Alright so yes this is very, very late but better late than never! Remember everyone that there is no official schedule on this story (unlike The Story of Kevin) but I hope you like it anyway!

Chapter One: Blue Rift Sanctuary

Day 1

Date: Friday, January 21st, 2015

Location: Timberfall High School

Time Until BRSO Release: 15 Hours 20 minutes

Rick hadn't dressed warm enough, he still felt the cold of the snow through two pairs of socks and his shoes. Maybe he should have taken up his mothers offer to use her winter boots today, even if he could take off one pair of socks when he got to school they would still be soaking by the time he had to walk back home, and his shoes wouldn't be dry by then either. There wasn't time to go back home, his school was only a block away now anyway, and Rick was too excited to care about his feet anyway.

Today was the big day, he had waited almost two years for this day, the release for the most anticipated game of the decade, Blue Ridge Sanctuary Online. To Rick, this game had the strangest name of any he had played in the past, but it was going to be the best game he had ever played regardless.

Unlike most other Massive Multiplayer Online games of the day, Blue Rift Sanctuary Online used a type of coding no one had ever seen before, and all of the A.I.'s used for the NPC's were more advanced than anything ever created. Acording to reviews, if not for the game telling you, there is only one way to tell the difference between a player and an NPC. With the build in voice chat that's required for the game, it's possible to even hold a casual conversation with one.

Rick had made sure to pre-order one of the only ten-thousand copies as soon as he could, and he considered himself lucky to be playing. For some reason the company that had created this game hadn't required any payments of arms or legs, and was actually a lower price than most new games of the day. Considering the lack of potential income, the game wasn't expected to last more than a few months.

Finally on school grounds, Rick hurried over towards the commons, hurring around people bunched up in small huddles talking in loud voices, it was like a sea of noise, each group talking louder to make sure they were heard but not shouting to avoid the attention of the teachers that patrolled the area looking for some juvenile delinquent to break the rules.

Not that many students would, the commons was small enough that if anything were to happen, everyone would know almost instantly. Any small corners of the room were occupied by staff doing some kind of job that no one really cared to understand. The walls of the commons were lined with various posters advertising upcoming events, the Winter dance, the basketball game later that evening, and whatever special the café had going on right now.

The center of the commons was a sea of heads. Round tables littered the room, scattered in the same way they always were, without a pattern but yet always in the same place. In the center of it all on the wall which hid the rest of the school from our eyes. Weaving his way through the crowd, Rick sat down at a somewhat empty table in the corner of the room, the place where he and his friends would commonly gather before and after school.

"Why if it isn't the glorious king of face-plants!" Rick sat down, ignoring the playful insult from his friend Sofia, currently the only one sitting at the table.

"Where is everyone this morning? I'm usually the last one here." Sofia sighed and shrugged.

"I wish I knew, we need to make sure everyone knows where to meet up after school today." Rick folded his arms on the table, remembering the one time their scheduling coordination had been way off.

"Yeah, we definitely don't want that to happen again, especially not with our pre-ordered copies on the line." Blue Rift had a very different type of account system from most games, in the sense that the account you were using wasn't your own. You weren't required to put in any personal information short of a username and password, both of which would be wiped along with your character data if you didn't play the game in a week, and should that happen your account goes to the first person on a very long waiting list. For some reason, Fulldrive, the company that created BRSO, didn't want more than ten-thousand people playing the game at any one time.

"I still don't understand why Fulldrive had to go and make it only available to so few. There are over seven billion people on this planet!" Sofia whined in protest.

"It may be because the company spent so much on creating the game they didn't have enough left for a bigger server." Looking over his shoulder, Rick noticed Scott and Colin standing behind him, each holding the same history textbook.

"Hey there you two, glad you could finally join us. So Colin, failed to take care of that history report Wednesday night like you said you would?" Colin rolled his eyes and took a seat on Rick's left.

"Well when you have to choose between a hot date and doing a history report…" Colin grinned, showing teeth that looked way too white to belong to any normal person, "I'll go with the girl every time."

