Background
0011. At the beginning
--Status OK....... Files loaded...--
--Shinji's thoughts--
Shinji Osajima lives in a world which has lost all sense of moral reference. When he walks the streets of the megalopolis, he notices that the number of homeless is constantly increasing while mutual aid and compassion erode daily.
Following the catastrophe known as the "Croon incident", Federation social security and welfare have become a myth, even though the main argument for world unification of the space colonies was in fact, universal prosperity, for all.
Shinji reminisces about his childhood and his youthful holidays in the mountains, with nature. Already then, the mountains were in bad shape, but today, they are a disaster that no one seems to care about. Over the last 50 years, people are more interested in the conquest of space and the creation of new colonies in the borders of the known universe than the preservation of the environment. There are even annoying antigravity vehicles, a kind of thought police, preaching about the benefits of colonization, which loiter outside his flat every single evening. Why fix the problems at home if you can go off-world and start afresh in an unspoiled environment, ripe for despoiling.
Therefore, it comes as no surprise that individualism and self-consciousness have become the leading qualities in the modern human being. In the best light, humanity takes refuge in social groups, family and work or, as the "psychic conditioners" (nicknamed by some workers from unnamable social movements) trained by the Para-psychic corps like to call it, company spirit. In the worst case, the human race is infantile, narcissistic, aggressive, superficial, uncultivated, distressed and wondering why they have become so complacent.
No wonder why they are that way with the plethora of spiritual movements that spawn throughout the universe, it's in fashion to be spiritualized. It sells well and allows people an escape from their pathetic lives. In any case, this is the message espoused by Shinji's favorite media station, Channel 909; a message inspired by false pretenses, old religions and spiritual movements but lacking substance.
Glorious information! The most priceless commodity and the most sought after. Media is king and formats people as much as it educates them. Is this Paradoxical or complementary?
Media governs all life and influences all human desires, not unlike animism's time with its "primitive values", media defines acceptable behavior, conformity, and societal norms with codes of conduct and uniformity, that may, at first view, appear different... The matrix, a vast ocean of datum, this parallel computer universe, becomes a refuge... Virtual reality has become more important than real life. Cyber pets take precedence over the feeding of real, living, breathing, crying infants and less costly. Hackers have become the new super stars in a world of constant transmutation.
Is this phenomenon surprising? Shinji thinks not. These days everything is for sale; money and economy replace religion. Profits replace humanity. A contract hit is less expensive than a dinner in a fancy restaurant.
Just like every Friday evening, Shinji eats in a nice restaurant, The Singing Dragon. He seeks a woman and is immediately attracted to a dark-haired, green-eyed one.
Shinji, the predator, and the wolf--
She will be the one... same as every Friday night, Shinji hunts for his prey. After a decadent dinner, Shinji feels stuffed to the point of sickness, but he notices a beautiful girl and the frail young man who accompanies her have finished their feast and are about to leave. Our killer follows them to the underground car park. After a moment's hesitation, he awkwardly slices the throat of the girl's lover with a fast blow of his Wakisachi. The girl is terrorized and starts to scream, but not for long; Shinji reaches for his electric club and knocks his victim out cold.
Same as every Saturday, Shinji tortures and rapes a different woman in his cellar. Once his sadistic weekly ritual is completed, he decapitates her, devoid of emotion. Every Sunday, Shinji buries the bloody and mutilated corpse of his victim in the Elato forest which is venerated by the Ancients who called it "the Sanctuary". Shinji has accomplished this macabre ceremony for 12 long years, since returning from the colonial wars.
But today is different. The atmosphere is even stranger than normal. Suddenly, he sees a white wolf on a small hillock which looks at him fixedly. The wolf without opening his jaws, communicating as a spirit guide, asks Shinjii, "What are you doing?" Frightened, Shinji tries to dissimulate his sinister deed, but then, realizing the abnormality of a speaking wolf, he stops to answer the animal, with a "What in the...?".
Shinji is now dead, the wolf surely killed him, and yet he still feels a pain in his throat... Moreover he doesn't feel at rest, nor free, but distressed. He feels like he is trapped within his own body. His conscience sinks gradually into darkest rage, a pure madness, bloodthirsty even for him. A mysterious force seizes control of him.
-- The incident, the destruction --
A man witnessed Shinji's murder while jogging. He doesn't describe a wolf to the Federal police who question him, but some strange creature, six feet tall. Two days after the bloodbath, the crime scene is completely zoned off and quarantined by the Federal army.
During the quarantine, soldiers assigned to the scene were said to have seen and heard several strange creatures prowling about, and their numbers seemed to gradually and steadily increase. One rainy morning, there was a blinding flash of light and then an explosion which destroyed everything in a span of several hundred thousand square miles. Only the forest was untouched by the blast. The Federation fabricated a terrorist attack from an orbital targeting station in an attempt to cover up the story.
