Darkness…that was all he felt. It's what he had always and will forever feel. For as long as he can remember, he was trapped in some sort of prison. It was filled with some sort of liquid that had special warmth to it. Like a mothers embrace he felt…in place. Like a sanctuary where the evils of war, death and ultimately people couldn't reach him.

It was a shame too.

It was all about to change

Anatolia.

A lot of history went down in Anatolia. The world experienced a period of rapid population growth, which put a strain on global food and energy supplies. As populations increased, so did the gap between the wealthy and the poor, and so did the unrest within the population at large. Eventually, violence began to erupt and the governments quickly lost control of their populations as their cities were consumed by terrorism and anarchy. People began turning to corporations, complete with private armies, to keep them safe from the chaos.

Or at least, that's how it was then.

Now...

Now was a hell of a lot worse.

The once great city and military base during the LINX War was now a micron of its former glory. Where the city once laid was a wasteland. Remains of buildings and residential area lay in shambles, barely recognizable. Rumored had it that the city went down when a experimental NEXT malfunctioned and caused its power core to explode with pure KOJIMA energy that damn well near flattened every structure in a 8 mile radius of its epicenter. But regardless of what may or may not have happened, the father of NEXT technology, Professor Jarnefeldt was confirmed that Anatolia was the last place he worked on his scientific advancements before he died.

In the middle of this wasteland two individuals walked. Both seemed to be wearing radiation suits which were the logical thing to do seeing as the KOJIMA levels in the area were enough to kill a person on the spot if said person didn't take any precautions in the attire they wore to protect themselves.

"You know this sucks right?" One of them said to break the long silence that followed them throughout their journey.

"Yes, yes I know. The whole "Why would anyone need anything want anything from this wasteland?" speech is almost memorized word for word into my head, so spare me" The other replied to his whining other very sarcastically. "I said it once and I'll say it again. We need to scout the area in case we find any and I mean ANY remains of Professor Jarnefeldt work here so we can stay one step ahead of Line Ark." Line Ark... After the LINX war, two factions were formed; The League and Line Ark. The league were a group of corporations that have banded together to control the world's economy. On paper, the League seeks to preserve peace and order within the corporate society, but the grim reality does not match these aims. Under their rule, the planet succumbed to rapid over-development, giga-industrialization, and pollution. 'The Cradle System', the current solution to the problem, is developed by the League in order to house and protect millions of civilians from the nearly uninhabitable surface.

Line Ark was the largest surface-based power on earth. Line Ark is a maritime city-state formed by those who oppose the League and their Cradle system. They advocate freedom and democracy and appear to be fighting for a just cause. However, their motto of 'accepting all who wish to enter' has attracted a large number of unfavorable and undesirable types, which has led to slow decay of their government and society, leaving little of their original ideas and dreams remaining.

"Yeah…I got it…" This was getting as old as the concept of motor vehicles. The two continued to walk until they reached their destination; the center of the wasteland. Not much could be said. It looked like the rest of the area. It was so barren it was depressing.

"Wait a second…" One of the searchers said. Something wasn't right. As he knelt down into the KOJIMA saturated sand he noticed something within it. He began to try and unearth it with his hand and after a few minutes he succeeded. He pulled up what seem to be a part of a hull of some sort.

"Hey come here!" He notified his other with a waving hand gesture. When he came he pulled out a scanner of some sort. A few seconds later, the scanner gave a high pitched tune and confirmed their suspicions.

"This is it! Lets salvage these parts and bring em back to HQ so we can get these analyzed." His partner gave him a silent nod. As they continued to dig through the sand one of the diggers was attempting to pull a rather large piece from the ground after struggling a bit he successfully pulled it from the grainy earth…but because of that the sand shifted that it began to drain. Like a whirlpool but only with sand.

"Holy shit!" One of the diggers yelped out as he crawled away from the dig site. Obviously if the sound of rushing sand didn't catch the other diggers attention then his partner swearing like a pirate did.

"What! What the hell did you do!" He scolded him in disbelief. Before the other digger could reply, there was a loud Shute of air that whistled into the sky. What that means is that there was something under the sand. After the sand settled, both diggers went and peaked over the new crated they had created by mistake. What they saw was probably the last thing in the universe they would see.

A tube.

A stasis tube.