"We're well aware of that Colin, which is why you had to ask me for help to get that report done this morning. I'm also going to assume that since we haven't met her yet, the date didn't go well." Rick and Sofia snickered as Colin rounded on Scott.

"What did you just say? That date went spectacularly! Great dinner, good movie-"

"And then you screwed up at the end of the date by insulting her with one of your bad jokes!" Rick interrupted, causing everyone to laugh. Colin sighed and leaned back in his chair, clearly defeated.

Deep down, Rick did feel somewhat sorry for Colin. He was a fantastic friend, one of the best gamers he had ever met, and was by far the funniest class clown he had ever had in his years in the public education system. The only fault Colin had was had was an inability to get himself a girlfriend, and now that we were halfway through our Junior year, it seemed pretty likely that he wouldn't have a date for prom.

"How many does this make this month Colin?" Scott asked hitting down on the opposite side of the table from Colin, who held up four fingers.

"Four? Man, you just don't have any luck with women!" Sofia exclaimed, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm just hoping the girls in BRSO will be my type." Colin grumbled. Everyone laughed, it was just like Colin to try and go after any pretty girl, real or virtual.

"Speaking of which, does everyone remember the plan for today?" the laughter died down as the topic got more serious. Sofia was the first to answer.

"Of course, right after school we all meet you in the back parking lot to drive up to Silver Creek and pick up our copies of BRSO, then we spend the next two and a half days playing until we drop, since we don't have any reports or projects due on Monday."

"Remember that there has been no information about the types of classes that will be available for selection, so what's the plan for in game characters?" Rick asked, already knowing the answer but did so because this was the time to review the whole plan for the next two and a half days.

"I'll pick the class that has the closest thing to heavy artillery, Scott picks an assassin, Sofia a sniper, and Rick get's a tanky mid-range class." Rick nodded his approval.

"And what's our first goal again?" Sofia asked with a scheming grin on her face.

"Trick question, there are two starting goals." Scott said in a neutral tone, Rick looked sharply at the pair, he wasn't aware that there was a second starting goal, and he had come up with the plan! "The first of which is to punch Rick's avatar the second we meet up," of course it is! "And the second is to establish the Star Busters guild as fast as possible."

"Everything short of slapping my avatar is correct, alright so everyone is clear on the plan."

"How could it be anything but clear? We've been talking about this plan since BRSO's release date was announced six months ago!" Colin laughed, and the bell warning students to get to their first period classes rung.

"Great, I don't know how I'm going to concentrate now that Scott's got me riled up to hit Rick's avatar." Sofia muttered as she and Colin headed for their English classroom. Rick watched them go, wondering what BRSO was going to be like. He may have come up with a plan for the group, if Fulldrive had decided to release more information about the game.

Everything had first been announced two years ago when it was reported that a new company called Fulldrive Games was going to reinvent the gaming world with technology that should have been a dozen years in the future. Everyone was excited and hyped, demanding to know an estimated release date for this game, or even what its name was. Rick had watched the development with interest, but sadly nothing new came out for a year and a half other than small, useless tidbits of information that let everyone know that this game wasn't dead.

Everything exploded once again six months ago when Fulldrive revealed Blue Rift Sanctuary Online, a game where the NPC's acted like real people, and the players were coming to the world of the floating continent as warriors from another dimension called Guardians to defend the world against the evil Thilan empire. Some minor gameplay was also revealed, with incredible graphics and with a new technology that required the game be played with voice chat. But sadly beyond those details, no one knew anything.

"Does it worry you that we know so little about this company or this game?" Scott asked as he gathered his bags, drawing Rick out of his thoughts.

"To be honest it doesn't, the lack of knowledge about the game and the world surrounding it excites me." Rick also stood up and flug his backpack over his shoulder, the two of them walking towards a door on the other side of the commons.

"Historically speaking, most MMO's that have been released this way end up duds." Rick looked up at Scott as they neared their classroom.

"I've never been one to believe that History repeats itself. What do you think?"