The news of the incident and the quarantine travelled quickly after being revealed by a local news channel, preceding the soldiers' testimonies, censored by the Federation. The revelation was a shock to the populace who interpreted it as a sign indicating the end of times, and many of the spiritual fanatic groups claimed that it was indeed a divine sign. The groups then joined together and developed the idea that these creatures were beings superior to humans and had come to punish the declining world, and guide the righteous to enlightenment.
-- First contact, last breath--
Meanwhile, an ancient secret society was called upon by the Federation to take control of the forest issue. This group, the "Secreta Secretorum", had been in existence since the dawn of time. For the Federation, these creatures were the same "force" which had been responsible for the Croon incident, but Secreta disproved this theory quickly thereafter. According to official channels, this Force had little to no resemblance to the one that had so terrorized the Federation authorities..
As soon as the Secreta group was in place, the mysterious Force known as the "meta-streumonic will" sent forth a messenger. The messenger was captured, dissected and killed. In the official report, the creature attacked first using its messenger status to surprise the members of the group, which was as a result, crushed by joint Secreta Secretorum and army forces.
Despite their combined number, the raid was a complete failure; no one survived. The zone was declared off limits. Secreta then formed a group called the E.Y.E project, to create an army of warrior monks, with one major genetic modification; the messenger's DNA was used to create this legion of 1100 soldiers. Each member of E.Y.E was also cybernetically enhanced with cutting edge technology. The primary aim of E.Y.E was to avert all actions of the meta-streumonic will. To reach this goal, E.Y.E, along with elite soldiers of the army, launched new raids to pacify the forest which met with rapid success
-- Radicalization, and more destruction --
This action had other less fortunate consequences. A powerful group of fanatics radicalized their actions and launched reprisals deploying several old nuclear missiles throughout the Federation. The many planets and areas that survived the onslaught owe their lives to the good work of the Federal information services.
The shock was terrible for the general population who quickly called for blood. Secreta gave E.Y.E the task of pacifying the fanatics, with the Federation's agreement, the cleaning operation was met with rapid success.
-- New Eden, new hell --
Taking advantage of the general chaos and its role in the destruction of the fanatic groups, Secreta Secretorum built a fortress on the still irradiated ruins of the old religious megalopolis of Orteosa. This reinforced megalopolis was baptized New Eden. Ten years later, the influence and the power of the mega corporations, united within the consortium, exceeded that of the Federation. Only the Secreta group remains influential and powerful. It became increasingly independent, going as far as founding its own army, which has no equal in arms or technology.
However, New Eden couldn't be saved from vice and corruption; the megalopolis degenerated quickly into bedlam. Crime and chaos destabilize the government in place. The E.Y.E project moved in and quickly rectified the situation, at the same time gaining influence within the Secreta group. The rise in power of E.Y.E starts to worry the Leaders of the Secreta group who decide they should shut down E.Y.E; But not for long.
Strange events began to occur elsewhere within the Federation which demanded Secreta's attention.
-- The call to arms, the end of an era----
Left and right, the dead return to the life to attack the living. Half-man, half-animal beings start to walk the earth and strange creatures attack spaceships and the colonies, which had, up until now, been spared. E.Y.E is reborn, but divided into two authorities then further subdivided into two sections to limit its power. Its mission was, once again, to thwart any action they believed to be initiated by the meta-streumonic will.
Terrifyingly huge creatures appeared leading legions of the dead, beasts, and other abominations. In a war that lasted seven years, this host decimated approximately 70% of humanity. The attacks stopped just as abruptly as they had begun. Nearly all of the Federal territories were in ruin, reduced to lifeless deserts thanks to chemical and nuclear weapons used by the Federation to halt the creatures advance. Once again, the population was in turmoil, and many people listened to speeches by various extremist spiritual movements who preached that the end of their universe was close at hand and that the creatures of the Force were sent to punish them for their sins. Folks became paranoid towards the leading authorities, thinking that the government had known the truth and hadn't done what was needed.
The most disturbing fact concerned the reports of humans fighting alongside this mysterious legion. Another strange fact: New Eden was only slightly attacked and barely concerned by the massive loss of life throughout the universe. They had been spared, at least not for the moment.
-- Independence, decline--
Benefiting from consortium and Federal weaknesses, the Secreta group reached supreme power in the New Eden colony, founding a rigid dictatorship. Yet again, the lure of easy gains and profits from corruption resurfaced, strangling the young independent colony. Secreta rapidly forfeited power to revolutionary groups and other opponents to the regime. In this climate, the Federation launched a cabal against the group by making public old mistakes and slip ups of the group. The E.Y.E was officially dissolved by Secreta Secretorum to improve public relations. But this was not enough to calm Federal distrust in the group, who placed the colony under embargo.
--Shutdown--
