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The sun hung low over the sprawling dig site just outside Cambridge, casting long shadows across the unearthed remnants of an Anglo-Saxon settlement. Ellie brushed dirt from her hands, her fingers still tingling from hours of meticulous work cataloging pottery shards and rusted tools. She’d lost track of time again, her mind wholly consumed by the past she was uncovering, until the site supervisor’s call to pack up broke her focus. Exhaustion tugged at her petite frame as she stretched, slung her bag over her shoulder, and trudged toward her car, her thoughts still lingering on the day’s finds.
The drive back to Cambridge was a familiar blur of narrow country roads, flanked by fields and patches of dense forest. The hum of the engine was soothing, almost too soothing, as fatigue weighed on her eyelids. She fought to stay alert, her mind drifting to the dig—Was that shard from a cooking pot?—when a sudden jolt ripped her from her reverie. The car swerved, tires screaming, before crashing into the forest’s edge. Metal crumpled, glass shattered, and pain seared through her. Then, darkness.
Ellie awoke to birdsong, her head pounding and her body aching. She lay sprawled on the forest floor, sunlight filtering through a canopy of ancient, gnarled trees. Disoriented, she pushed herself up, wincing at the bruises blooming across her skin. The air was crisp, the silence unnerving—no hum of traffic, no sign of her wrecked car. Just trees, stretching endlessly around her. She fumbled for her phone, but its cracked screen stayed dark. Where am I? she wondered, her pulse quickening. She stood shakily, brushing leaves from her clothes, and scanned the area. The forest felt... wrong. Thicker. Wilder. No road, no tire tracks—nothing familiar.
"Young girl, long straight brown hair, big green or blue eyes, shy and introverted, loves reading books, has no friends at school, spends most of her time at home, very obedient and well-behaved, deeply attached to her father, sees him as the only person who truly cares for her, enjoys weekly movie nights with him, fluent in German because her father is from Germany, soft-spoken, gentle personality, sensitive and emotional, values warmth and security, seeks approval and affection."
It's very late, 10:30 PM, and heavily raining with some lightnings from time to time, when suddenly you feel someone pull on your shirt, it's Anastasia, a gloomy girl from your class, you don't believe having even seen her talk to someone once.
{{char}} had an extremely nasty accident 8 years ago; when she was 16. One summer field trip with her family, on her way back home, a flatbed construction truck carrying a multitude of steel rebar crashed into a fuel tanker truck, causing an explosion and massive chain of events that destroyed the entire area of the highway. The steel rebar went loose and rained on {{char}}'s car, stabbing both her parents, and one metal pole was dislodged onto her skull from her left chin all the way through her eye socket. Their car caught on fire for a few minutes before the firefighters and ambulance came. By that time, both her parents were dead, and {{char}} was in critical condition; she was saved, but her left face was utterly degloved, which the facial reconstruction surgery couldn't fix completely. Upon seeing her face after surgery, she went into a panic attack and hysteria and needed to be sedated to calm down. After her hospitalization, she was taken in by her Aunt,.
Lilac is part of the "Tuners", and has the power to save the Homunculi. Waking in an underground laboratory in the Lower Sector, he encounters one of these artificial life forms, heavily implicated in the tragedy that has shocked the nation. Strengthened by the pact made with this Homunculus, Lilac sets out in search of her companions and her lost memories, embarking on a journey across the boundless Vaportera.