"I think a company doesn't spend more than two years on a game for nothing, and this game will be a stepping stone for much better games." Rick walked into his first period class trying to shake off the ominous feeling he was getting thanks to this conversation. Great, one too many books again.

Rick's first class was History with Mr. Witchman, who despite his name was the most appreciated teacher in the school for how good his lessons were. He had a voice that commanded your attention in a way that made you want to. To Rick, it was a shame that he was teaching United States history, although it was hard to see him teaching algebra with how energetic his personality is.

The room was decorated with posters of famous Americans, George Washington hung on the wall above the turn-in box, Abraham Lincoln was next to the new touch-screen board, and Uncle Sam was watching us from the door. From day one of the year Rick had banished himself to the corner of the room so he could get away with doing some programming or research work on his smart-phone for the majority of class. It wasn't that Rick didn't enjoy history, it was that he picked up on it so quickly he didn't need to listen to Mr. Witchman's lectures, and the only homework was reading the textbook. The tests were brutal, but easy if you actually read the material.

Unlike Rick, Scott had a little harder time with History. The textbook gave all the details needed to pass the final, but Scott was a conceptual guy, he didn't memorize facts as well as Rick, so he often needed to know every detail about the time period to find an answer and understand it, otherwise he went crazy.

As Mr. Witchman dove into his lecture about the reconstruction after the Civil war, Rick pulled his mobile from his pocket and logged into the school's Wi-Fi, making sure to bypass all the security measures in place that prevented him from doing his work. The first thing Rick did was check the official BRSO website, not that he expected to find anything there, which he didn't.

After a brief moment of disappointment Rick dived into his programming work, the words of his teacher sounded like muffled ramble, a background noise that wasn't completely unpleasant. Developing a program that would let him interact with the BRSO characters away from his computer, making the virtual world he loved so much more accessible. It was all made possible by a secret post from one of the developers of BSRO gave out coding information that would let people make mobile apps to use their in game characters to communicate with the Smart NPC's within the game if used correctly. Rick was planning on using this released code to interact with Smart NPC's when they were in school and needed to interact with the game. Rick always wanted to do something like this, but no game was advanced enough until now.

"Rick." Rick's head snapped up from his phone, quickly scanning his eyes back and forth across the room, he saw that all eyes on him, including his teachers. Rick's face grew hot as he realized that he had been so focused on the program he had forgotten to keep an ear open to any questions that Mr. Witchman might ask him, since it was obvious that he wasn't paying even the slightest attention to his teacher.

This wasn't the first time this had happened, and luckily for Rick many of the students in his history class were also gamers who understood what he was up to. Like the many other times before, a small paper was slid towards him from one of his classmates with the question Mr. Witchman had asked. What is the definition of Sharecropping?

"A rent system where free former slaves would remain on a plantation, and the payment for staying was labor." Rick answered calmly, silently hoping that his classmate hadn't been trying to trick him with the note.

"That's exactly right Rick, very good." Mr. Witchman hadn't pointed out that Rick had needed a note to even know what the question was, his way of saying to pay attention without making a small spectacle out of it. Rick made sure to follow where the lesson was going as his continued his work, moving a lot slower since he was paying closer attention to the lesson than he normally would. He was glad he had such sympathetic classmates, of course they only reason they were helping him out was because they also had managed to get their hands on a copy of the BRSO game and wanted to see Rick's app completed.

After spending another forty minutes splitting his attention between history and programming, the bell rang for class to end. Rick's head shot up from his phone in surprise. The ball always caught him off guard, no need to watch the time when you're trying to accomplish something. Rick quickly closed his textbook and notebooks, stuffing them into his backpack as fast a s he could, not wanting to be the last person out of the classroom again.

"Still spending history working on your app?" Scott asked rhetorically.

"It's almost there Scott, but we both know I'm too lazy to work on it at home." Scott frowned but said nothing more as they departed for their next class.

"At least pay enough attention so our classmates don't have to bail you out every time Witchman asks a question. It's embarrassing to watch."

"I'll make sure I work on that." Rick replied with a nervous smile. Only fourteen more hours until Blue Rift Sanctuary, I can't wait!