If I weren't empty, it wouldn't have been that big of a problem.

Thing was…

It wasn't.

Both diggers looked at each other signaling silently with their eyes that the other should inspect it. After five minutes of a silent argument both decided it would be best to check it out at the same time. As they got closer and closer they became more and more fearful of what may happen. Finally they were point blank in front of the tube. Azure…that was the color glow that radiated from the inner tube. Usually the entire tube would be filled to the top with this life support liquid but judging from the looks of it, just about half of the fluid had either dissipated or was never there to begin with and when that happens that means if anyone was in there…they weren't going to last long. But was more shocking was what it contained. It didn't look like any figure they had ever seen before. No high authoritative figure or president from ages past…

It was a boy…no older than sixteen.

A boy, with the longest white hair they had ever seen.

The diggers looked at each other with the same serious look in their eyes. After all…their mission; take what you can and leave nothing behind.

Little did they know…how this one decision would affect the future as they knew it.

Beep…beep…beep…

The soft, rhythmic beeping of some sort of machine was the first thing that he heard. His eyelids heavy, muscles sore and pain that filled his chest whenever he took a breath indicated something was wrong. Just barely opening his eyes he was greeted with what seemed to be a ceiling; an unfamiliar one at that. A groan escaped his lips as pain engulfed his lungs from taking breaths as he normally did. He felt sick, very sick. All of a sudden his eyes shot open as his chest convulsed. His chest suddenly felt tight and the pain exploded inside of him. As a form of relieving the pain, his body suddenly threw a large fit of hacks and coughs that caused him to elevate slightly from what seemed like a bed he was currently laying on. As a result his muscles screamed in pain which at this point he could no longer ignore in the form of a moan of agony.

Beep, beep, beep.

The interval of these artificial noises increased noticeably indicating that his heart beat was increasing. As if on cue the door opened up rather abruptly and two people came in. One was a woman who looks like she was in her mid twenties, and dress in what seemed to be in a business suit. Her hair was long, had highlights of red, long slim legs and curves. While the other was a man while dressed similarly, he had a typical 'bouncer' appearance; buff, bald and intimidating. The woman seemed to stare at the boy for what seemed like hours with these unnerving eyes. They were cold, calculating… She then turned to her male companion.

"Wait outside for me." Her tone was soft but stern. The male companion gave a silent nod and headed out of the door. Both pairs of eyes followed him until he closed the door behind himself.

There was a brief moment of silence which was soon interrupted by a clearing of the throat. The boys eyes were diverted to the only company left in the room. Something about her didn't sit right with him though.

"Well then…I think it's time that you explain yourself." She began.

Wow not even four minutes have passed and he's being interrogated. Being woken up to pain in your chest than only to be interrogated was not exactly the way he wanted to start his morning.

He glanced to the window.

Or whatever time of the day it was today. It was far too bright outside for it to be morning.

"W-what?" He asked dumbly. The woman sighed in response.

"I see…" her eyes narrowed. What she did next he was not expecting in a million years. In almost a flash she drew what seem like a pistol from an outer pocket from her jacket. Just as quickly as she armed herself, she pressed the barrel of the weapon up against the boys' forehead.

"I will only repeat myself once…" She said with venom laced in every word. She pressed the gun harder into the boys' skull.

"You will explain yourself…"She repeated. "If you want…you can start with your name." She pressed even harder with her weapon.

"Failure to comply will lead to death." She finished.

The boy's mind was going into a full blown meltdown! Here he was going to have his head blown away for no reason known to him.

"If you want…you can start with your name." Her words rung through his head.

"M-my name?"He stammered. She only responded with a slight nod.

"My name she wants…ok, let's start there." How hard could it be? I mean it's just as easy as…

There was a problem. As he searched his brain for the answer to the question he was met with a mental fog.

He couldn't remember his name…

He could try but all he got were blanks. He kept digging deeper into his memories. Nothing on his name. In fact he couldn't seem to remember anything other than what was going on right now.

"What going on!" he mentally yelled. He kept searching until something began to surface. It was blurry. Slight memories. But from where?

Fires…was what he can make out. From his broken recollection he saw a hand. Not human no…it was mechanical. The color of it was white and had charcoal burn mark on it. He couldn't make it out any further than that.

