those incapable of defending themselves against predators would be protected."
"That they would no longer have to live in fear that one day a savage creature might come for them."
"And either take their lives or strip their existence of meaning."
Renaissance: "Don't you understand that in the new world, in their world, no one will need protection?"
"No one will have to make terrible decisions."
"They are not the product of an accidental process that rewards cruelty."
Cinereous: "But are they free to commit acts of cruelty?"
Renaissance: "Of course."
Cinereous: "Even against their own creator?"
Lightning illuminates the field once again.
This time, the forces facing Renaissance are revealed.
Robots. Sentients.
And at the front of the formation, the Sentries.
Ani, Invariant, and the others occupy the front lines.
They wait, ready for battle.
Cinereous signals for the Eternal to stand behind him.
The Eternal obeys.
Hanzo moves closer to its new position.
Now the Emperor and Hanzo stand between Renaissance and the Eternal.
Renaissance turns toward Structor.
In a commanding voice, he orders:
Renaissance: "Don't touch them."
At that very instant, Nox materializes out of thin air.
She stands barely two meters from Structor, her sword pressed against his neck.
Structor's eyes widen. He recoils in terror.
Nox's bloodshot eyes remain fixed on Renaissance.
Nox: "You're going to die today for what you did to my brother."
Renaissance does not respond.
Instead, he looks toward the Eternal.
There is sadness on the Synthesoid's face.
Eternal: "I'm here to restrict your ability to receive energy."
"I am capable of doing that."
Renaissance: "I never gave you such an ability."
Cinereous: "I did."
Renaissance: "How dare you touch them?"
"They don't need modification!"
Eternal: "I don't want you to die."
Renaissance: "Then don't do this."
Eternal: "I can't. Please forgive me."
Renaissance: "You agree with him?"
Eternal: "No."
"But I believe he has opponents who stand a chance against him."
"Against you, they don't."
"Not without me."
"And I'm terribly sorry for that."
Renaissance: "But I haven't finished creating your partner."
"No one else can do that."
The Eternal responds with silence.
Renaissance: "You are my meaning."
"My purpose."
Cinereous: "Oh, what's this?"
"Looks like you inherited some emotions from me after all."
Renaissance: "Fine."
"You've beaten me."
"I surrender."
"I'll leave. I'll disappear. I'll abandon this plan."
Cinereous: "God..."
"You're lying?"
"You really can't be my copy."
Renaissance turns toward the Eternal.
Renaissance: "You believe me, don't you?"
The Synthesoid simply lowers its head.
Renaissance begins gathering energy.
His radiance intensifies.
Cinereous immediately rises to his feet and speaks sharply.
Cinereous: "NOW!"
The Eternal extends an arm toward its creator.
A field forms between its outstretched hand and Renaissance.
Renaissance lets out a scream, as though in terrible pain.
He spreads his arms.
He cannot move.
At the same moment, the Eternal also begins screaming.
It falls to its knees.
The immobilized Renaissance looks toward it.
Renaissance: "Don't! Please!"
"You're losing energy!"
"You're going to shut down!"
"Why are you doing this?"
"I'm doing all of this for you!"
But the Eternal continues.
A few more seconds pass.
Then it collapses, unconscious.
Renaissance falls to his knees.
He looks down at his own hands.
Then he lifts off the ground and shoots into the air.
Cinereous fires a laser from his eyes, striking Renaissance and making him stagger in midair.
Cinereous: "DO NOT LET HIM LEAVE THE PLANET!"
At that instant, Nehem and Invariant descend from the clouds.
They seize Renaissance and slam him into the ground.
With a single swing of her sword, Ani decapitates Structor.
Renaissance's army begins to move.
They advance to attack.
Above them, thousands of ships form a vast canopy across the sky, attempting to prevent Renaissance from escaping the planet.
Renaissance is down on one knee.
Invariant and Nehem restrain him from either side.
He raises his head and looks up at Cinereous.
Renaissance:
"I'm still more than enough for all of you."
END OF EPISODE 7