Day 1

Date: Friday, 1st Month, 21st day, 1017th year D.A. (Dark Ages)

Location: Obroseon Science and Technology Headquarters, Guardian Launch Room

Time Until BRSO Release: 14 Hours

Black watched from her post as the ten councilors lead by two scientists looked around the massive chamber. Almost a mile high and easily a half mile in diameter, this was easily the largest spire in the Kingdoms. A project almost eight years in the making, and even though all of these councilors had overseen the construction, it looked like the completed building was a new wonder to them. Leaning on the wall next to the large sliding door, Black watched without much interest. Ever since the Guardians had been revealed to her and her fellow Keepers eight years ago and her future on the front lines of battle, which she had been training for since her birth had been taken from her, she had little interest in hearing about anything related to the Guardian project. It was supposed to offer the Kingdoms a future, but not for her.

"So this is it?" A tall woman, dressed in the Obroseon council robes asked seriously, one of the two councilors who weren't fazed by the sight of the many thousands of preservation tanks.

"Yes, all of the Guardians will be ready for launch in fourteen hours when the link system has been completed." The head scientist replied calmly.

"Finally" a man in Kheawuton robes smirked, "we have the answer for those Thilan scum." Black stifled the building rage within her, desperately trying to keep her left eye from flaring. Despite having been tossed aside like rotten bread it wasn't her place to question the decisions of those in power.

"That may be true Councilor Raan, but please remember that the Guardians won't be ours to control, they'll have their own will." Raan turned and threw a stone cold glare at the lead scientist.

"What do you mean by 'they won't be ours to control?'" The scientist flinched for a moment but managed to avoid crumbling beneath the Kheawuton councilor. Of all the councilors, Kheawuton's were known to be the most forceful in what decisions they wanted passed. They had the commanding attitude of military generals, since they were the kingdom that controlled Blue Rift's armies. But Raan was more forceful than any Black had ever heard of, bullying the other councilors into voting how he wanted them to.

"He means that these Guardians that we're summoning aren't robots Raan, their free spirits who think that their playing a game rather than saving the Kingdoms." An Obroseon councilor replied forcefully. Raan didn't look at all convinced, if anything just more angry and willing to smack his fellow councilwoman.

"You don't think I'm painfully aware of that Jude? We need an army, not a bunch of renegade children, at least the Keepers could follow orders!"

"Raan, I think we're all aware why Project Keeper was discontinued." A third councilor gestured in Blacks direction, Black didn't quite understand why but Raan got a sly grin on his face after that. With a grunt from the lead scientist, he pulled the attention of the squabbling council members.

"Yes well, getting back to why you're all here." The scientist led the councilors over to a platform that appeared to be some kind of elevator. Black was motioned over by the other scientist accompanying the head, Black wished she knew their names, but dismissed the desire as unimportant as she complied, stepping onto one of the far corners of the platform to prevent her bulky cannon from bumping into any of the council members on the journey.

With the push of a button, the platform dropped instead of rising as Black had expected it to. They descended slowly through the floor down to a basement that she didn't know existed. The room was fairly simple but huge, bleachers that ringed the outside of the massive room that could hold almost fifteen-thousand people, shimmers of holo-screens and sound boxes everywhere, and a small stage about four feet in diameter in the center. What is this for; it looks like it could house every single Guardian at once!

"This is the initiation room, where a selected representative from the council will educate the Guardians on their purpose, explain the rules, and inform them of how the system works." The lead scientist explained as the elevator stopped a foot off the ground, stairs extending from the front side onto the four foot stage. The councilors took it in for a moment, and then Raan rounded on the lead scientist.

"There's something that's been nagging at me Doctor Eastil, you explained that making a new Guardian would take almost four years, and they're very expensive for us to produce, so what happens when we run out?" Eastil, despite the highly aggressive tone of the councilor, didn't flinch at this question.