"Very impressive…we wouldn't have been able to win that battle if it weren't for you…" Judging from the way the voice was talking the sentence hadn't finished there and it sounded like he was going to acknowledge him by saying his name. But that was it. In an instant it blanked out and was replaced by a sharp pain shot through his head. Like lightning dance through his cerebrum. He winced and grabbed his head and exhaled in pain.

"I can't…remember" He muttered as he coped with the pain. The feeling in his brain started to relieve itself. Not enough to have his head feel like a water balloon ready to blow but it still needed the comfort of his hands.

The woman squinted her eyes, not in disgust but as if she was interested in his ability or lack of being able to remember.

"I see..." She mused as she put her hand on her hip. Eyes were calculating. She looked down at the boy and noticed his curiosity due to the vanishing of most of her hostility.

"It's as the data had stated..." She began to notice that the boy was starting to kick into survival mode. God he was absolutely pathetic. Instead of glancing with his eyes to look for possible exits he was slightly moving his head. He was a rookie in a dangerous world.

"Well, it's not like we need him awake anymore...The data check out correctly." She smirked and let out a chuckle which earned a confused look from the boy. His mouth slightly opened.

"W-what so-" And with a swift and fluid motion that can only be attained with years of military training, the women pistol whipped him in his temple which undoubtedly knocked him out cold. she then put her firearm back into its holster and dusted off her attire as if it had held some imaginary dirt on it.

"Congratulation, you've now been drafted for the league ..." she paused only briefly with a smirk. A cold smirk that was sharp as well as devious.

"...Phantom..."

When a person is hit over the head with enough force, the human body starts to experience what most like to call "Hypersensitivity". This is when the body is much more receptive to their natural senses with the exception of touch and feeling. When light will only slightly irriatate someone, it can cause a sever headache for someone experiencing this dilemma.

To the boy codenamed Phantom, this is one of those experience.

"Uhnggg..." he groaned with obvious strain in his voice. His eyes were shut but the glare from the sun still blared through that thin layer of epidermis causing him to scrunch and frown his face. Winds whipping and sun beating down, though his eyes were closed he can tell he was outside. With little effort he opened his eyes. The bright sun blinded him for only a second but regardless he kept them open by using his hand a means to block the light.

What he saw kind of suprised him.

A vast desert.

Actually upon further inspection, he was actually more surprised that he was in a hospital attire and in a wheelchair. Body still sore he weakly turned his head and to his misfortune there was that woman again. The woman with red highlight in her hair, the women who pressed a gun to his head and the very same who knocked him the fuck out!

"I see you're finally awake..." she mused with a smirk on her face. It was the type of smirk that people who have the utmost confidence put on their faces. The boy glared at her slightly not enough to show her his anger but enough to convince himself that he was mad. However, this women is much more than she let on.

"Hey, what's with that look huh? Still upset?" she asked with a false tone of concern. As far as the boy knew she was toying with him. She was the musician and he was the instrument. Her tone and face gave that much away. After she was done humoring the boy she leaned her head closer to him, him being in position he was in his chair couldn't face her completely. He immediately flinched in response which didn't go unnoticed.

"Relax..." Her tone of voice chanced from her usual mocking tone to that of a softer one.

"Calm down, I'm not gonna hit you again." she continued.

The boy was confused. Here this lady was, whom hes only met once and in that time threatned to paint the white walls of the room with his brain matter was now trying to seranade him? He wasn't sure what he should be feeling right now. Fearful or calm. He turned his head and instictivley looked down to avoid eye contact.

"What do you want from me..." The boy muttered. The woman face just stared blankly at him. She took a moment to pick and choose the answer to that carefully. In response she gave a small chuckle causing the boy to grow a serious face yet again. He didn't know anything and she still was jerking him around?

"You misunderstand, you have nothing we want." she began as she rested on of her arms on the chair. "However, we have something that you might be interested in."

He turned his head slightly curious, the winds picked up and started to blow his hair as of nature didn't want him to acknowledge her. What could she have that he would possible want. She began to dig through her suit pocket and pulled out what looked like a small memory stick of some sort.

"By the end of the season, this little device, will be filled with all sorts of information regarding yourself that our team are decrypting right now."

Wait, did he hear right?

"What did you say?" his eyes dilated in size for a quick moment. Hook, line and sinker. A few moments passed.