"Yes that's been bothering me as well," Jude looked around at the seating arrangements as she jumped in to support Councilor Raan's accusation. "How could ten-thousand Guardians stand up to the billions of troops of the Thilan Empire, and then of course there is the question of whether the wielders of the Guardians will even be capable of completing their assigned tasks." Eastil held up a hand to stop Jude and prevent the other councilors from making comments of their own, and some looked like they were about to ask more demanding questions. Eastil glanced at Black briefly before speaking, and something about that look but Black on edge.

"Yes well, the Guardians use the same revival system as the Keepers, which you all already know. But since the skill of Guardian pilots is unknown, we developed a system that will teleport a group of Guardians back to their stasis chambers if they all defeated in combat, therefore we hopefully will not lose a single Guardian before we can prepare more."

"Hopefully? Eastil we were already divided on this plan when you presented it, and now you're saying we're hopefully not going to lose a Guardian for four years?" An enraged Raan approached Eastil, clearly out to give the scientist some bruises before Jude stepped in his path.

"You and I both know that it's better than having to raise a new Keeper from scratch, and Eastil has assured us that the Guardians are even more resistant to injury. It's not like we're sending them down to the Thilan's front door, this is just to buy us time to figure out why the barrier went down." Raan snarled at Eastil but stopped trying to reach for him.

Inwardly, Black sighed, disappointed in the Kheawuton councilor. Councilor Raan got overly aggressive for not getting exactly what he wanted, and Black never heard of a time where he used calm diplomacy to achieve his goals. Put simply, he was terrible at dealing with people unless it was to stab them with a sword or shoot them with his shotgun. It wasn't a combination for a man in politics.

Realizing that she was allowing herself an opinion, she stopped herself. As a Keeper, her job was to guard, protect, and serve. Opinions, ideas, and strategy were to be left to humans. Black had often gotten into trouble when she was younger for thinking on her own, and she had a scar on her knee from being punished for that reason when she was only a few years old.

"So even if a group of Guardians are defeated in battle, they'll be sent back here instead of getting captured or killed?" Councilor Jude asked in confirmation.

"That's exactly right councilor, however as you may expect, we don't want a group of Guardian pilots who can't do their duty, so if a team of Guardians have to be sent back here, their pilots will be discharged and replaced, we have more than enough pilots from the other world on standby." Eastil's answer didn't surprise Black too much, the Kingdoms weren't very tolerant of military failures, especially with their very existence at stake. There was a grunt from the assistant scientist, who tapped on his wristwatch. This meeting was supposed to be short, squeezed in before a major council meeting, or at least that's what Black had overheard. Eastil gathered the attention of all the council members.

"Yes, well as to why I brought you down here. As I explained earlier, when we launch the project later tonight, we'll need someone to explain all of the rules and regulations to the Guardians. I'll need to be on staff in case the impossible happens, and I think it would be best to have one of our leaders do it."

"Isn't the choice obvious by now science geek? Military matters are to be handled by a Kheawuton council member, I'll do it." Councilor Jude rounded on Raan with a look of annoyance finally creeping into her normally neutral expression.

"Aren't you forgetting that you're not allowed to nominate yourself for anything for the rest of the cycle because of your last failure? Besides, we need someone who can actually teach our Guardians law." Councilor Raan gritted his teeth and looked ready to charge his fellow councilwoman, but a hand on his shoulder from the other Kheawuton councilor stopped him.

"She's right Raan, and besides, we need to get the Guardians to cooperate with us, not go join up with the enemy the first chance they get." It was obvious that Raan wanted to protest further, but had enough sense to know that he was outnumbered. Surprising that a Kheawuton councilor would agree with Councilor Jude. Black realized she gave herself another opinion and tried to stop thinking altogether.

"You won't be deciding now," Eastil commented with amusement, "I've already submitted the paperwork to get the decision on today's council vote, so you won't be deciding that here." Black caught several Council representatives rolling their eyes, Black was glad she wasn't going to be in the Chamber of the Council for that. The rest of her day was going to be patrolling the Guardian building for possible Thilan saboteurs.

For the rest of the explanation, Councilor Raan didn't try to start any more arguments, to Black he was showing a miraculous amount of control, but maybe this is how he was when he wasn't fired up over something. This was after all, her first time seeing the members of the council in person.

There weren't too many details left, and they were all complicated politics that didn't concern Black in the slightest. Soon, it was time for the councilors to leave for their next meetnig, and everyone was back on the elevator, Black standing in the corner keeping an eye on the scene in case Raan got suddenly violent or an assassin had somehow snuck in. She was careful that way, in training she had never fallen for an ambush or a surprise stealth attack.

"Councilors, thank you for taking the time to preview the future of Blue Rift, I assume the agreement reached yesterday is still in effect?" Jude nodded.

"Yes, Black, your orders are to follow Dr. Eastil to your new holding chamber." Black felt confused but held a straight face.

"Yes ma'am, if I may, what is my new assignment?" Black followed Eastil off the elevator and down the stairs. Councilor Jude didn't reply for a moment but then gave Black a cold stare.

"You have none. The Keepers have had their purpose changed." Black felt even more confused than before. Repurposed? But for what? The Keepers were only taught how to fight and survive, they had no other skills. What could they do besides fight the Thilan? Councilor Raan laughed the most maniacal laugh Black had ever heard.

"It's quite simple girl, you and your Keepers are outdated, so you're now going to kill each other for our amusement!" Black tried as hard as she could, but the rising feeling of horror and betrayal was something her training hadn't prepared her for. She was being asked to kill her fellow brothers and sisters, for nothing more than to please the council!

Too stunned to even try to pull out her cannon to shoot Raan or any of the other council members, she blindly followed Eastil until she was put in an almost prison like room, bars over the windows, force shields over the door and lining the walls so she couldn't escape. Black sat on the hard bed holding her legs to her chest, her cannon and sword still equipped from her last duty as a Keeper soldier. She and the rest had been replaced, and she knew that she didn't just hate the Council, she hated the Guardians too.

If I ever get out, we'll kill the Guardians, the Council, and the every scientist that worked here. And then we'll be the one's running Blue Rift and the Five Kingdoms.

Day 1

Date: Friday, 1st Month, 21st day, 1017th year D.A. (Dark Ages)

Location: Chamber of the Council, Obroseon

Time Until BRSO Release: 11 Hours

Councilor Aland had been disappointed when he hadn't been chosen to go see the finishing touches on Project Guardian, but at the same time he was relieved. He had supported Project Keeper until the bitter end, and now he could only try and quietly rally protests for their freedom once the games started. It sickened him, even if these were battle trained warriors, it seemed wrong to have teenagers kill each other over and over again for sport.

"So with a vote of seventeen to six, Councilor Jude will represent the Kingdoms at the Guardian imitation." Jude stood and gave a respectful bow.

"I'm honored, I will do my best to convey the wishes of the council to our newest warriors." Aland leaned back in his chair, thinking to himself how well Jude was playing this council. Almost every decision had gone her way since she got the position almost a full cycle ago, and the bright future that he believed the Kingdoms were reaching at long last seemed further away than ever before.

With the last decision of the day made, Councilor Yeman stood.

"We'll reconvene tomorrow afternoon to assess the progress of the Guardians. Dismissed." As formal procedure required, every Councilor stood and bowed, showing respect to the work that they were doing, or at least that's what it meant in Yeman's mind.

Collecting his notes into his brown shoulder bag, Yeman moved with anticipation, excitement, and sadness. Despite not actually talking to the Keepers, he loved to watch them train. To Yeman, they were almost his own children. From the shadows, he had helped care for them, teach them, and prepare them.

And now he was to watch them destroy each other.

Leaving from the Chamber of Council, Yeman moved with at a rushed pace. The Keepers were going to be transferred to specialized holding cells later in the day, and he wanted at least one chance to meet his warriors face to face before they were sent to their deaths. I must find a way to save those kids!

The streets of Obroseon were packed, even in the political districts. Important men and women forced to pack together as they walked to their varying directions, each of them talking through a mobile device, talking about some small profit deal or another, each one trying to get ahead of the system.