"Ya'know, most people who can't recall their past usually wouldn't hesitate in taking the job." she said humorously. Another few moments passed.

"Whose to say I have trouble remember my past..." he muttered. This took the woman by surprise. He was right, there really was no proof aside from the scene in the hospital. However she knew better, his body language and reactions to certain things like the purpose of the memory stick proved otherwise. The only problem is that there's no scientific proof, just speculation. But she wasn't worried. She still had all the cards in her hand. But she had to play them right in order to get what she wanted.

"Actually a brain scan showed an unusually high amount of activity in your brain. Particularly where memory is stored." she lied and as predicted the boy flinched. It was incredibly barely noticeable but she saw it. She called and exposed his bluff. "Hey this isn't what i've concluded, this is stuff that the boys with the doctrines are telling me."

The boy still unmoved deflated, there was one last thing he could attempt. He turned to her, poker face and all.

"And what if I refuse...?" The woman put a hand on his head like a sibling to its kin.

"Then I leave you here and I get to go home free of a guilty conscience." she simply replied.

"What!" That was the 'or' option!

"Well that's the benefits of taking the job." she started. "Because we have no records of you within the residential data base and clearly you're not part of the military database the job would grant you room and board free of charge in exchange of a lower pay rate." she explained.

"However, if you think that you can survive out here let me fill you in because I'd wager that you have no clue of the dangers out here..." She cleared her throught. "The world outside of our reach is a dangerous one. If the extreme tempature changes of the desert don't kill you by the end of the week then KOJIMA radiation will and trust me it isn't painless." she finished.

"So I pretty much have no choice huh?" he concluded. This was the famous 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' situations.

"Hey, atleast you're not at gunpoint" she smiled at laughed at her own little joke.

"Yeah that's real fucking funny" he thought to himself sarcastically. Very faintly he could hear what sounded like a helicopter in the background. It didn't go unnoticed by the woman either.

"Looks like my ride came sooner than expected." she turned her head slightly to try and see it. Her eyes wandered back to him.

"Well boy, this is the fork in the road in your life." she took a few steps back as the helicopter came into view and became louder and louder as each second passed. She extended her hand to him.

"So do you accept, or do you have better things to do here?" she asked knowing the answer to the question. The helicopter at this point landed behind her and was creating its own little wind storm. A few moments passed and soon the boy finally gave in. He grabbed her hand. It wasn't like most women hands but then again how would he know. The helicopter landed and she entered while also hoisting the boy with her into it. He sat down into one of the seats and instictivley strapped himself in. When he finished, he noticed that in front of him were headsets used in helicopters to drown out the noise while still being able to talk to others. He looked up and saw the woman giving them to him to wear while also wearing them herself. He took them, put them on and realized that the once loud noise of the helicopter was barely noticeable now.

"Hey...is your headset working?" the woman filtered voice sounded off within the speakers. He only nodded in response. A few more moments passed and the voice sparked again.

"I never did introduce myself did I?"

"No..." the boy commented dryly. A few moments passed and she extended her hands towards him expecting him to shake it.

"The name's Sumika Kasumi but as far as everyone else is concerned my name is Serene Haze." she grabbed his hand and had a firm grip on it. If it weren't for the fact that the inside of the helicopter was dim, she would have noticed his face turn a light shade of red.

"Umm... I-I'd tell you my name but, um" he stammered. He was just so nervous.

"Your name is Phantom." Kasumi inturupted. He gave her a look of surprise. Kasumi pulled out the memory stick yet again and started to look at it with a dull look.

"It was on this little thing." Phantom still looked at her with the same look of surprise which yet again didn't go unnoticed by Kasumi.

"I figured that since you agreed to work for us, I'd give you that much" she said as she put the memory stick back into her pocket. Phantoms face seemed to soften.

"A-ah, thank you..." It was strange. After all that she put him trough that she actually had a kind side to her. He stayed quiet for a few minutes and then realized something.

"Hey um..." he began "You kept mentioning about a job but you never told me what it was..."

"Ah, I suppose I didn't..." Kasumi began. She had to pick and choose her words carefully. Some of it is still classified but she's kept him in the dark long enough.

"Lets just say that it has to do with a bit of security." Then she smirked. But it wasn't just any smirk. It was that cold and devious smirk.