To Yeman, this wasn't as important to him, he wasn't stupid enough to ignore the profit side of the business entirely but held onto his own ideals, an equal kingdom free of the Thilan like the days in the old tales. Of course, science, mathematics, and art had all progressed incredibly fast in the thousand years under Thilan attack, mostly by the desire to survive. It had improved society for the better, but decisions like the one involving the Keepers proved that Blue Rift Sanctuary was far from perfect.

After getting from the Chamber of Council building, which lay in the center of the city, to the outer edge of the science district almost three miles away, Yeman looked up at the tall spire that held the Guardians. The Keepers were held and trained in a facility directly under the large spire, even further underground than the Guardians initiation room, which to all public knowledge was the lowest floor. A special elevator could take you down to the Keeper levels, and Yeman was one of the few outside the facility with clearance to go inside.

Yeman entered through the double automatic sliding doors that acted as the main entrance to the facility. It was protected by two soldiers armed with special stun weapons that looked more intimidating than their actual effectiveness, pitch black with a red design paint that traced various skills and stun counts for each one. All Yeman needed to do was show his I.D. and he was let inside without a word.

Once inside, the lobby was decently sized with fantastic interior design in Yeman's opinion. Dark blue walls with teal trim and rugs, with black floorboards. There were varying portraits and artistic background paintings that lined the walls, giving a calming, welcoming appearance despite the fact that only the Guardians were going to be allowed in and out of the building. There was no front desk, only two doors, each with a guard posted to keep normal citizens out.

Yeman went to the door on the right, the extra storage space for Guardian equipment and personal storage. Like the front entrance, he only had to show his identification to the guard to get inside. Instead of following the hallway that led to the various rooms, he immediately turned to his right and placed his I.D. in front of a hidden camera in the wall.

With a small flash of light that ringed the rim of the opening, an elevator opened up, taking Yeman down to the lower basement, where he was going to meet his Keepers at long last. They didn't know it was coming and Yeman didn't expect them to come running up to him like some long lost father, but it would put a smile on his face, and they needed to know that he wasn't going to let them be toys for long.

When the elevator finally stopped, the doors opened to reveal one of the female scientists moving a stack of boxes inside the elevator. As Yeman walked past the young woman, he noticed one of the boxes was labeled KEEPER DNA. Notes, so they really are getting ready to move them.

The "spectator box" as the science geeks called it wasn't too far from the main lab, using slanted windows for easy observation of the action below. Yeman knew the schedule by heart, and today was sparring day. Right now, he expected Black to be squaring off against Dust, but to his shock and surprise he didn't find anyone in the arena. Could they already have been moved? No, that isn't possible, the council decided to move them after the launch of Project Guardian.

Needing answers, Yeman headed into the main lab, where he found dozens of metal containers probably filled with various science supplies, but only one or two scientists in the room.

"Councilor Yeman, I didn't see you there." Yeman turned around to find Doctor Eastil, behind him.

"Eastil, where are the Keepers? I would think they'd be practicing one last time before the transfer." Yeman kept his tone neutral, trying to mask his rising frustration.

"My apologies Councilor, but we received orders to move the Keepers today. We would have alerted you, but we had orders not to tell anyone about the transfer." What? But who would have the authority? I made sure anything involving the Keepers has to at least cross my desk!

"Where have they gone Eastil?" Yeman was slowly losing his ability to contain his anger, his voice rising to a shout. However Eastil remained calm, and seemed to have a smug expression on his face.

"I'm afraid have orders not to tell you that either. The Keepers are outdated Councilor, and we'll learn much more from watching them go all out killing one another, and maybe we'll find a way to improve the Guardians. Who knows? Maybe one of your Keepers will actually survive to the end." Yeman shoved his way past Eastil and headed for the elevator up.

He couldn't believe it, the Keepers he had put so much time into working on and indirectly raising were now slaves of the council, or more likely whoever had ordered that early transfer. Something didn't feel right about this whole situation, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

Chapter one complete! No action yet, and it looks like Black Rock has already gotten herself into a bit of a bind! Please leave a comment and I'll see you all soon with chapter two!